Southend-on-Sea’s art-rock quartet These New Puritans will be releasing Hidden March 2nd, via on Domino. It’s the experimental band’s follow-up to 2008’s Beat Pyramid. We already showed you the devestating video for “We Want War” in December. Well, “Orion,” keeps the spook factor up by enlisting the New London Children’s Choir to produce ominous chants and vocalizations over booming Japanese taiko drums, creepy synths, chains, and various sampled forms of menace.
Animal Collective‘s and director Danny Perez‘s crazy film experiment ODDSAC premieres at the Sundance Film Festival tonight. For those that can’t attend (most of us), the band just released this 30-second teaser trailer. From the looks of the excruciatingly short clip, it will be one twisted head-trip. Example: at one point, a guy with smoke coming out of his head flees from a something in the forest. Watch it above, if you dare.
ODDSAC also has screenings slated for New York and Chicago in March. Check the movie’s official site for more details. (Via P4k.)
St. Vincent
Bon Iver
My Brightest Diamond
Spoon
“Harvest Moon” (feat. Bon Iver, Neil Young cover) Video
On Saturday night, Spoon’s Britt Daniel, St. Vincent, Bon Iver‘s Justin Vernon, comedian Zach Galifianakis, and others, performed at a Brooklyn gig to raise money for the Haiti earthquake relief fund.
As Brooklyn Vegan reports, St. Vincent’s Annie Clark and Vernon graced the stage towards the end of the night. Megafaun‘s Brad Cook backed them up as the two singers traded vocals. The trio jokingly called themselves Songer Singwriter.
Additionally, Clark and Vernon played together on St. V’s “The Party” and some classic covers: Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” Tom Petty’s “A Face in the Crowd,” Annie Lennox’s “Why,” and a 10-minute iteration of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” My Brightest Diamond‘s Shara Worden played at the same show and covered Prince’s “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore.”
Check out the videos above and below:
Phoenix
Bob Dylan
“Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” (Bob Dylan cover) MP3
Jan 25, 2010
Indie-pop foursome Phoenix did in a stripped-down set for the German magazine Musikexpress today. They perform some acoustic Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix tracks (“1901” and “Lisztomania”) and a choice cover of Bob Dylan‘s “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.” The Parisians unplugged for their abridged Dylan take too. Essentially it’s just singer Thomas Mars and a guitar, and true to form, they cut off a ton of the fat off the 11-minute-plus Blonde on Blonde original. (Via Tripwire.)
The Tallest Man on Earth
“King of Spain” MP3
Jan 25, 2010
Swedish folk singer Kristian Matsson, aka The Tallest Man on Earth, released his sparse home-recorded debut LP Shallow Grave in 2008. The LP received a substantial groundswell of support from the critical community and now the noteworthy Dylan acolyte has signed with the Bloomington, IN/Austin, TX imprint Dead Oceans.
On April 13th, Dead Oceans will release The Wild Hunt, but you can download and stream first single “King of Spain” right here. It’s more of the strummy goodness that came before. Enjoy the “Boots of Spanish Leather”-referencing tune above. In February and March, Matsson will tour Europe. U.S. dates will be announced soon.
Caribou
“Odessa” MP3
Jan 25, 2010
Dan Snaith and his psych-pop ensemble Caribou are preparing the follow-up to their Polaris Music Prize-winning Andorra. the process. It’s called Swim and Merge (North America) and City Slang (U.K. and Europe) will release it on April 20th.
You can download the kaliedoscopic opening track, “Odessa,” on Caribou’s site, for the price of an e-mail address. The track showcases a little bit of what Snaith meant when he said the following statement: “I got excited by the idea of making dance music that’s liquid in the way it flows back and forth, the sounds slosh around in pitch, timbre, pan… Dance music that sounds like it’s made out of water, rather than made out of metallic stuff like most dance music does.”
Most dance-worthy song about divorce? Maybe. (That flute breakdown is pretty rad too.)
LCD Soundsystem: In-the-Studio Clip #1
James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem have started to disperse some viral videos shot while Murphy was in L.A. this past summer recording the follow-up to 2007 party-starter Sound of Silver. The sessions took place at the Laurel Canyon Mansion where The Red Hot Chili Peppers infamously recorded Blood Sugar Sex Magic. The rumored haunted house is also legendary in other ways. It was once the home of Errol Flynn (the current owner is famed producer Rick Rubin) and it’s also the site where The Beatles first dropped acid and Jimi Hendrix experimented with gay sex. Murphy’s crew doesn’t exactly go crazy in this video, but his band share a few giggles and a small segment of a new track. LCD is scheduled to open for Jay-Z at the Coachella main stage on April 16th. Check out more live dates here.
Beach House
“Zebra” (Live on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon) Video
Beach House stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to perform Teen Dream‘s “Zebra” this past weekend. The opening track was a nice choice for the dream-pop duo’s television debut and Jimmy was sure excited. Congrats guys! Teen Dream is out Tuesday (January 26th) on Sub Pop. Check out their live dates.
Southend-on-Sea’s art-rock quartet 
Indie-pop foursome
Swedish folk singer Kristian Matsson, aka 
Dan Snaith and his psych-pop ensemble 
