Joker - Tron

Oh dear. It's pretty easy to forget about dubstep until you hear someone like Joker. This kid is seriously blowing my mind. Check out some of his mixes.

Joker (MS) | (T) - Tron (MP3)

Jon Hopkins

Jon Hopkins is yet another in a long line of British electronic artists that I have come to enjoy. I discovered him, much like probably way too many other people did, because at some point I listened to the new(est) Coldplay album, Viva la Vida, and then later discovered that the only part of the album I really liked was really just a collaboration between Coldplay and Jon Hopkins (namely, the loop that is used both to open and close the album). And by collaboration, I mean sampling, because it's really just a clip that the band took from the full Jon Hopkins track "Light Through The Veins," which would later become the centerpiece around which his own 2009 release Insides was built. Well, I had discovered that track almost a year ago, but I had never thought to get the full Jon Hopkins album. That was a mistake, because it's fucking good. Why this guy doesn't get more attention is beyond me; Insides was actually his third album. Here's what you're missing out on:

Jon Hopkins - OS|MS

Jon Hopkins - "Light Through The Veins"

Jon Hopkins - "Second Sense"

Cassius

In honor of the mix that I'm working on (French House 4 Life) I'm going to be a lazy bastard and post a very, very old Cassius song. I know, I know. Weak. But I don't see anyone one else jumping to update the blog!

Anyways, Cassius were one part Boom Box and one part Phillipe Zdar, and with their work as Cassius they layed down the basics for what would come to define French house for the next decade. This song, "Foxxy," was their first release, and is still one of the highlights of the entire genre. You should listen to it.

Cassius - MS

Cassius - Foxxy

LCD Soundsystem Watch 2k10 - First Single "Drunk Girls"

LCD Soundsystem has leaked the first single off there yet to be titled upcoming album. Its called "Drunk Girls," and its... pretty good. It has alot of the energy and rawness of their early singles, like "Yeah," as well as alot of the verbal adeptness if such tracks as "Losing My Edge." Nothing that jumps out with the sublime beauty of Sound of Silver, but its nice to hear some of that infections energy coming of James Murphy golden pipes (well, dirty bronze tubes, at least) once again. Its only available on youtube at the moment, but you should still give it a spin for a nice little preview of what awaits.

Also on the net is a bit of this song "Pow Pow." Due to be release on April 30th, only a bit of it is available, but its hella disco and if you loop the track infinately you can barely even tell that only about a minutes available...

LCD Soundsystem - "Pow Pow"

LCD Soundsystem - MS|OS

Phoenix Release Free Live Album!

Ultimate crossover French indie rockers Phoenix just released a live album from a performance in Sydney today! The recording is great, the setlist is awesome (a bit Wolfgang Amedeus Phoenix heavy, but whatevs) and they included the perfect amount of young, presumably hot Australian girls screaming in the background. For those of us who have been with Phoenix ever since the beginning, when Pitchfork named them the "soft rock strokes," -booooo, P4k, - this little live album is a great victory lap for the band that deserved the success they've found the most. Grab it! Listen to it! Love it!

1901 collaboration video

PHOENIX | MySpace Music Videos

Phoenix - OS|MS

Phoenix - Lasso (Live in Sydney)

Phoenix - 1901 (Live in Sydney)

Broken Social Scene Watch 2k10

Sorry for the even more extended absence - lack of internet access kills, kids. Or does lack of internet kill kids? Regardless, Broken Social Scene just released two tracks off their upcoming album! They are sooo fucking good. The first is called "Forced To Love," and is a classic, forceful Broken Social Scene that shows that they still have the energy and passion to bring another great album.

I'm almost even more excited about "All to All." Its a synth filled, dreamlike track, and even though this isn't the sort of track that usually grabs my attention from BSS, something about the atmosphere really, really reminds me of classics like "I'm Still Your Fag" and "Late Nineties Bedroom Rock For Missionary."

I am soooooo excited for this album...

Broken Social Scene - MS|OS

Broken Social Scene - "Forced To Love"

Broken Social Scene - "All to All"

Health Care FTW

In honor of last night's historic passage of health care reform, I give you the celebration music of the gods, courtesy of Fuck Buttons:

Full. Blast.

Fuck Buttons: MS|OS - Olympians (mp3)

Snapshots: The Big Pink @ Neumos

I had the chance to see The Big Pink play Neumos last friday!! Here's a couple quick shots of the band I took during the show. They really cooked it up. I, personally, loved last year's A Brief History of Love. Some people don't agree... but they can suck it. In my top ten for emerging bands of 2009 and definitely one of the best shows of 2010, so far! Then again, I was ultimately cross-faded, so take heed. <3

Alubm Review: MGMT - Congratulations

I'm finally having a chance to sit down and listen to our beloved MGMT's new album Congratulations. For bands like MGMT, follow-ups are always tricky territory. I'm sure each of you can name a band for every finger that's completely fucked up LP2 - especially bands that gained a considerable about of notice for their first album. MGMT was a huge part of the electro explosion. They erupted onto the scene in a big way with a big sound, reinforcing themselves along the way with some absolutely killer remixes.

For Congratualtions, it sounds like they are taking the ever trickier route of transforming their sound. Congratulations should be seen as a separate volume rather than a new chapter. The band has opted for a much grander, more broad, encompassing sound the second time around. Making appearances, in no particular order: acoustic guitars, screaming electric guitars, strings, horns, flutes, trippy-synths, normal-synths, vocoders, reverbs, hella feedback ('ghost-like,' at times), chanted choruses, and songs that sweep between each effortlessly. The sound, especially the vocals, reminds me much of early Arcade Fire or even early Flaming Lips, if you can imagine that being applied to a still very MGMT sonic touch.

The lead single, 'Flash Delirium,' left many people, including me, completely turned off. I'm happy to say that after a couple listens through the album I am thoroughly impressed with the precision and poise MGMT has displayed in releasing a second album that could have easily been a mediocre rehashing of their first. Flash Delirium itself makes an incredible amount of sense, in context. 'Someone's Missing' sounds retro-dreamy while the 12+ minute 'Siberian Breaks' is a landscape of amalgamated sounds. The followup 'Brian Eno,' named of course for the God of Sound (whom sometimes goes, simply, by 'Brian'), is a thrashing of epic proportion, signaling the movement to a Deerhunter-like sound for the last stretch of the album. The album's title track 'Congratualtion' closes the album off with an acoustic conquering of the lyric "As strange is it seems, I'd rather dissolve than have you ignore me" - a fitting salutation. If you're looking for that re-hash then I am terribly sorry but you would do best to leave this album out entirely. Congratulations is a Dali if Oracular Spectacular was a van Gogh. Sonically, the album is intensely interesting at every turn, offering sweeping tempos and beats that are downright boppy at times. Some songs sound intensely natural while others, like one of the album's heavy hitters 'Someone's Missing,' sound chronically disillusioned - in a trippy sense [of sound], which I very much appreciate. If any new band's follow-up could ever be considered experimental - ladies and gentleman, I give you MGMT:

MGMT (OS) | (MS) | (W) - Flash Delirium (MP3)

PS: The album was recently leaked, hence clicking the official site link above will take you to a page where you can stream the album in its entirety. MGMT, as stated on the site, opted to allow streaming of the album rather than letting the first wave of listeners be scene-only pirates. If you enjoy it, please do buy it on 4/13! <3

St. Patrick's Day/Kells Aftermath - Stout Pounders

Hey Y'all

Sorry for my extended absence - its been a crazy couple days. Yesterday, especially, as I worked 16 hours shift at Kells, the hands down busiest bar in Seattle, on St. Patrick's Day, bar backing for the main bar. 16 hours with no breaks, on my feet, not having eaten a single thing all day, running back and forth through a totally packed bar, lifting kegs of beer shoulder height, all while wearing dress clothing and a tie. I think I'm going to die now, so I'm going to be a real asshole and just post some of the music played live last night that helped me make it through the night.

The Stout Pounders, a local Seattle Celtic Folk band, rocked the main stage for the a good part of the evening. Their mix of traditional instruments and modern rock swagger was highly reminiscent of the work of The Pouges, and they did a great job getting the afternoon crowd moving. They played an excellent mix of traditional and non-traditional folk music, as well as folk renditions of alternative music such as Nirvana's "Come As You Are" and Flogging Molly's "What's Left On The Flag." I had a chance to meet the lead singer Darin briefly, and he was a characteristic and energetic force for the band.

Stout Pounders - MS|OS