Daily Randomness

A look at what's happening right now:



High Violet, the new studio album from The National, is out this week.

Download:
The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio [buy High Violet]

---

Lookie at who's on the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack [link]!

---

A Song called "XXXO", and now we hear that M.I.A.'s New Album Is Called /\/\/\Y/\ [link]?

Club 8: "Western Hospitality" Video

Club 8 have been making dreamy melodic pop music for a while, so it's refreshing to see them pick up a brand new sound for a change. Their latest album The People's Record is out today on Labrador (incidentally run by Johan Angergård, one half of Club 8) and here we have "Western Hospitality" for your listening pleasure. It's a nice blend of Swedish pop and African rhythms, and I would love to dance unabashedly like that cute girl in the video, except I'm not too sure if they'd allow it at my workplace.

Download:
Club 8 - Western Hospitality

The Mary Onettes: "The Night Before The Funeral" Video

The Mary Onettes have released a video for their latest song, "The Night Before The Funeral". Apparently they now sound "a bit like a descendant of The Go Betweens and The Stone Roses high on Swedish mountains mixed with A-ha in a gothic church". Go figure.

The "The Night Before The Funeral" is Philip of The Mary Onettes' debut as a director. The video connects very strongly to him and bandmate/brother Henrik who plays the main character in the video.

All the places you see in the video have strong ties to his and his brother Henrik's childhood. The forest that you see is the forest where Philip hung out with the association "Friluftsfrämjandet" every Saturday for eight years. The football pitch is located just around the corner from the house where they grew up in. The beach was where they used to go in the summer when they were kids. The apartment where Henrik picks up a guitar is their grandmother's old apartment.

"The Night Before The Funeral" single has been released on digital format and you can purchase it through iTunes.

Download:
The Mary Onettes - The Night Before The Funeral

Snow & Voices - Anything That Moves

When I first heard Snow & Voices' new single "Maybe Finland", I instantly assumed the band hailed from the Nordic country, as the song evoked notions of ethereal landscapes and bleak winters. In reality, the dream pop duo of singer-songwriter Lauri Kranz and multi-instrumentalist Jebin Bruni are based in sunny Los Angeles, nevertheless they know a thing or two about adequately capturing the feeling of melancholy. Their image is reminiscent of fellow dream pop artists Beach House, but Kranz's soothing voice holds its own weight.

Come May 25, Snow & Voices will release their third CD Anything That Moves on their own independent Elastic Ruby Records and it will distributed by Junketboy/Coalition of Independent Music Stores. You can preview "Maybe Finland" and "I Am A Storm" (another interesting teaser for the new album) below.

Download:
Snow & Voices - Maybe Finland
Snow & Voices - I Am A Storm [All MP3s Removed]

PEACE by Buffetlibre and Amnesty International Catalunya

Barcelona's Buffetlibre DJs have combined efforts with Amnesty International to launch a new charitable project called PEACE. For a donation, you can gain access to 180 exclusive new songs by artists such as Ra Ra Riot and Micah P Hinson. Additional details below.

PEACE, a unique initiative co-produced by Buffetlibre and Amnesty International Catalunya, is finally available, including more than 180 exclusive and unreleased songs by artists from more than 50 countries. The compilation is digitally available worldwide here and can be downloaded after making a donation to Amnesty International Catalunya. The collected money will be used for AI’s investigation and action campaigns aimed at preventing cases of Human Rights abuses around the world.

Among the artists participating in this project there are acclaimed musicians and exciting up-and-coming talents from countries such as USA, England, France, Spain, China, Mali, Japan, Venezuela, Cuba, Israel, New Zealand, Tibet, Palestine, Turkey or Thailand. PEACE line up includes Ryuichi Sakamoto, Marc Almond, Patrick Wolf, 4hero, Dubstar, Tahiti 80, Dan Deacon, Micah P Hinson, Steve Wynn, The Antlers, Mogwai, Mexican Institute Of Sound, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Toxic Avenger, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Stereo Total, Vive La Fète and Bart Davenport, to name only a few. Complete list of artists involved is available in PEACE website.

All the songs included in PEACE are available for streaming at http://www.buffetlibredjs.net/peace.html as well as information on all artists participating in the project. The full compilation, downloadable through a donation to Amnesty International Catalunya, includes all the songs in 320Kbps mp3 format.

Download:
Ra Ra Riot - Ghost Under Rocks (Bluebrain Remix)
Patrick Wolf - Army Dreamers (Kate Bush cover)
Bart Davenport - Only A Shadow
Plushgun - Mixtapes
Crocodiles - Nothing To Be Done (The Pastels cover)
The Antlers - Two (Buffetlibre Remix)

Bonus:
Cartridge - Black Roads [All MP3s Removed]

First Listen: Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

5 long years after releasing their self-titled award-winning album, Canada's finest indie collective Broken Social Scene return on May 4 with Forgiveness Rock Record, arguably their most accessible and cohesive LP to date. They have perennially set the bar high for themselves and their indie rock contemporaries, which is perhaps why some naysayers have lamented that Forgiveness does not quite match up to the splendor of their back catalogue. Only, how do you expect them to remain in situ with changing dynamics, a rotating line-up and a constant need to reinvent themselves with each new record that they dole out?

With the exception of album closer "Me And My Hand", Forgiveness is a stellar record from start to finish. Having played it in its entirety for maybe 10 times now, I think it is a hell of a grower. You discover something fresh with each repeated listen. The music ebbs and flows as you move from song to song, while the musical pedigrees -- such as core members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, and contributors like Amy Millan, Emily Haines and Leslie Feist -- inject a little dose of their personalities into each tune.

BSS do mellow pretty well, which is why the Lisa Lobsinger-fronted "All to All" was my initial standout pick, its downtempo arrangement and wispy vocals throwing me into a lovely slumber.

The collective have John McEntire to thank for their updated polished sound. McEntire bundles an assortment of 14 tracks into this neat, sweet-sounding package. Lead single "World Sick" and "Forced to Love" have gorgeous refrains, "Texico Bitches" is upbeat and lively, and "Sweetest Kill" continues in the same intimate vein as "All to All". Elsewhere, "Meet Me in the Basement" swirls with instrumentals. The lo-fi song "Sentimental X's", interestingly enough, sees the three ladies (Amy, Emily and Feist) singing for the first time on the same track.

Though Forgiveness was, as Drew puts it, ultimately written to be played at live shows, it still makes for an enthralling listen on record. Spin it a couple of times to unravel all its hidden secrets and you will eventually find yourself with a winner.

Download:
Exchange your email for a free download of "World Sick" [link]

Heineken Presents Peaches Live In Singapore

© Angel Ceballos

Peaches returns to Singapore on April 28 for a one night only show at Zirca. Pre-sale tickets at $45 are available at TDC, Zirca and Home Club. Otherwise, you can purchase them on the day of the show at $55. The event starts at 9.30pm. Zirca is located at The Cannery, Clarke Quay 3C River Valley Road.

From Australiaʼs Big Day Out to the US of Aʼs Coachella, Peaches has stomped her way around the globe and turned all heads along the way with her cutting-edge music and her outrageously fierce sense of style. As todayʼs definitive icon of innovation, the Canadian-born dance electro punk musician has unabashedly brought sex and sexuality to her art (Fatherfucker, anyone?) and reinvented fashion, bringing individualism to a level beyond. Peachesʼ brand of the original dirty classic has gone live from Japan to Europe and infiltrated the soundtracks of films like Love Actually and TV shows like The L Word. This April, HOME and John Robinson are proud to bring you the freshest sound of Peaches Live in Singapore!

Download:
Peaches - Talk to Me [buy I Feel Cream]