Song/Video of the Day - Beck

Lykke Li - Get Some (Remix by Beck)

Song/Video of the Day - Alexander

Alexander - Truth

Song/Video of the Day - Miniature Tigers

Miniature Tigers - Cannibal Queen

The Flaming Lips Collaborative Album With All-Star Roster!

After touring behind their Dark Side of the Moon covers album, and releasing a 24-hour marathon song on Halloween, Wayne Coyne, frontman on The Flaming Lips, has no intentions of skipping a beat and is currently finishing up a collaborative album with a wide array of artists including: Nick Cave, Yoko Ono, Edward Sharpe, Bon Iver, and possibly ke$sha?! The album is set to release in April.


Click HERE to read the entire Rolling Stone article

Song/Video of the Day - WATERS

WATERS - For the One

The Big Pink - Artist Profile/Album Review

The English, Indie/electro-rock/noise-pop duo, The Big Pink, formed in 2007.  The multi-instrumentalists, Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell, previously ran the record label, Hate Channel, and Cordell had also released albums through Merok Records, which featured releases from Titus Andronicus, Crustal Castles, and Klaxons. 

The Big Pink released their first single, “Too Young to Love”, in 2008 and just one year later, signed with the British record label, 4AD (Atlas Sound, Bon Iver, The National, St. Vincent, etc.).  Shortly after, the duo won the Philip Hall Radar Award for Best New Act at the NME Shockwave Awards (New Musical Express -annual UK music awards show).

Song/Video of the Day - Good Old War (New)

Good Old War - Calling Me Names

Abraham Lincoln, Vampires, and Vitamin String Quartet!

Book recommendation: Seth Grahame-Smith's ABRAHAM LINCOLN - VAMPIRE HUNTER.  Very fun, exciting, "sort of" educational(?), quick read.  It's even better accompanied by, "Blood-Curdling Strings!: VSQ Pays Tribute to Horror Classics."  

Click HERE to visit the Vitamin Strong Quartet website

ATTENTION! At The Drive-In Tweets: REUNION!

The post-hardcore American rock band, from El Paso, Texas, At The Drive-In, have officially announced their reunion since going their separate ways in 2001.  It's members went on to form The Mars Volta and Sparta.

Rumors began swarming in 2009, after an interview with Drowned magazine.

After much anticipation, on January 9th, 2012, At The Drive-In tweeted:

"!ATTENTION! To whom it may concern: AT THE DRIVE-IN will now be breaking their 11 year silence THS STATION IS...NOW...OPERATIONAL"

The band will be performing at this years Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

-A.K.

Drowned In Sound: Interview with The Mars Volta 
At The Drive-In Twitter: #atthedrivein
Coachella: Lineups
atdimusic.com/

Song/Video of the Day - The Shins (New)

The Shins - Simple Song

Song/Video of the Day

Rubblebucket - Came Out of a Lady 

Of Monsters and Men - Artist Profile/Album Review

In 2007, the six-piece indie/folk band, from Iceland, Of Monsters and Men, formed.  Only three years later, in 2010, they won the nationwide battle of the bands competition, Músíktilraunir.  Their single, “Little Talks”, had brought the band some success in the United States.  The song quickly went into heavy rotation after the Seattle radio station, KEXP, recorded them live from the 2010 Iceland Airwaves Festival.  The band finally began to see increased record sales and a larger fan-base, which lead to a battle over the unsigned group.  Of Monsters and Men eventually signed with Universal Music Group.

Their debut album, My Head is an Animal, was released in Iceland in September of 2011.  Although the album is not yet available in the United States, the songs are available on YouTube to tide fans over while waiting for its release. 

The band's sound is excellent and almost entirely acoustic, except for the lone electric guitar.  Drums are usually absent, adding to the softer side along with vocal harmonies.  The vocals of the lead female/male singer work extremely well together, and at the same time, stand perfectly strong on their own.

“My Head Is An Animal” starts out with the slow intro of "Dirty Paws" with the line that hatched their album name.

“Jumping up and down the floor,My head is an animal”

Throughout the album, the music behind the vocals becomes increasingly impressive with catchy choruses and entrancing trumpets. “Little Talks” is definitely the most powerful song on the album. It has a great beat, which immediately gets stuck in your head.  With their upbeat theme, they have been called "New Arcade Fire” and Iceland's “Mumford and Sons” by David Fricke of Rolling Stone Magazine.  Once their debut album hits U.S. streets, Of Monsters and Men will not need comparisons to other great bands, for they will most definitely find their own success.

-A.K.

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks 

Song/Video of the Day

Dog Is Dead - Glockenspiel Song

Song/Video of the Day

Young the Giant - Cough Syrup

Chicago Concert Schedule 01/09/12 - 01/15/12

01/09/12 - Monday
The Hideout 
• Don Stiernberg Trio
• Robbie Fulks
Ultra Lounge 
• Radio Moscow
Kingston Mines 
• Carl Weathersby
• J.W. Williams
____________________________________________________________________
01/10/12 – Tuesday
Buddy Guy’s Legends 
• Dave Herrero and the Hero
• Brothers Band
• Dave Herrero
Abbey Pub 
• Sexfist
Panchos 
• Geronimo!
Kingston Mines 
• Eric Guitar Davis
• Mike Wheeler Band
Reggie’s Music Joint
• Mr. Blotto
Quencher’s Saloon
• Ben Scholz
____________________________________________________________________
01/11/12 - Wednesday
Beat Kitchen
• Ode
aliveOne
• Eric Lambert
Double Door
• Common Shiner
• Little Big Fat
Lincoln Hall
• Chromatics
• Glass Candy
• Desire
Kingston Mines
• Carl Weathersby
• Nick and the Ovorols
The Green Room at The Abbey
• Paradise Waits (Grateful Dead)
Schubas
• Com Truise
Reggie’s Music Joint
• BangerDan

Spotify: Changes To Be Made - (not good for users)

Spotify, the Swedish-founded music streaming service that offers nearly 25 million songs from a range of major and independent record labels, including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group, and Universal,  launched in the United States on July 14, 2011.

The Service offers music that can be browsed by song, artist, album, and genre.  It also gives the users the ability to create and save playlists offline.  The playlist feature allows the creation of collaborative playlists, meaning multiple users can add music to the same playlist.  In addition, very much like Pandora, Spotify offers a "Radio" feature.

Users have three options for membership; (1) a free, ad-supported version; (2) a $4.99 per month, basic membership (which removes ads); or (3) a $9.99 per month, premium membership, which gives the user mobile streaming and offline playlists.

Now, rumors are screaming, "CHANGE IS COMING"!

Reports surfaced recently that Spotify, after only six months in the United States, would soon be pulling the plug on unlimited music streaming for its millions of free users.

"After a Spotify user has enjoyed free unlimited listening for six months, some changes to the free service will come into effect.  We will have more information on these changes in due course" -Spokesperson

New offerings might only include "Spotify Premium" ($4.99 per month), ad-free streaming, or "Spotify Unlimited" ($9.99 per month) including the mobile app service and offline playlists.  Even if rumors are true, Spotify has completely changed the face of online music streaming, and is worth a paid subscription.

-A.K.

Song/Video of the Day

Radiohead - Staircase

Song/Video of the Day

Kankouran - Rivers

Tame Impala - Artist Profile/Album Review

Modular Records, an Australian record label, has represented the artists, Ben Lee, Wolf Mother, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Klaxons, Chromeo, and many more.  In 2008, they made a record deal with a band named after a middle sized antelope, “Tame Impala”.  The band from Perth, Austrailia is a psychedelic –hypno-groove rock band that emphasizes dream-like melodies.  The group was formed from lead singer, Kevin Parker’s original blues/jazz/psychedelic band, the Dee Dee Dums.  Parker was the drummer at the time.  The Dee Dee Dums won many awards and competitions in Australia.  Parker renamed the band to “Tame Impala” in 2007, revealing a new drummer and a more traditional guitar/bass/drum format. 

In 2008, “Tame Impala” released a self-titled debut EP, which went to #1 on the Australian Independent Record Labels chart, and gained a magnitude of airplay.  They were tour supports for The Black Keys, Yeasayer, and MGMT, and in 2009, sold-out their own six-show tour as the headliner.  Some of their songs have even been featured on HBO’s hit television series, Entourage, as closing songs for episodes.

In 2010, “Tame Impala” released their first full length album, InnerSpeaker.  Pitchfork immediately added the album to their “Best New Music” list.  It received four Australian Recording Industry Association Music nominations; album of the year, best rock album, best group and breakthrough artist.  Tame Impala went on the road in 2010 as the opening act for MGMT’s American Tour to promote their new album. 

InnerSpeaker is an album worth listening to straight through.  Its melodies produce a hypnotizing feeling while including well written lyrics.  The album starts on a high note and never seems to drop below it.

After much anticipation, on December 7, 2011, Kevin Parker began mixing a new album with producer, Dave Fridman, who has also worked with The Flaming Lips, Weezer, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, MGMT, and OK Go.  The release date has not been set.

-A.K.

Tame Impala - Lucidity

Song/Video of the Day

of Montreal - Gronlandic Edit