Tag Archives: tracklist

June 24, 2016 · 3:34 pm

Newest Love: Beware of Darkness

Photo: Cara Robbins

Photo: Cara Robbins

“Imagine the crunch of The White Stripes and the sheer raunch of Prince and you’d be somewhere close to Beware Of Darkness.” – CLASH Mag

LA-based Beware of Darkness reveal album release details today for their forthcoming LP Are You Real? out on September 16th via Bright Antenna Records.  Fans who pre-order album will receive singles “Dope” and “Muthafucka” instantly.

Are You Real? is the band’s biggest and boldest statement yet.  The 12-track collection serves as an urgent call to arms not only for frontman Kyle Nicolaides, but for the band’s sound as well.  The music ushers the rebirth of a sound that is as refreshing as it is addictive, and goes much deeper than riffs.

The album illustrates how a rock star on the rise fought uncertainty and disillusionment to avoid flaming out. And, more importantly, how he has come through the other side revitalized and focused, and with the best songs of his young career.

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Are You Real? Tracklist
Muthafucka
Blood, Sex, Violence, & Murder
Dope
Summer Daze
Tell Me This Is Fate
Are You Real?
Angel
Surrender
Hieroglyphics
Sugar In The Raw
Beware
Delirium

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March 9, 2016 · 3:51 pm

Get They Might Be Giants New Album, Phone Power

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Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

“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

“one of rock’s longest and most prodigious partnerships” – Consequence of Sound

Brooklyn rockers They Might Be Giants are so thrilled about their new album, Phone Power, that they want to share it with everyone in the world! Beginning yesterday and announced by Mashable, the band is inviting everyone to PAY WHAT YOU LIKE for the full album download of their brand new album PHONE POWER at tmbg.com/phonepower. Whether folks spend $25 because they feel like supporting They Might Be Giants’ creative work is as important as a tote bag from a public radio station, or $0 because they don’t have any money right now – that’s just fine! They Might Be Giants do not mind giving things away.

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Includes songs:

Apophenia | I Love You for Psychological Reasons | To A Forest | I Am Alone | Say Nice Things About Detroit | Trouble Awful Devil Evil | ECNALUBMA | Daylight | Sold My Mind to the Kremlin | It Said Something | Impossibly New | I’ll Be Haunting You | Got Getting Up So Down | What Did I Do to You? | Shape Shifter | Bills, Bills, Bills | Black Ops Alt | I Wasn’t Listening

Brooklyn’s indie legends will kick off their national tour March 17 in Baltimore, bringing their explosive live show to Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and beyond. These dates are the final leg of TMBG’s world tour that started in early 2015, and will be the last shows the band has planned for the foreseeable future. Catch ‘em while you can!

They Might Be Giants National Tour Dates

3/17: Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live
3/18: Covington, KY @ Madison Theater (18+)
3/19: Milwaukee, WI @Turner Hall
3/20: Chicago, IL (Kids Show) @ Vic Theatre SOLD OUT
3/22: Omaha, NE @ The Slowdown
3/23: Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre (16+)
3/25: Berkeley, CA @ UC Theatre (16+)
3/26: Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre SOLD OUT
3/27: San Diego, CA @ Belly Up (21+)
3/29: Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
3/31: Austin, TX @ Stubb’s
4/1: Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
4/2: New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues (18+)
4/3: Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall
4/5: St. Petersburg, FL @ The State Theatre
4/7: Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
4/8: Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse SOLD OUT
4/9: Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle SOLD OUT
4/10: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
4/16: Washington, DC @ USA Science & Engineering Festival

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July 17, 2015 · 2:18 pm

Video: The Wheel Workers – “Burglar”

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“Painfully catchy.” – MAGNET

“Houston’s brightest hope. Damn. Seriously righteous.” – BLURT

“Sincerely progressive and catchy as hell.” – Space City Rock

“Sociopolitical consciousness with a memorable hook.” – The Big Takeover

“New Wave synth stylings meet sharp lyrics.” – PopMatters

Houston-based sociopolitical pop act, The Wheel Workers follows up its 2014 nomination as “Best Pop Act” at the Houston Press Music Awards with a total of eight nominations in 2015 including “Best Local Recording” for its current album CITIZENS, as well as “Best Live Act.” Bandleader Steven Higginbotham has also been nominated as “Local Musician of The Year” and “Best Songwriter,” an especially noteworthy accomplishment for a pop band.

“I love artists who’ve had something substantial to say beyond the standard lyrical fare in pop songs,” Higginbotham says.  The Houston Chronicle called The Wheel Workers’ previous release “one of the best albums made in Houston last year,” and now CITIZENS is earning similar praise, this time on a national level.

When Higginbotham talks about substance in pop songs, he’s talking about the pairing of sociopolitical consciousness with a memorable hook. After all, there’s a reason that listeners are still moved by the catchiest folk and punk protest songs of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and The Clash. This approach to music-making by The Wheel Workers is the reason why the Houston Chronicle went on in that same piece to call the album a “thoughtful recording that offers new rewards during repeated playings.”

On CITIZENS, the band’s way of doing things has become masterful, as the album’s latest single “Burglar” proves. Higginbotham started writing the song the day after (guess what?) his home was burglarized.

“The singing style is reflective of my angry and vulnerable state at the time,” he recalls. Higginbotham didn’t finish the tune off until some time later when a failed relationship left him feeling that same way again. “So the song is ultimately about the break-up and looking back at what was lost,” he concludes.  The music video for “Burglar” noted the clip’s “Wes Anderson-inspired aesthetic.”

 “The original idea for the song was written a day after my house was burglarized, thus the title,” Higginbotham explains.  “Fortunately, they didn’t go upstairs, so my recording gear was intact!  I had been drinking, and my singing style on the song is reflective of my weird, drunken, semi-angry and vulnerable state at the time.”

With all that’s going on for The Wheel Workers and CITIZENS, the band is already looking towards the future, having already tracked basics for its next full-length.

“While the vinyl press cools off from printing album number three, we’re already in the studio working on number four,” says band member and producer, Dan Workman. “We’re all pretty amazed with the number of great songs and sounds we are collecting. I think that we’re hitting our stride!”

Higginbotham and the band’s Craig Wilkins (a fellow Houston Press Music Awards nominee as “Best Keyboards”) note that the next record will be of a more collaborative nature.

 Along with Higginbotham, Wilkins and Workman, The Wheel Workers is comprised of Allison Wilkins McPhail, and Tyson Sheth.  CITIZENS by The Wheel Workers is out now.  The Houston Press Music Awards are scheduled to be handed out on August 20th.

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Track Listing:

  1. Yodel
  2. Burglar
  3. Whole Other World
  4. Smokescreen
  5. Wage Slaves
  6. Run Away
  7. Dream
  8. Citizen Incorporated

 

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July 1, 2015 · 2:15 pm

Listen: Painted Palms – “Tracers”

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“Recaptures that sad-eyed, happy-footed disco-Beatlemania that made Of Montreal’s mid-aughts electronic renaissance so satisfying.” – Stereogum

“…channels a bit of Primal Scream’s Screamadelica the same way Jaqwar Ma have and also wouldn’t sound out of place on a mix next to Cut Copy.” – Under The Radar

“A brain-warpingly awesome cut of tripped-out pop.” – Noisey

Painted Palms’ second full-length album, Horizons, exudes a sense of confidence and purpose that is only present when two creators share a singular focus and absolute trust in each other’s talents. On Horizons, emotional states are suspended between light and dark, driven by the tension of efficient song structures. This week the band shares the synth-laden “Tracers,” melding ’60s psych pop with heavy-footed ’80s drum machines. Though vocalist Chris Prudhomme and producer Reese Donohue chose to collaborate on their second full-length by sending song ideas back and forth over e-mail, just as they did when crafting their 2014 debut Forever, Horizons marks the first time the duo has expanded their sound beyond the bedroom by stepping into the studio. Mixed by former DFA house engineer Eric Broucek (LCD Soundsystem, Classixx), Horizons engages with a diverse sonic palette on each track: ’60s psych-pop, ’80s synths, hypnotic vibes of the kind induced by Bjork and early ’90s Creation Records bands, and the trunk-rattling minimalism of Southern hip-hop. Horizons is a meditation on achieving balance in a place where things are always changing, and there are no real ends. As a result, Painted Palms refines and executes their best work to date.

Painted-Palms-Horizons-1425 Listen: Painted Palms – “Tracers”

Painted Palms
Horizons

Release Date: September 4, 2015

1. Refractor
2. Contact
3. Gemini
4. Glaciers
5. Echoes
6. Control
8. Waterfall
9. Painkiller

Tour Dates:

 8/27 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop*

9/4 Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
* = w/ Antwon, Meat Market

 

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June 10, 2015 · 1:14 pm

How Big How Blue How Beautiful #1 on US Billboard Top 200

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Seven years to the day from the release of their debut single, Florence + the Machine make their first ever #1 debut on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 with How Big How Blue How Beautiful, selling 137,044 albums in its first week. With three albums in seven years to their name, the band continues to reach new heights—How Big How Blue How Beautiful is currently #1 in the U.K., the band’s third #1 album in the country, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland and Canada after reaching the top spot on iTunes charts in 24 countries worldwide last week.

The band will play select U.S. headline dates this fall, with stops including two nights at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, a further two nights at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre and an appearance at Seattle’s Key Arena. American Express Card Members and fans who buy the album on the official store can purchase tickets before the general public through Thursday, June 11 at 10 p.m. local time. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. local time Friday, June 12*.

The dates will follow the band’s worldwide summer tour, headlining many festivals including Lollapalooza, Osheaga, Austin City Limits, Bestival, Splendour in the Grass, Southside and Hurricane and making appearances at Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, Roskilde and many more with their own headline dates including D.C.’s Merriweather Post Pavilion and Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

The band performed on “Good Morning America” this June 5 and stopped by “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” this week to perform “Ship to Wreck,” watch it here. Further, watch the bands recent performances on “Saturday Night Live” here and here.

How Big How Blue How Beautiful is out now, reaching #1 on iTunes in 18 countries worldwide including the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and more.

The new album How Big How Blue How Beautiful is a collection of songs, written and recorded over the course of 2014. Produced by Markus Dravs (Björk, Arcade Fire, Coldplay) with contributions from Paul Epworth, Kid Harpoon and John Hill, the third album by Florence + the Machine is live-sounding, tune-rich, unhinged in all the right places and powerful in all the best ways. In voice and, ultimately, outlook Florence has never sounded better. Download the album HERE.

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE LIVE
October 11                  Austin, TX                   Austin City Limits
October 13                  Phoenix, AZ                Ak-Chin Pavilion
October 14                  San Diego, CA            Viejas Arena
October 16-17             Los Angeles, CA         Hollywood Bowl
October 20                  Santa Barbara, CA     Santa Barbara Bowl
October 21-22             Berkeley, CA              Greek Theatre
October 24                  Portland, OR               Portland Memorial Coliseum
October 25                  Vancouver, BC            Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
October 27                  Seattle, WA                 Key Arena

HOW BIG HOW BLUE HOW BEAUTIFUL
1.    Ship To Wreck
2.    What Kind Of Man
3.    How Big How Blue How Beautiful
4.    Queen Of Peace
5.    Various Storms & Saints
6.    Delilah
7.    Long & Lost
8.    Caught
9.    Third Eye
10.  St Jude
11.  Mother

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June 10, 2015 · 11:55 am

Check ‘Em Out: Fine Points

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Fine Points, a new project featuring members of San Francisco psych band Sleepy Sun, will release its debut album, Hover, July 17th on Dine Alone Records. For a first taste of the record, you can stream the hazy, psych-tinged lead single “Astral Season”.

Listen: Fine Points – “Astral Season”

Recorded by the band at New Telos —  an old storefront church-turned-studio in Oakland — Hover is very much a product of the West Coast, capturing the energy of the Pacific’s crashing waves, the peaceful vibe of the giant redwoods, and the warmth of the hazy California sun. Full of crystalline guitars, dreamy soundscapes, and cosmic fuzz tones, it’s a dynamic collection of songs that touch on growth, rebirth, acceptance, and self-discovery.

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Hover Track Listing:
1. Astral Season
2. Just Like That
3. The Painted Fox
4. Amalia
5. Future Hands
6. These Days
7. In Lavender

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June 3, 2015 · 3:45 pm

Newest Love: Hunter Hunted

Portrait of Hunter Hunted at the 2015 Sasquatch Music Festival Photo Credit: Alex Crick

Portrait of Hunter Hunted at the 2015 Sasquatch Music Festival
Photo Credit: Alex Crick

“With a swift kick to hope-shredding guitars, their brand of ebullient electro-rock immediately revs back to life fueled by an undeniable custom-cut chorus just waiting around the driver’s blindside before it explodes, begging you to sing along.” – Mostly Junk Food

“Hunter Hunted strike alt radio gold with the first single “Blindside” off their forthcoming debut album”. – Neon Gold

“…musical gem” – Idolator

Today, Hunter Hunted announce their upcoming debut album Ready For You, which will come out on July 10 via FreeSolo/RCA. Last week, right before their Sasquatch! Festival set, Los Angeles duo Hunter Hunted revealed their first single “Blindside” of the album. They’ll set out on a 20-date co-headlining tour with Young Rising Sons in July and August and will be able to play album tracks like “Operating”, “Ready For You”, and “End Of The World” live for the first time.

Capable of crafting stadium-sized pop missives that are hugely catchy and wonderfully earnest, the duo of Michael Garner and Dan Chang, write songs that tread an easy path between the head and heart, bursting at the seems with undeniable melodies and choruses that are custom-made to be sung along to, preferably at peak volume while surrounded by several hundred of your brand new very best friends.

On Ready for You Hunter Hunted’s ambition is fantastically evident. It’s a record that seems tailor-made to engineer happiness. It’s a pop record with long legs—packed with tracks that balance razor-sharp hooks with heartfelt sentiment. “We want to make songs that make people happy, songs that you can hear on the radio and that make you want to sing and dance,” says Garner. “We want to get to that point where we make a song that takes the world by storm, where it’s like, ‘Holy shit. This song is hitting so hard. We don’t even know how to handle it!’ We’re still waiting for that moment where all of this just takes off and knocks us off our butts.”

The story of Hunter Hunted begins, at least for most people, with the release of their debut EP, Hunter Hunted, in 2013. However, the group’s roots go back much further as they met at UCLA. They’ve been included in MTV’s Artists To Watch, NYLON’s “Bands to look out for,” Starbucks “Pick of The Week, “Teen Vogue’s “Jam’s of the year,” Billboard Magazines “Scouting Report” and KCRW’s “Bands we Love.”

While standout track “Keep Together” was making the rounds on TV shows, the band’s early singles quickly elevated Hunter Hunted from the ranks of indie-pop hopefuls to serious chart contenders, touring alongside FUN., Fitz and The Tantrums, Weezer, and Twenty One Pilots. The band also turned in lauded performances at Bonnaroo, Governors Ball and Firefly, as well as stops on Conan O’Brien’s late night show and The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show pre-show.

When asked about “Blindside” and the upcoming debut album they say, “We wanted to write songs that were both tiny and huge. Songs that you could play on an acoustic guitar alone or with a big band inside an arena.” With the help of Howard benson and Neil Avron behind the boards, Hunter Hunted have achieved that.

The band has a busy year ahead of them – their co-headlining tour with Interscope’s Young Rising Sons for July/August is only the start of what’s to come.

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Hunter Hunted – Ready For You tracklisting:

1. Ready For You
2. Operating
3. Ghost
4. Blindside
5. Lucky Day
6. Dora Maar
7. Gentle Folks
8. Float
9. Keep Together
10. Better My Love
11. End Of The World

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May 1, 2015 · 1:26 pm

Stream The Dead Ships EP

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Last year, I posted a track from LA’s The Dead Ships called “Canyon” which you can check out here. I also have another of their tracks on my SoundCloud “likes” — that song is “Floorboards” which you can check out here. Or, you can just stream the whole EP over at Consequence of Sound here.

The Dead Ships will release EP I next Tuesday, May 5th. The full EP, produced by Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning.

Having racked up praise from local outlets like the LA Times, Buzz Bands LA, DoLA & more for their high-energy live show, The Dead Ships play Chicago’s Empty Bottle tonight before heading to Toronto for Canadian Music Week, sharing stages with acts like King Tuff & Twin Peaks (see below for details.)

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EP I Track Listing:
1. Big Quiet
2. Canyon
3. Floorboards
4. Citycide
5. Seance
6. Tomorrow’s Crashes
7. Canyon (Radio Edit)

Upcoming Shows:
5/1: Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle (w/ R. Ring) – more info
5/7: Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace (w/ King Tuff, Twin Peaks) – 9pm (more info)
5/8: Toronto, ON @ Bovine Sex Club – 10pm (more info)
5/9: Toronto, ON @ Cameron House
5/9: Toronto, ON @ Cherry Cola’s Rock ‘N’ Rolla Cabaret – 12am

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April 23, 2015 · 9:09 am

Video: Florence + The Machine – “Ship To Wreck”

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On the track Florence explains:

“I was thinking about my own self destructive side, and how you can make something only to tear it down, enjoy/destroy, create/devastate etc. When you’re in that whirlwind, you often end up breaking the thing you love the most”.

The video for “Ship to Wreck”  is uniquely set and filmed in Florence’s very own home (watch it below).

The new album How Big How Blue How Beautiful is a collection of songs, written and recorded over the course of 2014. Produced by Markus Dravs (Björk, Arcade Fire, Coldplay) with contributions from Paul Epworth, Kid Harpoon and John Hill, the third album by Florence + The Machine is live-sounding, tune-rich, unhinged in all the right places and powerful in all the best ways. In voice and, ultimately, outlook Florence has never sounded better.

HBHBHB

‘How Big How Blue How Beautiful’ Tracklist:

  1. Ship To Wreck
  2. What Kind Of Man
  3. How Big How Blue How Beautiful
  4. Queen Of Peace
  5. Various Storms & Saints
  6. Delilah
  7. Long & Lost
  8. Caught
  9. Third Eye
  10. St Jude
  11. Mother

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April 16, 2015 · 9:19 am

Listen: Nick Diamonds – “Witch Window”

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Listen: Nick Diamonds – “Witch Window”

Nick Diamonds has shared a new track “Witch Window” from his upcoming LP, City of Quartz, due out June 16th on his own Manque Music label. 

While City of Quartz is Diamonds’ first solo release since 2011’s highly-praised I Am an Attic, he’s kept busy fronting Islands, playing 2014’s reunion shows with his first band The Unicorns, and contributing the theme and original music to the hit podcast “Serial.” 

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City of Quartz Track Listing:

1. City of Quartz

2. Love Is Stranger

3. Witch Window

4. Where Is The Elephant

5. Ungrievable Lives

6. The Mind Reels

7. Bohemian Groove

8. Something About The Moon

9. What Can The Sun

10. Hit The Skids

11. The Sting

12. I’m Nobody

13. God Internet

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