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.