We All Want Someone To Shout For

Ariel Pink isn’t going to settle with just releasing one great album a year. Why not release a new EP as well? On July 9th, Ariel Pink is collaborating with lo-fi jazz band Added Pizzazz (who played on Before Today on “Hot Body Rub”) on a a self titled 5 song EP which is called Ariel Pink with Added Pizzazz. You can get a taste of what to expect via the mp3 of a song called “In The Heat Of The Night”. I can imagine the guys playing it in a dark, cramped basement during a hot summer night.

Check it out:

[mp3]: Ariel Pink with Added Pizzazz – In The Heat Of The Night

The 12″ EP will be available to purchase during Ariel’s tour only, via the strangely hilarious titled record label, Free Dope And Fucking In The Streets.

The Morning Benders show at Governors Island this past Saturday was pretty special. You can read my recap post here. They covered Fleetwood Mac’s classic “Dreams” at the show, which was one of the many reasons the show was so special. Their cover was charming and joyous. They nailed it. Thankfully someone recorded it.

Watch it below:

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are gearing up for the release of their new album, Let It Sway. So far they have given us a new song called “Sink/Let It Sway” to chew on, plus a demo of a new song. Today they released a 5 minute documentary about the background of the album. The band’s very own Philip Dickey narrates the doc, giving us damn cool information. I especially loved where they got the title from. We even get to hear some previews of new songs, some of which I remember hearing when they came to Binghamton last winter. Watch the documentary below, via Consequence Of Sound.

The band also announced new 2010 tour dates. They will be playing in NYC on 9/8, at the wonderful Bowery Ballroom. Check out the rest of the dates after the jump:

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ceo was first introduced to the world via a teaser song/video titled “Prologue”, which you can watch below:

Nothing else was known about ceo at the time. His website hosted no information, aside from a mysterious biography that ultimately confused people more than it did inform. Then people finally found out that it is actually the solo project of Eric Berglund of The Tough Alliance. ceo, the collaboration between Modular and Swedish label Sincerely Yours, is going to release a debut album titled White Magic on 6/29. You can grab an official song from the album called “Come With Me” below. According to the tracklisting, “Prologue” won’t be on the album. That is posted below as well.

“Come With Me” floats in a heavenly state with sounds that are too good to come from earth. If your a fan of The Tough Alliance or Swedish experimental pop, this is going to do wonders for you. Eric’s sense of melody is incredible. He pulls it out of the strangest corners of the mind. This track is not to be missed. “Prologue” is a bit more experimental, playing with tribal influences and sounds that play as (brief) hint of the joyful treats we may recieve with White Magic.

[mp3]: ceo – Come With Me
[mp3]: ceo – Prologue

The Roots are streaming their new album, How I Got Over, in its entirety over at their myspace. It doesn’t come out until tomorrow, so you can decide if it’s worth you hard earned $$. We got early leaks/previews of two of the albums songs, “Dear God 2.0″ & “Doin’ It Agian” and enjoyed both, so we have high hopes for the rest of the album. I haven’t gotten a free minute to listen yet, but hopefully I will make room for it later tonight.

The album art for The Walkmen’s new album Lisbon has been revealed on the bands site. Check it out, it’s gorgeous. Lisbon comes out on 9/14 vis Fat Possum.

Yesterday, Radiohead’s guitarist Ed O’Brien revealed to BBC 6 in an interview that the band are in the studio, well on the way to completing their new album (their 8th). When asked about the recording, here is what he had to say:

“It’s genuinely exciting. It’s very different from what we did last time. It’s really nice to be doing this.”

He enjoyed these new recording sessions a lot more than the In Rainbows sessions which he apparently called “a slog”. O’Brien said the band is at the finish line of releasing the album, and it could even be “a matter of weeks” until it’s released. We can only hope 2010 can be graced with new music from Radiohead.

Arcade Fire announced the tracklisting for The Suburbs, easily one of the most anticipated records of the year. It’s set to come out on Merge Records on August 3rd. Check out the epic track names for the 16 song album, easily the bands longest album to date. We have already heard 4 songs from the album: “The Suburbs”, “Month Of May”, “We Used To Wait”, & “Ready To Start”.

The Suburbs Tracklisting:

01 The Suburbs
02 Ready to Start
03 Modern Man
04 Rococo
05 Empty Room
06 City With No Children
07 Half Light I
08 Half Light II (No Celebration)
09 Suburban War
10 Month of May
11 Wasted Hours
12 Deep Blue
13 We Used to Wait
14 Sprawl I (Flatland)
15 Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
16 The Suburbs (continued)

John Torres left a comment on my “Bloodbuzz Ohio” mp3 post, sharing his fantastic cover of The National’s “Bloodbuzz Ohio”. The song has been on constant rotation for me, so the timing of this cover is perfect.

John has a very strong voice, and it brings a new sense of direct and even meaning to the song. How is this the first time that I’ve ever run across John? After this cover, I doubt it will be the last time we see his name around.

Watch his performance below, and grab a mp3 right below it:

[mp3]: John Torres – Bloodbuzz Ohio (The National Cover)

After tonight, I have now seen The Morning Benders 4 times. With each passing show, I can’t help but notice that the morning benders have improved tremendously. That isn’t to say that they didn’t impress me when I saw them open for The Kooks way back in June, 2008, because they most certainly did. The benders free show at Governors Island proved that they are growing bigger and better with every passing day, keeping their stay as one of my favorite bands at the moment.

I debated on heading to the show after multiple friends had to cancel on me, but decided I wasn’t going to miss a free benders show because others would. The ferry ride was really refreshing. I forgot how nice the open water is. The view of NYC reminded me of gold old All Points West. I got to the venue and decided to relax right up front, reserving myself one of the best seats in the house. It turns out someone I knew was right there too, so I didn’t have to attend the show solo after all. I also ended up sorta meeting (it was more of a simple wave/hello) Confusion from the excellent Pigeons and Planes.

Wild Nothing opened the night with a blistering set of tunes that had me groovin’. I still have to listen to their debut album, but after their set I am not going to waste too much time on getting that done. They played a tight set that had the crowd moving. The band worked some pretty great guitar rifss/basslines that sounded great outside. There was a group of annoying teenagers standing behind me who absolutely shit the bed during Wild Nothing’s set. They apparently knew all the guys from Wild Nothing and decided that screaming, pushing, and being a belligerent drunkard was the way to establish this. Thankfully the main drunk girl left after their set. I hope to never have the pleasure of meeting her again.

Freelance Whales were up next, and I had high hopes for their set. I spent some decent time with their debut album, Weathervanes, last fall. I hoped that the songs would have the same life live as they did on record. The band was good, but not great. The beginning and end of their set was great, but the middle fell flat for me. I started to doze off and become impatient for the benders. Some of the songs just lacked the charm that they had on record. However, the band has some serious talent, and they did have some really cool moments live. Overall I liked the band live, but it wasn’t quite what I hoped or expected.

The Morning Benders played an incredible set the last time I saw them at The Music Hall Of Williamsburg. I didn’t think they would be able to top it, but the did. With the devastatingly beautiful backdrop of NYC accompanying them, there was nothing but good vibes floating all round their performances. The band opened with “Stitches”, one of my favorite Big Echo songs. The song just dazzles live, creating a dark, heavy, psychedelic atmosphere that is too much too handle. The band then kicked up more Big Echo gems like “Promises” & “Wet Cement” that simply find ways to sound even better live than they do recorded. Chris Chu and his brother Jon fill in all the empty spaces with fine guitar riffs that remind me of the Arctic Monkeys Humbug-era live shows. After a lovely take of “Mason Jar”, the band played a great cover of the Fleetwood Mac classic “Dreams”. The guys nailed it down so well that one wouldn’t be at fault for mistaking the song as a morning benders original.

That wasn’t the only cover that they did. The band also covered Joy Division’s “Ceremony”, which Chris said was one of his favorite songs. The band kicked up their dancing shoes for “All Day Daylight” & “Cold War (Nice Clean Fight)”, both of which find a new life live. The set ended with the always incredible “Excuses” which brought a huge singalong from the crowd. The band couldn’t hide their smiles during the performance. Even they know they have a classic under their belts.

The night was over, but everyone was all smiles. We got a solid 3 hours of great music, for free. Why wouldn’t you be smiling? I was lucky enough to grab both setlists. The Benders set was changed a bit from what was written. They had an encore of Grab A Stranger/Ceremony planned but scratched the encore but added Ceremony to the set.

With that said, I do have to make note of the crowd. I am only 19 years old, but I know for a fact that I don’t disrupt people with my behavior at shows (aside from my tall frame, which would have the people standing behind me saying otherwise). There were some really annoying kids standing behind me. I was front and center, so if you were there also, you know who I am talking about. They pushed and shoved at points, yelled, screamed, made callow comments with every other breath. Their childish behavior ruined the show for me at times, and it shouldn’t be tolerated. I don’t know why people have to act like this at shows. Hopefully these group of kids won’t come to your next show. Now I know why venue’s have 18+/21+ age restrictions.

Photos posted below as well as the morning benders/freelance whales setlists:

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