Hi friends–hope your Halloween was awesome. We’re all a bit tired from running around making Halloweek happen, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been listening to new music! So here, to close out the week as always, are a bunch of great new jams we discovered over the past week and couldn’t wait to pass on to you. Enjoy!
Hi friends–hope your Halloween was awesome. We’re all a bit tired from running around making Halloweek happen, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been listening to new music! So here, to close out the week as always, are a bunch of great new jams we discovered over the past week and couldn’t wait to pass on to you. Enjoy!
Flaming Lips – Is The Black At The End Good
The Flaming Lips dropped a new EP this week called Peace Sword, which consists entirely of songs from or inspired by the new film adaptation of Ender’s Game. I’m sure many of us have very conflicted feelings about Ender’s Game (great book) and its author, Orson Scott Card (total asshole–though he’s also a communist, so he can’t be all bad… or can he? Like I said, conflicted). But there’s nothing to be conflicted about where the new Flaming Lips song is concerned. “Is The Black At The End Good” follows in the footsteps of their latest LP, The Terror, in working its way slowly back from the lo-fi improv punk weirdness of 2009’s Embryonic. Wayne Coyne’s lyrical themes continue to focus on the difficulty of life’s daily struggles with mortality–fitting for a song written in response to a sci-fi novel about child soldiers–but musically, this is probably the closest we’ve heard in a long time to the classic Soft Bulletin/Yoshimi sound that many of the Lips’ younger fans first fell in love with. Get yourself a digital copy of Peace Sword from iTunes here, and keep an eye out for vinyl and CD releases of the EP, coming November 29.
Kitten – Cut It Out (Charli XCX Remix)
I admit it–I don’t know much of anything about Kitten, an LA group led by teenage singer Chloe Chaidez. But I do know they’re touring with Charli XCX, a barely-post-teenage British singer who has gained the lion’s share of her American fame by writing “I Love It” for Icona Pop. Random singles like “Nuclear Seasons” and “You’re The One” were bubbling under in the indie world back in 2011 or so, and she finally released an album called True Romance this year, which seemed to fulfill all the promise of her early isolated tunes. However, she still hasn’t had a US hit under her own name, more’s the pity. Charli’s staying on her grind, though, and she and Kitten are currently touring the country together (they’ll be in DC November 16). Charli’s remix of Kitten’s “Cut It Out” came together due to said tour, and I’ve been jamming it all week. Its mix of hypnotic dance groove and irresistible pop chorus makes me want to hear it over and over. There’s no iTunes link to buy it from yet, sadly, but while you’re playing this track on repeat, you can certainly check out Charli XCX’s True Romance at iTunes HERE, and of course check out all of Kitten’s releases thus far, including the original mix of “Cut It Out” (still good, but not as good as the remix) at their website, HERE.
Portal – Curtain
And now for something completely different. Australian death/black metal band Portal have been making really weird yet bizarrely gripping music for over a decade now, and 2013 brings us their fourth album, Vexovoid. As a promotional video for the new album, the band have chosen to release this frankly terrifying new clip for “Curtain,” which mixes poetry from Edgar Allan Poe, German expressionist cinema, and outright surrealism with some terrifying puppetry. I know, you’re thinking “How can puppetry be terrifying?” but watch the video, because I’m 100% serious. And try to wrap your head around Portal’s deep, sepulchral vocals; strange, choppy song structures; and brutal guitar riffs while you’re at it. Who says Halloween is over? Portal’s Vexovoid is available on CD from Profound Lore Records HERE, and you can grab a digital copy from iTunes HERE.
Mogwai – Remurdered
The cool guitar boys from Scotland have returned once again! Mogwai are gearing up for the release of their eighth studio album, Rave Tapes, in January 2014, and have presented us with a preview track from that album in the form of “Remurdered,” a 6.5-minute instrumental that keeps things mellow for the first half, before what sounds like an analog synth begins to dominate the mix and brings in some much heavier bass sounds. “Remurdered” never really lifts off to the stratosphere the way some Mogwai classics like “Mogwai Fear Satan” or “2 Rights Make 1 Wrong” have in the past, but its foreboding, synth-based groove sounds reminiscent of Italian prog band Goblin’s soundtrack work for 70s horror movies, which is a pretty neat direction to hear Mogwai exploring. Will the whole album be like this? I suppose we’ll have to wait until January to find out, though if you want, you can pre-order the album on vinyl or CD from Sub Pop right HERE.
Action Bronson & Party Supplies – Blue Chips 2 Teaser
OK, OK, this isn’t really a song. That’s why I put it last. Trust me, though, you’re gonna want to watch it. This teaser for Action Bronson and Party Supplies‘ new collaborative mixtape, Blue Chips 2, a sequel to 2012’s Blue Chips (obviously), is simultanously foul-mouthed, esoteric, and hilarious. Bronson casts himself as a corrupt mob boss, riding around in the back of a limo, making angry calls on a primitive cellphone, and paying off Patrick Ewing before what turns out to be game 7 of the 1995 Eastern Conference finals, in which the New York Knicks lost the game and the series to the Indiana Pacers because of a missed lay-up by Ewing in the final seconds. The clip is soundtracked by Party Supplies’ spooky beats and ends with an Action Bronson verse from the new mixtape, but the real reason to watch is to catch Bronsolino’s scenery-chewing turn at acting. The part at the end of the video when he starts spouting homophobia, Tony Soprano-style, is too ridiculous for him to pull off without laughing, but the rest of the video is great. In light of the sad passing of James Gandolfini, we think Scorcese might be wise to get Bronsolino on the phone next time he needs to cast an angry Mafia guy. Anyway, Action Bronson and Party Supplies dropped Blue Chips 2 today, so head over to Datpiff and grab a free download for yourself!
