Casablancas’ new group had an awkward start and Julian had even worse dance moves but soon they locked in for the beat-driven finish. The song certainly deserved a better performance from The Strokes leader but I guess when you’re playing for Tuesday night drunks and/or insomniacs it’s no sweat off your back.
You can get a chance to see Casablancas get the amazing track right at various dates in Europe and his November residency at L.A.‘s Downtown Palace Theatre. Go here for all those dates.
The Watson Twins
“U-N-Me” MP3
Oct 28, 2009
L.A.‘s country-folk-gospel duo The Watson Twins (Chandra and Leigh) return with a new full-length on February 9th, via Vanguard. The follow-up to2006’s Southern Manners and 2008’s Fire Songs is dubbed Talking to You, Talking to Me, and features guest musicians from Everest and My Morning Jacket. The sample track above, U-N-Me, has a nice soulful timbre to it and punches up the sibling’s usually heavy lidded tempo just a smidge. A little bit of AM radio, ‘70s singer-songwriter sounds creep in as well.
In June of 2009 the sisters went with producers J. Soda and Russell Pollard to a secluded cabin near Yosemite to demo the new cuts. They recorded the polished nu-folkie results at L.A.‘s Fairfax Recordings. (A press release mentions Carole King and contemporary artist Feist as aural touchstones for the new song suite.) The Twins’ U.S. tour begins tomorrow (October 28th) with Joshua Radin supporting the gals. (via thewatsontwins.com)
“Julia,” by The Very Best, is one of the many highlights on the duo’s debut LP, Warm Heart of Africa. Well, now the band’s the video for the duo’s latest single sees them collaborating with London rapper Kano. His best line: “I would never Chris Brown you.” Check it out above. Seemed like they had a lot of fun together. In other VB news, a bunch of their concert dates in the U.S. have been canceled due to a visa snafu. :( (via the Mad Decent blog)
Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, brought her beautifully destructive art-rock to the set of PBS’ Austin City Limits last weekend. You can watch a clip of her performing “Marrow” below. She also played tracks from this year’s Actor and her 2007 debut, Marry Me. The full set list included “Black Rainbow,” “The Bed,” “The Party,” and “Your Lips Are Red and a streaming clip of those can be found here.
Norwegian electropop star Annie is finally releasing her sophomore LP, Don’t Stop, after several leaks and postponed release dates. The full-length drops November 17th, via the Oslo indie imprint, Smalltown Supersound. We already gave you a listen to the infectious “I Don’t Like Your Band,” but here’s a music video for the lead single, “Songs Remind Me of You.” In the ‘80s-synth pop gem’s video, Annie is posing for the camera during a windblown photoshoot for Don’t Stop‘s re-shot album cover. And what about that outfit Anne’s wearing in the clip? Yeah, we’ve seen that somewhere else before. (Also, nice lipstick necklace!)
Jookabox
Halloween Photo Contest: “You Cried Me” MP3
Oct 26, 2009
Last month we gave you a free listen to the spooky leadoff track, “Phantom Don’t Go,” from Jookabox‘s (formerly Grampall Jooxbox) forthcoming third album, Dead Zone Boys. Jookabox is fronted by the Indianapolis-born musician David “Moose” Adamson and his latest musical entry is a “love story meets psychedelic zombie-musical.” Above you can download a second cut from the November 3rd Asthmatic Kitty/Joyful Noise release.
“You Cried Me” is a lo-fi, acoustic howler about a vampire (ghost?) and his lover. (Lines such as “I’ll bite your neck,” “evil in the first degree” “I’ll take your soul with me underground” frequently pop up. For such a spooky track, “You Cried Me” has some legs in the earworm department. Jookabox has a release party October 30th at Big Car Gallery in Indianapolis. Their U.S. tour is happening soon.
OK, now comes the exciting part. We’ve worked out a special Halloween photo contest with Asthmatic Kitty in anticipation of the new Jookabox release. All the neccesary details are below.
Under the Radar & Jookabox’s Halloween Costume Giveaway:
1) Grab a nice clean photo of your best Halloween costume, past, present, or future
2) Make sure it’s your most amazing, scary, ghoulish, and knee-knockingly good costume. Only include yourself in the photograph. (I guess that means my awesome Robin Hood costume from ‘91 won’t work.)
3) Scan that monstrous thing into a .jpeg format and e-mail it to media@undertheradarmag.comwith the subject line “JOOKABOX HALLOWEEN COSTUME GIVEAWAY” by Tuesday, November 3rd (the release date for Dead Zone Boys).
What Do You Win?:
Three lucky winners will get an band-autographed copy of Dead Zone Boys and EVERYONE that enters gets a digital Asthmatic Kitty sampler to jam at your upcoming holiday parties.
Remember, only include one crazy kid in your submission:
Blind Man’s Colour
“Jimmy Dove (U.S.F. Remix)” MP3
Oct 26, 2009
This druggy re-rub of Blind Man’s Colour‘s “Jimmy Dove” by Seattle’s U.S.F. (formerly known as Universal Studios Florida) is an entry in a forthcoming remix contest. The ambient track was originally heard on BMC’s Season Dreaming and U.S.F. retains the Florida duo’s love for water noises. We interviewed BMC for our Summer ‘09 issue.
After many audio and visual teasers, the rock behemoth known as Them Crooked Vultures has finally let fans listen to a full studio version of a song. Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones posted a stream of “New Fang” to their YouTube page today.
True to the lineup’s inherent promise, the track rocks your socks off with some killer guitar licks.
“New Fang” will appear on Them Crooked Vultures’ self-titled LP, dropping November 16th in the U.K. on Columbia and November 17th in North America via DGC/Interscope.
Last month we gave you a free listen to the spooky leadoff track, 
This druggy re-rub of 
