Listen: The xx – Open Eyes (Demo)

Following a critically acclaimed debut album and a fantastic year for their percussionist/beatmaker Jamie Smith (Jamie xx), The xx have finally returned to the studio to work on their second currently untitled album, and have released a demo for “Open Eyes” and a video with it for Christmas. The song, which you can check out on their blog or below, features singer Romy Madley Croft over an atmospheric and hazy backdrop. Although not much information on their sophomore album has been released yet, it should presumably be out mid 2012.

MP3: The xx – Open Eyes (Demo)

 

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)”

 

Grinderman Break Up

Nick Cave, the frontman of alternative rock band Grinderman, has announced the end of the band. At the end of the band’s performance at the Meredith Music Festival, Nick Cave told the crowd of almost 12,000 that Grinderman is “over.” The band got together in 2006 and have released two albums with very positive reviews since. You can watch the video of “No Pussy Blues”, which was a single from their debut album Grinderman, below.