Caan releases new track and video

Yesterday, London-based musician Caan released a new track and video on his Facebook page. The new tune, "Now Hear This My Friends", doesn't have that very noticeable, heavy electro bassline as the previous songs that have been released. It's calmer and more pop-like. I'm glad to hear some more variety from him and I'm quite excited about his debut album (that hopefully will be released soon!).

Caan 'Now Hear This My Friends' from Messrs. on Vimeo.

Video: The Donkeys - "Don't Know Who We Are" (official music video)

California band The Donkeys' released their third album Born With Stripes on April 26 via Dead Oceans and they've now also unveiled a video for the album's first single "Don't Know Who We Are". The track sees the band expanding on their classic country rock sound toward a more modern indie rock style, while still managing to sound like a lost Buffalo Springfield track. The video premiered on FILTER earlier today and you can watch it below.



If you haven't heard the record yet you can stream it online here, and if you just want a mp3 of "Don't Know Who We Are" click the same link.

Video: Lykke Li - "Sadness Is A Blessing"

New video from Lykke Li, made as a short film. I haven't created an opinion about the song yet, but I LOVE this video. Really powerfull. Stellan Skargård is contributing with the role as her father, in this messed-up father-daughter drama. It seems like it doesn't work to embed the video, so here's a link instead. (Link found at NME.com)

UPDATE: We've now got an embedded video for you below.

Lykke Li, The Go! Team and Architecture in Helsinki to play Popaganda

On Tuesday Swedish festival announced the first three acts for this year's festival with Arcade Fire, Delorean and Those Dancing Days, and today they added three more; Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li, indie rockers The Go! Team and indie pop band Architecture in Helsinki.

The festival will take place in Stockholm, Sweden on August 26 and 27 and there's still fourteen more bands to be announced.

Buddy Holly tribute album to feature My Morning Jacket, The Black Keys, Justin Townes Earle, Lou Reed and many more

Fantasy Records/Concorde Music Group will release a Buddy Holly tribute album called Rave On Buddy Holly on June 28 with maybe the most impressive line-up I've seen for a tribute album. Just take a look at this: My Morning Jacket, The Black Keys, Justin Townes Earle, Lou Reed, Paul McCartney, Patti Smith, Cee-Lo, Julian Casablancas, Detroit Cobras and Graham Nash are only a few of the artist contributing tracks on the 19-track album (full tracklist below).

Buddy Holly is one of the true greats in rock music, but he's also often unfairly forgotten - perhaps due to him passing away at age 22 in 1959. Just by looking at the line-up and the quality of Buddy Holly's music I don't see how this could be less than great, at least if we ignore the fact that Kid Rock is on the album - he seems completely out of place, and is hardly at the same level as the other contributors.

Tracklist for Rave On Buddy Holly:
01. The Black Keys - "Dearest"
02. Fiona Apple and Jon Brion - "Every Day"
03. Paul McCartney - "It's So Easy"
04. Florence and the Machine - "Not Fade Away"
05. Cee-Lo - "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care"
06. Karen Elson - "Crying, Waiting, Hoping"
07. Julian Casablancas - "Rave On"
08. Jenny O. - "I'm Gonna Love You Too"
09. Justin Townes Earle - "Maybe Baby"
10. She & Him - "Oh Boy"
11. Nick Lowe - "Changing All Those Changes"
12. Patti Smith - "Words of Love"
13. My Morning Jacket - "True Love Ways"
14. Modest Mouse - "That'll Be the Day"
15. Kid Rock - "Well... All Right"
16. Detroit Cobras - "Heartbeat"
17. Lou Reed - "Peggy Sue"
18. John Doe - "Peggy Sue Got Married"
19. Graham Nash - "Raining in My Heart"

(via Pitchfork)

Full album stream: Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

Chances are that you've already heard Smith Westerns second full-length Dye It Blonde since it was released in January in the US, but if not we've got a stream for you right here. Dye It Blonde will be released in the UK on May 2, and thanks to NME you can preview the album below.

Dye It Blonde is the follow-up to their self-titled 2009 debut and sees the band moving away from the murky lo-fi of the debut toward a cleaner, more professional sound. Usually I wouldn't be happy about this, but the band really makes the production work in their favour and Dye It Blonde is a huge step forward for the band. Sounding like a mix of garage rock, T. Rex, The Beatles and latter-day Deerhunter Dye It Blonde has the potential to be an excellent soundtrack to the summer of 2011.

Video: Lykke Li perform "Get Some" on Jools Holland 26/4

Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li performed "Get Some", the first single from her new album Wounded Rhymes, on UK television show Later...with Jools Holland last night. "Get Some" was originally released in October last year and the album followed in February, and has to my surprise become one of my favourite albums of 2011 - a surprise because I had somehow managed to avoid her music completely before, despite being a Swede myself. Check out the performance below, via Some Kind of Awesome.

Full album stream: The Donkeys - Born With Stripes

The Donkeys' second full-lenght Born With Stripes was released yesterday via Dead Oceans and sees the band expanding on the '70s-style country rock of their 2008 album Living On The Other Side with a more modern and indie rock-inspired sound. The new sound definitely works in their favour since it gives the album a bit more variation without the band losing their own style in the process.

You can stream the entire album now at either AOL's Spinner or 3VOOR12 - recommended stuff - and as a bonus I've got two mp3s from Born With Stripes downloadable below, courtesy of Dead Oceans.

MP3: The Donkeys - "Don't Know Who We Are"
MP3: The Donkeys - "I Like The Way You Walk"

Video: Ryan Boldt of The Deep Dark Woods - "When First Into This Country" (live acoustic)

Photo by: Kevin Hogarth

Live & Breathing posted a video of The Deep Dark Woods singer Ryan Boldt performing "When First Into This Country" from the DDW's excellent 2009 album Winter Hours at Pickathon Pumphouse Session in Portland, Oregon last year. Check it out below, it's a beautiful performance of a great song.

MP3: Frank Turner - "Peggy Sang The Blues"

Frank Turner's England Keep My Bones is one of my most anticipated albums right now and in late March he teased us with "I Am Disappeared", but tonight the proper first single from the album is finally available. "Peggy Sang The Blues" premiered earlier tonight on Zane Lowe's radio show in the UK and on SPIN in the US, and you can stream it below or download it here thanks to SPIN.



England Keep My Bones will be released on June 6 in the UK via Xtra Mile Recordings and on June 7 in the rest of the world via Epitaph

MP3: White Fence - "Get That Heart"

White Fence's ...Is Growing Faith is one of my favourite records of the year so far; a wonderfully ramshackle affair of garage rock, pop, country, psychedelic and folk, all expertly done. For those of you that didn't already know White Fence is the solo project of Tim Presley, leader of Darker My Love and member of The Strange Boys and ...Is Growing Faith was released in January on Woodsist Records.

Chances are that most people still haven't heard ...Is Growing Faith, so here's another reason you shouldn't need: a free mp3 of "Get That Heart".

Video: Parts & Labor - "Echo Chamber" (official music video)

I hadn't heard of Parts & Labor until the release of their newest record Constant Future, their fifth album, and that's not so surprising considering their type of indie rock isn't exactly what I usually listen to. Nonetheless Constant Future is a strong album, and they've now made a video together with Nicholas Chatfield-Taylor for one of the album's strongest tracks; "Echo Chamber". Check it out below.



Constant Future is out now on Jagjaguwar and Parts & Labor will be touring Europe in May although they won't make it up to Sweden (dates below).

Video: The War On Drugs - "Comin' Through" (official music video)

The War On Drugs' Future Weather ep was released in late October last year, and during the pre-release build up "Comin' Through" was the teaser track. "Comin' Through" is my personal favourite track from the ep (although at half an hour it might as well be an album) and now it has finally got a music video, which you can view below.


(via Make Major Moves)

The War On Drugs are currently working on their second full-length, which has been a long time coming, and it's definitely one of the future releases I'm the most excited about.

If you haven't got the Future Weather ep you can download "Comin' Through" and "The History of Plastic" from it below thanks to Secretly Canadian.

MP3: The War On Drugs - "Comin' Through"
MP3: The War On Drugs - "The History of Plastic"

Song of the day; The Vaccines - "Blow It Up"

Song of the day today is The Vaccines' "Blow It Up". Enjoy!

MP3: Vandervelde - "More Than You Can Feel"

I hadn't even heard of Vandervelde until this story popped up on my Facebook feed less than an hour ago thanks to his label Secretly Canadian. Since Secretly Canadian are regularly excellent and there were mentions of Zuma-era Neil Young and Marc Bolan in the blurb I gave "More Than You Can Feel", the track in question a listen, and damn, I'm not disappointed. The blurb isn't too far away from the truth, although I'd place it closer to American Stars 'n' Bars-era Neil Young than Zuma myself. It's right up my alley anyway; strong songwriting and guitarwork and not-too-perfect vocals - I'd urge you to give it a listen below.

Some quick research shows that Vandervelde is the singer-songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and producer David Vandervelde, who might be most know for his work with the late guitarist and producer Jay Bennett (ex-Wilco). Vandervelde is signed as a solo artist to Secretly Canadian and released The Moonstation House Band, his debut album, in 2007 and its follow-up Waiting for the Sunrise in 2008. Judging by one of his tweets "More Than You Can Feel" is a version of a song that will be on his third lp, which is expected to be released this fall.

"More Than You Can Feel" will be released as a single on May 3 with the previously unreleased b-side "Beer" which was co-written by Jay Bennett. Listen to and download "More Than You Can Feel" below, or download it here thanks to Secretly Canadian.

Video: Frank Turner perform "I Am Disappeared" and "Rod Stewart" (unreleased) live acoustic

Frank Turner's fourth studio album England Keep My Bones will be released on June 6 in the UK via Xtra Mile Recordings and on June 7 in the rest of the world via Epitaph. I'm terribly late with this, but Turner performed a solo acoustic version "I Am Disappeared" from England Keep My Bones for German Radio WDR a couple of weeks ago (I think so at least, my German is less than stellar).

Check out the performance below, and as a bonus there's a video of him performing a brand new song (so new it won't even be on the album) called "Rod Stewart" from the same session.

"I Am Disappeared"


"Rod Stewart"


If you haven't heard the studio cut of "I Am Disappeared" you really should, it's been in steady rotation for me since it's release, and it's available here.

Tracklist for My Morning Jacket's Circuital revealed

My Morning Jacket's upcoming sixth studio album Circuital is one of my most anticipated albums right now and it's quickly approaching. The album will be released on May 31 by ATO Records and we've already received two songs from it; "Circuital" and "Holdin On To Black Metal". We've now got a tracklist for the album for you too, courtesy of the excellent MMJ (focused) blog The Steam Engine. Check it out below.

Circuital tracklist:
01. Victory Dance
02. Circuital
03. The Day is Coming
04. Wonderful (The Way I Feel)
05. Outta My System
06. Holdin On To Black Metal
07. First Light
08. You Wanna Freak Out
09. Slow Slow Tune
10. Movin Away

Arcade Fire to headline Popaganda festival in Stockholm, Sweden

In a surprising move the Swedish festival Popaganda announced Canadian indie rock gigants Arcade Fire as the headliner of this year's line-up today. Together with Spanish alternative dance act and Swedish all-girl pop/rock group Those Dancing Days, Arcade Fire were the first acts to be announced for the two-day festival, which will take place on August 26 and 27 here in Stockholm, Sweden.

Introducing... Alex Starling

Alex Starling, a musician from the U.K. with an amazing voice and with music mixed between rock and folk/troubadour. I first discovered him at the event "Chazzstock" at London's KOKO, the tribute show to Ou est le swimming pool singer Charles Haddon. Starling used to play synth with Ou est le swimming pool, but in the media context (maybe even offically?) he wasn't considered a member of the band.

About a month ago he released a new tune,"Getting through", which is more electro-influenced combined with acoustic guitar. I think it's an amazing song, I like it more than his earlier folk/troubadour sound. Check him out!

"All Look Like Lies"
 

"Miss You"


"Getting Through"

Stream: My Morning Jacket - "Holdin On To Black Metal"

My Morning Jacket released the first song from their upcoming album Circuital on April 12, namely the 7-minute long title track, which has been praised among fans. Today they unveiled a second track from the album; "Holdin On To Black Metal" which is definitely further from their classic sound than the folk-ish "Circuital" and has more in common with their most experimental work on Z and Evil Urges than their early country/folk sound. To listen to "Holdin On To Black Metal" you'll have to like their Facebook page and head over to "Band Page" to listen to it. When someone finally uploads it to Soundcloud I'll add a player here too.

UPDATE: Here you go, via We All Want Someone To Shout For.


My Morning Jacket's Circuital will be released on May 31 via ATO Records, and if "Circuital" and "Holdin On To Black Metal" isn't enough MMJ for you there's also the psychedelic non-album track "Octoplasm" for you to listen to.

Full album stream: Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

I assume that most people have already listened to Fleet Foxes's Helplessness Blues using less-than-legal means but now everyone else can listen to it too since NPR have been kind enough to host a stream of it as part of their First Listen series. The album is certainly one of the very best to have been released this year and personally I find it to be a clear step forward from their critically praised 2008 debut lp, while retaining their signature sound. 3VOOR12 also has a stream available if you for some reason don't want to listen using NPR.

Helplessness Blues will be released next week on May 3 via Sub Pop.

MP3: Balto - "Kirov Factory"

Last week I wrote an introductory piece on New York, NY folk rockers Balto and their debut album October's Road, which in my opinion is one of the very best to be released this year. Included in that post is streams of two of the album's ten tracks, "The Railyard" and "Don Quixote", and you can now get a free download of "Kirov Factory" in exchange for an e-mail address by using the widget below.

Video: Ryan Adams perform new songs live + "Oh My Sweet Carolina" with Emmylou Harris

On April 21 (the past Thursday) Ryan Adams made a surprise appearance opening for Emmylou Harris at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. Playing solo acoustic he performed a couple of old tracks but more excitingly three new tracks which sounds far stronger than what he's been releasing during the last couple of years, and you can check out audience recorded videos of the tracks below.

Adams also performed his 2000 classic "Oh My Sweet Carolina" with Emmylou Harris, who also sang backing vocals on the studio version, and you can view a video of that below too. Adams is currently working on his upcoming record with producer Glyn Johns and in June he'll do a solo acoustic tour of Europe and I'll be attending the first show of the tour in Stockholm on June 10.

MP3: Sharon Van Etten - “Like A Diamond” (Glass Ghost cover)

If you're like me you can't get enough of the wonderful Sharon Van Etten, and if so today is your lucky day - Other Music got a free download of Van Etten covering Glass Ghost's "Like A Diamond". The download is only available to US residents though but One Thirty BPM's got a stream and download of the track (available below). Check it out.

Video: Fleet Foxes perform "Sim Sala Bim" and "Bedouin Dress" on Jools Holland

Fleet Foxes performed "Grown Ocean" from their upcoming album Helplessness Blues live on Later...with Jools Holland on Tuesday, but they also performed two more tracks that weren't part of the original broadcast. These two tracks were "Sim Sala Bim" and "Bedouin Dress" and you can watch the performances below, and check out the "Grown Ocean" video here. Helplessness Blues will be released on May 3 via Sub Pop.

"Sim Sala Bim"


"Bedouin Dress"

Video: The Twilight Singers cover Kanye West's "All Of The Lights"

The Twilight Singers released one of the better records of 2011 with Dynamite Steps on February 15 via Sub Pop, and they have been touring behind the record since. Last Sunday the band did a surprisingly good cover of Kanye West's "All Of The Lights" before seguing it into their own "Candy Cane Crawl" from their 2006 album Powder Burns. Check out an audience-recorded video of the performance below (thanks to YouTube user yonim78 for the upload).

"All Of The Lights / Candy Cane Crawl" live at the Reading 3, Tel Aviv, 2011.04.17: