Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Release New Album – A Blank CD!

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In probably one of the more ingenious marketing launches of an album, the mysterious and elusive details of Dark Night of the Soul – the collaboration between Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and David Lynch (yes, that’s right) – are now available.  You can actually stream the album now on NPR Music.

It all started with mysterious posters all around Austin during SXSW this March.  I saw them and was intrigued.  I love pretty much everything Danger Mouse touches. Then information started to emerge.  Dark Night of the Soul is an album of songs written by Danger Mouse and Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse and features a myriad of other artists including James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.

The album was supposed to be released in July with a book of photographs by David Lynch.  But due to ongoing disputes with label EMI, the album will not see an official digial or physical release. (Oy…labels.) So the band will be releasing the album as a blank CD-R with a note to fans to download it from an illegal filesharing network.  For now you can enjoy a free stream of the album on NPR Music. Check it out now, while it lasts.  You can pre-order the CD (albeit blank) with book of 100 original photos from David Lynch on the bands website now.

Pink Mountaintops – “Outside Love”

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“While We We’re Dreaming”

“Vampire”

Outside Love is the third album by Pink Mountaintops (not to be confused with Pink Mountain), AKA Stephen McBean, who has slowly emerged as a distinctive voice and a very special contributor to the North American songbook. A veteran of the Vancouver/Victoria punk rock scene, McBean is best known for his contributions to acclaimed rock band Black Mountain, (is there a band Purple Mountain somewhere?) as principal songwriter, guitarist and co-vocalist.

According to their bio, the ten songs on Outside Love are about or influenced by weddings in Montreal, winter, Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut, Christmas albums, that one Exile song and that one Echo and the Bunnymen song, the Bermuda Triangle, being depressed in the sunshine, people who haven’t made out yet but will in the future, The Everly Brothers, clowns in the ceilings, and bedrooms where skinheads used to live.

Many friends and special guests contributed to or appear on Outside Love, including Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mt. Zion, Godspeed You! Black Emperor), Ted Bois (Destroyer), Jesse Sykes (Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, sunnO)))), Phil Wandscher (Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Whiskeytown), Josh Stevenson (Jackie O Motherfucker), Ashley Webber (The Organ, Bonnie Prince Billy), Amber Webber (Black Mountain, Lightning Dust), Matthew Camirand (Black Mountain, Blood Meridian), Joshua Wells (Black Mountain, Lightning Dust), Keith Parry (Superconductor, the Gay), and Tolan McNeil (Caroline Mark).

Album of the Week: Jeremy Jay – “Slow Dance”

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Artist: Jeremy Jay
Album: Slow Dance
File Under: Indie Pop
Recommended if You Like: Early Bowie meets Jonathon Richman
Featured Tracks: “In This Lonely Town”

While on holiday in Greece, nothing has bridged the gap for me musically better than Jeremy Jay.  It’s just the right mix of down tempo electro pop fitting for the sunny Mediterranean climes I’m inhabiting at the moment, and the perfect transition from the Euro electro madness I’m assaulted with on a daily basis.

Described by Pitchfork as “the type of guy who tours with Deerhunter but covers Madonna,” Jay’s latest album, Slow Dance, is disco done right.  With just the right touch of that 80s synth, early Bowie sound, it really is the perfect album for my European vacation – cool and sexy. Listening to it is comfortably familiar and, just like the soundtrack of  a John Hughes film, it nails my ethos perfectly.

YETH! New White Denim [MP3]

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Listen to White Denim’s “Mirrored and Reverse”:

New White Denim is in the works!  “Mirrored and Reverse” is off the upcoming album Fits scheduled to be released on June 22.  I can’t wait!

Be sure to join the Yeth Facebook Group for more cheeky and irreverent fun. Just say YETH!

I Like It Fast, Rough and Dirty

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SXSW is perfect for guys like me – guys with short attention spans who often find themselves drunk, lost, happily muddled, separated from friends, and attracted to alcohol and music like Angelina Jolie is to orphanages.  So it was with little surprise that, while most of the crew actually stuck to Julie’s carefully-planned schedules and were miles away uptown, I was meandering through the sun-drenched and hipster-thronged streets of downtown Austin in search of another free cold beer and some shade.
Now it may have been just dumb luck, but I do believe that I purposefully made my way into the back patio of Red Eyed Fly to stumble upon Titus Andronicus hurriedly plugging in amps and setting up mikes while an indifferent crowd milled about.  So I was hardly prepared when this group of bedraggled guys launched into an all-out-audio-assault.   It was as if a 19-year-old Paul Westerberg (one of my rock n’ roll gods) was wailing over unpolished, bombastic, fast-driving anthems that bordered between a roided-up Springsteen and Andrew W.K. When the set finally finished and I came to my senses, I wanted to high five someone.   But sadly, as the “lost guy of the group” I found myself unable to share my glee with a crew member.  Sigh.
 “The Airing of Grievances”, T.A.’s first album, and I hope a nod to us “Seinfeld” fans, was released this past January and rocks the whole way through.  Don’t expect produced shoegaze or clever instrumentalism here. In fact, don’t expect much production at all.  This is just sloppy (and I don’t mean that as a criticism), brash music that makes you want to step on the gas, roll down the windows, and punch your car roof while singing at the top of your lungs. Just remember to watch out for pedestrians and cops.

[Guest post by Alan]

Concert Picks ‘O The Week: The Vaselines; Black Joe Lewis

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Listen to “Son of A Gun”

The Vaselines have long been celebrated by musicians and music enthusiasts across genres and across the globe, including super-fan Kurt Cobain. Sub Pop’s May 5th release of Enter The Vaselines is an opportunity for those already familiar with the Scottish band’s brief career to delve deeper into their body of work, while those new to their music can experience firsthand why so many hold them in such high regard. This new collection is effectively a deluxe-edition reissue of the 1992 Sub Pop release The Way of The Vaselines with a new title and new cover art, both from the band, and a whole lot of new material (the entirety of the 17-song second CD/third LP has been added). Originally mastered from a cassette tape, The Way of The Vaselines compiled the band’s two EPs (Son of a Gun and Dying for It) and their sole LP release (Dum-Dum). Enter The Vaselines is the definitive triple LP/double CD Vaselines collection. It includes new mixes and re-mastered versions of everything by The Vaselines, plus never-before-heard demos, and live recordings from 1986 in Bristol and 1988 in London.

Catch The Vaselines at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco on Monday, May 11.

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Listen to “Bitch, I Love You”:

Anatomy texts might not show it, but the greatest soul and blues music leaves no doubt that the hip bone is directly connected to the heart — a fact that’s driven home in every note laid down by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. As they prove on their Lost Highway debut, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is, the Austin-based combo has the kind of gritty attitude and deliciously greasy groove-consciousness that’d pass muster in the toughest juke joint.

One of this year’s break out artists, Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears put on a live performance to impress. With tracks like “Humpin‘” and “Big Booty Woman” how can you not have a good time? So grab your friends and saunter on over to San Francisco’s Slims this Saturday May 16 for some serious booty shakin’…guaranteed!