We All Want Someone To Shout For

Passion Pit have revealed their new video for “Little Secrets” today. The song was a ton of fun to see live, and it has become one of my favorite tracks from Manners (tied with To Kingdom Come). Trust me, it is hard to pick just one favorite on a record like Manners!

They disabled embedding (why? such a pain in the arse lol), so your going to have to click one more time!

Watch the video for Little Secrets, and please make sure you are not on any form of drugs! This one is NSFA (Not Safe For Acid). K? Thanks.

The very kind people at Sub-Pop/Bella Union have sent me an mp3 for Teen Dream‘s first single “Norway”. They were also cool enough to send me an early stream of Teen Dream, and I have to say it is fantastic. “Norway” is a compelling song that really emphasizes everything that Beach House stands for. Absolute beauty, dense layers, Victoria’s mesmerizing haunting vocals, and Alex’s hazy guitars. This song borders on a more accessible pop sound, and that only makes Beach House even greater. A great pop sense can always do a band wonders!

“Norway”  just may be the finest song on the album. It is pretty hard to choose, because the album is so god damn good. This is one hell of a song though.

Teen Dream is probably Beach Houses strongest album to date. This is coming from a recently obsessed Beach House fan who has been more than devoted to Devotion over the last few months. Teen Dream just may be Beach Houses Veckatimest.

You could say that I am enjoying it!

Teen Dream is going to be one of the best album of 2010. I’ve spent some decent time with already, and what a gem it is! The label is calling it Beach Houses “first classic record”, and that is pretty damn accurate.

Grab Norway below.

[mp3] : Beach House – Norway

The 7 inch of “Norway” comes out on January 11th with the b-side “Baby’. Teen Dream comes out January 27th.

Vampire Weekend are (officially) back! All is right in the world again! I have some college work to catch up on, but how could I concentrate when there is brand new Vampire Weekend to post about???

Vampire Weekend’s new single “Cousins” is finally here in recorded form! I can give up listening to Cousins live all day now. Hurray! My roommate will certainly be pleased!

If I had to compare it to a song on their debut album, it would have to be “A-Punk”. Both are short, quick, pumping rockers. I really adore Ezra’s quick chants of “Ay Ay! Oo Ah! Ay Ay Oo Ah!” at the beginning of “Cousins”! It wasn’t in their live performances so it was a really pleasant surprise. Chris Thompson absolutely pounds the drums with full authority, showing more confidence in his skills with the sticks. This pounding rhythm rides over Chris Baio’s pulse driving bass line. Ezra and Rostam contribute some really nifty surf like guitar riffs that make the song whole. The song is an absolute ball of energy. This single has elements of surf music, especially in that Dick Dale guitar riff.

The song absolutely captures the essence of Vampire Weekend’s music. Smart, quick, witty, clean, and instantly gratifying. The band sounds tighter as a whole, playing off each other, really dominating their instruments. Ezra’s voice was born to lead the way for their afro-ska instrumentation. His yelpy singing and the unique phrasing of his witty lyrics are impossible to dislike.

As far as I am concerned, I have yet to be disappointed by Vampire Weekend in anyway, shape, or form!

This is a perfect single for Vampire Weekend. It will have the crowd’s shouting over their split booze and clouds of weed during the festivals next summer. Vampire Weekend just made all of your cousins cool again. I will have no problem screaming this chorus outloud!

[mp3] : Vampire Weekend – Cousins (Link removed per the labels request!)

** Buy the single from amazon (mp3) or insound (vinyl)

Speaking of crowds, VW announced some tour dates for this winter. There are 3 NYC tour dates, and I am planning to attend the Bowery Ballroom show, and possibly the United Palace Theater show. Who else is down?

Dates after the jump

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Ah, Cold War Kids. How I miss the days of your initial blog buzz. CWC’s were practically hailed the saviors of indie rock, with sold out gig, after sold out gig. Their debut album was very solid, giving us memorable songs like “Hang Me Up To Dry” and “Hospital Beds”. They came back with their 2nd album, and sadly it was somewhat forgettable.

When Cold War Kids debuted “Something Is Not Right With Me” as their 2nd album’s single I was sort of half for it, and half disappointed. Ultimately I decided It lacked omph. It turned out it was the first warning sign about their sophomore album. Sophomore slumps are never fun!

Hear we are in November, 2009. Fear not, Cold War Kids are back. For real this time!! They are releasing a brand new EP called Behave Yourself this January. One of the songs is currently in our hands, and it is good!

The song is titled “Audience Of One”, and it sounds familiar….Familiar to the hungry, passionate Cold War Kids that you all went crazy for back in 2006. The band that had plenty of passion, and a lot to prove.

Nathan Willett lays down soulful vocals, that border R&B at some points. The chorus really brings back a lot of the sentiments that I got from their early EP’s:

Warmth and familiarity.

This is more like the old Cold War Kids. It’s good to have you back!

[mp3] : Cold War Kids – Audience Of One

More goodies after the jump :

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photo via Adrian Pehrson

Why are Arctic Monkeys so god damn good? Can’t they just release their singles like a normal band with average b-sides, or just attach some mediocre live performance?

Nope, not the Arctics. They have to go release songs that actually compete with their album tracks for quality. Like the new b-side “Fright Lined Dining Room”. One word can describe it perfectly: Immense.

“Fright Lined Dining Room” may have one of the best bass grooves that I have heard from the Arctics/Nick. It makes me want to go buy a bass right now and learn how to play this bass line. That is a true sign of good music, isn’t it? Really, really, tight instrumentation all around.

I love the dark brooding songs of the Arctic Monkeys. They can really create dense dark work that sounds vastly different from their “expected” range of songs (I Bet You Look Good, Fluorescent), yet there are scattered traces of their other songs.

I totally want to check out this dining room!

This Cornerstone EP is one of their finest yet, right next to Brianstorm, Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?, and Fluorescent Adolescent.

Give it a listen below:

If you like what you hear, preorder the Cornerstone EP!

:Kinema: give an interesting electo/dance cover of the almost already indie classic “My Girls”. It is a very clean, crisp, cover of the song. Definitely an interesting take on the song.

I don’t know too much about :Kinema: otherwise. Time to do some research! Visit them on myspace!

[mp3] : :Kinema: – My Girls (Animal Collective Cover)

Having his blog has changed my music listening habits. With a blog, comes having a blog email address. With that comes new music. I am lucky enough to receive new music everyday! Not complaining there!

Obviously, some days are better than others. I have gotten some pretty good stuff sent to me as of late, with band Morningbell being the latest! (I wonder if the name is associated with Radiohead??)

They are a Florida based quartet that just released their 4th album, titled Sincerely, Severely. I have only head two songs of theirs, which are both posted below. The two songs are both really interesting. They put plenty of focus on rhythm among their African poly-rhythm and Brazilian folk music influences.

“Marching Off To War” is a passionate song where the African influences shine. “Stay In The Garden” is a sexy, song perfect for a dark dance scene in an

Check the songs out, they deserve a listen from eager ears!

[mp3] : Morningbell – Marching Off To War

[mp3] : Morningbell – Stay In the Garden

This is their 4th album on their non-profit label Orange Records. Non-Profit label! How cool is that? If you like what you hear, go buy their album! Visit them on myspace

I have been sitting on this Frightened Rabbit track for a few weeks now. I didn’t feel the timing was right 2 weeks ago. I finally got some news on their new album, and now my post can be timely! Woo-hoo!

Frightened Rabbit are heading into 2010 knowing that they will release their new album The Winter Of Mixed Drinks. This is a great thing for indie music fans. We can only expect great things after their wonderful 2008 album The Midnight Organ Flight.

I am excited to hear the new record, which will be released on March 2nd, 2010. The single “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” is the track I would like to share, and it is pretty enjoyable. It isn’t as powerful as Midnight Organ Flight standouts “The Modern Leper” & “The Twist”, but it is still sincere in all the right ways.

It isn’t too much of a departure from their sound, so that could be the reason why I am not going nuts over it. I do have faith on the rest of the album. W

With a title as great as The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, how could you expect anything less?

[mp3] : Frightened Rabbit – Swim Until You Can’t See Land

Pre-Order The 7 Inch “Swin Until You Can’t See Land Single!

MPP came out almost 10 months ago! Wow, has it really been that long?

With their new EP Fall Be Kind coming out soon, the band is still perfectly busying heading into the new year. They are keeping their momentum going with the release of their official video for “In The Flowers”.

The video, as you expected, is bizzare and trippy, featuring plenty of flowers. It was directed by Abby Portner.

Watch it below!! :

I am still waiting to hear Animal Collective’s new EP, Fall Be Kind. In the meantime, we have the Brother Sport single to hold us over. It comes with a live version of Bleeding, a track off the Fall Be Kinde EP. The live version was recording in California during their tour earlier this year.

The live version is extended to almost 9 minutes with echoing layered vocals from Avery and Panda Bear. The song breaks down into trippy/hectic sounds that almost sound like the Smoke Monster from Lost. They also add parts of “What Would I Want? Sky” towards the end of the song, paving the transition.

I have seen them live three times, and this song probably gives you a good indication of what to expect from them live. The songs get extended, samples from other songs are added, and minds are blown!

[mp3] : Animal Collective – Bleeding (Live)

Buy The Brother Sport Single From Domino!