Archive for the Audio Category

The Cool Kids release two new tracks in anticipation of new mixtape

Posted in Audio, Downloads, Music News with tags , , , , , , , on Friday, May 1, 2009 by Erik Burg

The indie friendly hip-hop stars Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish have been busy since their stellar Bake Sale EP release in 2008. With the release of the That’s Stupid Mixtape the same year in conjunction with a tour, and now they’re working on their second studio album When Fish Ride Bicycles slated for release later this year. But they’ve got another project ready to drop this week. The Gone Fishing Mixtape will be released Monday May 4th on Cake Recordings.

gone-fishing

The tape was produced and performed along side their long time friend Don Cannon, and the two singles that they leaked today display some of their best work to date. “Champions” shows some of the Cool Kids most interesting production to date, adding tons of fuzzed out and over the top bass lines to the usual snare kicks that they’ve perfected by now. I absolutely love this track, the way that the chorus bangs is absolutely unreal. Maybe it’s not quite as smooth as some of their other material and a little bit more of what some people would call “mainstream” but it’s still awesome. The other single, “Popcorn” is a lot more in line with their other material. Some really good samples and some really smooth vocals. It’s always a good mix for Mikey and Chuck.

The Cool Kids – “Champions”

The Cool Kids – “Popcorn”

So grab the MP3s and check their blog Monday to download the whole Gone Fishing Mixtape!

My life has been sucked away

Posted in Audio, Concert Dates, Downloads, Music News, Video with tags , , , , , , , , , , on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 by Erik Burg

Okay so I have been and will continue to be basically incommunicato for the next week. 18 credits the week before finals and 30 a week at work will do that to you. The music world, sadly, goes on without me. But here is a round-up of various ongoing over the past few days.

1. Calvin Harris remixes Passion Pits new single “The Reeling”

2. White Denim released a new track entitled “Mirrored and Reverse”

White Denim – “Mirrored and Reverse”

3. Phoenix gets remixed twice. Once by Classixx another adding a Dub. They play this tour date (be there): 06/23 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity

Phoenix – “1901 (Ivan Beck Dub)”

4. I have to give two presentations now. Hope you enjoy! See you in a week!

Of Montreal debut two new songs, continue covers rampage

Posted in Audio, Music News, Video with tags , , , , , , on Thursday, April 23, 2009 by Erik Burg

kevin-barnes Of Montreal continue their romp through the world of covers. Though my favorite to this point is either “Day Man” from It’s Always Sunny or “Melody Day” by Caribou, this cut of The Beatles White Album classic “I’m So Tired” is pretty great. 

 

Check out their entire cover archive at You Ain’t No Picasso

Performed in-studio for 90.7 WFUV, Kevin Barnes and friends strip the song down just a little bit but build to an ending that’s just as sentimental as the original song. I’ve been a huge fan of nearly all OM’s acoustic studio tracks in this nature (including the awesome tracks they did for The Current here in Minneapolis). Barnes’ unique voice and styling has a way of shining even more than on record in this format which is pleasing to note, along with his awesome scarf-glasses combo which he probably has patented by now. 

And if you missed it earlier in the week, Of Montreal played a few new tracks at the Music Hall of Williamsburg as well. It’s live, so yeah the audio isn’t perfect, but what is for certain is that OM hasn’t missed a beat since Skeletal Lamping. The tracks are little bit more rock-ish than anything they’ve done to this point, but it all seems a natural progression if you listen to their last two or three albums. They can do no wrong for me, especially after seeing them on their off-the-wall tour this fall. Enjoy!

Of Montreal – “Like a Tourist”

Of Montreal – “Conquet Coquet”

Listen to “Sacred Trickster”, new music from Sonic Youth

Posted in Audio with tags , , , , , , , , on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 by Ryan Buege

My favorite alt. rockers are back with some new noise, and I’m happy to report that it sounds very much like the Sonic Youth I love! “Sacred Trickster” is the first song to see a release from their latest album The Eternal, their follow-up to Rather Ripped, which hits stores on June 9th via Matador.. Tune in..

MP3: Sonic Youth, “Sacred Trickster” (from The Eternal, available 6/9)

New Jens Lekman collaboration: “Happiness Will Be My Revenge”

Posted in Audio, Music News with tags , , , , , , on Monday, April 20, 2009 by Erik Burg

Swedish pop master Jens Lekman, with his endearing voice and lovely lyrics has teamed up with The Sweptaways (whom I know nothing about) to record the new track “Happiness Will Be My Revenge.” Existing only in video form for the time being, the song jens is exactly what any long time fan of Jens has come to expect. Lyrics like “I’m not gonna cry no tears” and “Don’t you ever regret that kiss” are still made someone hopeful and happy with the upbeat and eclectic music. The song begins and ends with a choir of people singing “Swept away” and the chorus line “Happiness will be my revenge” (maybe that’s the Sweptaways?). It all combines for a fun tune, something that is heartfelt and honest like anything Jens pours his heart into, and yet makes you want to tap your toe and grab your significant other for a round of kisses. It’s all sort of cheesy, but I think that’s what I’ve come to love about Jens is that no matter how serious the words might be, there is always happiness abound. Enjoy!

Jens Lekman (w/ The Sweptaways) – “Happiness Will Be My Revenge”

Spencer Krug keeps rolling; new Sunset Rubdown track and tour dates

Posted in Audio, Concert Dates, Downloads, Music News with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on Thursday, April 16, 2009 by Erik Burg

The indie music scene might as well just be Spencer Krug. The incredibly gifted man has got his hands in nearly every cookie jar. Just last month saw the release of the new Swan Lake album Enemy Mine as one of stronger releases of the early spring, but Krug was not done there, working diligently on the new (and my favorite Krug band) Sunset Rubdown.

Dragonslayer out June 23rd on Jagjaguwar

Dragonslayer out June 23rd on Jagjaguwar

To newcomers the band name sounds like a bad porn movie, but with amazing vocals and an eclectic lineup the band’s 2007 album Random Spirit Lover smothered my attention and had me enraptured for months. My await for the new album is nearly over however as the release date for Dragonslayer has been set for June 23rd on Jagjaguwar records. 

Today marks the first real glimpse at the album too, with the release of the track “Idiot Heart” for free download. It’s certainly in line with much of their last album, building from start to finish and marked by the signature Krug voice. About half-way through the track a xylophone or something of that sort hits the track and really takes the song to a more interesting level. I like it, it’s good… not great, but a solid foundation for the album.

MP3: Sunset Rubdown – “Idiot Heart”

Most of all, “Idiot Heart” gets me excited for some touring, and although no Minneapolis date has been set, Sunset Rubdown will hit various coastal venues this summer (fingers crossed for an appearance at a festival or two maybe as well). Check out all the dates below:

06-11 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
06-12 Brooklyn, NY – Studio B
06-15 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
06-16 Atlanta, GA – The Drunken Unicorn
06-20 Austin, TX – Mohawk
06-22 Tucson, AZ – Plush
06-23 Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
06-24 San Francisco, CA – The Rickshaw Stop
06-26 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
06-27 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey

Chali 2na & Talib Kweli “Lock Shit Down”

Posted in Audio, Media with tags , , on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 by Tim Althaus

chaliHere’s a new one from Jurassic 5 front man Chali 2na. This joint, “Lock Shit Down”, features the always legendary Talib Kweli. Succinctly put, it features two legendary emcees over a dope beat. You do the math yourself. Shout outs to 2Dopeboyz for having this one up. Look out for the 2na Fish’s solo effort Fish Outta Water due out sometime in the future.

MP3: Chali 2na, “Lock Shit Down” Featuring Talib Kweli

Modest Mouse prep 7″ for Record Store Day and rare B-Side surfaces amongst cumulative EP

Posted in Audio, Downloads, Music News, News with tags , , , , , on Monday, April 13, 2009 by Erik Burg

Record Store Day is fast approaching (April 18th) and with that comes some new Modest Mouse material. As my love for this band has grown over the past year or so I’ve dug further back into their catalogue and also anticipated their upcoming releases as well. News that they had did a video Directed by Heath Ledger was beyond interesting, and now their series of four vinyl singles sparked my interest as well. 

modestmouse

The first of the four single series is slated to be released on Record Store Day, as I mentioned, and will be packaged in a nice three panel sleeve with accompanied orange 7″. The two tracks featured will be “Satellite Skin” (which the band performed on Letterman and you can see here) and also “Guilty Cocker Spaniels.” 

The order in which the other vinyls will pour out has yet to be determined, but all four of them are part a cumulative effort that will lead to an eight track EP entitled No One’s First And You’re Next in August. So it’s all part of a cumulative effort that will eventually make me spend a lot more money than I should, but will be an awesome keepsake for die-hards. If your record player is broken though, the first of the 7″s will be released digitally on April 21st. 

An MP3 has surfaced as well of one of the tracks listed later on in the sequence. “I’ve Got It All (most)” is an interesting choice, it was originally released with Good News digitally as a bonus track but was very quickly removed by the band and has been hard to find ever since. But alas, I Guess I’m Floating was lucky enough to snag it when It came out and now you’re all lucky enough that they he re-posted it.  It’s an awesome cut too, and hearing it for the first time is getting me crazy excited for the EP. Sounds a lot like everything on Good News and it’s a mystery why it wasn’t included on the album, but at least it’s finally getting an official release on the less. 

MP3: Modest Mouse – “I’ve Got It All (most)”

No One’s First And You’re Next track listing:

1. Autumn Beds 2. Guilty Cocker Spaniel 
3. History 4. I’ve Got It All (most) 
5. King Rat 6. Satellite Skin 
7. Tie The Lake Down 8. The Whale Song

Dirty Projectors offer up free MP3!

Posted in Audio, Downloads with tags , , , on Thursday, April 9, 2009 by Erik Burg

Get it now, as this is limited time only. The new Dirty Projectors album is shaping up to be one of the year’s best. They apparently killed it at SXSW and when I saw them perform nearly the entire album live last month at the Walker is was stunning. So yeah, get on the bandwagon early. 

12inch_recordjacket

Enter an E-Mail address and enjoy!

The DIrty Projectors – “Stillness is the Move”

Halloween, Alaska are back in action with Champagne Downtown

Posted in Audio with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 by Ryan Buege


As Sound Verite’ reminds us, Halloween, Alaska pretty much disappeared from the scene not too long after the release of their breakthrough album Too Tall Too Hide in 2005. Well, turns out they just took a break from playing shows so that they work on their new album, and it looks like the time away has paid off. Their third full-length album, Champgne Downtown, will be formally released at First Avenue in Downtown Minneapolis on Friday, April 10th at the band’s show with other local favorites Chris Koza and Aby Wolf.

Vocalist James Diers, drummer Dave King (Bad Plus, Happy Apple), and bassist Matt Friesen, and are now joined by guitarist Jacob Hanson, allowing Diers to make the move to keyboards. On the MP3 that SV posts, “The Hollywood Sign”, the band proves to have made the right decision; the lush ambient textures magnify slowly before a dreamy breakdown smacks you upside the head with the literary aid of Diers, and the following come down is just as soothing as it was ascending. Halloween, Aslaska has also posted several songs from the album streaming on their website, and a few things are clear; the band’s avant-poppy sensibilities can still be just as jarring and entrancing as ever, and the songs are even more meticulously constructed to convey some very intense and an intentional emotions and POVs. Just a preliminary guess, but I have some feelings that this one is going to grow on me quite a bit by the end of the year.

MP3: Halloween, Alaska, “The Hollywood Sign” (from Champagne Downtown, available now)
LISTEN: Halloween, Alaska, “Hot Pink” (from Champagne Downtown, available now)
LISTEN: Halloween, Alaska, “In Order” (from Champagne Downtown, available now)
LISTEN: Halloween, Alaska, “Gone With The Wind” (from Champagne Downtown, available now)

In addition to the Champgne Downtown Release Show at First Avenue on Friday, keep reading for all of the band’s upcoming tour dates that have been announced… Continue reading