Dont Cry, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Who's awesome? Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is Awesome! I dont know how these guys do it, but some how they have crafted the perfect indie pop which somehow manages to make me happy and not annoyed at the same time. Their debut Broom, captured my heart, to borrow a really lame cliche, and while I only skimmed their 2nd EP, their newest album sounds pretty amazing!

Listen to these very new and extremely excellent songs!

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - MS|OS

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Modern Mystery (Radio Rip)

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Cardinal Rules

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Sink/Let it Sway

Pin Me Down

So... Pin Me Down.

What to say. Russell Lissack (Bloc Party, fool) is an amazing guitar player, expressive and emoitional, with a great degree of technical skill yet possessing of a tempering intelligence that keeps him seemingly restrained until the appropriate moment. He has proved an expert DJ and programmer, a hard working and proficient musician with interesting ideas.

Milena Mepris is pretty hot.

I just dont know what to think. Mepris' (former lead singer of Black Moustache) voice seemed to be a fantastic contributing factor on such projects as Pin Me Down's excellent remix of "Ares," but it was pretty filtered and background, whereas on these tracks its front and center - and noticeably more, erm, nasally. I just dont know. The two tracks I have heard so far, "Cryptic" and "Time Crisis," its almost omnipresent, forgettable and annoying, until Russell's unusually muscular guitar playing edges it out of the way, and becomes immediately recognizable as the defining factor it was with Bloc Party.

Maybe its Russel's fault. While I certainly extract a great amount of joy from hearing him play guitar the same way he did with Bloc Party, maybe he needs to grow more as a guitarist to help these tracks stand out.

Or maybe he should just get back with Bloc Party.

Check out this remix, however, it does empty some of the guitar but it softens Mepris' voice and turns the track into an unoffensive eurodance track.

Pin Me Down - MS|OS

Pin Me Down - Time Crisis (Co-Pilots Turbulence Remix)

Bloc Party - Ares (Pin Me Down Remix)

Stars - Fixed

Stars are back! And despite my bumpy history with [mostly just the lead singer of] this band, I couldn't be more happy. Set Yourself On Fire was a masterpiece among masterpieces and, though it took me a while to warm up to it, In Our Bedroom After The War made it in my top ten for 2K7.

So, I couldn't be more thrilled to offer you the first single off of the band's fifth album The Five Ghosts, upcoming on June 22nd. If the single here sounds a lot closer to Set Yourself On Fire, going back to poppy bouncing synth lines and general indie bopness - highlighted, of course, by the absolutely stunning voice of Amy Millan. Do enjoy the song, check the tracklist, see the tour dates, and go to a show! If you get lucky the lead singer will be coherent enough to not be an asshole to you!!

AND! A bonus Amy Millan cover of Death Cab's 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark' off of her solo album Masters of the Burial, out now!

The Five Ghosts:

01. “Dead Hearts”
02. “Wasted Daylight”
03. “I Died So I Could Haunt You”
04. “Fixed”
05. “We Don’t Want Your Body”
06. “He Dreams He’s Awake”
07. “Never Been Good With Change”
08. “The Passenger”
09. “The Last Song Ever Written”
10. “How Much More”
11. “Winter Bones”

06/01 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
06/03 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
06/04 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music hall of Williamsburg
06/05 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
06/06 – Houston, TX @ Free Press Summerfest
06/08 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
06/09 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
06/15 – Seattle, WA @ The Triple Door
06/16 – Seattle, WA @ The Triple Door
06/17 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
06/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
06/20 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
06/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
06/23 – Los Angles, CA @ The Troubadour

Stars (OS) | (MS) | (W) - Fixed (MP3)

Amy Millan (OS) | (MS) | (W) - I Will Follow You Into the Dark (MP3)

The New Pornographers - Together

Our power pop neighbors from Vancouver, The New Pornographers, have a new album coming out, and in anticipation of that, I decided to up the two tracks that have been leaked from it. The first is called "Your Hands (Together)" is pretty fantastic, and reminds me of exactly why I feel in love with the New Pornographers back during their Mass Romantic time period. Epic, jangly, enthusiastic and heartfelt, it reminds me of my most favorite New Pornographers song "From Blown Speakers."

The other song is called "Crash Years," and reminds me of exactly why I got bored with The New Pornograpers. I mean, its not necessarily terrible, but it seems undercooked and bland. Its somewhat catchy, but it goes basically nowhere and I have a hard time focusing on it. Perhaps a few more listens will yield a better attitude towards it.

Anyways, Together is out on May 4th. Lets see what you can do, New Pornographers!

The New Pornographers - MS|OS

The New Pornographers - "Your Hands (Together)"

The New Pornographers - "Crash Years"

Florrie

Just heard this track by Florrie - supposedly the new face of indie pop stardom. Ill be honest, I was mostly attracted to the Fred Falke remix - but this is pretty solid. Check it out!

Florrie - MS|OS

Florrie - Panic Attack (Fred Falke Remix)

I ruv Owen Pallett

Formerly known as Final Fantasy, Owen Pallett, who is perhaps best known as the man behind the string arrangements used by Arcade Fire, recently released his first solo album under his real name: Heartland. It's fun, playful, slightly cheeky, cinematic, and extraordinarily diverse. And he's @ The Crocodile on May 8th! Here's the video he just released for the song "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt." Enjoy!

Owen Pallett - MS

The Pipettes New Single/What Happened to The Pipettes?

So The Pipettes released a new single and music video, which is all well and good, it sounds pretty much like you would expect it to, maybe it lacks some of the hooks of their older stuff, but hey, what can you do, its got a nice little guitar riff in the middle, right? So I head over to their wikipedia page and - what the fuck? Who are these chicks? The Pipettes have lost almost their entire original lineup. The only one I kind of remember is Gwenno - but according to wikipedia she wasn't even a part of the original lineup! What is this shit? I guess I was always aware The Pipettes were more of a project of the largely invisible backing band but damn. Sad.

Anyways, here it is, plus my own personal favorite...

The Pipettes - WS|MS

Our Love Was Saved By A Spaceman

Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me

Architecture in Helsinki

Good news everybody!

This nice little single just popped out of AIH's studio in Melbourne. The first time in four years the whole band has recorded together in their home town! If this single is a sign of what their new album will sound like, then it looks like we'll be in for another major overhaul in AIH's sound. Do y'all remember falling in love with AIH over Fingers Crossed and In Case We Die? Personally, I loved the new direction the band took with Places Like This but I know I'm certainly not speaking for most of you (who hated it). The new single "That Beep" is neither/nor, so here's to hoping we'll all be starstruck when the new album hits.

"New album???" you ask! Has it not been just over a year since the last one? It seems the band had so much fun recording the single that they didn't mind letting us know about their upcoming release. Vision Revision will be out sometime "in the future," and will hopefully contain just as much Kellie Sutherland as this track does:

Architecture In Helsinki (OS)|(MS)
Architecture in Helsinki - That Beep
Architecture in Helsinki - That Beep (Radioclit Remix)