This past week, Plants and Animals released a single for their upcoming album, The End of That, out on February 28th. One thing that makes me become obsessed with this band time and time again is the wide variety of songs they have. Throughout both of their albums La La Land and Parc Avenue, there is just such a variety in content. They can create such intensity through the most delicate melodies like in their song “Game Shows” or they can bring a spirit of rock revival like on “Jeans Jeans Jeans”. They produce such smooth and fluid music.
Their new single “Lightshow” reminded me a bit of Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes but with a more electric feel. You can listen or download below.
Sam Ray under the moniker of Ricky Eat Acid produces breathtaking ambient experimental tunes. His most recent release called “so i will not fall deep into the earth” is part of a genre titled “space punk.”
In his own words he describes the genre as “there is no point to spacepunk. it’s anti-trendy. there are no driving electronic rhythms – it lacks any post-rave, post-internet, future-pop beats. there’s nothing really. that’s it. there’s nothing. it’s music that evokes the feeling of floating endlessly and eternally through darkness. it’s inspired as much by the romanticized and unscientific idea of space as it is by sleep, heavy opiate use, and the feeling of being alone in bed, half awake on a rainy day. it’s a very sad feeling. it’s not nostalgic, but it still makes me miss everything. it’s nothing, really. you could characterize it as drone, sometimes, or ambient. i’m not really sure. it’s fun, but it’s not. it’s not post-internet, it’s post-life.”
The nine minute track gives you the feeling of floating endlessly in time and space. If you are a fan of ambient, drone or experimental music, pick up the track for free on his Bandcamp.
Echotape, a band that came together under a shared disillusionment that the vast majority of artists that presented themselves as “alternative” were, in fact, devoid of any discernible purpose or ambition beyond commercial or egotistic self-nourishment, have a four track EP scheduled for release later this year. Their first released track is called “Came Into My Blood” and it combines dream-like melodies, an upbeat rhythm similar to the Horrors, and passionate vocals. For their debut album, they have worked with legendary producer Youth (of Killing Joke fame) who has previously worked with the likes of The Verve, The Orb, and The Futureheads. They believe passionately in a more considered and coherent aesthetic mission, and so the band isolated themselves and wrote songs that reflected their convictions. I definitely recommend you check out Echotape, as they are on track to producing awe-inspiring music.
“Eyeoneye” is our very first look at the extremely talented whistler/singer-songwriter Andrew Bird‘s upcoming new album, Break It Yourself. Although the album won’t make its official release until March 6, the new song will be available for immediate download with a pre-order of the limited edition box set of the album from his website here. In terms of style, “Eyeoneye” has a sound that reminds me of “Masterfade” or “Fake Palindromes” from The Mysterious Production of Eggs so perhaps Bird is taking a pre-Noble Beast type direction to the album. Either way, I’m incredibly excited.
Break It Yourself Tracklisting:
01. Desperation Breeds…
02. Polynation
03. Danse Caribe
04. Give it Away
05. Eyeoneye
06. Lazy Projector
07. Near Death Experience Experience
08. Behind the Barn
09. Lusitania
10. Orpheo Looks Back
11. Sifters
12. Fatal Shore
13. Hole in the Ocean Floor
14. Belles
Head over to NPR to stream Leonard Cohen‘s new album Old Ideas. The album, which is Cohen’s first in about eight years, will be the legendary singer songwriter’s twelfth studio album and is set to be released January 31st through Columbia Records. Cohen is known for influential albums like Songs of Leonard Cohen and Songs of Love and Hate, and for penning “Hallelujah”. You can also check out an interview pertaining to Old Ideas that Cohen did with the Guardian over here.
Old Ideas Tracklisting:
01. Going Home
02. Amen
03. “Show Me the Place
04. Darkness
05. Anyhow
06. Crazy to Love You
07. Come Healing
08. Banjo
09. Lullaby
10. Different Sides
Bruce Springsteen is set to release his seventeenth studio album at the beginning of March, a record called Wrecking Ball. A single off the album was released online today at 7 a.m. ET entitled “We Take Care Of Our Own”. The lyrics tackle the concept of American citizens changed morals, while an upbeat rhythm keeps the song moving. The song has all the credentials heard in previous songs by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band through the medley of keyboard, drums and guitars. However though, due to the death of saxophonist Clarence Clemons, the E Street Band’s signature saxophone sound is missing. Wrecking Ball will be Springsteen’s newest release since his 2009 album, Working On A Dream. I have high hopes for this album as it will hopefully combine elements from all of the previous releases.
Wrecking Ball Tracklisting:
01 We Take Care of Our Own
02 Easy Money
03 Shackled and Down
04 Jack of All Trades
05 Death to My Hometown
06 This Depression
07 Wrecking Ball
08 You’ve Got It
09 Rocky Ground
10 Land of Hope and Dreams
11 We Are Alive
12 Swallowed Up (Bonus Track)
13 American Land (Bonus Track)
For their new record Attack On Memory, indie rockers Cloud Nothings partnered with legendary producer Steve Albini (Nirvana) to create a sound that would set them apart from the other “hazy, electronic-y nostalgic music” that has been extremely popular recently. Instead of sticking with the trends, Cloud Nothings take a agressive, raw rock approach to the record. Lead singer Dylan Baldi even went so far as to say, “The title, Attack On Memory, is basically referencing the current trend toward hazy, electronic-y nostalgic music that is making up the “indie” scene. I don’t really like that kind of music. This album is meant to place us more firmly outside of that category.”
So if you’re tired of “that kind of music” too, you can check out the full album below, courtesy of Complex. Attack On Memory is out January 24th via Carpark.
Hot off her recent SNL performance (which, Mr. Brian Williams calls “one of the worst outings in SNL history”), New York singer songwriterLana Del Rey has released a remix to her song “Born to Die” by up and coming producer Clams Casino, who has built a name for himself by working with other rising hip hop artists like A$AP Rocky and the always basedLil B. The remix will be part of a remix EP that will also features work from Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn.
Lana Del Rey’s debut album, which is also titled Born to Die, is set to be released January 30th in the UK and January 31st in the US.
Everything seems to be going perfectly for A$AP Rocky, who in recent months has signed a huge record deal and released his first debut record, LiveLoveA$AP. He has just released “Celebration”, which is a solo version of his collaboration with Chicago MC Jon James. This song is a lot different from Rocky’s chill, dreamy Clams Casino–produced tracks and features the A$AP rhymer rapping over upbeat synths celebrating his recent success. Apparently this track might be a single for one of his upcoming projects. Listen to the song below. You can also download it here. Also, look out for the A$AP Mob album that’s planned to be released in February.
20-year old Harlem native Azealia Banks, who released the fantastic “212” last year, has returned again with a new song titled “NEEDSUMLUV” via her Twitter. The song features Banks singing over a beat by producer Machinedrum titled “SXLND”, and, in her own words, is about “being a guy’s other girl. It’s about knowing that ur number #2, but still sticking around in hopes of becoming #1.” The two previously collaborated on another song titled “Grand Scam (Lyrical Exercise)” back in November.
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