New Track: Milagres

Milagres, who just signed to Kill Rock Stars and will be putting out their second full-length album in September, is kicking off a March/April tour that will bring them down to SXSW and back up North again, with an NYC date at The Rock Shop on April 21st.  In preparation, the band is self-releasing an EP appropriately titled The Spring Tour EP and recently released the single “Glowing Mouth” (also be the title of their upcoming full-length), which you can download for FREE from their Bandcamp page HERE.

We first caught the Brooklyn-based band at Pianos during the Hooray For Earth residency back in the Fall and were mesmerized.  While I like this single, the song doesn’t quite do the rest of the band’s repertoire justice, as I feverishly wrote down the name of pretty much every song they played at this show, so I could remember and download music the next morning.  Their execution was flawless and each song was distinctly emotional – both beautiful and temperamental – and narrative.  Excited to see what the rest of 2011 has in store.

Milagres – Glowing Mouth

New Artist: Empress Hotel

Playing in New York tonight (Pianos) and tomorrow (The Rock Shop), Empress Hotel is a new band with a new, self-titled EP.  The New Orleans pop act is kicking off a tour down to SXSW to promote their new EP, which drops March 8th (Park The Van).  Paying homage to 60s and 70s pop and rock, Empress Hotel is quiet, happy and loud, jangly all at once, with layered harmonies and an occasional island vibe – pure joy.

Empress Hotel – Here Comes The New Challenger

Empress Hotel – Bells Ring

French + Electronic

Two of my favorite words. And two of my favorite french electronic artists collaborated awhile ago on a track they titled “Intro.” This isn’t new but we never posted this and its one of my favorites I wanted to share.

It’s my subway anthem and maybe your work anthem or your eating a banana anthem, sky’s the limit.

Alan Braxe and Fred Falke need no introduction really, they are both pioneers and legends in the electro production and DJ space, both on Braxe’s label, Vulture.   AB’s international tour dates for the month and some new remixes here. And if you aren’t familiar with Fred Falke’s Whitest Boy Alive’s remix of “Golden Cage,” hurry.

Alan Braxe and Fred Falke – Intro

New Artist: White Wishes

Good for the winter. Good for the summer.

Berlin-based band White Wishes recently released some new material in December and January but its their older tracks that have me intrigued.  August releases “Hold Your Hand” and “Bicycle” (both below) are intimate yet emotionally distanced – perfect.

Check out their “Today” EP and other material here.

Some Separate Music News: Busy P and DJ Mehdi release their “Let the Children Techno”  today on itunes, buy it here.

New Radiohead – Out Today

It’s here. It’s here. It’s here.

I won’t talk about it until I can fully listen to the whole album. Lotus Flower is one of the singles off the brand new Radiohead album, The King of Limbs, that was meant to be out tomorrow, but is available to purchase today here.

Video and song below. Want to know how Thom Yorke dances? Yea, me too:
Radiohead – Lotus Flower

New Artist: Motive

New band name, new EP and new band photos.  Brooklyn-based Motive (re)emerged on the scene a few months back at their record release party in November, followed by a bunch more shows.  If you haven’t had a chance to catch them live / you haven’t heard of them yet and you happen to like FREE music, here’s the first single off their debut, self-titled EP, which you can download HERE.  The song is pretty silly, but also pretty catchy.

Motive – Nobody Eats My Dinner

Phantogram – Let Me Go

Phantogram is Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter. They first formed in 2007 as “Charlie Everywhere” but changed their name when they signed with a new label in 2009.

They played the forthebeat/ABC News Amplified 2009 CMJ show and we’ve loved them ever since. They haven’t released a record in over a year, with their last one “Eyelid Movies” in Feb. 2009, “Mouthful of Diamonds” and “When I’m Small”  were the two most popular tracks but I’ve overlooked one: “Let Me Go.” Stream below or watch the live KEXP performance:

Phantogram- Let Me Go

Also, a recent remix of Mouhtful of Diamonds by The Jackals:

Phantogram – Mouthful of Diamonds (The Jackals Remix)

Phantogram is playing Terminal 5 on February 18th.

Coming to the U.S. – Jonquil

Jonquil is an Oxford, UK-based band whose One Hundred Suns EP came out on Dovecote Records this past November, on limited-edition turquoise marble vinyl – awesome.  If you haven’t yet, take a listen, as the band embark on a trip to the U.S. to play two shows in NYC followed by a bunch at SXSW.  They’ll be at the Knitting Factory on 3/13 and Mercury Lounge on 3/14 (both shows with Bombay Bicycle Club).  The latter date is already sold out, so get on that Knitting Factory show ASAP.

Jonquil is comprised of Sam Hudson Scott, Robin McDiarmid and Hugo Manuel, aka Chad Valley – the group’s frontman and producer, who will be DJing at Glasslands on 3/11.  Valley along with Jonquil are part of the Blessing Force, a collective of musicians and bands making music in Oxford right now, sometimes writing and recording in the studio where Foals wrote some of Total Life Forever.

Jonquil – Compound

2.14 is for…Long Walks On The Beach

Long Walks On the Beach and Gus Meamish-Cook, of Chalices of the Past, recently collaborated for a brand new remix of LWOTB’s “True Love or Bust.” An appropriate one for 2.14. I’ve posted the original below, and click here to download both the original and the remix.

Long Walks On The Beach – True Love or Bust

I also wanted to include this one by LWOTB,  another one of my favorites:

Long Walks On The Beach – I Didn’t Want To Make Out

Happy V-Day to all the lovers and haters.

Matt FX Interview Part Deux

And here’s the rest from Matt F.X., the 19-year-old music supervisor for the MTV show Skins – more on his own band and musical tastes.  Listen to 3D Friends while you read (their song “Lina Magic” is the show’s theme song)…

3D Friends – Lina Magic

What pockets of the world are you seeing as amazing sources of new music?  (Don’t say Brooklyn.)  How influenced are you by the original Skins / London?
Staten Island! Those guidos know how to party. No, but seriously, Brooklyn’s cool, Austin’s cool. My personal taste tends to range towards the exciting electronic stuff going on right now, which tends to either come out of California (Brainfeeder crew, Nosaj Thing, Baths, etc.) or the UK. The Future Garage scene in London is awesome, as is stuff coming out of Bristol and Manchester.

Who are some up-and-comers we should be on the lookout for?  What bands or artists do you see as really doing something different and exciting today?
Jai Paul is going to raise and reshape the pop landscape by the end of this year, mark my words. He’s only released one song so far, BTSTU, so there is a bit of guesswork involved there.  In terms of artists that are doing something exciting and different, my heart belongs to James Blake. I could write an essay about each release he’s made and how genius and brilliant his craft is; coming from a classical background, analyzing his music for me is one of the most rewarding things I can do as a listener and aspiring producer. People always compare him to other London bass-music artists (like Mount Kimbie) but I think he’s in a class of his own.

Are you in a band?
I have a band with my best bro, who is the drummer of Starscream. We’re called Otis & Love, and I play piano and sing while he drums. Since he’s doing Starscream mostly right now it’s kind of on the backburner; my main project is a solo kind of singer/producer/songwriter project. reaaaaally shitty demos are up on my soundcloud.

What one song must everyone download RIGHT NOW?
My normal “DOWNLOAD RIGHT NOW” song is usually a James Blake chuune, but I’ve been really really digging the noise that Hooray For Earth are making. Especially True Loves.

If there was one song in the world that you wish you could take credit for, what would it be?
I don’t really think I can answer that. As much as there are a few acts I wish I could mimic the aesthetic of (and have tried), I wish only to take credit for the messes I make myself. That being said, I would have liked to be a ghost in the shadows while the Walkmen were writing their first album, “Everyone who pretended to like me is gone.” It’s not even song-specific, but I just think that album is one of the greatest examples of a band masterfully painting a mood across a bunch of songs. Perfection, I think.

What is the most shameful song on your iPod?
Shameful? My Chemical Romance’s second album is still a masterwork, regardless of how little I still listen to it. If it’s one of those nights, it’s a great record.

Has a song ever made you cry?
I think Twin Sister and the 3 song stretch near the end of James Blake’s lp, -”To Care (Like You)”, “Why Don’t You Call Me?”, & “I Mind”- have made me come very, very close. Also Blinking Pigs by Little Dragon.

What color best describes your aura / vibe?
Yes.

**Thanks Rachel Been and Billboard