Canada's hardest hitting electro-rock outfit piece together a kaleidoscope of tour footage for the visuals to their video for "Latin America". Holy F*ck will release their forthcoming album Latin May 11th via Young Turks/XL.

Today I am helping my friend move from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Yikes! Exercise! Walk-ups! Consider yourselves blessed, people who live in flat places. Luckily I only have to drive the U-Haul truck, one of my favorite mundane activities that people generally hate. I'm a weirdo. Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is we need some driving music today! Put on your sneakers and POP IN THIS MIX.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings are extremely proficient at their craft. A blind listen of I Learned The Hard Way would leave many casual listeners believing they were listening to some lost 1970s era soul. Even the recording values are more shag-carpet vintage than clean, crisp CD quality. The whole package is aesthetically accurate, and really plays into the charm of Jones and her band. But the truth is, I Learned The Hard Way is part of a modern revitalization of classic R&B, which hit the mainstream with the rise of artists like Amy Winehouse. Ironically, the movement was started by Winehouse's backing band, a group of incredibly talented instrumentalists who went relatively unknown during her reign of the charts. That group is known as the Dap Kings, and playing behind Jones, they find a more natural, organic sound (with a significantly diminished drug consumption).

Check out the latest from Frenchkiss band Freelance Whales: a slightly unorthodox rehashing made possible by labelmate The Antlers. The whole remix thing (especially within label groups) has been a huge fad lately, bands remixing DJs, and beatsmiths chopping up popular rock tunes, etc. But The Antlers' Darby Cicci had a different MO with this one. Instead of one song, "Killer Whales" is three different FW tracks smashed together into one banger. Check it out after the jump.

The beauty of The New Pornographers and Together is consistency in expectation. TNP sounds exactly the same as they always have, quality and tempo in tact. Case, Newman and Bejar have come together before and will come together again, trading on and off on the lead mic, oscillating from softer tunes like "My Shepard" to the Magnetic Fields-ish "Silver Jenny Dollar", to the soaring classic rockisms of "Your Hands (Together)". Together is the total package, never a dull moment, catering directly to the familiarity of fans.

_{Photos by Ryan Broderick. For more shows, check out our photo section}
Los Campesinos! were originally supposed to take the stage at the Fillmore last Thursday but a volcano from Iceland grounded their flight from England. Definitely one of the stranger reasons for postponing a show. But volcanoes or not Los Campesinos! took the stage and absolutely killed it.

New album (Champ) coming in the spring! Although they are not quite arresting you for being in love (EP REFERENCE!), Toronto's Tokyo Police Club are arresting, especially due to crimes of being severely underrated. Elephant Shell was a pure delight, but was left off most favorites lists. It wasn't exactly the mind-bending sci-fi future epic that their initial EP would suggest, but hey, these guys write fun songs! Their English is good! (Get it?)

Pictured above: A real life analogy for pop lyrics.
Many have claimed recently, however erroneously, that declining music sales are due to the absolute crap music that populates the top shelf of your local Best Buy. While such a broad claim is virtually unprovable and probably one piece of a larger puzzle (however true), there is one thing that we can all agree on: lyrical nuance is not a top priority. Today's pop landscape can sometimes be very flat, easy navigated by people with an IQ of less-than-or-equal-to 55, super effing auto-tuned, and chock full of lyrics that sound like they were written by a five year old monkey.

The era of Nine Inch Nails may be over, but Trent Reznor is far from the finish line. His new group, How To Destroy Angels, includes his wife Mariqueen Maandig. They are planning to release a self titled six song EP this summer. Check out a quick teaser video after the jump.

Meet the most un-rock and roll dude at SXSW. Instead of boozing, schmoozing, and using, Jagaur Love's Jonny Whitney spent part of his time in Austin running around town in search of a party dress for his 1 year old daughter. Yup, he might have been the most down to earth musician we met all week. Check out this exclusive interview with our own Joe P.

The Stars "firm" boycott of Arizona crumbled a bit in a "polite" twitter conversation with Canada's F*cked Up. "In Canada, even our artistic throwdowns are leavened with a deflating amount of courtesy and restraint." HA.

For anyone who thinks of lo-fi rock as little more than uninspired garage recordings, Royal Forest has something to say. Their self-titled EP follows the standard set by both of their previous works, offering albeit a small selection of tunes comprised of droning rhythms tainted with bass-heavy gain and diverse keyboard riffs ranging from bell-like piano to 70s-style organ, all carefully layered over typically muddled vocals. But more than cleaning up the gain and lathering on the guitars, Royal Forest reminds us both dynamically and stylistically that lo-fi has more to it than the sounds emanating from a dingy, cliched basement.

Just a reminder to all you Baeblers: we're running a SUPER HOT price slash on the Jaguar Love concert right now. Grab an iPod compatible digital download of the show, on sale now for 7.99 for a limited time!! Share in the love at the Baeble store.

When we say, prepare your face, we're not kidding. Sleigh Bells is an aggressive, hyperbolic electronic band that doesn't know the meaning of subtlety. Check out this recently recently track from these guys, courtesy of their website.

Another Happy Hollows Spells b-side, "My Wet Tongue", is available for a "name-your-price" Bandcamp. Yes, it's the one with the meowing.

Born Ruffians might have been born rockers, or not, but either way they certainly grew into the role just fine. The Ontario band had a severely underrated record (in this guy's opinion) in Red, Yellow and Blue two years ago, which was definitely on the radar here. That's why news of a new record got me so psyched. Just Say It is due at the end of the month, and a few tracks have surfaced, including this one, "Sole Brother". Check it out after the jump.

ALERT: We've just received two tickets to the SOLD-OUT Devotchka show at Bowery Electric TONIGHT, 4/27. JUMP IF YOU WANT EM! Enter your email by 4:30 PM EST in the box below for a chance to be the lucky winner to snag a pair...

The Swedish pop star is back with her highly anticipated new album, Body Talk Pt. 1. Who is that, you say? This is your wake up call.

The new immigration law, requiring all immigrants to carry citizenship documentation and giving the police the right to detain anyone they deem suspicious, has prompted Canadian rock act Stars to boycott playing in the state of Arizona.

Jaguar Love sounds about as friendly as their prequel, Blood Brothers. And they sound righteous: one obliteration of ear drums, hold the AWESALT. But don't be fooled by their Red Bull worthy energy or their screaming; they are some of the nicest people in the world. And if you love their tunes as much as we do, they are about to get even nicer. Three of you fans are about to get LUCKY. Details after the jump.

Photo by Henry Linser. For more shows, check out our photo section
The perfect band for the later hours of the day, Jaguar Love brought a sweat educing fit of electro, glam, and punk, all smashing together in one combustible cloud of alarming rock and roll, to the Scoot Inn's outdoor stage when we hosted them at our 2010 SXSW Day Party. Electricity, passion, wild emotion: the Portland trio always harness a certain sort of energy, whipping it about the room like some unruly, nearly off the tracks roller coaster. In the front seat there's Jonny Whitney, flailing about (looking ma! no hands!) , his exaggerated falsetto obviously leading the way. But guitarist Cody Votolato and drummer Zach Richards are also right behind him, creating a robust sense of drama and exciting flamboyancy as they work their way through this tidy, 30 minute set. As a result, bodies - the band's and the audiences' alike - do whatever the hell it is they want to do. We suggest watching with no hands on the keyboard

Two years after Crystal Castles burst onto the music radar with their self-titled debut, the synth duo is back with their sophomore effort (also) entitled Crystal Castles.

The only thing worse than poor comic-book-to-movie adaptations: hemorrhage inducing songs BASED on said adaptions. io9 has a gut-wrenchingly hilarious list of such songs, from the weird to the downright wrong.

Watch them kill it on The Colbert Report.

Hear MIA's "Born Free" off the new record, sans Ginger genocide.

Want more free stuff? Seattle's Minus The Bear are amped up and ready to release OMNI, their latest album, on Dangerbird Records. The album is streaming on the KCRW site a week in advance, but we've got a deal here that's just as good: a free poster and a copy of OMNI for one lucky winner. All you need is an email. Jump for details.

MIA took over Pitchforks Twitter account today in a you know what? This is annoying. Go check it out for yourself, if you're into it.

Rafter just released his latest album Animal Feelings on Asthmatic Kitty. But there is more to the eclectic electro-pop artist than meets the eye...

Your weekly guide to late-night music.

Ebert: "I can't discuss what I wrote, why I wrote it, or what I should or shouldn't have written. Frankly, I have no idea." Read the whole thing today on the Chicago Sun-Times website.

Disconnect From Desire, the second album from avant-pop trio School Of Seven Bells, is set to drop 7/13 on Vagrant/Ghostly.

Whoa, the interweb is buzzing about this Washington State lottery ad, with OVER A MINUTE of new material by Grizzly Bear?

The first thing that sets Horse Feathers apart from other groups in the land of folk revival is their instrumentation. These guys are almost exclusively a string outfit, the rhythm section consisting of a pretty much few taps of a tambourine. Since their debut Words Are Dead , the band's acoustic-based sound has become even more stripped down, backing away from some earlier reverb play and into a very barebones production slant. With this genre of music, the lack of need for special effects just furthers their hightlighted musicianship, and besides, you can never go wrong with turning up that gorgeous banjo picking. It's like Appalachian Americana folk; only the Appalachian strains have been softened with more of a classical sheen.

NPR has got the stream a week in advance, as usual. Get your Case on, as well as some awesome guest spots from Zach Condon (Beirut), Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Will Sheff (Okkervil River), and the horn players from The Dap-Kings. Turn it up.

Monday morning. Grey, damp and drizzly...the caffeine just sort of starting to do its' job. We were expecting to just sort of ease on in to this day. Apparently M.I.A. has another thing altogether in mind as she premiers the visuals for her newest track, "Born Free". WARNING: This is very, very NSFW. It's violent, it's disturbing, it's explosive (it's already been banned by YouTube)...a bit of a Monday morning bomb, courtesy of M.I.A.

Um, OK. This weekend MIA continued her reign of political (kind of?) terror, one of our favorite Baeble concert artists of the year is gearing up to play some big stages, and a certain four letter band played SNL, much to the confusion of people who know them for their singles. FILL IN THE BLANKS!

According to Plants and Animals' guitarist/vocalist Warren C. Spicer, this week's installment of the Guest Apartment is "kind of like a Back to the Future moment...when the Iranians come (they were Libyans, actually)...but more subtle". An appropriate comparison, considering the thought that zipped through our minds when the trio of Montreal musicians arrived at Baeble's front doors last week was, "Oh, my God, they found us. I don't know how, but they found us." Never steal Plants and Animals stockpile of plutonium people! Just don't do it!

But let's take it back to the present before we get carried away with Back to the Future. Plants and Animals: Warren C. Spicer, Matthew 'the Woodman' Woodley, and Nicolas Basque. The always eccentric band just released La La Land; their loudest, toughest, and most cohesive album to date this past Tuesday. Here, the trio turn in a couple acoustic takes from that album, with affable results. "Game Shows" is warm and easygoing in it's coat of harmonies, bubbly electric accessories, and mellow percussive brushings. Changing speeds, the trio turn in a more exotic sounding traveling song titled "Kon Tiki", complete with the kind of back story that'll probably incite a little jealousy on the viewers part. "Those days off on tour can be some of the most enjoyable activities", recollects Spicer. It's a sentiment we can absolutely relate with. We kind of feel the same way any time a band of this caliber comes to visit us at the Guest Apartment.

Seretonin, the fifth studio album from the Mystery Jets, is due out in July. The five-piece crafted a new sound and played several songs, (including "Flash A Hungry Sound") in a bunch of secret shows across the UK, under the moniker The Crystal Wolf Fighters. Now that new sound is officially seeing the light of day, in the form of a full length album.

Photo by David Pitz. For more shows, check out our photo section
Some have "Best New Music", others have "Band to Watch". Here at Baeble, we're all about the live performance. In celebration of the very best artists performing today, we're christening this (hopefully) regular editorial segment to highlight those acts we feel are truly worthy of your hard earned dollars.

Synth lovers and psychedelic rock aficionados alike rejoice. Frog Eyes is back. Led by songwriter/howler/fellow Canadian Carey Mercer, the band is following up 2007's Tears Of The Valedictorian with Paul's Tomb: A Triumph (out 4/27 on Dead Oceans). Even without multitasking Renaissance man Spencer Krug, the band delivers the sound listeners have grown to love: a howling mad man in an echo heavy rock and roll cabaret. Add some crashing drums, distorted synths, and trippy guitar flourishes, and you get Paul's Tomb: A Triumph.

Aloha is prepping a new album called Home Acres (the place to be, obviously). Leading man Tony Cavallario took a few minutes to answer our questions about what to expect; "Aloha's catalog is a big arrowhead and Home Acres is the point where everything comes together and makes it a weapon."

This weeks Mixtape reminds me of a giant desert sunset. Naturally, I Googled "giant desert sunset" to generate this mixtape. I know what you are thinking: Great Googling, Joe! Solid effort! Thank you for not talking about Glee again! I was worried! Anyways, I'm like a giant desert sunset this week: I speak for myself (huh?). Let's get shut up, and listening.

The Tallest Man On Earth might also be the least idiosyncratic man on earth. There is something about The Wild Hunt that defies categorization. TTMOE is a very personable Swedish singer, sprightly and interactive on stage, emulating a Bob Dylan-like Americana, singing about the countryside of his homeland with nothing but an acoustic guitar and minimal background noise. That's the best I could do, and it's still several fragments from various chronologies of music. But that is the true charm of Kristian Matsson... he doesn't need anything but the raw energy of his songwriting to cultivate an attentive ear. The prolific finger-picking from track to track tricks the ear into a sense of variety and layering barely eclipsing "dude-with-a-six-string". And yet, Matsson sounds like a stampede of emotion, cascading down cliffs and over mountains with his guitar (or in one case, with a piano). Either way, the sound is an oxymoron. Gigantic minimalism at its finest.

"Attack Music", an already fairly aggressive track from Hidden, gets the remix treatment from two artists; new Ninja Tune signing PRDCTV, and Herve (aka The Count from The Count and Sinden). These New Puritans have quite of bit of intensity infused into their noir-rock, and the remixes seem to effectively preserve their fervor (with a few unique twists).

Though renowned for their blank stares and blas approach to what they do, The XX's new Saam Farahmand directed video for "Islands" has a bit more charisma than any of the other visuals they have previously released. Of course, that is the band at the center of the scene, looking as bored as ever as a choreographed dance scene alters little by little as it cycles through on repeat

The New Pornographers are almost worth a life of crime, especially considering first single "Your Hands". The evil pirate music Gods have answered your prayers, thieves. You can all get Together right now.

_{Photos by Phoebe Chung. For more shows, check out our photo section}
Check out some pictures from Gray's Earth month benefit at Webster Hall on Monday night.

The Texas rock act will be calling it a day after a short, "Goodbye, Cruel World" tour starting in Chicago and ending in NYC.

It is my new personal mission to make "tubing" a slang word for surfing the oddities of Youtube. We start today, campers, in a new segment based soley on the wild world of user generated content. Today we take our first Tubing lesson with five quick, quirky covers of notable tunes, from notable artists, performed by everyone from amateurs with tiny instruments, to pseudo-pros with pro-tools, to marching bands. Five fun/goofy cover videos: after the jump!

Inter Arbiter, the long awaited debut album from Sebastian Krueger (as Inlets), is a puzzle of attraction, infinitely fragmented and tragically beautiful (if you can put the pieces together). Krueger has taken his respectable resume (playing for My Brightest Diamond, Osso String Quartet, DM Stith, etc) and, building on a mysterious foundation (2006's Vestibule), has painted a stormy, yet compelling picture. I didn't even notice his supposed all-star list of guest stars here, because they don't matter in the grand schematic. Krueger is the focal point, practically blacking out the sun with his intensity. The opulence of quirky, yet dreary melodies begs the question: where do all these dark dreams come from? And how does Krueger recreate them so efficiently with swiveling guitar riffs and creepy harmonies? And why do I love it so much?

It seems Dosh's big week continues. Yesterday we premiered our concert video of Martin Dosh and Mike Lewis blowing the lid off our day party at SXSW. Today, the mind bending, Twin Cities musician has released a new Shal Ngo directed video (via Stereogum), cut to the tune of "Airlift", from his latest album Tommy (also released this week).

Watch Corgan and The Smashing Pumpkins perform a (kinda) new song on Leno.

Fun fact! My first after-college gig was a 2 year stint with now defunct, LA based label Electric Monkey Records (R.I.P.). It was more than a good time. We had yacht parties, flew around the world, and even put out a record from time to time.. It was a bit like record label fantasy camp, actually. Anyways! The label's flagship artist was a worldly musical character by the name of Joel Virgel. I can't say I've thought a lot about Virgel over the last few years...until this morning, when I saw him whipping Devendra Banhart in that artist's new, NSFW-ish video for "Foolin'". Sort of reminds me of the good old days...sort of reminds me how Virgel got his deal with the label (zing!)

With less than a month until the May 18th release of the new Band of Horses album Infinite Arms, the band has offered up a track from it for download on their website. "Factory", the album's string-heavy opener, is a glorious sounding one. It is beautifully captivating in all honestly.

Conan's "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On TV" Tour has been chock full of surprises—and music—including Conan's already classic take on "I Will Survive", other various covers, and a surprise appearance from Pearl Jam's Eddie Veder. Check out the action/LOLs:

Dr. Robert Schneider builds a device that enables folks like Elijah Wood, chair of the physical science and physical education department at Drain Creek Middle School, to travel through space and time. Where he lands is somewhere very funky indeed.

Mt. Desolation is a new collective, comprised of musicians from The Killers, Mumford and Sons, Keane, Noah and the Whale, and the Long Winters.

The Apples In Stereo hit pretty close to the mark when they titled their new album, Travellers In Space and Time. Decked out with the psychedelic electronica the Apples are known for while occasionally stripping down to the straight-forward rock which exists underneath all of the band's complexities, Travellers fits perfectly with the rest of the Apples' library, which says quite a lot considering this is the first album with only Robert Schneider left from the original line-up. It seems that for some bands, membership isn't everything.

A 10-song EP of "lovely little soundscapes" called Lo-Fi for the Dividing Nights will be available with all online preorders of Forgiveness Rock Record, as well as select independent retailers.

Dosh sounds more like an onomatopoeia than a person... fitting for a man who single-handedly creates soundscapes like you'd never believe, occasionally defying description other than a noise of shock and awe ("Dosh?"). The pedal prodigy wowed the crowd at our SXSW showcase with a few helpful hands on deck providing atmospheres for his beats. His album Tommy is chock-full of his awesome songwriting, and the talented composer/arranger is generously offering you all a chance to have his cake and eat it. Watch the live set, and then comment, and you could be the proud owner of a fresh copy of Tommy, not to mention a signed poster, created by a notoriously awesome artist. Get Doshed after the jump.

New album is out 6/30, according to a blimp at Coachella. Check out her promotional pics below, courtesy of Jamie Martinez, an artist signed to MIA's N.E.E.T. imprint.

Watch the lovable, Grammy award-winning Phoenix perform "Liztomania" on last night's Leno.

Photo by Henry Linser. For more shows, check out our photo section
The process that goes into our latest concert video is impressive...so much so, one might easily confuse Martin Dosh's drumsticks for a pair of magic wands. After all, the extraordinarily gifted multi-instrumentalist from the Twin Cities is no less than a wizard when it comes to sourcing the confetti like, loop based material that is the body of his solo material.

I say solo because I'm guessing many of you know Dosh as the percussive wunderkind responsible for propelling many of Andrew Bird's mighty rhythms. Thanks to that high profile gig, Dosh has helped make a name for him self, and turned many on to five albums worth of solo material in the process.

Playing our SXSW Party in support of his latest record Tommy, Dosh, along side his confidant Mike Lewis (another member of Bird's entourage) turn The Scoot's indoor stage into a systematic laboratory of musical expression and experimentation. Sounds a bit dangerous, I know. Rest assured, Dosh and Lewis have tested the chemicals that fuel their music. If something boils over, it's because it's supposed to.

What follows is nothing short of phenomenal to witness, as both musicians employ samplers, keys, drums, looping pedals and other bits of musical gadgetry to build blissful concoctions bit by bit, layer by layer. Here, elements of jazz, hip hop, avant-garde, and rock (among others) flirt with one another, reacting and exploding over the course of performances of "From the House of Caesar", "I Think I'm Getting Married", "Call the Kettle", and "Gare de Lyon".

Wizard? Scientist? Musician? I'm not entirely what to think of Dosh. Irregardless, our latest concert video from our day party down in Austin is absolute magic. - David Pitz

HEALTH has come a long way from the freaked out screamy distortions of their first record. Get Color was chock full of the most pop-heavy Noise scene at the Smell fodder I've ever heard. Now the second DISCO record is coming, and the first track is a new song recorded and produced by Trent Reznor. Yeah, that NiN guy. LEGIT.

The record drops next week, but you can go get some of that good ol' gypsy punk right now. Trans-continental Hustle is streaming in its entirety on the band's Myspace. The record drops next week, but you can go get some of that good ol' gypsy punk right now.

I don't know about you, but I love fun. I love having it, but I also love the band. So I was really excited [to have fun] when I was given the chance to review their new live ep, fun. Live at Fingerprints, out 4/17. The catch is that it will only be available at indie record stores in support of Record Store Day.

Your late night talk-show watching schedule.

Just a friendly reminder to all you Earth-dwellers, Macy Gray is playing a FREE show tonight at Webster Hall in honor of Earth Month 2010 and Origins Earth initiatives. For more details on how to get in, check our post from Friday. But if you can't make the show, be sure to tune in to the webcast tonight at the Origins website. Tune in tonight, the broadcast is live from Webster Hall at 10 PM EST (7 PM PST).

One of the most galvanizing musicians performing today, Langhorne Slim showcases what he does best in this black and white mess of performance video to the tune of "Cinderella".

A couple weeks back, Mr. James Murphy revealed he had a thing for drunk girls, while tipping us off on the first tune to surface from LCD Soundsystem's forthcoming album This is Happening. It was an astounding revelation. Now Murphy and Spike Jonze have collaborated on the accompanying visuals, and the results are no less thrilling.

While Damon Albarn isn't busy with his other hobbies, he was/is the front-man of the iconic British rock band Blur. Those of you born before 1989 might remember them. They wrote this song. Exciting news: the original four recorded their first song together since 2003; it's called "Fool's Day", and it was available as a limited edition 7" on Record Store Day. Now the band's manager thought it prudent to follow current interweb trends, so he put it up as a free download on the bands website, for the low, low price of an email. Go get it.

The Flaming Lips stopped by Late Night to play a song off of the Dark Side Of The Moon Record Store Day LP. They were joined by StarDeath and White Dwarfs. Fallon is still churning to keep Conan's impeccable taste in guest musicians, in stark comparison to the reggae/bluegrass bands populating his Leno lead-in.

The Flaming Lips (skip to the last section):

Brooklyn is home to plenty of trip-home computer stomping rock bands, but not all of them warrant more than a cautionary late-night spin at Barcade. The band formally known as IN has become no less obscure ("Keepaway" is almost equally as un-Googleable), but their EP Baby Style is a pretty sick collection of hook-snaps (a word I've invented to describe Keepaway). Their music banks on repetition and head-nods, specifically this track "Yellow Swans", which builds on a Dan Deacon-esque level to giddy beat-spastic glory. Add in a dual level live drum/synthesized drum aesthetic and you've got the band's MO: elusive emotions, and sticky tunes.

Metal Lyric or William Blake quote? Courtesy of The Daily What and McSweenys. I bet my lunch money I am the only one who finds this amusing.

Coachella kicked off the festival season, despite a minor disruption from a major act of God (or aliens, or the government, or Satan, depending on your choice of conspiracy theory). This weekend was explosive! A pile of dirt rolled in glitter played SNL. Neat! And an old record store institution encouraged fans to scour for rare physical material, or to simply wait until Monday when all that junk is floating around Bittorrent. Damn pirates!

Two albums leaked this weekend, according to my voracious Twitter-watching; Heaven Is Whenever, and Crystal Castle's self-titled. Pirates beware! I heard the RIAA have boats now.

San Francisco pop outfit The Morning Benders have scored an absolute winner in the release of their sophomore album, Big Echo. With it, the band have the buzz a'buzzin', zipping every which way 'round the interwebs, including our home here at Baeble. Now the band have prepared their first proper video for a song from that record, and it's as dewy (well, sort of...) as the Bender's sunny side up pedigree. Directed by Aaron Brown and Ben Chappell of Focus Creeps, "Promises" pairs a couple of cuties going all Bonnie and Clyde to a variety of lyrics about wasted youth ("I can't help thinking we grew up way too fast").

Jamie Cullum recently tore the plastic film off his fourth album, The Pursuit, earlier last month, and with it, continued a gradual journey away from the contemporary jazz scene in which he was groomed at an early age. It seems every time the thirty year old, British singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist releases a new album, it marks an increased move towards something more contemporary. With a host of songs that fall on the more melodic, modern side of things, The Pursuit might be Cullum's boldest move to date. Still, there remains something classic, something standard about Cullum and his body of work.

Sort of like there remains something classic and standard about a new pair of Chuck Taylors...segue alert!

In celebration of Earth Month 2010 and Origins Earth Initiatives, which support programs that help to sustain our planet, Origins will host its first annual Origins Rocks Earth Month Concert at Webster Hall in NYC this coming Monday, April 19th. Headlining the event? The one and only Macy Gray.

So I watched Glee this week (I'm so sorry), and in spite of being targeted fodder for tween-age girls, their supportive parents, and homosexuals, it had its moments! Like almost everything Jane Lynch said/did. Certain instances of situational humor NOT involving the American popular songbook or dancing. And when that cheerleader said "Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?" LOL. Meta! Glee is totally a dolphin, which is secretly devouring my limbs while I stare at Jayma Mays and her very large eyes, in a state of vague recognition, expecting a "save the cheerleader" subplot to wrestle me from another outburst of All American Rejects sing-a-longs. Ouch, my sanity!

Franco-Finnish duo The Do (rhymes with "glow") were the first band to reach the #1 spot in France with an album sung in English. Pretty impressive. Now they're releasing that album, A Mouthful (6 Degrees), in the U.S. From the get go, the sound is...er, strange. But good strange. There's a good strange mash up of different sounding instruments and interesting styles. Which actually makes this one of the best debut albums to come knocking 'round these parts in a while. The vibe is a relaxing one. With it being Friday and all, that's a pretty good thing.

We're used to hearing HEALTH strike horror in the hearts of their listeners with their catastrophic brew of lo-fi noise. With this Eric Wareheim directed video clip to "We Are Water", it's the NSFW video that sets the sinister tone, as a machete wielding villain chases his would be victim through the woods. It doesn't end well, and is very, very GRAPHIC. Watch it with the lights off.

Daniel Snaith makes strange choices. On the new Caribou album, Swim, odd juxtapositions of sounds and styles are the norm. Beats are abandoned mid-song and replaced by entirely different grooves. Squawking bird noises become a central hook. Payoffs that are expected do not come. Snaith seems to enjoy playing with the general expectations of dance music, and in many ways that seems like Caribou's raison d'etre. When it works, it's rewarding to hear the boundaries pushed by an artist who's clearly unafraid to alienate his audience.

Really, Lil' Wayne continues to dazzle us all with his grill his sick rhymes his ability to blog from prison. Up next: Weezy talks foosball!

As the album title would suggest, Dr. Dog has had a few fingers wagged in their direction in the past. But all is forgiven with admitting to the problem, (it is, after all, the first step to recovery). "I do believe/that there's no more tricks up my sleeve" cries Scott McMicken (on the very first track!). Funny, coming from a band that consistently has used the same trick over and over, somehow coaxing tons of fans onto the bandwagon over the past ten years, often to the chargin of "critics." But Shame is the album we've been waiting for patiently, while twiddling our thumbs and chewing straw, to finally board that wagon with a smile. Dr. Dog still sounds like Dr. Dog. They are still painting that neo-farmhouse jangle, somehow straddling the line between gratuitous freak-folk and 1960s nostalgia. But this time around, it feels real: vibrant, potent, and more engaging than ever before.

Ah, summer. A time when consuming alcohol in public parks seems appropriate, and almost necessary. A time, coincidentally, for sunglasses, to hide drunkenness. A time for less clothing. And most of all, a time for the best place to strip naked, get drunk, and wear sunglasses: music festival. That's right ninjas, it's festival season. Check out our list of essential summer festivals, complete with quick details on the big bands, timetables, and more!* Click through to the fests website if you want more info/want to know if you can get a hotel or have to wear the same clothes for three days. No advice on controlled substances, except that you might need them. Good luck!

This Is Happening AGAIN. After the leaks and previewed tracks started bouncing, Murphy wised up and put the full record on the LCD site. And it is so tasty. Go give it a legitamate listen RIGHT NOW.

Secret Cities are a new band from Fargo, who write songs like dreamcatchers. When most people think of Fargo, ND, they think of Francis McDormand's unforgettable, insufferable northern boarder accent. But prejudice aside for the frozen tundra and its stereotypes, Fargo apparently has a few good attributes, specially the band Secret Cities, who are far from danger of being thrown into a wood chipper. The shimmery gloss on their tunes is more like a box full of gold, buried somewhere in a snowy woods. Go look for it, you won't be disappointed.

If he does indeed pop out during Jay Z's set, and do some new material, then we can stop making jokes about his only beat in the past five years being 30 seconds of a Dr. Pepper commercial.

G.E. Smith will be joining Roger Waters (pictured above) and Jon Carin this summer as they recreate The Wall in its entirety, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the iconic rock opera's release. According to the wires, The Wall will get the full band treatment with production values worthy of, well, Pink Floyd. The tour takes the band all over North America, starting in Toronto, and ending up in California, and although the fans who originally pumped their fists in rebellion against the meat machines now probably have kids and suit-and-tie jobs, those kids and their kids embrace Pink Floyd's timeless work just as their parents once did (speaking from experience).

"In Sleep" is the iTunes free single of the week in the UK. Relive the magic of her Guest Apartment session before you nab it.

Generally, on record and in show, Love Is All escort their listeners on an urgent, jumpy ride; one where surf ready guitar, blaring shouts of saxophone, over the head slaps of organ, furious percussive rhythms, and Josephine Olausson's always unhinged vocal presence all mash about in one charming cluster of galvanizing, vintage pop. It's a kick butt kind of combo; one the band have pumped three records full of, and thrilled audiences the world over with.

When the band visited us a few weeks back, we had a bit of a surprise in store for the band. The Guest Apartment...that comfy little home we turned into a comfy little performance space? You know the one. Well, we moved it to the roof...couches, rugs, lamps and all. After all, it was an blazing early April afternoon of the variety which would have been a crime to waste. So we didn't, setting the band against our cities' ever dramatic skyline.

Denied the electricity they usually use to ignite their audiences, Love Is All made good use of flower pots, production cases, and the like, turning in a peppy acoustic set that knocked the socks of the crew, and those lucky enough to be passing by 6 floors below (apparently we received some calls). In town to support their recently released album Two Thousand And Ten Injuries, the band sprinted through three numbers, and answered a few questions along the way as well. Call it an absolutely splendid session on an absolutely splendid day at the (rooftop) Guest Apartment.

When I think of my favorite albums, most of them were on some level, a departure from a norm. And many were severe disappointments for the average fan. Hence my attraction to MGMT's latest screwball effort, Congratulations. I would never compare it to any of the greats in terms of quality, because that would be patently unfair. Instead, I think the collection of songs has to prove something to me on its own. MGMT has made a record that makes no efforts to conceal its interests with marketable fluff. That right there should earn a level of respect from the critical eye... but it doesn't. In today's age of shock value and publicity stunts, the first hoop should always be sincerity. Did these two goofbags from Weslyan make an album of splintered, neo-sixties trip-pop with severe schizophrenia to freak everyone out, or because they this is the music they want to make? This is the central question of Congratulations: is MGMT willing to drink their own kool-aid?

We love Passion Pit. But then again, who doesn't these days? If you haven't heard Manners by now, you might live in a cave. Well, get out of that cave and the caveman garb, Ke$ha, because today, Passion Pit is reissuing Manners as a Deluxe Edition!

Free Energy, the pop-rockers from Philly, are giving the fans a chance to star in their new video for "Bang Pop". Auditions are happening at the Urban Outfitters (LOL) at 1627 Walnut Street TODAY, April 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to show up, a DUH! You might be breaking out this time! Get it? Because lyrics. Oh, they are also touring.

Up and coming LA singer Nicole Simone gives her tune "Melt" an appropriately steamy treatment with this sensuous, desert-set video. Pairing breathy bits of voice, guitar, piano and muted trumpet with images of her curvy, glide through the desert, flirtatious, for your eyes only kind of a dance, and eventual Motel room encounter, Simone strikes the kind of slinky tone that reminisces of Chris Isaak's famously provocative video, "Wicked Games".

Noise act HEALTH plans to release DISCO2, a follow-up to their first remix album. It will feature new takes on tracks from their record Die Slow. If HEALTH:DISCO is any indication, it will be amazing.

You've got to groove when dance music simultaneously makes you want to throw your head back and punch a hole in a wall. Pictureplane has the enviable quality of inspiring both gratuitous dancing and needless intensity. Travis Egedy of Denver has made a name for himself on the remix circuit, often outshining the originals, but here he demonstrates that his own handiwork is more than adequate to support a dance floor of irony-hungry music fans. It's loud, brash, dance-y, and twists all the right knobs.

This Is Happening happened last night, both at Webster Hall and in the comfort of your home. At the show, Murphy was literally on his knees, begging New York City to NOT leak the album. We'll honor his request here, so you'll have to do your own nefarious Googling (if you want it).

People enjoy claiming to be born in the wrong generation, especially in the music scene. Current trends in acid rock and Beatles cover bands would definitely support this claim. But it isn't often that people relish their ability to take their love of old traditions and make them more modern, and it's even more rare that someone makes that claim with standards... a genre literally all about following a set of rules and boundaries. Arguably, current traditions in freak-beats and independant music stem from these classics, but the road is often twisted and obscured with years of experimentation (and the influence of eighties music). Nicole Simone takes a different path with her first EP, a quaint, dusty collection of songs that feel like an antique cabinet as much as a shiny new toy. Listening to her talk about her various inspirations and vantage points, it was clear to me that her sultry vocals and minimalist recordings aren't some sort of farcical nonsense. There is real thought behind the collaborations. Unlike those who are merely imitators of the ancient Standards craft, Simone has gathered some of todays most varied musicians to assist her in recording an EP that feels like 1920, and sounds like 2010.

Freelance Whales don Mexican Day of the Dead costumes, jolt a damsel in distress back into the land of the living, and eventually go all Johnny Appleseed up in this winter wonderland with their newish video for "Generator 2nd Floor".

Pro-tip: never name your band after a particularly nasty pest if you want it to be Googled. That is, unless your band is particularly awesome at what you do. Deer Tick has that mojo to back up being named after an annoying parasite... the songs definitely stick on you, but they don't suck your blood. Then again, vampires are all the rage these days. What a weird way of talking about this very great band!

I know this isn't technically music news, but considerable Conan's lovable music choices in the past, it seems relevant. :et's hope his tastes stay high-brow, and his jokes stay as as far away from Lopez as possible. Conan will be TBS very funny in November, but for now he is embarking on a national comedy tour. [via Gawker]

Nicole Simone makes music from her own point of view. That is probably why the Nicole Simone EP sounds so deeply personal while it's spacious minimalism and cinematic swells ruminate in an empty room. Simone is a pro-sumer when it comes to her influences, acting as a time-capsule funnel for the classic bits of early 19th century standards to survive in the collective conscious. Simone is an interesting person: raised in LA, obsessed with the singers of the 20s and 30s, with an aesthetic angle to match. She is charming and involved. I had the good fortune to talk with her, and it made discerning the relationship between her modernity and her nostaligic preoccupations a bit easier.

Two more leaks from the new LCD album, This Is Happening, "I Can Change" and "Dance Yrself Clean". Those skeptical of "Drunk Girls", keep the faith. [via We All Want Someone]

The sounds of this Saratoga Springs based band have alluded us (like a phantom, so to speak) thus far. I suppose one can't be hip to absolutely everything, all the time. So in introducing you to Phantogram, we're also making introductions ourselves. Here, the band's dark, electro vibes soundtrack a crisp piece of abstract, mini-cinema. First impressions present Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel looking decidedly disconnected with one another, though we're guessing it's all an act for "Mouthful of Diamonds". - David Pitz

More famous people jump into bed together, an incredible deal for eighties babies with a John Hughes fetish, and SNL had a great night for comedy, and a depressing one for music.

Andy Butler dished about his latest record, which has moved on from Antony. The record is done and due in the fall. The album might also feature Kele Okereke from Bloc Party. [via Pitchfork]

Start your day off right by checking out this jam from Fallon on Friday night. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club fired up the crowds with the title track from their latest album, Beat The Devil's Tattoo. I have a serious soft spot for their gritty rock n' roll, so naturally I watched Fallon on Friday Youtubed it on Saturday. And they look old rocked!

Windows 7 and Live Nation have recently teamed up to offer users of the new Section 7 platform exclusive concert deals and other music related offers. Check out the widget below and visit their new online portal to have you chance to win items like Netbooks and concert tickets!

Arranging a seemingly endless string of hooks, Harlem has upped the ante with Hippies, the sloppy-sounding, fuzzy sophomore record from a band that is smarter than it sounds and catchy as hell. With album titles like Free Drugs and Hippies, not to mention a serious bout of nostalgia for beach pop cooked with Nirvana aesthetics, expectations could include indigestion, or bland flavors. Instead, Harlem hides their sleeves and knuckles up; song after song could be the soundtrack to a day of surfing, driving through the mountains, or just jumping up and down. Their ubiquity is their most charming asset.

Opening for Neil Young is a pretty big deal. I mean, it's Neil Young. You know what else is a big deal? Being compared to Leonard Cohen. To do both is a challenge, yet Dublin-based Villagers has already managed to do so. I could stop right there because that pretty much tells you all you need to know. But I like to talk. Hot off their U.S. debut in New York City and at SXSW, the band describe themselves as "alt-rock hobbits." I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I'd describe their sound as "soulful dark Irishmen." Maybe that's the same thing.

54 always make me thing of Studio 54, and since I don't think we can officially sanction a mixtape picture with hookers and blow, we'll go with a disco ball! Hooray, fishbowl shoes! This week New York City went from wet mud-puddle to scorched Earth, as we traded cold, whipping rains for 90-degree sunglass weather. Great trade! We are like the NFC over here. I'll give you two weeks of rain and this half-eaten bag of Doritos for JaMarcus Russel. But anyway, let's tap the jukebox with our fists and give the week a collective "HEYYYYYY", as we put on our leather jackets and ride grease lightning off into the sunset and eventually into a terrible sequel. Coooooool rider.

Not what you think. Dan Deacon spins Owen Pallett's "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt" into a delicious flurry of whimsical atmospherics and driving rhythms.

Since its inception in 2000, the Danish indie rockers in Efterklang have had a polarizing effect on listeners. The band built a strong fan base early on with albums like Tripper (2004) and Parades (2007), which in 2009 was rated the "38th best album of the past four years" by Clash magazine. Still, Efterklang's had a hard go at keeping the same devotees from one release to the next. Those who connected with the electronic reverberations and atmospheric quality on Tripper felt betrayed by a greater attention to choral arrangements on Parades. Where once they drew Sigur Ros comparisons, Efterklang had since joined the, sounds-like-Arcade Fire grouping. It then comes as no surprise that on Magic Chairs, its third studio release, Efterklang makes a departure from its previous stylings once more.

Athens, GA isn't usually ground zero for gritty shoegaze, especially of the MBV variety. Add the Seattle distortion to the mix, and you can forget finding anything of the sort. BUT: cue Gift Horse, a grungy group of dudes who mix melody with atmosphere in a bubbling, hazy cauldron of fuzz. The end result, clear in "Missionaries", is a kind of off-center songwriting that is as entrancing as it is outwardly engaging. All within reach of the local Waffle House.

Ever the brazen showman, Phosphorescent has announced the first slate of dates in support of of his forthcoming LP, Here's To Taking It Easy. Check out the dates after the jump, and pick up the LP May 11th via Dead Oceans.

The Portland based trio will put out their fourth record on 7/27 on Barsuk Records. It's called Mines.

Bored during the hiatus of Bloc Party, frontman Kele Okereke entered the studio on a whim to play with some new toys. The result is the singers first solo effort, Boxer, a collection of rock/electronica fusion that will most likely resemble a raw, physical spectrum similar to Bloc Party's most recent LP.

Brooklyn buzz band Bear Hands (one of many indie bears out there) are planning a special four-song live DVD called The Rumpus Session, filmed at the Rumpus Room here in New York, including THREE new tracks (and the obligatory, infectious "What A Drag"). Check out a teaser video after the jump.

FINALLY, it's baseball season. Now I'm not knocking the other sports (except golf, maybe), but baseball is the sport for me. And to those who know me, it is surprising that there is a sport for me at all. I am incredibly uncoordinated, know almost nothing about how March Madness works, and have little to no interest in the Olympics. I know more statistics about media consumption than ESPN worthy tidbits. I own one jersey, which was purchased for me by a friend as a gift. I giggle at every double entendre uttered during a sportscast, and when you're looking, there are A TON, especially in football... do you realize how many different uses ESPN has for the word 'penetrate'? Seriously.

Nothing says honesty like a room full of kids, telling James Mercer and Danger Mouse if they enjoy their music with pass/fail signs. [via PureVolume]

Early attendees of the Baeble Music SXSW party got to crack their first Lone Star to the head-bopping tunes of The Happy Hollows, the LA trio who've rocked the Guest Apartment, Samsung commercials, and beyond. In honor of their sweet riffs, we're giving away some cool Happy Hollows stuff, and it's so easy to win a caveman could do it. So you better hurry up, before he gets his own copy of Spells before you do!*

Photo by Henry Linser. For more shows, check out our photo section
If we told you it was 12:30 in the middle of a sweaty, dog day afternoon, would you believe us? With our latest concert release, The Happy Hollows give no indication of their role as party starters for our recent throw down in Texas. Some band's might balk at such an early invitation, but we knew LA's most righteous power trio would roll right out of bed and perform with all the mighty and muster of a midnight, headlining spot (which, btw, is the sort of thing they're used to doing). I suppose SXSW just demands some weird things out of the bands that attempt to tame it. All we wanted was a batch of wicked performances. For their part, The Hollows delivered, igniting the fuse on a long day of music with the likes of "High Wire", "Monster Room", and "Lieutenant", to name a few.

Over the next few weeks we'll be premiering videos for all the bands that graced our stages on that fateful day in Austin. Anticipate performances from the likes of Holy F*ck, Timber Timbre, Jaguar Love, Bear Hands, and more. But first, we thought it'd be appropriate to once again put The Hollows out in front. Woo hoo! - David Pitz

John Grant's extraordinary new albumQueen of Denmark is unlike anything and exactly like everything you've heard before. Have you ever wondered how the lyrics to John Lennon's "Imagine" would read as rewritten by a wounded narcissist? Or how about Cat Stevens' "Father and Son" narrated by a homophobe and his traumatized offspring? And what if this kind of lyrical violence was supported musically by a perfect recreation of 70's, middle of the road, piano-driven soft rock?

The last time we watched something called "The Ring", a demonic child crawled out of the television and sent us all into a mad panic. In Jamie Lidell's video for a song of the same name, he appears to threaten to do the very same thing. He doesn't of course, which means we'll just have to wait until later this month to see him crooning right in front of us. Before that however, there is the bit of business dubbed Compass; Lidell's most recent album, due May 18th via Warp.

Brooklyn beat-makers Javelin pull a trick on listeners. On their newest full-length No Mas they present their audience with what at face value seem like disposable and easy-going dance tracks. On every song they deliver chilled melodies and catchy rhythms but there's more underneath that makes this odd little gem strangely captivating.

The duo have become notable through their live performing for their presentation and style more than anything. Javelin's Tom van Buskirk and George Langford use bargain bin records and out of the ordinary sound clips for samples and a network of boomboxes for a sound system. What's interesting, though, is the effect it has on their songwriting.

We found Harlem - the jangle obsessed Austin three-piece - in the weeks leading up to SXSW...a good time considering the band would make a nice little ripple for themselves with a slate of hometown shows throughout that fateful week. "Gay Human Bones" is the second offering from the band's album Hippies, and while not as rabble-rousing as "Friendly Ghost", is a toe-tapper nonetheless. Not certain what's unfolding during the loose narrative of the accompanying video though. All we can really muster is a ton of intense staring, a few androgynous characters, and a dab of intimacy for an uncomfy and creepy three and a half minutes worth of video.

A series of trailers for Forgiveness Rock Record have surfaced on Youtube. Check them out after the jump (via Stereogum).

Animal Collective are screening their art-film ODDSAC a few more times up and down the East coast. And with a name like ODDSAC, you KNOW it's going to be an Animal Collective experience.

Not to be shown up by Phil (from yesterday, here is a brand new one from Thom, at an Atoms For Peace concert in NYC.

We buzzed this yesterday, but for those who missed it/missed the sound of my words: Newcomer to the synth scene BRAHMS (not to be confused with the long-deceased composer of the same name) are making a name in the BK with their new wave sounds. Add one more to the hype machine, they've remixed the almighty nice-guy Neon Indian, and the track is all over the interwebs. Check it out (and some Neon Indian tour dates) below.

Quick! Act surprised! (You're not surprised). At least they gave us names this time.

The buzz is building pretty solidly around Brooklyn lo-fi/electro/dance duo Javelin. Their debut album No Mas features an off-the-wall combination of hip hop, electro, elevator music, synthpop, and any other type of music you can imagine. In an attempt to get to know more about the mysterious and incredibly eclectic duo, Baeble had a chance to ask them a few questions.

Arctic Monkeys turn their video for "My Propeller" into a psyched out art project, sketching Alex Turner and the gang in a flurry of contrasting black and whites.

We like these guys, and it isn't just their Radio Shack commercial.

The Radiohead drummer has taken some time off from Thom and the boys to perform his own material. His album is due for release later this year, but for now we've got a collection of Youtube videos gathered via Pitchfork to watch some of his new material. Fanboys beware, it's less pyramid-ish and a little more singer/songwriter. Vids after the jump.

It may have been the loudness, or the fact that the Smith Westerns were urinating everywhere, but the large DIY venue was shut down by the cops mid-show on Saturday night. As usual, the future is uncertain. "We've got to stop from ourselves urinating!" - Back To The Future II, probably.

Dum Dum Girls have fleshed out their lo-fi pop into a fully formed, scuzz-soaked record with as much sugar as bite. Their 1960's glo-pop is a certain kind of nostalgic charm, filled with bubbly harmonies and hair tossing melodies. Yet there is something inherently lacking in the innocence... perhaps it's the original intention of an album about a women's prison, or the veil of fuzz over the whole lot of instrumentation. Either way, Dum Dum Girls provide an enjoyable foray into lipstick pop, showing that the girls can often write it better than the boys.

Catch James Murphy doing his whole "disco" thing in your town. Of course if you live in New York, you already bought tickets at midnight last week. But there is still time!

Expo 86, the third from our favorite (sometimes) drunken rock band, comes out late June or early July on Sub Pop.

Dr. Dog is playing a FREE show at the Apple Store in SoHo on Prince Street in NYC. It is at 7 PM. You should probably get there early. Very early.

Spring has sprung here in the Northeast, just in time for a weekend of religious obligation, or gluttony, or both! Luckily (the probably hipster coined) "Zombie Jesus Day" couldn't stop our beloved musicians from doing crazy sh*t. Someone wants your money for their blood! Someone got banned from China! Someone was fined for disorderly conduct! Read on!

The magic of airplanes/steampunk societies/bombs/armies/destruction of the Hindenburg may not be the most apt visuals for all of the brooding Dinosaur Bones catalog, but there are only a handfull of songs floating around out there, so who knows? It certainly fits here. "Ice Hotels" is one of them, and the video pairs the tranquility turned explosion of the song with imagery of man's attempts at flight/epic destructions of/with technology. It is pretty "epique", as they (maybe) say. When the dust settles, we're left wondering where (and when) the Ice Hotel is exactly, and if we can check out anytime we like (but never leave). Video after the jump!

In this video from brother sister duo Angus and Julia Stone, a stark, isolated, and confined character dopes up and finds a little color, a little beauty, and a little love inhabit his drab , depressing surroundings. At first it's the drugs, then...

For those of you who don't live in New York, you are lucky, because boy did it rain a lot! I walk to work, and on Tuesday I really thought that death was a shinier, more desirable option than the head-ache inducing torrential downpour on my head or the bagel in my bag. Really, it's got to be pretty bad if you pick death over bagels! But seriously, it sucked. But hey, good news!

Complexity isn't usually associated with pop music. A genre filled with words like "singable", "catchy" and "pleasant" is usually reserved for the easily digestible, but ultimately less filling foods... the snack bands filling up your radio aisle, or collecting dust on the shelves in your cabinets. Of course, exceptions to this rule include shopping in the right neighborhood, and picking the right packaging and ingredients&mdash the odd, unknown, and exceptional products&mdash that surprise, bewilder and satisfy. Brooklyn definitely has a few of these gems, but they are few and far between. Dinosaur Feathers pretty much writes the book on taking sticky music and slapping on as much harmony, progression, and lyrical turbulence as possible. The bubbly, half beach-soaked, half introspective hybrid sound that saturates Fantasy Memorial is as literal as possible; equal parts tributary and imaginative.

Usually this kind of stuff freaks me out. But nevermind that the actual terminology for sisters CocoRosie is "freak-folk", or that the first lines of "Lemonade" are about my birthday (TMI?), these talented globetrotters have done it again and made a jaw-droopingly beautiful piece of odd-art that I can't help but love. Sierra and Bianca started making music in Paris in 2003 which is about as "lost generation" as it gets, and over the years have developed a rabid fan-base for their lo-fi music. Let's hope this next album has a cover that doesn't feature Unicorn intercourse and/or vomiting rainbows.

Glassy, pastel colored images of back yard, diving board aerobatics, surfing, seaside make-outs, and general, swimming/splashing in an aqua-blue void await viewers in Delorean's Weard Days directed clip for "Stay Close". The song is from the band's debut Subiza, released earlier this week via True Panther Sounds

Longtime fans of the band have to know by now: Shearwater reads like a novel. The Golden Archipelago, a journey of sense and time, travels across the sonic plane with intermittent outbursts, and a subtle fragility that commands undivided attention. Bells and chimes trickle like clockwork behind a larger machine, funneling it's vastness around the listener. It's next to impossible to separate track from track, as the wheels turn so fluidly, you're five deep before you even notice anything has drastically changed. It's the kind of cohesiveness that inspires poetry.

Our bestest friends The Happy Hollows made a neat little video for Blender about their adventures at SXSW (set to song "Father Time"). Check it out after the jump.

Makes sense that a guy with a PhD in math would be good at working a modular synth, especially when he wrote his dissertation about them. But you don't need random wikipedia facts to know that Swim is a pretty sticky collection of synthetic noises, worthy of an all-night party, or a walking-down-the-street-and-feeling-fine situation. "Odessa" surfaced a little while ago (free download at the end of January), but we're bringing it back to remind you that much more of this stuff is going to be flooding your speakers this month. April beats bring May flowers, or something?