Soft Landing is a new pop-rock trio consisting of Beirut bandmates Paul Collins & Perrin Cloutier, and Mike Lawless. They call their themselves “a bunch of Jorge Ben wannabees.” Check out their two promising demos via The Catbirdseat:
Former Rubies singer/guitarist and photographer Amy Cooper is now in the ‘90s-esque rock duo Naked Hearts. She’s joined by singer/drummer, and jazz bassist Noah Wheeler, and the pair shares a home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They also share an obvious appreciation for bands such as Sonic Youth, The Breeders, and Blake Babies on their full-length debut, Mass Hysteria.
The scuzzy-pop LP drops May 11 and recording took place at Vacation Island Recordings in Brooklyn, NY. Owner and engineerMatt Boynton (Bat For Lashes, Gang Gang Dance) is set to record their next LP. Check out the bass-heavy rock of Mass Hysteria‘s title track above and tour dates can be find at the twosome’s MySpace.
Megafaun
“Volunteers” MP3
Apr 08, 2010
In 2009, North Carolina back-porch rockers Megafaun issued the largely slept-on second LP, Gather, Form & Fly. (If you haven’t listened to it yet, you better get busy.) Sometime this summer, they’ll release Heretofore through Hometapes. It’s a fresh mini-album and we’ve got the downloadable “Volunteers” for your ears. Now, if you can excuse me, it’s time to go sway in the breeeeze to this rootsy wonder. (Via P4k.)
Megafaun have plenty of spring tour dates lined up for North America. Check those out here.
Owen Pallett
Dan Deacon
“Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (Dan Deacon Remix)” MP3
Apr 08, 2010
Owen Pallett‘s “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt” 12-inch single, comes out June 22 via Domino, and sports a ton of remixes. Max Tundra, CFCF, Simon Bookish, and Benoît Pioulard, all work their magic on cuts from the Toronto classical-pop artists’ exemplary Heartland. Download or stream Dan Deacon‘s phasing, “Woody Woodpecker”-esque version of the new single. It’s quite the auditory trip.
Check out the artwork (right), and the tracklist (below). Also, Pallett’s North America and European gigging starts tonight in his hometown and continues until May 14 in Denver.
“Lewis Takes Off His Shirt” 12-inch:
A1 Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (album version) A2 Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (Dan Deacon Remix) A3 Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (Benoît Pioulard Remix) B1 Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (CFCF Remix) B2 Keep the Dog Quiet (Simon Bookish Remix) B3 Midnight Directives (Max Tundra Remix)
The National
“Afraid of Everyone” / “Conversation 16” (Live at Big Ears) Videos
The excitement for The National‘s fifth LP, High Violet, is almost hitting critical mass right now. Well, add these videos of the quintet performing the brooding “Afraid of Everyone” (above) and the propulsive “Conversation 16 to the pile. The clips are from the indie-rockers’ set at Knoxville, Tenn.‘s Big Ears festival. The Brooklyn group’s new tracks hit iPods and store shelves on May 11. The dude rock abides. Check MySpace for upcoming tour dates. (Via Stereogum.)
“Conversation 16”:
Stars
“Fixed” MP3
Apr 07, 2010
Stars’ fifth full-length, The Five Ghosts, their first since 2007’s In Our Bedroom After the War, will be out June 22 via Vagrant and the quintet’s own imprint, Soft Revolution (via Universal in Canada). Everyone in the group penned and recorded the eleven-song suite in Montréal. Broken Social Scene and Apostle of Hustle member Andrew Whiteman, makes a guest appearance.
Stereogum posted “Fixed” today. The synth-led debut single is quite the earworm and Amy Millan takes hold of the mic. At the beginning of June the Canadian group will set out on a pre-release trek where they plan to play The Five Ghosts in its entirety. Fans who plan to attend can vote for the classic tracks played during the encore at youarestars.com.
Snowglobe‘s fourth LP is entitled Little More Lived In and finds the Memphis, TN-via-Athens, GA band honing their flower-power pop even more. The new release was recorded at Memphis’ Young Avenue Sound by Kevin Cubbins, and drops May 4, via Makeshift Music. Today we proudly present the premiere of Snowglobe new music video for lead single, “Love.” The Olivia Tremor Control-like clip takes its psych-pop cues from zany Beatles short films and children’s TV shows. Soak in the sunshine folks.
In addition to “Love,” the group will soon release another AV treat: their debut full-length feature film. After ten years of touring and recording it’s probably about time for their own Help! or Head. According to a press release, the movie “will follow the band for 24 hours as they race to make it to ‘The most important show of their entire career!’” Stay abreast of all Snowglobe tour and film news through the group’s MySpace.
Broken Social Scene also had a knack for the cinematic side of musicmaking and Forgiveness Rock Record isn’t going to change that. Check out these awesome YouTube teasers for the forthcoming LP. Each song is paired up with a short clip from a “classic film.” (Apparently, Ghost is considered a classic.) The tracks included are “Art House Director” (above), “Chase Scene,” “Sweetest Kill,” and “Ungrateful Little Father.” Note: The “Sweetest Kill” clip is NSFW.
Check out more new BSS tunes here. Forgiveness Rock Record will be out May 4 on Arts & Crafts.
Former 
In 2009, North Carolina back-porch rockers 
Owen Pallett
Stars
