A couple of weeks ago I left my iPod behind after a weekend out of the city and was without my music for a few days. First of all, it's amazing how misplacing some important bit of personal technology can make you feel incomplete. Moreover, how can you go to the gym without your music? Plugging into the gym's entertainment system is never satisfactory and Pandora on my Blackberry doesn't satisfy as I always blow through my "skips" in the first fifteen minutes and am forced to listen to what Pandora thinks I might like to listen to.

The wide-open landscape and personality of Local Natives is often reflected in their empire of sounds and harmonies (and their we-all-live-together comradery). In the video for "Who Knows, Who Cares", the band's musical aesthetic is taken quite literally as the gang adventures in the great outdoors and has a food-fight followed by a bonfire, fueled by a little recreational brain-cell slaughter. It looks like fun!

Remember that time we posted a straightforward music video on here? Yeah me neither. So here's another new, quirky one from the Swedish pop singer Robynthat helps continue the weird streak.

After spending some time promoting his short story collection, his collaboration with Guignol, and touring with Against Me!, Franz Nicolay has finally released his second solo album, Luck and Courage, which is a collection of surprisingly minimal troubadour-style songs that tone down instrumental intensity to focus on storytelling.

Jimmy Fallon wished America a happy halloween last night by bringing on Gwar, the world's weirdest metal band.

Hey guys, if you're reading the blog today and you are worried that your browser is trying to pull an early mischief night prank on your face, WORRY NOT. We're making some changes to the site and the momentary lapse of pictures of bands, album covers, and space cat is just a minor hiccup. Remain calm. No need to hide your kids or your wife.

The cool kids are buzzing about the steamy electronic playground of Small Black and their pass-it-around single "Photojournalist" being all footloose and jittery and free on the interwebs (see below). Their LP New Chain came out this week, and it delivers on the promise that is 'hipster dance party, 1983'. Jagjaguwar was nice enough to give you an early piece for your Halloween candy bag; the whole shebang is streaming on Soundcloud. Hear the entire album after the jump.

This week's tape comes from the down-to-earth collection of guitarist and vocalist Kevin Murphy, front man for the Seattle band The Moondoggies. When we spoke on Wednesday, in between conversing about their new record Tidelands and their slip 'n' slide shenanigans with fellow Sub Poppers Blitzen Trapper (more on that soon) he told me his record player recently broke (bummer!). So our best wishes go out to his vinyl collection, which no doubt provided the inspiration for some of these choices.

Crystal Castles feat. THE Robert Smith of The Cure?! That's right, the two are unleashing a duet on a cover of Platinum Blonde's "Not In Love" for the A-side to the forthcoming "Not In Love" single release.

With electronic music, it isn't enough to make par. Anyone with a Macbook Pro and some free time can make music that sounds like it's underwater or in space, the two prerequisites for implied cool these days. And there is a ton of garbage in that vein, it's like a heart attack waiting to happen for the gluttonous music consumer. Luckily the artistry of it all isn't lost on those who excel, as many in the past year have demonstrated. A compelling melody, the perfect combinations of familiar and foreign electronic synthesis can still move the dial in our brains. Sun Airway starts their debut with a rush of air and a sunburst sounding splatter, a familiar motif in the vein of electronic music (although not a bad one). It kind of sounds like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. But over the course of Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier the pair express a command of affecting melodies and combinations that coalesce into brilliance.

Interpol appeared live from the Greek Theater last night on Last Call with Carson Daly. They were sounding a bit hoarse, but nonetheless lively and considerably less reverb-soaked than in their studio work.

Limewire died today. A New York judge shut the peer-to-peer site down due its history of providing users with a platform to infringe copyright. This may be a sad day for all of limewire's but the company doesn't want to go out like that. "We're hopeful that the music industry will seize the opportunity to work with LimeWire and bring a game-changing new music service to market in the future," one spokesman told PCmag.com.

OK Sweetheart is the new alias for singer/songwriter Erin Austin's collaboration with arrangers and bandmates Rob Gungor and McKenzie Smith. Formerly working under her own name, Austin won a Lennon award in 2008 for her debut single "You Let Me Down." The group has since come through with many more awesome tunes.

Underworld's founding members may be in their 30th year of collaboration, but they could give most bands a quarter their age a few lessons on how to put on a show. Their tour took them to Roseland Ballroom last night, where they played before a packed house filled with enthusiastic electronic music fans both young and old.

School of Seven Bells graced Jimmy Fallon with their TV debut last night when they appeared on his show to perform their song "I L U" and support their most recent album Disconnect From Desire.

Willow Smith, the daughter of actor/rapper/professional shower scene doer Will Smith and the star of the smash b-level series Hawthorne Jada Pinkett Smith and the sister of more modern Karate Kid and Happyness pursuer Jaden Smith, has released a video for her first single "I Whip My Hair". It is my nightmare.

A polite outfit of child hood friends band together under a fitting musical moniker to embody affectionate musical melodies and earnest storytelling. The Lonely Forest: a friendly four-some striding down some of the very same paths blazed by earlier peddlers of bright and bold, Pacific Northwest Indie Rock. The Decemberists pop to mind, with an ode to the acoustic turns Elliott Smith's melodies tend to take. But the big touchstone here is Death Cab for Cutie; convenient considering the band can count Chris Walla as their fan, producer, and boss. The band recently signed to Walla's label Trans Records.

Though we couldn't offer a green, lush forest of evergreens, The Creative Little Garden provides an appropriate setting for The Lonely Forest in this, our latest episode of The Guest Apartment. Here singer/guitarist/keyboardist John Van Deusen and guitarist Tony Ruland discuss their relationship with Walla, as well as the importance of their hometown of Anacortes Washington. It's a topic that also weaves its' way into the hometown yearning at the heart of "I Don't Want to Live There"; a song the duo perform for our cameras. They also lace in three other tunes, including "Turn Off This Song and Go Outside". Luckily, we're already nestled in the back of our sunny garden hide-away, providing the best of both worlds in this Guest Apartment session with The Lonely Forest.

Somehow against all odds of the advancement of civilization, we live in a world filled with violence, bigotry, hate, and viral marketing. John Grant is attempting to use the latter to combat all of the formers. Grant is heading out on tour to support Queen Of Denmark, his 2009 record featuring backing band Midlake. But before he does, he wants you to hear his thoughts. I give you one of the songs from Queen. It's called "Jesus Hates F*ggots". Also yikes!

Disjointed, spooky, and fragmented are good adjectives to go along with the electronic workings of Glasser. She's a chick with a mean set of plug-ins. And a mean eye for style; the video for "Mirrorage" takes her quixotic dance music and sets it in rotation, in a room full of flickering ghosts. It's like Alice In Wonderland was incepted by a bunch of kids from Williamsburg.

I usually don't care for interweb videos when they have to do with cats or babies, because cats and babies are ubiquitously silly, you just slap a camera on them and it's a guaranteed biebjillion* views. But sometimes I laugh. In certain cases I even enjoy it when babies do hilarious things to the tune of popular music. However, whoever put this "Worship Baby"/Boyz II Men mashup together needs to be put in jail forever.

The NYC-based music publication, The Deli, had quite a CMJ week with more than three different showcases. Each bill highlighted not only up-and-coming talent from the area, but did so in a very organized fashion: by genre. Talk about specific and ambitious. But a move like that pays off &mdash the talent I saw that Tuesday night, the "Indie Pop" night, was well-curated. Out of more than six artists, three stood out.

Electronic-music trio Underworld has been going at the music game for a long, long time — since the early 80's, under various names. Their big commercial breakthrough was some 15 years ago when their music was featured in Trainspotting. However, 30-odd years after founding members Karl Hyde and Rick Smith first began collaborating, they are still going strong and sounding fresh on their latest release, Barking.

Earlier today, the heads of the worldwide music festival success story All Tomorrow's Parties announced that Animal Collective will be curating their Festival in Minehead, UK. The fest is set to take place may 13th through 15th of next year. About twenty bands have already been announced, including Animal Collective themselves. Some notable others include Lee Scratch Perry, Gang Gang Dance, Broadcast and Meat Puppets. ATP promoter Barry Hogan was quoted saying "I always wondered what kind of mixtape Animal Collective would put together, so we are really stoked that they are climbing into the curating hot seat."

The highly influential electronic group Underworld made a stop at Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night to perform their new song "Always Loved a Film."

Remember Sonny Moore aka Skrillex, the screamo frontman turned house and dubstep producer we profiled here a little while back? His first "official" (not free) release, the Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP hit Beatport last week and is currently blowing the lid off their most-downloaded charts.

Today we're taking a look back at the tsunami of music that hit New York, and picking out our five favorite moments of the festival. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but most of these were on our radar a long time ago. Let's take a look at five of the most promising live music sets to make their mark on New York City last week.

The showcase Saturday night at Cameo Gallery embodied what CMJ is all about: discovering new bands. There was a mix of youngsters and old guards of the alternative genre, as well as an interesting surprise in the form of Gobble Gobble, and an abundance of experimental compositions.

According to their biography, the members of The Picture on Myspace met in exotic locales like the Saharan jungle while battling flaming icebergs, ghosts and killer dolphins and enjoying fine wines. Whatever the real story is, the group has settled down in Brooklyn and released their debut EP Bluebirds via iTunes and CDBaby.

The space helmets of Daft Punk made an appearance at a Phoenix concert last week (which was brainsplosion worthy), but they also find a natural home in the electronic dystopia of Disney's Tron: Legacy. The duo sound-tracked the movie, no duh, and they even get a cameo. A sneak peak of how well they fit into the world of Tron can be seen in this video for the song "Derezzed".

Apex Manor was formed after singer and guitarist Ross Flournoy entered an NPR Monitor Mix songwriting challenge last November with his song "Under the Gun," an energetic musing on the creative process itself. The competition produced no immediate results, but it did help Flournoy overcome the demise of his former band The Broken West and get writing again. These new songs became demos with the help of a former bandmate, and Apex Manor was born.

Oh Land has followed last week's EP release with a video for her newest single "Sun of a Gun." The Danish disco/pop singer's myspace says that she is hoping to "sound like [she's] from 2050, but still feel really classic" and this futuristic video's snowy, space age club setting perfectly shows her desire to do so. Check the video out below:

Mash-up mastermind or supreme musical thief (depending on who you ask) Greg Gillis aka Girl Talk has revealed details about his as-yet untitled new album in an interview with Pitchfork posted earlier today.

Brooklyn-based five-piece Robbers on High Street have released a vinyl single titled "Electric Eye", with b-side "Face The Fog" via Engine Room Recordings. The cuts are delightfully soulful, savory rock tunes that are guaranteed to impress with their tight musicianship and catchy tunefulness.

Baeble on the Bowery featured five bands/artists we handpicked for their performance savvy, and in hindsight we picked some really great acts to capture on film. The Saturday afternoon event was a blast, with a nice crowd shuffling in and out of the basement of the East Village's Bowery Electric. Plenty of beer and free pizza kept the crowds happy, but the real draw was the eclectic mix of tunes, from buzzy New York rock to imported electro-pop.

Kings of Leon returned to the Letterman show with "Radioactive," the leadoff single from their new album Come Around Sundown. The band's performance earned high marks from Letterman himself, who called the band "awfully good."

It is fitting Dappled Cities dubbed the quirky batch of melody and mood they proffer with their '09 debut Zounds. Like contemporaries Wild Beasts, the Australian five-piece dement more traditional indie rock skirmishes over the course of 12 songs with dramatic vocal lines that dance like seismographs shaking to the big one. Accentuating programming/electronics, wiley guitar lines, droning sing-a-longs and a persistent, rhythmic bop all help to level the skyline...the obvious mission of Dappled Cities. These are not popular sounds, but rather some slight derivatives thereof. Zounds...and they're yours for the taking in this concert performance from the 2010 edition of the SXSW Music Festival.

We dig both these bands, so we're sorry to report to live music fans that Dum Dum Girls and Crocodiles had to cancel a bunch of upcoming tour dates due to a family emergency. Refunds are to be given at the point of purchase.

Saddle Creek teamed up with Wichita to put on a double label showcase at The Delancey last week, and several really striking acts got to play, including Saddle Creek's Old Canes, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, and Wichita's First Aid Kit, who also stopped by our Rockwood sessions. Check out some pictures from the Delancey show below.

Bad idea: proposing to your girlfriend after a few rocky weeks to patch things up. Good idea: proposing to your girlfriend after a few rocky weeks to patch things up in front of a live crowd at Santos Party house. Nailed it. The drummer from School Of Seven Bells succeeded in pumping good karma into the press (after the departure of one of the sisters) by bringing his girlfriend onstage during a show and popping the question. iPhones were there. See a video below.

Your late night TV band watching schedule. After a show-packed CMJ, and potential hospitalization, you might be ready to cozy up on the couch with some slippers and frozen pizzas to do what else? Watch some late night TV! And you're in luck! This week has a few potentially awesome late nighters lined up to cook your brains. Take your pick after the jump.

Growing up is hard to do. Chiddy Bang addresses this on their MGMT sampling banger "Opposite Of Adults". The duo have presumably set out to contradict this sentiment on their debut The Swelly Life (due in 2011) by growing out of small-town heroes into a nationally known name. The Preview, their interim EP, presents more of the same Bang we met on the playground; Sufjan, Passion Pit and Doctor Dog provide some unsolicited support, and the pair play with the same set of rules that they've lived by in their infancy as an act. But that's not all. It's the first hints of a Chiddy/Xaphoon combo that does not include 100% samples as a backbone, and that is the part that is most indicative of their potential.

The Green Room Music Source Showcase in Brooklyn showcased a variety of folk and indie music in the raddest venue ever. If you're into the "just chilling in my wood paneled hunting lodge with a High Life" vibe and/or crazy chandeliers made out of strings, you should pop by for a visit. It helps that the music that happens in the Cameo Gallery is as quirky and wonderful as the space.

We're processing a lot of photos over here as you may have noticed, so the blog will be a little light today. Here is a video to satiate your hunger for tunes, here is a video of The National switching up "Terrible Love" in an alternate version, with a documentary style visual accompaniment directed by Matt Berninger's brother, Tom.

Broken Bells are dropping "The Ghost Inside" as a digital 45, and the deal will include a totally unreleased b-side called "Meyrin Fields". The synth soaked new cut is streaming at the band's Myspace, and it's an interesting look at how the BB project could have turned out, had Mouse been twisting more slightly more knobs and effects with Mercer's laid-back folk. It's a welcome break (for me at least) from scouring photos and the blogs for any details on the most underground blow-ups from CMJ. Let's take the high road (pun intended).

Brooklyn-based quartet Quiet Lights has been garnering positive buzz in the blogosphere for their dreamy, ethereal, but purposeful sound. They are now ready to deliver on this promise and have just released their first single, entitled "Ablaze," for free on their Bandcamp page.

Our Rockwood Music Hall shoots brought bands from as far as Ireland, Sweden and Australia, and as close as our backyard on the Upper West Side. For two days we took over Rockwood Stage One as we shuffled bands in and out for intimate performances with a few lucky fans, and then chatted with each act about what they've been up to, where they are going, their music, and beyond. We learned a lot about some new, fresh favorites like Pepper Rabbit, and enjoyed the immensely polished musicianship of more well-known bands like Elizabeth and The Catapult. All in all, the whole thing was a blast and we can't wait to share it with you. Below, check out pictures from all ten shoots.

The CMJ Music Marathon took over the city, while we put on our own marathon of video shoots. Stay tuned for photos and words from all over the place. Meanwhile Kanye West premiered his Runaway film to much confusion about interspecies relationships, #Offline turned out to be an episode of "When Pitchfork Reviews Reviews met Ryan Schreiber", Bono got drunk, leftover pizza, and (mostly) everyone (who went to New York for CMJ) is wondering what this "work" nonsense is after five straight days of binge drinking and loss of hearing. Funday has begun!

Brooklyn-based quartet Harper Blynn is releasing a free preview of their forthcoming EP in time for CMJ week. The tune is called "Everybody's Talkin'," and it's an interesting number with some catchy vocals and guitars that slowly build from a clean ring to a crunchy roar - hopefully a sign of more good things to come.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (another band to be included in the category of absurd yet comically named groups to appear at CMJ this year) throw down some effortless pop songs that you need to check out.

If your looking for another high energy synth-pop band to check out this week at CMJ then look no further. We present to you Dom, a six piece that delivers some lively tracks with chilled out beats and sing-along choruses.

This week, we urge you not to judge a book by its cover. We're exploring ten of the weirdest and/or offputting CMJ names we could find and what they actually sound like. No bias for established, new, awesome, or horrifying. It's like speed dating ten people with monster faces drawn on the paper bags on their head. Enjoy!

Today we start our own personal marathon of video shoots, so we'll be a bit preoccupied with making sure everything goes smoothly. We'll be updating the blog as often as possible, but you can stop compulsively hitting refresh. In the meantime, grab a few MP3s, check out some CMJ Day parties, and clear your Saturday for awesome tunes and free pizza at Baeble on the Bowery. See you then!

Dominique Young Unique is a raw, homemade talent from the Robles Park Neighborhood Projects of Tampa Bay, Florida. Domination, her new mixtape has a teenage urgency that never lets up. It's an all out assault of dry drum machine beats, gamer bleeps, fat synths and Dominique's completely unselfconscious delivery. From the opening tom-toms of "Hot Girl," it's clear this nineteen-year-old rapper/singer is all business. "Bitch I'm gettin' rich while you're holding seven babies," she brags in "Blaster." This is music designed for escape, (on the dance floor and from the neighborhood) and as much as it sounds like a hell of a party, the stakes couldn't be higher.

Sun Airway is pulling out all the stops for this year's CMJ Music Marathon. The group has four shows announced and is dropping their forthcoming album Nocturne Exploded Crystal Chandelier, which won't officially be released until October 26th, early at Other Music in Manhattan and at Sound Fix Records in Brooklyn.

Today, we bring you a free preview of that album, even before it's on the shelves.

Opening for a massive act is always a pleasure, especially if you're musically on the same page. But if you have your own headlining tour, does it lose its charm? Probably not the case for Sara Bareilles, who was announced as the opening act for a different kind of massive performance.

Singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins has given the world a taste of her forthcoming album Mondo Amore by releasing her tune "Vultures" as a free download. It's pretty tasty. "Vultures" is an epic number with big, wall-of-sound choruses, dark, brooding verses, and some very classic rock-sounding melodic guitar.

Jimmy Kimmel got a little bit cooler last night by having Mumford and Sons swing by and perfrom two songs for last night's show. The four Brits tore their way through "The Cave" and "Roll Away Your Stone," both off last year's debut Sigh No More.

The Orbans have landed themselves some heavyweight support from Ben Harper, who worked with Orbans keyboardist Justin Pate while performing with ex-Beatle Ringo Starr. The favor includes a sweet deal to get The Orbans CD for super cheap on Harpers site...

There is nothing worse than seeing a young band think they can do justice to a classic, only to have every music critic and fan chase them out of town, torch in hand (remember when The Used tried "Under Pressure?"). Luckily, John Legend and the Roots have the respect and the chops to make an attempt, so the music world will sit down and hear what they have to say. It's worth the attention, even if it doesn't reinvent the wheel (and it doesn't).

Yo La Tengo headlined MOG's CMJ showcase at the Brooklyn Bowl last night, performing with opening acts DOM and Screaming Females.

We here at Baeble recently picked Suuns as a group to watch at this year's CMJ Music Marathon. And we're all about getting more of their tunes to your ears. Check out "Arena"; it sports some rolling synth lines and a driving, ominous bass groove as well as some hip, reverby vocals, a perfect sample platter for the band's work.

The adorable "she" of She and Him sang "God Bless America" at yesterday's NLCS Game. Considering the outcome of the game, and the way Phillies fans usually behave, expect to find a pile of 500 Days of Summer DVDs burning on Market Street.

Usually Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are a powerful pop quartet delivering chewy, delicious indie pop tunes...almost like their offering those who find their music some long lost vision of blue album era Weezer with a Midwest, lo-fi twist. Check out the time we captured a summer performance from the band rocking a crusty bowling alley on the Jersey Shore for all the evidence you need. Need more? Their Chris Walla produced third album Let It Sway is the band's high water mark to date, leading our own Michelle Gislani to proclaim, "here's a confidence that is relaxed and captivating, and it makes the band sound comfortable as well as believable."

It's a vibe they continued to channel when Phil and John from the band stopped by and perched themselves high above the West Village in our latest episode of the Guest Apartment. Stripped down to a duo, SSLYBY still retain echoes of their great indie pop tendencies - tasty guitar licks, head logging lyrics, and delectable melodies, all swirled together for a perfect pop concoction. Cut with stories about the making of Let it Sway, our latest artist profile is an enlightening one...even if their band name remains a bit of on the goofy side.

Animal Collective member and croco-phile Avey Tare (Dave Portner to most humans) is releasing a porno album called Down There, and it's exactly what the cover animal would suggest: a foggy, rhythmic collection of synths and swampy vocals. Forget films and shoes; AC members were built to create music — specifically the kind of noise-y abstractions abundantly present on this record. It's crunchy, funky explorations for the adventurous palate.

A Place to Bury Strangers have announced that they are holding a fan-made video competition for the song "Deadbeat" off of their Exploding Head album. The competition lasts through November 1st, and all you've film oriented types have a good shot at not only winning some sweet prizes, but also getting your name plastered on an officially distributed video.

Victory Records was nice enough to put together this very convincing PSA from comedian Gilbert Gottfried. "Music Piracy is bad, and something about hamburgers". He makes a really good point but he makes it SO LOUD. See what I mean:

Cold War Kids have given an exclusive stream of one track from their forthcoming album Mine is Yours to Rolling Stone. The track, "Royal Blue," is available to listen to on Rolling Stone's website along with some studio footage of the band, which you can also watch.

MGMT appeared on Jimmy Kimmel last night with two songs off of their latest album Congratulations. They offered a fairly laid back performance of the title track as well as "Handshake" to an enthusiastic studio audience. Perhaps most interesting, though, was Andrew VanWyngarden's getup for the performance.

Cee Lo Green continues to fuel the anticipation for his album release with another new track. It's got the nostalgic soda-jerk feel of his soulful style, perfectly epitomized by the "Old Fashioned" title, and peppered with his velvety voice. You can download the track today from iTunes (US only) or hear it streaming at Youtube. Sometimes it's kind of nice to just hear Cee Lo rip it, sans gimmick (even if it's a really good, catchy, vulgar gimmick).

Occasionally something really strikes me as different. Resonance in the music sphere is common, and plenty of jumbly guitars and distorted glo-fi are good buffers for the heavy stuff, but this is another kind of affection. Sometimes art is as much aggression as it is communication, and this 10 man hip-hop collective is as much proof as any shock-value saturated material. These guys re-appropriate offensive symbols, rap about violence, rape, and never knowing their fathers, and have a general disregard for rules and opinions. But there is something compelling even in the darkest nooks of the human experience. Read on if you dare.

Beatsmith Flying Lotus has released an "open source" video for his new tune "Kill Your Co-Workers" off the Pattern + Grid World EP. The video uses blocky, animated 3D models to depict a very interesting parade involving the wholesale slaughter of a large number of people by robots.

In 2006, Belle & Sebastia released The Life Pursuit, much to the chagrin of long-time fans who claimed the album "didn't sound like them." But from "Electronic Renaissance" to "A Space Boy Dream" to the second half of Dear Catastrophe Waitress, the band has never been shy to experiment. Tony Hoffer's production work brought the album a cleaner sound, and a few tracks carried some jazz undertones, but they weren't playing death metal or anything. So if you're hoping for a return to form, I'm afraid you might be disappointed — but I'm still not sure how far they strayed.

"Everybody knows that crime pays/and everybody does it/Everybody knows that crime pays/and everybody loves it" goes the chorus to "Crime Pays" by Bear Hands, but you don't have to steal/pirate/whatever to grab this track for free, because Bear Hands is giving it away as a free download in advance of its release with their forthcoming album Burning Bush Supper Club.

Los Angeles singer Evan Voytas has released a moody electro-pop jam that could go well in either a hipster dance club or a lonely movie montage (versatile!).

Most music fans would say the charming love-tunes of Ingrid Michaelson should allow one to wear their heart on their sleeve (literally), but we know better. The only hearts on an Ingrid Michaelson t-shirt are the ones replacing the empty sockets of a cartoon skull, and it's kind of awesome. Michaelson's great humor is a source of warmth in her tunes and her live show and it's a big part of these shirts (although we did half expect the shirt to have cookies on it). Anyways, you know how this rodeo works. Wrangle a Facbook comment, and you are well on your way to wearing your heart-eyed skull on your body!

Ke$ha throws down a (sort of) club banger that will be enjoyed by everyone from 13 year olds to the cast of Jersey Shore.

10/19 UPDATE: Get the track for free for the next 24 hours at Kesha's website.

Warpaint want to put you in a trance. Every tune on their first full-length, The Fool, is designed for maximum spaciness. As with their debut EP, 2009's Exquisite Corpse, it's not about the songs, it's about the vibe.

EVERYTHING IS RERUNS. Due to some people still having jobs with paid vacations or something (I thought that sh*t was like unicorns?) we have a weeks worth of nothing new while the staff of Leno drive their bad jokes off a cliff (I wish) and everyone else in late night spends time contemplating what will happen when Conan shows up again. It's all good, Kimmel knows he is like fifth fiddle in the ratings so he lined up a pretty killer week of newness. DVR that jam and meet me on the corner of Ludlow and Rivington, where I will be slugging whiskey and eating a slice of buffalo chicken pizza for the next five days #thingsthathappenduringCMJ

One of my favorite mostly NYC blogs The Awl has a list (without commentary) of fifteen bands they will not see at this years Marathon, and I feel it is IMPERATIVE that you all take stock of it.

Recent indie darlings Freelance Whales just put out a new track and you can get it for the low low price of free right here.

Deerhoof have released a monster track in support of their forthcoming album Deerhoof vs Evil.

New York City is the destination of the moment, with five days of drunken, overzealous music consumption and buffet-style events beginning tomorrow (10/19). On the eve of the CMJ Music Marathon, we're taking a moment to highlight a few choice parties, artists, and showcases.

Ra Ra Riot are on an alluring career trajectory. The band has gone from small-town favorites to big stage stars, and their recent swing through our city for four nights at both The Bowery Ballroom and The Music Hall of Williamsburg seemed the perfect time to capture their ascent.

Starting off as contemporaries to bands like Vampire Weekend, Ra Ra Riot has been something of a slow burner, choosing to develop and nurture a sound rather than cashing in on one, quick aesthetic. Following the release of their polished, Chris Walla produced sophomore album The Orchard, the band now find themselves at a point of promise. The intricacies of their arrangements rival many of the so-called art-rockers, with heaps more accessibility. While The Orchard dropped hooks for heady, reverberated decorations, the ornate finish provides a complimentary side to a band still building its foundation.

There is nowhere to go but up, and this concert video captured at The Music Hall of Williamsburg this past September provides the proof.

Due to some unfortunate events, Lissie will have to postpone the next six shows on her U.S. tour. According to some physician, she needs to be put on vocal rest for a short time.

Gene Simmons had a bad day, Bowery Presents had a good day, and TI had a jail. But in some ways, the real question is, what DIDN'T happen this weekend? CMJ is upon us in New York, and yet it seems like there is less buzz than ever about the festival.

I don't know how to properly send you off, maybe with a beer? Or plans of things to do, like fun music things, but we're all so 2010 busy, and everyone lives in different cities and countries, and it's five o'clock somewhere, and it happens to be where I am right now. So here is a video of a band playing an entire song with their iPhones. See you on Monday!

I hated the wild eye web evangelists in '98 who were saying that the Internet changed everything. I hated their early fanaticism but they were right. The web is now about to sweep though Big Television / Media and forever change the landscape, making it all significantly smaller.

The Age of Adz is many, many wonderful things, few of which are what we've come to expect from Sufjan Stevens. On this go around, his banjos have been replaced with laser-electro loops, story-telling with self-reflection, and his wide-eyed orchestral cartoons for darker, wider spaces. The product is nothing short of a distorted, existential, pop-crisis masterpiece.

Well-known critics and users of terminology such as 'rapegaze' Pitchfork have announced #Offline, a three-day festival in New York City that doubles as having some pretty decent music and being a giant middle-finger to the CMJ Music Marathon. The festival coincides with the three biggest days of CMJ, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and the popular opinion is that Pitchfork is trying to make a statement about something other than the latest glo-fi noise fad/Kings Of Leon flop.

Radiohead's head guitaritst, Jonny Greenwood has been showing his mad decent composer skills a lot lately. After his critically acclaimed composition efforts on the 2007 film, There Will Be Blood, and is help with the score for the forthcoming film Stone, he is now dipping into the world of classical music performance. On October 6th, he presented a new piece entitled "Smear" at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Ingrid Michaelson's performance at the Best Buy Theater on Wednesday night was definitely not what I was expecting. By expecting I mean that I assumed that there would be thousands of teary eyed twenty-something girls earnestly swaying to the Michaelson's songs while she dramatically held court behind the piano. I wasn't completely wrong about the crowd, but I was about Michaelson's set. Her show was varied and she's definitely moved past buying dudes Rogaine for when they "start losing all their hair", but aside from that, she could also have an illustrious career moonlighting as a comedy act.

Irish singer/songwriter Clare Maguire has made the leap across the pond and into major label territory simultaneously. She recently announced her US signing by Universal Republic, and will be paving the way for the release of her debut album and a US tour with her song "Ain't Nobody." It won't be officially out in the US until October 26th, but you can check the video after the jump:

NYC-based power-pop outfit Julius C has released a music video for their debut single "Don't Want Anybody," featuring the band rocking out and getting up to various other shenanigans in gorilla suits. Add in a few babes and some energetic live performance in Central Park, and they've got a real winner here, although I'm not sure I can condone monkeys abusing a Nord Electro 3 that way.

Montreal based band Suuns have put out a video for their song "Up past The Nursery" and it is college-art-school status weird. Watch for stop-motion fireworks and drowning band members.

Next week, we are going to film every single one of these bands. Get familiar. Get pumped.

The first five bands make up the roster for the open to the public Baeble on the Bowery party, and the second half contains all the private VIP shoots we're doing at Rockwood on Thursday and Friday. Don't worry if you're living on the other side of the country (or the world), all these performances will be right here on the site.

They gear up in short shorts (rock and roll faux pas for sure!), sport head bands, yank their socks a bit too far up the leg, and fly around the stage like they were channeling the spirit of some old school NBA player. In (The) Tony Castles, three of Brooklyn's most up and coming kind of musical lads even have a name that suggests vintage hard court domination. But interests lay elsewhere, and this snappy set from the three-piece suggests they're best built for the musical arena. Capping off our Northside Fest Coverage, we present you with some musical newbies we think you should know a little something about in the coming months.

Pancake Breakfast, a Portland, OR based roots/Americana collective, have released a video for their song "Pedro Infante." The song is a slow, melancholy waltz, with a solid 2/3 of the lyrics consisting of "I am the saddest man in town" and the remainder being a spoken word bit in Spanish; and the video tells the sad tale of a love triangle.

My Morning Jacket appeared on Jimmy Fallon and jammed out with The Roots on their tune "Wordless Chorus." The crowded stage didn't stop a guitarless Jim James from busting out some awesomely flamboyant stage antics, and The Roots, not surprisingly, lived up to their title of "the best band in late night" and fell in easily with My Morning Jacket, even outshining them at points.

Belle and Sebastian are following the release of their latest album Belle and Sebastian Write About Love almost immediately with a video for the track "I Want the World to Stop."

BET made sure to cover rape awareness at their award show two nights ago by bringing on Youtube's Antoine Dodson for a quick performance. We all know the story of how Antoine's news reel antics and the subsequent auto-tune remix allowed him to make enough money for him to move his family out of the projects and into a new house, so this seems the natural conclusion to the internet meme. REAL LIFE.

Critically acclaimed "gypsy punk" group Gogol Bordello offered up a typically energetic performance of their tune "Pala Tute" on Jay Leno last night. As always, the group was a blast to watch, offering up manic punk-rock energy and gypsy-inspired melodies on acoustic guitars, accordian and violin backed with bass and lots of percussion.

Our latest concert video comes with a hazy, night vision glow to it. It would seem electro-rock outfit BRAHMS love performing under a cover of darkness...and with good reason. Theirs' is an inebriated sort of sound packaged in nocturnal beats, glassy waves of synths, and unrestrained sing along choruses. It's the kind of sound that makes me suspect that even their 11:30 headlining set at The Northside Festival was a bit too early for their tastes. Nevertheless, the art school electronics the Brooklyn based band filled the cavernous Brooklyn Bowl with drove the mass who had gathered before them mad...a delirious mess of flailing arms, bopping heads, and whatever else was going on in the darkness. Though they might have closed Cantora Bowl with this performance, my guess is BRAHMS only got the evening kicking for the slew who danced their way through this performance.

New York based disco outfit Hercules and Love Affair recently announced that their forthcoming album, Blue Songs will be released on January 31st in the UK.

We filmed Wavves at Market Hotel, a DIY venue that used to exist in Brooklyn, with a crowd of maybe two hundred people. One year and a new album later, Nathan Williams will open up for Dirty Projectors and Phoenix at one of the most significant venues in the entire country. "When you find out you're playing Madison Square Garden, it's pretty crazy", Williams told me when we caught up with him earlier this week. "It's like a fluke to me or something."

Brooklyn based band Atlantic/Pacific gave us their song "Patterns" to pass along as a free download, and we happily offer it up.

Swedish pop singer Lykke Li will be releasing two new tracks on October 25th in support of her forthcoming album. The tracks are available for free on her website, for purchase through all digital distributors, and on a limited edition 7" in select record stores.

"Yes, I make the beats too..." reads the tag on Portland, OR-based singer/songwriter/producer Natasha Kmeto's Myspace page. Lucky for us that she does: her tunes match her formidable pipes with her own gritty, bass-heavy electronic beats. She describes it as "futuristic soul;" in more concrete terms, it sounds a lot like Flying Lotus paired with a soulful, dynamic singer - in other words, awesome.

Memphis follows Magic Kids' release of their 7-inch, "Hey Boy", and with their simple 50s chord progressions providing a foundation for a myriad of elements, including prominent horns; strings, synthesizers, and tympanis, their undeniably sunny surf pop leaves little to be desired. The band, born out of Bennett Foster's vocals and Will McElroy's keys as well as various stand in performances by the other "Kids" in their previous group Barbaras, have spun into their own identity since they gained popularity in the Memphis music scene. Think: those cool guys from the movie That Thing You Do! hopped out of your TV screen and had a jam sesh with Surfer Blood and a slightly less moody version of Beach House, and you've got Magic Kids.

Fresh off our announcement of LA buzz band Everest playing one of our VIP Rockwood Music Hall shoots next week, we caught their performance from last night's Fallon making the blog rounds. The performance got us excited for capturing this band in the live setting.

Looks like our Guest Apartment just entered vintage status. One of the twins (Claudia, the keyboardist) has left the band for personal reasons, according to a recent Facebook post.

None other than Kanye West has teamed up with British synthpop duo La Roux for a remix of their hit "In For the Kill." It's streaming now exclusively at Entertainment Weekly, and a video is in the works - no official announcement about its release yet, but a picture of Kanye and La Roux frontwoman Elly Jackson on set has surfaced.

In addition to our Saturday soiree at Bowery Electric on Oct. 23rd, we'll be filming a number of Guest Apartment sessions at Rockwood Music Hall next week. The bad news is, unlike the big event on the Bowery these sessions will be CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC (I know, we're such a tease, right?). The good news is you can enter for your chance to be invited on set for the day. It's an exclusive opportunity to be a part of our unique video productions with some of the best bands sweeping through town next week. Enter after the jump.

My Morning Jacket stopped by The Late Show for another one of the Ed Sullivan Theater performances. The band played a few huge favorites, but honestly, the video is worth is just for Jim James hurling off his cape during the first number. Check out the video after the jump.

Seattle-based folk rockers The Moondoggies have released an animated video for their song "Empress of the North." I won't spoil the emotional plotline, but I will tell you that the animated pencil drawing is a very cool aesthetic and that the video fits in nicely with the muted, somber tune.

Today the world can breath easy, as the epic entrapment of the Chilean miners comes to a thankfully safe conclusion. But someone isn't happy!

Lady Gaga has been issued a firey challenge from relatively unknown Los Angeles singer/songwriter Alisa Apps, who accuses Lady Gaga of being a "plastic doll generated by the music money marketing machine" and challenges her to a sing-off on national TV for... ONE MILLION DOLLARS. The field of battle? Madison Square Garden or London's O2 Arena.

Your late night TV watching schedule, removed a day due to Columbus moving into our office and giving ownership to Spain. It's cool everyone, we got it back by blackmailing him with his Facebook photos. #anachronisticjokes

Hi, Baeble here with a very special offer for The Thermals' show tomorrow (10/13) at NYC's Irving Plaza. The band has declared a buy one, get one free special on all remaining tickets to the show. That's right, bring your friend to see this totally radical pop/rock/punk group COMPLETELY FREE (or charge them half the ticket price, whatever floats your boat).

No, I Am Not a Human Being isn't Weezy's best — not even close — but like a message in a bottle it serves a preemptive purpose. It not only reminds us of how much Wayne's been missed, but that even at his most forgettable he's still better than 90 percent of the other rappers out there.

The xx, winners of this year's Mercury Prize, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel last night to perform their song "Crystalised." They appeared as a trio (keyboardist and guitarist Baria Quireshi departed last year) sounding sparser than ever — I didn't think it possible, but whatever, I digress. Their performance was typically low-key, introspective and moodily lit.

We just can't stop giving stuff away, you guys. Today we've also got a sweet deal brewing for a signed copy of from Automatic Loveletter, and entry is the price of a 'like'. Click it and win it.

Phoenix want to make sure you have a chance to see their huge show at MSG, so we're giving away a pair of tickets. Details on how to enter your name after the jump.

The long holiday weekend gave way to a few announcements, including a Phil Spector movie, a Tron delay, and my cousin's new sexual orientation (kidding!). Bruno Mars was on SNL! Videos!

By her own account, Ingrid Michaelson admits she is often heavily hooked into the female, acoustic singer-songwriter genre. It's done her a heap of good over the years of course. But one can't fault her desire to shake free from such pigeonholing...something she has done quite well with her new single dubbed "Parachute".

In our latest segment of The Guest Apartment, Ingrid stops by for a session at Rockwood Music Hall...a venue the independent NYC based artist most likely came up through all those years ago (though we put her in the venue's fancy new venue next door). Regarding the new tune, Ingrid declares it "a little bumped up, a little more pop...a little more grown up". Though she and her band did strip things down just a bit for our cameras, one can hear the contrast of the new tune when paired with other back catalogue favorites like "Everybody", "Maybe", and perennial fan favorite "The Way I Am". Cut with face-to-face interview footage, our latest episode of The Guest Apartment provides a special look into an artist we couldn't be more pleased to have had the opportunity to work with.

Up and coming Brooklyn-based band Oberhofer have one hell of a busy fall coming up. With their sweet pop melodies and grueling live performance schedule (including our party!), this band won't be underground for too much longer.

Izabo, an indie rock band from Israel, released this video last March (explaining the old iPhone models for you tech savvy). The iPhone motif is what really makes this video memorable, although the song is super catchy, which definitely contributes.

It turns out this is a very sensitive holiday (according to my dedicated watching of The Sopranos), so I'll keep the commentary to a minimum while I drink whiskey and soda on my couch for twelve hours. Go invade something! See you tomorrow, sports fans.

White Denim are hitting the road this fall with a U.S. tour in support of their new, FREE album, Last Day of Summer.

Animal Collective member Avey Tare has put out an animated video for his recent single, "Lucky 1."

Wu Wednesdays have officially begun. With all of the media hype raining down on Kanye for his weekly G.O.O.D Friday installments, it's understandable that there would be a group of imitators trying to get in on the action. Thank god that the person that decided to do just that was Wu Tang's own, RZA.

Last video of the week: Gorillaz played a 45-minute show at the Ed Sullivan Theater following their Letterman appearance last night. The whole thing is available for free via the CBS website (because 2010), and it's pretty awesome. Check it out below.

Being a bunch of visually minded people, sometimes we stumble across a video that is just so compelling and odd, we have to share it, even if it isn't about your new favorite band. Sam O'Hare, a director for Aero Film, has developed a tilt-shift lens look at the world of the Coachella Music and Arts festival in California, and it's a striking miniaturization of the weekend. See what I mean after the jump.

A year ago, you'd have hated this guy. In a previous life, house and dubstep producer and DJ Skrillex was Sonny Moore, frontman of "post-hardcore" (screamo, to laymen like you and I) group From First to Last. However, since leaving the band due to vocal cord issues (one can only do that whiny scream for so long without doing damage) he's switched gears completely and is now turning heads thanks to some support from, and opening gigs for, house music demigod Deadmau5 and his mau5trap label, a free EP, and some remixes of Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas and La Roux.

After the staggering success of their 2009 album, Phoenix have gone from Bowery Ballroom bait to arena-sized rockers. It seems like only last summer we were filming Passion Pit at their joint Central Park show (it was), and now here we are; 2010 and they've outpaced our wildest dreams.

They've already played some huge shows. Their headlining slot at Lollapalooza 2010 was one of the most fun of the entire weekend, but they're not done yet. The jewel in their crown is a headlining night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with support from The Dirty Projectors and Wavves. We got a chance to talk to the band backstage before a late night appearance, and this is what they had to say about their philosophy about making music and their thoughts on MSG.

The Mystery Jets have released a music video for "Show Me The Light," the second single released from their latest album Serotonin. It's a moodily lit piece that follows the song's lyrics about perseverance and such and includes some seriously impressive (and by the looks of it, tiring and difficult) balance beam stunts.

If you want something that'll get your blood moving and invigorate you to face a new day, stay as far away from Glasser's Ring as you possibly can. However, if you're looking for something you can listen to for 40 minutes without feeling a single bit of tension, something chilled-out, ambient, and relaxing, then Cameron Mesirow, Glasser's sole member, is your girl.

Oh boy. Where do I start with this one. Perhaps with a warning to be careful at work with it?

Jeremy Messersmith, a Minnesotan pop-writer, has been diligently updating his website every Wednesday with new content. If you haven't discovered his tunes or his work before, you may have coincidentally stumbled across a video he made for "Tatooine" that's been going around, recreating as much of the original Star Wars trilogy as possible in just under three minutes. The poignant song, coupled with some of the more memorable moments of the movies recreated with little paper characters, makes for a great video.

British soul group The Heavy have released a track in advance of their forthcoming How You Like Me Now EP. The tune, entitled "That Kind of Man," is a typically funky number with a distorted, lo-fi edge to it. All that fuzz grates on the ears ever so slightly, but the groove and soulful vocal are undeniable.

Part of my iTunes "on repeat until I blow up" playlist for the past month has been the consistently enjoyable and occasionally mind-blowing Friday tracks from Mr. Kanye West. So in his honor, he gets two slots on this week's collection (and some imitation artwork).

Cee Lo Green, who's sitting on top of the world with his tune "F*ck You," went on BBC's Later With Jools Holland to perform the tune along with one other. He was lookin' pretty fly in an all-pink suit and backed by an all-female band, and seemed to be enjoying himself despite sounding a tad bit hoarse; and as far as I'm concerned, "F*ck You," in any setting, will never get old.

Freezepop announce that they will be dropping their new album, Imaginary Friends on December 7th of this year.

The picture (in case it wasn't clear) is the internet's rendition of my face when I heard this bit of news. The headline basically says it all; the cast of the hit TV series Glee, about a high school glee club, has scored 75 US top 100 hits to date, passing the Beatles' longstanding non-solo-act record of 71. In a cruelly ironic twist, several of those hits were covers of the Beatles, including "Hello Goodbye" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

Wolf Parade put out an ode to the soviet era cosmonauts as the video for their song "Yulia."

Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's throws on a half way decent southern accent for her cover of Roger Allan Wade's "If You're Gonna be Dumb, You Gotta be Tough."

The CMJ Music Marathon is just around the corner, and our series of events are on the books and ready to go. Today we've got a shiny new poster for our 100% free, open to the public (no badge necessary!) day party and we wanted to share it with you, as well as remind you of the details!

On their long overdue full-length Truth or Dare, Automatic Loveletter summon an absolute force, carving out the kind of addictive brand of cataclysmic modern rock that generally provides enthusiastic responses from anyone who happens to encounter it. Interestingly enough, that force garners no greater reaction than from Juliet Simms; the band's spirited banshee at the helm of the California based outfit. Channeling exonerated emotion and energy in performance, Simms often lets her body do some serious talking (though obviously her voice is a bit unreal as well), with fiery and often seductive results.

Frequent collaberators and tour partners Broken Social Scene and The Sea and Cake recently solidified their bromance by announcing that they will be putting out a 7" together.

People frequently ask us how to pronounce our name. My favorite comment so far about our name (ripping from an earlier post) was from Sara Bareilles who described our name as "hard to pronounce easy to enjoy". There are two schools of thought and action on our name. The first pronunciation is "bay-ble" and the second is the straight up "babble" — ignoring the funky spelling of substituting an "e" for a "b". Truth be told — we prefer the "bay-ble" version, but read on.

Abe Vigoda's manic style, in all its complexity, has always been characterized rather simply. The mess of interlocking, chiming, delayed guitars that made up the songs of their last album were characterized as "tropical punk", a label that did and did not give an indication of how seriously talented these guys are.

It's sad, but true, that many great mainstream acts from Europe never manage to achieve a similar level of success in America. Delphic, a rising electro-dance band from Manchester, England, are currently working to avoid this fate with their current U.S. tour in support of their critically acclaimed debut, Acolyte. The band already enjoyed an impressive amount of British media hype upon the release of the album last January, and now they are trying to make the same positive impression on the other side of the Atlantic. I had the pleasure of speaking with the guys from Delphic this past week and was impressed by their pleasant mix of determination and playfulness. It's tough to have a positive attitude when entering into a new territory of listeners, but these guys are more than eager to dive right in.

Tama Impala's newest video might make you vomit. The band and director Robert Hales tied a camera to a weather balloon, released it up into the sky, and are now allowing viewers the pleasure of watching the camera's view as the wind violently shakes it around. The whole experience is soundtracked by the band's Beatles influenced track, "Lucidity." Check the video below.

Two titans of the psychedelic trance world, Astrix and Infected Mushroom, have come together to release this free mp3, the former's remix of the latter's "Killing Time." Go figure, it doesn't exactly sound like a killer psytrance tune.

Canadian indie-rockers Hollerado have released a second video for their song "Americanarama" after already having made a splash with the first one, which featured Dave Foley in a parody of American Apparel CEO Dov Charney. It's not as bad an idea as it sounds like, BUT only because this one is just as good if not better.

UK-based folk trio Peggy Sue, who was recently featured in a guest apartment session here at baeblemusic, has released a free mp3 of their tune "Watchman" to promote their debut album Fossils and Other Phantoms. "Watchman" is pretty loud for a folk number, with layered guitars and lots of percussion and drums, but it's a killer tune.

In honor of their massive upcoming show at MSG with The Dirty Projectors and Wavves, Phoenix is giving away a free copy of "Love Like A Sunset Pt. 3" for the price of a retweet. The dancy cut is less of a new piece and more of a momentum-infused remix of the original, but whatever, it's still totally worth it. Grab the download here.

Suckers have released the final installment in their series of music videos for their tune "A Mind I Knew" off of their debut album Wild Smile. It's the last of four (one from each member of the band). This one, from guitarist and singer Austin Fisher, features a cacophony of found CGI animation tests.

The blog world made note of two very awesome things: a new Gorillaz single featuring British artist Daley as the main vocalist, and a storyboard for the next music video (for "Rhinestone Eyes"), featuring the triumphant return of beloved characters (real) Noodle and Russel. Read on if you like battles with giant sea-creatures and ghosts!

Gayngs, a musical collective featuring members of Megafaun, Bon Iver, Solid Gold, and many others (almost 25 musicians in total), made their TV debut on Jimmy Fallon last night to promote their album Relayted.

Last night I had a very deep, intoxicated discussion about rapper cartoon character Nicki Minaj and her potential as a mainstream artist. She surfaced on late night TV and confirmed my suspicions; in fact, there is a chance that the discussion was sparked from a hazy watching of this performance (but I digress). It seems that Minaj is more spectacle than substance, but some people like that. What does it mean?

The Glass are a duo of indie-label operators involved with Plant Music (Dominique Keegan) and We Collect Enemies (Glen Brady aka DJ Wool), based in NYC and Berlin respectively. Add the fact that their forthcoming album is named after a 1939 novel by Dublin author Flann O'Brien to the distance and responsibilities to their businesses, and I expected their music to be a half-assed, pretentious mess.

But I was proven completely wrong.

Avey Tare of Animal Collective fame has released the first single off his solo debut Down There (his other work outside Animal Collective was a collaboration with his wife, Kria Brekken, entitled Pullhair Rubeye) for the low, low price of free. The track, "Lucky 1," belies its cheesy title and is actually an odd-sounding, subdued number driven by an ear-grabbing croaky synth line.

Deerhunter has always been an enigma for me, one of those bands that make it hard to find any bona fide sonic compatriots to play the 'sounds like' game back and forth. Bradford Cox exacerbates the mystery in his own right, unable to really take hold of any frontman paradigm. Sure, he dabbles in the brooding sad/dark thing, but the object of his pain always seems to be this nostalgic lack, an obscured longing, and the product of his alienation always seems to just render more, rather than draw the audience any closer. Cox is a gay punk dude from Atlanta, a tall and thin walking contradiction, who seems to be both unable and unwilling to really just let us in and take a good look around. Halcyon Digest comes to us with the veneer of Cox's own frosted glass, fully and completely a product of a true individual.

Some thoughts for live music fans in Illinois and beyond: The top story on the Swarm for the past two days has been about the mother of all festivals, Lollapalooza, and its benefits/costs to the city of Chicago. While the festival brings in a quarter of a million music fans and no doubt bolsters local business, the organizers have inked a deal with the city that all but eliminates their tax liability. The music festival stands as one of the last great industry money machines, but it might be time to take a closer look at the benefits of "signing" to a city that (maybe) does not significantly benefit from hosting in the first place.

Another study in the hype-cycle, Tapes 'n Tapes, have been dormant since 2008's Walk It Off. But Twitter, and Pitchfork, and 230 Publicity all report the band is prepping a new record for release in early 2011. Their website confirms it with art and a tracklist.

It appears about 30 minutes ago rapper, genius, and crazy person Kanye West announced the title of his album to be My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. This guy is really embracing the Twitter game, and we're really embracing his latest batch of tunes, so we're pumped that the record now has a release date AND a name.

The buzzing, subtly electric tunes of Junip make a great accessory to any setting, and their stellar debut Fields is available now in a deluxe edition with a ton of bonus content. So it only seems fair to offer you all a chance to win both the deluxe album and a sweet 12". You know the drill.

Singer Natalie Janz recently did the obvious (and yet undone?). She covered "F*ck You" with brand new lyrics addressing Cee Lo Green's summer anthem from a woman's perspective. Complete with graphic imitation!

Antony and the Johnsons, and go-to music-loving indie kid joke punchline Belle and Sebastian both have albums coming out SOONISH. We thought you should know, you can hear both right now over at NPR. Take a listen to spice up this drab Monday.

Your late night TV watching schedule. This week a few power combos make an appearance, Leno has a wide range of boring (including some bs from Broadway which we will ignore), but also Meatloaf?

Junip take you behind the scenes of their new album Fields in this exclusive interview before their show at The Knitting Factory.

What's more hip/weird than a country band from England? That same band's music video featuring extensive use of polaroid pictures. And that's exactly what you get with Mt. Desolation's new/first music video. The video is for "Departure," the opening track off the bands forthcoming self-titled debut. Check it out below.

Fields, the new album by Junip, is the most consistent album I've heard all year. It's a mood piece that never breaks stride, staying true to its mellow, spacey groove throughout all eleven tunes.

"Happy music, but not too happy" is the simple tag Junip's Tobias Winterkorn attaches to the new project from he, Ilias Araya, and infamous solo artist Jose Gonzalez. He is right. There is a certain unquantifiable mysticism at work, and you can feel it in our latest concert video. Here the guys rummage about jammy tunes that rise and fall suddenly, drawing cries of enjoyment from the audience with each additional layer. Gonzalez himself is the epitome of modesty, smiling and nodding after a closed-eye trance, with a simple, Swedish tinted "thank you" at the conclusion of every song. These guys wouldn't know "pretentious" if it decided to sit in with them.

Of course "action" is a loose statement for Junip's aesthetic, somewhere in between drone and trance; bongo-infused salsa and the elongated jam sessions of legends like Morrison and the Doors. Gonzalez writes melodies worthy of desert cut scenes, images of long drives and the hot sun fit perfectly with his rhythmic nylon guitar riffs. When the band sparked, drums dropping in and out, heads bobbing, the whole thing felt as dynamic as a stage full of backup dancers and fanfare. Sometimes the most exciting climaxes are the ones that exist only in the sonic sphere.

Let me introduce you to The Tins, an up and coming indie-pop band from Albany, New York. Though they are just now appearing on the scene (blogs) the band has actually been playing together for over four years. This is apparent when after you listen and see how well guitarist Adam Putzer and keyboardist Mike Santillo blend their vocals together.

Kanye's reign continues. GOOD Friday brought us a new banger, while his SNL performance yielded some wild commentary about his newfound love of ballerinas. One of our favorite labels had a birthday in Vegas. Other assorted bits. Videos and more after the jump!

From the brand spanking new Buzz Media "live music blog" comes a plethora of delicious thoughts from the mind of legendary radio station music director Nic Harcourt. He seems hell-bent on condescending the world of young music fans, among other things that grind my gears, but whatever, let's start here.

Hey, remember that sweet accoustic guitar duo from Mexico, Rodgiro y Gabriela? Well they're back and they brought some new tunes, effects pedals and tibetan monks.

The soon to be released John Curran film, Stone, will apparently feature musical contributions from Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke.

Best Coast and Male Bonding occupy two very different aesthetics, despite being somewhat similar in the reverberated vocals department. Despite some seriously artsy (read: dark) lighting, we have some pictures from last night's show at Music Hall Of Williamburg.

Jamie XX is a dumb name. OK, he isn't really calling himself "Jamie XX" just yet, but the beatsmith from The XX made a song on the side, and it is more or less what you'd expect from a guy with the stage presence of Ethan Frome (Edith SNOREton). Also: sorry.

The CMJ Music Marathon is just around the corner, and our series of events are on the books and ready to go. Today we're happy to announce the lineup for our 100% free, open to the public (no badge necessary!) Saturday afternoon party the Bowery Electric. Details and RSVP after the jump!

This week's guest, Davey Pierce, is a member of the eclectic rock act of Montreal. He also works under the guise of Yip Deceiver his side-project. It makes sense that such a prolific musician would also have such a varied mixtape... touching on hip-hop, old surf-rock, hipster-kid dance parties, and even Motown. A playlist after my own terribly indecisive heart.

Yesterday MIA gave us yet another new track in the form of a giant gif website. I like this one less than the previous song from Diplo, but that is like comparing apples to apples that make me want to jump out of a moving car.

If you missed Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca in the Summer of 2009, the opportunity to catch up has arrived. On September 28th, Domino Records re-released the album as a two-disk set, with bonus material. If you still have not heard Dirty Projectors at all, this might be the perfect introductory record.