Okkervil River have been tweeting a lot of late, giving updates about their work in the studio, presumably recording material for a new album. Apparently they are recording in Connecticut. So far they got around 6 songs basic-tracked.
Here are some of their tweets:
An idyllic moment with studio dogs:
Studio Dialogue: “I want your electric guitar to sound like Garfield mauling a 90-year-old woman.”
Keep an eye out on their twitter for more news. New Okkervil River is never a bad thing.
True Panther have finally announced the official details about Magic Kids debut album. The album is called Memphis, and will be released on August 24th. The announcement was accompanyied by a free mp3 of a brand new song called “Summer”, which will be included on Memphis.
“Summer” is slower than pop jams like “Hey Boy” that we have heard from Magic Kids so far. In the words of Magic Kids, “This song isn’t ‘fun in the summertime’ kind of summer, but more the wistful, fighting-loneliness-with-your-friends kind of summer. We felt like sharing this one because honestly, it’s torture watching summer days blaze by without people having this mellow anthem at their disposal.”
The description is spot on. This summer has been sort of strange for me, so this song is hitting all the right spots. “Summer” has the Beach Boys sense of harmony and melody. There is no denying that this one is pretty. Sounds like it would belong in the 50′s, not 2010.
I called Magic Kids a band to watch, and I strongly stand behind that statement. These kids are gonna rock your world.
[mp3]: Magic Kids – Summer
You can pre-order the album now and get a free poster, plus some $$ off. Magic Kids are on tour with Ariel Pink this summer. They will hit up NYC on 7/24 at Irving Plaza. You best be there!
After posting the Arctic’s cover of Only You Know, I stumbled across someone else covering one of their songs. It turns out it was a cover of their under-appreciated Favourite Worst Nightmare cut, “Only Ones Who Know”. It was done by Haydé, a lady from Belgium. Great cover by Ms. Haydé. Sweeping and sincere.
[mp3]: Haydé – Only Ones Who Know (Arctic Monkeys Cover)
For more on Haydé visit her on myspace or last.fm, where you can download some of her songs for free.
Check out the music video for Gorillaz’s excellent song, “On Melancholy Hill”. For me it’s the clear standout of Plastic Beach, and Gorillaz made a pretty cool music video for it. There are even cartoon cameo’s of Loud Reed & Snoop Dogg. The single will be released on itunes in a special package that will include a download of the video, plus remixes.
Watch the video below, via Some Kind Of Awesome
You may remember my introductory post on a young talented French artist named Pascal Bizet. His song “Sans Doute” was an instant favorite of mine. Pascal reached out to my facebook page and informed me that he has some new songs up. I gave them a listen, and they are great.
So take a few minutes out of your day, and listen to the songs on his myspace. Although you may not understand what he is singing, his talent for creating irresistible melodies that shouldn’t be ignored. Pascal is a talented artist, I can’t wait to see what else he has up his sleeve.
My girl Lissie wowed you guys when I posted her amazing cover of Lady GaGa’s Bad Romance. Now she is back at it. She recently covered Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit Of Happiness” at her Brighton Great Escape this past May. (Thanks to Sarah for the tip)
She gives the cover a powerful spin, transforming it to Lissie gold:
Here’s a mp3 to take home:
[mp3]: Lissie – Pursuit Of Happiness (Kid Cudi Cover)
Lissie’s debut album, Catching A Tiger, comes out June 21st in the UK only. Hope to hear news about a U.S. release soon. Here is a song from the album called Little Lovin’ that she is giving away as a free download here.
[mp3]: Lisse – Little Lovin’
Today The Walkmen have announced that their new album will be titled Lisbon. Lisbon will be released via Fat Possum on September 14th. That is the same day that fellow New Yorkers, Interpol, will be releasing their new album. September 14th is going to be a big day for emotional NYC rock.
Lisbon was recorded over two years in warehouses in Brooklyn and Philidelphia, Pitchfork reports. Some songs were also written when they visited Lisbon, giving the album it’s title. The album runs 11 songs deep, and those songs saw production from John Congleton (St. Vincent/The Thermals).
According to an interview with P4k, the band had taken inspiration from early Elvis and Sun Records tracks song. However, Hamilton said the final product wouldn’t sound much like that. He also said,
“The instrumentation is very simple, and then there’s a very loud vocal and a softish drum. There is a slapback guitar on everything.”
The Walkmen are a band who we have come to expect greatness from, album in, and album out. I have faith that Lisbon will be no different. I can’t wiat for Lisbon, this is going to be a very special album folks.
They will be making their live return to NYC on 8/12 when they play Governors Island w/ Grizzly Bear. Tickets are still on sale.
Mister E are an electro-pop trio from Israel. I’m really excited to share their excellent cover of The White Stripes standard, “Seven Nation Army” with all of you. They transform the rock & roll classic into a hypnotic dance anthem that is ready to dazzle your ears. This is fun jam than you should blast after a hard days work:
[mp3]: Mister E – Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes Cover)
For more on Mister E, visit their myspace.
Today Band Of Horses tweeted the following message on their twitter:
“We’re playing a free show in Manhattan on Friday. Watch this space for details.”
Before that tweet, the band posted a mysterious tweet with a picture of middle NYC (see below) and a message saying “Friday. Rush Hour”
So we know it’s in middle Manhattan, but no official location has been disclosed. Bryant Park and Central Park seem like possible locations. We will have to keep any eye on Band Of Horses twitter for more clues. Hopefully this show won’t be full of crazed bearded men who will force the NYPD to cancel the show…..
Drake is so damn popular now that the NYPD has to shut down his shows in order to keep crowds in order. Today, Drake played a free show today at South Street Seaport to celebrate the release of his debut album Thank Me Later. Turns out more fans showed up than anyone expected. The number was very high up in the thousands.
The crowd was too large, posing a potential risk, forcing the NYPD to cancel the show. The crowd then got rowdy and started to push, shove, and even fight. That is completely insane, because I’ve been to the Seaport many times and could never imagine that many people there. Pretty scary stuff.
Here is a fan video capturing the crowd in action:
Update! Here is another video:
Drake tweeted about the show being canned, saying “Police are shutting down the show at South Seaport! I’m on my way anyways…Drizzy Hendrix Woodstock 2010“….then eventually writing: “NYPD will not let me go on stage tonight“, “I am so dissapointed. To all the devoted fans that came out I wish you could have seen what I had planned! Until next time”
I guess this is what happens the day after pitchfork gives your album a 8.4…
