I just heard a bit of Church’s new EP and have to say that I’m enjoying it. The first track I sampled wasn’t really to my liking, but the rest of it sure was — including this short little gem.
MP3:Church - Happiness
If the entirety of the indie rock spectrum was asked to collaborate together and write an uplifting tune for itself, this might be the result. It’s far from cliched, but still maintains a message close to its title. If nothing else it’s a reminder to anyone who might doubt: “Happiness is alright.”
I was listening to some DFA1979 today when I stumbled upon a part that I hadn’t heard in forever. The bonus disc contains a lot of little goodies, including this remix by the now famous Justice. It’s a pretty good song to wake up to on your first day back in classes.
MP3:Death From Above 1979 - Blood On Our Hands (Justice Remix)
Probably my favorite thing about this remix is the chopping sound to the drums in the first and last verse of the song. The song starts off sounding like Justice are trying to chop down a fat tree while adding the bass back into the song. Maybe if MSTRKRFT (the DJ group founded by one-half of Death From Above 1979) sounded more like this, I’d be more into them.
I loooove BOAT’s song “I’m a Donkey For Your Love.” I also really like the Creeping Weeds’ cover of it which I’ve previously posted on. So I got all giddy when David from BOAT sent me this video of the two of them covering it in New York recently. Apparently the Creeping Weeds started playing it in their opening set and BOAT just joined right in!
Just found out that the Handsome Furs (Dan from Wolf Parade) are going to be playing the Monolith Music Festival. They’ll be playing Sunday along with other greats like Justice, TV on the Radio and CSS. See you guys there!
The Monolith Music Festival is going down at Red Rocks amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado on September 13 and 14. Grab your tickets here.
Owen Pallett, aka Canadian violinist Final Fantasy, has two new EPs ready to release this fall. The first, Spectrum, 14th Century, has Owen collaborating with Beirut on five songs. The second, Plays To Please, is Owen covering six of Alex Lukashevsky’s originals with a 35-piece band. Whew!
Here’s “Ultimatum” from Plays to Please, which sounds a startlingly lot like Andrew Bird in the vocals. Grab another new one and more info from Stereogum.
Getting into Subtle’s Exiting Arm was a move in slow increments for me. A few weeks after initially hearing about it, a few friends told me it was a must-listen. A few weeks after that, I found a copy at the record store. A couple days later I uploaded it to my computer. The next day I listened to it and immediately was grabbed by it. Then, about a month later, I posted on it. Hot holy hell I’m slow sometimes!
MP3:Subtle - Day Dangerous
Like I said, I’ve been listening to this album for a little while now and letting it sink in through multiple listens. But strangely “Day Dangerous” didn’t really grab me until earlier this week. The album’s a real mix up of a lot of different genres and production styles — maybe no song shows that better than this one. “Day Dangerous” starts with a slow, churning hum and a sparse beat. The real magic happens in the chorus, though: each voice pops in and out of the mix, harmonizing and adding their own section to this swirling mess of beauty.
The Features’ new album Some Kind of Salvation is now on vinyl preorder here. The album comes out September 30 and will include the bonus songs “Now You Know” and “Mosis Tosis.”
Matt and Kim just released their first song in a long while. “Good Ol’ Fashioned Nightmare” sounds a lot like Tilly and the Wall and is pretty much fun all over.
