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Acrylics

“Molly’s Vertigo” Video

Feb 03, 2010

Watch on YouTube

Brooklyn band Acrylics dropped their promising All of the Fire EP really late last year through Grizzly Bear Chris Taylor’s Terrible Records imprint. They’ve got a nice drug-induced Chairlift vibe going for them and this week they give us this woozy clip for the equally soft-focused new track, “Molly’s Vertigo.” The ‘80s-esque vid waas lensed by Weird Days and Brendan Harman. Also, peep the EP’s title song here. (Via The Line of Best Fit.)

Massive Attack: “Splitting the Atom” Video

Massive Attack‘s minimal trip-hop track, “Splitting the Atom,” gets a black-and-white CGI video this week from director Edouard Salier.

The clip starts by swooping through a cityscape and by the end Salier reveals a monster. Watch the video above or at Pitchfork.tv. If you’ve got a Twitter account, you can check out all of the vids from the Bristol duo’s new full-length Heligoland, (out next Tuesday through Virgin) at their “Tweatre” site. When you sign up, or peep a video, it’ll post a tweet.

Owen Pallett

Simon Bookish

“Keep the Dog Quiet (Simon Bookish remix)” MP3

Feb 02, 2010

In January, Toronto’s pop-classical artist Owen Pallett gave us the excellent Heartland, his first LP under the name his momma gave him. In the spring, he’ll embark on a full-fledged North American trek. You need to see what this dude can accomplish with just his violin, a loop pedal, and faithful drummer Thomas Gill at his side.

Check out his tour dates here. Above, you can download/stream Simon Bookish‘s glitch-pop remix of the Heartland track “Keep the Dog Quiet.” The London-based, classically-trained electro composer slices up Pallett’s pizzicato groove into a sleek, dance-worthy jam. Heartland is out now via Domino. Stream the whole thing below. (Via P4k.)

Frog Eyes

“A Flower in a Glove” MP3

Feb 02, 2010

Three years have past since the herky-jerky, Canadian epic-rockers Frog Eyes released their last LP, Tears of the Valedictorian. In the meantime, leader Carey Mercer kept his mind busy with art-rock supergroups (Swan Lake) and dark solo projects (Blackout Beach).

The band has now inked a deal with Dead Oceans, and on April 26th in the U.K. and April 27th in the U.S., the imprint will unleash Frog Eyes’ Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph. The quartet recorded all the tracks live and you can now peer into Mercer’s next manic journey with the nine-minute opening track, “A Flower in a Glove.”

The Magnetic Fields

“Book of Love” (Remastered) MP3

Feb 02, 2010

It’s hard to believe The Magnetic Fields celebrated the 10th anniversary of their seminal triple album, 69 Love Songs, last September. Well, now Merge Records just announced the long-anticipated 69 Love Songs box set on limited edition 10-inch vinyl (with a MP3 download coupon) on April 20th Pre-orders can be made at the Merge store now and all orders before Valentine’s Day will get a 10% discount and a printable e-valentine for their special someone.

The holiday-themed box set includes all 69 love tunes remastered for vinyl on six 10-inch records and encased in a super-sized box, alongside a 10-inch version of the original booklet, featuring liner notes penned by Lemony Snicket scribe Daniel Handler.

Merge is also giving away a free MP3 download of the album’s best track, “Book of Love.” It’s newly remastered for vinyl, so it sounds pretty crisp! Check it out above. Merritt and Co. will soon tour North America behind their new Nonesuch release, Realism.

Trivia: Apparently Stephin Merritt came up with the idea for the LP while lounging in a midtown Manhattan gay piano bar. He originally wanted it to be a live musical revue, performed with a rotating cast of singers.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

“I Learned the Hard Way” MP3

Feb 01, 2010

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings are releasing their fourth long-player, I Learned the Hard Way, on April 6th (Jones’ birthday), via Daptone. The funk-soul group’s been pretty busy lately trying to drum up hype for the new release. This past weekend, Jones visited Saturday Night Live to perform “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” with your mom’s favorite crooner, Michael Bublé.

On April 30th, they will grace the near-mythic Apollo Theater stage for a second time. Tickets for that exciting performance go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. The band will be joined by a full ensemble of percussion, stirngs, and backing vocalists, as well as some other special guests who recorded I Learned the Hard Way with them. Go here for more info.

Also, please check out the infidelity-themed title track above. “I Learned the Hard Way” tosses in a little Motown fanfare alongside the group’s usual Muscle Shoals/Stax-like swagger. Plus, you gotta love those backup singers and flute.

Taken By Trees

El Perro Del Mar

“Anna” (feat. Noah Lennox) MP3

Feb 01, 2010

As far as 2009 goes, Taken By Trees’ “Anna” was one of my favorite tracks. Now Rough Trade is giving the Noah Lennox-aided cut away for free to promote Victoria Bergsman’s forthcoming U.S. trek with fellow Scandinavian, El Perro Del Mar. Download/stream it above, and peep their dates here. East of Eden is out now.

Beach House

“Take Care” (Daytrotter session) MP3

Feb 01, 2010

Today, Baltimore dream-pop twosome Beach House (aka Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally) played some new woozy cuts for Daytrotter from their excellent third LP, Teen Dream. Check out “Take Care” above and “Used to Be,” “Zebra,” and “Walk in the Park” at the link below. Upcoming tour dates can be found here. Teen Dream is out now on Sub Pop.

Trivia: As Daytrotter points out, “Take Care” sees “Legrand singing about the image of a snake in the same lake of two swimmers - at once seeming real and then turning out to be fake (or dead) and a heartbeat’s consulted. She sings, “I’d take care of you/If you’d ask me to, in a year or two…/You say swimming in the lake/We’ll come across a snake/It is real and then it’s fake/Feel its heartbeat/Feel what you heat/Far so fast it feels too late/I’ll take care of you/If you ask me to,” and it’s this deception that she plays with often.” Sounds about right. Stay until the end of the track for some studio goofing from Mr. Scally.

MP3/Stream: Beach House: Various Songs (Daytrotter session)