Album art of the year

...goes to J Mascis' album Several Shades of Why (according to yours truly of course), which you can view above. Mascis is mostly known as the singer, guitarist and main songwriter of alternative rock legends Dinosaur Jr. and Several Shades of Why sees him switching from electric guitar to acoustic. The album features Kurt Vile and Ben Bridwell (of Band of Horses fame) among others, and it is out on March 15 through Sub Pop. "Not Enough", the first track to be released from the album, is available below.

MP3: J Mascis - "Not Enough" (courtesy of Sub Pop)

New Blitzen Trapper album on the way

In a tweet a few days ago Portland, Orgeon indie band Blitzen Trapper revealed that they "got the first test mix back from the new-new record". Looks like there's gonna be a new Blitzen Trapper record this year, and possibly less than a year after Destroyer of the Void (which was released in June last year), and judging by their last two records it'll be a good one. Blitzen Trapper released their first album as early as 2003, but it wasn't until their third album Wild Mountain Nation received glowing reviews from certain online publications that people started paying attention. Sup Pop signed them in 2007 and have since released the band's fourth, and best, album Furr in 2008 and Destroyer of the Void in 2010.

I'm really excited about a new Blitzen Trapper album and where it's going to take them sonically, but there hasn't been any news about a release date or title yet so there's no way of knowing when we'll get to hear it. In the meantime, here's the official video for "Black River Killer" of Furr, which unfortunately can't be embedded.

and here's the audio for the Beatles meets early Queen sounding title track from Destroyer of the Void:


plus here's a couple of mp3s courtesy of Sub Pop.

from Destroyer of the Void:
"Dragon's Song"
"Heaven and Earth"

from Furr:
"Black River Killer"
"Furr"
"Gold For Bread"

When Saints Go Machine - Fail Forever

"Fail Forever" with the Danish band When Saints Go Machine. The video reflects the feeling of frustration quite well. Listen and love.

Smith Westerns - All Die Young

From Smith Westerns new and just released album "Dye It Blonde" I'll give you this song. And I'll also give you this quote from NMEs' list of "ten tracks you need to hear this week":

"This could easily perish under the weight of its influences: a touch of Beach House here, the spirit of Lennon’s ‘Mind Games’ there... But let’s not call this funeral rock, because die it doesn’t. Superb, mournful and majestic."

Couldn't agree more. Listen and love.

Losers - Sirenna (Ou est le swimming pool remix)

To continue with some more Ou est le swimming pool; here's their remix on the English electro band Losers song Sirenna. The original is beautiful, but this remix is even better. Ou est le swimming pool took a step outside their pop-box. Listen and love.

Full album stream of Iron And Wine 's Kiss Each Other Clean

Singer-songwriter Sam Beam aka Iron And Wine is releasing his fourth studio album on January 25 and it's entitled Kiss Each Other Clean. This time he's expanding even more on the the whispery lo-fi folk sound that characterised his first two lps than he did on his third record, 2007's excellent The Shepherd's Dog, on which he added influences from world music and a large cast of musicians to his vocals and acoustic guitar. Kiss Each Other Clean retains the classic Iron And Wine feel but the production is far more advanced than before and the music contains influences from '70s pop, funk and features far more electronic effects than Beam's previous works.

You can stream the whole album right here (thanks to The Steam Engine for showing that it could be embedded).



Iron And Wine also recorded a session with Daytrotter recently, and the four track session can be downloaded for free on their site (it requires you to register though).

Stream Talib Kweli's Gutter Rainbows in full

Hip-hop artist Talib Kweli, perhaps most known for his collaborations in Black Star with Mos Def and in Reflection Eternal with Hi-Tek, is releasing his fifth solo album, entitled Gutter Rainbows, on January 25. It is now available to stream through his myspace page, and from the looks of it the stream will be available until the release date.

Tracklist:
1. After The Rain (produced by 88-Keys)
2. Gutter Rainbows (produced by M-Phazes)
3. So Low (produced by Shuko)
4. Palookas (feat. Sean Price) (produced by Marco Polo)
5. Mr. International feat. Nigel Hall (produced by S1)
6. I’m On One (produced by KHRYSIS!)
7. Wait For You (feat. Kendra Ross) (produced by S1)
8. Ain’t Waiting (feat. Outasight) (produced by 6th sense)
9. Cold Rain (produced by Ski Beatz)
10. Friends & Family (produced by E. Jones)
11. Tater Tot (produced by Nick Speed)
12. How You Love Me (feat. Blaq Toven) (produced by Blaq Toven)
13. Uh Oh feat. Jean Grae (produced by Oh No)
14. Self Savior (feat. Chace Infinite) (produced by Maurice Brown)

Robyn and Fleet Foxes confirmed for Way Out West festival

The Gothenburg, Sweden-based festival Way Out West announced the first bands for the 2011 edition of the festival earlier today. Swedish pop queen Robyn, Fleet Foxes and Explosions In The Sky will be playing the festival area and alt. country legends The Jayhawks and Twin Shadow will be doing club gigs as part of Stay Out West. The festival will take place between August 11 and 13.

Ou est le swimming pool - Dance The Way Feel

I just had to publish this song, because it's the greatest song ever made from the best band in the world. From the UK, predicted to be "the next great music export" before the singer committed suicide. Listen and love.

New Strokes album out on March 22

According to an article by Rolling Stone the fourth studio album by The Strokes is to be released on March 22 through RCA and supposedly it's their best since their 2001 debut Is This It (but that's coming from RS, and they aren't exactly known for their impeccable taste nowadays). The album is tentatively called Angles and judging by the description in the article it'll sound like a mix of Room On Fire-era Strokes and Julian Casablancas surprisingly good electropop-ish solo album from 2009, Phrazes For The Young, that is if it works. It might just be a complete disaster too.

UPDATE: The album is definitely called Angles, and the first single will be "Under Cover Of Darkness" (via Pitchfork)

Since there's no songs from Angles available yet, here's an audience-shot video of The Strokes performing my favourite song by them, "Last Nite", on Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, TX on October 8 last year. Enjoy.

The Vaccines - If You Wanna

Great new band from the U.K. They were mentioned on NMEs “Top 20 upcoming bands 2011″. Listen and love.

Glasvegas - The World Is Yours

Here is the first released song from Glasvegas's upcoming album. Enjoy!