“Oh my god, They Might Be Giants is underrated. That’s the best band of all time. Better than the Stones, better than the Beatles, better than Oasis, and better than Crosby, Stills and Nash.” – Open Mike Eagle, Pitchfork “Over/Under”
“The crowd’s enthusiasm for the fresh material is unmatched even when the band proffers what is perhaps their most-loved song, “Birdhouse in Your Soul”… “ – Rolling Stone
“Now a band for 30 years, John Linnell and John Flansburgh are one of rock’s all-time most quixotic successes” – SPIN
“Perfect pop music can come from anywhere and can go anywhere. They Might Be Giants have demonstrated this for a quarter century…” – The New Yorker
“Catch them if you can — their live shows always deliver.” – USA Today
GRAMMY award-winning alternative rock legendsThey Might Be Giants have released their new album track “Last Wave”. The band will release their new album I Like Funon January 19 followed by a massive world tour as well.
Following his 2014 debut album ‘Moon Observations’, “Lucine” is the first taster of it’s follow up, due for release early 2017.
“Lucine” is the brand new single from Dutch producer/artist/video director David Douglas. Following the release of his critically acclaimed debut Moon Observations, “Lucine” is a journey through sun-kissed disco and gentle electronic pop, subtly playing with psychedelic and experimental elements and weaving organic textures alongside more robotic landscapes. 2014’s Moon Observations was inspired by a different star-gazer with the same name. That David Douglas was a 18th century explorer and naturalist, whose writings on astronomical observation has inspired the more modern Douglas’ latest music. Those eleven tracks of beautifully fleshed-out electronica were certainly a worthy tribute, and “Lucine” continues the story in blissful fashion.
David Douglas is without doubt one of the most expressive and all-encompassing creators around. Having previously working as an esteemed video director, he switched his focus to music, and both his 2012 Royal Horticultural SocietyEP and his debut album Moon Observations were warmly received, garnering praise from the likes of Pitchfork, i-D Mag, Electronic Beats, THUMP and XLR8R. David’s live sets are known for the substantial amount of gear he has in tow, including a Space Echo that is essential for his signature sound. His shows at PITCH Festival, Best Kept Secret and Into The Woods inspired the penning of his second full album, set to drop early next year via Atomnation.
“Cholo goth duo Prayers have shared the video for their single “Black Leather,” featuring tattoo artist Kat Von D (who also sings on the song). In the clip, frontman Leafar Seyer wields a snake and also visits the cemetery and a goth nightclub.” – Pitchfork
“The Cholo Goth movement is real, and Prayers are some crazy motherfuckers.” – Noisey
“Prayers pull from darkest dance elements with touches of the Pet Shop Boys and Bowie thrown in to lift the mix.” – The Huffington Post
“Pioneers behind a musical genre and growing subculture” – LA Weekly
Following the reveal of new single “Black Leather” ft. Kat Von D via Zane Lowe’s Beats 1, earlier this week, San Diego’s iconic cholo goth electronic/rock duo, Prayers, drop the official “Black Leather” video and announce their forthcoming Baptism Of Thieves EP with Pitchfork today heading into the band’s upcoming Coachella appearance (Sunday April 24th, 1:40pm @ Mohave Stage).
“Black Leather” is the first new music from Prayers since 2015’s “Young Gods” and the first single off the duo’s forthcoming 2016 EP Baptism of Thieves.
Fueled by pulsating synthesizers, metallic percussion and oscillating bass with frontman and Prayers’ creative force Leafar Seyer’s trademark howl, the hook-driven track explores themes of angst and alienation in the band’s post-industrial-electronic, cholo-goth signature style. Kat Von D lends vocals to the track and also features in video.
Speaking exclusively to Pitchfork, Seyer explains his inspiration: “‘Black Leather’ is my way of celebrating everything that I’ve had to leave behind for my true self to emerge. Every man and every woman is a star but I’ve become the universe.”
Directed by Gavin Filipiak and conceptualized by Seyer, the stark black and white video is rife with evocative imagery exploring catholicism, cholo culture, and the interplay between life and death.
Prayers will bring their mesmerizing live performance toCoachella on Sunday, April 24th, 1:40pm on the Mojave Stage.
Baptism Of Thieves EP Track List 1. Black Leather ft. Kat Von D 2. Underneath The Stars 3. Smiles Mask Tears 4. Lucifer Rising 5. Beauty and Bedlam 6. Pyramids
Founded in 2013 by Rafael Reyes and Dave Parley, Prayers are the first band to coin the term “cholo goth” to define their musical genre. Exploring the harsh realities of gang/street life over throbbing beats, their music defies stereotypes within the goth and cholo subcultures all the while creating their own underground scene.
Dave Sitek’s FEDERAL PRISM is pleased to announce the launch yesterday of a unique pop-up record store designed to serve music collectors and serious music fans. The store features exclusive and limited edition vinyl, downloads, apparel and creative works from a wide variety of artists and genres, including TV on the Radio, Oh Land ft. Sia, Thelonius Monk, The Germs, Johnny Cash, Chuck Inglish, Sly & The Family Stone, Chuck Dukowski (Black Flag), Mike Watt, The Julie Ruin, Chance the Rapper, and much more.
Sitek explains, “Somewhere along the line music became ‘content.’ It’s my full intention to bring it back to music again! With such potency, music should be treated with care. The sound, the feel, the presentation… everything! It is a medicine. It is a teacher!”
Feeding a growing appetite for vinyl and “specialty products” among passionate music fans, Federal Prism has partnered with Girlie Action, Acme Creative Group and Pledge Music to create a unique pop up Record Shop with an exciting mix of exclusive and limited addition titles. The store will operate for 60 days starting today.
Federal Prism’s managing partner, Jeff Bowers, discusses how the idea was conceived. “We are at a moment in music when some of the most well received artists and releases in recent memory have little to nothing in the retail space. It is my hope that we can take the lessons of Record Store Day and the resurgent popularity of vinyl, and pull these consumer models together and make a compelling experience for the fan. I am asking talented kids, the next generation, who have never sold anything in a record store to make something unique that interests them and their fan base, and we are placing that next to traditional music configurations by established artists. That doesn’t happen anywhere with any consistency. It doesn’t happen at iTunes and it certainly doesn’t happen at Best Buy.“
Promising a steady flow of new titles popping up over the next two months, Sitek launches with dozens of titles including:
A limited edition pressing of Thelonius Monk’s penultimate studio album, Underground, on 180 gram color vinyl
The Germs’ 3-song 7″ EP, Lexicon Devil, originally released via mail-order by Slash Records in 1978, and limited to just 1,500 units on 7″ red vinyl
Chuck Inglish’s full-length, The Convertibles, on a 4-disc 7″ vinyl set originally released earlier this year, and which landed the album at #8 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and caused it to jumped from #53 to #24 on the Billboard Hip Hop Albums chart the week it was released.
Check out this previously unreleased track of The Julie Ruin’s “Blueberry Hill” (limited pressing available on 7″ at the store. The B-side is a YACHT remix of the Julie Ruin track “Right Home”.
Bowers, who started DIY label Soul Force Records in his native Tempe, AZ at the age of 15, worked for a decade as a creative marketing consultant for Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic, where he worked on classic vinyl reissues by Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Neil Young, as well as Nirvana and Sonic Youth and more contemporary Record Store Day releases by Skrillex, Fun., Portugal. The Man and Grouplove. While at Warner between 2007-2014, Bowers helped the label secure the number one marketshare in the vinyl format, moving from mid-six figures when he started to eight figures by the time he left as well as founding three record labels signed to the group.
He is also credited by the people responsible for “Record Store Day” for taking the annual event to a whole new level. “Without Jeff Bower’s enthusiasm and passion for music in general, and vinyl in specific, we would not have been able to launch Record Store Day,” RSD co-founder Michael Kurtz has said. “In doing so, Jeff helped the indie record store community take vinyl sales from a few thousand dollars the first year to millions by the seventh year.”
“ …even their four-minute songs feeling like dance-floor epics.“ – The New York Times
“it’s a rollicking collection of era-spanning anthems” – The New Yorker
“The best New York disco tracks since West End Records’ early-‘80s heyday.” – Pitchfork
“Their sound is deeply rooted in classic disco, that strain of glossy, decadent dance music that the city churned out at a coke-fueled pace throughout the 1970s and into the ’80s…” – The Village Voice
Escort’s new single, “If You Say So” is the soundtrack for your sun drenched West Coast block party. Written with MNDR, “If You Say So” melds the funkier side of ‘70s AOR with Escort’s own aesthetic of classic dance music into a bleach blonde head nodder. It’s the undiscovered love child of Stevie Nicks and Larry Levan. A secret tryst between Darryl Hall and Jean Carn. By embracing the legacy of these forward-thinking but classic acts, Escort have managed to create something strikingly new. The “If You Say So” single will be released on October 21 via Escort Records and features a house take on St. Vincent’s modern classic “Actor Out of Work” featuring the soaring vocals of Adeline Michèle.
“…indie in theory, but with big-tent ambitions, a little shoegaze, a lot of synth-pop, the faintest hint of danceable forms of punk.” Pitchfork
“Francisco the Man articulate all their pent-up yearning and tension with layers of reverberating guitars (and now, synths) ranging from lush to squalling. If you’re looking for reference points, think Built to Spill canoodling at the beach with ’90s British shoegazers and contemporary electro-poppers.” Buzzbands LA
“The right balance of ear-catching fervor with a looming electronic armor to separate itself from the throwaway pop milieu.” I Guess I’m Floating
“The glistening, hook-filled guitar jam “Progress” is the first single and it packs a huge melodic punch.”Music for Ants
“A catchy chorus that gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day, tight wave-guitars and an overall summery dancing vibe.” Subbacultcha
LA’s Francisco The Man recently announced the release of their debut album, Loose Ends, on Small Plates records this September 30th. Check out the video for their song, “Progress” now!
It took roughly seven years, a teenage instrumental rock band, a debut EP, additions and subtractions, a roller rink and a near death experience to arrive at Francisco The Man. Following a two-year hiatus beginning in 2008, the band relocated from Riverside to Los Angeles, CA, bringing along a new addition, guitarist Brock Woolsey. With the help of Small Plates Records, they released two 7″s, In the Corners and Tiger.
“Frontman Dylan Von Wagner has a voice that wavers between uncertainty and rock ‘n’ roll confidence, and he’s one of the few modern-day vocalists I have a hard time comparing to anyone else.” – USA Today’s Pop Candy
“Imaginary People’s lead vocalist, Dylan Von Wagner, has the kind of voice you don’t hear much anymore: there’s a vibrato to it, and an occasional yelp, and a good-natured snarl, all of which might put the listener in mind of Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis.”–Interview Magazine
“Sounding like Eddie Veddar and Tiny Tim Harmonizing in a meat cooler, Dylan Von Wagner’s shivering warble grabs you straightaway.”–Rolling Stone
“Von Wagner is a commanding presence, expressive and elegantly bombastic”–Pitchfork
“…as much of a throwback as it is a dance party-starter.”–Nylon
The world we see in Imaginary People’s video for “Miles” is an honest day in New York City, but somehow slightly more fanciful. Perhaps it’s the carefully constructed cinematography, the 80’s boom box perched nostalgically on a shoulder or the radical and unapologetic dancing. As the main character leads us from symmetric backgrounds to a pulsing dance floor, we see how many ways this song can be boogied to.
Imaginary People have created a pure, unadulterated sound, utilizing Dylan Von Wagner’s surprisingly unique vocals, as well as a dance-happy synth and pulsing drums throughout. This track creates a vibe that could easily apply to a sweaty strobe lit dance floor or playing pool in a dimly lit pub. Half blues, half punk, half something completely their own, this video is a perfect match for a sound is as unique as this guy’s dance moves.
With his magnetic presence, it’s difficult to divert your eyes from dancer Menelik Puryear. Von Wagner explains to Pop Candy, “Menelik is dead serious about dancing; he literally danced for seven hours straight and has no problem shaking it in front of anyone.”
Miles is the b-side to the equally as energetic and danceable “Fever Nation,” which premiered earlier this summer.
Ahead of their hotly anticipated debut album Lacuna, August 11th on House Anxiety / Marathon Artists, Childhood have released the new single “As I Am” via Stereogum who writes: “a finely honed pop song, one that grooves and shimmers under its sighing neon sheen.”
The track is taken from the London group’s debut album Lacuna, which was recorded with acclaimed producer Dan Carey at his studio in London. WithThe Guardian describing Childhood as “undeniably exciting and relevant” and Pitchfork as “an exciting young British rock band delivering their spin on luminous guitar pop”, Lacuna is looking set to be one of the albums of the summer.
Check out this remix of “Falls Away” by Jack Savidge of Friendly Fires
” …more akin to American weirdos of various unseemliness from Ariel Pink to Jim James, tapping into a bygone era of retro-futurism and resulting in something so out-of-time that it sounds timeless.” – Pitchfork
In the second half of 2013, following years of near-constant touring as the front-man of the critically acclaimed BC outfit Yukon Blonde, Jeffrey Innes suddenly found himself in possession of an unfamiliar commodity: free time.
With Yukon Blonde on a temporary break between albums, Innes was back at home in Vancouver, but rather than spending his downtime relaxing, he launched the solo project High Ends as an adventurous new songwriting outlet.
“I initially wanted to do something that was really collaborative, so I wrote a bunch of songs with the idea of bringing friends in,” Innes remembers. “But all of my friends were on tour, so I ended up doing it myself.”
This prompted a feverishly creative burst of unfiltered solo experimentation, with most of the material written quickly using an array of analogue synthesizers.
The resulting ten-song album was recorded with producer Colin Stewart (Dan Mangan, the New Pornographers) at his Vancouver Island facility. During the sessions, Gold & Youth drummer Jeff Mitchelmore handled percussion; Louise Burns and New Pornographers’ Kathryn Calder contributed backing vocals; and Ladyhawk’s Darcy Hancock laid down guitar.
“The Weight” is the first song being released from the new project.
Power-trioEmperor Yes – London producer Ash Gardner along with Adam Betts of Three Trapped Tigers and Hugo Sheppard – release their latest single “The End Of The World” through Young And Lost Club, and herald of their approaching debut album.
An analogue anthem to the apocalypse, “The End Of The World” tells the tale of Earth-bound creatures submitting to fiery armageddon – set to a soundtrack of technicolor synthesiser riffs and heavenly harmonies. It’s how they would have wanted to go out.
Previous singles “Wasps” (“Sounds like a dream where the Unicorns and Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips collaborate with Summer Camp” – Pitchfork) and “Cosmos” (“a beast of a song, all gargantuan synth riffs and apocalypse-sized drums” – The Guardian) were similarly concerned with our own significance, connection to the bestial world and finding a place in the universe.
This trilogy of Emperor Yes singles have been appropriately visualised: “Wasps” was a paean to 80s VHS horror films and the “antpocalypse” (and subsequent revenge) was witnessed in “Cosmos” – both directed by video mega-lord Chris Boyle (Call of Duty, The Who, Dizzee Rascal, Warp). “The End Of The World” director Raul Gonzo (Enter Shikari, Thom Yorke, David Lynch) has the band playing a final house party as the world collapses around them, while guests act out roles of doomed animals.
Musically Amusing 