Still trying to decipher (read: Google) the meaning behind “Eet” but I thankfully don’t have to. Regina Spektor makes is too easy on the ears with yet another lush piano-led single off her forthcoming fifth album Far. If you recall, the “Imagine”-esque ballad “Laughing With” was the last surreal video to premiere from the Spektor camp. “Eet” has a Kate Bush atmosphere to the video as Spektor plays a typewriter like a piano in the middle of the desert. Far‘s 1.21 gigawatts of production power (Jacknife Lee, Mike Elizondo, David Kahne, and ELO’s Jeff Lynne) is already pushing the new tracks quickly up the Billboard charts. Far comes out June 22th, via Sire.
What’s Up?
“Harper” MP3
Jun 02, 2009
They’ve got a somewhat unfortunate name but Sacramento, Calif. natives What’s Up? bring the old school contrapuntal rock en masse. Here’s “Harper” from the now-Portland, Ore. trio’s debut Content Imagination, which is out now on Obey Your Brain. The single sounds like if Battles and fellow Sacramentans The Advantage had a prog-loving baby. Robby Moncrieff, Brian Marshall, and Teddy Briggs are hitting the road soon in support of the west coast leg of the Dirty Projectors’ tour. Dates are below.
Jun 04 Holocene Portland, OR Jun 28 SUPERFEST @ Rotture Portland, OR Jul 02 Richard’s on Richards Vancouver, BC * Jul 03 Chop Suey Seattle, WA * Jul 04 Holocene Portland, OR * Jul 07 The Independent San Francisco, CA * Jul 08 Troubadour Los Angeles, CA * Jul 24 PDX Pop Now! Portland, OR
Post-power-pop anyone? Here’s the Lance Bangs-directed video for the title track off The Thermals’ third studio release, Now We Can See (out now on Kill Rock Stars). This crew sure make playing-in-a-room vids look novel. The Portland trio are on the road this summer (dates at Pitchfork Fest and Red Rocks Amphitheatre’s Monolith Festtoo!). Single day tickets are still available. But also keep checking Under the Radar for the music video for their next single, “We Were Sick” (out July 7).
“Chillin” borrows a ton from M.I.A.‘s “Paper Planes” and Wale knows it (just listen to those lyrics before he drops the McLovin reference). “Chillin” may not be his best foot forward but here in this clip from last Friday’s Last Call with Carson Daly, the Washington, D.C. rapper is thankfully sans Lady GaGa. UCB is in the house though. The enthusiastic crowd sure doesn’t care either way once the sampled “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” chorus starts up. Wale’s debut album, Attention: Deficit, is due out this summer and he’s going on tour. If you didn’t notice already, he’s sorta blowing up. Can’t say the same thing for Eminem. Low blow…low blow.
Datarock
Red Album Stream
Jun 01, 2009
Myspace is doing an exclusive premiere of Datarock‘s Red. Starting today everyone’s favorite Norwegian electro act is streaming their entire new album from their player. Frontman Fredrik Saroea also took some time to record a video where he talked about some of the inspirations and references behind the group’s sophomore release. Check that out here. Red will be in stores next week in the U.K., Europe, and will be available online in the U.S. (CD release is September 1.)
The Cave Singers
“Beach House” MP3
Jun 01, 2009
The Cave Singers are prepping their sophomore LP, Welcome Joy for a August 18 release on Matador. Here’s a sneak peak from the follow-up to 2007’s Invitation Songs. “Beach House” is a morning slow-burner (hello hangover!) for fans of folk-rock acts like Deer Tick. Welcome Joy will feature the Webber sisters from Lightning dust, who will join the Seattle band on their fall tour. More details at the Matablog.
Monsters at Work
“Magic Morning” (from A Psychedelic Guide to Monsterism Island) MP3
May 30, 2009
Here’s a track to gnaw on from the latest volume of Pete Fowler’s Monsterism island compilation series, A Psychedelic Guide to Monsterism Island. The song is entitled “Magic Morning” by Monsters at Work and has a breezy beach cocktail vibe to it. It’s perfect music for your next Tiki hut bash/videogame showdown. The rest of Monsterism Island aggregates cuts from Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys, The Specials’ Jerry Dammers, Jonny Trunk, Luke Vibert, Circulus, Wolf People, Cherrystones, and members of The Future Sound of London, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, and Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve. For more info, take a canoe ride to www.monsterism.net.
The big budget music video era is largely over so naturally Metric’s “Sick Muse” culminated from a bunch of friends tinkering with an HD camera in a Toronto apartment. The Fantasies single gives fans a glimpse into the New Wave/indie band’s backstage antics and was directed by Justin Broadbent and Michael Leach of HotDogGarbage. Best line in the song has to be this snarling/sexy lyric: “Watch out Cupid/Stuck me with a sickness/Pull your little arrows out/And let me live my life.” Fantasies is out now and full of such juicy lyrics. Just as a reminder, frontwoman Emily Haines was featured in Under the Radar’s new Self-Portrait section in the Spring ‘09 issue. Also, Metric just came home from their sold out Euro tour, but they have several dates in the States this summer. For more information about those and other Metric-releated news, you can hit up www.ilovemetric.com.
