all i find are souvenirs from better times

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie sat down for an interview and played a couple of songs for a BBC 6 Music Session not long ago. Man, that interviewer is extremely annoying!

Interview 1
Cath...
Interview 2
Title & Registration
Interview 3
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

you blow blow blow blow your fuse... when no age covers "it's oh so quiet"

Head over to Stereogum and download Stereogum Presents... Enjoyed A Tribute To Björk's Post, a compilation album featuring twelve artists covering songs from Björk's Post! Also, make sure to take your time and read the liner notes, an essay on Post and an interview with Björk!

The video for "Wanderlust" is out today!

what's in the air when you're walking on air

I am pretty sure that Jeremy Jay will show up as my top artist on last.fm this upcoming Monday as I have been listening to his debut record non-stop all week. A Place Where We Can Go feels romantically nostalgic; its old style/out of time sound is unbelievably delightful and refreshing to hear! Jeremy Jay captivated me from the very beginning of the album with the one second intro track in which he utters the words “nite nite” in a soft, echoing tone. In some strange way (even though they are quite different), Jeremy Jay remains me of Cat Stevens in that both artists have such mesmerizing voices.

Heavenly Creatures [wicked-cool song]
Beautiful Rebel [wicked-cool song]
Hold Me in Your Arms Tonight

Airwalker from Airwalker EP [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit Jeremy Jay's MySpace here
buy Airwalker EP here
A Place Where We Can Go comes out on April 22nd, stay tuned for pre-order details

let's go on pretending that the light is neverending

Beach House with Paper Cuts—March 28, 2008 @ El Mocambo

Paper Cuts
Victoria Legrand joins in for guest vocal during Paper Cuts’ last song

Beach House

relentlessly craving wanderlust

You can watch the making of Björk's brand new video for "Wanderlust" here or here. The highly anticipated video comes out on Monday!

Wanderlust (Ratatat Remix) [wicked-cool song]

new no age single!

No Age has posted "Eraser" up on their MySpace page! I have been dying to hear it ever since the band’s announcement of the new 7-inch on Monday. What can I say, it is a typical No Age song: it is awesome! Again, you can hear Eraser on No Age’s Mypace or you can download the web-rip below.

Eraser (web-rip) [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

Eraser 7-inch Single comes out on, you can pre-order it here

all i want to do is *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* and *ka-ching*

For a limited time only, you can pre-order tickets for the upcoming M.I.A. tour here.

4/28 @ 4th and B in San Diego,CA
5/1 @ La Zona Rosa in Austin,TX
5/2 @ Palladium Ballroom in Dallas,TX
5/5 @ City Hall in Nashville,TN
5/8 @ Fillmore Detroit in Detroit,MI
5/9 @ Aragon Ballroom in Chicago,IL
5/12 @ Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee,WI
5/13 @ Myth in Maplewood,MN
5/14 @ Liberty Hall in Lawrence,KS
5/17 @ Fillmore Auditorium in Denver,CO
5/18 @ The Depot in Salt Lake City,UT
5/23 @ Roseland Theater in Portland,OR
6/6 @ McCarren Pool in Brooklyn,NY
5/27 @ Edmonton Events Centre in Edmonton, AB
5/28 @ MacEwan Hall in Calgary, AB
5/30 @ Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg, MB
6/2 @ Sound Academy in Toronto, ON
6/3 @ Metropolis in Montreal, QC

Paper Planes (Remix for the Children by Adrock)
Paper Planes (DFA Remix) [wicked-cool song]
Paper Planes (Scottie B. Remix) [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit M.I.A.'s MySpace here
buy Kala here

it's colder in your house than you think

A new No Age 7-inch is up for pre-order over at InSound. It features "Eraser", the first single off of Nouns (out on May 6 via Sub Pop) as well as several cover songs by the duo.

Holy Fuck: Lovely Allen (No Age Remix)
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

new patrick wolf demo!!!!!!!

Patrick Wolf has posted a new demo called "Wargames" on his MySpace!!!!!!!!!!
Stream it here or download it below.

Wargames (demo) [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

i know that you want the candy

The Raveonettes — March 21, 2008 @ The Opera House

 
visit For the 'records' for a review/more photos of the show

The Raveonettes are amazing live

That is all.

we'll wait with knives after class!

Jemina from Be Your Own Pet left a message on the band's MySpace bulletin today:

i kno​​w eve​​ryo​​ne is sup​​er con​​fus​​ed wit​​h the​​ thr​​ee mis​​sin​​g son​​gs on the​​ US alb​​um.​​ we did​​n't​​ choose​​ for​​ thi​​s to hap​​pen​​ and​​ we'​​re not​​ try​​ing​​ to fuc​​k any​​one​​ ove​​r wit​​h giv​​ing​​ the​​m an unf​​ini​​she​​d alb​​um.​​ uni​​ersal​​ dec​​ide​​d tha​​t bec​​ky,​​ bla​​ck hol​​e, and​​ blo​​w yr min​​d wer​​e "to​​o vio​​len​​t" to be rel​​eas​​ed.​​ tal​​k abo​​ut a bum​​mer​​ tim​​e! the​​y gav​​e us the​​ cho​​ice​​ of cha​​ngi​​ng the​​ lyr​​ics​​ and​​ rer​​eco​​rdi​​ng the​​ son​​gs,​​ or to hav​​e tho​​se thr​​ee son​​gs rem​​ove​​d fro​​m the​​ alb​​um.​​ we dec​​ide​​d to rem​​ove​​ the​​ son​​gs,​​ bec​​aus​​e we don​​'t thi​​nk the​​re'​​s any​​thi​​ng wro​​ng wit​​h the​​ lyr​​ics​​ in the​​ fir​​st pla​​ce!​​ we are​​ goi​​ng to rel​​eas​​e tho​​se thr​​ee son​​gs on a spe​​cia​​l ep tha​​t's​​ goi​​ng to com​​e out​​ thi​​s sum​​mer​​. sor​​ry we did​​n't​​ mak​​e an ann​​oun​​cem​​ent​​ soo​​ner​​. we'​​ve bee​​n doi​​ng so muc​​h pre​​ss abo​​ut how​​ the​​ alb​​um got​​ fuc​​ked​​ in ame​​ric​​a, tha​​t i gue​​ss we ass​​ume​​d tha​​t mos​​t peo​​ple​​ alr​​ead​​y kne​​w. wel​​l, hop​​e tha​​t cle​​ars​​ som​​e thi​​ngs​​ up.​​

This is absolutely ridiculous… too violent?? ...is Universal targeting BYOP to elementary school children? This is really a downer for North American fans as "Becky" is the best song on Get Awkward and "Black Hole" and "Blow Yr Mind" are both great too! I am still quite surprised and disappointed that Universal banned those songs from the album... nevertheless, I have put up links to the songs below, so feel free to download them... if you can handle the violence!

Black Hole [wicked-cool song]
Becky [super-wicked-cool song]
Blow Yr Mind [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit Be Your Own Pet MySpace here
buy the uncensored UK version of Get Awkward here

clean your blades and start swinging

Head over to The Smudge of Ashen Fluff to download four songs performed by Lightspeed Champion live on NPR at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

portishead: third

Here is my two cents on Third, the highly-anticipated new album by Portishead:

Cons:

• Beth Gibbons’ "witch-like"/weird voice is gone
  
• The absence of scratching/turntable effects

Pros:

• Gibbons’ voice is still gorgeously haunting
  
• Gibbons’ voice also sounds vulnerable at times... absolutely stunning!
  
• Musically more rhythm driven than previous albums
  
• The majority of the album sounds like something from 1970s Italian horror flicks!
  
• Machine Gun (my favourite song of the moment) is the first single

Conclusion:
Although not necessarily "trip-hop" sounding, Third still possesses the classic Portishead sound quality. It is a magnificently dark and surreal album by a timeless band.

Silence [wicked-cool song]
We Carry On [wicked-cool song]
Machine Gun [super-wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit Portishead's MySpace here
Third comes out on April 28th, you can pre-order a beautiful looking limited edition box set here

it's like a book elegantly bound, but in a language that you can't read

The first single "I Will Possess Your Heart" from the Death Cab For Cutie’s new album Narrow Stairs is out today.

I Will Possess Your Heart
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

basia bulat: in the night ep

The lovely folks over at B(oot)log uploaded a bootleg of Basia Bulat live at Wolfe Island Music Fest in Kingston, Ontario back in August 11, 2007. Speaking of Basia Bulat, she released a new EP entitled In The Night last month via Rough Trade. It includes the title track, a new version of "Before I Knew", and a Sam Cooke cover, "Touch the Hem of His Garment".

In The Night [wicked-cool song]
Before I Knew (Reworked Version) [wicked-cool song]
Touch the Hem of His Garment (Sam Cooke cover)

Someday (The Strokes cover) (Live)
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

"In The Night" music video:


visit Basia Bulat's MySpace here
buy Oh,My Darling here

cover song of the moment

Lightspeed Champion: Perfect Situation (Weezer cover) (Live at SXSW 2008) [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

boris: smile

Boris latest album, Smile is a fascinating exploration into a loud, melodic, and mysterious world. It features eight ambitious genre blending songs. The variety is really limitless here: there is the rhythm driven opening track "Messeeji", the ultra noisy and distorted "Hanate!", a gentle and melodic "Hana, Taiyou, Ame", and the shoegaze sounding lullaby in "Tonari No Sataan". Certainly, this record will leave many listeners frightened and confused; but in the end, the band’s experimentation with sampling, noise, punk, and metal make Smile a wonderfully unique experience.

Messeeji [wicked-cool song]
Buzz-In [wicked-cool song]
Hana, Taiyou, Ame [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

Smile comes out on April 29th, you can pre-order it here

the superfantastics: choose your destination

I have been very lucky with my band choices during Canadian Music Week. In the past years, I fell in love with bands like Great Lake Swimmers and The Nymphets; this year, I discovered a wonderful duo from Halifax, Nova Scotia called The Superfantastics. Being very impressed by their set at Criminal Records last Saturday, I bought Choose Your Destination, a five songs 7" EP from the band. Much like their performance that night, the EP is full of the duo’s charming vibes; in addition, it is full of catchy indie pop songs with cheesy but very adorable lyrics. Take "Van Gogh", my favourite song from the EP, it opens with "you are art, I want to hang you from my wall. You make a perfect addition to my living room and kitchen, not hanging alone in some gallery hall..." sure, it is cheesy, but something about it makes the song an absolute delight to listen to. Even if you are not completely satisfy with the songs I posted below, I think every music love should buy Choose Your Destination because it has one of the coolest packaging ever: it comes with a pair of old-school blue and red cardboard glasses so you can look at the cover as well as the booklet in 3-D ...total awesomeness to the max!

Van Gogh [wicked-cool song]
The Astronomer [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit The Superfantastics MySpace here
buy Choose Your Destination EP here

"my vessel brave......."

New Patrick Wolf MySpace blog:

Hello my dears

Well, Ive been deep in my introverted, investigative mode recently searching for a resonance within myself, wandering through museums and through libraries, finding the next communication to give to the world.
Although I have years of songs all heavy on my hands begging to be heard, released....
I am still very cautious of releasing songs when they are not fully formed or in context of a current climate, personally and public.
I trust I have enough time on this earth that I will be able to get all of these songs heard before i’m gone

I always feel at the beginning stages of making my albums that I have to almost select the twelve strongest stories and connect them via bloodtype, make a family out of them, make a home for them, connect the dots to create a whole, a possession for you to own... its a tricky proccess. The writing of the songs is easy, the putting together is the puzzle game.

After the magic position, I have decided to leave the circus behind, those days are done, It is time to embrace a new age, a stronger, darker, battlefield, warrior, tyburn tree, internal investigations, operations of broken and fragmented heart, to analyse the open endless roads I have travelled in the last six years years...

I wish I could just invite you all over for a long night of stories, log fires and vats of mulled cider or strong hot tea and talk this all over but in my game I have to condense these stories and songs into a record... I will have to edit myself...

anyways.. i am going back to my roots now. after travelling travelling travelling from continent to contintent I find I am happiest and most productive when close to my birthplace. yes.. i am south londoner again and it feels fantastic.

when i was fifteen or so I worked in a sandwich shop, making very bad sandwiches for busy people in wansdsworth that was managed by a lady who used to play me and my sister, who also worked at the shop for a while, heavy 2-step garage and what I guess would go on to be grime on cassette tapes she had recorded from last nights local pirate radio broadcasts... thats when I first started getting obsessed with pushing the limit of beat programming and time signatures, so solid crew were the first stars that came from sw london, after ultimate kaos, who i saw open the new virgin megastore in wimbledon by doing backflips around a ghetto blaster, happy days ... anyway, i guess i am suggesting I am reconnecting to my roots, when you find your roots, you become stronger and can grow into new dimensions and I am finding mine again... im researching gaelic folk songs, all kinds of gaelic, back to my west cork irish roots, the migrations of my ancestors, in my youth the clonakilty buskers festival did so much positive damage to my 8 year old brain that I spent the first five years of my teenage-dom hungering for an accordion, then using all my violin practise time to make up my own reels and turn the violin to a fiddle..

And too, I just want to say hello, and keep you a little informed of the journey I will take as I make this next album, like my mother said with a paintbrush in her hand, the future without the past is barren wasteland.....

I must sleep now... ive had a mad day of moving a harspichord, a virginal, clavichord, a piano, a dolls house and too many outfits from one side of london to another, from my new home, now is time to rest and digest... good things are coming our way... bloody chamber music will be starting up very soon too, after slow teething problems, its on its way, in its new south of the river home ready to cross those bridges to you...

goodnight brothers and sisters, sleep well, or wake well

sail away, sail away my vessel brave
sail away, sail away my vessel brave...

x pw

it's a trap

Lightspeed Champion at the NME Awards!

you are art

Calm Down, It's Monday, The Superfantastics, Julie Doiron, and Dog Day — March 8 @ Criminal Records

Calm Down, It's Monday



The Superfantastics



Julie Doiron



Dog Day


Thank you Criminal Records for hosting all the fantastic shows during this year's CMW!

got woken up by birds and bees

Plants and Animals — March 7 @ Criminal Records

cmw recommendations for march 7, 8 and 9 (all free shows!)

March 7
Winter Gloves at Criminal Records, show's at 6pm
visit Winter Gloves's MySpace here

Plants and Animals at Criminal Records, show's at 7pm
visit Plants and Animals's MySpace here

March 8
Laura Barrett at Soundscape, show's at 4pm
Robot Ponies [wicked-cool song]
visit Laura Barrett's MySpace here

Calm Down It's Monday at Criminal Records, show's at 5pm

Julie Doiron at Criminal Records, show's at 5:30pm
visit Julie Doiron's MySpace here

March 9
Forest City Lovers at Soundscape, show's at 4pm
visit Forest City's MySpace here

don't forget to put the right side down

No Age — March 5, 2008 @ Phoenix Concert Theatre!

cmw recommendations for march 5 and 6

March 5... Tonight!
NO AGE at The Phoenix! They are on at 11pm!

March 6
Jenny Omnichord at Criminal Records, show's at 6pm and it’s FREE!
visit Jenny Omnichord's MySpace here

Julie Doiron at Rivoli, show's at 9pm
from Woke Myself Up, 2007
Swan Pond
No More [wicked-cool song]
visit Julie Doiron's MySpace here

Jenn Grant at Rivoli, show's at 10pm
from Orchestra for the Moon, 2007
White Horses
visit Jenn Grant's MySpace here

The Paper Cranes at Wrongbar, show's at 1am
visit Paper Cranes' MySpace here

sigur rós take over youtube

Sigur Rós had this to say in a Myspace bulletin sent today: "Sigur Ros and YouTube make a little bit of history this Friday (Mar 7) with the band taking over the entire front page of the site around the world for a whole day, becoming the first group to ever have a feature-length music DVD streamed on the channel, with their acclaimed 'Heima' documentary shown in its complete 97-minute glory."