Kid music Grammy Award winners They Might Be Giants stopped by Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to play through Here Comes Science‘s “Meet the Elements.” Remember kids, we’re all made of four basic elements. Best line for the grownups in the room: “You and I are complicated, but we’re made of elements” The veteran pop band are taking their grin-inducing tunes on the road now.
This prolonged reunion seems to be working out well for Mission of Burma. They just released their third post-breakup LP, The Sound the Speed the Light, on Matador Records and now we’ve got the Aaron Brown and Ben Chappell-directed video for the raucous lead single, “1, 2, 3 Partyy!” MOB concert footage is spliced with odd loops of bikini-clad ladies and puffs of smoke. Oh, and plenty of domes get cracked with beer bottles. Only come to this Bacchanalian soiree if you’re prepared to get your teeth knocked in. Buy The Sound The Speed The Lighthere.
Molina and Johnson
“Twenty Cycles to the Ground” MP3
Oct 08, 2009
Molina and Johnson is the new collaboration between Jason Molina and Will Johnson, the American folk mavens behind Magnolia Electric Co. and Centro-matic respectively. (What an original name!) The roots-rock fan’s wet dream collaboration have a self-titled debut album coming out November 3rd, via Secretly Canadian. They’re offering up the opening cut this week, entitled “Twenty Cycles to the Ground.” The song sees the two songwriters singing in unison over a lazy day organ and bluesy guitar line. Johnson apparently met Molina at the merch table following a MEC show in Austin, TX last September, where they chewed the fat over hats and pumpkins. Five months later they recorded at Argyle, Texas’ Echolab studio.
“We were basically ready,” says Johnson in a press release. “For ten days we wrote, co-wrote, workshopped, complimented, scrutinized, drank, invited friends to come play music, smoked, made lots of notes and drawings, drank a little more and shot the BB gun off the back porch when we just needed some time and space. In the throes of all this, our record was made in the late February sun.” You can expect plenty of dust bowl-like balladry from these two.
White Rabbits
“Percussion Gun” (live on Myspace Transmissions) MP3
Oct 08, 2009
As far as mp3 downloads and video streams go, MySpace Transmissions hits the spot. They offer audio in a high-resolution 320kbps bitrate and the streaming interview and performance footage is usually clean and free of choppiness. Well, maybe that’s because everybody migrated over to Facebook for their social networking needs!
This week’s session comes from NYC’s White Rabbits. The group’s pretty solid, Britt Daniel-produced sophomore album, It’s Frightening (out now on TBD), keeps burrowing its way into our ears. You can download the aptly titled single, “Percussion Gun” above. The young six-piece’s upcoming fall trek sees WR hitching their wagon with Suckers, Local Natives, The Balconies and Glass Ghost.
Memory Tapes
“Green Knight” MP3
Oct 08, 2009
The amazing Memory Tapes debut Seek Magic is already out but like its illusive creator, the acccompanying bonus disc is a little hard to track down. Ambient glo-fi artist Dayve Hawk reports, via his blog, that “there has been a slight delay with the Seek Magic vinyl but it’s all sorted now and they’ll be out shortly.”
He’s offering the spooky mix of ambient instrumentals that appeared as bonus tracks on the CD version. The diverse Treeships runs the gamut from Wes Craven-like horror soundtrack passages and Klaus Schulze space music to tribal bazaar jams and sun-warped cassette tape gauze. Enjoy the ‘80s-centric trip. Download Treeshipshere.
As an added bonus (but mostly because the 51.1 MB Treeships file is too huge to upload to our server) you can download the entrancing Seek Magic single, “Green Knight.”
In just accordance with musical law, The Reasons released a music video for the first song on the release, “All the Wine,” today. The whimsical, almost Terry Gilliam-esque clip was directed by Ryan Foregger. A dreamy collage of sights pinwheel out of Clare’s apartment on the poppy cut. A press release notes that the group isn’t just stopping with new albums, tours and videos. They’re also designing and hand-sewing all of their outfits for the tour and bringing two hot plates to venues they visit to cook for everyone. On top of those delectable fan treats, the crafty unit fashioned together a tour-only scrapbook of meticulously scored Arrow tunes with accompanying pictures. Hear more about it on Kickstarter.com.
Will Sprott and San Jose, California’s The Mumlers have an affinity for analog tape, old instruments they find at nearby high schools and the soul singer Bobby “Blue” Bland. On their latest album, Don’t Throw Me Away, the sextet scare up some creaky horror ditties out of the detritus. The group’s Super 8 zombie film for single “Coffin Factory” bears that new aesthetic out. It’s a catchy doo wop for the dead with the band appearing as flesh-eating ghouls. Check it out if you dare. Recently the indie group saw some success after being featured as an iTunes and Starbucks Download of the Week. Additionally, the group recently had a Daytrotter session and are touring the U.S. this fall. Don’t Throw Me Away is out now on Galaxia.
Frankie Rose and the Outs
“Thee Only One” MP3
Oct 07, 2009
Brooklyn’s Frankie Rose used to be in Vivian Girls, and also served as a part-time sidewoman for other lo-fi outfits such as Crystal Stilts and Dum Dum Girls. Now he’s blazing his own trail as Frankie Rose and the Outs. Here’s the first single: “Thee Only One.” The jangly, lo-fi aesthetic alligns well with her former groups’ affinities for the poppy trash of JAMC. The “Thee Only One” single is out October 17th on Slumberland.
As far as mp3 downloads and video streams go, 
The amazing Memory Tapes debut 
Brooklyn’s Frankie Rose used to be in 
