Tap Into Free Energy

Shortly after the digital release of their debut album, Stuck On Nothing, Free Energy took over SXSW and made their television debut on Late Show with David Letterman and performed on Fuel TV’s “The Daily Habit.” Now the guys are taking over a stage near you this Spring and Summer! The band has just announced new dates with Mates of State and their shows at NXNE following their dates with Jukebox the Ghost (all dates below). Don’t miss your chance to see one of the year’s most exciting bands live!

Folks...for those of you living in Jacksonville...the band is actually coming through the here. It's not everyday a DFA band comes through this hell hole, so do yourself a favor and go see this band...go see this tour...it's massive!

Produced by DFA’s James Murphy, Free Energy’s debut album, Stuck On Nothing, was released digitally March 9, 2010 and will be available physically May 4, 2010 on Astralwerks/DFA Records.

Tour dates...
04/22: Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick Café
04/23: Chicago, IL @ Beauty Bar
04/25: Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
04/26: Madison, WI @ Annex
04/27: West Liberty, IA @ Secrest 1883 Octogonal Barn *
04/28: Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom *
04/29: Lake Geneva, WI @ Knotty Pines Farm *
04/30: Monticiello, IL @ Kalyx Center *
05/01: Maquoketa, IL @ Codfish Hollow Barn *
05/08: Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club $
05/14: Lewiston, ME @ Bates College
05/26: Boston, MA @ The Middle East Downstairs + ^
05/27: Hamden, CT @ Space + ^
05/28: Philadelphia, PA @ The First Unitarian Church + ^
05/29: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom + ^
05/30: Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel ^
06/01: Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 + ^
06/02: Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor + ^
06/03: Atlanta, GA @ The Star Community Bar + ^
06/04: Jacksonville, FL @ Jackrabbits + #
06/06: St. Paul, MN @ The Grand Old Day Festival
06/08: Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree + #
06/09: Nashville, TN @ The Exit In + #
06/10: Bloomington, IN @ The Bluebird + #
06/11: Ithaca, NY @ Castaways + * #
06/12: Providence, RI @ Jerky’s + * #

Tour with Mates of State
06/15: Northampton, MA @ IronHorse ~
06/16: Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall ~
06/18: Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls ~
06/19: Cleveland, OH @ Grop Shop ~
06/21: Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century ~
06/22: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ~
06/23: Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
06/24: Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
06/25: Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
06/26: Denver, CO @ Bluebird
06/28: Salt Lake City @ In the Venue
06/30: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall >
07/1: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall >
07/2: Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex >
07/3: Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex >
07/4: Tucscon, AZ @ Club Congress
07/6: Lubbock, TX @ Jake’s
07/7: Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
07/8: Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
07/9: Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
07/10: Birmingham, AL @ Workplay
07/12: Athens, GA @ 40 Watt >
07/13: Ashville, NC @ Orange Peel
07/14: Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar

* = Daytrotter Presents: Barnstormer III
+ = w/ Jukebox The Ghost
# = w/ Drink Up Buttercup
^ = w/ Miniature Tigers
$ = w/ Blood Feathers & Elder Brother
~ = w/ Todd Barry
> = w/ Nick Thune

Download: C'mon Let's Dance

autoKratz Kick It Off

autoKratz will follow the success of 2009's debut Animal with Kick, a brand new EP set for release on Wednesday 28th April. Jagz Kooner got behind the controls on the A-Side and has helped the band to create a dark and pounding electronic anthem. The track guests the XTRMTR-era guitar eruption of Primal Scream's Andrew Innes, coupled with the Kitsune-signed outfit's typical arsenal of battering electronics.

The EP shows an exciting development of the autoKratz sound, indicative of why the band's second album due later this year is so brimming with promise.

The B-Side sees the official release of the ruthless "Skin Machine," a track which swept across the blogosphere like wildfire back in February. Furthermore, there's a devastating remix from Japanese Popstars who deliver an enormous main-room take on things, once again fulfilling the hype bestowed upon them and comes after they recently scored Pete Tong's 'Essential New Tune.'

On release, all tracks will be offered for free from the band's official website to thank the fans for their support, and will certainly give electronic music some serious food for thought as the band take to the road once more.

Download: Kick EP

It's The Magic Bullets

Someone has clearly forgotten to tell Magic Bullets that we're in the 21st century, because their self-titled album, is clearly the best thing to come out of 1987 that I've ever heard. Sounding something like Monochrome Set, Orange Juice, Wedding Present, and pretty much anything residing around the jangly warehouses of British pop bands of that era, Magic Bullets are a lost treasure from another time that's just been uncovered by pop archaeologists. Listening to Magic Bullets is like unearthing a time capsule and finding the entire Cherry Red catalog in it; quaint, unusual, and amazing all at the same time.

Embracing arty pop, soulful vocals, and more jangle than legally allowed in 2010, Magic Bullets are an awesome sight to behold and listen to. This is a band that clearly has no idea that Baggy, Britpop, Post Post Punk, Electro, Indie Rock or anything else even exists and the songs they write sound as though they're covered in Doc Martens, Gladioli, and button down cardigans. Magic Bullets is a classic without being a day over a year old, a lost treasure without ever being lost, a rare gem in a sea of diamonds.. This is a truly exceptional stuff that has just about left me speechless. I LOVE this album because it sounds so pure, so simple and so, so good. This is just indie the way indie was always meant to be and it's fantastic.

Lovelorn, heartbroken, and lost Magic Bullets sound frustrated and confused about love and life and the time and it makes for some darn fine songs as a result. With titles that sound like they're from the David Gedge Anthology of Jangly POP Anthems the songs are daft and adorable at the same time. With titles like, "They Wrote A Song About You," "A Name Sits Heaviest On My Heart," and "Sigh The Day Away," you can see what I mean and how you can't help but create a mental picture of this group and the troubles they're going through. This is teenage angst run through a Morrissey dictionary and played with enough weeping sincerity that you want to give the band a hug and buy them a beer.

Magic Bullets is amazing. I'm sitting here speechless at how this band has tapped into something that was popular twenty three years ago and nailed it and the fact that they're American makes it even more shocking. This is the kind of eighties revival I want to hear more of and the kind I wish would capture the imagination of music fans everywhere. Magic Bullets are a stupendous band and their self-titled album is just about the best thing I've heard this year. Wow...this is heck of a band and one heck of an album that really has me wondering if time travel isn't possible.

Download: Lying Around

The Language of Love

The Love Language, initiated by Stuart McLamb, is a fortunate by-product of the North Carolina natives rudderless mid-20s, where a tempest of breakup, inebriation, and incarceration found the abandoned songwriter embarking on a storage-space recording project to slow his seeming disintegration. The growing body of emotional fight songs, committed to MP3 with a high-school era multitrack recorder, became postcards from exile, a way to let his friends and former flames know he was getting along, battered but not beaten. The self-immolating beauty of the budget correspondences was exhausting and triumphant; McLamb's dalliances with rejection a ... [read more]nd redemption would be minted in a self-titled debut on Portland independent label Bladen County in March of 2009.

Soon afterwards, the mighty ensemble band version of The Love Language-a dysfunctional symphony of musical vagrants-disbanded to pursue personal projects. McLamb, who had roamed the state since recording The Love Language, moved back to Raleigh where Libraries engineer/producer BJ Burton adopted the one-man band and helped harness the extraordinary might generated during these sessions. Among the moments captured on the new album are Spector-esque walls of reckless sound, cavernous drums, middle-school percussion, and moody swells of stringed instruments, all decorated hastily with stray leads, which bleed beautifully all over everything.

The effective average of McLamb's madness and Burton's discipline rendered an album in the classic sense, in which no song is expendable and no passage is without purpose. With Libraries, McLamb transitioned from a guy who could write a good album to an individual who can maintain a good band. The sooner we listen, the sooner we may figure this whole love thing out.

Download: Heart To Tell

Behold Holy Ghost!

Holy Ghost! are born and bred New Yorkers Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser. These two life-long friends bonded over a mutual love of hot sauce and music while in elementary school and have never looked back, playing in bands together ever since. After working as studio musicians and live players for DFA Records partners James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy and playing and recording alongside Juan Maclean, the duo formed Holy Ghost! based on a deep appreciation of analog synthesizers, Larry Levan era-disco, and the cheap thrills of infectious, hook-laden pop.

Holy Ghost! have just now emerged from the studio, armed with their debut EP Static on the Wire which will be released on May 18th. Until that date, the group are giving away their new single, the catchy-as-hell forward thinking disco-pop track “Say My Name,” which should keep your feet moving and your legs akimbo until the single is released.

So have at it...

Download: Say My Name

Windsor For The Derby Return!

Hey guys...

Been a hell of a weekend around POP! Stereo HQ. Lots of work getting done, restoring my yard after a brutal winter (the joys of a house), replanting, re-sodding, cleaning beds, pest control. Fun times indeed.

All that work has left me in a bit of a bind. I've got a TON of email and music to sort through so there are probably going to be a ton of posts between now and the end of the week, including a Ten Tracks You Need multi-part post.

So lets get sorted shall we... Check out new Windsor for the Derby!

In a day and age when many a band must carefully plot an air of mystery around themselves, it is with much grace that Philadelphia-Austin sonic craftsmen Windsor for the Derby have maintained their particular cult mystique over eight albums of subtle, biting and exploratory post-rock. We're proud to announce the latest from WFTD, Against Love, arriving June 22 on Secretly Canadian (June 21 in the UK).

In a world of “slow” movements that rail against mindless consumption, rock survivalists Windsor for the Derby represent “slow” music. For their latest outing, they began with a set of seemingly infinite drones and loops inspired by their early beginnings as a band. As those recordings were passed back and forth, the sounds were further sculpted by Dan Matz and Jason McNeely into their own leftfield brand of pop song. This became Against Love.

While they experimented with more formalized rock structures on their past few albums, Against Love finds the balance between experimentation and rock tradition more heavily skewed toward the former. The songs are filled with tried & true conventions. Nowhere on Against Love is this better displayed than within the psych-pop anthem "Queen of the Sun," full of warm feedback and synth built around a patient acoustic guitar strum.

Lyrically the songs are about how the modern world is changing the human condition, how we decide to land when the floor is pulled out from under us, and how hope is born from loss. The songs were shaped over months in backstage rooms, hotels, vans, and wherever else Matz and McNeely found time during WFTD’s European and American tours of the past two years. Tracks were finalized in Matz’s haunted Hope Union Studio, where disengaged clock chimes, spectral taps, and mysterious footsteps are a constant cause for another take; some left in the mix.

Download: Queen of the Sun

Acid Pauli Returns

Back in February, I posted a couple of tracks by Acid Pauli. If you remember Acid Pauli is better known as Console in the ever popular Notwist. He's a musician on a rampage and can't be stopped. Following several releases through 2009 (Marvin on Compost, Smaul 06 & Smaul 07) plus releases earlier in the year including Riverboat Tour. Now, he's at it again by providing us with summery tunes that are psychedelic and deeply thrilling.

His reputation continues to develop with his atmospheric tracks that are from another world. Throw in some strange influences to that ambiance and you have a guy that produces tracks that are out there and far more melodic than your average minimal techno track.

See for yourselves...

Download: Den Mahlstrom Rauf

The Mouth's Cradle and a Silver Spoon

The oddly named Mouth's Cradle is making waves; seamlessly combining pop and hip-hop into a unique blend that's tastier than Starbucks House Blend. This Syracuse based duo are Orangemen by day, but artists at night. Or as they put it...Mouth's Cradle is undoubtedly on its way to emerging as a leader in the new class of college artists, who create buzz for themselves while sitting through lectures.

Taking bedsit pop to the next level, these guys make sugary sweet tunes that utilize a left field production/writing technique fuses it with Casio-like synth pop and then adds a certain degree of silliness to get something that's as sweet as Cracker Jacks. If you can imagine Supergrass being a synthpop band instead of being caught by the fuzz you can kind picture where Mouth's Cradle are coming from or at least what class they're taking.

Download: Honey From A Stone
Download: Front Porch Back Porch

Want More? Yes Please!

Finnish band Yes Please! was founded in 2003, when singer-guitarist Mikael Jurmu, guitarist Teppo Meriläinen and drummer Max Ahlström rehearsed in Max's grandmother kitchen. When they weren't eating what Max's grandmom was cooking, they were recording. They released their first EP Double Toast, Double Flavour was released in 2005 and followed by the Last Week EP in 2007.

While the band's early songs were sunny British indie rock. Today's output is a bit darker and less sunny, which is almost like a reflection of a Scandinavian winter. Their third EP, Cold Spell In Spring has attracted attention from around the world, especially track "Spring Comes Dancing On", which is was ranked in Allscandinavian.com as one of the most popular music videos of the year 2009.

Now their back with new single Boys and Girls and despite the name it is not a blur cover or single re-done. The tune is a fuzzed out rocker that almost has more in common with some form of disco punk than indie disco. Angular, rough, and containing hints of what you would swear would be the Rolling Stones, "Satisfaction," the tune ploughs through the spring thaw with hand claps, chant-like vocals, guitars bouncing off of each other and an inherent catchiness that only the Scandinavians can come up with. That would be good stuff then.

Download: Boys and Girls

It's A National Release

The National have returned...or I guess I should say, are returning. Their new album is called High Violet and is a nervy, melodic, explosive and beautiful set of songs that find the band at the height of their collaborative powers.

The music is wide-ranging in its moods, by turns intimate and rough, expansive and spare, full of stark angles and atmosphere. Berninger’s singing—wild, half-broken, sly—evokes a feeling of being haunted, by love, by paranoia, by something just out of reach. High Violet may be The National’s most thematically twisted record to date but it somehow also manages to be their most infectious and immediate.

And having heard this, if you thought that The National were a big band before, High Violet should take them to the next level somewhere near the stratosphere and The Flaming Lips. This is a mature effort that could have only been made by a band who have slowly plotted their ascent. As if to prove that point, the band will be playing several multi-date shows in a few select cities.

Here's those dates...
Apr 22 The National Richmond, Virginia
Apr 23 The National Richmond, Virginia
May 21 The Wiltern Los Angeles, California
May 22 The Wiltern Los Angeles, California
May 23 Spreckels Theatre San Diego, California
May 26 Fox Theatre Oakland, California
May 27 Fox Theatre Oakland, California
May 29 Sasquatch Quincy, Washington
Jun 2 House of Blues Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 3 House of Blues Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 4 Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 5 Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 6 Dar Constitution Hall Washington DC, Washington DC
Jun 8 Massey Hall Toronto
Jun 9 Massey Hall Toronto
Jun 16 Radio City Music Hall New York, New York
Jul 27 Prospect Park Brooklyn, New York
Jul 31 Osheaga Festival Montreal

Download: Bloodbuzz Ohio

The Juggernauts Return (a wee bit late)

Ok, I'm way way way way late on posting this. That's my fault. Why, it took me so long is beyond me, especially considering how much I love the Juggernauts.

That being said, the Midnight Juggernauts released a new online single two weeks ago (Vital Signs) on their own Siberia Records and to celebrate their return they've released a couple of new tracks and mixes AND a mixtape. In addition, the New Technology record is still available from Acephale Records and can be purchased online or on vinyl if you can find it.

Here's the breakdown...
First up is the b-side from the almost sold out 7" that Acephale released, it comes to us from the always stellar Babe Rainbow, who recently put out his debut EP, 'Shaved,' on Warp Records. This remix is the dark reflection of the original, thick and dubby and sometimes downright frightening.

To contrast and complement that, we've got something a little more conventional rom Toronto's CcenturiesS, who have recently turned out excellent remixes for Fan Death and Lioness. It's a lovely slice of disco funk with one of the best undulating basslines that we've heard in quite a while.

Download: This New Technology (Babe Rainbow Dark Dubby Remix)
Download: This New Technology (CenturiesS Remix)
Download: Juggernauts Mixtape

Mike Monday Kicks The Week Off

VVWI Recordings considers Mike Monday one of the family. Having long been a stalwart guest playing back to back DJ sessions with Tim Sheridan over the years (with an honourable mention to Back to Basics '09)they thought it seemed just plain mental not to have a track from him out on the label when he was one of their most frequent and well loved guests behind the decks.

Your Body is a return to the increasingly inaccurately named and elusive "Classic Monday Sound". VVWI has been a fan of Mike since he first re-emerged as the dancefloor beast of monster island some years ago. It's been a bitter sweet feeling for the label to witness his spectacular rise and they were overjoyed to finally have roped the wonky creature that is Your Body to the corral and ridden it around for a bit, whooping until it throws us off and stamps on our face.

The tune itself starts out like the Chipmunks (they they are again) lost in The Matrix only to explode into a beast of a tune with evil synths, a bleepy pulse, and loads of demonic hand claps that take us deep into the netherworld. It's a bit minimal, a bit spooky, and very very good and explains all to clearly why Very Very Wrong Indeed love this guy. Mike Monday is the voice of a demon run through a keyboard and unleashed upon an unsuspecting public and as the label says...it's very very wrong indeed.

Download: Your Body (Radio Edit)

We Frame This City

Frame the City is the electronic pop project of Nate Moceri. Nate hails from Seattle, Washington, but now permanently resides in Portland, Oregon. Nate is an accomplished songwriter and composer with film/TV credits including several shows on MTV.

Frame The City recently self-released the "We Were Wolves EP" on February 9, 2010. Nate's frequent collaborators include vocalist Katie Byron and vocalist Ashley Ennis, who both contributed vocals to the new EP. Katie sings on the track below. Nate has referred to the We Were Wolves EP as the "official introduction of Frame The City" as their debut release in 2008 was more of an experimental record as he was trying to develop his sound.

With all his professional experience, it should be no surprise that Nate clearly knows how to write a pop song; and he does...repeatedly. Taking bits and bobs from the Postal Service but making something far lusher and shoegazey, We Are Wolves is anything but a clone. In listening to the EP you can tell that Frame the City is definitely in touch with it's inner heartbreak but that heartbreak gets caught in a swirly haze of guitars and synths. It's heavenly stuff that might just bring some of you to tears. In fact, this record is so good that if you listen closely you can hear Ben Gibbard running to Zoey D for a hug because of 1) how good it really is 2) he's jealous he didn't write any of the songs.

Download: We Were Wolves
Download: Whisper In Winter

For The 2000th Time

No, The 2000 aren't a Y2K error stuck in the past, they're a Italian duo from the Eternal City who simply decided to sacrifice their souls to the Music Gods. Upon completion of this pact, the duo were forced to don white masks because of their inability to physically display emotions by any means other than music. (Really, their musical Deatheaters armed w/two turntables and a Ableton.)

Since they love music and seek to create music that make people go insane, this isn't really an issue. As they tell it, they make tracks that they would want to hear with the hope that those around them will want to hear them as well.

They do a pretty good job of it as they take the best bits of things and super glue them together in an attempt to a) confuse the hell out of your drunken dancing ass b) make you go insane or at least your feet on the middle of the dance floor and c) prove that technology is a wonderful creative thing.

With pounding bass lines, seriously sharp edits, and a sense of what works on your feet, The 2000 do a pretty good job at making their emotions pretty evident.

Download: Steroids (The 2000 Remix)
Download: Jump Up (The 2000 Remix)

No Frills From Pitch Twit and Prod

Pitch Twit is the pseudonym of Yorkshire musician and producer Tom Sidebottom. This young producer's music is about melody and energy and when he's not making it, he's issuing it. You see Tom is also co-founder and producer of Exceptional Records.

Prod, meanwhile, dares to challenge the unknown, creating a raw, edgy but freakishly smooth blend of hybridized musical conventions. He takes the musical ethos of his past, and distorts it for the present, putting together an album of astounding jazz-soaked, glitched out neo-soul beats, all tightly wound and interlinked within in his salad day influences of old school jungle, techno and electronica.

Pitch Twit takes one of Prod’s vocals and places it beautifully over a spacious house backing – giving Prod’s soulful voice centre stage. The track’s pace is perfect – everything happens at the right time, and the rolling bass line and spacious chords give the track that ‘I could listen to this all day’ sort of quality. At the same time, the beats are crisp and energetic – giving the track dance floor appeal – maybe an outdoor terrace next to the beach.

Download: Prod - No Frills (Pitch Twit Remix)
You can purchase the single HERE

Russell Young Goes to Work

Russell Young is an independent/unsigned artist from Waynesboro, VA and who has only been at it for a year. Strong, witty, clever lyrics, draped over hard hitting southern and east coast beats, let Russell sound like a young LL Cool J if he were somehow caught in a wormhole and wound up in 2010.

Sure, he's influenced by east coast hip hop but at times his enunciation and flow just have that similarity to LL and you can't help but wonder at what point he's going to yell out, "I Can't Live Without My Radio." Russell is clearly on to something here and it really comes as no surprise that he was nominated the for "Best Underground Rap Artist" in the south at the "Underground Music Awards Show" in Manhattan New York in the summer of 2008.

Since then he's literally made his way up and down the eastern seaboard playing and rhyming where ever he could all in the hopes of getting his name out there. It's working and when you add in the fact that he's set a goal for himself to release at least two new singles every other month will go a long way to establishing himself as one of the busiest guys in indie hop.

He'll be dropping a mix tape this summer, but until then, check out a few tracks from his prolific work schedule and don't forget his name because the guy will be big.

Download: I Try

Download: Pusha Man

Monster Movie...Returns

Christian Savill of Slowdive never gave up music when his most famous band called it a day. Oh no, rather than pack it in, Savill continued working with his partner in musical crime, Sean Hewson for well over twenty years. Over that span of time together, they've put together a resume of feedback driven guitar music that stretches as far as the eye can see. Originally teaming up in a band known as Eternal, the band went into seclusion for several years only to return later as Monster Movie in 2000. Over the course of this decade the pair have slowly aged their sound into something more pop driven than Slowdive and far more ethereal than most pop. Confused? You can hear this for yourself on their latest album, Everyone Is A Ghost.

No, Monster Movie don't sound like Slowdive. Instead, oddly enough, they end up sounding a bit like late period Ride throughout most Everyone Is A Ghost. They might hate me for saying that but really that's not a bad thing at all. You see, no other band took shoegazing, rock and roll, and indie and combined it into something that was palatable for the mainstream quite like Ride did. Here Monster Movie is doing something very similar with great results. So, comparisons aside, Everyone Is A Ghost is still a swirly noisy racket with lush synth arrangements added for good measure. But rather than being a duo of musos who love effect pedals and washed out keyboards more than life, Monster Movie construct something catchy tuneful amongst the haze. Whether they are at their moodiest or at their most upbeat, they manage to wrap their dreamy, distorted guitars around a synthy pop shell making Monster Movie far from being a scary proposition. In fact, Everyone Is A Ghost is so likeable that it's almost impossible not to find the tunes on this record appealing.

Monster Movie do a fantastic job at combining all the elements of music that they love the most into an arty combination of unearthly music with a brilliant pop sensibility. From the moody banjo on, "In the Morning," to the weary seasonal hymn of, "Fall," Everyone Is A Ghost is a well structured album of dream pop that sounds like shoegazing was brought into the future, updated, and sent back. It's a great record and if you've ever considered yourself a fan of the genre, you can't do much better than Everyone Is A Ghost. Revivalism has never sounded so broody and fantastic.

Download: Silver Knife
Download: Bored Beyond Oblivion

Dave Wrangler Wrangles A Few More...

The busiest man in Texas, Dave Wrangler, continues our Day of Dave's here at the POP Stereo with a host of new tracks that he's been working on lately.

The guy is like an assembly line of tuneage and probably never finds time to sleep or eat because if he's not working on music, he's out somewhere DJing either in Houston (his home) or some other city/state/country. The man's schedule is the definition of redonkulous.

Clearly possessing the eternal groove, he manages to balance it all with ease and you can hear that in most of his work. He uses sound palettes from all musical disciplines to create his internationally-acclaimed remixes and it's pretty amazing what he comes up with.

As if to prove a point, in the time it takes you to download the tunes below, my guess is that Dave will already have completed a new track because that's just how efficient this guy is.

Download: Roc Boys
Download: Take It In Baby

David Tattersall's Been Happy For A While

David Tattersall, the lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter from the Wave Pictures, releases his debut solo album Happy For A While on wiaiwya records in June 2010. It will be a limited edition vinyl only release, including a digital download of all the tracks. The album includes the first UK single release of 2010 “Happy For A While”, and the new single "Between My Ear And The Cradle".

The album features guest appearances from long time Wave Pictures collaborator Stanley Brinks (AKA Andre Herman Dune), and Clemence Freschard, and was written and recorded last Spring in Berlin.

Typically understated and downbeat - or what Nick Lowe described as the sound of “a man who has opted to plough a righteous but lonely furrow” – the title track’s signature lyric, “lonely but not alone”, sets up an album of outsider art, skewed views and bittersweet bedsit pop.

Tattersall channels the disaffected spirit of Morrissey, the whip-smart pen of Edwyn Collins and the dusty outback of The Go-Betweens’ Before Hollywood. In a parallel universe, the bookies would already have stopped taking bets on Happy For A While topping the end of year album polls.

Download: Happy For A While (via Yousendit)

Fuck Me I'm Twee! NYC POPFEST 2010

NYC POPFEST in the past has brought indie-pop to the forefront of New York’s indie rock scene. Having championed locals such as The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, My Teenage Stride, The Secret History, Human Television, The Drums, Knight School and countless others they’ve also brought international indie-pop to New York. From Sweden’s Love Is Al and The Radio Dept. to the UK’s The Orchids, NYC POPFEST has brought indie-pop to New York on a global scale.

In its fourth year, NYC POPFEST continues the tradition of presenting fine forms of pop from all over the world. This year features a mix of old and new. With the United Kingdom’s The Wake, Veronica Falls and Tender Trap, Sweden’s The Embassy and Massachusetts’ Pants Yell! all doing headlining duties, this year’s line-up is not to be missed!

The Wake – (Performs May 22nd at The Bell House in Brooklyn)
One the most influential acts to come out of the Sarah / Factory Records era, The Wake will be gracing their jangly pop on gritty New York ground. With this being their only show in New York, missing out one of time’s most underrated bands would be a crime.

Download: O Pamela

Veronica Falls – Performs May 20th at The Cake Shop in New York)
Upcoming UK act has been labeled by Pitchfork as “C86 / Sarah Records revivalists” and having an exciting live show could be one of this year’s breakout acts.

Download: Starry Eyes

Tender Trap – (Performs May 21st at Don Hill’s in New York)
Featuring Amelia Fletcher of Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, Marine Research and various incarnations – Tender Trap has been making exquisite female vocal fronted pop for the past decade. Having released albums on classic indie pop label Matinee Recordings and classic indie rock label K, Tender Trap is another fine addition to the line-up.

Download: Oh Katrina

The Embassy – (Performs May 23rd at Littlefield in Brooklyn)
Swedish-pop has always been a forefront in indie-pop and Gothenburg’s duo are just another example. With records released on Sweden’s Service (Jens Lekman, The Tough Alliance, Whitest Boy Alive, etc) their synthpop laden songs are not to be missed. This will mark their first show in the United States!

Download: It Pays To Belong

Pants Yell! – (Performs May 21st at Don Hill’s in New York)
Making their last performance in New York, Pants Yell! has been a staple of American indie-pop for almost a decade. With their last album being released on classic label Slumberland, make sure not to miss their last show in New York city ever!

Download: Cold Hands

For more information CLICK HERE

And if anyone wants to send me to this...well that would be amazing because this is going to be an unreal festival!

Oh My Dear Disco

Ann Arbor, Michigan’s My Dear Disco was handpicked by Todd Edwards to remix his new single I Might Be. Todd Edwards known for his collaboration with Daft Punk (co-produced the track “Face To Face” on Discovery which hit #1 on Billboard’s Club Charts) and remixed of artists such as Justice and Klaxons found the band through hearing their single “White Lies.” After seeing them live, he was hook and sold on the band’s incredible live show and music.

Having also remixed songs “Love Lockdown” by Kanye West and “Ulysses” by Franz Ferdinand, their remixes have been around the dance floor a few times. Their new remix of “I Might Be” doesn’t stray from that direction and completely picks up the pace on Todd Edwards’ smooth new track.

Think of My Dear Disco as a bit Hercules and Love Affair, a bit St. Etienne, a bit Intastella, and a bit Donna Summer. The create huge pop productions that sounds like they belong on FM radio and in huge mega clubs. Not bad for a band from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Catch them on their massive tour this summer...
04.11.10 @ Butler Hancock Sports Pavilion in Greeley, Colorado
04.17.10 @ Salem High School in Canton, Michigan
04.21.10 @ Case Western in Cleveland, Ohio
04.23.10 @ Glasslands in Brooklyn, New York
04.24.10 @ Lasell College in Auburndale, Massachusetts
04.25.10 @ Harper’s Ferry in Allston, Massachusetts
04.27.10 @ Castaways in Ithaca, New York
04.28.10 @ The Khyber in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
04.29.10 @ Bar Matchless in Brooklyn, New York
04.30.10 @ Stonehill College in North Easton, Massachusetts
05.01.10 @ Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts
05.01.10 @ Green Mountain College in
05.07.10 @ Harper’s Restaurant & Brewpub in East Lansing, Michigan
05.12.10 @ Majestic Café in Detroit, Michigan
05.14.10 @ The Loading Dock in Traverse City, Michigan
05.15.10 @ The Loading Dock in Traverse City, Michigan
05.24.10 @ Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington
05.25.10 @ Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington
05.26.10 @ Pierce College in Puyallup, Washington
05.27.10 @ Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington
05.27.10 @ Everett Community College in Everett, Washington
05.28.10 @ University of Washington – Tacoma in Tacoma, Washington
05.29.10 @ Summer Camp in Chillicothe, Illinois
05.30.10 @ Summer Camp in Chillicothe, Illinois
06.18.10 @ Ann Arbor Summer Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan
06.25.10 @ Mad Frog in Cincinnati, Ohio
06.26.10 @ Lexington Pride Festival in Lexington, Kentucky
07.03.10 @ Floyd Fandango in Floyd, Virginia
07.04.10 @ Floyd Fandango in Floyd, Virginia
07.09.10 @ The Loading Dock in Traverse City, Michigan

Download: I Might Be (My Dear Disco Remix)

Download: Love Lockdown (My Dear Disco Remix)
Download: Ulysses (My Dear Disco Remix)

Their Name Is B.R.U.C.E.

Amsterdam's Magnetron, home of Le Le and Rimer London, keep literally banging out the hits and with an increasingly impressive stable and slew of amazing tunes it doesn't look like they'll be slowing down anytime soon. With a new sub label, Instant Replay, being launched the label has released/leaked their first release from B.R.U.C.E. entitled, The Wallet.

B.R.U.C.E.'s (Billionaire - Rambunctious - Under - Circumstances - Extraordinaire) tune to excess, mindlessness and cash money is like Green Velvet if he were possessed. Bangin' it's way through beats like a maniac and vocals that sound like the devil himself, the tune is a dark disco destroyer. It's blindingly brilliant for it's creating something so simple but hypnotically groovy. Awesome stuff then.

Throw in a couple of remixes and you have a single destined for great things. The Souljack Remix (below) is a deep jacking analog remix by Tom Trago, who has become a rapidly rising star on the deeper end of house. His album Voyage Direct on Rush Hour (released last year) has put him on the map as a producer to reckoned with.

Download: The Wallet (Original)
Download: The Wallet (Tom Trago's Souljack Remix)

Not A Momma's Boy

Mike Gnacadja is exploding on the international scene! Hot off his releases on Sound Pellegrino and Anabatic as Momma’s Boy and AKA bass-merchant MikiX the Cat with the Trouble and Bass crew. We’re proud to present both sides of his musical personality on “At Night”! The combination delivers a massive house sound laced with a touch of tropical, a seasoning of bass and generous portion of good-old rave, “At Night” is destined to destroy it!

The Ep starts with the title track - “At Night” – a peak-time-hands-in-the-air-sweat-down-the-back-rave-infused-house-banger. Then moves on to “Like That” full of a warbling signal alarm and tribal percussion – keep them hands in the air. “Down To The Floor” keeps the massive house party vibe in full effect with a touch of UKF in the mix and we round out the originals with more huge house/rave action with “Party Rock”! It’s a hurricane of party-awesomeness!

Oh yeah, and then there's the slew of remixes. Italy’s Supabeatz takes “At Night” and kicks up the squelchy synths while French newcomer Søvngaer flips the same into a melodic house progression. Austin’s Dubbel Dutch cools down the original with some smooth chords before he kranks up the rave-stabs. Australia’s Act Yo Age pushes “At Night” deeper with some creamy house and Nightshifters label head DJ Donna Summer takes you on a bass-fueled trip to the underground.

While you get your head around all that, download the damn thing.

Download: Momma's Boy -vs- MikiX the Cat - At Night

Pull No Punches

As you may or may not know, Brooklyn is pretty much the US capital of music right now. So much music is coming out of this area of NY that's it's pretty much impossible to keep up with. The funny thing about Brooklyn though, is much like the area itself, the stuff coming out of there is incredibly diverse. You have all sorts indie, all sorts of dance, world music inflected stuff...it's just all over the place and that's truly a great thing that should help the area remain fertile for at least a while.

Among the heaps of talent crawling around the area is PUNCHES. PUNCHES was formed on a late and snowy night in December 2009 when DJ twins Finger On The Pulse shared a cab with Alan Astor and The Kid Robb. During that cab right the four of them talked about what would make the perfect soundtrack for the upcoming summer and it was at that point that PUNCHES was born.

Having been around for under a year, their rise has been quick. They've already remixed Au Revoir Simone's, "Only You," written a few of their own tunes, and of course put together a mixtape which features all of that and a whole lot more.

With spring here, it seems to make sense to start thinking of the summer and thanks to the PUNCHES mixtape below you can start planning your holiday now because you already have the soundtrack.

Download: Somebody Has To Help You Mixtape
Tracklist:
Romanthony - Hold On
PUNCHES - Let Go
Panther Hands - Young Gifted and Brown
Chicane ft Tom Jones - Stoned In Love (Young Punx Remix)
Swick - Grow Up (Cassian Remix)
Au Revoir Simone - Only You (PUNCHES Remix)
Classixx - I'll Get You (Treasure Fingers Remix)
Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes Remix)
Figure & Sleepy T - It's Only Love
Haritas - Your Love
PUNCHES ft Alan Astor - Feeling Right

The Young Sinclairs

One more before I get back to the game...so pardon the quick post and press speak.

Hailing from the Blue Ridge Valley settlement of Roanoke, located in southwestern Virginia, the Young Sinclairs is a highly accomplished and gifted conglomerate of enterprising young mavericks steeped in the traditions of tuneful entertainment.

Armed with tube amps, 12 strings, and enough reverb to swath half of the continent in a pool of electronically amplified pop-art, this group of musical magicians pluck, bang, and wail their way across the highways in search of open minds and ears.

The diverse melodic material that drips from the golden-loomed pen of chief songwriter and vocalist Sam Lunsford spreads far and wide across the sonic landscape while remaining firmly rooted in the primitive earthly cadence of folk-based rock and roll music. Below-the-belt Dionysian rhythmical insistence blends with shimmering Apollonian transcendental beauty into a unique and distinctly modern American experience, though structurally and conceptually indebted to the techniques developed by pioneer genius musicians of the past, particularly the 1960's.

In other words take some Brian Jonestown Massacre, mix it with some more psychedelic pop, throw on a paisley shirt, crank up the lava lamps and there you have the Young Sinclairs. These guys embrace the 60's like it was their long lost brother and for that I admire them immensely. In an age where everything is stupidly day glo here's a band that knows truly when and where the best music ever, came from.

Download: Tribe

Sue For Sensual Harrassment

Just when you think Brooklyn has stopped churning out bands, and you pretty much have the area's sound down, here comes yet another band/group/artist from the area. with a clever play on words and a sound that's as seductive as their name, Sensual Harassment have just released their latest single, Fever.

Picking up where the much-blogged/buzzed about Soldier/Daddy Long Legs EP left off Fever has massive hooks, a driving synth line and a beat that bangs it's way home in an almost post baggy drugged out haze. This is the sound of 1992 brought back to life by a bunch of New Yorkers who probably were like three when all this stuff was popular initially. For us old folks, Sensual Harassment are like a throwback to something Chapterhouse could have recorded but never did.

Working again with engineer Jesse Cannon (The Cure, Animal Collective), the band has mastered the delicate art of making vintage gear sound new and listening carefully to their influences while still creating a galvanizing sound looks forward while joyously taking from the past. Sensual Harassment are a fantastic band that seem miles ahead (or behind) many of their local peers.

Download: Fever

Download: Daddy Long Legs

Aman Ellis was the Crunkasaurus

After the dismemberment of his successful band The Great Big No! in 2008, Aman Ellis turned to his side project Crunkasaurus Sex. After finding solace with midi controllers, studio monitors, and electronic production, he decided to get out of Alabama and move to the Big Apple. He landed in Brooklyn, NY, and changed his production name to the one he was born with, Aman Ellis. His first official release, All The Things - EP, was issued on February 11, 2010 on Abstract Logic Recordings.

All The Things shows an artist coming into his own and growing out of his Crunkasaurus Sex phase. With a melodic quality that's impressive and the ability to shift gears faster then Michael Schumacher, Aman Ellis is a talent that the world will soon have to reckon with. Whether it's tech house, italo, or glitchy stuff, the guy can write a tune almost as if it was second nature to him. Truly a talent to keep an eye on especially if you live up in good ol' New York.

Download: Dante's Express Way

Listen: All The Things

Introducing Your Prom Kings....

The Prom Kings are a dynamic duo from Montreal, Canada. The group consists of two dudes (The Sonixx and Alex Mof aka Mo-Fo) from suburban Quebec who have recently moved to the city to pursue and embrace music and the rock and roll lifestyle.

They should find themselves right at home when they arrive as they've been DJing for years and taking pictures of parties whenever they're not behind the decks. They're ready for the big time and with a set of original tracks and remixes designed to destroy sound systems, dance floors, and your mind, they should pretty much be able to accomplish that.

With a sound that pretty much comes off like a blaster battle with beats, their tunes the gamut and include French flourishes, piano house overtones, dubstep drops and enough wobble to make you seasick. In other words...good stuff.

Download: Bitchez Get Down
Download: Nujax - Beat Gon Boom (Prom Kings Remix)

Up In High Places

From the super cool records you want to own department comes the announcement of a new High Places 12" Single.

High Places began as an experiment in collaboration: two people with diverse artistic backgrounds coming together to merge their skills, aesthetic tastes, and music-making approaches. Robert Barber grew up listening to punk and hardcore, and Mary Pearson studied bassoon performance, but both gravitated toward a DIY compositional style and a love of layers. It is the affinity for layering that has thus far defined the duo, both in ideas and instrumentation. High Places’ songs contain a fascinating range of aural layers: bells and bird calls over a wash of ocean waves; mallets hitting mixing bowls over treated guitar and glockenspiel; Mary's reflective vocals over Rob's homemade beats. The result is an imaginative and spacious amalgamation of sounds with a unique, almost Caribbean undertone that is as immediate as it is refreshing.

Way back last Halloween, High Places released a digital single entitled "I Was Born" (perhaps ironically addressing the subject of birth as a precursor to the new album?) that demonstrated Rob Barber and Mary Pearson using more standard instrumentation than the two had employed in the past. In March, the band released another digital single, this one a remix, called "Can't Feel Nothing (HP Remix)". On both of these, as on their new album High Places vs. Mankind, guitars play an important role, and on this single the band has often kept them sounding like guitars. Mary's vocals are less effected and more present. But many aspects of the High Places sound and aesthetic remain intact. One hears dance rhythms, stereo effects, accessible melodies, dub influence, and as always, a love of layering and of combining the unexpected into something cohesive and new. A faster pace and darker tone also seem to permeate through the singles and this new 12" collects these tracks as well as their unheard counterparts.

If you're wondering what all this sounds like, it's an uncomplicated collision between a 48 track digital recording and Laika! Somewhat tribal, somewhat dancey, and most definitely fascinating, High Places will keep your ears guessing and transfixed by the music they create. It's fantastic stuff that doesn't have many peers.

Pressed on 150 gram opaque colored vinyl (white with a slight touch of blue speckled in), this 12" arrives on April 20th in a limited edition of 1,000. It is housed in a DJ style jacket with black print photographs on each side. The LP labels are printed in full color from the original photos so that they will match up with the artwork and fill the void left by the holes in the jacket! Trust us, it looks cool.

Download: Can't Feel Nothing (HP Remix)
Download: On Giving Up

Felix Cartal Wants You To Love Popular Music

This week has been a nightmare. If you read the blog regularly you'll see that things haven't been to regular this week. I've barely had chance to sleep let alone post on here thanks being absolutely buried. It's been a nightmare but the good thing is, this week is over.

Hello weekend! That being said, lets kick off this Friday in style with an ass kicker from our good friend Felix Cartal. The man is pretty much becoming synonymous with the words hard house and his album Popular Music is the reason why. The record squiggles, bangs and clangs its way through the dance floor, drags you back on it and then has its way with you. And that's just the first couple of tunes. By the end you'll be begging for mercy but there will be none.

That being said, Felix Cartal knows that you will love Popular Music so much, he is extending his North American tour. While he could pack it after tearing the roofs off clubs in Austin, Miami and countless cities in between he's decided to come back for more and beat you up one more time. Cartal’s recently released debut (March 30th) kicks off with the eponymous opener and is a ravey, banger built around a catchy vocal line, “Break-it down / Smash it up / Back to where you begin /Take it left / Take it right / Come on say it again.” And that ladies and gentlemen pretty much sums up Felix in a nutshell throw in his characteristic larger-than-life beats and catchy, fuzzed-out melodies and you have one hell of an album.

Here are those dates...
Apr 2: New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Apr 3: Dallas, TX @ Lizzard Lounge
Apr 6: Boston, MA – Wonderbar
Apr 8: Charleston, SC – Daily Dose
Apr 15: Denver, CO – Beta
Apr 23: Phoenix, AZ – Barsmith
Apr 24: San Francisco, CA – Triple Crown
July 16: New York, NY – Camp Bisco Festival
Aug 28: Monterrey, CA – Hellow Festival

Download: World Class Drive (Keatch Remix)