SIOUXSIE SIOUX - 'Into A Swan'

The new video for 'Into A Swan', SIOUXSIE SIOUX's first single from her forthcoming solo album "Mantaray" has surfaced. And the verdict is - quite impressive.



STREAM - Siouxsie Sioux - Into a Swan

BOAT CLUB - "Caught the Breeze"

Gothenberg, Sweden's BOAT CLUB continue to tease us with tiny morsels of new material. As I reported back in April, the duo make wistful, ethereal pop music, perfect for lounging on a warm beach somewhere, sipping tropical drinks. The new EP "Caught the Breeze" contains two previously available tracks including the wonderful 'Warmer Climes', as well as four new songs. This should tide us over until these guys prepare a full-length for our vacationing pleasure.

Swedes Please has the new single 'Always Away' available for download.

Buy the EP

PORT-ROYAL - "Afraid To Dance"

I just discovered electro-ambient band PORT-ROYAL and wow! They are so, so good. The 2nd LP "Afraid To Dance" was released last April on Resonant and the video for the single 'Putin vs. Valery' is the sexiest thing I've seen in a long time. Making love with headphones on! Does it get any hotter? I think not.

Port-Royal - Putin vs. Valery (music video)

WHITE RABBITS - 'The Plot'

Bushwick based band WHITE RABBITS are making my neighborhood very proud. Their debut album "Fort Nightly" is quite the solid rock effort. And they just made their live television debut on Late Night with David Letterman, performing the single 'The Plot'. Bushwick is where it's at (as long as you aren't jumped, mugged, robbed, or beaten to a bloody pulp). Visit soon!

STREAM - White Rabbits - The Plot
Buy the album

White Rabbits - The Plot (live on David Letterman)

1990s - 'You're Supposed To Be My Friend'

I am in a rock 'n' roll mood right now. THE BLACK LIPS. WHITE RABBITS. WHITE DENIM. And now Glasgow based band 1990s, who release their full length album "Cookies" today (though it's been out in the UK for some time now). Despite the band name lacking the trendy color adjective, I am all about it. These guys are playing a string of shows in NYC, starting tonight at Union Pool, then tomorrow night at Mercury Lounge, and The Annex (Club NME) on Thursday.

STREAM - 1990s - Various Tracks

1990s - You're Supposed To Be My Friend (music video)

CSS Return to NYC/Paleboy DJ Set with Luiza Sa & JD Samson

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

WE ARE WOLVES

Montreal band WE ARE WOLVES have my attention by a stranglehold lately. Their new single 'Fight and Kiss' is the jam - the perfect blend of electro beats, jerky hooks, and scream singing. This track is an ass-shaker for the post-post-post-post-punk generation. The band will see the release of their new LP "Total Magique" on September 4 via Dare to Care Records. We will all be hearing much more about these guys very soon.

STREAM - We Are Wolves - Fight and Kiss

Check out this older video for the 2005 track 'Little Birds':

We Are Wolves - Little Birds (music video)

DEVENDRA BANHART - "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon"

DEVENDRA BANHART, the man who was responsible for the brilliant "Cripple Crow" LP, my favorite album of 2005, is set to release the follow-up, "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon" on September 25th. Pitchfork just announced the tracklist, which leads one to believe we have another so-called "freak-folk" classic on our hands. As of 9PM Eastern today, you can stream two exclusive tracks from the new record on Devendra's Myspace page.

As well, Devendra is about to take the U.S. by storm, when he kicks off a North American tour in Vancouver on September 1, with dates in Santa Cruz, Berkeley, NYC, and Austin (just to name a select few. Full tour dates here. When I caught Devendra's live show at Coachella last year it was fantastic - a shirtless hippie sing-a-long that made me forget, just for a little while, how irritating dirty modern hippies are. No offense, but it is 2007 (San Francisco, you know what I mean) and being (or acting) poor and lazy for the sake of being cool is, uh...not cool. But Devendra is!

VHS OR BETA - "Bring On the Comets"

VHS OR BETA are set to release a new LP, "Bring On the Comets", August 28 on Astralwerks. The new track 'Can't Believe A Single Word' shows the Kentucky band moving farther from an electro sound and into a more pop rock mode. A link to stream the new songs is below.

The band also have a string of live dates coming up in August and September, including Bowery Ballroom (NYC) on August 29, Studio B (Brooklyn) on August 30 and Mezzanine (San Francisco) on September 14.

Tracklist for "Bring On the Comets":
Euglama
Love In My Pocket
She Says
Can't Believe A Single Word
Burn It All Down
Take It Or Leave It
Alpha Theta
Bring On The Comets
Fall Down Lightly
We Could Be One
Time Stands Still
The Stars Where We Came From

STREAM - VHS Or Beta - Can't Believe A Single Word

New YACHT video/THE BLOW announce tour

In direct contrast to the recent bouncy-cute hit 'See A Penny (Pick It Up)', YACHT releases a new video for the punk-like track 'Women of the World' from his "I Believe In You, Your Magic Is Real" LP.

"Women of the World" by YACHT
Uploaded by jamessumneriii

In related news, Jona Bechtolt (aka YACHT)'s former project THE BLOW (aka Khaela Marcich) has announced a string of dates this fall. It will be interesting to see how and what she does without Jona's involvement.

08-03 Portland, OR - PDX Pop Now! Festival
09-30 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar
10-01 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10-03 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
10-04 Washington, DC - Black Cat
10-05 New York, NY - Blender Theatre at Gramercy
10-06 Boston, MA - Remis Auditorium (Museum of Fine Arts)

THE BLACK LIPS - 'Katrina'

Atlanta's THE BLACK LIPS totally rock. Their new album "Good Bad Not Evil" invades America on September 11 via Vice Records. Check out the brand new video for 'Katrina':

"Katrina" - Black Lips
Uploaded by vicemagazine

STREAM - The Black Lips - Various tracks

SUICIDE - This Friday at South Street Seaport

The seminal NYC electro-punk duo SUICIDE are making a rare return to the stage this Friday. Martin Rev and Alan Vega are playing a FREE show at South Street Seaport with THE DEATHSET, as well as a DJ set with Richard Fearless of DEATH IN VEGAS. Suicide have influenced many, many bands out there today. But how will their live show hold up all these years later? For me it will be well worth it to find out.

Suicide - Ghost Rider (rough vintage clip)

UNKLE - "War Stories" Out Tuesday

Just a reminder that "War Stories", the phenomenal new concept album from UNKLE hits stores tomorrow. The entire album is available to stream now here.

Burn My Shadow

Add to My Profile | More Videos

ARCADE FIRE & LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Double Bill at Randall's Island, NYC

On October 6th, quite possibly the double bill of the decade will descend on NYC's Randall's Island when LCD SOUNDSYSTEM and ARCADE FIRE share the stage. I am so there.

The full schedule of dates below:

September 15 - Austin TX - Austin City Limits festival
September 17 - Morrison CO - Red Rocks
September 20 - Los Angeles CA - Hollywood Bowl
September 30 - St. Paul, MN - Roy Wilkins Auditorium at RiverCent (online presale 7/25-7/27, general on-sale 7/28)
October 3 - Louisville KY - Waterfront Park (online presale 7/23 - 7/27, general on-sale 7/28)
October 5 - Columbus OH - LC Pavilion (online presale 7/31 - 8/3, general on-sale 8/4)
October 6 - New York NY - Randall's Island (online presale 7/24-26. general onsale 7/27)

SIOUXSIE SIOUX - "Mantaray"

According to NME.com, Siouxsie of Siouxsie & the Banshees will release her first solo effort "Mantaray" on October 2. This is very exciting.

Check out the video for 'Into A Swan'

Here is the tracklist:

'Into A Swan'
'About to Happen'
'Here Comes that Day'
'Loveless'
'If it Doesn't Kill You'
'One Mile Below'
'Drone Zone'
'Sea of Tranquility'
'They Follow You'
'Heaven and Alchemy'

PALEBOY Tonight In Brooklyn/Walk It Out

Come join me tonight at Capone's for all the latest electro/BPM/bangers/synthpunk and guilty pleasures. 10pm - 4am. And in related news, this is the funniest thing I've seen in a while. I think it captures the essence of FYHD quite well:

IMPERIAL TEEN - The Hair The TV The Baby and The Band

So, a few years back I worked at this funny laundromat in San Francisco called Brainwash and Will Schwartz (Hey Willpower/Imperial Teen) would occasionally come in and do his laundry. I had been a huge fan of his for years, but was always too shy to introduce myself. I don't know why I'm writing about that, but it makes for a good lead-in to...IMPERIAL TEEN is back with a brand new full length titled "The Hair The TV The Baby & The Band". The new album is set to be released on Merge Records, August 21 (though according to wiki the entire album has already leaked on the internet. Not so cool. This is the kind of band that really needs people to actually BUY their records. So, if you like Imperial Teen, please buy the album properly when it comes out. And if you live on the west coast, check them out on their brief tour in September.

Sept 21 - Crocodile Cafe, Seattle
Sept 22 - Lola's Room, Portland
Sept 28 - Spaceland, Los Angeles
Sept 29 - Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco

STREAM - Imperial Teen - Shim Sham

ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI - 'Heart It Races'

'Heart It Races'. the latest single from Australian music collective ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI, is one of those songs that slowly grows on you. After many subliminal listens I have come to love this one. The new album "Places Like This" is set to be released in the US on August 21. Check out the positively bizarre video for 'Heart It Races' below.

STREAM - Architecture in Helsinki - Heart It Races

Architecture in Helsinki - Heart It Races (music video)

GUS GUS - 'Hold You'

I've been a huge fan of GUS GUS since their first album "Polydistortion". The line up has changed quite a bit since those days, but the smooth, sexy electro sound is still there. Their latest single 'Hold You' features the lovely Earth on vocals and walks the same line as the Gus Gus classic 'David'. The single comes from the awesome new album "Forever". Check it out!

BUY - Gus Gus - Hold You (also available on iTunes)
STREAM - Gus Gus - Hold You/Moss/Need in Me

CAZWELL - 'Watch My Mouth'

CAZWELL, the gay NYC rapper/hip-hop/dance artist made a big splash last summer with the ultra catchy 'All Over Your Face'. And now he's back with another shake-yo-ass summer anthem 'Watch My Mouth'. This is not to be taken at all seriously, but if this jam doesn't make you happy and get up on your feet, nothing will. Let loose, have fun, and go buy Cazwell's funner than a slip-n-slide album, appropriately titled "Get Into It".

Cazwell - Watch My Mouth (music video)

120 DAYS - "Sedated Times"

Norway's 120 DAYS not only love to shed their clothes and get touchy-feelie with each other, but thay have also just released the fan-fucking-tastic new EP "Sedated Times" on Vice Recordings. Actually, it's a re-release, having originally been recorded in 2004. "Sedated Times" shows the raw origins of the band, whose 2006 self-titled debut by contrast showcased a grand, sweepingly epic rock sound. In fact, on the 2 1/2 minute post-punk track 'Justine', you wouldn't even recognize this as the same band who grabbed everyone's attention last year with the apocalyptic synth-rock anthem 'Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)'.

120 Days - C-Musik (music video from "120 Days LP")


For a taste of what influences had an impact on 120 Days, they've posted this mix-tape tracklist on their myspace page. I must say, they have phenomenally excellent taste:

cluster - imsüden
neu! - für immer
silver apples - oscillations
spacemen 3 - suicide (live)
tussle - tight jeans
suicide - fast money music
bob hund - allseende ögat
david bowie - a new career in a new town
mental overdrive - new world
primal scream - detroit
jesus & mary chain - reverberation (13th floor elevators cover)
kraftwerk - metropolis
steve reich - music for 18 musicians
spectrum - how you satisfy me

And more reasons to love 120 Days...

THE TEENAGERS - 'Make It Happen' etc.

French dirty-cutesy-hedonistic-electro trio THE TEENAGERS may very well be the most hyped act of 2007 and they still don't even have a proper album out yet. But, according to my favorite west coast blog missingtoof.com, that is about to change. The boys at the toof hint at a full length album to soon be released on Merok Records and they also offer up a trio of exclusive new tracks, all rumoured to be on the highly anticipated debut LP. Still no word on exactly when it will be physically released, but I for one cannot sleep, anxiously awaiting its arrival.

The new tracks - 'Make It Happen', 'Self Love', and 'Tiger' are all available at missingtoof.com. Go there now.

STREAM - The Teenagers - Various Tracks

Also worth checking out: The Teenagers remixes where you can check out their remixes of SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, THE BLACK GHOSTS, AIR, AU REVOIR SIMONE, and THE ENEMY.



And a repeat video post:

The Teenagers - Homecoming (music video) (NSFW!!!)

NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB - "Fantasic Playroom"

Though it doesn't officially come out until August 28th, you can digitally purchase the debut full length from NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB on iTunes now. The album is titled "Fantastic Playroom" and the first single will be the re-release of 'Ice Cream', not to be confused with the MUSCLES summer jam 'Ice Cream'.

NYPC also have a remix of AMY WINEHOUSE's 'Tears Dry On Their Own' floating around. The band calls it "...a very danceable Grace Jones-esque style workout..." Sounds fun. Anybody heard it yet?

wearepony.com

New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream (Music Video)

GRIZZLY BEAR - 'Central and Remote'

Here's the new GRIZZLY BEAR video, which I nominate as a contender for video of the year. Gorgeous and quietly affecting.

Grizzly Bear - Central and Remote (Music Video)

Grizzly Bear - Central and Remote dir Jesse Ewles
Uploaded by jesse_ewles

DIGITALISM - "Idealism" 77%

I am in love with "Idealism", the debut LP from German remix duo DIGITALISM. The album, released in N. America on Astralwerks, is an electro-punk opus. Things get started with the epic 1-2-punch of sinister stomper 'Magnets' and spaced-out synth odyssey 'Zdarlight', before busting out into a string of amazing electro-punk bangers 'I Want I Want', 'Idealistic', 'Digitalism in Cairo' and the current hit 'Pogo'. 'Digitalism in Cairo' is quite possibly the most inventive cover I've heard in light years, a vast reimagination of THE CURE's post-punk classic 'Fire In Cairo'.

The second half of "Idealism" keeps the pace in check, finding just enough quiet time ('Moonlight'/'Jupiter Approach') to balance out the otherwise bangin' sci-fi party before closing things out with the exceptional final track 'Echoes'.

Highly recommended!!!

Digitalism - Pogo (Music Video)

CHUNGKING - 'Love Is Here To Stay'

I can't believe that I've only just discovered CHUNGKING, a duo from Brighton, comprised of Sean Hennessey and Jessie Banks. The new single 'Love Is Here To Stay' is pure sugar; as if Goldfrapp went all the way with their recent dabbling in sassy-glam-chic. Album track 'Slow It Down' takes Jessie's sultry disco vocal and lovingly layers it over Richard-X's signature synth production. This stuff is bound to make the slow but steady journey to world domination. I smell a steaming-hot bowl full of music licensing in the future of Chungking. Good for them.

STREAM - Chungking - Various Tracks

Chungking - Love Is Here To Stay (Music Video)

CAT POWER @ McCarren Park Pool

Despite plenty of mixed feelings about CAT POWER's performance at McCarren Pool on Saturday, I felt she was rather mesmerizing to watch. Chan had loads of energy (by Cat Power standards anyway) and she sounded really good. I would agree with others who suggest she was under the influence, though having never seen her live before, it could also come down to her infamous nervous energy when onstage. Loaded or not, she was fantastic.


The set was comprised mostly of covers, which makes sense as her forthcoming album is rumoured to be called "The Covers Record 2". Chan opened the show with a cover of 'Don't Explain', followed by a very unique version of 'New York, New York'. Other tracks in the setlist included a rockin' version of '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction', 'Naked If I Want To', as well as a pair of songs from her most recent album 'Willie' and 'Could We'.


And was it just me or did Chan seem to have a particularly intense connection with the keyboard player? She seemed to be singing every song directly to him.


Unfortunately I missed BUILT TO SPILL and BOB MOULD, who bookended the Cat Power set, but I heard Built to Spill were amazing.


This was also the first show I've seen at McCarren Pool and I highly suggest catching one of the many shows there over the summer. Check out the schedule here.


All photos by Scot Bowman

FELIX DA HOUSECAT - 'Future Calls the Dawn'/'Sweetfrosti'

'Future Calls the Dawn' is the lead off single from FELIX DA HOUSECAT's forthcoming "Virgo Blaktro and the Movie Disco" LP, tentatively set for a September 2007 release. 'Sweetfrosti' and 'Moviedisco' have been rumored to be the album's first and second singles, though 'Future Calls the Dawn', backed with ' Sweetfrosti' has just emerged on iTunes as a digital single. 'Future..' finds Felix in a tranced out state, very different from his usual 'album' tracks, while 'Sweetfrosti' shows Felix growing upon his sound, while utilizing endless nights spent listening to old DEVO records.

STREAM - Felix da Housecat - Future Calls the Dawn/Sweetfrosti

Reminder: LIVE EARTH All Day Tomorrow

LIVE EARTH concerts from all over the globe will be broadcast on many channels tomorrow, starting and ending at various times. Here's a rundown of the television schedule:

(all times Eastern Standard Time)

NBC - 8PM - 11PM (presumably a highlights telecast)
BRAVO - 9AM - 2AM (this is the one to watch)
SUNDANCE - 4AM-2AM
MSNBC - 8AM - 4PM
UNIHD - 4AM - 2AM
CNBC - 8AM - 2AM

Also streaming live on the internet here.

SATURNA...Ready For Lift Off

I have a soft spot in my heart for bands that embody that timeless dark-romantic dreampop sound that made bands like SLOWDIVE and RIDE so special. SATURNA are another great new band from Portland, Oregon, with a brand new LP called "Some Delicious Enemy". The ten song set is a dreampop juggernaut, echoing the blistering atmospherics of early 90's shoegazer bands. Tasteful electronic touches elevate that nostalgic sound into something more along the lines of CURVE or early 2000's era PRIMAL SCREAM.

"Some Delicious Enemy" is also a solid rock album wherein the band finds their own footing in a forest of influences. This is the kind of album that could very possibly come out of nowhere and become huge within no time. The new single 'Pop Rocks' is a catchy trip through a swirling world of guitars and cow bells, perfect for alternative radio. Lead-off track 'Roll Down' is a soaring intergalactic epic lullaby and 'Fall' has a headjerking industrial beat that culminates into a blazing inferno of spaced-out guitars. In fact every song here has its own infectious flavor...delicious indeed.

DOWNLOAD - Saturna - Pop Rocks

STREAM - Saturna - various tracks

Dirty Girls of the Legendary Kind

I love rock 'n' roll ladies. And three of my faves are making their long-awaited returns this year.

PJ HARVEY is back with the new album "White Chalk" on September 24.

COURTNEY LOVE has the track 'Dirty Girls' streaming on her website. Some absolutely loath it, but I don't think it's that bad. I think you have to really dig C. Love to get into it.

JOHNETTE NAPOLITANO, lead singer of CONCRETE BLONDE is also back with a new solo album, which ironically features a cover of the COLDPLAY classic 'The Scientist'. You can stream that track, as well as the new song 'Amazing' here.