GONJASUFI - DedNd

Gonjasufi is pretty awesome. Honestly, I don't know much beyond the two facts that 1) I love his track "Ancestors", gorgeous! And 2) This new video for "DedNd" is pretty killer.

"Enter Gonjasufi... a mystical individual caught between the Mojave desert, the LA streets and somewhere more cosmic. His soul-baring vocals are something to behold - described by friend and collaborator Flying Lotus as "Timeless Incredible Filth". -Warp Records

LOVE IS ALL - Kungen

More news from Gothenburg, Sweden. Love Is All's third album Two Thousand and Ten Injuries is out March 23rd on Polyvinyl. A US tour kicks off in late March, including a show at Knitting Factory Brooklyn with Beach Fossils and The Beets. New video for "Kungen" below and get the mp3 here.

The Sky Report For Haiti

This Saturday at Northeast Kingdom in Bushwick. 100% of the proceeds go to a foundation devoted to helping rebuild Haiti. If you can't make it but would like to donate, e-mail us at theskyreport@yahoo.com to arrange something. This will be an intimate dance party for a great cause, featuring DJ Paleboy. 10:00pm until late!

PILL WONDER - Wishing Whale

Seattle's Pill Wonder are exploding onto the scene with their new Jungle/Surf 12", available February 28th at Underwater Peoples. The band are playing a bunch of SXSW dates in Austin next month and they offer up this somewhat NSFW video for "Wishing Whale".

[ED. Oops, my bad. The song is actually called "Wishing Whale", not "Wishing Well". Thanks anonymous!]


wishing whale - pill wonder from Martin Anderson on Vimeo.

CLOUD NOTHINGS

Cloud Nothings is the moniker used by Dylan Baldi of Cleveland. His lo-fi brand of bedroom punk is surprisingly catchy and at times, flat out grabs you by the balls. You might at first be turned off by the Wavves-like style of distorted high-pitch onslaught, but on tracks like "Old Street" you can hear a quickly maturing sense of rhythm and assuredness.

Read a very informative review of the recent Turning On full length at Adequecy. You can also grab some tracks from Turning On at The Creative Intersection. GorillaVsBear has the great new track "Morgan", which was just released as a 7" on Group Tightener. The Fader has another mp3, "Little Raygun", taken from a split cassette with Campfires on Bathetic. Stream another track from that tape "Ooh You", as well "Magic Carpet" from Campfires...

CLUB 8 - Western Hospitality

This is my third post about a Swedish artist in one day! I think I should just move there. Swedish duo Club 8 went to Brazil last year to gather inspiration for their new album The People's Record, due May 18th on Labrador Records. The new single "Western Hospitality" is a perfect introduction to the sound at work on the new disc, utilizing bits of Afrofunk and krautrock to create the perfect summer soundtrack. I see myself sailing off the coast of Rio, surrounded by sunkissed friends and leaping dolphins - wait, is that a Bacardi commercial? It probably should be.

New JJ Video - Let Go

JJ - Let Go [mp3 via Secretly Canadian]

JJ's new disc nº 3, the follow-up to last year's stunning nº 2, comes out March 9th on Secretly Canadian. The Swedish duo are touring the US with The XX in March. The first video from the new album is for the previously leaked track "Let Go".

FOUR TET Performs Angel Echoes in NY

This live Four Tet track was shot by Ray Concepcion for pitchforkTV in New York. Apparently, he shot the whole video "through a pair of...3D glasses" for added psychedelic effect. Four Tet's latest album There Is Love In You was released on January 25th via Domino Records. Stream the first single "Love Cry" at myspace.

New PANTHA DU PRINCE Video - Stick To My Side

Pantha du Prince - The Splendour [mp3 via Rough Trade]

Pantha Du Prince released his impressive new album Black Noise a few weeks ago on Rough Trade. Now there is a video for one of the standout tracks, "Stick To My Side", featuring Noah Lennox on vocals. Check out the bizarre new clip below.

Who is iamamiwhoami?

This mysterious artist has been releasing short videos over the last two months, creating a buzz around the internet in regards to who it might be. The woman in the videos looks like Lady Gaga, but many had thought it could either be Christina Aquilera or Goldfrapp, though the two have since been pretty much ruled out. Other names floating around in the rumor pool include Aphex Twin, a new Trent Reznor project, and The Knife. There's always the chance that it could be a complete unknown, but the videos look fairly expensive. Who do you think it is?







You can watch more of her mysterious short videos here.

JOANNA NEWSOM Releases Have One On Me

Joanna Newsom released her much-anticipated new album today on Drag City. The ambitious 3 disc opus has received rave reviews, including a 9.2 rating from Pitchfork. Judge for yourself by streaming the album in its entirety at NPR.

CANT - Ghosts (Class Actress Remix)

Terrible Records is the new label from Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear) and Ethan Silverman.

Issue 001 - CANT - Ghosts 12"
Issue 002 - Acrylics - All of the Fire
Issue 003 - Class Actress - Journal of Ardency

Now Class Actress returns the favor and adds some cosmopolitan nostalgia to CANT's debut single "Ghosts".

CANT - Ghosts (Class Actress remix) [mp3 via Terrible Records]

Plus, Class Actress performing "Let Me Take You Out" acoustic in an apartment:

RUDE DUDES - Oui Be Jammin' mixtape

Our new friend Jay sent over this mix from The Rude Dudes and it's crazy good! Featuring tracks from The B-52's, Tanlines, The Slits, Mika Miko, Teengirl Fantasy and much more, this mix chronicles nearly every period of my everchanging love for music. Download link and tracklist below.

Rude Dudes - Oui Be Jammin' (mixtape) [link 46mb]

Oui Be Jammin' tracklist:

UGK feat Outkast - International Player's Anthem
Jason Derulo - Watcha Say
Mika Miko - Business Cats
B-52's - Dance This Mess Around
Cat Stevens - Here Comes My Baby
Ace Frehley - Back In The New York Groove
Notorious BIG - Party and Bullshit (In The USA remix)
Teengirl Fantasy - Hoop Dreams
Miami Sound Machine - Bad Boy
Bobby Brown - On Our Own
Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules Theme
M - Pop Musik
Dr. Hook - When Your In Love With a Beautiful Woman
The Bar-Kays - Soul Finger
Razzy - I Hate Hate
Tanlines - Bejan
The Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Grass Roots - Sooner or Later

The Sky Report Presents REACH OUT HAITI

This Saturday The Sky Report presents a special dance party benefit for the people of Haiti. DJ Paleboy spins a special mix from 10:00pm - close in hopes of raising money to donate to the rebuilding and emergency need of Port Au Prince. We have friends with family in the area and thought we had to do something to contribute to this cause. We are still deciding on an organization to contribute 100% of the proceeds to, so if you have a suggestion please make note of it in the comments section. The suggested donation is $5, but you are by no means expected to pay a cover. Just come and have fun! Hope to see you there.

More info and rsvp on facebook.

New WE HAVE BAND Video - Divisive

We Have Band just premiered their fun new video for "Divisive", taken from the band's debut album WHB, due April 5th in the UK. The new single comes out March 22nd. Listen to more from We Have Band here.

SERENA-MANEESH - S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor

Serena-Maneesh - I Just Want To See Your Face [mp3 via 4AD]
Serena-Maneesh - Ayisha Abyss [mp3 via 4AD]

Norway's Serena-Maneesh make a lot of noise. Back in 2005 I would occasionally play their track "Drain Cosmetics" at the restaurant I worked at and complaints would inevitably scatter throughout the dining room. So maybe this band isn't ideal for dinner time, but what they do is pretty damn incredible. Deeply ensconced in their love of My Bloody Valentine and the like, Serena-Maneesh are very into that "wall of noise" sound and have no issue with blowing your eardrums out the back door. Their second lp S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor sees its release on March 23rd via their new label 4AD.

New GLASSER - Tremel

Young Turks are releasing the new Glasser 12" "Tremel" on March 29th. For £5.00 you can get the limited edition 12" vinyl and download here. The release features three remixes of the track, including one from Jamie of The XX, who Glasser will tour the UK with throughout March.

Glasser was included in our 10 Most Promising Acts of 2010 back in December and we are so excited to see what the year brings for her. Details of her debut full length are expected soon. Check out the video for "Tremel" below.

New CARIBOU - Odessa

I love Caribou and I'm so excited about their new album Swim, due April 20th. They really impressed me when I saw them live on a double bill with Fuck Buttons in Los Angeles two years ago and their excellent 2007 lp Andorra was one of the pinnacle releases of the year. So naturally, I have huge hopes for this album. Get the new track "Odessa" for free here and check out the mesmerizing video below.

New LIARS Video - Scissor

I love Liars, but I'm really not feeling their latest single "Scissor". That said, this new video for the track is really, really good. The new album Sisterworld, which I am still very much looking forward to, is due March 9th on Mute Records.

BLACK VAN - Yearning

Black Van are the exciting new duo of Kris Menace & KoweSix, who just put out the new track "Yearning" on DFA. I've been obsessed with this track for the last 24 hours and you should get on board too. Get the track over at one of my favorite blogs Waves At Night.

""Yearning" is just the start of the journey; details of the full album and collaborators
coming soon."

Bring it on.

MICHOACAN - In the Dark of the Night Cleaner

Michoacan is a retro electro disco funk band ala LCD Soundsystem from DFA. They hail from San Francisco, so we're surely behind it. More on these guys soon. Check out the new video for "In the Dark of the Night Cleaner" below. Directed by Alison Childs.

PRIMARY 1 - Mess Detective

Primary 1 has offered up his Mess Detective mixtape as a free download. All it takes is your e-mail here. For a taste of what you'll get, watch the incredible video for the closing track "Enough". I want my world to look like the one depicted here.


Primary 1 - Enough (Mess Detective) from Primary 1 on Vimeo.

Video Reveals San Francisco, Pre-Earthquake

This video consists of one (semi) continuous shot taken from a trolley moving its way down Market Street toward the Ferry Building in San Francisco, reportedly just days before the devastating earthquake and fire of 1906. The clip is beautifully set to Air's classic 1998 track "La Femme D'Argent". This may get repetitive to some, but anyone who lives in or loves San Francisco should get a kick out of seeing what the city was like way back then. Very cool. Thanks to Renee Zalles for the tip!

NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB - The Optimist

Thanks to my friends at Zandland for posting the new clip from New Young Pony Club today, because somehow I had no idea they had a new album coming out. The Optimist, the follow-up to the band's Fantastic Playroom lp, is available via import on March 2nd. Check out two new videos from the album below - "Lost A Girl" and "Chaos".

TRUMAN PEYOTE/MANY MANSIONS - Peaced Together

Truman Peyote and Many Mansions are two rising experimental bands from Jamaica Plain, Mass who have come together on the new split 12" Peaced Together.

Truman Peyote, whose genre-shifting sound could be described as percussive, bombastic and glitchy, recently recorded a studio session for WMUA, of which you can download here. You can also obtain "New Wife, New Life", their most accessible track to date, over at partyends.com.

Many Mansions on the other hand, have a tripped-out ethereality about them, as witnessed on the track "Frontier Gnosis", available to download now at XLR8R.com.

You can pre-order your copy of Peaced Together here.

New HOLE Album Due in April

Come Hell or high water, Courtney Love will return to speakers around the world when she delivers the new Hole LP Nobody's Daughter on April 27th via Mercury/IDJ. Sure, there are many who would rather not see this attempted comeback, most notably the original members of Hole (who have nothing to do with this reincarnation of the band). But it has also been nearly 12 years since the last Hole record and 5 since her solo lp America's Sweetheart, not to mention the seemingly never ending sea of drama Miss Love has been swimming in since then. That said, I cannot wait to get my hands on this. Much can be debated about Love and her antics, but one thing is for sure...she's never been accused of being boring.

Love recently debuted the new song "Samantha" on the British show Live On Jonathan Ross. The results are basically you'll either kinda like it or absolutely hate it. I'm just surprised she's standing up.



-photo cred Hedi Slimane

THE ANTLERS Release New Video - Bear

New MEMORYHOUSE Video - Lately (Deuxième)

The dreamy, melancholic Memoryhouse track "Lately (Deuxième)" is taken from The Years ep, available to download for free at Arcade Sound Ltd.


Memoryhouse - Lately from Jamie Harley on Vimeo.

THE MORNING BENDERS - Excuses

Yours Truly offers up this absolutely gorgeous live video of The Morning Benders performing "Excuses", the opening track on their new album Big Echo (due March 9th). The clip really showcases what a talent singer Chris Chu is. But the talent doesn't stop there, The band invited fellow San Francisco pals Christopher Owens (Girls) and John Vanderslice to join in. Another cool note: the track was produced by Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear). Get the new track "Promises" for free at themorningbenders.com.


Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

THE RADIO DEPT. - Heaven's On Fire

The Radio Dept. - Heaven's On Fire [mp3 courtesy of Labrador Records]

The weeks are slowly dwindling away in the seemingly never ending wait for the new Radio Dept. album to drop. Clinging To A Scheme still doesn't come out until April 21st, but now we have this new single to tide us over. "Heaven's On Fire" reportedly uses a Thurston Moore sample and features a b-side cover of Sade's "All About Our Love". The official single becomes available on March 24th.

BEAR IN HEAVEN Launch Tour

Bear In Heaven - Lovesick Teenagers [mp3]

Bear In Heaven landed at #23 on our Best Albums of 2009 list a couple months ago with their excellent second album Beast Rest Forth Mouth. Now the band are launching a U.S. tour, kicking off with the next Popgun party at Glasslands on February 19th. The tour will find the band sharing dates with Cymbals Eat Guitars before winding down to SXSW next month. View full tour dates here.

YEASAYER Release Odd Blood

Yeasayer released Odd Blood yesterday. May the 2010 best of lists begin! Get the new single "O.N.E." for free at yeasayer.net. Watch the amazing, yet very NSFW video for "Ambling Alp" below. Nudity alert!

Lauren Flax Introduces CREEP

World renown dj Lauren Flax has unveiled her new project with co-conspirator Lauren Dillard, the haunting new duo Creep. Be sure to check out their first track "Output 1-2" at myspace, as well as their sexy dark remix of Baghdaddy's "Hot Shit" below.

ASA RANSOM Return to New York

Brooklyn's Asa Ransom just finished a sold-out west coast tour with Hockey and are returning to NY with a show at the Studio at Webster Hall with Bear Hands on Tuesday, February 16th. From the looks of the promo video below, Asa Ransom are really excited to be back home. If you haven't already, download The Gold Ep for free at AsaRansom.net.

LOCAL NATIVES - Gorilla Manor

Local Natives - Sun Hands [mp3]

LA's Local Natives are poised to go big in 2010. The mounting buzz surrounding their debut LP Gorilla Manor has reached the boiling point and now it's time for us all to see if it really lives up to the hype. The band can instantly be categorized somewhere in the range of Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear upon first listen, but when digging deeper it becomes apparent that they have a voice all of their own. Gorilla Manor doesn't come out until next week, but you can stream the album in its entirety right now at NPR.

THE SOFT PACK - C'Mon

The Soft Pack's debut LP is available now on iTunes. Check out their brand new video for "C'mon" below.

CLASS ACTRESS - Journal of Ardency

I've been absolutely obsessed with this ep since I received it in my e-mail back in December. Class Actress' debut ep Journal of Ardency comes out today and I think your Valentine's Day will sound much better with this stuff coming out of your speakers. Get the vinyl at Terrible Records. Also, don't miss Class Actress when she plays Death By Audio with Nite Jewel and Blondes on February 14th. You can also read my review of the Journal of Ardency ep in Rebel Magazine (LA), page 122.



This is pretty hot too...

Thanks for Coming Out!

Thanks to everyone who came out to Tandem last Friday! Special thanks to Brahms, ShadowBox, Fan-Tan and David Shane Smith for delivering amazing performances and to Telepathe and Asa Ransom for showing up! We're planning another show in May...stay tuned for details.

THE GOLDEN FILTER - Hide Me

Recently we mentioned that The Golden Filter's debut album is coming soon. Now we have a new track called "Hide Me". This is like Goldfrapp on ecstasy.

The Golden Filter - Hide Me [mediafire]

New LO-FI-FNK - Marchin' In

Lo-Fi-Fnk are back! The new single "Marchin' In" features guest vocals by Maja Gödicke. We can only assume this means a new album is on the way! Link to download the new track, plus a new video below.

Lo-Fi-Fnk - Marchin' In [zshare]

MGMT Return with Congratulations

MGMT have unveiled some of the details surrounding their much anticipated sophomore LP. Congratulations will see daylight on April 13th. Of the new album, Andrew Vanwyngarden recently told Spin.com, “It’s definitely going to shock people...We dropped any sort of irony that was on the first record, and Congratulations feels true to who we really are.” I still can't believe these guys didn't win the Best New Artist Grammy, considering the weak competition.

Congratulations tracklist:

“It’s Working”
“Song for Dan Treacy”
“Someone’s Missing”
“Flash Delirium”
“I Found a Whistle”
“Siberian Breaks”
“Brian Eno”
“Lady Dada’s Nightmare”
“Congratulations”

JONSI - Go

Jónsi of Sigur Rós will release his debut solo album Go on April 6th. According to the Sigur Rós website, the new disc "will be largely acoustic and feature string arrangements from contemporary classical composer Nico Muhly". Check out the new track "Boy Lilikoi" and the stunning new video for "Go Do" below.

Boy Lilikoi by Jónsi

PSYCHOBUILDINGS - Paradise

All Hands Electric are releasing the debut 7" from Brooklyn's Psychobuildings. Check out "Paradise" with its infectious bass line, handclaps and David Byrne-esque vocals via RCRD LBL below. I'm also feeling some early !!! in this.

"Psychobuildings unites playful and layered pop arrangements to the jerky rhythms of electro-dance."

Tonight's the Night

Doors 8:00PM. See you tonight!

PASS KONTROL Debut New Hope City

Bushwick's beloved Pass Kontrol are about to unveil their most ambitious effort to date. Why are these guys not huge? Well, that might be about to change, as the band opens the new play New Hope City. That's right, a play. When most rockers in Bushwick are playing 8,000 Todd P shows and hoping for that coveted Pitchfork write-up, Pass Kontrol decided to throw all their energy into theatre. I say hallelujah!

"New Hope City is a post-apocalyptic, rock-and-roll show about three sketchy dudes, and one half-robot/half-dude broadcasting pirate radio in the seedy outskirts of a beautiful, franchised city, owned and operated by an omnipotent mega-corporation. The play is a raw, hand-crafted, musical collage about a future world, using elements of live music, live action, film, and dance creating an interactive story for the audience."

These are four fun dudes determined to make you have the time of your life. Even the New York Post thinks this sounds cool. I urge those of you in Brooklyn to hop on this bandwagon and buy your tickets now. Tickets are only $10 if you purchase online ($12 at the door). The running schedule is FEBRUARY 11-13, 18-20, 25-27 (all shows at 8:00pm at Bushwick Starr). You can also download the band's new accompanying ep for free right here.



Of course, we may be a little bit biased, as Pass Kontrol played our first two shows. But why not live a little and see what real Bushwick has to offer? Let's call it a dare. I think you'll be fully satisfied.

GOLDEN AGES - Tradition

Philadelphia's Golden Ages is yet another one-man bedroom producer making beautifully trippy electronic jams. Think MillionYoung, Memory Cassette, Washed Out, etc. No one seems to know this guy's real identity, but that should change soon, as success should pull him out of the shadows very soon. The new lp Tradition is available now on iTunes and a vinyl release is imminent. Take a listen.

Golden Ages - Everything Will Be Alright [mp3]
Golden Ages - Be Cool [mp3]

LITTLE GIRLS Covers BEACH HOUSE

Little Girls of Toronto are in love with the new Beach House album. To pay tribute, the band has covered their track "10 Mile Stereo", giving it their own drone-induced sound. Check it out.

Little Girls - 10 Mile Stereo [mp3]

BRAHMS

Brahms is the new musical project consisting of Cale Parks, Lyle Lodwick, and Drew Montag Robinson. You can subscribe to their mailing list and get two free tracks at brahmsband.com.

Brahms recently opened for Passion Pit at Terminal 5 and played the Popgun Party at Glasslands with Telepathe and Apache Beat. This weekend they headline our winter showcase at Tandem with Shadowbox, Fan-Tan and David Shane Smith. Space is limited so rsvp here and arrive early! Show starts at 9:00pm.

photo by Adrian Nina

LEMONADE - Lifted

Percussive art-dance trio Lemonade are Brooklyn (by way of San Francisco). Their new Pure Moods ep comes out March 9th on True Panther, which is quickly becoming my favorite label right now. Check out the new video for "Lifted".

LADY GAGA Rocks, But the Grammys Are Dead To Me

Lady Gaga opened the Grammy's this year with the theatricality we have all come to know and love from America's greatest current pop star. The performance - a medley of "Poker Face", "Speechless" and "Your Song" - featured a riveting duet and duel of the keys with Elton John. From there it was downhill the rest of the evening. Don't even get me started about the Best New Artist category. I still can't understand how Silversun Pickups even qualify in this category, but then Zac Brown beats out MGMT and The Ting Tings for the award! My nominees for this category would have looked like this:

The Antlers
Fever Ray
Lady Gaga
Neon Indian
The XX

COLD CAVE/NITE JEWEL Playing Mercury Lounge This Week

Cold Cave - Laurels of Erotomania [mp3]
Cold Cave - Life Magazine [mp3]

Two of our favorite artists of 2009 are coming together for a sold out show at Mercury Lounge on Thursday. We'll be on hand for full coverage! Check out this video of Cold Cave performing at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, my favorite venue in the country.