People are listening to some groovy tunes at my college. These are the songs that people have really been digging/playing fairly constantly over the past few weeks. It’s some quality stuff! Digg it up below:
[MP3] : MGMT – Kids
[MP3] : Kings Of Leon – Sex On Fire
[MP3] : Vampire Weekend – One (Blake’s Got A New Face)
[MP3] : The Decemberists – Valerie Plame
[MP3] : The Walkmen – The Rat
[MP3] : The Little Ones – Morning Tide
Like the title says, 2008 was pretty good for Mason Proper. Their new album “Olly Oxen Free” got great press and is sure to be on a lot of year end lists, possibly even mine! They got good reviews from The Tripwire at CMJ, played cool live sessions at WOXY, Daytrotter, and My Old Kentucky Blog on Sirius. Their video for their song ‘Lock and Key’ is up for Subterranean’s Best of 2008. To watch the video, click the link below! To vote click here. Their album was a pretty solid, consistent record that surprised me. It was my introduction to them, and I definetly reccomend finding it before the year is over!
[Video] : Mason Proper – Lock And Key
[MP3] : Mason Proper – Fog
Things are getting quick messy in the blog world. Well, at least for blogger users. Over the past month and a half, many blogs have had their posts removed because of the music industry/RIAA/DMCA. Those are not friendly words eh?? Basically the music industry is deleting bloggers posts without talking to the bloggers because of songs that they feel they shouldn’t have posted. This boggles my mind. We are using our love for music to try to promote good bands that matter to us. It is free promotion, yet they feel we are trying to steal from them? We aren’t the one’s to be going after…Anyway the point of my post is to bring another bloggers post to your attention. He wrote a letter directly to the music industry, and I think it deserves to be read from all of you. It is from the blog The Good, The Bad, and The Unknown:
Dear Industry:I am a blogger. I have been a blogger for almost three years. I do this out of the love for music industry. I buy anywhere from 2-3 new albums a week. I believe in buying music. I believe in supporting the artists. And most importantly, I believe in the music business…the corporations, the suits, everyone pulling the strings behind the scenes. I believe in supporting them as much as I believe in supporting the artists, themselves. Without the suits…the industry would fall apart.
In the past few weeks, it has come to our attention that the music industry has gone on the offensive against the bloggers. Sending out Cease & Desist Letters, threatening to shut down the bloggers for posting tracks. Without a warning, bloggers are getting shot down for doing nothing more than promoting music.
Dear Industry…we are not the enemy…we are your biggest fans. We do not do this for money, trust me…there’s no money to be made. We do this for the love of music. And not just the artists…like I said before…we do this for the love of the industry. The bloggers can’t survive without you. We need the music industry as much as we need the artists. Therefore what we are doing isn’t in an effort to undermine you…everything we are doing is to support you and ensure your survival. Like I said, there’s no money in it for us…the only one who benefits from our posts is you.
You may disagree, but take time to read our blogs. All we are doing is promoting music. Your music. And we do this for free. FREE. We do not ask for a dime in return. What we ask is for our readers to go out and BUY your music. Since most of us do not get paid, we do not waste time writing about music we don’t like. Therefore if we’re spending our time writing about music, it’s in an effort to encourage our readers to go out and buy it…to go out and BUY YOUR MUSIC.
Your issue with us is that we give away songs. But please, believe us when we say we only do this to convince our readers that the music we are praising is as good as we are claiming. We do not believe in giving away albums. That is not our goal. Our goal is to give our readers a taste of your product in order to get them to BUY the whole thing. The practice of giving away full albums or albums prior to their release is heavily frowned upon in our community.
Up until now, we have asked nothing of you except to put out good music for us to talk about. But today, I am asking for something. I am asking you to stop sending the Cease & Desist letters. When you do that…our posts are deleted…destroyed. It’s not just the tracks that get taken down…our writing is taken away with it. And that’s not fair.
Work with us…not against us. We are your biggest asset. Many artists encourage the bloggers to post their tracks so it is impossible for us to know who wants our assistance and who does not. Please, in the future, if one of us posts a track that you wish removed, email us and tell us (our emails are readily available on all our sites). We will take it down, immediately. Like I said, we are not your enemy and do not wish to hurt your stability. We want to work with you, not against you.
Why not even take it one step further? Why not provide us a list of artists you do not want promoted on our blogs? We will honor it, we promise. At least give us the chance to prove ourselves.
Sincerely,
Jason
The Good, The Bad, The Unknown
[MP3] : Broken Social Scene – Almost Crimes (Radio Kills Remix)
[MP3] : The Tough Alliance – Silly Crimes
[MP3] : Mates Of State – Help Help
It has seemed like Sam’s Town came out such a long time ago! A new Day & Age is upon us however, and one by one more tracks seem to be seeing the light of day. What I got here for you are the two songs that we have been following closely after their live debuts. I am talking about ‘Neon Tiger’ and Losing Touch’. While I am at it I am adding in a b-side “Forget About What I Said” and a Ocelot Remix of Human.
[MP3] : The Killers – Losing Touch
[MP3] : The Killers – Neon Tiger
[MP3] : The Killers – Forget About What I Said
[MP3] : The Killers – Human (Ocelot Remix)
Only a few more days now folks. Make sure you support The Killers and purchase the album when it comes out in stores, or buy it online!! (Amazon)
You getting excited for Day & Age yet? You damn well should be. If not here is a great track off the album that found it’s way over here. Great melodies, horns, and a really big anthematic sound that isn’t overdone. Cheers Brandon, this is some quality stuff.
[MP3] The Killers – The World We Live In | (zshare)
Purchase Day & Age, support the Killers!
I am still waiting to listen to Lykke Li, don’t know why I haven’t given her a shot yet. After this really cool Friendly Fires cover of her song “I’m Good, I’m Gone” I think I will finally get on it….hopefully. The boys who covered the song, Friendly Fires are enjoying a nice slew of buzz after releasing their polished dancefloor ready album. They are going to be on many best of 2008 lists! Give the cover a listen below:
[MP3] : Friendly Fires – I’m Good, I’m Gone (Lykke Li Cover) | (zshare)
- thanks to PMA for the mp3
[MP3] : Friendly Fires – Paris | (zshare)
[MP3] : Lykke Li – I’m Good, I’m Gone | (zshare)
Purchase Albums From Insound for Friendly Fires & Lykke Li
Someone gave me the heads up about this Killers song that will be on their upcoming new album Day & Age. Apparently the album is leaking one by one. The new song is called Joy Ride and it rocks. Gotta live that bass line. This is getting me really pumped for the new album!
[MP3] : The Killers – Joy Ride | (ysi)
Make Sure YOU Purchase Day & Age!
Did you enjoy the music that came out of the year 2007? If so, I will take the liberty to assume that James Murphy’s LCD Soundsystem had a lot to do with that, after their breathtaking album “Sound Of Silver”. Well good news, Murphy has announced that he has 8 songs for the album written down already. Not on paper though….but in his head. NME quoted Murphy saying:
“I write all my music in my head, I never demo. I get to a point where there are too many songs and I have to get them recorded. I recently felt that. I’ve got eight in my head – that’s critical mass. When I start recording I don’t tell anyone not even my manager.”
Looks like 2009 will be a big year in music with albums lined up with some of this decades defining acts: Animal Collective, Franz Ferdiannd, Arctic Monkeys, and now LCD Soundsystem. I am counting down!!
(Photo thanks to Stereogum)Vampire Weekend is everywhere. They went from rocking house parties on Columbia University’s campus to playing shows all around the globe, even taking the time to cover Plastic Bertrand in France. They have blown up since I saw and met them at their release show back at Bowery Ballroom in January. I knew big things would happen to them, and they truly have become the biggest band of 2008. From hipsters, to kids following MTV, Vampire Weekend have done something right because they have connected a wide variably of people in such a short period of time.
They were allowed to play live at the MTVU Woodie awards, and were joined on stage by Chromeo for a special rendition of ‘The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance’. However the recorded remix of the song for the single release is now available. I was a bit worried about how Chromeo would mesh with VW, but my worries were gone after only a minute in of the song. Chromeo enhances this track with their unique sound. They did a real nice job with it making one of the album’s hidden gem’s ready for the dancefloor! Give it a go below!
(Thanks to goold old Luis from Pretty Much Amazing for the mp3!!!)
[MP3] : Vampire Weekend – The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance (Chromeo Remix) | (ysi)
[MP3] : Vampire Weekend – The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance | (ysi)
Purchase Vampire Weekend Albums: Insound
Yes folks I have found the definite version. Zane Lowe debuted it tonight on his Radio 1 Show. The song is everything you want in a Franz Ferdinand with an extra taste of synths and dance. It sounds just as memorable as it was when I saw them play it live at The Music Hall Of Williamsburg. The song is great quality for a radio rip, enjoy. Get pumped for their new album Tonight. You can bet that the lads from Glasgow will deliver one of the best albums of 2009. I know I have waiting a very, very long time for this album. However, this is not a bad thing. It means that they have dedicated time and effort into this work. I have complete confidence that they will deliver another stellar album, maybe even their best yet.
