Monthly Archives: November 2011

Finally! Official Video for Avicii’s “Levels”

One year, and over 20 millions YouTube hits after it was first unleashed upon the partying public, Avicii’s ‘Levels’ has become a globally recognized score and undoubtedly the most unifying dancefloor record of 2011…but the bug is spreading further! As this mammoth single continues to soar up charts across the planet, we are finally blessed with one truly hilarious music video to match. Living up to all expectations and more, this three-minute cut of comic genius will have you splitting at the sides.
The mundane, daily grind of office-block life provides the initial setting…until that is, one melancholy employee becomes infected with the ‘Levels bug’. No prizes for guessing how the mood U-turns; as Avicii’s smash hit gets into full swing, resonating and rip-roaring over the computers and photocopiers of the humdrum workplace, the man is simply uncontrollable in his hip-thrusting, booty-shaking, table-top dancing excitement – so much so that only the Taser-gun of a security man can bring him down!
As he hits the deck and passes out, that’s when things start to get very weird…and equally funny. Awaking from a truly bizarre dream to find himself strapped to a hospital bed, the madness of the office starts all over again – the only difference being that the ‘Levels bug’ is ten times more infectious than before. Doctors, nurses and janitors beware, because nobody is safe from the contagious sounds of 22 year-old superstar Avicii!

Leave a comment

Filed under Holy Freaking Crap!, video, Whoa!

New Video: YACHT – “I Walked Alone”

YACHT Tour Dates:

12/01/11 Miami, FL – Electric Pickle

12/02/11 Worcester, MA – Clark College

12/03/11 Purchase, NY – The Stood at SUNY Purchase

12/03/11 New York, NY – Santos Party House (9 PM Set Time)

12/04/11 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church

12/05/11 Pittsburgh, PA – REX Theater

12/06/11 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall

12/29/11 Lake Tahoe, CA – SnowGlobe Music Festival

Leave a comment

Filed under Shows, video

Free Download: Boots Electric – “I Love You All The Thyme”

After bestowing the videos for “Boots Electric Theme” and “Complexity” upon us, Eagles of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes is sharing a third track from his solo project, Boots Electric. The track finds Hughes showing a different side from his notorious winking, seductive persona that gets all the girls.  Instead, “I Love You All The Thyme” is a moment of genuine pining for someone he loves that seems to have their eye on someone else.  The song is on Honkey Kong (Dangerbird Records), Hughes’ debut album under the Boots Electric moniker.  The album was produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Depeche Mode, The Kooks) and co-written with legendary keyboardist Money Mark, best known for his many collaborations with the Beastie Boys.

After creating three albums of dirty and danceable garage rock anthems as the frontman of Eagles of Death Metal,  Hughes expands his sonic palette as Boots Electric while continuing to deliver the hooks that he’s known for.  The electronic drums that kick off opening track “Complexity” immediately signal the new direction.  The track is a mix of glam-pop, keyboard-heavy dance grooves, and Hughes’ signature brand of rock ‘n roll grit that drips with swagger.   Elsewhere, he tries on space-funk synths on the track “Boots Electric” and “Trippy Blob” has some of his most absurdist lyrics yet. Hughes continues to show his earnest side on tracks like “No Ffun” is an honest-to-goodness ballad and “Swallowed by the Night” is a soulful slice of honky tonk gold.  Honkey Kong reveals what many already knew – beneath the tongue-in-cheek lyrics and his charismatic strut, Hughes has always been a gifted pop songwriter at heart.  Boots Electric is coming out of the closet.

Listen/download: Boots Electric – “I Love You All The Thyme”

Leave a comment

Filed under downloads, Whoa!

Free Download: Digitalism – Circles (Dillon Francis remix)

Germany’s electronic duo Digitalism is bringing their live show back to North America this week, kicking off a full tour sponsored by Jägermeister. The band has also announced the Circles EP, which will see a release on December 6th via V2/Cooperative Music/Downtown. The band premiered the Dillon Francis remix of “Circles” today via RCRD LBL.

Download: Digitalism – “Circles” (Dillon Francis Remix)

The band released their sophomore album, I Love You, Dude, this past summer, and hit the road with the HARD Festival Summer Tour in support. The album features 10 tracks, each of which has their own vibrant identity. With amazing tracks like “Forrest Gump,” co-written with Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, “Circles,” with its Who-ish keyboard and apparently existential lyrics and standout lead single “2 Hearts.”

Upcoming North American Tour Dates

  • 11/28 – Chicago, IL – Metro
  • 11/29 – Toronto, ON – Mod Club
  • 11/30 – Montreal, QC – SAT
  • 12/1 – Boston, MA – Paradise
  • 12/2 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
  • 12/3 – Philadephia, PA – Trocadero
  • 12/5 – Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
  • 12/7 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel 12/9 – Austin, TX – Parish
  • 12/10 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
  • 12/12 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
  • 12/13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box
  • 12/14 – San Francisco, CA – Mezzanine

 

Leave a comment

Filed under downloads, listen, Shows, video

Free Download: Escort – “Makeover”

“The Best Disco Album Of 2011”
– SPIN

“The best New York disco tracks since West End Records’ early-‘80s heyday.”
– Pitchfork

“Escort is New York City’s greatest perpetual buzz band…”
– The Village Voice

Escort has been setting dance floors ablaze with their disco-infused beats, irresistibly catchy hooks and seductive live shows since releasing a series of 12” singles in 2006. The seventeen-member “disco orchestra,” founded by producers Eugene Cho and Dan Balis, and fronted by lead singer Adeline Michèle, features an incredible cast of musicians who have played with everyone from indie-rock titans Arcade Fire to avant-classical luminaries Alarm Will Sound. Escort’s long-awaited debut LP will be released on vinyl and CD on January 31st but is out on iTunes now!

Escort’s self-titled new album pays homage to mutant-pop luminaries such as Kid Creole and the Coconuts & Ian Dury. While embracing the legacy of these forward-thinking but classic acts, Escort has managed to create something strikingly new. Check out the new song “Makeover” below.

Listen/download: Escort – “Makeover”

Opener “CaméleonChameleon” is a theatrical masterpiece about the French serial impostor Frédéric Bourdin, set to a beat that’s equal parts Thriller and the Tom Tom Club. With piercing horns and silky smooth vocals “A Bright New Life” commands you to the dance floor. “Love in Indigo” blends the enormous R&B vocals of Adeline Michèle with lush strings creating a disco extravaganza that is all their own. The tracks, “Makeover” and “Why oh Why” seem to explore the lost possibilities of another era. The 1937 standard “A Sailboat in the Moonlight” is twisted into a lost classic. The album also includes versions of their 12” DJ releases remixed, re-mastered, rearranged, and re-recorded specially for the LP, completing the album as a sonic experience from beginning to end. New Yorkers who haven’t had a chance to catch them live have 2 more chances with a release party DJ event this week and a live disco extravaganza w/Midnight Magic coming up in December.

Escort NYC Shows
11/18: Brooklyn, NY @ Cameo, DJ Release Show
ft. Escort, Prince Languare & DarshanJesrani
12/17: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/Midnight Magic

Leave a comment

Filed under Check 'em Out!, downloads, listen, Whoa!

Kid Sister – “Gucci Rag Top” remix feat. Danny Brown

After some serious time in the studio working on her next full-length album, Kid Sister is releasing a new EP, Kiss & Tell, on November 29th on Fool’s Gold Records. The MC born Melisa Young not only spent 2011 tearing down shows all over North America – from the Magic 8 Ball tour with A-Trak to NYC’s 80,000 deep Electric Zoo festival – but managed to bring that boundless on-stage energy to sessions with some of today’s most exciting producers.

The EP offers four of Kid Sister’s latest tracks with a diverse crew of collaborators. “Mickey” is a club workout from heavy hitting DJ/producer duo Nadastrom (Dave Nada and Matt Nordstrom who are currently helping pilot Skrillex’s sold-out Mothership tour), while “Hide N Seek” pairs Kid Sis with rap absurdist Riff Raff and bass maestros Sinden & 5kin&Bone5. Hip-hop hero Scoop Deville (Snoop, Game, Fat Joe) mans the boards for “Cliq Claq” (as featured in Stella McCartney‘s recent runway shows) as well as a brand-new remix of “Gucci Rag Top,” now featuring a guest verse from fellow Fool’s Gold rapper Danny Brown.

Click image to check out Kid Sister's facebook page

 KISS & TELL TRACK LISTING:

1. Mickey (Produced by Nadastrom)

2. Hide & Seek feat. Riff Raff (Produced by Sinden & 5kinandbone5)

3. Cliq Claq (Produced by Scoop Deville)

4. Gucci Rag Top (Remix) feat. Danny Brown (Produced by Scoop Deville)

Leave a comment

Filed under Check 'em Out!, listen, video

Brand New: Skream – “Anticipate”

Skream dropped the appropriately titled single, “Anticipate” feat. Sam Frank on Sunday. This is arguably the catchiest single OWSLA has put out, it was stuck in my head all weekend. Skream is credited for helping to invent Dubstep, pretty cool that he’s putting this out with Skrillex.

Leave a comment

Filed under Check 'em Out!, listen, video, Whoa!

Check ‘Em Out: Remember Remember

Click to check out the album on iTunes

Glasgow’s instrumental ensemble Remember Remember released their new album The Quickening on October 11th through Mogwai’s Rock Action Records here in the US. Remember Remember’s musical journey, which began as one guy on stage with a loopstation and a bag of toys, now finds them here with The Quickening, a powerful and exciting listen that promises live experiences just as thrilling. Recorded in early 2011 at Chem 19 Studios in Scotland against a background of tumultuous global events, the new album sees Remember Remember return with the same seven-piece group heard on last year’s “RR Scorpii” EP.

The Quickening is still a playful, colourful record- the music dives deeper into darker, psychedelic territories hinted at on “RR Scorpii.” Pagan waltzes, apocalyptic Egyptian surf and Middle Eastern modes mingle with somber pianos and bleak string interludes, concluding with a duo of songs – “One Happier” and “John Candy,” both bittersweet and stratospheric, creating an ending made of pure, bright light.

Download: Remember Remember – “John Candy”

Leave a comment

Filed under Check 'em Out!, downloads, listen, new albums, video

Newest Love: Ashtar Command

Click image to check out the album on Amazon

Tracklisting

1. Let the Sunshine In

2. The Breakup Song (ft. Priscilla Ahn)

3. Save Me (ft. Alex Ebert)

4. (Walking On) Landmines

5. China

6.Mark IV (ft. Joshua Radin)

7. Rosa (ft. Priscilla Ahn)

8. Gravity (ft. Z Berg)

9. Requiem For Love

10. Hello

11. Salvation

12. That’s How it Is (ft. Har Mar Superstar)

13. Blister of the Spotlight (ft. Rachael Yamagata)

14. All the Stars in Heaven (ft. Priscilla Ahn)

15. Don’t Destroy Us

16. Holding Out For Love

American Sunshine, Ashtar Command’s debut album, evolved organically, a labor of love from veteran musicians Chris Holmes and Brian Liesegang,  American Sunshine is an expansive and coherent album that defies being reduced to a single genre. It is a FANTASTIC album. I knew the band’s name had sounded familiar and once I heard “China” I knew for sure that I’ve heard these guys before. In fact, I heard “China” years ago, so it must have taken a while for the duo to perfect their debut. American Sunshine includes songs of exquisite beauty and ones that unabashedly rock.

The project features a remarkable group of guest artists. Working in identical studios in Los Angeles and Chicago respectively, the duo sent songs back and forth thereby growing fleeting ideas into full-fledged songs. The group enlisted musicians that seemed to suit the individual songs – people they had worked with or been friends with for years.

They were joined by guest vocalists Joshua Radin on “Mark IV,” Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (“Save Me”), Har Mar Superstar (“That’s How It Is”) and Rachel Yamagata (“Blister of the Spotlight”). The dreamy “Rosa,” already in heavy rotation at Los Angeles’ KCRW, is one of two tracks featuring Priscilla Ahn, while Z Berg’s crystal clear vocals provide a stunning counterpoint to the throbbing groove on “Gravity.”

Other guest artists include: Matt Walker (Filter, The Smashing Pumpkins) on drums, Solomon Walker (Morrissey) on bass, Mike Garson (David Bowie) playing piano, drummer Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.), Oliver Kraus (Beth Orton) on cello, Stewart Cole (Edward Sharpe) on horns.

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Check 'em Out!, listen, Newest Love, video

New Video: Snow Patrol – “This Isn’t Everything You Are”

Yes, I know — I’m a little late on sharing this. Better late than never though!

Snow Patrol has premiered their latest video for “This Isn’t Everything You Are”, from the forthcoming release, Fallen Empires. Previously unavailable in North America, the video, filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, showcases the band in the role of a tango bar’s house band.   The heartfelt, “This Isn’t Everything You Are” encompasses the love, anger, reconciliation and raw emotion of the dance floor contestants in perfectly juxtaposed composition.

Snow Patrol will release Fallen Empires on January 10, 2012 via Island Records.  The current single, “Called Out in the Dark” is now available for purchase via iTunes  and the video can be streamed here.

1 Comment

Filed under listen, video