Watch: Jónsi – Gathering Stories

Jónsi has released the music video for “Gathering Stories”, which was written for the We Bought a Zoo OST. The movie We Bought a Zoo, starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, came out in theaters on December 23 and its director, Cameron Crowe, specifically asked Jónsi to do the soundtrack. We Bought a Zoo OST (which you can buy here) features new original music, old songs by Sigur Rós, and songs from Jónsi’s debut solo album, Go. Watch the video for “Gathering Stories” below:

La Dispute Offer Full Discography for Charity

For Christmas, the post-hardcore band La Dispute, who recently released their newest LP, Wildlife, have their entire discography on a free/donation basis on their Bandcamp page. Starting at midnight EST time tonight and lasting until midnight EST tomorrow (the whole of Christmas day), you can grab all ten of the band’s previous releases. All donations made through the Bandcamp page will be donated to 826michigan, “a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students aged 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. 826 opened its doors in June of 2005. Since then, it has been blessed with students, tutors, and volunteers overflowing with enthusiasm.”

If you’re completely new to the band, I recommend starting with Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair, which in my opinion is their best release so far. If you’re more into punk and not lyrically up for fables about love and broken hearts, download Wildlife, which is their matured more punk-esque sounding sophomore release. Their split with Touché Amoré and their Untitled 7″ are also good listens, which you should definitely consider as they contain some of my personal favorite tracks. Just a reminder though before downloading, La Dispute are an acquired taste, with Jordan Dreyer’s emotionally driven vocals coming out as wails at times, combined with spoken-word poetic lyrics. Be sure to try this band out though because all the donations go towards a good cause!

The Front Bottoms Cover “Christmas Wrapping”

For the holiday season, The Front Bottoms covered The Waitresses‘ classic Christmas song, “Christmas Wrapping” in their own acoustic punk style. If you liked their self titled LP which was released earlier this year, you will definitely enjoy this cover. Brian Sella’s vocals add the emotion that is pretty much expected in any song released by the band. In the spirit of Christmas it is up for free download below, along with a music video created specifically for the song.

MP3: The Front Bottoms – “Christmas Wrapping (The Waitresses)”

 

Download: The Weeknd – Echoes of Silence

Head over to The Weeknd‘s website or this direct link to download his new highly anticipated mixtape Echoes of Silence. This is the third mixtape R&B singer Abel Tesfaye has released this year, following the critically acclaimed House of Balloons and Thursday. Tesfaye has also recently appeared on his fellow Canadian comrade Drake’s new album Take Care. Two choice cuts (the latter of which is produced by Clams Casino) are included below.

MP3: The Weeknd – “Montreal”

MP3: The Weeknd – “The Fall”

Stream: Blu & Exile – Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them

It’s been a long few years for fans of the mysterious California MC Blu since he dropped his critically-acclaimed album Below the Heavens with Exile manning the tables. In the meantime, Blu’s been working on his own production, left Warner Bros. before dropping his major label debut, and has only been releasing a few unmastered tracks every now and then.

But today, seemingly out of nowhere, Blu posted his unfinished second album with Exile, Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them. Recorded back in 2009, the new 15-track LP is unmixed and unmastered, but the rhymes and the beats are both solid. No word on whether or not the two are collaborating again.

Give it a listen below and if you like what you hear, you can purchase the whole thing for $15 on Blu’s Bandcamp.