Nov 09, 2009

Watch on YouTube

Our recent cover boys, Monsters of Folk, are trekking around the U.S. now and just released a new music video for the dusty cowboy track “Temazcal” today. M. Ward takes the vocal lead on the lo-fi studio session, Conor Oberst and Jim “Yim” James sing harmony, while Mike Mogis add some atmospheric, Southwestern electric guitar. The clip was helmed by the Irish music video, commercial, and feature film director Meiert Avis. Monsters of Folk is out on Shangri-La Music and Rough Trade. Go here for tour dates.

Nov 09, 2009

Basement Jaxx recently wrapped up their criminally short U.S. DJ trek in support of their fifth albun Scars. Here’s another remix from that album; this time Sub Focus overhauling the Yo Majesty-featured single, “Twerk.” The all-female Miami rap crew got their groove on for the rambunctious house banger original. The dancefloor cut gets another kick in the pants with Focus’ explosive, drum & bass treatment. Enjoy this at home or under the disco ball. Scars is out now. The limited 12” vinyl of “Twerk” is available December 14th. Both are via XL.

Nov 09, 2009

Watch on YouTube

The Pixies’ highly touted 20th Anniversary Doolittle Tour continued to snake through the U.S. last week with a semi-lackluster appearance on The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien this past Friday (November 6th). Coco held up a copy of the box set, Minotaur, before the performance started, and it looks like you could kill several people with it.

The sound levels were low for this one but the Pixies certainly know the once maligned track pretty damn well now. It’s been five years since they reformed last, and there’s still no sign of any new material. With classic tracks such as “Here Comes Your Man” to hang their hats on, they’ll probably never have to record a new LP. Check out the rest of the dates for the mostly sold-out tour here. Also, check out this free live EP.

Nov 08, 2009

Memphis, Tenn. indie-pop septet Magic Kids only have a few lo-fi bedroom tracks streaming on their MySpace (Be sure to check out “Hey Boy.”) The group’s new cut, “Superball”, is a busy pop tune that bounces along like its namesake. Nasaly vox, strings, tambourine, and woodwinds shimmy in a pretty charming manner. This song will appear on a forthcoming split 7” on Fat Possum, with The Smith Westerns’ “Imagine, Pt. 3” on the flipside. (via Transparent)

Nov 08, 2009

Nashville singer-songwriter Caitlin Rose has a sophomore long-player coming in 2010, but here’s a non-album bonus track to tide you over. The country-folk rocker covered Gram Parsons’ “Still Feelin’ Blue” this past week, and posted it to her Twitter. She slows down the tempo at the outset and strips the cut bare. It’s almost as melodically strong as the Cosmic Americana original. Nicely done Ms. Rose. Her debut LP, Dead Flowers, is out now on Theory 8. (via You Ain’t No Picasso)

Nov 07, 2009

To celebrate their continuing Doolittle world tour, the Pixies are giving away a free(!) downloadable live EP, featuring tracks culled from their October 16th performance in Paris. Doolittle-era tracks that appear on the Doolittle 20th Anniversary Live Sampler include, “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” “Crackity Jones,” “Gouge Away,” and “Dancing the Manta Ray.”

Above you can download the band’s excellent live performance of the B-side “Dancing the Manta Ray.” That cut was originally found on the “Monkey Gone to Heaven” single. Just enter your email into the handy widget below, and download the whole EP! Check out the rest of the dates for the mostly sold-out tour here. (Via TwentyFourBit via Slicing Up Eyeballs)

Nov 07, 2009

Texas music producer Ernest Gonzales is the owner of Exponential Records but now he’s preparing to bring his own tunes into the public spotlight. Friends of Friends (FoF) Music, already distributed a curatorial art book/covers EP last month, entitled Self Awakening. Now comes word of a debut full-length, entitled Been Meaning to Tell You. That release is slated to drop in February 2010. It’s FoF’s first LP release after two earlier EPs.

Above, we have the title track of Self Awakening available for free download. The guitar/electric tapestry heard on this preview is a nice foretaste of the aural head trips to come. The EP features another original song, and remixes/alternate takes by Gonzales’ electronic buds Faunts, Take, CYNE, Yppah!, and Mexicans with Guns. Additionally, Been Meaning to Tell You LP will be released with an entire accompanying album of 16 covers and remixes curated by FoF and Gonzales; including Daedelus (Ninja Tune), Copy (Audio Dregs), Aether (Exponential), as well as the re-rubbers from the recent EP.

Here’s what Gonzales had to say about the preview EP’s title cut: “The title “Self Awakening” refers to the final scene of the film [Vanilla Sky] when the main character, David, needs to make a choice to continue living in a lucid dream or overcome a giant fear to live in the real world. ‘The sweet is never as sweet without the sour.’ These words are some of the last bits of advice given to David…a very resonating message in my mind.” Give “Self Awakening” a listen above and jump into the dream world.