Brooklyn four-piece CHAPPO, whose debut album Moonwater is out now on Majordomo/Shout!Factory, premiered the animated music video for their psychedelic-pop track “What Are You Kids On” yesterday via FilterMagazine.com. The video was created and directed by Kate Stryker and Lucas Millard of Bottomless Well Production.
Lead singer and guitarist Alex Chappo explains, “We worked with Lucus and Kate for our video for “Bodies Coasting” and we fell in love with their style. This song has a similar whimsical feeling. We wanted to use animation because the song surfs somewhere between the alpha waves of a dream and an exaggerated reality.”
“They have a synth-pop sound that just makes you want to dance, whether you’re at a dance party, in you car, or in your office cubicle and bursts with energy.” – CBS Chicago
“If you like to, you know…dance, we think it’s a pretty safe bet, since this three-piece electro-indie dance band is on a mission to make you move.” – Refinery 29
Gemini Club, consisting of Dan Brunelle, Tom Gavin and Gordon Bramli, is a three-piece indie-electronic dance band hailing from Chicago, Illinois. Their unique live shows have been tearing up the scene for the last two years, and commencing dizzying dance parties in every city they go! Far from the conventional live performance, Gemini Club have a specially designed rig that allows for on-the-fly remixing of their own songs meaning each Gemini Club show is different from the last. As a result, Gemini Club has been asked to the support the likes of Chromeo, A-Trak, Two Door Cinema Club, Who-Made-Who, DJ Falcon and Chateau Marmont.
Their first single, “Ghost” came out hot in the blogosphere, resulting in remixes from Hey Champ, Barretso, Golden Bug and Only Children. The track has since been picked up for airplay from BBC Radio 1’s tastemaker show “In New DJs We Trust.”
From the mid-west to the Orient, Gemini Club’s own remix chops are in demand online and across the globe. Their remix for Australian band The Vanish went straight into the top ten of Hype Machine’s charts. The band’s spin on Hey Champ’s “Cold Dust Girl” entered the same top ten charts on five different occasions within a month – and their remix for Shinichi Osawa has been a mainstay on the iTunes dance charts in Japan. Most recently, the gents of GC’s remix of Chilly Gonzales song “You Can Dance” premiered on the RCRD LBL blog as the most downloaded track of the week.
Check out this fun video for the second single from The Griswolds, “Heart of a Lion.” The video was filmed over one day in a film studio, and took 5 days to clean up. The Griswolds are now banned from that studio.
The band have had a fast start to 2012, with support shows around Australia with Last Dinosaurs, Millions, San Cisco, Hey Geronimo, and Kids of 88. Their first single, “Mississippi” has also received high acclaim, featured on over 100 blogs worldwide, and charting on college radio in the USA. Both songs are from an upcoming EP due for release in August 2012.
Dub Pistols have spent the past 15 years winning over audiences globally with their infectious blend of ska, dub, hip-hop, electronic and punk. Now, Barry Ashworth and his motley crew are back with their fifth studio album, Worshipping The Dollar. Written on the road as a follow-up to 2009’s acclaimed Rum & Coke, the album will be released July 3rd on Sunday Best Recordings. Single “Mucky Weekend” features guest vocals from UK hip-hop legend Rodney P, who guests on several album tracks. The band released an electrically-charged video for the track that takes viewers on a fast-paced ride along with them for a night of mayhem. Check out the energetic “Mucky Weekend” video above.
Worshipping The Dollar sees a return to lyrical themes explored on earlier albums, with deeper, more conscious lyrics and what Ashworth describes as “a lot of food for thought.” The album’s title is taken from a track voiced by Akala, Ms Dynamite’s brother. “Living in squalor, worshipping the dollar, there is no flag large enough to wrap around the horror” — so runs a key lyric on the anti-war song ‘West End Stories,’ a scathing indictment of US imperialism. In addition to Rodney P, the album’s guest vocalists include Lindy Layton, who adds her smooth sound to “Rock Steady,” Barbados reggae legends Red Star Lion, who appear on the shimmering, horn-heavy track “Alive,” and London’s Dan Bowskill, plus regular Dubs MCs TK and Darrison. Having played sold-out shows across Europe, Dub Pistols were voted Best Live Act by DJ Mag last year and will continue to perform scores of live shows worldwide, kicking off with a handful of UK festivals this summer. Stay tuned for more from Dub Pistols as they invade the US!
After celebrated releases from Hanni El Khatib and Nick Waterhouse, LA-based indie label on the rise, Innovative Leisure is excited to announce the debut release from their next big act to watch, The Allah-Las. Recorded at the legendary Distillery Studio and produced by fellow labelmate Nick Waterhouse, the surf/psych-rock quartet’s music rivals that of some of the best Brit pop and garage rock bands from the 60s, laced with the sounds of the California coast line. These are the kind of songs that bounced between London and Los Angeles, the kind of thing that could have come from Mick Jagger or Arthur Lee or both at once, with crystalline guitar and slow-mo drums that recall the way the waves take big bites of the beach at night.
In early 2012, the band released a video for their song “Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind)” that succinctly embodies the band vibes and references of American past and future via Super 8 footage. If Gidget was resurrected in 2012, the Allah-Las would be playing this song at her beach party and steal away with her for a road trip in their VW van on the PCH. This album is an adventure from the ocean to the desert to the mountains… this is the sound of California!
Chicago DJ duo, The Hood Internet, featuring STV SLV and ABX, are releasing their debut album of original material, FEAT with Decon on September 18, 2012. The Hood Internet are infamous for their mixtapes featuring blends of a wide array of artists including the late Whitney Houston, Justice, Fleetwood Mac, Jay-Z and more. Their foray into production work has found them collaborating on new songs with hyped rappers and artists from across the nation that range from Chicago artist Show You Suck to Black Moth Super Rainbow’s Tobacco. This release marks The Hood Internet’s first completely original, sample-free album with vocal and instrumental collaborations highlighting different artists including erudite rapping by Psalm One on ‘More Fun’, synth-pop trio Class Actress alongside Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon on the chimerical ‘Critical Captions’ and the infectious track ‘Won’t Fuck Us Over’ featuring the raw energy of Chicago group BBU.
Since the inaugural release of their first, critically acclaimed mixtape in 2007, their rise to glory has steadily landed them performances at festivals like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, SXSW, CMJ, Pitchfork’s #Offline, Mad Decent Block Party, and The Roots Picnic. When they aren’t busy playing huge festivals or touring the country, they’re releasing upwards of 500 mixes on their website, leading to millions of free downloads since their start in 2007. The Hood Internet will be going on a west coast run with Psalm One and Tanya Morgan in July and August. A national tour will take place in September and October, coinciding with the album’s release.
FEAT TRACK LISTING:
Critical Captions (ft Class Actress, Cadence Weapon)
One For The Record Books (ft AC Newman, Sims)
More Fun (ft Psalm One, TOBAXXO)
Nothing Should Be A Surprise (ft Isaiah Toothtaker, Show You Suck)
Exonerated (ft Zambri, Hooray For Earth, Junior Pande)
Won’t Fuck Us Over (ft BBU, Annie Hart)
Do You Give Up Now? (ft Donwill, My Gold Mask, Junior Pande)
Our Finest China (ft The Rosebuds, Astronautalis)
Uzi Water Gun (ft Millionyoung, Kenan Bell, The Chain Gang Of 1974)
These Things Are Nice (ft Kid Static, Slow Witch, Kleenex Girl Wonder)
“Learn Me Right” – an original song featuring British-born singer and songwriter Birdy, will be featured on the upcoming soundtrack to the animated Disney*Pixar film Brave, which will be released by Walt Disney Records on June 19th. The track was written, arranged, and produced by Grammy-nominated British folk-rock group Mumford & Sons.
“We liked the idea of having a girl like Birdy sing,” says the group’s leader Marcus Mumford. It’s been quite liberating.” Adds Birdy: “I love it because it tells a story. Although it has a lot of emotion, it’s also very upbeat and you want to dance to it, which is why it works so well.” The song can be heard during the epilogue to the film, which hits theaters on June 22nd.
In addition to “Learn Me Right,” Birdy’s original song “Just A Game” is featured on The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 And Beyond, produced by T Bone Burnett. “Just A Game” will be included on the Blu-Ray edition of The Hunger Games, which will be released on August 18th.
Also in August, Birdy will return to the U.S. for three special shows, including an appearance at the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco on August 12th. She will also perform at the Roxy in Los Angeles on August 13th and at Joe’s Pub in New York City on August 15th.
In March, Birdy released her self-titled debut album, a soulful, sophisticated collection that includes a cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love,” which peaked at No. 17 on the UK singles Chart after BBC’s Radio 1 added it to its playlist. Birdy shot to No. 13 in the U.K. upon its release in November 2011 and achieved gold certification there, while climbing to No. 1 in both Holland and Belgium. Her videos, including those for second UK single “Shelter” and KCRW fave “1901,” have racked up a collective 66 million views on YouTube, while the official “Skinny Love” video has earned more than 25 million views alone.
“Here’s the first song I wanted you to hear from my new record, “The Origin of Love.” This is not a single but a song I really love and wanted to share with you.
I commissioned a short film which I felt perfectly captured the sentiment of the track. The film was directed by Iouri Philippe Paillé and was made in Montreal. This is where the entire album started taking shape a year ago with Nick Littlemore at Planet Studios in Papineau.
I can’t wait for you to hear the first single and the rest of the album very, very soon.” – Mika
Check out this incredible up-and-coming indie rock band from Savannah, GA called Cusses. The female fronted, firecracker three-piece recently debuted a new video for their single “Worst Enemy” and will be releasing a full-length album later this year. Give them a chance before you think, “Eww, all girl rock? Like a more rebellious sort of Cheetah Girls?” Nope. Don’t worry.
Musically Amusing 