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Friday, March 29th, 2024  

Deastro

“Tone Adventure #3” MP3

Sep 08, 2009

Deastro is the fantasy-driven electronic project of Randolph Chabot and he’s got a new single coming out September 29th via Ghostly. The psychedelic cut from the Detroit musician’s debut, Moondagger, distorts its glock, strings and espionage guitars into a fluid-like alien substance stretching across the horizon. Also included on the single is the B-side remix from the Toronto electro producer I Am Robot and Proud. He gives a MIDI-enchanced treatment of Moondagger‘s dark “Greens, Grays, and Nordics.” Deastro will tour a ton for the rest of the year, including November co-headling dates with Max Tundra.

Kurt Vile

“Hunchback” MP3

Sep 08, 2009

Former War on Drugs leader Kurt Vile‘s Matador debut/sophomore solo LP, Childish Prodigy is revving its engine outside your house. October 6th it’ll burn rubber down the road with or without you in the front seat. Matablog is offering us all another free taste of the new album with “Hunchback.” The opening cut is a lurching bit of grunge and shoegaze rock.

The folkier “Overnite Religion” is also still available for download. Also, if you preorder the album now, you can grab a free copy of the “He’s All Right” 7.” As usual, Vile will be touring the U.S. from early October to early November. European dates will be announced pretty soon.

HEALTH

“Die Slow” Video

Sep 04, 2009

Watch on YouTube

HEALTH self-directed the very professional clip for single “Die Slow,” where a sexy party goes painfully sour over angelic vox, throbbing percussion and stabs of guitar apocalypse. Get Color is out September 8th on Lovepump United. The L.A. noise band is also commencing their North American tour in support of the sophomore release. The trek begins next week in their hometown, following two concerts opening for Nine Inch Nails’ Wave Goodbye Tour. (Via Pitchfork)

Themselves

“You Ain’t It” MP3 and Premiere: Themselves TV Pt. 1 Video

Sep 04, 2009

AOL Spinner debuted a preview cut from Themselves’ “guess who’s back” album, CrownsDown. In the track, entitled “You Ain’t It,” Dax Pierson lays down a serious Auto-Tune smackdown. It’s one of the best utilizations of the often-maligned audio processor yet. If you recall, Pierson was paralyzed from while on tour to promote A New White in 2005. The band’s van veered off the highway after skidding on a patch of black ice in Iowa. The driver, live sound engineer Patrick Scott and five members of the sextet received minor injuries, but Dax was left a quadriplegic.

In my one previous interview with Doseone and Jel, they have nothing but good things to say about Dax and it’s great to hear him staring down the mic again (he also contributed some Ableton Live beats to Subtle’s ExitingARM.) The kids sampled towards the end of “You Ain’t It” may be culled from Dose’s freestyle class with Oakland kids. (I’ll have to get back to you on whether that’s true or false.) UPDATE: Doseone denied it as a falsity: “The kids on “You Ain’t It, is a sample from Masta Ace’s Slaughterhouse.”

Well, regardless of Dose’s role model coolness, he really hits his verses out of the park.

Premiere: Themselves TV Pt. 1

We also have our own exclusive today. Courtesy of the Themselves crew, we glady present the debut episode of Themselves TV! In it, the duo riffs (Mystery Science Theater 3000-style) on random kung fu and Death Wish clips and lets loose smippets of the incendiary opening cut, “Back II Burn.” A classic rap move good sirs. Heinous filmic atrocities get their asses served. Doseone and Jel are notorious for these types of shenanigans. A quick Google of ‘NOTGarfield’ will bring you up to speed. CrownsDown is out October 20th via Anticon.

Manic Street Preachers

“Virginia State Epileptic Society (Fuck Buttons Remix)” MP3

Sep 04, 2009

Earlier today, Stereogum premiered this entrancing Fuck Buttons reworking of Manic Street Preachers’ “Virginia State Epilectic Society.” The track is originally taken from the Welsh group’s Steve Albini and Dave Eringa-produced ninth LP, Journal For Plague Lovers. If you recall, many of the lyrics from that release were penned by original rhythm guitarist/lyricist Richey Edwards, who vanished on February 1, 1995 and was presumed dead the following year.

The Bristol electronic noise duo mutates the cathartic rock of the original by overlaying it with a slab of their unmistakable haze and drone-y din. Waves of shaker percussion and metallic synths crash over the extremely submerged vocals of pianist James Dean Bradfield so much you can barely recognize the original melody.

Fuck Buttons’ remix is joined by retoolings by British Sea Power, Fourt Tet, Patrick Wolf, The Horrors, Saint Etienne, among others. The bonus remix release comes with only with a pre-oder of Journal from the band’s website. The tracklist goes a little like this:

01 “Peeled Apples (Andy Weatherall Remix)”
02 “Me & Stephen Hawking (British Sea Power Remix)”
03 “Pretension/Repulsion (Four Tet Remix)”
04 “This Joke Sport Severed (Patrick Wolf’s Love Letter to Richey Remix)”
05 “Journal for Plague Lovers (Optimo [Espacio] Remix)”
06 “Jackie Collins Existential Question Time (Saint Etienne Remix)”
07 “Marlon JD (NYPC’s Wire Up Mix)”
08 “Virginia State Epileptic Society (Fuck Buttons Remix)”
09 “Door Closing Slowly (The Horrors Remix)”
10 “William’s Last Words (Underworld Remix)”

Journal for Plague Lovers is out in the U.S. September 15th through Columbia. The label also has a Journal For Plague Lovers page where you can skim through a flip book of Edwards’ journal. This strangely doesn’t seem as creepy in a post-Kurt Cobain and Elliott Smith world. The Preachers are also touring the States soon.

INVASION

“Spells of Deception” MP3

Sep 04, 2009

There’s nothing quite like a searing 1:57 minutes of psychedleic metal to puncuate your Labor Day weekend. INVASION fits the bills nicely. This video for the North London power trio’s new single, “Spells of Deception” is a steamrolling bit of thunder, influenced by bands like Rancid, ‘80s thrash and ‘90s doom. The clip splices and juxtaposes old school film for a dizzying effect. Watch out for Gandalf-like dude about midway. Jas Shaw of Simian Mobile Disco produced the quick, thrasher. The single is out September 7th as a 10” with exclusive B-sides and remixes. The pummeling new track, “Behind the Black Gate”is also included. Go here for INVASION‘s U.K. tour dates.

Cougar

“Stay Famous” MP3

Sep 04, 2009

The members of Cougar hail from a ton of places. Their Myspace lists their locations as “NYC/Chicago/Madison/Austin/Milwaukee.” That being said, the quintet also has a shape-shifting noise to go along with their multiple hometowns. You can’t tell when instruments will drop in and out of earshot but this is for sure: with at least three guitars going on at the crest of “Stay Famous” this band/collective know their post rock (or whatever you want to call it). The anthemic single features contributions from Mike Ladd and Paul Smith (Maximo Park). This is a sneak peek at their upcoming release, Patriot, which is out on Counter/Ninja Tune September 15th. The self-dubbed “emergency rockers"are streaming the full LP on AOL Spinner.

The Mountain Goats

“Matthew 25:21” MP3

Sep 04, 2009

Had to crack open the ol’ NIV for this post. (Strange but true.) The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle is coming out with a (sort of) Biblically themed LP. The Life of the World to Come‘s ninth track is called “Matthew 25:21,” but Darnielle only seems to reference the Jesus parable of a master granting talents to his servants through the song title.

Instead, the somber acoustic is where the drama of The Goats’ seventeenth full-length begins to unspool like intestines from a severed gut. Darnielle sings of a friend battling chemotherapy, faulty brakes on his 18-wheeler and planes crashing. All he/we can hope for is that “we’re all in crash position when we hit.” This is one of the saddest songs The Goats have penned since the 2002’s divorce concept album, Tallahassee.

Stream at Hype Machine. (Via Stereogum)