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Check out our exclusive premiere of Ross Fish's new song, "Puzzles", off his upcoming album Parables [full post]

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It seems like it’s been so long since St Vincent’s Strange Mercy came out, but let’s remember that it’s never too long to wait for a great video for an incredible song. Enjoy this two-story version of Annie Clark.

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Last week, Jack White reentered our brains by announcing the solo album Blunderbuss and giving us the superlatively stripped-back new song “Love Interruption.” The “Love Interruption” single is out now, and it includes a non-album track called “Machine Gun Silhouette” as a B-side. It’s a jumpy, bluesy yarn with touches of old-school country, and someone [...] [full post]

Chairlift — I Belong In Your Arms

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Ex-Ponytail guitarist Dustin Wong’s spacey new jam is called “Pink Diamond,” and the track’s accompanying visual fits nicely with the track’s blown-out, psychedelic vibe. It’s like an indie rock-centric Spirograph! Did you know that there’s a direct correlation between the decline of Spirograph and the rise in gang activity? Watch the video download the song [...] [full post]

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The producers of the Grammys have never been afraid to give the world fascinating, embarrassing pileups, and this year’s ceremony could be a doozy. As the Associated Press reports, this Sunday’s ceremony will include a vageuly ravey segment in a tent space outside the Staples Center, with 1000 fans. That’s where the Foo Fighters and [...] [full post]

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You’d think that when a band called Metallica books itself a weekend-long music festival, most of the bands on the bill would be metal. You’d be wrong. As Rolling Stone reports, the thrash overlords will headline and curate their very own Orion Music + More Festival, which comes to Atlantic City, New Jersey 6/23-24. And [...] [full post]

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This year’s Juno Awards take place in Ottawa on 4/1, and today the nominees for their annual prizes were revealed. A lot of familiar names — Drake, Feist, Avril Lavigne — headline the nominees. Something tells me the Black Keys won’t be happy with a selection or two. Two Christmas albums made the “Best Album” [...] [full post]

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A year and a half ago, I had a perfectly lovely telephone conversation with Isobel Campbell, the former Belle & Sebastian member who has recorded three ultra-satisfying albums of Nancy Sinatra pastiche with Mark Lanegan. And during that conversation, I learned something about Lanegan that seems to throw this entire career into stark relief: He [...] [full post]

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Name: The Walkmen Progress Report: Band gets to work with Phil Ek on forthcoming studio album. Aside from taking a victory lap around North America to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut album, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, members of The Walkmen have been holed up in a studio with Phil [...] [full post]

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A few nights ago I was driving around downtown Chicago with Ryan (he was actually driving though) and he said something like, “Have you heard the Gooningtons?” I hadn’t, so he proceed to play Welcome To Goonington Beach! and blow my mind. He also explained verbally what’s documented on this pop punk message board thread. (Read more...) [full post]

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Duh.  The headline is that 25 years after-the-fact, DC finally decided to snatch the money off the table.  Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen is the bestselling graphic novel of all time, and there’s good reason for it: It’s a piece of art with mystery, politics, philosophy, and (of course) action and violence, told using [...] [full post]

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Late last year, handsome British man Eugene McGuinness made an impression with his sharp, colorful video for “Lion.” Now McGuinness is back again with a video for his rockabilly-inflected jam “Shotgun,” with “Lion” directors Thirtytwo returning, and if anything it’s even more memorable than its predecessor. McGuinness spends the entire video looking cool and unflappable [...] [full post]

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In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Bret Easton Ellis, Kate Christensen, Kevin Brockmeier, George Pelecanos, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, David... [full post]

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The video for St. Vincent’s Strange Mercy track “Cheerleader” opens with a giant Annie Clark laying prone on an art-museum floor, looking like a Damien Hirst shark. It would be a malicious act of spoilerization if I described anything else that happened after, but know that things get as unsettling and uncanny as they always [...] [full post]

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Since announcing plans for a new album last October, the Islands’ Nick Thorburn has given us “Hallways” and “This Is Not A Song” (proving, indeed, one man is the Islands). Now, the entirety of A Sleep & A Forgetting is streaming. Head below to hear it. (via Vulture) A Sleep & A Forgetting is out [...] [full post]

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On first listen, Interstellar, the new album from former Vivian Girls/Crystal Stilts/Dum Dum Girls drummer Frankie Rose, sounds like a great leap forward — the moment Rose leaves behind ramshackle indie-pop and toward a more glimmering, expansive, lush take on her own tough-romantic style. We’ve already posted “Know Me,” “Night Swim,” and the album’s title [...] [full post]

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Brooklyn-via-Columbia, MO indie rockers are prepping their follow up to 2009′s It’s Frightening, and recently we caught their video for first single “Heavy Metal.” Now, the group has dropped another track, the rumbling rhythmic groove “Temporary.” Download it below. White Rabbits – “Temporary” (via Rolling Stone) Milk Famous is out 3/6 on tbd, with the [...] [full post]

Trailer Trash Tracys — Candy Girl (Black Dice Remix)

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In which Annie Clark becomes a waking/walking/crumbling Ron Mueck sculpture. Directed by Hiro Murai. [via] [full post]

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Toronto punks Fucked Up are an ambitious bunch, and that’s probably the most evident in their series of Chinese Zodiac singles. Every year, the band releases a single to mark the year on the Chinese calendar, and these songs are typically long, elaborately orchestrated affairs, sometimes with some prominent collaborators. Today, Fucked Up releases its [...] [full post]

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Royal Baths’ single “Faster, Harder” is an ode to a fucked up relationship: “I love my damaged girl / We share a wicked world,” repeats the singer as the song churns along, following the female protagonist into darker and darker places. By the end, the singer has fully succumbed to this wicked world, giving up [...] [full post]

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Denver indie-pop crew Tennis are about to release their new album Young & Old out into the world. Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney produced the album. We’ve already posted a bunch of the songs: “Origins,” “Deep In The Woods,” and “My Better Self,” as well as a live set of new songs. And now the [...] [full post]

The Valery Trails — Horizon

Silverhawk featuring Sam & John C. Densmore — Class War

A Place To Bury Strangers — So Far Away

Fredrik — 01 Fever and Foam

Liz Green — Hey Joe

Lightouts — The Official Ironmen Rally Song (Guided By Voices cover)

Sharon Van Etten — Serpents

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Ca fait longtemps que je n'ai plus été autant surpris par un titre techno ou house.BDI - Decoded messages of life and love [full post]

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Last night, Jay-Z played a benefit for United Way of New York City and The Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation at NYC’s Carnegie Hall — he plays again tonight — and though most of the public was priced out by ticket prices in the hundreds and thousands, there were still enough Elliott Wilsons and Jon Caramanicas [...] [full post]

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El Camino‘s “Gold On The Ceiling” is the next thrust in the Black Keys’ sorta-surprising-but-then-again-not-really ascension to becoming one of America’s largest rock bands. They brought it to Letterman in live form awhile ago, and this video is also lots of live footage, mixed with auxiliary shots from life on the road with Patrick and [...] [full post]

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CNN takes a tour of Dickensian London. PopMatters interviews singer-songwriter Liam Finn. "It became a philosophy of mine, of trying to capture the music in the same way you might record a demo," he said, explaining, "When you start to... [full post]

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Last night, South African freak rap combo Die Antwoord took their current single “I Fink U Freeky” to The Late Show With David Letterman. It was considerably tame, given what we’ve seen from the group previously, but Yolandi did wear her big, sinister black contacts, for what it’s worth. Watch it below. Ten$ion is out [...] [full post]

Father John Misty — Hollywood Forever Sings

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Here’s another one I picked up through my Soundcloud dropbox (hint hint). MP3: River Whyless – Cedar Dream Part II River Whyless have a great understanding of the interplay of songwriting and production. There’s a slow-burn intro here that drops out just as the vocal jump in. It couldn’t be more effective if the song [...]

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In case you’re at work today wondering, or if you already know and want to reinforce your “outdoor knowledge,” here’s a quick tutorial about bear spray from Charles W. “Chuck” Bryant of SYSK fame. What is it? Bear spray isn’t unlike pepper spray that humans use to protect themselves from other humans. The main difference [...] [full post]

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The Black Keys continue their steamrolling of popular culture with this latest video for “Gold on the Ceiling.” It’s a live video shot at their NYC album release party for El Camino.

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Listen to Young & Old, the new Patrick Carney-produced LP from Forest Fam alums Tennis,... Read more » [full post]

Beth Jeans Houghton — Dodecahedron

Band Of Skulls — Sweet Sour

The Big Pink — Give It Up

Field Music — A New Town

Band Of Skulls — The Devil Takes Care of His Own

Susurrus Station — Keep Up Your Spirits

The Unthanks — Lullaby For Hamza

— Old L.A.

Susurrus Station — Play The Fool

Lux — The Window

Ani DiFranco — Which Side Are You On

Sourpatch — Cynthia Ann

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“Three lovers from Monaco, raised in a cave of gold…“ We’re still obsessed with the awesome,... Read more » [full post]

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Ocean City Defender is distributing their new EP on Bandcamp at the “Name Your Price” rate (which includes, of course, zero bucks).  If there was a category of music called “indie 1980s,” it would fit.  The mellow waves flow like Simple Minds, New Order (but smoother), Yaz, etc. Good stuff! The Golden Hour by Ocean [...] [full post]

Wilco — Born Alone

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Silver Swans are a duo from San Fran that excel in tightly constructed, electro-leaning pop gems. Despite the West Coast leanings, they sound like natives of the Swedish electro-pop scene, a highly versatile breeding ground for both brooding atmospheric builders (The Radio Dept.) and punchy pop magic (Lo-Fi-Fnk). Yet there are also those that tread [full post]

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With all the high-profile punk reunions of the past few months and years combined with the band’s relative obscurity, it would be easy for most to overlook the reunion of Chicago’s own August Premier. And that, my friends, would be a bad thing. I’m not really sure of the whole story about the reunion, but (Read more...) [full post]

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Check out Neon Indian’s music video for his latest single, “Fallout”. The video is said to be an homage to 80′s cartoons and sexy commercials. I suppose the cartoon babe in the video is a babe up until the last 3 seconds fo the video. The band is currently preparing for a North American tour [...] [full post]

Mary Weiss with the Reigning Sound — Don't Come Back

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"Chair" MP3
from the album Lights Out
2012
iTunes



BY ERICA MATLIN | Jonk Music

A chair is practical, simple, and yet it's understated. The same description could be said for Big Deal's approach to their debut album, Lights Out. The music is centered upon Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe and their guitars: one electric and one acoustic. Two singers and two guitars? Simple indeed. This indie pop duo is easing its way into the music scene with their laidback, coffee shop band approach, but the honest quality to their will make waves.

"Chair" epitomizes the realness that Big Deal captures. The ratio of music to vocals is impressively even, with the fuzzy electric chords complementing the jaggedness to both male and female voices. Lyrics like "Want to be a lover, trying not to be your friend" show how deeply personal this song, as well as the entire album, is to the artists, making them all the more praiseworthy for they are relying on pure emotions to exhibit their musical talents. The band also achieves lyrical success, taking something as simple as a chair and using it as a heartbreak metaphor, confessing themes of love that most are too afraid to admit.

The rest of Lights Out accentuates the band's talent and utilizes the rawness that makes them unique. Their innate subtleness deserves notoriety. In a music generation that is moving further away from human talent and emphasizes strong usage of electronics, Big Deal is stripping music back down to its core, in a small, yet talented way.

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Portlandia is a show by, for, and about indie rock types, so it’s no surprise that indie big dogs show up in sketches every so often. This past weekend’s episode featured two. St. Vincent’s Annie Clark, who first collaborated with Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein back when they were the online sketch duo ThunderAnt, played [...] [full post]

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Lotus Plaza, the solo side project from Deerhunter’s Lockett Pundt, has a new split 10″ single coming out with Nice Weekend, otherwise known as Pundt’s fiancee Shayda Yavari. On the B-side, Pundt collaborates with Yavari on the song “Longest Days.” And the A-side, “Come Back,” is a dreamy, floaty nine-minute solo track called “Come Back.” [...] [full post]

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Name: Mark Lanegan Progress Report: The songwriter talks about Blues Funeral, his first solo album in nearly 8 years. It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his music that Mark Lanegan is a man of relatively few words. Whether it be with his work as the frontman of Screaming Trees, his work [...] [full post]

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Haleek Maul - Fraulein [full post]

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Bear In Heaven will drop their new album I Love You, It’s Cool in a couple of months, and we’ve already posted the awesomely synthy first track “The Reflection Of You.” Below, check out a reworking of the song from the prolific remixer Lovelock, who slows the track down and smooths it out, turning it [...] [full post]