Wale Has ADD

On October 20th, Wale's first major label debut, Attention: Deficit, will finally be released. Backed by four outstanding mixtapes, Wale and the album are seeing their share of hype, especially since the record was originally slated for late September, but was pushed back due to production issues.

The leaks from Attention: Deficit have been steady for awhile now, but most of them have been amateur reworkings of old and unfinished material. That was until not too long ago when Wale self-released the almost finished "My Sweetie." The track is a solid up-tempo offering, but doesn't quite match his best mixtape work. If anything, Wale's verses are great, but the production is weak.

"My Sweetie" is the second official song I've heard off the upcoming LP, the other being the album's first single, "Chillin' (feat. Lady Gaga)" which was sufienct enough until remixers took the track to better places.

There's an excess of expectation behind this record, but the leaks thus far have left me cautiously optimistic. However, if anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, its Wale; The D.C. talent has put out nothing but greatness on his mixtapes.

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My Sweetie - Wale

And in case you forgot Wale's mixtape skills...

W.A.L.E.F.R.I.E.N.D.S. - Wale

Chillin' (Benzi & Willy Joy Remix) - Wale

Cuz I'm African - Wale

Boyz (Wale Remix) - M.I.A.

Neon Indian Hijack the Summer

It's a shame that Neon Indian will release their debut LP, titled Psychic Chasms, on October 13th. It's disappointing not because every track on Chasms is excellent, but because autumn is not the season for this record.

This album, with its lo-fi electronics, disco loops, and syrupy pop, belongs to the summer. It owes its creation to John Hughes, July, and August.

The brainchild behind the band's sublime sounds is twenty-one year old Alan Palomo, who also helms the hi-fi electro-pop of VEGA. However, Neon Indian is more than just Palomo's gauche shoegaze side project. Despite the drop-off in fidelity, his work here far surpasses its more mainstream counterpart.

Chock-full of pop sensibilities that seem carved out of mall trips during the 1980s, Psychic Chasms revels in its lack of polish and wraps its charm in dated synthesizers and out of tune melodies.

Download the tracks below before sweater weather is in and sunscreen is out.

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Should Have Taken Acid With You - Neon Indian

Deadbeat Summer - Neon Indian

Mind, Drips - Neon Indian

Terminally Chill - Neon Indian

Psychic Chasms - Neon Indian

Forever Means Drake (and Lil Wayne and Kanye and Eminem)

I'll be honest, "Forever" by Drake, featuring Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Eminem, is no "Swagger Like Us," but it's worth posting for a few reasons.

First off, Drake has more buzz than he knows what to do with right now. Second, it's new Lil Wayne. More importantly, it's Weezy's first collaboration with Eminem, regardless of the latter's current lackluster talents. Thirdly, this track will most likely blow up has blown up.

However, the fourth and, by far, most important reason is that Drake used to play Jimmy on Degrassi. Yes, that Jimmy.

The song is off the More Than a Game soundtrack, an upcoming movie chronicling LeBron James' rise to fame. Ironically, it sounds like just the movie Jimmy Brooks would love.

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Forever (feat. Lil Wayne, Eminem & Kanye West) - Drake

Javelin Has Both Jamz and Jemz

Yes, their CD-R has been out since 2008. Yes, they scored a "Best New Music" stamp of approval from P4K. Yes, their mixtape Jamz n Jemz is one of the best releases to get attention this summer. Their name is Javelin. Yes, they're good.

Who is Javelin? They're a New York duo made up of George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk. Together they produce an electronic pastiche of schizphrenic styles, from disco to R&B and new wave to hip-hop.

Their aforementioned CD-R mixtape, Jamz n Jemz, is aptly titled; as their surpirsingly well-written Pitchfork review states, "almost every [song] a gem, many of them certifiable jams."

I hesitate to refer to the collection of songs as an album. Twenty-five tracks long with only three floating above the two-minute mark, the collection is no more than a mixtape. Jumping frequently between musical styles, every song is an instrumental genre stab lacking any sort of sonic cohesion.

While this fosters a fragmented and seemingly random listening experience, the band's stylistic cut-and-paste playfulness is their strong suit. Whether its the summer pop of "Vibrationz" or the
electroclash-inspired (and fantastic) "STD Fury," the duo manages to produce songs that warrant more than a few repeat listens.

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Vibrationz - Javelin

STD Fury - Javelin

Too Many Feelings - Javelin

Lindsay Brohan - Javelin

No Age Finally Release New Music

Have No Age really gone this far into 2009 without releasing any new music? The prolific L.A. duo unleashed six releases last year alone, but it seems they're playing 2009 close to vest. Luckily for us, their upcoming EP, Losing Feeling, seems worth the wait.

The record is a proclaimed return to the loop-based songwriting off their earlier EPs and singles and is out on Sub Pop come October 6th in both vinyl and digital formats.

Assuming you can't make it until then, check out closing track "You're a Target" down below or listen to a full stream of all four tracks over at the Sub Pop website.

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You're a Target - No Age

Y Chromosomes Guest on The xx

The xx's debut album, XX, is out now in the UK. For those stuck in the States, it's only available digitally on iTunes or Amazon.co.uk, which is unfortunate considering the record is shaping up to be one of the best of '09.

With back-and-fourth, Stars-like male/female vocals and heavy rhythms, "Crystalised" defines the band's sound: dance music with indie rock sensibilities. Luckily for listeners, "Islands" and "Heart Skipped a Beat" proves that everything else on XX is just as groovy and good.

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Crystalised - The xx

Islands - The xx

Heart Skipped a Beat - The xx

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

The closer September 22nd comes, the more anticipation grows for the official release of Girls' full length debut, simply titled Album.

Each song on the schizophrenic LP sounds more varied and unique than the last. The album's strongest link comes from lead singer Christopher Owens, who struggles to shatter Joe Strummer comparisons.

Throughout the record, the band genre hops all over the place. You have the 50s-inspired "Hellhole Ratrace," the power pop of "Lust for Life," and "Morning Light," which sounds straight from You Made Me Realize era My Bloody Valentine.

It's this distinct stylistic versatility that sets the band apart from their female-centric band name peers (Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, The Girls, Women, et al.)

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Hellhole Ratrace - Girls

Lust for Life - Girls

Morning Light - Girls

Best Coast Redux

"So I am back in California, and I thought what could be more fitting than to record a bunch of songs about summer and the sun and the ocean and being a lazy creep? So this is what I'm doing." - Bethany aka Best Coast

Last time I mentioned LA's Best Coast, I compared the solo project to Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls, saying she put out excellent sun-kissed lo-fi jams. Nothing about that initial critique has changed except that her self-titled 7" is about to drop on Art Fag Recordings.

I've hosted a-side "Sun Was High (So Was I)" before, but now it's rounded out the beach-friendly b-side, "So Gone." Download below before the summer ends.

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Sun Was High (So Was I) - Best Coast

So Gone - Best Coast

Cold Cave Loves All of Your Favourite Bands

God Bless bands that wear influences on their sleeves. Cold Cave is a shoegaze/new wave quintet out of Philadelphia. While they may come off as pedestrian 80s-revivalists, the group has a knack for balancing pop-kitsch with tape hiss and electronics, applying the aesthetics of My Bloody Valentine, The Fiery Furnaces, and New Order.

"Love Comes Close" is the strongest leak from the group's self-titled record, striking the perfect balance of baritone vocals, Bernard Sumner guitars, and Robert Smith romance.

"Life Magazine" takes steps in the opposite direction as Fiery Furnace-esque cut-and-paste loops dominate the song and Xiu Xiu's Caralee McElroy offers up guest vocals.

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Love Comes Close - Cold Cave

Life Magazine - Cold Cave

Atlas Sound Cannot Be Stopped... Or Can He?

In mid-July, a track off Atlas Sound's forthcoming LP, Logos was leaked onto the internet. "Walkabout" was a sample-heavy track; a collaborative effort with Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear.

Since then, the prolific Bradford Cox has let two more MP3s slip online. "Attic Lights" is the second official leak from Logos, whereas "Walk a Thin Line" is Fleetwood Mac cover.

EDIT:// Hear yet another new Atlas Sound track, "Kid Climax," in video form here (via Stereogum).

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Attic Lights - Atlas Sound

Walk a Thin Line (Fleetwood Mac Cover) - Atlas Sound

Previous MP3s...

Walkabout - Atlas Sound (feat. Panda Bear)

New (Shorter Titled) Le Loup

On my favourite releases of 2007 was the long-titled The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly from D.C.'s Le Loup. It was a record filled with drum loops, banjos, acoustic guitars and Sufjan Stevens influences.

Le Loup’s primary songwriter, Sam Simkoff, never let his bedroom project become over indulgent; gentle melodies and hushed voices fostered aural intimacy and songs were often kept brief. In terms of song structure, Simkoff would set his instrument loops early, supplicate with folk vocals, and then let them wash into his next wave of tender banjo plucking, guitar harmonics, or keyboard arpeggio.

Given how well that 2007 LP was put together, it’s no surprise Le Loup’s “Beach Town” is a success. Since their debut album, four other full-time members have rounded out the band, yielding a fuller, richer sound.

Banjos and finger picked guitars are absent in “Beach Town,” but in their place are string sets and reverberated guitars. Thankfully, Le Loup retains its most significant sonic element: soaring vocals. By the song’s climax, wave upon wave of voices and effected guitars crash onto the listener.

Grizzly Bear and Sufjan comparisons be damned, this band can hold it’s own.

“Beach Town” is the second track off Le Loup’s upcoming LP, Family, due out on September 22nd on Hardly Art.

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Beach Town – Le Loup

From 2007’s The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly…

Le Loup (Fear Not) – Le Loup

We Are Gods! We Are Wolves! – Le Loup

The Antlers Visit Hospice

In a sonic landscape spilling over with overblown speakers and ADD electronics, subtlety can be an artist's greatest strength. Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago was one of the most remarkable releases of 2008, armed only with stark acoustics and a gentle falsetto. With summer coming to an end, The Antlers have released this year's subtle masterpiece. However, Bon Iver comparisons begin and end with the band's sparse musicianship, ethereal vocals, and songs of loss.

Titled Hospice, the album uses a first-person narrative to tell the story of a man losing his lover to bone cancer, watching her die as he sits bedside, all while detailing memories, regrets and grief as a result of her death.

The record was self-released by the band in March, but its entire stock soon sold out due to overwhelming demand. This led to the band singing with Frenchkiss Records, who will re-release the album officially on August 18th.

Every aspect of the LP gives weight to its sober subject matter, from lead singer Peter Silberman's soft voice to hauntingly reverberated keyboards. Songs crescendo with the help of drummer Michael Lerner and multi-instrumentalist Darby Cicci, but the spotlight deservedly stays on Silberman, whose voice and piano or guitar alone define every track.

Using his backing band to only highlight his most urgent emotions, Silberman often chooses to go it alone with sole accompaniment from either a keyboard or guitar, creating an intimate sonic space for the listener. At times, the solo performer is given an aural backdrop that sounds more like the beeping and hissing of hospital room machines rather than looped electronics, all of which add to the elegiac collection of songs.

Whether taken in small doses or digested as a whole, Hospice makes for one of the most personal and profound listening experiences of the year.

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Kettering - The Antlers

Bear - The Antlers

Atrophy - The Antlers

For Beth...

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The Beatles - Rocky Raccoon

The Very Best Warmest Heart of Africa

While the a-side has been floating around for some time, The Very Best’s Warm Heart of Africa single is now fully available on the interweb, rounded out by b-side “Yalira.”

The aforementioned a-side, appropriately titled “Warm Heart of Africa,” is the electronic infused afro pop we’ve come to expect from the duo of Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit.

Supplying vocals and adding an extra element of catchiness is the love-him-or-hate-him front man of Vampire Weekend, Ezra Koenig. Firing off rounds of his signature falsetto, Koenig is quite capable as guest vocalist, grounding the song in familiarity amongst the Chichewan singing of Esau Mwamwaya. Sunny and eclectic, its easy to see why the song has seen such heavy blog coverage this the summer.

B-side “Yalira,” however, is a much different afro beast. Forgoing an immediate pop hook, the track is a slow build, with Mwamwaya’s voice howling with harmonized accompaniment. The song never picks up in tempo, but keeps things interesting with violin plucks and chopped up vocal samples. Though not as bright as “Warm Heart of Africa,” “Yalira” toys with some of the less radio friendly material heard on last year’s excellent 'The Very Best' Mixtape.

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The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa (feat. Ezra Koenig)

The Very Best - Yalira

Rumours Confirmed: Radiohead Release New Track

This past Wednesday, a potential new Radiohead track titled "These Are My Twisted Words" was leaked onto the internet. Since then, the online rumour mill has been bombarded with possible explanations of the song, news of an upcoming EP, and a variety of conspiracy theories.

Pitchfork News does a pretty good rundown of the "facts" surrounding the mysterious release. So far, the track is potentially off an upcoming EP titled Wall of Ice that is suspected to drop on Monday, August 17th. Either that, or it could be a leaked version of Thom Yorke's contribution to the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack.

How this couldn't be new Radiohead is beyond me. Although where the track comes from is largely unknown, that is no doubt Thom Yorke's distinct voice entering in at the 2:38 mark.

Read the original, informative Pitchfork article here and download "These Are My Twisted Words" below to join your fellow Radiohead conspiracy theorists.

No doubt a new Radiohead song, "These Are My Twisted Words" is a good one. Clocking in at roughly 5:28, the song retreads the repetition theme of In Rainbow's "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi," and, unsurprisingly, sounds dark and ominous.

EDIT:// "These Are My Twisted Words" was released by Radiohead today as a free digital single. You can download the track at the w.a.s.t.e. store or down below.

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Radiohead - These Are My Twisted Words

The Points - Punk Rock for Tom Savini

In the indie blog community, there’s only so much room for Animal Collective-inspired bedroom music, yet readers are deluged with those bands, whose sound all blends together. Acts like The Hold Steady standout for finding indie success in the genre of meat and potatoes rock when other bands operating in the same style aren’t getting any blog love. Another genre that suffers from not conforming to the industry standard of “indie” is punk.

Punk. A brand of music that will never die, existing, if nowhere else, in the garages of high school kids armed with freshly adopted instruments. Despite its permeation in music history past and present, the Pitchfork-led indie blog movement can be cruel; its rare to see a solid punk band get legitimate praise or coverage.

Keeping this abysmal state in mind, I bring you “Shout” by The Points. Off their Beat in Hell 7”, “Shout” delivers nearly six minutes of raucous four-chord punk. The song kicks off between modes of blistering fast and choppy violence, but at the two minute mark things slow down, b-side Black Flag style, ultimately ending in sonic dissonance.

The Points know their audience and deliver the goods, operating as a good pallet cleanser for the slough of the blogosphere.

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Shout – The Points

New Bon Iver (Sort Of)

Are you like me? Did you select Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago as your favourite album of 2008? If so, then you'll most likely dig the Wisconsin singer/songwriter's new side project.

Titled Volcano Choir, the band unites Bon Iver, aka Justin Vernon, with Collections of Colonies of Bees, the frustratingly-long-named Wisconsin quintet.

"Island, IS" is the band's first single off the forthcoming Unmap LP. Certainly more avant-garde than anything heard from Bon Iver before, P4K claims the sample-heavy tune is Four Tet-esque, but my ears hear similarities to Bird Show with shadows of Animal Collective.

Either way, its refreshing to know Vernon's experimental side can produce something good, as opposed to the auto-tune awful "Woods".

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Island, IS - Volcano Choir

And for sharing's sake...

Green Vines - Bird Show

Ryan Gosling and Friends Want Your Bones

Way back in January, actors Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields announced a musical collaboration, titled Dead Man's Bones, in which the duo would write songs, perform, and record with the Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir, a group of Los Angeles-area kids ages five to seventeen.

Some time after this news was announced, a YouTube video and live MP3 of "In the Room Where You Sleep" broke out onto the internet like a zombie plague. Since then, the project has kept pretty quiet.

That is until this month. With the October 6th drop date of their forthcoming self-titled album looming just over the horizon, the band released their first studio MP3, "My Body's a Zombie for You" and a video for a live version of "Name in Stone."

All tracks are old-timey Samhain tunes, inspired by the Universal Studios monsters and Disney's Haunted Mansion and will most likely make it onto more than one Halloween mixtape this October.

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In the Room Where You Sleep [Wrap Party Version] - Dead Man's Bones

My Body's a Zombie for You - Dead Man's Bones

Name in Stone [Live] - Dead Man's Bones

The Smith Westerns Are Too Cool for P4K

Although they praised the band's efforts when they first leaked onto the internet's consciousness, Pitchfork Media has decided to shun blogosphere darlings, the Smith Westerns.

By not giving the band's debut LP their "Best New Music" stamp approval, Pitchfork is ultimately saying they're not worth the hype. Too bad they couldn't be more wrong.

The Chicago foursome have been mentioned here before, and rightfully so. Sounding like the lo-fi child of T. Rex and '63-'64 era Beatles, the Smith Westerns sing about girls they just want to hold hands with behind backdrops of vintage glam rock. What more can one ask for in the summertime? (And yes that is Nirvana's Nevermind spliced into their own album cover).

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Gimme Some Time - Smith Westerns
Girl In Love - Smith Westerns
Be My Girl - Smith Westerns
The Glam Goddess - Smith Westerns

Broken Social Scene Covers Joy Division

If you've turned on a television recently, you may have seen the schmaltzy advertisements for the upcoming Rachel McAdams romantic drama, The Time Traveler's Wife. The film, which appears to depart greatly from its source material, seems mediocre at best.

However, Broken Social Scene's contribution to the film's soundtrack is far from sub par. The band covers Joy Division's iconic "Love Will Tear Us Apart" in a way that hasn't been heard before.

Replacing synthesizers with piano and slowing down the tempo, BSS manage to produce a cover that stays true enough to the Joy Division track while still sounding distinctly unique. Although lead singer Kevin Drew apes Ian Curtis's distinct vocals only semi-successfully, the song retains the original's twenty-nine year old somber sentiment and doesn't disappoint.

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Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division Cover) - Broken Social Scene

Radiohead Releases New Song Dedicated to Patch

"It would be very easy for our generation to forget the true horror of war, without the likes of Harry to remind us. I hope we do not forget," wrote Thom Yorke in a blog entry this morning.

In the past few weeks, Yorke has been on a roll releasing new music, but in a slight change up, today the internet was given access to a brand new Radiohead track titled "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)."

As the most recent entry of Dead Air Space explains, the song is dedicated to the memory of Harry Patch, the last living UK veteran of World War I. Patch, a former plumber who fought at the battle of Passchendaele in 1917, passed away on July 25th of this year at the age of 111, leaving only three verified WWI veterans alive today.

The song was recorded as a tribute to Patch's life and legacy.

"War is a calculated and condoned slaughter of human beings." - Harry Patch

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Harry Patch (In Memory Of) - Radiohead

Get Mummified With Flight

One great thing about the rise of lo-fi is how it spotlights bands who otherwise would only be getting attention from their local scene. Take Mississippi's Flight. Performing a public service of dirge and punk, the band isn’t wholly revolutionary or blowing anyone away with their uniqueness and originality, but their Sweet Rot 7” is one of the better lo-fi releases of the year.

A-side “Flowers,” with its up-and-down rhythm and guitar riff, sounds somewhere between Beck and The Misfits, while b-side “Johnny’s Mixed Up” is Brit-rock inspired, burying quaint vocal melodies underneath walls and walls of overblown guitars.

Sounding like their album artwork, Flight’s music prides itself on being rough around the edges. The vocals are distorted. The guitars are distorted. The drums are distorted. The synths are distorted. It’s beautiful.

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Flowers – Flight

Johnny’s Mixed Up - Flight

Under Desire's Spell

Sounding like the synthesized child of John Hughes and Glass Candy, Montreal's Desire is making music that is surprising to no one, yet entertaining nonetheless.

The Canadian trio is unsurprising if only for the fact that they're one of the many 80s-electronic revivalists on Italians Do It Better, a label who's all but corned the noir-electro niche.

With sparse female vocals and keyboard led grooves, "Under Your Spell" is reminiscent of acts like Chromatics or Farah. What sets the song apart is the unique melancholy infatuation of lead singer known only on Myspace as Megan. That, and a vocal breakdown that references Outkast's "Ms. Jackson."

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Under Your Spell - Desire