From the monthly archives:
Kid Cudi is not the magic ingredient here; Dan Black’s chorus of “give me give me symphonies” and the violin swooshes from the original still reign supreme in between an aggressive Dada Life reworking of this tune. This track, along with remixes by Chris Lake and Passion Pit, will appear on a Symphonies EP, due this June. Dan has just announced some new tour dates in North America with more to follow. Cop the track, check the dates below.
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Every time I hear about Homeland Security secretary and former Arizona governor Janet Napolitano I wish it was actually Johnette Napolitano in our midst. Sadly, the former Concrete Blonde frontwoman is not as ubiquitous. Outside of the band’s top 20 hit, “Joey,” and some intermittent solo work from Napolitano, what does anyone really know about this distinctly 90s band? While “Joey” stayed on modern rock radio throughout the decade, it hit the Top 20 in 1990, the year its album, Bloodletting. was released. Thus, this year marks its 20th birthday. Naming the tour “The Vampires Rise” seems less of a reference to the album’s opener – “Bloodletting (The Vampires Song)” – and more of a capitalization on vampirmania, but on the chance that they still have some studied grunge-era west coast rebellion left in ‘em, this wouldn’t be a bad tour to see. The album gets a reissue this summer as well. Dates below. […keep reading…]
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Most electropop lovers know Timo Kaukolampi from his work with Annie. He collaborated on her debut and toured with her as well. Now, the Finish DJ/musician/producer is synth-deep in K-X-P, a “drum, bass, and synth trio” that makes the kind of noisey experimental music Scandinavians should make more often. This project has actually been in the works since 2006, they even had a deal with Smalltown Supersound in place (in fact, Timo brought Annie to STSS for her recent Don’t Stop). There’s something Bauhaus-y about this Scanda noise rock, including on the lead single “18 Hours (Of Love).” The album drops this July.
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Trees, a woman in a fur coat, a drag queen in a fur coat, and all the ways these things can be translated sonically appear in Trentemøller‘s “Sycamore Feeling.”
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Such teasers these Aussies. A year after Empire of the Sun‘s stellar debut, the duo of Nick Littlemore of Pnau and Luke Steele of the Sleepy Jackson are coming to North America for a short little tour. Right now, it sits at four dates but we’re hopeful there will be more. The dynamic between Littlemore and Steele is someone in question. Last summer, Steele had gone months without hearing from his bandmate, only to find him hiding in broad daylight, busy with collaborations with Groove Armada and Dame Elton John. Steele, meanwhile, has kept busy by collabo’ing with Jay-Z. They got a couple of Brit noms and won the Aria for single and album of the year. Below, dates and a clip of them live at Parklife last year. […keep reading…]
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Kelis is an amazing recording artist with a solid catalog that most people haven’t heard in its entirety and most artists would envy. That said, her live shows have often lacked something – namely a consistent vocal. With a few club dates recently in support of the forthcoming Flesh Tone, Kelis is working hard to be the live performer her records have begged her to be. She’s on her way. After a night at Cinespace in Hollywood, she played the Santos House Party in NYC, performing new songs as well as classics like “Get Along With You” from 1999′s Kaleidoscope (see below). It’s pretty good! Flesh Tone drops on Interscope on July 6. […keep reading…]
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