When he's not butchering some of my favourite songs of all time he makes some pretty good mainstream pop. Will be in all clubs non-stop at the begining of 2010 by which time i may be sick of it, but for now it remains on the catchy side of overplayed.
Loving the new CWK song, EP, Album Cover, general sound. I would even go as far as saying this song reaches the dizzy heights of 'Hang Me Out To Dry'. It has all the Ingredients of Cold War Kids; the plonky piano, the preached lyrics and bluesy riffs. I Cannot wait until this beauty of an EP gets released. Fingers crossed for some UK tour dates people. Enjoy.
The album cover scares me a little bit but you can't argue with the tracks this seemingly surfer despising band make. 'Twin Peaks' is another strong track off their debut album 'Astro Coast' and even if the album art is some sort of Jaws tribute i will definitely own this when it is released. Look out for the meow at the start. Enjoy.
Continuing The Killers tradition of releasing a Christmas song every year is the new track 'Happy Birthday Guadalupe'. In my opinion it is just a regular song with "Christmas time" slotted sneakily into the lyrics but if you are in a festive mood feel free to pretend it is a festive greeting from the indie legends. The song features Wild Light (who opened for The Killers on their recent tour) and Mariachi El Bronx, however The Killers are still the star the star of the show. The song has so many great aspects to it from the backing Mariachi trumpets and intricate guitar riffs to the brilliantly penned lyrics, it is easily the best Christmas song by The Killers even if it is their least Christmas-y. Enjoy.
I can't quite believe i haven't posted a Mumford & Sons track yet seeing as i haven't stopped listening to their album since it came out. It is almost impossible to pick a track off the album because their are so many great tracks, to give you an idea of how good it is my wmp play counts for the album are as follows 25,34,28,14,29,9,25,13,8,14,12,7. After much deliberation i have decided to post 'The Cave' as it was the first song i heard by them, and was what made me want to listen to more and more and more Mumford & Sons. I expect you will do the same. Enjoy.
Apparently this whole band is still in college over the pond in Philadelphia but if they are making music of this quality and maturity they should be teaching everyone else. After the amazing mix of MGMT's "kids" they released the "West Philly Mixtape" which contains the track "Because" the rapping is at least as good as that on "Kids" and the mix work on the track is incredible. It almost feels as if Radiohead wrote "Reckoner" for this mix.....well nearly. This band are going to be huge when their album drops next year. Enjoy.
Ive just discovered this little gem of a collaboration between the legendary Ben Gibbard and Feist. I found it on an obscure charity compilation album called 'Dark Was The Night', you know you have to much time on your hands when you trawl through compilation albums to find little rarities. Enjoy.
I have just got my greasy paws on the new 30 seconds to mars album and from what i have heard so far i am very impressed. 'This Is War' is much more of a coherent album than their first two releases, this is due partly to the variety of tracks on the album which in my opinion was absent on the first two albums. The collaboration with Kanye West on 'Hurricane' (i can only assume Mr West does the synth track in the background as there is no rapping involved) is genius and shows a different direction for the band away from 10 epic-emo tracks to a well produced and structured album. Despite the varied album I'm going to have to post one of the 'old-school' sounding tracks the album title sharing 'This Is War' due to its sheer epic nature but just to prove i wasn't fibbin' I've posted 'Hurricanes' too. Enjoy.
Another track from the brilliant Freelance Whales which i have been meaning to post for quite a while now, you will be glad i finally got round to it. Every time i here a new track off this album it seems to be better than the previous one, and i loved the first track i heard so as you can gather 'Location' is a pretty good track (and by pretty good i mean one of the best of this year). The only bad thing about this band is that they are only touring in the U.S at the moment so for us Brits the prospect of them live has to remain a fantasy, at least we have their incredible debut album to keep us satisfied.
Another new band for you, this time its west coast, California to be exact. Local Natives album sounds like its going to be big, both in the US and the UK, with so many good varied tracks its hard to see how there hasn't been more hype surrounding the release of their new album 'gorilla Manor'. They remind me of Vampire weekend's rhythmical playfulness and the lyrics and lead singers voice have a distinctive "The Shins" feel about them. Normally i can quite easily pick a track to post from an album but this one is a tough choice. I have gone for 'Camera Talk' but 'Aeroplanes' and 'Warning Signs' are worth listening to as well. Enjoy.
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Ive got nothing against T.I.'s original "Whatever you like" I'm just saying this version is a lot better. Anya removes the repetitive synth beat that overwhelms the original and replaces it with intricate guitar and a hauntingly beautiful voice (which i think we can all agree T.I. doesn't have).
One of possibly the best musical collaborations of all time have just released their album. Them Crooked Vultures' self entitled album has been eagerly anticipated by any QOTSA, foo fighters, nirvana, led zeppelin fan and just about anyone who has a shred of musical significance about them, and rightly so. The album is so well composed and combines the best parts of these three great musicians culminating in a feast of rock goodness. My personal favourite is "Reptiles" (listen and download below) but all the tracks would be worthy of posting. Definitely one of the albums of 2009.
Dan Black is a rising star within Indie circles (and other indie shapes for that matter) and with good reason. His debut album "Un" is a perfect example of the direction in which electroindie should be'a headin'. The first tracks i listened to off the album were the two singles he has released from the album ("Symphonies" and "U + Me=") and at first i was worried that we had another "La Roux" scenario where all the tracks sound the same (a tad harsh to Dan Black, it was no where near as bad as La Roux). Despite this, as i listened to the rest of the album i realised that i couldnt have been more wrong (something i don't often admit to). The album has an impresive amount of diversity from "Yours" which sounds like an electronic version of kasabians epic "Take Aim" to "Alone" where Dan sounds more like MGMT and Vampire weekend's ilegitimate love child. (Disclaimer: I fully accept that MGMT and Vampire Weekend do not have an illegitimate love child). I have selected my two favourite songs from the album the single "Symphonies" and the last track on the album "Let Go". Enjoy.
The first time i saw the video for 'Beautiful Lie' by 30 Seconds to Mars i found their whole image and sound pretty humorous, however over the last couple of years my opinion of the band has changed. Maybe not my opinion of their image (which is still pretty bad lets face it). Their second album grew on me and eventually i gave into their 'emo' preachings. This new song however seems to indicate a slightly new direction for the band in black. The lyrics are screamed rather than screeched (which for these guys I'm sure is a big leap) and the guitar isn't so bullish or dominant as in the last two albums. This in my opinion is a step forward for the band, and if this track is anything to go by their new album provocatively titled 'This Is War' will ironically be more harmonious. Listen to 'Kings and Queens' below.
I'm not one for posting tracks by fictional bands but this track is to good to ignore. Taken from the soundtrack to the new Megan Fox movie "Jennifer's Body" the song was written by the real band 'No Country' however is performed by the fictional band 'Low Shoulder' in the movie fronted by Adam Brody's character Nikolai. The bands inability to break into the indie music scene leads them to turn to evil (how Megan fox becomes a flesh eating zombie-esque creature). This song is so good it makes me wish they were a real band, but alas i will have to settle for this one track. The rest of the soundtrack is very impressive too, with tracks such as 'Death' by White Lies and 'Little Lovers So Polite' by Silversun Pickups. Listen to 'Through The Trees' below.
This band are one of the most promising bands i have heard in a long time. They combine so many aspects of some of my favourite bands, for example the drum scores remind me a lot of Postal Service and Death Cab For cutie and the use of a banjo in any band seems to be the way forward with bands such as Mumford and Sons on the rise. Hopefully Freelance whales will soon see the commercial success they deserve from the impressive debut album "Weathervanes". My personal favourite from the album has to be "Starring" but "Generator ^ First Floor" and "Generator ^ Second Floor" are also excellent. Listen to "Starring" below.
If you are a mad friendly fires fan and cant wait for new material or any general fan of electrosynthindiepercussion (believe me its a well known genre) then this band is for you. Live Like Lions are from London and have a rapidly growing fan base in the capital, this week however they have decided to venture up north to Newcastle for a couple of gigs, one of which i am lucky enough to be going to tonight. This song is the only one i have been able to get my hands on but it is an absolute corker.
If the prospect of a new vampire weekend album wasn't getting you all excited don't fear i have worked out how to cure that....Listen to "Horchata". This song is such a big leap from their first albums infectious tickley guitar and drums, in fact if their first album was tickling you with indie goodness this song is more like having one big feel good indie percussion hug. The only thing about this post which may make you feel sad inside would be the fact that you have to wait until January 11th to hear the rest of the album, at least that leaves plenty of time to repeatedly listen to "horchata". enjoy.