Earlier this year, I posted a track from The Van Doos. Now, I’ve got a brand new track called “Baby Be Brutal” for you to check out. This video even stars British actor John Altman (who’s best known as the murdering/drug-addicted/faker of own death “Nasty” Nick Cotton in the UK soap Eastenders). John Altman will be making a sensational return from the dead to Albert Square later this year! So, until then, check him out here.
The Van Doos are: Simon Hutchinson (lead vocals, guitar), Louis Bamber (vocals, guitar), Fred Baty (bass), Dom Antony (drums), whose influences include Pulp, The Teardrop Explodes and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Canada’s acclaimed pop multi-instrumentalist and Juno Award winner Lights has released a new music video for “Up We Go,” the first single off her third studio album, Little Machines, out on September 23rd via Warner Brothers Records.
Little Machines was produced and engineered by Drew Pearson, with key songs/singles mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent (Madonna, U2, Beyonce), and was recorded in both Los Angeles, CA and Vancouver, BC. The anthemic single, “Up We Go,” is available now to purchase digitally or as an instant grat when you pre-order the full album, and can be heard on YouTube and on iamlights.com. It follows intro track “Portal,” which Refinery29 called “the wanderlust song of the summer.”
Lights will perform a very special show at Hard Rock Cafe New York in Times Square on September 30th, as the 2014 Artist Ambassador for Pinktober®, Hard Rock’s annual campaign for breast cancer awareness. The 18+ show begins at 7 p.m. and is free with RSVP. She will then start her national tour in Portland, ME on October 24th.
Lights Fall 2014 US Tour Dates:
10/24 Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall
10/25 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
10/29 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
10/31 Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony
11/01 Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live!
11/02 Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of the Living Arts
11/04 Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
11/05 Chicago, IL – House of Blues
11/07 Denver, CO – The Summit Music Hall
11/08 Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
11/11 Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre
11/13 San Francisco, CA – Grand Ballroom at Regency Center
“Charli XCX and her pop-perfect hooks have been just a little busy for the past two years, propelling artists like Icona Pop and Iggy Azalea up the charts. Now, after the success of “I Love It” and “Fancy,” it’s Charli’s turn to do some hit-making of her own.” —USA TODAY
“If her new song is any indication, ‘Sucker’ could be the British star’s breakout album that ushers her proper arrival.” —THE FADER
If Charli XCX’s 2014 had ended yesterday it would have been an unequivocally successful year for the singer/songwriter, but there’s still three and a half months to go, and today, Charli put another notch in the win column with the release of “Break the Rules” — one of the most straightforward songs she’s ever recorded, and one of the best. There’s some Joan Jett in here, and some Skrillex, and it’s fucking awesome. —STEREOGUM
Coming off an exciting weekend at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, where the 22 year old singer + songwriter performed her smash single, “Boom Clap” during the pre-show and scored five nominations for her two summer hits (including “Fancy” which she co-wrote with Iggy Azalea); Charli XCX drops a new video for her latest single, “Break the Rules” arriving on her sophomore album, Sucker out October 21st via Neon Gold/Atlantic Records. The video accompaniment for the sweet rebel anthem features cameos from Rose McGowan as well as gal-pal Kitten front-woman Chloe Chaidez, catch the prom scene here:
“I was inspired by movies like” Jawbreaker” and “Carrie” for the “Break the Rules” video. I never went to prom when I was at school so this was kind of me living out my weird fantasy of what prom would be like in my head. I asked Rose McGowan to be in the video and I never ever thought she would say yes, but she did… so she came to prom too… And she trashed it ;)”
– Charli XCX
Over the last 18 months Charli’s rise to international pop stardom has been nothing short of meteoric. From releasing her dark-pop record True Romancein 2013 to a wealth of critical acclaim, Charli has toured the globe with the likes of Coldplay and Ellie Goulding, written and featured on one of 2013’s biggest hits “I Love It” with Swedish duo Icona Pop, co-written and featured on the global, four million-selling hit “Fancy”with Iggy Azalea, scored a UK and US Top 10 hit with “Boom Clap” + more.
“Boom Clap,” “Fancy” and “I Love It” combined have sold over 14 Million copies worldwide.
North American Headline Tour Dates
September 26th – Orlando, FL @ The Social (TICKETS)
September 27th – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room (TICKETS)
September 29th – Jacksonville Beach, FL @ Freebird Live (TICKETS)
September 30th – Charlotte, NC @ Amos Southend(TICKETS)
October 2nd – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (TICKETS)
October 3rd – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts (TICKETS)
October 4th – Boston, MA @ Royale Boston (TICKETS)
October 7th – New York, NY @ Webster Hall (TICKETS)
October 9th – Montreal, QC @ Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre (TICKETS)
“We wanted to make a collection of songs that are a soundtrack to the times you lose yourself in the moment…whether it’s in the club, in the sunshine with friends or staring up into the night sky.” – Menace & Lord Each has individually enjoyed a colorful, successful career within the electronic music industry, but now Kris Menace and Simon Lord have teamed up for an all-new music project simply dubbed Menace & Lord. In step with their new direction, the pair will release an album on September 15th, and the debut single from the album is the title track “Sun, Moon & Stars, Pt. 1”. The music video was directed by Rolling Stone Awarded Meeto Worre Kronborg Grevsen from Denmark who says: “When I was first presented to Menace & Lord, I was completely astonished by the feeling of the tracks. For me, they had a sense of magic like the feeling of being in love for the first time. A feeling of the universe coming together around you and a feeling of coexisting with another person and daydreaming. We wanted to create a love story, and we quickly decided to let the video universe evolve over more than one video to get deeper sense of the story and atmosphere. It’s always a task to make a story fit within a music video, because making a music video is to the create a visual emotion to the music, and often a story is told by words and within a narrative structure that has to make sense somehow. But I think we found a way to create a sense of a story without making it depend on words and the narrative structure. You should feel the videos rather than understanding it perfectly. And I love the chemistry between the actors.” This is just the first video of three that will be released for the debut album Sun, Moon and Stars. The next two music videos are just as visually breathtaking as this one, and will be released in the coming months. Again, from Meeto, “‘Sun, Moon & Stars, Pt. 1’ is the initial video of the trilogy and it should set the atmosphere for all three. It’s centred around the first meeting and the magic of feeling another person for the first time. It’s a happy beginning but we put some drops of melancholy in there as well. The sense of nothing last for ever.” Menace & Lord are defining an all-new path in the electronic music scene so keep an ear out for the revolution.
“…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.
” …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
” …retro-futuristic sound that’s hard to pin down but easy to enjoy — similar in spirit to fellow Vancouver resident Dan Bejar’s Destroyer.” – Stereogum
“… a futuristic, psychedelic rock track that has put us in a trance.” – Refinery29
The new solo project High Ends from Yukon Blonde frontman Jeffrey Innes is titled Super Class and will be released October 7th via Dine Alone Records. Having previously revealed lush album cut “The Weight” and the psych-rock single “Intoxicated,” NYLON has revealed the video for infectious album track “Downtown” today. Filled with irresistible, ‘80s-inspired analogue synths & an infectious refrain, the video is an artistic interpretation about relationships and detachment in the modern age.
Innes explains, “Downtown” is a song I wrote about internet dating. It’s actually more about a conversation I had with a friend regarding dating in general. She was finding internet dating hard to escape because less and less people try to meet people the old way now. She explained that in the old days she felt like a club was like a jungle and people behaved like animals. She used to hate being gawked at and treated like an object, but the internet thing doesn’t feel like anything at all. I feel like the video interpretation that Sabre has made for the song somewhat fits the modern feel of what it’s like to be single and detached from the new way of dating. The girl goes Downtown and still ends up by herself. It looks like she has a clear mind though, which is always nice.
The ten-song LP 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 The New Pornographers’ Kathryn Calder contributed backing vocals, and Ladyhawk’s Darcy Hancock laid down guitar. Fans not able to wait until album release can grab the 2-track single featuring “Downtown” and “Intoxicated” available now. Super Class Tracklist
1) Downtown
2) The Weight
3) Intoxicated
4) I’m Gonna Keep On Dancing
5) Cappuccino
6) The Believer
7) River Cruise
8) Ocean Song
9) Feel/Sleep/Aliens
10) Working Man’s Blues
“The sun sets in the background as the band plays on, masterfully achieving an organic sound…” – Elmore Magazine
“Sharing their funk and psychedelic rock influences through visuals that reinforce its sound, the hypnotic track is set to a magical journey that sees the band’s members riding on bongo drums while coming in contact with electrified lily pads” – NYLON Guys
“Kiev’s genre-transcending full-length […] exudes a powerful otherworldly quality, as if Orange County-based band of sophisticates give in at times to the urge to simply space out.” – Buzzbands.LA
Orange County alt-rockers Kiev released their debut full-length album, Falling Bough Wisdom Teeth, in October of last year. In support of the record, the band is kicking off a west coast tour todaywith fellow Californians Bad Suns.
Having recently unveiled their otherworldly video for Falling Bough Wisdom Teeth album cut “Be Gone Dull Cage,” the band has now dropped an incredible live video of “Solving and Running”- shot in a stunningly picturesque desert locale.
Falling Bough Wisdom Teeth was produced & engineered by Chris Shaw (Wilco, Phish, Super Furry Animals), and pays homage to collective band influences & minimalist pioneer Steve Reich. The members of Kiev have strong connections to the world of visual art, and have orchestrated & added a multi-faceted 3D element to their live performances. Additionally, the LP art was originally a band favorite by renowned contemporary artist Walton Ford, who gave the band his blessing to use it as the cover for Falling Bough Wisdom Teeth upon hearing the record & how it spoke to his painting.
Full West Coast Tour w/ Bad Suns Kicks Off Today:
8/1: Bakersfield, CA @ B Ryders
8/3: Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
8/4: San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
8/5: Reno, NV @ Cargo Reno
8/6: Eugene, OR @ Cozmic
8/7: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
8/10: Boise, ID @ Reef
8/12: Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
8/13: Las Vegas, NV @ Container Park
8/15: Santa Barbara, CA @ Velvet Jones
“By far one of Size’s finest moments of the year so far.” – Dancing Astronaut
“All the ingredients for a chart climbing hit.” – EDM Sauce
“A dance floor killer.” – Knack For Tracks
“(A) spectacular creation.” – Noise Porn
“It was a must we post this summer smash.” – Daily Beat
“One of the most anticipated singles to be released on Size… a sure shot anthem.” – The Bangin Beats
Just days after “Strong” was released onto Beatport, soaring up the official Progressive Charts as we speak, French house duo Arno Cost and Norman Doray finally unleash the official video in all its 1980’s man-made fabric glory.
Set against a backdrop of bowling balls, perms and long-legged fan-girls, after throwing shade during the pre-match interviews rivals Arno and Norman head down to the lanes to go strike for strike in a pitched battle to determine just who is the strongest out of the two.
Today, Mystery Skulls producer Luis Dubuc announces his single and video for his electro-funk tune “Paralyzed”, out today on Warner Bros. Records. Directed by Bo Mirosseni (Disclosure, Block Moth Super Rainbow), the clip features a number ghoulish figures who show off their extraordinary basketball skills complete with plenty of tricks and dunks like some spooky Harlem Globe Trotters, until we find a pleasant twist at the end. “Paralyzed” will come on Dubuc’s debut album out this fall, also on Warner Bros. and will also feature a collaboration with disco legend Niles Rogers.
Musically Amusing 