MP3: Pusha T - "My God"

Rapper Pusha T of Clipse and Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy fame released a great new mp3 earlier today called "My God". The track is produced by Hit-Boy and it's from his upcoming project Fear Of God, due sometime this year. Check it out.

MP3: Pusha T - "My God" (via Good Music blog)

Raekwon unveils "Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang" music video

Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon will release Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang, his fifth solo album, on March 8 via Ice H²O/EMI Records and yesterday he released a video for the second single from the album, the title track "Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang". The album will feature guest appearances from hip-hop heavyweights such as fellow Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah, GZA and Method Man, and Nas and The Roots' Black Thought will also make appearances. Judging by the three tracks that has already been released it'll be a worthy follow-up to his excellent 2009 album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II.

Stream: Futurebirds - "Wild Heart"

Photo by Jason Thrasher

Athens, GA folk rockers Futurebirds is one of the most promising young bands on the folk rock/americana scene today. They released their self-titled debut ep in 2009 for free online (it's been since taken down) and last year they released their first full length, entitled Hampton's Lullaby, which was one of the best debuts of the year.

The ep has now been remastered and is being properly released via Aquarium Drunkard's Autumn Tone label on April 19 and they're also releasing a four-track called Via Flamina ep of previously unreleased recordings, one of which you can listen below. It's a cover of Stevie Nicks' "Wild Heart" from her second studio album, The Wild Heart, which was released in 1983.



(via Rollo Grady)

New Middle Brother, cover of The Replacements' "Portland"

Middle Brother is a newly formed indie folk rock "supergroup" consisting of John McCauley of Deer Tick, Matthew Vasquez of Delta Spirit and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes. They're releasing their self-titled debut record on March 1 via Partisan Records but they've already released three songs: "Me, Me, Me" was released on Christmas Day, a second song was released a few days ago on their iPhone app (so I haven't heard that one yet) and today Partisan Records revealed a third track, a  cover of The Replacements' "Portland" with John McCauley on lead vocals. "Portland" is a Don't Tell A Soul-era Mats tune which was first released on the All For Nothing/Nothing For All compilation in 1997, and was later included on the reissue of Don't Tell A Soul. You can stream "Portland" and download an mp3 of "Me, Me, Me" below.



MP3: Middle Brothers - "Me, Me, Me"

The Strokes reveal album cover for Angles

There's been a lot Strokes news lately, with a new album coming out on March 22 and the release of the first single from it, "Under Cover Of Darkness" two days ago. They've now also revealed the album cover for Angles, their first album since 2006's First Impression Of Earth, which you can view above.

Full album stream of Gruff Rhys' Hotel Shampoo

Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys is releasing his third solo album, Hotel Shampoo, on February 14 in Europe via OVNI/Turnstile (it's out on May 3 in the US via Wichita Recordings) but you can stream the entire album right here.

(via Pitchfork)

Album review: Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots

[ATO Records, 2011.02.15]

Go-Go Boots is the Drive-By Truckers’ ninth studio album, and its tracks are culled from the same sessions that spawned last year’s The Big To-Do. As the story goes the band recorded 25 songs but instead of following the example of their 2008 album Brighter Than Creation’s Dark and release it all on the same album they decided to split the sessions in two, and release one pure rock album (The Big To-Do) and one mellower – which brings us to Go-Go Boots.

Go-Go Boots is the Drive-By Truckers album that contains the most mid-tempo songs, which means that it lacks the tracks that really stands out on a casual listen, like “After The Scene Dies”, “Birthday Boy” or “This Fucking Job” did on The Big To-Do. Although the first listen may lack the punch of their other previous work, it is also an album that rewards repeated listens – in a similar way to how Brighter Than Creation’s Dark still continues to grow on me despite having been in steady rotation for three years. Musically Go-Go Boots sees the band expanding on their previous sound and features songs that could best be described as classic country, soul, and the classic Drive-By Truckers mix of alt. country and rock.

The album is, as usual, split between the three singer/songwriters of the band, with Patterson Hood having eight songs, Mike Cooley three, Shonna Tucker only one (plus the vinyl-only bonus track “I Hear You Hummin’”), and Tucker and Hood also sing one cover song each. Album opener “I Do Believe”, penned by Hood, stands as the poppiest the band has ever sounded and it is the only truly up-tempo song on here, and a strong start to the album. The album’s centerpieces are Hood’s “Go-Go Boots” and “The Fireplace Poker” which both deal with a storyline about a preacher who has his wife murdered. “The Fireplace Poker” ranks as one of Hood’s best storytelling songs and is a prime example of one of the things that make the band so unique – the regional quality of the songs, and the expert way that the stories are told, without being judgmental or preachy. “Go-Go Boots” is another good example of this and would easily be among the better tracks of most albums, and it still is here, but in comparison it feels like a lesser cousin of “The Fireplace Poker”.

Mike Cooley often delivers the best song on each Drive-By Truckers album (“Zip City”, “Marry Me”, “A Ghost To Most” etc.) but on Go-Go Boots Patterson Hood is truly the star of the show with “The Fireplace Poker”, “Mercy Buckets” and “Used To Be A Cop” being the strongest on the album. That doesn’t mean that Cooley doesn’t deliver, all three of his songs are good but that one great song isn’t there, although “Cartoon Gold” features many lines as good as most he’s written. Shonna Tuckers’ “Dancin’ Ricky” is her strongest piece of songwriting for Drive-By Truckers so far and she continues to grow with each album, both lyrically and vocally.

There are two covers of soul musician Eddie Hinton’s songs included on the album, marking the first appearances of cover songs on studio records by the band, which were originally recorded for and released on a limited tribute single in 2009. Both “Everybody Needs Love” and “Where’s Eddie” are among the best tracks on the album, but they also feel like they do not truly belong on the album, perhaps due to them being penned by a different songwriter. The band’s performances on the songs are impeccable though, especially the two excellent vocals, by Patterson Hood and Shonna Tucker respectively. The album closes with what is perhaps its strongest track, the aforementioned “Mercy Buckets”, the band’s first pure love song and it features a gorgeous vocal by Hood and beautiful guitar lines.

All in all this is not as good as the band's best albums, but that speaks more to the extremely high quality of the band’s work than due to this lacking in quality. The album’s biggest flaw is perhaps the fact that there are too many mid-tempo songs that will sound alike to any but the most dedicated fans, but at the same time there is not a single mediocre track in sight. The album’s main appeal is its strong songwriting, the excellent production by David Barbe, and how it truly showcases just how skilled and versatile the band is when it comes to different genres and styles. This should be considered as a strong album in its own right, but also as one of those “what if” albums – in this case what if The Big To-Do and Go-Go Boots would’ve been trimmed down and released as one album?

8/10

[You can stream the entire album here]

Full album stream: Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots

The ninth studio album, by Athens, GA rockers Drive-By Truckers is out on Tuesday in the US via ATO Records, but you can stream the entire album right now. The album is entitled Go-Go Boots and it is the follow-up to last year's The Big To-Do which was recorded during the same sessions, but this one is a mellower affair. The band is also releasing the documentary The Secret To A Happy Ending on dvd simultaneously with the album. Frontmen Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley will be performing an in-store gig at Rough Trade East in London tonight, but on Tuesday they'll be back in the US for a month long full band tour in support of the album (dates here).

Full album stream: Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots

[Originally published at One Thirty BPM]

UPDATE: You can now also stream it at Spinner.

Today's recommendation: Perfume Genius

I stumbled across this Perfume Genius, aka american Mike Hadreas, yesterday when I was doing my usual surfing on the world wide web. I fell in love immediately and his music is at times so heartbreaking that it's almost impossible not to cry. His full-length album Learning was released 21st June 2010 and you can listen to it on Spotify here.

Here is an amazing live performance of the song "Learning":

NME's Matt Wilkinson's first listen response to The Vaccines album "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?"

NME writer Matt Wilkinson had the privilege to hear The Vaccines debut album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? in advance and wrote about it track by track. I've been waiting for this album for a really long time, and according to this review (or more like "the first response", as it's called in the article), it seems like I'm not going to be disappointed. Matt Wilkinson's verdict of the whole album are the following:

"By fusing elements of US pop-punk (the Ramones – not Blink 182), chillwave (they too are obsessed with reverb) and classic good-time pop'n'roll (The Strokes, primetime Libs/KOL), The Vaccines have recorded an album that – if things continue to go their way – should serve to give British rock music a much-needed jolt in the arm. It's a lot more varied than you might imagine too - tracks veering from snotty punk rock to more brooding and epic affairs."

Read the whole here

MP3: James Blake - "A Case Of You"

James Blake's self-titled debut album was released this week and has been almost unanimously praised by the critics. Blake seems to have a thing for covering female singer-songwriters - on the album he covered Feist's "Limit To Your Love" and he unveiled a cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You" in an interview on BBC1 with Zane Lowe. Stream the entire interview here, or download the track below.

MP3: James Blake - "A Case Of You" (originally recorded by Joni Mitchell)

(via Stereogum)

Introducing...The Deep Vibration

I was introduced to The Deep Vibration little more than a week ago and their newly released lp Strange Love has since been in steady rotation (digital rotation that is). The Deep Vibration released their debut ep, entitled Veracruz, in 2008 but Strange Love is the first full-length by the Nashville, TN band. Singer/songwriter Matt Campbell's vocals are at times reminiscent of John Gleason from The Roadside Graves and at other times he sounds like Ryan Adams or even Neil Young. Musically it mixes '70s Neil Young & Crazy Horse-styled country rock with the more indie rock sounding alt. country of the '90s to great effect, even if the piano line on "Annabelle" actually reminds me more of Arcade Fire than anything else.

You can download my favourite track from the album, "Worried Mind", below, and if you've got Spotify you can stream both Strange Love and Veracruz, and I'd highly recommend you to check them out since they're one of the most promising new bands in the roots rock world today.

MP3: The Deep Vibration - "Worried Mind" (courtesy of KDHX)

UPDATE: as c-flower pointed out in a comment to this post you can stream Strange Love in its entirety on The Deep Vibration's bandcamp site. Great news for all our readers without Spotify.

Can't wait for Cage The Elephant's second album

It's been a few years now since Cage The Elephant's hugely successful self titled debut album came out in 2008. I loved it from the first listen and now I have just found out that there is a new album coming out, more precisely on the 21st March. It's titled Thank You Happy Birthday and includes the awesome first single "Shake Me Down" (listen to it below).

Here is the bands own comment on the new album:

"There's still a lot of energy. It's still us we just kind of wanted to reinvent ourselves. I don't know and do something different. I think it's kind of like, we just changed. People change and you want to do different stuff. It's kind of like if you ate a slice of pizza everyday for a year, you'd want something different than pizza, you know what I'm saying. So, I think we grew as people and musically you start to crave and hunger different things and once that happens you also want to do different things with your own music. Basically we about ten, eleven songs recorded for our new album and we're going to go back and do a few more. Yeah I think we'll go back in the studio and do six more songs or something like that. Hopefully it will come out in January."

The Wombats releases second album

The three piece Liverpool based band are about to follow up their succesfull 2007 debut album The Wombats Proudly Present… A Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation with second one The Wombats Proudly Present... This Modern Glitch, which is out 11th April. In September they released the first single for the new album "Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)" and now in January the second single called "Jump Into The Fog" was released. I personally think that the second single is much better than the first one. Listen and decide yourselves!

"Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)"


"Jump Into The Fog"

Watch the official video for The Kills' "Satellite"

A few weeks ago we posted a stream to "Satellite", the first single from The Kills' Blood Pressures, and now they've also unveiled the video for the song, which you can view below. Blood Pressures is out on April 5 via Domino.

Noah And The Whale - tour dates and new single

Folk-poppers, Noah And The Whale, have now announced more details about their U.K. and Ireland tour in May 2011. Also, they're releasing their new album Last Night On Earth on the 7th of March.

Tour dates:

05.03 - Manchester Ritz
05.04 - Leeds Metropolitan University
05.05 - Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
05.07 - Sheffield Leadmill
05.08 - Dublin O2 Academy
05.09 - Liverpool Stanley Theatre
05.10 - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
05.12 - Bristol Trinity Centre
05.13 - Birmingham HMV Institute
05.16 - London Camden Roundhouse
05.17 - Nottingham Rescue Rooms
05.18 - Cambridge Junction

Here's also their new single ”L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.”, which will be released the 28th of February.

Harald Björk - Luftlust

I would like to introduce to you Harald Björk, a Swedish musician who makes great, emotional techno music. In my opinion he is very talented and this tune really reminds me of the winter in Sweden. Not that I like the winter in Sweden, but I do like his music. Listen and love.

"Luftlust"

More details on Okkervil River's I Am Very Far

Okkervil River is one of the very best indie folk/rock bands of the '00s and they're releasing their sixth studio lp on May 10 via Jagjaguwar. The album is called I Am Very Far and you can view the album cover above and the tracklist below. Okkervil River frontman and songwriter Will Sheff has also made a great track-by-track description of the album for SPIN, detailing the recording of the album and his thoughts on each track, while still keeping the mystery-factor up. It's well worth checking out for fans of the band, and you can read it here.

Tracklist for I Am Very Far:
1. The Valley
2. Piratess
3. Rider
4. Lay Of The Last Survivor
5. White Shadow Waltz
6. We Need A Myth
7. Hanging From A Hit
8. Show Yourself
9. Your Past Life As A Blast
10. Wake And Be Fine
11. The Rise

Okkervil River recently released a 12" single with the song "Mermaid" and its b-side "Walked Out On A Line", both of which are b-sides for I Am Very Far. Both songs marks a clear departure from the sound of the last two Okkervil River records, The Stage Names and The Stand Ins, and is something of a return to their earlier sound. You can stream "Mermaid" right here:



On January 10 Okkervil River (with The Roots and AC Newman of The New Pornographers) performed the track "Wake And Be Fine" from I Am Very Far on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon:

Download or stream the first single from The Strokes' upcoming album

The wait for the fourth album by New York garage rockers The Strokes has been long, and at times it has seemed quite unlikely that it'd ever see the light of day, but Angles is finally being released on March 22 via RCA. A few hours ago The Strokes released their first single from the album, called "Under Cover Of Darkness", and the song is available for free (or rather in exchange for joining their e-mail list) for 48 hours from their website. The wait is finally over and the song belongs among the catchiest songs The Strokes have written, and should please longtime fans as they haven't moved away from their trademark sound too much.

If you don't wanna sign up for their e-mail list you can stream the track via the band's youtube account below:

Keep an extra eye on Spark this year!

I have always had a weird weekness for young women performing quite cheezy pop songs (I'm a big fan of Lily Allen for example). This year we should expect some attention around this young lady Spark, aka Jess Morgan. At the age of 16 she was singed by A&R's Dougie Bruce – the man who also found Kate Nash, Lily Allen and Adele. A few weeks back she also appered on NME's list of the artists you need to hear in 2011. Her first single is "Revolving" and you can watch the video for it below:

MP3: J Mascis - "Is It Done" (with Ben Bridwell)

As we've previously mentioned Dinosaur Jr.-frontman J Mascis got a solo album coming out via Sub Pop on March 15, with what is probably the best album cover of the year (see above). The record is called Several Shades Of Why and you can now download a second song from the album, in addition to the previously released "Noe Enough", called "Is It Done", which feature Band of Horses-frontman Ben Bridwell on backing vocals.

MP3: J Mascis - "Is It Done" (courtesy of Pitchfork)
MP3: J Mascis - "Not Enough" (courtesy of Sub Pop)

Stream The Twilight Singers' Dynamite Steps in full

Twilight Singers-frontman Greg Dulli first came to attention with alternative rock band in The Afghan Whigs in the early '90s and the release of the band's fourth album Gentlemen in 1993, and after the demise of The Afghan Whigs he started The Twilight Singers. The Twilight Singers released their first album in 2000, entitled Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers, and they have released three more albums since then. They're set to release their fifth studio album, Dynamite Steps, on February 15 via Sub Pop but you can stream the entire record right here, a week in advance.

(via SPIN)

A new discovery: The Boxer Rebellion

Today I happened to discover a London based band called The Boxer Rebellion. It's quite funny because they are not a particularly new band and that makes it even more interesting. Why haven't I stumbled across these guys earlier? Their sound is exactly what I'm into, quite dark and alternative.
So far they have released three studio albums. Exits was released 2005 and Union 2009. Their third album The Cold Still was released yesterday on 7th February and here is a link to it on Spotify if you are interested.

The first single from the new album is "Step Out Of The Car" and me like mucho:

Pulp and Ariel Pink to play Way Out West

Pulp and Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti are the second batch of bands to be confirmed for the Way Out West Festival following Robyn, Fleet Foxes, Explosions In The Sky, The Jayhawks and Twin Shadow. Both Pulp and Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti will be playing the main festival area with Robyn, Fleet Foxes and Explosions In The Sky while The Jayhawks and Twin Shadow will be performing club gigs as part of Stay Out West. The festival will take place between August 11 and 13 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Wilco to release new record this year + world tour

So nothing has been announced yet: no release date, no world tour, but in a post on Facebook a few hours ago Wilco confirmed that they "are making a record" and that it "will be out later this year and will be followed by many, many concert dates. To quote Derek Smalls, they shall tour "the World and Elsewhere" beginning in late 2011." Hopefully "elsewhere" includes Stockholm, Sweden. Last month Wilco announced that they were forming their own label, dBpm Records, with distribution via ANTI- Records, and that the upcoming Wilco album will be the labels first release. Wilco have also announced a short tour in May with Smith Westerns as the opening act.

Wilco + Smith Westerns tour dates:
05.02 - Montgomery, AL - Montgomery Performing Arts Centre
05.03 - Mobile, AL - Saenger Theatre
05.06 - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater
05.07 - Denton, TX - University of North Texas Main Auditorium
05.08 - Tulsa, OK - Cain’s Ballroom

(via One Thirty BPM)

Best Coast announce European tour

Best Coast were touring here in Europe just a few months ago (in November/December) but they've already announced a new twelve-date tour of Southern Europe and the UK in April/May. Unlike their last tour there's no dates for Northern Europe and Sweden but good news all the same for their fans in other parts of Europe. Best Coast are currently touring the US with Wavves and they're heading to Australia in March before coming to Europe.

European tour dates:

04.19 - Lisbon, Portugal - Lux Club
04.20 - Madrid, Spain - Circulo del Bellas Artes
04.22 - Angoulême, France - La Nef
04.23 - Paris, France - La Maroquinerie
04.24 - Le Printemps (Aunay Sous Crécy), France - Du Bourges
04.25 - Kortrijk, Belgium - De Kreun in Kortrijk
04.26 - Manchester, UK - Academy
04.27 - Glasgow, UK - The Arches
04.28 - Sheffield, UK - Queens Social Club
04.29 - London, UK - Koko
05.01 - Bristol, UK - Thekla
05.02 - Brighton, UK - Coalition

Christian Kjellvander and The Tarantula Waltz announce tour of Germany and Switzerland

Christian Kjellvander and The Tarantula Waltz, two of Sweden's very finest singer-songwriters, are touring together in March. The Tarantula Waltz's Markus Svensson will open the shows with a solo set (the records usually feature a full band) with Kjellvander being the headliner throughout the six show tour that will take them through Germany and Switzerland (and a second tour is planned for May). Both artists released very impressive albums last year in Kjellvander's The Rough And Rynge and The Tarantula Waltz's Did Not Leave To Find But To Forget, To Leave Behind (which was one of my top ten favourite records of 2010), and The Tarantula Waltz are already working on a follow-up ep entitled Tinderstickneck.

When it comes to folk rock, indie folk and the like these two artists are, together with The Tallest Man On Earth, the very best that Sweden has to offer, and among the best in the world at the moment. I haven't seen Kjellvander live myself but from what I've heard he's a very good live artist, and The Tarantula Waltz has been excellent both times I've seen him so I can only wish for there to be a similar line-up here in Sweden.

Tour dates:
03.22 - Kiel, Germany - Weltruf
03.23 - Hannover, Germany - Faust
03.24 - Freiburg, Germany - White Rabbit
03.25 - Bern, Switzerland - ISC
03.26 - Rorschach, Switzerland - Mariaberg
03.27 - Zürich, Switzerland - El Lokal

If you've got access to Spotify you can listen to The Tarantula Waltz's Did Not Leave To Find But To Forget, To Leave Behind, and Christian Kjellvander's The Rough And Rynge.

The official video for Christian Kjellvander's "Transatlantic":


The Tarantula Waltz performing "Glasgow & Clyde" at the Swedish tv-show Nyhetsmorgon last year:


Christian Kjellvander and The Tarantula Waltz performing a cover of Townes Van Zandt's "A Song For":

Stream the new PJ Harvey album Let England Shake

British singer-songwriter PJ Harvey is releasing Let England Shake, her eight album, on February 15 but you can stream the full album today thanks to the good people at NPR. Let England Shake is Harvey's first solo album since 2007's White Chalk, although she released an album with John Parish called A Woman A Man Walked By in 2009, and it's been well received by the music press so far - with Uncut and Mojo giving it 4 out of 5 and Q Magazine awarding it a full 5/5.

Full album stream: PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

The best of... Interpol

I discovered Interpol in 2004 when they released their second album Antics and I've been hooked ever since. They played at Arvika festivalen 2008 (a festival in Sweden) and I was of course there. Brilliant gig in my opinion. So here's my three favourite tracks from the albums Antics from 2004 and Our Love To Admire from 2007. Listen and love!

”No I In Threesome” from Our Love To Admire.


”Slow Hands” from Antics.


The first tune I ever heard from Interpol, it's about 7 years ago now and it's still one of my favourite songs of all time. The video is great too.

”Public Pervert” from Antics.

R.I.P. Gary Moore 1952-2011

Irish rock legend Gary Moore passed away earlier today according to BBC, at the age 58. Moore is often counted as one of the great guitarist in classic rock and blues, and he's famous both for his tenure in Irish rock band Thin Lizzy in the '70s and his solo career in the '80s.

Moore's career began in the Irish blues rock band Skid Row (not to be confused with the '80s-'90s hair metal act of the same name) which he played with between 1969 and 1971, before releasing his first solo album in 1973 with The Gary Moore Band and joining Thin Lizzy for a short period in 1974. He recorded his first real solo album with the help of Phil Lynott and the other members of Thin Lizzy in 1978 and rejoined the band the same year and recorded Black Rose: A Rock Legend and toured in support of it, before leaving to pursue his solo career the year after.

During the '80s he released a string of solo album which could be best characterized as hard rock before returning to the blues in 1990 with Still Got The Blues and during the last two decades of his career he focused mostly on the blues rather than the hard rock that gave him his hits.

Date set for Miles Kane debut

Finally a date is set for Miles Kane's debut solo album. After the succesful side project The Last Shadow Puppets with his best mate and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and after the break-up of his childhood band The Rascals, he is now on his own. The album is titled The Colour Of The Trap and is released on 9th May. Can't wait!

Full album stream of Jessica Lea Mayfield's Tell Me

Jessica Lea Mayfield is only twenty-one years old and she is already releasing her second full length, entitled Tell Me, on Tuesday via Nonesuch Records. Tell Me is the follow-up to her excellent 2008 debut With Blasphemy So Heartfelt and you can listen to the whole album right now, courtesy of Rolling Stone. I first discovered her when she appeared on The Black Keys' "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be" on their Danger Mouse-produced album Attack & Release from 2008, and The Black Keys' frontman Dan Auerbach produced both Tell Me and With Blasphemy So Heartfelt. Jessica Lea Mayfield is currently on tour with Justin Townes Earle in the US, and you can view all the tour dates on her myspace page.

Stream: Jessica Lea Mayfield - Tell Me

LCD Soundsystem announce retirement show

Last Wednesday The White Stripes announced that they were breaking up, and now another of the great bands of the '00s call it quits: New York's LCD Soundsystem. Neither the break-up of The White Stripes nor LCD's retirement are particularly surprising, all things considered, but it's very sad all the same. In a post on their website LCD Soundsystem announced their "last show ever" on April 2, in Madison Square Garden. It'll be a three hour show with "family and friends", songs that they've never performed live before and with '80s post-punk/post-disco band Liquid Liquid opening. The band are also requesting fans to come dressed in either black, white or black-and-white to help set the mood.

LCD Soundsystem were one of the great bands of the '00s and their mix of dance music, rock, electropop and dance-punk made them into something unique - dance music that could be embraced by rockers and indie kids who'd usually only be into white boys with guitars. Personally I still hold their second lp Sound of Silver from 2007 to be their masterpiece, but last year's This Is Happening has been a steady grower and with a track or two cut it could've been their best.

Here's a pro-shot video of LCD Soundsystem performing "Tribulations" from their self-titled debut lp live last year: