Confesión (the ultimate Constanza)

The highest number of plays on my iTunes goes to: "Asthmatic" in Jungle Habits by Young Circles, an album that I've already recommended here.

So let's move on to the second place. Close second. This one is the definition of a guilty pleasure, the ultimate Constanza, a hard confession to make. It's a Top40 radio single in Spain (and probably other hispanic countries). It makes me happy and I sing it like a 12yo girl. This song should've been released in the 80's, so that now I could shamelessly yell it out at karaoke or drunken house parties. I don't know if non-spanish-speakers will find this catchy at all.

"Todas tus amigas" by La Casa Azul, was released as a single a year ago, and in the 2011 full-length, La Polinesia Meridional. LCA has been famous (in Spain) since 2007 or so, when he released "La Revolución Sexual" -- a gigantic hit.



I must say, he's done better videos.

Last Choice - No Lists

While Safety Rat is a big fan of end of the year lists, I'm not. I do like, however, his idea of most listened song of the year. I've sort of put my iTunes aside for Spotify, so it's really not reliable to take a look at its most played list (but just for grins, my iTunes tells me that the song I've listened to the most is "Stormy Weather" by Etta James... I can live with that).

I'm not sure which album I have listened to the most this year, but it has to be between Caitlin Rose's Own Side Now and Jessica Lea Mayfield's Tell Me. And my favorite song of those two albums has to be "I'll be the one you want, someday." Yeah, wonder what that's all about...

Here's the lovely Jessica and her piercing green eyes giving it to us straight, courtesy of Crackerfarm:



For more Crackerfarm goodness go to their YouTube channel here.

You can also download "Our hearts are wrong" for free through her website.

RAmix

Andrew Weatherall's new remix of Cut Copy's Sun God. I guess maybe Cut Copy isn't really LC material given their grammy nomination, but I've been pretty stuck on this remix.

Cut Copy - Sun God (Andrew Weatherall Remix) by modularpeople

To continue the listing theme. Here's my most played 2011 song in my itunes library. What was yours?



In case you missed them when they came through, here's the video from Movits' Austin visit. Can you spot the LC DJ?

My little rag and bone shop of the heart

Beni is an eccentric producer from down under. He recently released his debut album: House of Beni and Zig Zags is the lead single. The track features beautiful vocals from Via Tania, sounds a bit like Made in Heights I think. Listen below and check Beni out here.



Beni ft. Via Tania - 'Zig Zags' by modularpeople

I don't think the rest of LC is much for lists, but I am...call me a sentimentalist. I'll try to post something from a list of mine until the new year. Here's my love song of 2011. If you haven't listened to the rest of Fucked Up's David Comes Alive it's well worth the spin. Here's the video:



Also, George Whitman of Paris' Shakespeare and Company died yesterday. I think the world was made a more magical and literary place because of post-war renegades like him. So it goes

Tom the Lion

Just pretty music for a rainy Wednesday.

Tom the Lion released his first album in Britain in November called The Adventures of Tom the Lion. You can stream it in its entirety on his website.

I particularly like the opening song "Assurance," it gives me a Postal Service vibe that I didn't realized I missed. This song, "Ragdoll," is not Postal Servicy at all but still very, very pretty. Enjoy:

he thinks he's people

Wolf here once again.

I know I've been a bit heavy on the San Diego bands, but I've been up since 5am, it's rainy and gray, and I'm feeling worn out. In other words, today was a Pinback day. For those of you that don't know Pinback or any of Rob Crow's bands (there are many), listen to "Penelope" (it's very old news but such a lovely song).

I first saw them in a tiny venue on the UC San Diego campus. I was 17.

Anyway, after a day of reliving my teenage angst, I came upon this. Rob Crow never stops and he's astonishing unpretentious. I met him in Boston about 5 years ago. (Also he has a cult-worthy twitter feed). Despite the semi-depressing song, the totally silly randomness of the video brightened my otherwise gloomy day.

Rob Crow - Sophistructure from Temporary Residence Ltd. on Vimeo.

Winter warmer

By this point the first single from the Islands' newest effort is probably old news to you. I'm going to post it anyway. Something about heartbreak tends to bring out the best in artists. Thorburn, the Islands frontman, is no exception. The basic algorithm for A Sleep & A Forgetting (this would be the album) proceeds as follows:

1. End your relationship in a heart-wrenching manner
2. Move to Los Angeles
3. Write a heart-wrenching album
4. Release this album on Valentine's day

I dare you to make it through this non-song without experiencing that special kind of longing... you know, that prolonged and filled with unfulfilled desires kind of longing. Actually, I'd rather assume that Penny (0:0:17) is just an analogy for how our heartbreaks never amount to as much as they seemed to at the time. Last Choice Self Help.

Islands - "This Is Not a Song" by Some Kind of Awesome

More stay in bed and cry it out music from Laws of Motion. Just promise you'll wait out the Cranberries-Oasis style entrance and listen to the whole song. Alright, maybe the song never gets much past that AND certainly falls far short of their self-described Radiohead desire. I'll direct you to the Onion here. I think it may be exactly their survey of 90s pop-rock stylings that I found so appealing. My jury is still out on this one, but there might just be something there when the forthcoming EP drops.

Winter by Laws of Motion

I could really go for an Upland Winter Warmer about now....

Beat Beat crash crash slap

Beat Beat crash crash slap 

swelling to precise fullness 

pooling on the floor 

(From "EULA in haiku", by Esyla Bmai)

EULA are a band. They live in Brooklyn. I've been listening to their not-so-recent full-length Maurice Narcisse lately. I listen to it when I need an effective cleanse from sappy music, or when I want to listen to powerful, tight DIY awesomeness. Something in there reminds me of Deerhoof's Offend Maggie (2008).

BUY IT!

Farm workers unite (in kink)

Los Campesinos have a new LP out. Another solid effort in their string of good albums. "Hello Sadness" is the single and sounds appropriately campesino: fun and catchy but with well-thought, deeper-than-they-seem lyrics.

The video is a little weird, but their videos tend to be that (see here). Humiliation, feeders/gainers, S&M... all in good fun. Enjoy the kinkiness:

Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness from casey raymond on Vimeo.

Photo courtesy of www.eqmag.com

The stag, the wolf and the two headed snake

I'm not gonna say much on this because you've probably heard it or read it in a million other blogs/magazines/interviews/tv shows. Fleet Foxes' new album is pretty epic. It's complex, beautiful and sad.

Robin Pecknold and company crafted a beautifully complicated song in The Shrine/An Argument, reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkel and Pink Floyd — and Robin's brother, Sean, directed and animated a truly astounding video to go with it. It's pretty incredible how he manages to marry the sounds of the band with an amazing sense of story and style. It just fits. All around an amazing job.

Truly worth checking out in its almost 9 minute glory.

The Shrine / An Argument from Sean Pecknold on Vimeo.

Hurting Touch

Loads of great videos have come out in the past week... I'll be sharing them with you throughout the next few days. But today I'm sharing perhaps my favorite of the bunch.

England's Friendly Fires released their second full-length earlier this year, shock-full of fun, dancy tunes... definitely check it out, it is conveniently streaming on Spotify.

Their latest video is for "Hurting" and it features a killer electric hottie with a thing for making TV-face miserable. What can I say, sometimes it's hard not coming back for more.

Have fun!

This special report from Last Choice news

So Cults, they're pretty popular. There's also a band from NY named cults that's popular too. Around the time they started to take off a rumor surfaced that the plan included a hip hop remix of their first album [sic]. Well apparently, drinking the kool aid doesn't always get you killed. Cults teamed up with Freddie Gibbs, a self described gangsta rapper from Gary IN, and released a remix of Bad Things. Honestly, I'm drinking the kool aid now. I thought this was either a.) never going to happen or b.) going to be a shitty attempt a blending genres better left separate. I was wrong. If you don't know F. Gibbs, you probably will soon. I've included a video from Cults for those of you for whom this post is lost on.

Hypetrak Premiere: Cults featuring Freddie Gibbs - Bad Things (Remix) by Hypetrak

Go Outside, by Cults from Boing Boing on Vimeo.

san diego bands are good too

Wolf here. Guest posting again!

Cuckoo Chaos is a new band from San Diego, CA. In fact, had you been at our SxSW party you would have seen these fine young men. Frontman Dave Mead (handsome guy in the front there) happens to be a close friend of mine since high school. These days though they are rather popular seeing as Nylon and the NY Times are writing rave reviews. But I guess you've really hit the big time when I walk into Urban Outfitters and they are they are playing your song (really, I that happened to me a couple weeks ago and I wanted to tell all the snotty hipster employees "You know, I'm friends with these guys. So there!")


CuckooChaos-JesusFlagAmericanFish by NYLONmag

Enjoy!

Can I just pretend you're mine?

Timber Timbre is a Canadian band that has a few albums under their belt, garnering some quiet praise in the past few years, especially for their eponymous 2009 album.

They've got a new album out called Creep On Creepin' On and have just released the video for their first single "Do I Have Power." It's a beautiful animated story about a bad, bad boy suffering the consequences. The video was animated and directed by Carlos De Carvalho, who has some awesome work that you can see here.

You can download the song for free from Spinner.com

Enjoy the bluesy, creepy sound of Timber Timbre:

Do I Have Power - Timber Timbre (2011) from Carlos De Carvalho on Vimeo.

Photo courtesy of Spinner.com

We are one

I don't usually like to re-post things that have come up in pitchfork or other big music blogs, but Die Antwoord is an old favorite of the blog (see here), and the news surrounding their new album and new video is too fun not to pass along.

They've just left Interscope Records due to creative differences — apparently Interscope wanted to tone down some of their lyrics — but they're going to be releasing their new album TEN$ION on their own... in my opinion it'll be better that way. Boingboing.net interviewed them, they said that they would only release the album on digital form and flash drives "because CDs are like motherfucking VHS."

Anyway, here's the video for their first single "FOK JULLE NAAIERS" of their yet unreleased album. But before you watch it, watch this short disclaimer by Ninja, explaining the use of profanity. It's all cool Ninja, it's all cool.

FAGGOT from Die Antwoord on Vimeo.

FOK JULLE NAAIERS from Die Antwoord on Vimeo.

Awesome Yolandi Vasser art by artist David Flores

Classic Hits from Cuba and Classic Hits

Last Choice ran into Casio Kids during my first SxSW in Austin TX. Although we only saw them play once that week, it certainly wasn't for lack of effort. These guys are also a part of one of my favorite music memories in Austin or at least my most memorable. The punch line is that they were introduced as Classic Hits and continued referring to themselves as that all week. They also got the joke when I drunkenly ran into them a year later. Thanks Casio.

Casiokids - Det Haster! from Kristoffer Borgli on Vimeo.

2pm on Sunday is something I look forward to every week. This is when for one brief hour we're treated to one of the most thoughtful modern hip hop shows. Hip Hop Hurray and Miss Manners have yet to disappoint. This past Sunday dj t-kay was filling in and did around the world in 60 minutes. The first track was off a new Cuban hip hop compilation that I don't think is for sale, but streams below.

Fun Fun Fun

I've got to admit I'm a little lukewarm on the Fun Fun Fun Fest lineup. Maybe it's a result of living in Austin long enough to be jaded. Or maybe it's because I'm not a devout follower of Slayer day. Or maybe I finally hate music. Or maybe I need some coffee.


Admittedly, I am pretty excited about Henry Rollins, Boris, and Russian Circles.

But let's be serious--I'm motherfucking stoked about Hot Snakes. I like their newer projects (Obits and Night Marchers), but nothing ever really beats the real thing. Speaking of the real thing, let's get Drive Like Jehu next year FFFFest. mmkay?

Here's a promo video for "Braintrust" off of Audit in Progress.

French Fairytale #1

In the about section of their facebook, Cours Lapin have written: "A theatrical underworld of twisted French fairy tales..."

The Danish band gives us its first of hopefully many fairy tales with Cache Cache, where semi-adorable girl zombies pop up from the ground to haunt a perfectly nice looking lady. The video is shot beautifully by Nadia Marquard Otzen.

The band consists of four film composers, and you can definitely get the cinematic vibe of the tune. Louise Alenius' voice is poetic and old fashioned without feeling dated at all. I really, really like it.

Their first album (I think) also called Cours Lapin came out last year through Fake Diamond Records.

Cours Lapin - Cache Cache from Fake Diamond Records on Vimeo.

Time Spent in Los Angeles

Dawes are a Los Angeles folk-rock band. They wrote their latest album mostly on the road, which comes out in the yearny-solitude sounds of the new album. Their musicality and songcrafting has only gotten better since their debut album, and I wouldn't be surprised if we hear more about these fellas in the future.

This is the video for "Time Spent in Los Angeles" off of their recently-released second album.

Just for tonight we can pretend

My Fun Fun Fun wristbands arrived yesterday, which motivated me to start thinking about who I was going to see. Aside from the big four on Blue - Rakim, Public Enemy, Odd Future, and Major Lazer (order is important for that list) here's who I'm excited about (this time in particular order)-

Del, Big Freedia, Frankie Chan, Budos Band, Brandt Brauer Frick, Grimes (or Grimey as Homer would call her), Architecture in Helsinki, Clap your hands (at least I think I am), M83, Lykke Li, We were promised jetpacks, Diplo. For the record I am not excited about: This festival being moved to Auditorium shores, receiving three wrist bands instead of a single 3 day pass, Spoon, Ted, I play too many shows in Austin, Leo and his Pharmacists, Wugazi, Gambino, Spoon again, the white and yellow stages, and Neon, I was just freaking here, Indian.

So now for some music. Grimey has a new single and is gearing up for an album in Janurary. She was recently interviewed by the Jay Leno to our Letterman, Pitchfork. Hopefully LC will score an interview with her during FFF and you can be sure we'll blow those losers out of the water.

Grimes - Oblivion by Hypetrak



Brandt Brauer Frick is from Germany, their website even ends in .de, this video is the first, I think, single from their upcoming album. I really liked this video and also thought it fits in well with our oft revisited weird food video theme.

There is a crack in everything

Sometimes you're listening to the radio and a song comes up that just rattles you. Maybe because it's new and shiny and exciting. Or maybe because you hadn't heard it in forever but somehow it captures exactly what you're feeling. Well, I was rattled this morning.

I remembered "Anthem" from Natural Born Killers, but hadn't listened to it since I last saw the movie more than a decade ago. And today, while driving to work, on a very very sad time, Leonard Cohen starts singing:

The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.



Thank you Leonard.

Oh, and for those of you that come to this blog to learn new things and not listen to old songs, Leonard Cohen has said that he is releasing a brand new album called "Old Ideas" sometime in 2012. It will be his first since 2004.

Kaleidoscope Endoscopy

Team Me are a six-piece orchestral pop outfit out of Norway. When I was in Helsinki, I saw posters showing they were touring with The Wombats (another great band), so I looked them up. Turns out they just released a five-song self-titled EP.

The music video kind of looks like a kaleidoscope endoscopy (and not the fun kind), but this is my favorite song off of the EP.

Alamo Tunes

I think Safety Rat already posted the audio for this on facebook (which if you haven't liked us yet, I recommend you do...), but the video is SO GOOD that it would be a tragic thing not to put it up.

For those of you who don't live here, Austin has an incredible movie theater called "The Alamo," where they do things like bring you beer and food to your chair, plan crazy Lord of the Ring Marathon Feasts where you get 5 meals during the day while you watch, and 80's sing along parties where you, for example, sing along to a video clip of it's raining men while male sex dolls fall from the sky.

What Alamo also does is choose a song every month and use it as a soundtrack for their promo of events. This month the song was M83's Midnight City, which is not only a great song, by a great artist, but has an awesome, brand-spanking new video that kicks all sorts of ass.

Also, can I just say that I'm totally ready for a sax solo come back on songs??? Pay attention on that 3 minute mark and get your mind blown.

M83 | Midnight City from DIVISION on Vimeo.

anything is better than New Girl

Wolf here. Guest posting because I'm in hardcore studying procrastination mode.

Lana Del Rey has a lot of haters. As hipster becomes mainstream (yeah, I reluctantly watched the New Girl pilot too), everyone is talking about Lana Del Rey and how she's had major PR grooming, not to mention a decent amount of cosmetic surgery. She has a new name (previously Lizzy Grant), new lips, and a good deal of video overproduction.

However, this video, posted today, shows one thing: we're going to be hearing a lot more from whatever-her-name-is-now.

Baby If You Wanna Be Right, I Will Let You Be Right

While they shouldn't be confused with the 1960's band The Mynah Birds that included Rick James and Neil Young, The Mynabirds do have a folk stretched to mo-town feel. Laura Burhenn was a member of Georgie James with John Davis of Q and not U and Title Tracks.

Burhenn's got some hypnotic pipes on her. On top of that, she's also one of the sweetest people I've ever had the pleasure of sharing a Lonestar tallboy (or three) with.

From their 2010 album What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood, "The Numbers Don't Lie."

Rainy Monday

It's not my intention to get anyone depressed, I know we should be happy that it's a cloudy rainy day in Austin, and that finally, after months of drought, we got a few inches of water from the skies.

I can't help feel however, that this song fits perfectly with the grey, rainy day ahead of us.

Like "Behold the Hurricane," this song showcases a really gripping performance. It also speaks to how good a video can be when you keep it simple and beautiful.

Keaton Henson, "You Don't Know How Lucky You Are," from his first LP Dear...

Keaton Henson - You Don't Know How Lucky You Are from Keaton Henson on Vimeo.

I couldn't help also show you guys his first video out of the same album for the song titled "Charon." It's so good. Again, please don't shoot yourselves...

Keaton Henson - Charon from Keaton Henson on Vimeo.

Naptown Anthem

Urban dictionary defines Naptown as, 'Indianapolis, Indiana. Indianapolis used to be so boring in the early 1900's people would say there is nothing to do, but take a nap in the city. That's why its called Naptown.' Thankfully things have changed a bit from the 1900s, most importantly we got rid of Jim Harbaugh, now have one non-smoking bar in Broad Ripple, and have at least two talented graphic designers; see below and buy the poster here. This might explain the second definition of Naptown on Urban dictionary:

2. The first definition is correct, however, over the past two decades, Naptown has grown into a term of endearment. Nap as in "Nappy" or "Tight" for example:

Headin back to Naptown this weekend to run with some old friends.

Xei the ghost and I went to high school together. And like all the best people from Indianapolis he is a fan of the sports teams, loves the city, but lives in another state. He had a solid flow and a great ear for beats back then and has only gotten better. Check out his whole catalogue and go see him in person if you're in LA.










This post composed on mac. Thanks Steve.

Listening Habits

I recently discovered Young Circles, from Miami. They released Jungle Habits, their first LP, a couple of months ago. I guess I'm two decades behind in blogosphere time.

A quote on their Bandcamp describes them as "Radiohead-meets-Clinic". At first, I liked that comparison (after all, that's quite a feat). But now I don't think that's fair at all. They're so much more. I continuously found myself hearing bits that sounded like other bands, but never quite put my finger on what it was. Kasabian? Arctic Monkeys? Beck? Wilco? Foreign Born? Sufjan? Atlas Sound? Damn, they even sounded like Nomo, in the Afrobeat-infused "Jangala" (it's an afro-Zappa-Zone, a bit much for my taste). I'm not claiming these bands are good descriptors for YC. I'm just trying to inadequately communicate how they make me feel. Every song on Jungle Habits has something unique, yet weirdly familiar. I loved it immediately, but where have I heard this before?

Now this for the next edition of Modern Jackass Magazine: "YC are doing in indie what Tarantino did in film. Jungle Habits is a quilt of references to a long list of influential indie musicians. The end product is, however, refreshing and very much welcome." Lolz. What a dick.

Listen and listen again. Then buy the whole thing. If you don't buy, at least go to SoundCloud and download "Asthmatic".

[Image via]

Another dude from a band you know

Alex Ebert, known from Ima Robot and better known from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, released his first solo album this year. The album is pretty much Edward Sharpe sans Jade, but who's really complaining?

Here is a video for "Truth," my choice off the album.

Caged Animals

Vincent Cacchione, former Soft Black member, just released a debut album under the moniker Caged Animals. Sink into some West Coast dream pop synth and bring on the Casio.

My choice off the album is the single "Teflon Heart."

Caged Animals-Teflon Heart by theawkwardoff


Here is their video for "Girl on Medication." Nothing beats eating gummy bears and blowing up shit.

Caged Animals - "Girls On Medication" from Cluster 1 on Vimeo.

Last Choice Will Be Waiting For You Till The Sun Goes Down

Icona Pop is a guy/girl duo, a la Crystal Castles, from Stockholm. They have an EP out on Oct 10th, pre-order here. I don't love their entire catalog, but I haven't be able to put this one down. It might be a bit to sci-fi/final boss fight for most, but you've got to admit the hook is killer.

Sun Goes Down feat The Knocks by IconaPop

BasementJax teamed up with the Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest to put out a collective album, creatively titled Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest. It's available in the UK and hopefully the US soon. Sundeep Toor is an animator from the UK and he put together a really slick video for one tracks off of the album. It reminds me of The Secret of Nimh vs. The Nutcracker, both near and dear in my childhood memories.

Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest - HEY U from Sundeep Toor on Vimeo.

A couple of notes before the end:

1.) Yelle has an album due on Oct 24th, check her 'lead-up' latest release.

2.) Busdriver has a new single. The old video for the new single is here. Honestly, he's not really impressed me with recent efforts hopefully he'll pick things up soon.

3.) -I'm aware that technically a couple is two - The party is still on, we are trying to finalize a date/venue and are starting to line up bands.

Behold the Hurricane

Brian Fallon, lead singer/songwriter for The Gaslight Anthem just started a side project called Horrible Crowes. It definitely feels darker and heavier than Gaslight while still retaining that New Jersey/Springsteen vibe that they're famous for.

Their first album, Elsie, came out September 6th. The single is called Behold the Hurricane and the video features Joseph Mawles (of Game of Thrones!!!) going through a pretty awful breakdown. It's shot beautifully and his performance is riveting... It actually makes me want to see him acting in something other than Thrones.

Horrible Crowes 'Behold the Hurricane' from Academy Plus (A+) on Vimeo.

Photo Courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine.

Sport Dudes

Good Sport (Ryan Hyzer) lives in Pittsburg. He's giving away his (self-described) lazy lo-fi pop at Bandcamp. I wouldn't call it lazy, cause that'd be like Wavves "they're so lazy", but I do get a nice drowsy feeling from it. Here's "Dudes", my favorite of the five songs in the And Now We Are Talking EP. Go to Bandcamp and get the whole thing.


PS: Thanks to nomodestbear for this one (and many others, actually).

The Worst Rapper On This Track, Third Coolest

Truer words have not been spoken. What we've got here is an A-list of sub mainstream emcees remixing the eXquire track 'Huzzah.' Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown, and EL-P all make appearances and it's probably true that Heems is the worst rapper on the track, but certainly thinks he's one of the coolest. I'm convinced that Das is the real deal, their latest album cemented that for me, but I know others disagree. The video's vulgar, but the flows are solid. Best rapper on this track: Despot, First coolest: eXquire, 'Big belly, still take my shirt off like Nelly.'

I don't know

There are question that haunt us. I mean "us" in the global sense of the word, as in every human being on the planet. It's these types of questions that birthed philosophy and propelled humanity from the depth of savagery to the wonders of modern life... Who am I? Is there a purpose to life? What happens when I die? How do you convert PDF to JPEG?

Well, Jerusalem indie rockers Umlala tried to answer that last one but came up with the same answer as most of us: I don't know.

Enjoy.



Photo courtesy of hipstersmusic.com

Look dad, no hands!

I have to admit I had never heard of UK's Martin Brooks. When I googled him I found lots of other musician Martin Brooks from the UK, like him, him and him. What's up with that? It reminds of that scene in American Splendor when Harvey Pekar is wondering about the other Harvey Pekars that live in Cleveland.

Anyway, the music is just straight-up, enjoyable rock and roll. But the video is A-W-E-S-O-M-E. My favorite video so far this year.

"Golden Tree" by Martin Brooks from Ninian Doff on Vimeo.

Trip Hop Hunt

A couple of weeks ago, Jovi asked me where Wax Tailor has been and why there hasn't been any new music. So, I called Wax. He hasn't returned my call. Deciding to take a more proactive approach I went on a trip hop hunt. I come back to you with two new singles. The first is from A.S.M (A State of Mind). If you're thinking to yourself, 'Where have I seen those letters before?' The answer isn't at a science conference, it was probably in the title of the Wax Tailor hit Say Yes (Feat ASM). ASM has an album due next month and the first single is Don't Look Back. It's not Say Yes, but a solid effort none the less (I'm also going to file this under Banjo Hop):

A.S.M - Don't Look Back by InWaxWeTrust

The second group is Dafuniks and they're dutch, which I think explains the name. These guys got famous, obviously that should be in quotes, by remixing the Wax Tailor cut This Train. They have an album due soon from Underdogs records. The sound is a bit more soul funk than hip/trip hop but I like their stuff for exactly that reason. Follow everyone on Facebook. Don't bother about Wax, no new music on the horizon and the US was left off his 2011 world tour.

Dafuniks - Searching (feat. Kuku Agami, Astrid Engberg & Mr Mattic) by InWaxWeTrust

Neon Warpaint, Never Out of Style

Indie-dance outfit Rubblebucket burst forth with horns and frenzy. Their 2011 album Omega La La is full of gems like this, and they do a mean cover of The Beatles' "Michelle." They remind me of Akron Family without the noodling and Yeasayer before they overdid it on synth.

This is the video for "Came Out of a Lady", which won an award for "Best lo-budget video of 2010" from Deli NYC. Bring on the funk bass, horn arrangements, and whistle interludes.

Panthera Tigris

Another adorable video, this time from Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.

Stephen is, of course, more famous for being the lead songwriter and singer for indie gods Pavement. The Jicks have a new album out called Mirror Traffic, haven't given it a good listen yet, but judging by this single I think it's going to be GRRREEEEAAATTTT (see what I did there?).

Tigers_Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks from Household on Vimeo.

He had problems with the internet releasing his music

You probably know Dilated Peoples, in this case you know who Evidence is. In 2009 he signed with Atmosphere's Rhymesayers and his first album, Cats and Dogs, is due next week. The track below feats. Slug (the rapping half of Atmosphere) and Aesop Rock (the rapping half of awesome) and is a radio rip. The album is going to include tracks with Prodigy, Aloe Blacc and others. Evidence doesn't like it when the internet releases music before he does or at least according to his wikipedia page he doesn't. I pay for the good music (and sometimes the overhyped music that ends up stinking, I'm looking at you Tyler the Creator) so I don't feel guilty for posting this. Honestly, the beat is pretty simple and the hook to flow ratio isn't very favorable THAT being said Aesop kills it. I'm going to buy the whole thing when it drops on 27 Sept, so here's to hoping Cats and Dogs doesn't go the way of Goblin.




Upon further reading I realised that this was a very negative post. I want to remedy that in two ways. First by saying that I like the Evidence track and have all faith that the album will be a solid effort. Second, by posting a new Fools Gold remix that embodies our new slogan 'So Choice'. On a related note, Parkour and Jovi laid down some stellar work on the blog remix. They'll be t-shirts with our new logo at the fall party.

Four non-blondes

This one is not about that mid-90's one-hit wonder. It is not about an new blog-hype either. These four are all over the news. Household names, one would say. But maybe, you never know, someone still doesn't know about them and happens to be reading the last choice. It would be unforgivable that we don't tell said reader about them. So here we go.

Charlotte Gainsbourg
French regal gal, manages to put out records while delivering disturbing acting in Von Trier films. Here's "Memoir", from the recently released EP, Terrible Angels. If you're into remembering Goldfrapp, you will like the song "Terrible Angels" better than this one. Check out the video.

Eleanor Friedberger
I had a crush on a girl once (in 2004). She told me about her love for The Fiery Furnaces. So I listened to "Blueberry Boat" and "EP"to an unhealthy degree... Anyway, the Furnaces are witty and playful and generally awesome (except maybe live). Eleanor (half of the band, sister of the other half) released a solo album in July called Last Summer. Her brother Matthew has also released music (4 in a series of 6 experimental-ish EPs; less, say, accessible). I think I know now which half of the Furnaces I like better.


St. Vincent
Aw, Annie Clark. So good. So, so good. Read the interview at Pitchfork, and be sure to get her new album, Strange Mercy.


Lamb
They reunited and put out a new record this summer. I'm not completely in love with it. They also put out a live record, "Live at Koko". Listening to it is going back in time 10 years, yet it sounds so perfectly new and current. Lou Rhodes's voice is ridiculously beautiful.

Trampled by Winter

I have to admit that recently bluegrass music has been my meat and potatoes. It's what I enjoy listening to when I'm at work, or folding clothes, or cleaning my room.

While I'm pretty ignorant about bluegrass bands and have grown a bit tired of trendy/bluegrass-inspired stuff like Mumford and Sons, sometimes I'll run into something that — while falling into that broad category — still surprises me.

I think what I like about Trampled by Turtles is that they go fast. They stay away from the sad, dark ballady stuff and go pedal to the metal — even when the lyrics might still bring you back to that fluffy romantic stuff.

TbT put out two albums last year: Palamino and Duluth (referencing their home town, Duluth, MN). This song, titled "Wait so Long," is from Palamino — and while the video is very meh, it kind of shows their breakneck pace:



Dave Simonett, TbT's lead singer, also has a side project called Dead Man Winter releasing their first LP next week. It's a bit more rock and roll but keeps the country twang (reminding me of the excellent The Elected). You can find the entire album for streaming through Spotify.

You make the call! New Made in Heights

The long wait is over, Last Choice fav Made In Heights has finally released some new music. I suppose in the grand scheme of things less than a year isn't a long time, but Sabzi has been tight-lipped about whether this project even had a future. It streams free on their bandcamp and you can own the whole EP at the name your own price level. I haven't spent much time listening yet, in fact I've only made it through once. But I figured good, bad or ugly this needed to be up soon. If you're out there Internet, post some comments about the album.

Ok, I'm clapping again

I was a huge fan of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. That first album is still great, even after listening to it what must have been hundreds of times. Then came "Some Loud Thunder" in 2007 and I was terribly disappointed. It just had none of the fun of its predecessor, they seemed to be messing around with their sound too much... don't get me wrong, I'm all for evolution of sound, but this was just not that great. They seemed to be the perfect example of the dreaded sophomore slump band.

Now CYHSY are getting ready to release their third album (titled Hysterical), and I'm happy to admit that I'm optimistic. The songs that I've heard seem to recapture the energy of their first while still feeling a bit different.

No videos yet, but they did make a little minute long promo showcasing what I guess will be their first single, also called "Hysterical."

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Hysterical from CYHSY on Vimeo.

You can also stream their full album here. But I don't know how long that will last.

Outside is not a new song

Otherside is not a new song. Macklemore put the original version out in 2009. Over the past 12 months he filmed this video with Ryan Lewis and Jason Koenig (the same trio for the My Oh My video). That Macklemore has struggled with addiction and is now sober isn't a surprise to his fans. His opinions on Weezy are also not new. But for the hip hop world it's a rare feat that an emcee can come clean and stay popular. I also thought it timely given the recent Nat Geo expose on the environmental cost of recreational drugs. The video is beautiful and the message powerful.

The Afrika Time Travel Program

DJ Shadow and Afrikan Boy bring us this bouncy and warped story of an African Dictator trying to explore time travel while he inhales hallucinogenics.

On a side note, the video was directed by Ian Pons Jewell who long time fans of the blog could remember from his earlier work on "Follow" by Crystal Fighters. If you don't remember that post go here, you will not regret it.

DJ Shadow's new LP comes out in September, this song will be there:

DJ Shadow Ft. Afrikan Boy - I'm Excited from Ian Pons Jewell on Vimeo.

The wave finally broke and rolled back

New video from Samo Sound Boy to support his EP which is out today. You can listen to the EP and/or buy it here. The animation, in the style of Das Racist, was done by Mykola Dosenko . I can best rationalize his music by calling it sort of a kim chi esque house-dub, in that it smells funky but is spicy and good with rice. I'm also fairly sure that the end of the video is a fear and loathing metaphor, so that's a win. Enjoy.

"...So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

Samo Sound Boy - Shuffle Code from Trouble & Bass on Vimeo.

Inanimate Objects on Fire

Hearts is the debut album of Swedish duo I Break Horses.

Here is the video for "Winterbeats", the glassine first track and single. It features lots of inanimate objects crystallizing, shattering slowly, shattering quickly, and combusting. Oh yeah, and they sprinkled in some time lapse clouds.

Baby Drugs-Tristen

Last Choice has a thing for Nashville women. Tristen Gaspadarek oozes with the kind of hooky folk pop that makes me cling to the last scraps of summertime.

Torture by way of papier maché

Bikinians are a pop-rock outfit from Belgium, the place that invented French Fires but let the French take all the credit.

They put out their album "Hit the Fan" in march and while I haven't listened very carefully, their first single and video (also titled Hit the Fan) has me plenty curious. It feels like a return to simpler days of straight pop-rock, fun to jump to and easy to sing along.

B I K I N I A N S - Hit The Fan from La Film Fabrique on Vimeo.

Our first planning meeting for the Fall Last Choice Party went pretty well last week, except that Safety Rat beat me in pool. Ever since he learned how to use hyperlinks he's become better at everything. If anyone out there has suggestions on a nice Austin venue, or if anyone out there knows of good bands willing to play for booze and glory, give us a shout.

Small Girl, Big Voice

Kyla La Grange lives in London and she has an album coming out this October. I've included her latest single, via soundcloud, and latest video. If you find her on Soundcloud you can download the free single Heavy Stone. She also has a Tumblr, which got me thinking about how many musicians seem to be expanding their role as cultural ambassadors to include all facets of life via Tubmlrs. My best example of this being Gambino. Kyla's music is a bit outside my comfort zone, so someone with better taste, or at least more catholic (lower case c), than I will have to tell us if she's any good. The cogs for the next Last Choice are spinning away and Parkour, Jovi and I are expecting big things. Details will follow.

I Could Be by Kyla La Grange

My kind of super group

Icebird is the new collective effort between RJD2 and Aaron Livingston. Their first album, maybe their only album, is due in October but they've been releasing teasers all summer. Below is the first single from the album. Two new remixes by RJ and IllVibe were released yesterday, they don't dissapoint. Find the remixes on Some Kind of Awesome along with a bunch of other material from Icebird. If Going Going foreshadows whats to come on the full album I for one am excited. We'll let you know when album drops, so stay glued to the facebook page.

Icebird (RJD2 & Aaron livingstone) - Going And Going. And Going. by Republic of Music

Last Choice Late Guest

Self-described Italian eclectic rave rockers and Filter described pop vanguard, Late Guest At The Party are now in NYC and working on a new album. They released a single yesterday, which I wasn't blown away by. Most likely it just didn't mix with a Tuesday, or possibly I'm getting too old for Italian eclectic rave rock BUT video to the rescue. Best described as I'm on a boat and on acid, the combination of track and visuals works like honey mustard onion pretzel pieces and chocolate chips (try it). In an effort to keep things even keel I also included the new video from Fools Gold. The IAmSound group will be in austin for ACL and hopefully will play an after party or two. Last year the Very Best played a private show for Last Choice and we're hoping for something similarly brilliant this year. Oh and if you haven't already read Jovi's post, shake off you're Gen X/Gen X + 1 apathy and help out in the horn.

You Make Me Nervous (Official Music Video) from Reynolds Records on Vimeo.

Fool's Gold - "Wild Window" from Paul Tao on Vimeo.

Ten kids every day

Remember A Band Called Quinn, them of wolf stories in their songs? They just posted a remix album on bandcamp. Check it out. Quite enjoyable and danceable, at least upon first listen. I liked a couple by Kid Loco and Celebrity Murder Party.

Not a bad option for your $10 of monthly legal music. AND: you will get double karma credits, as all proceeds will go to DEC, who are organizing aid efforts in the Horn crisis.

Ten kids are starving to death every day there. I don't mean to preach. To whom, any way? Only the Parkour Movers Company (and a few in company) read this blog. But even 50 of your cents will help.

If you don't feel like buying music in quid, there are many other places you can go to and donate. For example, through the UN World Food Program.

Every kid's dream

Becoming a ninja and exacting revenge. It's everyone's dream, right?

In this Wes Andreson inspired piece, Maps and Atlases manage to make maybe the most endearing and cute video that I've seen.

"Israeli Caves" is part of their tremendous 2010 release, Perch Patchwork.

Maps & Atlases - Israeli Caves from handheldcineclub on Vimeo.

Subtract

Aaron Jerome, aka SBTRKT, is a DJ/producer of dubstep or postdubstep or whatever they're calling it in London now. He's not embarrassed of the trip-hop roots of his music ('Wildfire' sounds so Tricky/Massive Attack), making a much more R&B sounding record than fellow postdubteppers (e.g. James Blake).
The result is one of the most accessible albums of the genre. It came out in June, and has already been well received by Pitchfork, Fader and even Rolling Stone. So pardon if this one comes a bit late for you guys, but I really like it.

Here's the stream of the whole album.


...and here's the video for the first single, "Wildfire", which must've been filmed in the Texas summer. Little Dragon's Yukimi Nakano sings.

Unicorn headbands at the Fall Party

Sorry Safety Rat. I've abandoned you this past month.

Oh Land is a favorite of this blog, mainly due to her bouncy music but also because of her angelic long legs. Her new video takes us through dreamscapes galore, including unigirls riding horses, African dancing, virtual reality, and my favorite: jumping from a rock into the water in your underwear.

Also, we can definitely make unicorn headbands to give out on the next Last Choice party.

Here it is, enjoy:

We need You!

New unofficial video for Gold Panda's You. Which reminds me, if You care about Last Choice, show us some love. Which also reminds me, Jovi and Parkour where have You been? I'm wondering if we're still throwing a fall party for You, I sure hope so. More on that to come. You stay cool our there.

Gold Panda - You from Thomas Borowiak on Vimeo.