the time i spent with nico

There are lots of new Atlas Sound tracks over at Bradford Cox's blog.

santogold: santogold

One of the last projects I had to do for school this year was to create a Flash page for a musician/band that features their music, video, bio, lyrics... you know, things that you would find on a band’s website. I was pretty excited to do it because I could do an entire project on Patrick Wolf! One of my classmates did her Flash page on someone named Santogold. She played a couple of songs by the Philadelphia native and I immediately fell in love with her. Initially, I thought Santogold sounded like M.I.A.; but after listening to more songs from her self-titled debut, I had a much different opinion about her. A few songs such as "Shove It", "Creator", and "Unstoppable" do have somewhat similar style and energy as M.I.A., but the album overall has more of an alternative dance pop feel. Regardless, Santogold is full of perfect summer party anthems and it is just an incredibly enjoyable record!

You'll Find A Way [wicked-cool song]
Creator [wicked-cool song]
Unstoppable [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit Santogold's MySpace here
Santogold comes out on April 29th, you can pre-order it here

new mates of state video

Here's the new Mates of State video for "Get Better", a track from the duo's fifth record, Re-Arrange Us, out on May 22nd.

mystery jets: twenty one

I was never really a big fan of Mystery Jets’ Making Dens. I only listened to it because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about... it was an alright album, but nothing special at all. Nonetheless, I have this philosophy that I should never shut down a band/artist even if I disliked their previous releases (I hated everything Arctic Monkeys when their first record came out, but I listened to Favourite Worst Nightmare and my opinion of them had completely changed!)

So yes, you guessed where this is going; I am recommending Mystery Jets’s sophomore album, Twenty One, in this post. I can’t explain why... maybe because I just finished school and finally get to relax, but I absolutely love the fact that Twenty One is such a pop driven record full of cheesy relationship songs. It just sounds so simple, care-free, and pleasant to me! This is probably the only time I would recommend a song ("Young Love") even with the lines: "Is that you on the bus? Is that you on the train? You wrote your number on my hand but it came off in the rain." With such a cheering vibe and 80s/XTC influenced sound, Mystery Jets' latest is the perfect album to listen to while talking a stroll in these gorgeous spring afternoons!

Hideaway [wicked-cool song]
Young Love [wicked-cool song]
Two Doors Down [wicked-cool song]

Hideaway (Switch Remix)
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit Mystery Jets' MySpace here
buy Twenty One here

happy earth day!

Earthday 08
Earth Day Canada

no age: nouns

It is no secret to regular readers of this blog that I love No Age. Weirdo Rippers was my favourite record of last year and I have been blogging about them regularly for the past year. Indeed, Nouns is my most anticipated release of 2008 and I am naturally far too excited about it!

No Age’s Sub Pop debut begins with a track characterized by lo-fi vocal drowned out by noisy distorted guitar melodies, rhythmic hammering of the drums, and endless awesomeness. "Miner" really sets up the tone for the rest of the record, tracks such as "Teen Creeps", "Sleeper Hold", "Cappo", "Ripped Knees", and "Brain Burner" all follow a similar structure. The duo made a great choice in picking "Eraser" as their first single. The accompanying tambourine enhances an already brilliantly rich texture. In addition, the single uses the signature Weirdo Rippers sound with its surreal/dreamlike build-up, which aside from few other tracks, is mostly absent from Nouns.

Back when Weirdo Ripper was released, I wrote that it was the result of noise rock mixed with 80s' hardcore punk, indie pop and Suicide influenced style. There are some changes this time around: the instrumentations are overall more 80s hardcore/Hüsker Dü sounding while the vocals are rawer and rather lo-fi. Nevertheless, just like Weirdo Ripper, Nouns is another exceptionally solid and engaging record from start to finish!

Miner [wicked-cool song]
Teen Creeps [wicked-cool song]
Here Should Be My Home [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit No Age's Myspace here
buy Eraser 7" here
Nouns comes out on May 6th, you can pre-order it here

happy record store day...

Go buy some records!

cover song of the moment

I am very trilled about the Constantines and Feist’s cover of "Island In The Stream". The original song, written by Bee Gees, was performed by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton... and for you 90s hip-hop kids, it was sampled in Pras’ "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)". I absolutely adore the cover; these is such a beautiful chemistry coming from the voices of Constantines’ Steve Lambke and Feist as I am mesmerized by the song every time I hear it!

Constantines and Feist: Islands In The Stream (Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton cover) [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit Constantines' MySpace here
visit Feist's Myspace here
buy Islands In The Stream 7" here

the stitches of space that slowly come and go

There is a new track up for download over at deerhunter/atlas sound/lot plaza's blog.
Check out this Bento lunches decorated as album covers... very cool!
I found a pretty good remix of Klaxons's "As Above, So Below" by Justice the other day, you can download it below.

Klaxons: As Above, So Below (Justice Remix)
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

she was walking on the tables in the glass house she was walking on the tables in the glass house

Miles Kane of The Rascals and Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, aka The Last Shadow Puppets, are set to release their debut record on April 21st in the UK & Europe and on May 6th in North America. I am quite excited to hear it because it features tracks recorded by the 22-piece London Metropolitan Orchestra, which were arranged and conducted by Owen Pallett! The duo visited New York earlier this year and recorded a couple of stripped-down versions of tracks from The Age Of The Understatement, make sure you check them out below!

My Mistakes Were Made For You (Acoustic)
The Age Of The Understatement (Acoustic)