Monthly Archives: April 2012

Lana Del Rey & Azealia Banks Team Up

Smims&Belle is the name of the new DJ side project of Mark Foster and Isom Innis (of Foster the People). Their first project comes in the form of a Lana Del Rey remix, with the two remixing “Blue Jeans” and enlisting the help of Azealia Banks for a new guest verse. Below, you can listen to the full extended remix. Foster and Innis have also uploaded the “original” version of their remix as well, which you can peep here.

Jack White Makes Solo Debut With ‘Blunderbuss’

Jack White‘s debut solo album is set to be released on April 24th, 2012, however, despite White’s attempts to stop it being leaked (including sending promotional copies in the form of vinyl records only), it was leaked on April 15th.

The album portrays the jigsaw pieces of White’s career coming together to create thirteen exemplary tracks. A wide variety of genres are covered in the album from blues to garage rock, including White’s signature catchy riffs, and distorted vocals. Styles from all of his projects including The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather as well as from his musical influences like Son House are all definitely present in the album. It represents White’s chance to produce a record which is truly representative of him. In his own words, “I’ve put off making records under my own name for a long time but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name. These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas.”

Blunderbuss is now streaming on iTunes for free listening and will available for purchase on the 24th, including vinyl copies of the album from Third Man Records.

Blunderbuss Tracklisting:
01. Missing Pieces
02. Sixteen Saltines
03. Freedom At 21
04. Love Interruption
05. Blunderbuss
06. Hypocritical Kiss
07. Weep Themselves To Sleep
08. I’m Shakin’
09. Trash Tongue Talker
10. Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy
11. I Guess I Should Go To Sleep
12. On And On And On
13. Take Me With You When You Go

Maps and Atlases Release ‘Beware and Be Grateful’

This past week, folk rock band Maps and Atlases released their brand new LP, Beware and Be Grateful, along with the dates of their April European tour. I’ve been listening to Maps and Atlases for a while now, as well as lead singer Dave Davison’s side project Cast Spells, and I can safely say that their music continues to develop both in general sound and in complexity. They create a very low key presence on their albums, yet the quartet from Chicago can really put on a rad show.

Check out my favorite from the album “Be Three Years Old” below:

Beware and Be Grateful Tracklist:

  1. Old & Gray
  2. Fever
  3. Remote & Dark Years
  4. Silver Self
  5. Vampires
  6. Be Three Years Old
  7. Bugs
  8. Old Ash
  9. Important

Listen: Das Racist – “The Recipe (Remix)”

Possibly influenced by his recent interview with Kendrick Lamar for Noisey, Heems teamed up with his Das Racist counterpart Kool A.D. to give us their unique take on Kendrick’s huge Dre-tinged single, “The Recipe”. Below, you can grab the MP3, which features the two Greedhead rappers lending their mellow rhymes to the equally mellow Scoop DeVille instrumental. Weed references everywhere, but I guess that’s a given.

MP3: Das Racist – “The Recipe (Remix)”

Listen: Hot Chip – “Night And Day”

The first official single from Hot Chip‘s forthcoming In Our Heads is the dance-floor bumper “Night And Day”. Driven by a funky, disco-sounding bassline and Alexis Taylor’s digitalized vocals, the new song sounds like it could fit snuggly somewhere on One Night Stand or more likely, in your local DJ’s next dance playlist. “Night And Day” will be officially released by Domino Records on June 4th alongside a remix by 2 Bears and a B-side, “Jelly Babies”.