annie clark still charms,
but pretentious crowd sat still
and made us sit too.
photo by rj
Archive for February, 2010
show review in haiku: st. vincent
02.26.10tonight tonight: st. vincent
02.25.10
8:00 at the first unitarian church sanctuary. wildbirds and peacedrums are opening.
topp stemning på lokal bar
02.25.10
casiokids are a nordic electro-pop group that have been around for a while. now they’re doing us the honor of releasing the first norwegian-language pop record ever in the us of a (that can’t be right, can it?) via polyvinyl records.
it’s called topp stemning på lokal bar, which translates to “great vibe at local bar.” i can get behind that. here’s a track from the album to whet appetites until its official release on june 8.
a little western hospitality
02.24.10
i never see enough written anywhere about sweden’s club 8. after all, they’ve been specializing in the same kind of danceable indie pop as fellow countrymen peter, bjorn & john, lykke li and the like for going on 14 years now.
i could argue the injustice of america’s seeming lack of interest in past underrated gems like strangely beautiful for hours so i’ll just cut myself off and get to the point. club 8 have a new album on the way, their first since 2007’s equally underrated the boy who couldn’t stop dreaming. it’s called the people’s record and it will be out on may 18 via their label labrador.
the first track to surface from it is the bouncy, brazilian-influenced “western hospitality.” it’s a perky little ditty and well worth your time, just like the rest of their slept-on catalog. sigh.
the great mess detective
02.23.10
joe flory, aka primary 1, is an up-and-coming electronic artist out of london. his music is a slick blend of bedroom pop, soul and chillwave that would feel right at home in a mix with toro y moi, washed out and the like. he supposedly has a debut album out in the fall (a sweet, nina persson-enhanced preview of which can be sampled at gvb), but in the meantime, he’s made a collection of his fairly wicked demos called mess detective available for free download here in exchange for an email address.
preview the smooth, swanky “foaming” (dubbed “white room version 05” on the collection) below and then grab the rest.
pop that y-rocks 2.23.2010
02.23.10
catch my weekly online radio show, the circuit, tonight at 11pm ET and again saturday at 9pm ET, only on y-rock on xpn. this week, you can hear new music from FUR, white hinterland, class actress, hot chip, four tet and many more. if you have a track or artist you’d like to be considered for the circuit, hit me up via email or twitter.
this week’s playlist:
1. CANT – ghosts (class actress remix)
2. beach house – zebra (ring trick remix)
3. white hinterland – no logic
4. foreign born – early warnings (boys like us rostam batmanglij remix)
5. primary 1 – foaming (white room version 05)
6. toro y moi – minors
7. hot chip – alley cats
8. saint etienne – heart failed (in the back of a taxi)
9. active child – wilderness
10. bibio – jealous of roses (pivot remix)
11. magic wands – warrior (the xx remix)
12. coyote clean up – lackadaisacal luv XXX F-U 2 (FUR remix)
13. illum sphere – agent white
14. memory tapes – swimming field
15. class actress – journal of ardency
16. quiet village – can’t be beat
17. chromatics – lady
18. CFCF – come closer
19. joy orbison – the shrew would have cushioned the blow
20. the knife – we share our mother’s health (RATATAT remix)
21. pantha du prince – stick to my side (feat. noah lennox)
22. burial – raver
23. four tet – she just likes to fight
come together
02.22.10
new new pornographers courtesy of matador records. it’s called “your hands (together)” and it’s a much more muscular affair than anything that was on challengers, yet it still maintains that album’s restraint and patience. i’m particularly fond of the whirring synths bubbling up under the surface of the chorus.
the rest of together drops may 4. it features all of the usual suspects plus some extra special guests from what i hear. here’s the tracklist:
1. moves
2. the crash years
3. your hands (together)
4. silver jenny dollar
5. sweet talk, sweet talk
6. my shepherd
7. if you can’t see my mirrors
8. up in the dark
9. valkyrie in the roller disco
10. a bite out of my bed
11. daughters of sorrow
12. we end up together.
i’m eager to see which track features st. vincent.
hello new broken social scene!
02.19.10
this has been a looooooong time coming. the new broken social scene is finally coming out on may 5 via arts & crafts. it’s called forgiveness rock record and will feature appearances by various bss alumni who have moved on to bigger solo success in the past five years (hello feist and emily haines).
the band made a teaser track from the album available for free download via their website for the cost of an email. it’s called “world sick” and it’s worth it. almost sounds like the gang never went away.
and yes i know everyone and their mother have already posted this but what can i say? traffic bait is traffic bait.
free forest swords mixtape
02.18.10
don’t know how i missed this one earlier this week, but here it is. UK drone-stepper forest swords finally drops his debut album dagger paths march 1 on olde english spelling bee.
in preparation for its release, the label is offering a free mixtape created by forest swords featuring the likes of burial, pariah, ducktails, madlib and more. quite a few pleasant surprises are hidden within so you should grab it while its hot and dig in.
Pop That Rocks 