Those two NY dudes with the guitars and the drum-machines and the overflowing sample bank, Ratatat has a brand-new album coming out soon. It’s the duo’s fourth album, so they felt calling it LP4 was good enough.
Not too long ago, Evan Mast and Mike Stroud hooked the world up with the record’s first single, “Party With Children,” and now we’ve all got a chance to stream the as-yet-unreleased new album in its entirety. Head over here to listen to LP4, thanks to NPR, and you can pre-order your copy before its released June 8 via XL Recordings, here.
We’d like to think that record labels are becoming generous and thoughtful with age, but it’s more likely that they offer their latest releases for full streaming weeks before the release dates to combat against you whippersnappers trying to download something for nothing. Regardless, right now over on AOL Spinner you can listen to a whole lot of new, as-yet-unreleased albums, some of which are pretty great.
Mux Mool Viking Funeral EP Ghostly International (2010)
Genre: Electronic Rating: B
Mux Mool’s Viking Funeral EP, an offering of free music leading up to the release of producer Brian Lindgren’s debut album, Skulltaste, is five tracks of electronic hip-hop each cut from a different cloth. “Teal Trim” opens the set with an ethereal cue of nosie and melody set to a solid beat that buzzes with each hit. It’s a great lead-in that comfortably sets the tone for what comes next: “Ladies Know.” The track is a honest-to-goodness jam that retains the wispy aspects of “Teal Trim” while raising the stakes with grooving vocal samples, a stable of weird effects, and a live drum kit that’ll move you no matter your body’s current position. The song is followed by pulsating intonations which ooze from every pore of “Drum Babylon”; a serious and cool track the shuffles down a darkened street as a thick cloud of smoke rises from it’s mellowed vibe.
The playful and sort of hilarious “Goblin Town,” which plucks audio directly from the animated movie of The Hobbit, might produce the most smiles of Viking Funeral’s five songs, but it’s not much for more than a novelty. Mux Mool’s EP ends with a lot of big sound pushing out from behind the boisterous lyrics on the collaborative track of “Death 9000”. MC’s Prof and P.O.S. throw lines back and forth amongst each other amongst the instrumental lifted off Skulltaste, and it rocks like a NES theme strungout on cheap speed. It could be the paramount track from Viking Funeral, if not just for sheer ability alone, but, truthfully, it’s just another reason to get excited for Mux Mool’s forthcoming full-length.
Back in our review of Mi Ami’s Cut Men 12”, keyCMND mentioned how difficult it is for the ex-members of influential bands to shed the skin of their past work. Truer words couldn’t be said for the guys in Past Lives. Three-fourths of the group pioneered the post-screamo-punk outfit The Blood Brothers, and that’s a band who pretty much changed the whole way kids approach any strand of hardcore music. If they have anything to expect on the road it’ll be super-fans yelling out, “CECILIA AND THE SILHOUETTE SALOOOON!” at their live shows.
Regardless, the creativity of the four-piece out-shines many of their former efforts, as evidenced here on a song from Past Lives’ forthcoming album, Tapestry of Webs. It’s a quieter moment for the band—showcasing jangly guitars, sparse electronics, and a brother-sister duet between lead singer Jordan Billie and The Gossip’s Hannah Billie. “Deep in the Valley” resonates with a strong vocal melody and memorably esoteric instrumentation, but still seems like more of a placeholder in part of a varied, larger work. We’ll know for sure come February 23 when Tapestry of Webs sees release via Suicide Squeeze.
Listen: “Deep in the Valley (feat. Hannah Billie)”
It’s like two of your high school crushes fighting over who gets to make-out with you first. It’s like your two favorite filmmakers combining their incomparable visions to make a short film just for you. It’s like your two favorite new bands meshing their strongest qualities on a… Wait… This is two of our favorite new artists from 2009 showcasing their best qualities simultaneously!
LA’s new kid on the beat, Nosaj Thing, has grabbed hold of the vocals from “Islands,” one of the stellar singles from break-out UK group The xx, and transformed them into one of his reverberated, bass-addled tracks. The xx’s sensual dual-vocal attack is ripped from the original guitar plucks and drum machine beats of “Islands,” and complimented surprisingly well by producer Jason Chung’s distant clicks, blips, and wobbly low-end. It wouldn’t have been our first guess for a remix pairing, but we’re so happy it exists. Check out the track below and some tour dates for each artist after that.
Nosaj Thing Tour Dates: Thursday - Feb 4th - Space 120 - Palm Springs, California Friday - Feb 5th - Echoplex - Los Angeles, California Saturday - Feb 6th - Mighty - San Francisco, California Sunday - Feb 7th - Jambalaya - Arcata, California Monday - Feb 8th - Rotture - Portland, Oregon Tuesday - Feb 9th - Fortune Sound Club - Vancouver, British Columbia Wednesday - Feb 10th - Neumos - Seattle, Washington Friday - Feb 12th - Hodi’s Half Note - Fort Collins, Colorado Saturday - Feb 13th - Gothic Theater - Englewood, Colorado Sunday - Feb 14th - Mad Planet - Milwaukee, Wisconson Monday - Feb 15th - Majestic Theater - Madison, Wisconsin Tuesday - Feb 16th - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, Illinois Wednesday - Feb 17th - Grog Shop - Cleveland, Ohio Thursday - Feb 18th - Wrong Bar - Toronto, Ontario Friday - Feb 19th - Le Belmont - Montreal, Quebec Saturday - Feb 20th - Le Poisson Rouge - New York, New York Monday - Feb 22st - Kung Fu Necktie - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday - Feb 23rd - Bourbon Street - Baltimore, Maryland Wednesday - Feb 24th - Xscape Lounge - Richmond, Virginia Thursday - Feb 25th - Club R2 - Charlottesville, Virginia Friday - Feb 26th - Club 828 - Asheville, North Carolina Saturday Feb 27th - New Earth Music Hall - Athens, Georgia
The xx Tour Dates: 01-15 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega 01-16 Aarhus, Denmark - Vox Hall 01-18 Oslo, Norway - Garage 01-19 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser Slussen 01-20 Gothenburg, Sweden - Pusterviksbaren 01-21 Malmo, Sweden - Debaser 01-22 Berlin, Germany - Astra 02-16 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso 02-17 Brussels, Belgium - AB 02-18 Paris, France - Cigale 03-01 Brighton, England - Komedia 03-03 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire 03-05 Birmingham, England - Birmingham Academy 2 03-06 Manchester, England - Manchester Academy 2 03-08 Leeds, England - Cockpit 03-09 Edinburgh, Scotland - Studio 24 03-10 Liverpool, England - Kazimer 04-16 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater 04-19 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre 04-20 Toronto, Ontario - Koolhaus 04-22 New York, NY - Terminal 5 04-24 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
As you may have seen and heard, one of our favorite hip-hop tracks from last year was a remix of the Gucci Mane song “Danger’s Not a Stranger” by Mad Decent label-head Diplo. The producer/DJ managed to marry Gucci’s guttural rhymes and melody with a Mariah Carey instrumental that proved to work impeccably well. The track was said to come from a forthcoming mixtape of all remixed Gucci tracks, and now the sweet, sultry details of that compilation have been released.
Today, over on the Mad Decent blog it reads, “Diplo Presents: Free Gucci (Best of the Cold War Mixtapes) will be available for FREE on Monday morning. And trust me, this mixtape is WELL worth the wait!” After a quick glance at the tracklist and a preview of French producer Douster’s bonus contribution to the comp., we wholeheartedly believe it. You can stream and download Douster’s remix of “No No No” below, and check out the tracklist under that. Get wise now, cause Lord knows we ought to all be copping this sweet deal come Monday.
1. Danger’s Not a Stranger (Diplo Remix) 2. Dope Boy (Bird Peterson Remix) 3. Excuse Me (Memory Tapes Remix) 4. No No No (Brodinski & Monsieur Monsieur Remix) 5. Frowny Face (Douster Remix) 6. Frowny Face (Emynd Remix feat Playboy Tre) 7. I’m Expectin’ (Teenwolf Remix) 8. Boi (Zomby Remix) 9. My Shadow (Salem Remix) 10. Excuse Me (Diplo Remix) 11. Photo Shoot (Flying Lotus Remix) 12. I Be Everywhere (Mumdance Remix) 13. I Be Everywhere (DZ Remix) 14. I’m the Shit (Benzi & Willy Joy Remix) 15. Break Yourself (Diplo Remix feat Lil B)
Bay Area’s king of fractured, beautiful, and down-right creepy noise-pop, Jamie Stewart is only a touch over a month away from releasing his next album in the legacy of Xiu Xiu, entitled Dear God, I Hate Myself. The record finds the frontman collaborating with new and old friends, including Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier and Xiu Xiu-alum Ches Smith, and keyCMND’s initial listen gave the impression of an album chock-full of haunting melodies and fantastic melodrama.
Here we have the first taste of Dear God, the album opener “Gray Death.” It’s a wonderful song that excites us even more for the full-length’s release date on February 23 via Kill Rock Stars. Check out the song, album tracklist, and tour dates below.
Dear God, I Hate Myself tracklist: 1. Gray Death 2. Chocolate Makes You Happy 3. Apple for a Brain 4. House Sparrow 5. Hyunhye’s Theme 6. Dear God, I Hate Myself 7. Secret Motel 8. Falkland Rd. 9. The Fabrizio Palumbo Retaliation 10. Cumberland Gap 11. This Too Shall Pass Away (for Freddy) 12. Impossible Feeling
US Tour Dates: March 2010 6 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn - w/ Noveller 7 - Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree - w/ Noveller 10 - Norman, OK @ Opolis Productions - w/ Noveller 11 - Dallas, TX @ The Cavern - w/ Noveller 12 - Houston, TX @ The Studio @ Warehouse Live - w/ Noveller 13 - Austin, TX @ Red 7 - w/ Noveller 16 - Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture - w/ Noveller, Extra Life 17 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah - w/ Noveller, tUnE-yArDs 18 - Los Angeles, CA @ Echo - w/ Noveller, tUnE-yArDs 19 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place - w/ Noveller, tUnE-yArDs 20 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill - w/ Noveller, tUnE-yArDs 23 - Olympia, WA @ Northern - w/ tUnE-yArDs 24 - Portland, OR @ Holocene - w/ tUnE-yArDs 25 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Scout Niblett 26 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal 27 - Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal 29 - Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Saloon - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal 30 - St Louis, MO @ Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal 31 - Iowa City, IA @ The Picador - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal
April 2010 1 - Northfield, MN @ The Cave @ Carleton College - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal 2 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal 3 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal, Zola Jesus 5 - Oberlin, OH @ The Dionysus Discotheque - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal 7 - Cleveland, OH @ The Spot - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Talk Normal 8 - Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place - w/ tUnE-yArDs 9 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom - w/ tUnE-yArDs, Zola Jesus 10 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East downstairs - w/ tUnE-yArDs 13 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church - w/ tUnE-yArDs 14 - Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel - w/ tUnE-yArDs 16 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 - w/ tUnE-yArDs 17 - Detroit, MI @ Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
It ought to be said: in addition to keyCMND I write for a few other publications, including the magazine and website XLR8R. While in their office today I was given the task of writing up a new compilation they just finished putting together with Pitchfork, Create Digital Music, and the TV network Syfy. The mix is about 13-tracks of some of the music scene’s most current innovators all across the board of genres. It’s a pretty awesome collection called Music for Our Future, and includes choice tunes from the likes of Hudson Mohawke, Tyondai Braxton, Atlas Sound, White Rainbow, Low Limit, and many more. You can download it for free here. I’m sure between the four massive websites they’ll garner enough attention, but I wanted to make sure everyone checking out this site got a chance to hear about it too. Enjoy!
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