Atashi Tada Gets Sick

Atashi Tada was born in Riga, Latvia and began her musical career at age of 6 in a piano class at school. From that moment on, it's been nothing short of a white knuckle roller coaster ride that's included participation as a vocalist in several rock-bands and the creation of a Japanese language musical partnership with a friend. From there she took part in acoustic band covering popular songs and then finally discovered the joys of electronic music. The rest as they say is history.

'Atashi Tada' has two different meanings in Japanese: "Just me", and informal "Me for nothing". In combination they reflect the contradictory nature of the singer's philosophical outlook in a every cynical world. Her versatile nature translates into a clear awareness of imperfection and transience within the material world and yet despite all that her feet are placed firmly on the ground. Such a personality allows Atashi Tada to play with extremes and create vortexes of different energies around herself and that carries on to her music.

At the moment Atashi Tada co-operates with electronic music label Spanda Records based in Berlin, Germany. She's just released her latest single, Sick which you can hear below.

Download: Sick

Download: Acceleration

Saharan Gazelle Boy Has A Strange Teen Heart

Strange Teen Heart is the second Record Machine release for Saharan Gazelle Boy, a collaboration between Capybara's Darin Seal and Sea Change (aka Sarah Handelman). The EP is a super-quad of songs that conjure the love, loneliness and naivete of teendom while continuing to develop the sleepy, bedroom pop of Saharan's Airplane's Can't.

The melodramatic, synth-pop is the soundtrack for the shy, 1980s, pretty-but-doesn't-know-it high school girl in all of us.

This new batch of songs was recorded over the course of many sun-soaked afternoons, and they couldn't wait to get them out so here we are . A special co-release with the Record Machine and San Francisco-based Paper Brigade, Strange Teen Heart, is available on the Record Machine website and will be released on iTunes later this month.

Download: Halfhair Girl

Hey Champ

Chicago Trio Hey Champ were recently invited to take part in remixing their friends Gemini Club's new single "Ghost" as part of the run up to that group's new album release. Hey Champ infused the single with their signature futuristic sound, taking a stellar original to a parallel dimension.

Gemini Club returned the favor with a frosty back room remix version of Hey Champs hit single "Cold Dust Girl", from their recently released debut album Star. The record has been praised by the likes of Venus, Time Out Chicago, Pop Matters, and the Wall Street Journal for their "infectious synth pop". They're currently on tour showcasing material from the album with energetic performances that had even the most bashful crowds moving. "They brought the house down," wrote the LA Weekly about a performance in Los Angeles last month. "Armed with only a synthesizer, drum kit, and guitar these guys have put together a debut album of well-crafted, '80s tinged dance pop."

Download: Gemini Club - Ghost (Hey Champ remix)
Download: Hey Champ - Cold Dust Girl (Gemini Club remix)

Miami Horror, Memory Tapes, and Your Mom Team Up

Fresh off their successful summer tour and US debut, Melbourne-based group Miami Horror was featured on NPR this week, and released a Memory Tapes remix of their second single "I Look to You."

The original track is the second single from Miami Horror's recently-released debut album, Illumination, which features contributions from Swedish singer MAI, Melbourne-based chanteuse Kimbra, Dappled Cities' Tim Derricourt, and Neon Indian/Vega's Alan Palomo.

Download: I Look To You (Memory Tapes Remix)

I'm Not A Band Again...

I'm not a Band is a band, but not really in the traditional sense. Rather than a power trio or quartet, I'm Not A Band instead is an explosive band of tunes, sounds and catchy melodies composed, produced and played by classical musician Stephan J and new vocalist Kassandra Papak.

Brought up by professional musicians in the north of Germany, Stephan soon wanted to make music himself – and he started playing the violin, later drums, guitar and the piano. From 2005-2006 he lived in London and was fascinated and inspired by London's music culture. It was just at the beginning of 2008 that he started 'playing laptop' as an outlet for his musical cravings. Combining club-like beats with sometimes dirty, sometimes glitchy sounds, I'm Not A Band still preserves a unique sound by using classical instruments such as the violin. In 2009 Jana D. joined the project for the vocals and for live shows but she recently parted ways and has since been replaced with Kassandra Papak. Oddly enough, she also plays violin.

It's good stuff in that oh, so German way; cold, clinical and designed to destroy dance floors this is like what would happen if Miss Kittin and the hacker had a sense of what makes good pop music.

Download: To Be Honest

Goldfrapp Are Believers

British pop pioneers Goldfrapp release their next single Believer will be released on September 6th and available to download and purchase along with remixes by Joris Voorn, Vince Clarke, Subway and Davide Rossi.

The single, from Head First is Goldfrapp's most powerful trip to date, a speedy rush of synth optimism, euphoria, fantasy and romance. The diversity, ambition and direction of the new album continues to highlight Goldfrapp as true agenda-setters and modern British musical icons.

Download: Believer (Little Loud Remix)

Three Left Clubfeet

Melbourne-via-Capetown trio Clubfeet are excited to announce the release of their debut album Gold on Gold with NY dance label Plant Music, set for release on July 27th.

Gold on Gold comes just in time for summer: their songs double as beach party anthems and four-on-the-floor club bangers and may have you believe they were recorded on warm nights on the Cote d'Azur, and then mixed on the last Concorde over the Atlantic. Having drawn comparisons by critics to Hot Chip, Teenagers, and Junior Boys, their whimsical lyrics and tear-jerking melodies offer a different take on the usual tales of lost love, late night parties, and infidelities.

"Teenage Suicide," is a perfect example of this and also shows the band to either love Heather's quite a bit OR love Unrest quite a bit. The song is instantly memorable and will have you wanting to steal things with Winona Ryder or talk like Jack Nicholson w/Christian Slater. Check it out for yourself and then take a lunch time poll.

Download: Teenage Suicide

Put Coltrane In Motion

Coltrane Motion might seem like some John Coltrane revival or tribute, but alas, it is not. Coltrane Motion instead is a duo who specialize in something that sounds like a shoegazing geek lost in the middle of a James Murphy DJ set. It other words it's a wall of sound with repetitive beats.

The band themselves describe what they've done as making a dance record that sounds like what they dance to: girl groups and big beat and fuzzed-out indiepop. They wanted to make a shoegazing laptop record out of drum breaks, drone and broken synthesizers and then call it rock n roll.

They've done a good job at it as these guys create super danceable grooves with a strong sense of melody and more pedal usage than a car. It's fantastic stuff that unites two distinct camps in a way that Curve used to all the time.

Download: I Forgot There Was A War On

Download: Please Call It A Comeback

Thieves Like Us

Thieves Like Us are named after a New Order song and are two Swedes and one American living in Berlin, Paris, and Milan. They are one of the only multi-nationals that won't exploit you. Mexicans love them. The French love them. Americans love them. The Japanese love them. Neither Andy Grier (vocals, guitar), Björn Berglund (synth), nor Pontus Berghe (percussion) live in their home countries, and none of them probably ever will again.

Thieves Like Us continue their style of sentimental electronic music with their second long player, Again and Again. Recorded in early 2009 in a basement in Paris, the songs here reflect the mood of the band, and focus particularly on failed relationships, alcoholism, and the yearning for that perfect imaginary soul mate.

While the faster songs like "Shyness," "One Night With You" and "The Walk" are clearly aimed at the French dance floors, there are plenty of downtempo songs here too. "Never Known Love" and "So Clear" fit somewhere in the spectrum of Slowdive or The Cocteau Twins. After following the band through the highs of their nighttime adventures, the album closes with the very intimate ballad "Forget Me Not" and we are left realizing what goes up, must come down.

Download: Forget Me Not

Swedish Band Alert: The Amplifetes

The band, The Amplifetes, think of themselves as a dream team collaboration of their influences - listing 60s Psychedelia, The Electric Light Orchestra, The Ramones, Elvis Costello, David Bowie and Chicago Trax Records house music releases.

The highly crazy, nonsensical but addictive sound that results when you combine all those influences into songs can be heard in The Amplifetes debut single It's My Life. The single, a spitting image of urban life and a happy three-part marriage between garage pop, electro and punk has already made a few waves. It was featured recently in a promo campaign for Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli, starring Milla Jovovich (Zombies, short skirts, 6" heels, Bentleys...just another day at the office), creating quite a stir over europe.

While Europe was going under a financial wave of destruction and Milla was toting her uber-pricey Mastercard, the framework for the production of The Amplifetes debut album was being put together. Dictated by geography and time, the band members never actually met until the album was being mixed. With members in different cities, and writing and recording taking place over the Internet, it made for some interesting times. As bizarre as a situation as this might sound, the parameters created a very special atmosphere for the creative process, or as The Amplifetes singer Peter described it, "a feeling of weightlessness, like being trapped inside a bubble of soft stone."

Eventually, escaping the bubble, The Amplifetes managed to get everything and have recently released their debut album. It might have taken a T1 line and a lot of faceless communication, but they managed to get it done and judging by the single and the tracks below, they may be on to something...

Download: It's My Life
Download: Whizz Kid
Download: Whizz Kid (Blende Remix)
Download: Whizz Kid (Big Beat Remix)
Watch: That Commercial....

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

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

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

Mi Ami Steal Your Face

Mi Ami's second full-length, Steal Your Face, is due out on April 6th and the band is going to be hitting the road in support of it both here and abroad.

They're also giving away the track "Latin Lover" as a first glimpse of the new album. Sounding like BIS stuck in a disco if said disco was in your two car garage and used a blown stereo as it's PA, the band dances itself into a sweaty frenzy of distortion and noise. This must mean that live the following will happen 1) one band member will fall off the stage breaking a limb 2) the venue's PA will blow up in a fit of exhaustion and 3) punters at said venue will lose approximately 20 lbs from doing more dancing than they have ever done in their entire lives resulting in their skinny jeans fitting for the first time ever.

For these reasons you should first download, "Latin Lover," and then second drive, fly, hitch, walk, run to the venue closest to you and see Mi Ami live.

The dates...
Mar 24 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop w/High Places
Apr 9 Chicago, IL The Hideout w/Forest Juziuk (DJ), Running
Apr 10 Detroit, MI Lager House w/Forest Juziuk (DJ), Child Bite
Apr 11 Pittsburgh, PA Gooski's
Apr 12 New York, NY Cake Shop w/Soft Circle
Apr 13 Baltimore, MD Open Space w/Thank You
Apr 14 Philadelphia, PA Danger Danger Gallery w/US Girls, Hot Guts
Apr 15 Washington, DC Velvet Lounge w/Steve Summers, Max D,
Apr 16 Ann Arbor, MI Arbor Vitae Loft w/Peaking Lights
Apr 29 San Francisco, CA Amnesia
May 18 Kortrijk, Belgium De Kreun
May 19 Amsterdam, Netherlands Studio
May 20 Koln, Germany Tsunami
May 21 Leipzig, Germany Conne Island
May 22 Berlin, Germany Volksbuhne Theatre w/Liars
May 23 Krakow, Poland Club Re
May 24 Prague, Czech Republic Klub 007
May 25 Vienna, Austria Fluc
May 27 Bologna, Italy MX24
May 29 Geneva, Switzerland L'Usine w/Wolf Eyes
May 30 Lyon, France Grnd Zero w/Wolf Eyes
May 31 Paris, France La Chaufferrie Du Moulin Rouge
Jun 1 Lille, France La Peniche
Jun 2 Brighton, UK Prince Albert
Jun 3 London, UK Barden's Boudoir
Jun 4 Leeds, UK Nation of Shop Keepers
Jun 5 Glasgow, UK Sleazys w/Divorce
Jun 6 Manchester, UK The Ruby Lounge

Download: Latin Lover

The Bang Bang Club Prepare To Explode

The Bang Bang Clubwill open for business on 3 May, with the release of their debut single, Chemistry.

The Bang Bang Club, in fact, is not a real club, but if it was, it’d be a bloody good one. It’s not a tribute to the group of apartheid photographers with whom they share their name. In truth, they just liked the word ‘bang’.

The band’s long gestation began when John (vocals) and David (synths) met at auditions for another act. Instantly becoming friends, within months they’d formed the band Protocol, been signed by Polydor at their first gig, and toured with the likes of A-Ha and Hard-Fi. Their ill-advised half-shaved/bleached hair made them resemble “a gay Nazi fashion designer”, but the less said about that the better. After the band split, John and David went it alone, and The Bang Bang Club was born.

By night, the band formed part of The House of Blue Eyes - a Warhol-esque collective of artists, performers, and designers, spearheaded by stylist-to-the-stars Johnny Blue Eyes. Yet by day, the band would still show up quite diligently at work, with David in particular opening his then-branch of Ask Pizza in all sorts of states. The Bang Bang Club, then, is as much a band as it is a philosophy of sorts; fusing fashion, music and art without the pretence often gained when you have forgotten where you’ve come from.

Chemistry is a shiny polished gem of a tune. It takes all the groundwork laid by their previous band and ups the ante by about ten. Produced to the nines and with hooks the size of Texas, the band is clearly onto something that could have only come with the trials and tribulations that they've gone through. While it might feel a bit commercial, the band's unabashed love of pop music is what shines through and as they say, it's all about chemistry. The Bang Bang Club is about to go boom.

Download: Chemistry

Download: Chemistry (Seamus Haji Radio Edit)

Falling Hard For The Shout Out Louds

In celebration of the February 23 release of their upcoming album, Work (Merge Records), Sweden's Shout Out Louds are offering the single "Fall Hard."

Work is the band's third album and second for Merge. It was recorded in Seattle and produced by Phil Ek (The Shins, Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses). After a year of touring behind their acclaimed second record, Our Ill Wills, the band went their separate ways -- singer/main songwriter Adam Olenius to Melbourne, Australia, keyboard/vocalist Bebban Stenborg to Los Angeles, drummer Eric Edman, bassist Ted Malmros and guitarist Carl von Arbin back to Stockholm - and took a much needed break. Olenius wrote many of the new songs in Australia in a tiny room, with a little synthesizer, an acoustic guitar and Garageband on his laptop. He passed them on to the others who listened closely from their corners of the world, questioning and challenging him until the songs that make up Work had all passed the test.

Shout Out Louds will be hitting the road throughout the Spring. Here are the dates throughout May...

01 Mar New York / Brooklyn, Music Hall of Williamsburg SOLD OUT!
02 May Washington, 9:30 Club
03 May Philadelphia, First Unitarian Church
05 May New York, Webster Hall
06 May Boston, Paradise
07 May Montreal, Cabaret Music Hall
08 May Toronto, Mod Club
10 May Chicago, Lincoln Hall
11 May Minneapolis, Varsity Theater
14 May Vancouver, Commodore Ballroom
15 May Seattle, Neumos
16 May Portland, Doug Fir
18 May San Francisco, Great American Music Hall
21 May Los Angeles, El Rey

Download: Walls
Download: Fall Hard (Passion Pit Remix)

He's One Heck Of A Motorboater

Most pop songs can be categorized as no more then guilty pleasures, but we all know the truth about why people like them. Sometimes you just want something you can just turn off, sing along and enjoy. Well for those that are looking for something a little more cerebral might enjoy the sweet and sour mismatch of All-American good girl pop icon Taylor Swift and bad girl Uffie from new kid on the block...Motorboater.

While you can barely make out Uffie and she's barely in the tune long enough to figure it out but the song is still syrupy sweet and seeing as though it's 6am as I write this...it sounds pretty damn good. Sweet pure pop goodness from the world of the Billboard Top 40 given a bit of a beat.

Download: You Belong With Me (TSwift vs. Uffie First Love Remix)

Wallpaper. Back Again

Saying that Oakland's Wallpaper. had a great 2009 would be an understatement. They released to their debut album, were featured on the cover of SF Weekly, performed alongside Kid Cudi, Peaches, Amanda Blank and others, and remixed a song that landed them a "Best New Music" nod from Pitchfork and on MTV's Top 10 songs of 2009. Don't expect things to slow down anytime soon.

To kick off 2010, the duo will be headlining Slim's in San Francisco as part of the Noise Pop Festival. To help promote Noise Pop, Wallpaper. will be performing live on the air on Live 105 with Dan Black on February 25th. Following Noise Pop, Wallpaper. will head to Texas for the SXSW Festival, where last year, The Onion's AV Club proclaimed their "...favorite part of the week."

Download: DDD(Menya Remix)
Download: Hood Internet vs. Wallpaper vs. Little Boots

Mike Monday on a Monday...

Mike Monday is rather fine producer from London. He does wonky housey stuff, kind of, but it's much more than that. His stuff is always musically and rhythmically quirky and inventive, and he is a perennial DJ and press favourite. His last two albums (on Playtime and Om Records respectively) showed off his musical breadth and won him all kinds of critical acclaim. He's also got a release coming up on the seminal Get Physical, which you should definitely track down.

Mike has recently put together a rather splendid unofficial remix of the excellent "Girls" by Animal Collective and he has asked me to share it with you. And who are we at POP! Stereo to refuse him, so here you go folks...a nightcap!

Download: Animal Collective - Girls (Mike Monday's Unofficial Remix) (via Mediafire)

Download: Systematic Sessions Mix

Buffetlibre Give PEACE A Chance

Three weeks before the official launch of the PEACE compilation, Buffetlibre announce the latest additions to this new initiative, co-produced by Amnesty International, that will include new exclusive songs by musicians from over 50 countries, building the first musical atlas in the net. PEACE will be released on March 1, 2010, given for free to all those who, through the official PEACE website, make a minimum donation of € 2 in favor of the NGO Amnesty International. All benefits will go to Amnesty International to stand up for humanity and human rights. Their purpose is to protect individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.

To the long list of previously announced participants, featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto, Marc Almond and The Low Anthem, the ensemble of artists who are part of PEACE is completed with artists such as Micah P Hinson (USA), Mogwai (UK), Stereo Total (Germany), The Pet Conspiracy (China), The Hidden Cameras (Canada),Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (USA), Keren Ann (Israel), Jori Hulkkonen (Finland), Martha Galarraga (Cuba), Kiala (Congo), Heiddy Happy (Switzerland) in collaboration with Paul Niehaus from Calexico, and Titi Robin (France). With these additions, 56 countries are represented in the compilation, by some of its best artists.

Buffetlibre is glad to offer PEACE's first single as free-download mp3. The choosen song is "Mike", written and composed by Ivri Lider, one of Israel's most successful singer/songwriters. Ivri Lider's catalog is remarkable both for its sonic diversity and consistent popularity. Since his debut album in 1997, the multi-instrumentalist has seen each of his six albums achieve gold or platinum status and Lider taking home Male Singer of the Year. Over the past decade, he has explored numerous genres ranging from acoustic ballads and pop to rock and electronic music. He is currently working with internationally acclaimed producer Andy Green (Keane) on his next album.

Download: Ivri Lider - Mike
Download: The Requesters - Breakin Up
Download: The Antlers - Two (Buffetlibre Remix)