I'm okay with an album making me think of something other than sick, dying people

Guest Post #2!
Everyone seems to be bemoaning the new not-as-ridiculously-sad sound on The Antlers' new album, Burst Apart, which comes out 5/10. However, I've been really enjoying it. It's streaming on NPR.

The Antlers - Parentheses by Frenchkiss

Big B-Shels

In honor of our very own Pittsburgh native's engagement I figured some Steel City music was called for. Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow. B-Shels is not Wiz Khalifa but he did make a cameo appearance in Khalifa's black and yellow video and they both are P-Burgh natives. He's also no Gambino, but does maintain a pretty solid hip/hop blog- http://bshels.wordpress.com. The song is Startstruck, no word on an EP/LP but the track is fresh so I assume more is on the way. Congrats JR!

The Next 127 Hours

We're staring down at the music week some of us have been looking forward to all winter: Yacht, Cut Copy, Yelle, CSS, Sleigh Bells all happening over the next 127 hours. Here's Hoping we don't lose any limbs and that Parkour finds himself a CSS ticket. Although neither Santigold nor the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are in town this week, I thought this song might be a critical energy boost during the working hours of the day. The poster also serves as a nice starting gun for this musical mad dash we're embarking on. As usual she blends social commentary with stellar production and an all star (at least in the Last Choice music cannon) cast of characters. Album dropping soon. Enjoy

Santigold "Go" f. Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) by yoshiradio

Andersen's night out

Based on the true story of Jessie's cat, Andersen.

Indie legends Superchunk made one of the most awesome comebacks I can remember with their latest album, Majesty Shredding. Seriously. Get it. Now.

This is my favorite song of the album and they just released the video for it. It's called "Crossed Wires."

Courtesy of PitchforkTV.

Crossover (over 30, that is)

It is PeterParkour's birthday today! Here's a set of songs that may or may not be played during the week-long celebration that will start in exactly one hour. Hope you enjoy, and start a little dance party wherever you are. Also, you can download the whole thing as a ZIP, here.

Munk - May I Have Your Attention?


Goldfish - In Too Deep


Madison - Lights Low


Javelin - Tryouts (Brenton Duvall Remix feat Childish Gambino)


Curro Fuentes - Santa Marta (Sonora Mix)


Does It Offend You, Yeah? - We Are The Dead


Mr Moustache - Female


Señor Stereo - I Am The Beat


Siriusmo - Feromonikon


Bebe - La Bicha (IMS Remix)

Palette of Sounds

The way this song builds up is just so amazing, around the 1.40 mark it just starts getting more and more complex and never fucking lets go. Until it does.

No words, just enjoy. Owen Pallett, "The Great Elsewhere"


Owen Pallett - The Great Elsewhere

Bee Music

EJM sent this to me a while back, so she gets credit for this one. I'm giving a talk today about the intersection of insects and music, and this is a sneak preview.

Bees produce 200ish wingbeats per second, so their sounds are really useful in sampling. Tonehammer freezes, delays, filters, and glitches up the bee sounds. Then, they layer more conventional sounds over the bee noise.

Bee-you-tee-ful.



The talk is today at 7:30PM at Brackenridge Field Laboratory. Go here for more info.

Slow Wednesday

Lia Ices is a singer-songwriter from Brooklyn. She put out her first EP in 2008 called Necima and got a little bit of recognition as a sort of new-coming of Tori Amos.

She just put out a new album through Jagjaguwar called Grown Unknown and the first single "Daphne" is really good. And yes, that is Justin Vernon singing backing vocals.

We are rising Sons

Wolf here! Guest posting for the first time.

In January NPR's All Songs Considered challenged Ryan Lott, the New York musician better known as Son Lux, to make an entire album in one month. Despite the fact that he was already working on a second album and that his first album took him three years to finish, he agreed. You can follow his progress on The All Songs Considered blog. You can also listen to disparate sketches of melodies and beats that shouldn't fit together and then when do it's pretty cool.

The album, We are Rising, is released April 26th but you can listen to the whole album on NPR's first listen. Lott manages to incorporate schizophrenic strings (via the yMusic ensemble), with heavy beats, and his trademark eerie vocals. Somehow all the layers manage to make something rich and addictive. I've attached the song, "Rising". Enjoy.

Son Lux - Rising by Son Lux ">

Before they take it

Here is The Vaccines, another UK band.

We have 5 minutes to enjoy them before the frat boys claim them.





Done. They're officially the new Kings of Leon. Hope you liked them while they were cool.

The Pride of Milton Keynes

Kotki Dwa is Polish nursery rhyme about two kittens and a kid that won't go to sleep. It is also a three-piece UK band that pride themselves on their DIY ethics. They make their own videos, they create their own packaging for their albums and they make pretty, poppy, fun music for enjoying in sunny days with pretty girls (or boys, whatever floats your boat).

They also have a passion for blogs, including one dedicated to their Polish heritage, one to all things futuristic and one to glorious nature.

Enjoy their brand-spanking-new video for their song I scream:



Image courtesy of www.KotkiDwa.com

Robyn Blake

Photo: Siausiau Suzuki

The girl's name is Aluna, the boy's name is George. They're AlunaGeorge. After listening to their music, it is no surprise that they're from London. Sweet sweet, glitchy, pop-y, R&B, post-dubstep-y goodness.


AlunaGeorge sound like Robyn had a baby with James Blake (in 'Make No Mistake', 'We Are Chosen'), or like a spin-off from The Dirty Projectors (in 'Body Music'). As far as I know, they haven't officially released anything. They will release 'We Are Chosen' as a single in May. however, thanks to Soundcloud we can enjoy their tunes now. Also, "Double Sixes", the glitchiest of the six songs, is downloadable for free at their website.