We All Want Someone To Shout For

Earlier this summer I introduced you to a young up and coming NYC duo known as Indian Rebound. The band consists of Ethan Levenson & John Kallen, two friends who have an incredible gift for penning youthful anthems full of depth. It’s hard to believe that something this good is coming from two high school kids. Well, you better start believing it. Indian Rebound have got the goods.

They first caught my attention with an honest set of demos that showed plenty of promise. This week they posted their first single release on their myspace: “Make You Mine/I’m Not Yours”. Both songs are exuberant displays of strong songwriting and smart musicianship that is as focused and solid as they come. These guys are the real deal.

I once called Indian Rebound a mix of Girls and Elliot Smith, and I still stand behind this statement. With strong songwriting, and an obvious ode to 60s/70s california rock, the band creates a sound with timeless appeal. After drawing inspiration from the classics, the band was able to create a sound that is familiar, yet completely fresh. With tight interplay between Ethan’s guitar riffs and John’s timely percussion, there are plenty of tight hooks and melodies to pack a devastating punch. (It should be noted that they record as a full band in the studio).

The boys recorded two more songs during the same sessions that brought “Make You Mine/I’m Not Yours”. You can hear one of them “Sunshine” over at their myspace. They allowed me to share “Make You Mine” with you guys for free as their first legal download ever. You can stream “I’m Not Yours” right below it. These songs are as equally impressive as they are instantly gratifying. One can only imagine what they can do over time.

Don’t let Indian Rebound get out of your radar. They are most certainly one to watch over the next couple of years.

[mp3]: Indian Rebound – Make You Mine

[stream]: Indian Rebound – I’m Not Yours:

Indian Rebound have a few shows coming up in NYC, you can catch full dates at their myspace. Check out two videos from their most recent performances. It includes one of their songs “Sitges” along with a cover of Girls’ “Lust For Life”:

Sitges:

Lust For Life (Girls Cover):

Two songs from Kid Cudi’s upcoming new album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager leaked this weekend. The first was the Kanye featured “Wylin’ Cause I’m Young”. The second was “Mr. Rager”.

I do like Kid Cudi even if he is somewhat overrated by certain people. His type of rap isn’t limited to one particular style (similar to Kanye) which is something that I love. He is hit and miss at times, but when he hits, it’s pretty damn good (Pursuit Of Happiness, anyone?). His music is certainly refreshing for the rap genre.

Don’t know how so many songs are getting leaked from his new album. It isn’t even due until late October. Wonder if they will push up the release date?

Check out the songs below:

[mp3]: Kid Cudi – Mr. Rager
[mp3]: Kid Cudi – Wylin’ Cause I’m Young (Feat. Kanye West)

Last Tuesday Will Sheff of Okkervil River stopped by NYC’s The Living Room to play some new songs as a part of his opening set for Bird Of Youth’s residency at The Living Room. One of the new songs that he played was  “Lay of the Last Survivor”. Someone recorded the songs for us, and you can watch the performance below:

Even Will admits that the song is pretty depressing, but this isn’t really news for anyone, is it? It’s an impressive song nonetheless. We can only assume this is a new song for the next Okkervil River album. Hearing it is getting me excited for it. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long!

In an interview that Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon did with Pitchfork, Vernon says that he flew down to Hawaii earlier this year to lay down vocals for at least ten songs for Kanye’s new album.

Who would have ever predicted a collab between Justin Vernon & Kanye? If you answered “I did”, then you are just lying to yourself.

One of those includes “Lost In The World” . If you saw Kanye’s Ustream, you may remember he said “Lost In The World” may be his new albums first single.

You gotta read the interview on pitchfork. There is a part where Justin talks about rolling “a spiff” with Rick Ross. Yeah, amazing much?

Read the interview here.

Although Yeasayer’s “Madder Red” music video features a really odd creature as Kristen Bell’s pet, it’s heartbreaking sentiments still ring plenty true. I lost my dog of over 14 years last summer and this video certainly reminded me of the rough times that led up to the event.

The video may seem ridiculous and odd, but there is plenty of emotions running around. If you lost a pet recently, you probably shouldn’t watch this video:

Sorry for the lack of updates. My laptop is out of commission in the genius bar right now, so I haven’t been able to post as frequently as we’re used to. It should be back soon though. I’m currently using my family’s desktop which isn’t as blog friendly.

I’m trying to catch up a bit, and let’s start with another live performance from Kanye. He played a small show for some of his famous friends a few days ago in NYC. He played “Mama’s Boyfriend”, one of the songs he played a capella at facebook. You can listen to the full version below. Sounds tight!

The lovable Norwegian electronic dudes known as Röyksopp just dropped a new song called “The Drug” that you can now stream for free. It’s an instrumental that will be on their all instrumental album Senior, due out September 13th.

They made it available to stream on their website, but I got an embed posted below.

This is how the band described “The Drug”
This highly synthetic drug is the latest craze. Gentle and appealing at first. Repeated use will result in severe personality distortion. Hear that little sound in your head? That ever decaying little “melody”? ..That’s your mind going…

Intense, no?

The Drug by Röyksopp

Animal Collective’s very own Avery Tare dropped a guest post on Pitchfork’s Altered Zones and shared an obscure song called “My Time” from Ann Steel. You can get more on the tracks background by reading the post, but I really wanted you guys to hear this song. The song is technically from a composer named Roberto Cacciapaglia who used various singers on his songs. “My Time” comes from his The Ann Steel Album. You can read more on it (plus more) right here.

It’s really unusual and obscure, especially since it’s from 1979. This song just sounds so out there. It sounds like a day journey through an entirely different world. Can’t believe this was created 30 years ago.

[mp3]: Ann Steel – My Time

Arcade Fire are on top of the world right now. They played legendary shows at MSG, headlined Lollapalooza, and The Suburbs debuted #1 in America. Funeral was only the beginning, eh?

The band stopped by Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show the other night, and played “Ready To Start” & “Moth Of May. There is even some pretty funny pre-performance chatter between Jon and Win. You don’t want to miss this.

Ready To Start:

Month Of May:

Are you a fan of the Cure and 80s romantic new wave? Well, then you are going to absolutely adore Living Days. Their song “Let’s Kiss” perfectly nails that wonderful romance inspired 80s new wave that so many of us adore. I know I do. I could totally see “Let’s Kiss” in a John Hughes movie.

It comes off their debut EP Make Out Room Part 1 which drops on August 24th. Kids will certainly have no problem getting frisky to their tunes. The EP is as solid as they come, so be sure to be on the look out.

[mp3]: Living Days – Let’s Kiss

You can also check out it’s music video below: