Beirut's new EP and Natalie Portman charity collaboration

Beirut's Zach Condon is set to release a double disc package. Disc one is March of the Zapotec with 6 new tracks recently recorded in Mexico. Disc two is entitled Holland and features the track My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille.

Natalie Portman recently declared Beirut to be her "new favourite band", so when she was asked to curate the charity mix CD Big Change: Songs for FINCA, she asked Beirut first. You can listen to the track over at EW.

myspace.com/beruit

And not only is Natalie charitable, she has also come up with a brilliant plan to save the global economic crisis, endorsed by us here at RC:

New M.I.A. EP

The "in retirement" rapper has just released a new digital EP entitled How Many Votes Fix Mix with the Jay Z remix of Boyz as the main track, as well as tracks Shells and Far Far that both appear on the bonus disc of the newly released expanded version of Kala.

Shells (Slow) [mp3] (128kbps)



myspace.com/mia

Atlas Sound remixes Stereolab

Having just finished touring with Stereolab, Atlas Sound (aka Bradford Cox of Deerhunter) has released a 'Southern Baptist' remix of the track Neon Beanbag off Stereolab's new album Chemical Chords.

Neon Beanbag (Atlas Sound 'Southern Baptist' Remix) [mp3] (128kbps)



Stereolab will be touring Australia in January/February next year for the Laneway Festivals. Tour dates here.

myspace.com/stereolab
myspace.com/bradfordcox

Monkey: Journey to the West - new video and remix competition

A short film for Monkey Bee - the single from Journey to the West has made its debut.

Created and directed by Jamie Hewlett (the man behind Gorillaz and Tank Girl), Monkey Bee is a mixture of Chinese 1970’s spaghetti western, meets Korean horror movie, meet’s the much beloved original Monkey TV series.

Fans of Hewlett’s numerous Gorillaz videos should enjoy his first live action outing. Conjuring up images of legendary battles and adversity, we find Monkey trying to cross the volcano fields of Princess Iron Fan. Monkey needs her magic fan in order to cool the hot molten fields but the Princess refuses and an epic battle ensues, throwing first trained assassins and then a colossal army of volcano soldiers his way in a desperate attempt to thwart his journey.

Shot on 35mm film over three days in London, Monkey Bee stars members of the Journey to the West live opera cast. A team of modellers, animators, compositors and vfx artists have since worked for 8 weeks to combine the live action, animation and special effects, and deliver the first Monkey film:



A Monkey Bee video remix contest is also being held, with the makers of the film offering a trove of clips, backdrops, green screens and visuals straight from the editor's suite so you create create your own version of the Monkey Bee film. More details about the competition here.

monkeyjourneytothewest.com
Monkey youtube

Friendly Fires cover Lykke Li

Currently supporting Sweden's Lykke Li on her US tour, UK's new saviours of the indie dance scene Friendly Fires (who brought us the infectious tune Jump In The Pool) have released a cover of Lykke's I'm Good I'm Gone [mp3]


And if you missed it last week, here's a remix of Friendly Fires anthemic, blissed-out and brilliantly pop track Paris, featuring Au Revoir Simone on vocals. The track features on the new Paris 12" single, due out November 8th, which includes remixes by Kompakt Records’ Justus Köhncke and semi-mysterious producers Arto Mwambé.

Paris (Aeroplane Remix ft. Au Revoir Simone) [mp3]


You can download the original version here.



myspace.com/friendlyfires

In the studio with Deerhunter

Pitchfork.tv takes a look into the making of Deerhunter's just released album Microcastle, recorded at the Rare Book Room Studio in Brooklyn.

Part 1


Part 2 (features a picture of the male anatomy at the start, care of Microcastle contributor Cole Alexander of the Black Lips, so maybe a bit NSFW...)


myspace.com/deerhunter

M.I.A's 'Paper Planes' covered by Built To Spill

Recorded live in Rome. You can watch the full performance of Paper Planes here (sound and video quality not as good).

Magic Dirt Announce Freakscene Festival... and it's FREE!!!

MAGIC DIRT have teamed up with Victoria Rocks – Arts Victoria and the Lakes Entrance Summer Music Festival to create their own Freakscene Festival. Freakscene runs over the weekend of December 20 – 21.

The great news is that it’s all free. That’s right, no charge to get in. All you have to do is pack the car, head down the coast and fly your freak flag high!

Everything happens at the Lakes Entrance Recreation Reserve, right in the heart of the pretty Gippsland seaside town, just 3.5 – 4 hours drive from Melbourne.

Freakscene is a music festival… a short film festival… and a series of workshops for musicians.

The music festival takes place for the whole of Saturday with Magic Dirt headlining and curating the event, assembling their dream line-up on stage. It’s a sonic love-in for bands and fans alike, featuring some of Australia's finest artists, handpicked by Magic Dirt. Acts revealed so far are:

MAGIC DIRT
GARETH LIDDIARD (of THE DRONES)
THEREDSUNBAND | NATION BLUE
CRYSTAL THOMAS & THE FLOWERS OF EVIL | AMAYA LAUCIRICA
MIDNIGHT WOOLF | MODULAR LOUNGE | DANE CERTIFICATE
With more artists to be announced

For more details about the festival click here.

lakesmusicfest.com
myspace.com/magicdirt

Gary Numan touring Australia in March

Numanoids, the wait is finally over. The godfather of electro, Gary Numan, will be bringing his full UK light show and electrifying live performance to Australia playing songs from his entire career from Replicas, The Pleasure Principle and Telekon through to Pure and Jagged.

It will be only his second ever tour of Australia, his first being way back in May 1980, but as anyone who has seen him live recently will attest, it may be 30 years on but he's got more energy than bands half his age and he is still at his elemental and exploratory best, revitalised and recaptured, and importantly, rewriting his reborn future.

Earlier this year Numan celebrated his 30th year in music, marking the occassion by releasing a re-issue of pioneering electronic album Replicas, which features for the first time a complete earlier version of the Replicas album recorded in late 1978 and January 1979, along with the original B-sides and further out-takes, adding up to 27 tracks across the two CDs.

His pioneering sounds are still felt today inspiring Prodigy, Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins, as well as being sampled by artists as diverse as Basement Jaxx, Armand Van Helden and even the Sugababes. Fans of The Mighty Boosh may even have seen a few of his cameo appearances on the show.

Australian Tour
March 2009

Monday 2nd
BRISBANE - The Tivoli. 52 Costin Street, Fortitude Valley
Tickets from Ticketek 132 849 or ticketek.com.au
Proudly supported by Time Off

Thursday 5th
SYDNEY - Enmore Theatre, 118-132 Enmore Road, Enmore
Tickets from Ticketek 132 849 or ticketek.com.au
Proudly supported by Drum Media

Saturday 7th
MELBOURNE - The Forum, cnr Russell and Flinders Streets, Melbourne
Tickets from Ticketek 132 849 or ticketek.com.au
Proudly supported by Inpress

Tickets for all shows on sale now, presented by Civil Society.

Cars


myspace.com/garynuman

St Helens Get Up

Melbourne's St Helens are the inevitable outcome of too many late nights out.

The members of St Helen can trace one degree of separation from Spider Vomit, Bird Blobs, Minimum Chips, Alpha Males and Kes, with occassional contributions from Love Of Diagrams and Panel Of Judges.

Originally formed to give voice to Jarrod Quarrell’s (The New Season, Lost Animal) world weary but ultimately victorious songs, it wasn't long before word spread of the band’s razor sharp guitar interplay, Jarrod and Hannah's bitter-sweet, intertwining vocals and the broken glass danger of their intense live performances. After only four gigs, St Helens were opening for one of New York’s hottest bands, Blonde Redhead.

St Helens have finished recording a new album for release in 2009, the first single from which is Get Up [mp3]

myspace.com/sthelens

New releases from Deerhunter, Lou Reed and Anni Rossi

Microcastle is a hazy and dream like gem from Bradford Cox and his band. The follow-up to Deerhunter’s critically lauded debut Cryptograms, Microcastle is in parts kraut, shoe-gazy, ambient and majestic. Featuring 12 tracks, the album also comes backed with 13 track bonus disc Weird Era Cont.

Nothing Ever Happened [mp3]

myspace.com/deerhunter


Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse is a recording of the recent live performance of Lou Reed's classic 1973 album in its entirety. With guests Antony (Antony & The Johnsons) and Sharon Jones, plus live versions of the Velvet Underground’s Sweet Jane and Candy Says.

Caroline Says, Pt. II. [mp3]


loureed.com


Afton is the debut 4AD release from 22 year old multi-instrumentalist Anni Rossi. From Minnesota via Los Angeles she is classically trained from a young age with the viola forming the centrepiece to her music. Currently working with Steve Albini (Pixies, Joanna Newsom, PJ Harvey) on her debut album due out next year, she can count artists like Electrelane and The Ting Tings among her admirers and has toured Europe and the US with both of them.

Wheelpusher [mp3]


myspace.com/annirossi

Wolf & Cub and Magic Dirt nominated for AIR awards

The nominees for the annual Australian Independent Record Awards have been announced. Adelaide's Wolf & Cub are up for best single/EP for psych-rock release One To The Other (produced by Bumbleez Christopher Colonna) while Magic Dirt are nominated for best hard rock/punk album for Girl. Winners will be announced November 24th at Melbourne's Corner Hotel.

Wolf & Cub have just started their national tour supporting The Vines. Dates and info here.

Wolf & Cub - One To The Other (Bumblebeez Remix) [mp3]


3 months of touring and Magic Dirt still haven't finished, with dates still be be played in SA, Tasmania and regional Victoria. Go here for dates and info. The band have put together a special tour EP that they'll be selling at the shows featuring a cover of the Hard Ons classic 'Suck n Swallow' and a duet with Adalita and Gareth Liddiard (The Drones) called 'Love Is The Armour'.

Magic Dirt - Romy

New Belles Will Ring track

Broader Than Broadway is the follow up to the hugely successful 2007 debut Mood Patterns by Blue Mountains outfit, Belles Will Ring. The new mini album harnesses their creative energy to shape a new record that illustrates the depth and breadth of what the band are capable of: lush multi-faceted ballads and straight forward rock songs, perfectly demonstrated on first single Priest Coats: [mp3]

As with Mood Patterns, the sprawling soundscapes on Broader Than Broadway were self-produced at Three Shades Green (aka the lounge room of lead vocalist Liam Judson's parents).

The introduction to Aidan Roberts (lead guitarist) sharing songwriting credits has consolidated the chemistry of Belles Will Ring, creating a diverse, refined and unified direction now as a 4 piece - originally a 6 piece on the band's conception. The band's songwriting and production capacity has greatly expanded in 2008 with the members individual side projects (Aidan with The Maple Trail, Ivan with Paper Scissors and Liam with The Late Night Sound and production work for The Lovetones and Sister Jane) marking progress and maturity for Belles Will Ring on this release and many more to follow.

Broader Than Broadway is out November 8th.

myspace.com/belleswillring

Ned Collete Band European Tour blog

Midway through their one month tour of Europe, Ned Collette Band have managed to find some ever elusive wi-fi, starting up a tour diary and uploading some pics.

"...every day is another frantic journey into the European abyss - driving, changing tyres, tolls, leaving amps behind in Germany, eating rubber disguised as mashed potatoes, almost getting married off to provincial 'junge frau' in deepest darkest backwoods German pubs, perfecting our 'blue steels' for band photos in front of old stuff, seeing good old pals and of course playing the rock musiques de Australie, oui? They love that shit here."

More over at their myspace.

Department of Eagles Daytrotter session

Department of Eagles now have a 5 track session up on Daytrotter, featuring 3 tracks for new album In Ear Park, as well as unreleased track 1997 and What Is Your Deal?.

You can hear and download the tracks here.

myspace.com/deptofeagles

Future Of The Left announce East Coast tour

Fiery, brash and irreverent, Welsh trio, Future Of The Left have already torn up Australian stages once before in March 2008 off the back of their magnificent Curses album. Never ones to shy away from a rematch, Future Of The Left (the band are comprised of ex-Mclusky and Jarcrew members) are heading back to Australia for a lightning 3 shows in 3 nights to promote the release of their forthcoming live album, Last Night I Saved Her From Vampires. The album was recorded in August at two live shows - Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach and London Water Rats. It not only features tracks from feted debut album Curses but also four new ones - Drink Nike, Distant Jabs At A Soul, V.D.F.A and Cloak The Dagger. Click here for a full tracklisting.

Manchasm (LNISHFV live version) [mp3]

FOTL will also be releasing their sophomore studio album in 2009 which will include The Hope That House Built [mp3]

AUSTRALIA 2009 TOUR DATES
Tickets on sale Friday October 31

Melbourne
Friday January 9, 2009
The Corner Hotel
Tickets from cornerhotel.com or Ph: 9427 9198)
Presented by Beat & RRR

Sydney
Saturday January 10, 2009
The Annandale Hotel
Tickets from annandalehotel.com, Ph: (02) 9550 1078 or in person over the bar)
Presented by Drum Media

Brisbane
Sunday January 11, 2009
The Zoo
Tickets from thezoo.com.au, ph 1300 762 545, Rockinghorse, Skinnys, Butterbeats, Moshpit Music, Sunflower, Music Mania, Cosmic Music, Central Station Music, Cooly Hotel, Bombay Rock, Gooble, Warming, Kill The Music
Presented by Time Off

myspace.com/futureoftheleft

Introducing Aaron Thomas

Aaron Thomas was born in Tasmania and raised in Sydney. Aaron’s stepfather Lonnie Lee - who had numerous #1 hits in Australia during the early 60's - taught him to play the guitar and introduced him to a world of singing and performance.

Having moved to Europe and LA as a teenager where he performed solo shows, he now lives in Madrid. His new album Follow The Elephants has received wide acclaim in the Spanish and Portuguese music press, Aaron recently winning Spain’s most coveted music competition, Villa de Bilbao, taking out the prizes for Best National Band and Best Pop/Rock Ensemble. One of his recent concerts was broadcast in its entirety on the most popular music show on Spanish television.

Follow The Elephants is a collection of raw and honest material that speaks of the harshness that comes with being a stranger far from home, of the ups and downs of life in general and the frustration of big cities. Songs about relationships, family, distant friends and love.

Kill This City [mp3]

Follow The Elephants will be released in Australia on November 8th. Aaron will be returning to Australia to tour over Summer.

We Don't Care (Live at Los Conciertos de Radio 3)


myspace.com/aaronthomasband

The Long Blondes call it a day

,

Having released their sophomore album "Couples" back in April, UK's The Long Blondes have announced today that they have broken up. A statement on the band's website reads:

The main reason for this is that I suffered from a stroke in June and unfortunately I do not know when / if I will be well enough to play guitar again.

On behalf of the band I'd like to say a big thank you to anyone who ever came to one of our shows, bought one of our records or danced to one of our songs in a club. Thank you, if it wasn't for you the whole thing would have been pointless.

Finally on a personal note, thanks for all your well wishing messages.

Dorian xxx

Guilt


myspace.com/thelongblondes

Charge Group 'Escaping Mankind' tour

"A gorgeous, unequivocal piece of musical excellence." The Brag

Sydney quartet Charge Group take to the road through late October and November in support of their highly praised debut album Escaping Mankind.

Recorded by the band and producer Wayne Connolly over numerous session and in various locations, the album is distinctive for its lush instrumentation of strings, flutes and percussion. This - coupled with the unique vocals of singer Matt Blackman (ex-Purplene) - carries this brave and beautiful collection of tunes out of the traditional rock/pop arena and into an untouched, often desolate yet distinctly Australian sonic territory.

TOUR DATES

Thu Oct 30 - Brisbane, The Troubadour w/ Tragic/Athletic + Chalk and Cheese
Fri Oct 31 - Fremantle, Mojo's w/ Felicity Groom and the Black Black Smoke + Benedict Moleta Band + Apricot Rail
Sat Nov 1 - Perth, Hyde Park w/ The Tigers + The Leap Year
Thu Nov 6 - Melbourne, Northcote Social Club w/ Kes Band + Aleks & The Ramps
Fri Nov 7 - Sydney, Hopetoun w/ Pikelet (Melb) + The Dead Sea
Sat Nov 15 - Newcastle, Northern Star w/ The Understudy

Lunar Module (live @ Super-8 Diaries launch - Melbourne)


Vice'd [mp3]

Escaping Mankind is out now. The iTunes version of the album features a bonus instrumental version of Vice'd.

myspace.com/chargegroupmusic

Friendly Fires remixed

Friendly Fires' dancefloor favourite Paris has been remixed by Belgium's Aeroplane, who were recently in Australia and have remixed MGMT and Cut Copy. The original track is taken from Friendly Fires' self-titled album, which also features Jump In The Pool and On Board.

Paris (Aeroplane Remix)


You can download the mp3 at The Tripwire.

German techno producer Justus Köhncke has also remixed the single. Download it at The Fader.
Paris (Justus Köhncke Remix)


The UK trio recently performed Paris on Later With Jools Holland. They are currently touring the US with Lykke Li and will appear at CMJ as one of this year's 'must see' bands.

Paris (Live on Later With Jools Holland)


Paris (Official video)


myspace.com/friendlyfires

M.I.A. - Paper Planes remix and Pitchfork interview

M.I.A. took time out at the Diesel party last week to chat to Pitchfork about her pregnancy ("I got engaged first. Then I got pregnant, kids."), the accustations of her being a terrorist, her upcoming cover of Tom Waits' 'Way Down in the Hole', the success that came from the appearance of Paper Planes on the Pineapple Express trailer and her not so quiet "retirement".

Part 1


Part 2


Just released is the expanded version of M.I.A's latest album Kala, featuring 6 bonus tracks. Included on the bonus disc is the Paper Planes Afrikan Boy & Rye Rye remix. A protege of M.I.A, Rye Rye is an American rapper and the first signee to M.I.A.'s new music label N.E.E.T.

Paper Planes (Afrikan Boy & Rye Rye Remix) [mp3]




myspace.com/mia

Cloud Control mix it with Sulo

Blue Mountains indie-folk 4 piece Cloud Control have joined forces with Sulo aka Richard Tamplenizza (producer of ARIA nominated hip hop collective The Herd and member of Elefant Traks label/collective) to do a lush summer remix on the stand out Cloud Control EP track Into The Line.

The remix version transforms the already psychedelic dreamy track into a laid back, spacious, beat driven interpretation - using Alister Wright and Heidi Leffner's beautiful vocal harmonies with jazz piano and dub undertones to create the warmth of summer with a kailedoscope of pina coladas.

Into The Line (Sulo Remix) [mp3]

The remix will feature as part of the Death Cloud iTunes package available from November 3rd.

It's been a busy few weeks for Cloud Control. Today they have been announced as finalsts for the Qantas Spirit Of Youth Awards alongside My Disco and Catcall. The winners of the 07 and 06 awards were Dot Dash's Young & Restless and Wolf & Cub, both going on extensive national tours after their wins.

Cloud Control are currently on their Death Cloud Tour, playing in Melbourne this Saturday. They will also be supporting Little Red on their Uni Tour in Wollongong and Sydney next week.

DEATH CLOUD TOUR DATES
Sat 18 Oct – Melbourne, Northcote Social Club
Wed 22 Oct – Wollongong, Wollongong Uni Bar*
Thu 23 Oct – Sydney, Manning Bar*
Sat 26 Oct – Bondi, Beach Rd Hotel
Sat 1 Nov – Brisbane, The Troubadour

*Supporting Little Red

Death Cloud


myspace.com/cloudcontrol

Fucked Up and Moby do the Blitzkrieg Bop

Continuing their whirlwind few months (which includes an NME cover and fucking up MTV's bathroom), Fucked Up recently put on a free marathon 12 hour show in New York featuring a heap of guests. Having previously worked with many collaborators including Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), that guy from AFI and Nelly Furtado, Fucked Up continued their eclectic ways with guest appearances including Ezra of Vampire Weekend (like you've never seen him), Tim of Les Savy Fav, Vivian Girls, J. Mascis and Chris of Mind Eraser (aww, spoon). Moby also joined the band to perform a cover of Blitzkrieg Bop:


To give you a sense of how epic this show was, here's the setlist. Epic indeed.
View pics from the event here, here and here.

Fucked Up's new album The Chemistry Of Common Life has just been released. If you missed them before, here are a couple of tracks from the album:

Twice Born [mp3]


No Epiphany [mp3]

Albert Hammond, Jr. - Lillywhite Session

The Stokes' Albert Hammond, Jr. released his second solo album ¿Cómo Te Llama? a few months ago. Originally slated to tour Australia in August, the shows were unfortunately cancelled due do a throat infection. Which also coincided with his engagement to model Agyness Deyn. Hmmm...

As a small consolation, you can hear Albert and his merry men play a few tracks from the new album at NPR.

Setlist:
Miss Myrtle
GfC
Rocket
Victory at Monterey

GfC [mp3]


myspace.com/alberthammondjr

And speaking of Strokes offshoots, drummer Fabrizio Moretti has teamed up with Brazilian musician Rodrigo Amarante and LA native Binki Shapiro to form Little Joy. Their self-titled debut album is set for release early November. A little bit Strokes and a little bit Tropicaia... in our books that makes for a perfect summer record. You can download the first single Keep Me In Mind here.

myspace.com/littlejoymusic

Stereolab video interview

Pitchfork's Nitsuh Abebe sat down with Stereolab's Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier to discuss their new album Chemical Chords and the writing and recording processes behind making their albums.

Stereolab will be touring Australia in January/February 2009 for the Laneway Festivals. Tour dates after the vids.

Part 1


Part 2


LANEWAY FESTIVAL DATES
Sat 31 Jan - Brisbane
Sun 1 Feb - Melbourne
Fri 6 Feb - Perth
Sat 7 Feb - Adelaide
Sun 8 Feb - Sydney

myspace.com/stereolab

Keep Little Joy in mind

Little Joy are Fabrizio Moretti from The Strokes, Binki Shapiro and Brazilian musician Rodrigo Amarante.

The first single from their self-titled debut album is
Keep Me In Mind [mp3]


Moretti and Amarante first made a chance encounter at a Portuguese festival in Lisbon, where both had performed. A year later, Amarante traveled to the US to record with Devendra Banhart on his Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon album, meeting with Moretti on the off hours to humour the idea of working together on music that had no affiliation to their particular bands.

Binki Shapiro, musician and native of Los Angeles and firm favourite out on the blogs, was introduced to them and became a fast friend. Encouraging their musical pursuits, it was not long before she joined them to round out the band.

The self-titled album consists of songs Fabrizio had already stockpiled, and tracks Little Joy wrote together especially for this project whilst living together in a house in Echo Park.

Producer Noah Georgeson (Devendar Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Vetiver, Bert Jansch) came in to produce Little Joy, named after the cocktail lounge just down the street from their home.

The end result is a little bit Strokes and a little bit Tropicaia... in our books that makes for a perfect summer record.

Little Joy is due for release early November.

myspace.com/littlejoymusic

Holy Fuck and Foals have each other covered

Currently on tour together in the UK , Holy Fuck and Foals have released a super limited split 12" featuring a Foals cover by Holy Fuck and a Holy Fuck cover by Foals. You can download the tracks at Young Turks.

Holy Fuck - Balloons (Foals cover)


Foals - Super Inuit (Holy Fuck cover)


Holy Fuck will be touring Australia for the first time this December:

Wed 10 Dec – Melbourne, The Corner w/ Love Of Diagrams
Thu 11 Dec – Sydney, Annandale Hotel
Fri 12 Dec – Meredith, Meredith Music Festival
Sat 13 Dec - Brisbane, The Zoo

myspace.com/holyfuck

New releases from Department of Eagles, Brightblack Morning Light and Tom Cooney

This weekend saw the release of yet another trio of albums from an eclectic mix of artists: there’s a Brisbane troubadour, a couple of hippies and a duo from Brooklyn.

Presque Vu (meaning “almost seen”) is the debut album from Tom Cooney, sonically pivoting on Tom’s guitar, lyrics and melodies. Many friends added the spokes to roll Presque Vu along including Whitley, and members from Subaudible Hum, Boat People and McKisko. Having previously performed with Fionn Regan and M. Ward, as well as playing at Splendour in the Grass and Homebake, Tom will be launching the new album along the East Coast over the next two weeks, starting in Sydney this Wednesday.

Wednesday 15th - Will & Toby’s, Sydney
Thursday 16th - The Troubadour, Brisbane
Wednesday 22nd - East Brunswick Club, Melbourne

Beneath the Wheel [mp3]



Their hair is long. Their music warm and hazy. They are Brightblack Morning Light. Haunting, beautiful and weird in equal doses, their new album Motion To Rejoin is the perfect Saturday night and Sunday morning album. Recorded entirely under solar power in a remote adobe cabin in the New Mexican mesa, the album recalls musicians as diverse as Bob Dylan, My Bloody Valentine, Neil Young and Otis Reading.

Oppressions Each [mp3]


Department of Eagles are Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear alongside his friend Fred Nicolaus, plus additional help from two other members of Grizzly Bear, Christopher Bear and Chris Taylor. In Ear Park is a delight; both colourful and expansive, built upon an intimate and personal framework of songs and is a definite highlight of 2008. Full of joyful moments, lush production and concise songwriting, In Ear Park is an album that stays with the listener and only encourages repeat visits.

No One Does It Like You [mp3]

M.I.A. is pregnant!

We were all shocked when we heard M.I.A. had played her "last show ever" in June this year. And now we know why. M.I.A. (real name Maya Arulpragasam) is pregnant to fiance Ben Brewer, guitarist of rock group The Exit. The heavily pregnant rapper sported her bulging belly at a Diesel party, where she shared the stage with Franz Ferdinand, N.E.R.D. and Hot Chip. More pics over at Brooklyn Vegan.

In other M.I.A. news, Jay-Z has recorded a new remix of Boyz [mp3] (128kbps):
Jay-Z, Boyz (Remix) ft. Jay-Z


Wale has also done a version of Boyz. You can download both tracks over at Fader.

Her latest album Kala will soon be re-issued with a bonus disc featuring 6 new tracks:

1. Paper Planes (Afrikan Boy & Rye Rye Remix)
2. Shells
3. Far Far
4. Big Branch
5. What I Got
6. Sound Of Kuduro (Buraka Som Sistema ft. M.I.A.)

You can listen to the Afrikan Boy & Rye Rye remix of Paper Planes at myspace.com/mia

Jay Reatard and Stereolab hit the streets

Jay Reatard and Stereolab have both been announced to play next year's Laneway Festivals.

It's been six long years since Stereolab last graced Australia's shores and four since their last album release, Margerine Eclipse. Stereolab recently released their 11th studio album in an illustrious career, Chemical Chords. According to Tim Gane the album is a collection of “purposefully short, dense, fast pop songs”. It is classic Stereolab; like all their best work it is the perfect melding of an implausibly cool past and a shamelessly exotic future.

Three Women [mp3]


myspace.com/stereolab

Last week saw the release of Jay Reatard's new album Matador Singles '08. The release compiles the 12 punk pop gems that Jay has released over the past few months on limited 7" through Matador. With Jay already working on his debut album proper for Matador, we can all look forward to hopefully hearing this new material live.

Always Wanting More [mp3]


myspace.com/jayreatard

Laneway Festival 2009 Dates

Sat 31 Jan - Brisbane
Sun 1 Feb - Melbourne
Fri 6 Feb - Perth
Sat 7 Feb - Adelaide
Sun 8 Feb - Sydney

Tickets on sale Monday 27th October. More info at myspace.com/lanewayfestival

Fuck Buttons live from Juan's Basement

“We play on the floor; everybody is a part of Fuck Buttons that way. Just like everybody is a part of the Earth”

Fuck Buttons recently brought their face-melting, noise-purist carnage to Pitchfork.tv. More video links after the vid:

Sweet Love For Planet Earth


More from Juan's Basement:
Okay, Let's Talk About Magic
Interview: Traditional Instrument
Interview On: The End Of The World

The Bristol duo will be bringing their tribal beats and contorting Technicolor drone-scapes to Australia mid-January 2009 as part of the inaugural Australian ATP Festivals in Melbourne and Sydney. Click for more details.

myspace.com/fuckbuttons

Emiliana Torrini - Big Jumps video

Emiliana Torrini will be touring Australia this November, playing songs from her new album Me And Armini. For tour dates and booking info check out the tour announcement.

myspace.com/emilianatorrini

Friendly Fires go to Paris

“This is white dance music that does something a lot of recent white dance music fails to do: It makes you want to dance!” 4* Rolling Stone

UK trio Friendly Fires go kaleidoscopic in their video Paris off their newly released self-titled debut album. Last year the single was released on a super limited seven-inch and was single of the week in both the NME and The Guardian UK. [mp3]


Also appearing on the new album is the oh, so catchy first single
Jump In The Pool [mp3] [YouTube]


myspace.com/friendlyfires

New video from Cloud Control

Cloud Control have just released a new single, Death Cloud. It's the first single from their debut LP, due out in Autumn 2009, and you can watch the clip below.

Listening to the band’s beautiful alt-folk strumming, you can hear Cloud Control capturing a snapshot of an era when pitch-perfect harmonies were sung over folk hooks and sunny melodies; when pop was pure and just made you smile.



The band have just finished touring the East Coast supporting Supergrass and will kick off their Death Cloud tour this Friday. Tonight they'll be supporting Holly Throsby in Canberra. Available at the shows will be the split 7" featuring the new single, as well as the track "All Of A Sudden" by Telekinesis! More info about the release here.

TOUR DATES
THURS 9 OCT - ANU BAR, CANBERRA - supporting HOLLY THROSBY
FRI 10 OCT – HOPETOUN HOTEL, SYDNEY
SAT 11 OCT – TRISELES, BLUE MOUNTAINS
SAT 18 OCT – NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB, MELBOURNE
SAT 26 OCT – BEACH RD HOTEL, BONDI
SAT 1 NOV – THE TROUBADOUR, BRISBANE

myspace.com/cloudcontrol

Lou Reed - Caroline Says Pt. II video ft Antony

Lou Reed’s is set to release a new CD Berlin: Live at St Ann's Warehouse that is the soundtrack to the release of the Julian Schnabel film which was shown to sold out audiences at the recent Melbourne International Film Festival.

The album is a recording of the first ever live performance of the controversial 1973 masterwork which was staged over 4 days in a Brooklyn warehouse in December 2006, more than three decades after the original release. You can read more about the remarkable project here.

Below is the version of Caroline Says, Pt. II as taken from the DVD release. You can download the mp3 here.


Berlin: Live at St Ann's Warehouse is due out October 25th.

New solo track from Mick Turner

As posted yesterday, Dirty Three guitarist Mick Turner is set to play some solo shows this month. One of his new solo songs is

Neither Here Nor There

Go here for details of his solo music and art shows.

myspace.com/trenphantasma

Department of Eagles on Pitchfork.tv pt 2

Pt 2 of Pitchfork.tv's Don't Look Down series featuring Department of Eagles is now up. The latest chapter features track No One Does It Like You off the album In Ear Park:


Also in Pt 2 is DoE's performance of non album track 1997, which you can watch here. Pt 1 sees the band playing versions of the album title track and Around The Bay.

In Ear Park, out this Saturday, has just been given an 8.3 rating on Pitchfork and is described as "a sprawling pop record (complete with guitars, piano, horns, banjo, and more) that evokes Sgt. Pepper's, Sung Tongs, Van Dyke Parks, and Gene Clark. Ambitious and complex, it's stuffed with cocooning harmonies and shimmering, sunlight-smacking-the-Pacific melodies."

Hear more of the album at myspace.com/deptofeagles

Emiliana Torrini Australian tour announced

At long last Emiliana Torrini is back with a new album, Me and Armini, and will be playing some long awaited shows in Australia this November.

“A perfect cocktail of delicate acoustic ballads, downbeat pop & electro”
J Mag

“With Me and Armini she lays all of her cards on the table & it could well be her defining moment”
The Brag

Iceland’s Emiliana Torrini made a very strong connection with Australian audiences via her Fisherman’s Woman album (which featured the hit single Sunny Road) and subsequent national tour in 2005.

Renowned for her soothing, ethereal vocals, as evidenced via her performance of Gollum’s Song on the Lord of The Ring’s soundtrack, and her sublime, intimate songwriting (she also co-wrote the Kylie Minogue hit Slow), Me and Armini is Emiliana Torrini’s most captivating and ambitious album to date and is a record that is destined to be one of the albums of 2008.

As anyone who saw the 2005 tour will know, she is nothing short of a sensation in the live setting. Exuberant and confident, Emiliana creates a wonderful, organic bond with the audience. And just to make things extra special, these upcoming shows will be performed in full band mode.

Brisbane
Sunday November 16
Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse
Tickets from Powertix (Ph 07 3358 8600 or brisbanepowerhouse.org)
Presented by triple j & Time Off

Sydney
Monday November 17
Metro Theatre
Tickets from Metro theatre at metrotheatre.com.au / (02) 9550 3666
or in person @ the venue - 624 George Street, Sydney
Presented by triple j & Drum Media

Melbourne
Tuesday November 18
Forum Theatre
Tickets from ticketek.com.au or Ph 132 849
Presented by triple j & Beat

Perth
Thursday November 20
Fly By Night (seated)
Tickets from Tickets from Mills, Planet, Star Perth and heatseeker.com.au
Presented by triple j & Drum Media Perth

Tickets on sale Thursday October 9 at 9.00am.

Big Jumps [mp3]


myspace.com/emilianatorrini

New Fucked Up album streaming on NME

Having gotten much NME love a couple of weeks ago, NME are now streaming Fucked Up's just released album, The Chemistry of Modern Life. You can listen to it in full here during this week.

Tucker B's - New Album [soon], Some Shows

The beautiful and powerful thighs of the Tucker B’s are set to swing and kick! The Tuckers have recently finished recording and mixing their fifth (!) long player with the delightful Mr. Burke Reid (The Drones, Mess Hall, Gerling) at BJB Studios in Sydney. To celebrate, the Tucker B bandy will be playing some super special shows around the country during October:

Sat 11th October - Shape Nightclub Perth WA – supporting SPOD (Superfrenz launch)
Sun 12th October - Hyde Park Hotel Perth WA – Tucker B headline show in their spiritual home, plus extra special guests!!!
Fri 17th October - Northcote Social Club Melbourne VIC – supporting SPOD (Superfrenz launch)
Sunday 19th October – Annandale Hotel Sydney NSW – supporting Rocket Science.

The Tucker B’s, along with those delightful little moths at ((((Pompous Records)))) will be sprinkling some final fairy dust over the new record in the coming weeks. Here's a demo of the track First Born Sun, sans fairy dust, which will feature on the album:

The album is due out early next year. In the meantime, don’t miss this rare chance to blow your nose at a Fantasy Rock show!

Department of Eagles on Pitchfork.tv

Department of Eagles currently feature on Pitchfork.tv's Don't Look Down series that has previously seen performances by Bill Callahan, The Futureheads and Yeasayer.

Part 1 sees DoE duo Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen performing their unique style of nostalgic, guitar driven pop on a Manhattan rooftop. Joining them live are Rossen's Grizzly Bear counterparts Chris Taylor and Christopher Bear.

Below is their performance of the title track of their new album In Ear Park, out this Saturday.


You can watch their performance of Around the Bay, which also features on the new album, from the DLD session here.

Download and listen to more tracks from the album here.

www.myspace.com/deptofeagles

Mick Turner solo and art shows

Dirty Three's Mick Turner is set to play a series of solo shows this month in Melbourne and Sydney. Having achieved global recognition as guitarist of Dirty Three, Turner has also recorded with Cat Power, Will Oldham and Nick Cave. Parallel to all this, he also performs and records as the Tren Brothers with fellow Dirty Three drummer Jim White. Last year they released the album Blue Trees which received significant reviews in the international media.
"Turner plays electric guitar in warm, oozing strums, with little distortion and an implicit groove; he creates quiet loops of this as background and then layers finger-picked solos on top.” - New York Times

While in Sydney he will also be presenting an art show entitled Nudes, Beasts, Angels, Flowers, a Birth, a Death and Trips to the Ocean. Mick has exhibited regularly in Australia and overseas with his artwork gracing the covers of Dirty Three and Tren Brothers albums. The exhibition launches on Thursday 16th of October at 6pm where you will also get a chance to meet Turner.

Turner will be performing a free solo show TONIGHT as part of Melbourne's Corner Hotel "The Spring Sessions".

SOLO SHOWS

TUESDAY 7TH OCTOBER
CORNER HOTEL Richmond, VIC
2 sets, free entry

FRIDAY 17TH OCTOBER
HOPETOUN HOTEL, Surry Hills, NSW

SUNDAY 19TH OCTOBER
CAD FACTORY, Marickville, NSW

Doors open 5pm til 9pm. Mick Turner & Jeff Wegener on at 7.30pm.

FRIDAY 24TH OCTOBER
NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB, Northcote, VIC
w/Oliver Mann


Nudes, Beasts, Angels, Flowers, a Birth, a Death & Trips to the Ocean Exhibition

THURSDAY 16TH OCTOBER, Surry Hills, blank_space, 374 Crown St
Launch from 6-8:30pm including opening drinks with Mick Turner

Exhibition: 17-19 OCTOBER, 11am - 6pm or by appointment

myspace.com/trenphantasma

Jenny Lewis, Jay Reatard and Fucked Up albums out now

Just released are three new albums that range from soulful guitar rock to hardcore (with pan flute!).

Acid Tongue is the sophomore solo album from Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis. Collaborators on the album include Elvis Costello for a duet on Carpetbaggers, Johnathan Rice, Jason Boesel, M Ward, Zooey Deschanel and Chris Robinson. All of the album was recorded in analogue in just 3 weeks, without the use of Pro-Tools. With the vocals tracked entirely live, Lewis's voice has never sounded so expressive and the narratives have never been so hard-hitting and acerbic.
"The album is boastful, vulnerable and witty, usually within the course of a single song." Prefix

Acid Tongue [mp3]


myspace.com/jennylewismusic


Matador Singles '08 is a collection of all six singles that Memphis boywonder Jay Reatard has been releasing on 7" through Matador over the past months. Not only does the release cater for those who aren’t so bothered about collecting and those who missed out on the 7”s the first time round (frenzy was so intense that it brought down the Matador server twice, once with 10,000+ attempts to buy a copy in a one minute period.), but it's also an outstanding album in its own right. Every song is a perfect snarling pop-punk gem evolving interestingly (and erratically) from punk to pop. As Pitchfork said on the subject, “In this short space of time, Reatard has cranked out more memorable songs than some acts do in their whole careers.”

Always Wanting More [mp3]


www.myspace.com/jayreatard


The new album from posthardcore wunderkinds Fucked Up is The Chemistry of Common Life. Far from being your ordinary hardcore band, Fucked Up merge elements of hardcore songwriting with up to 70 tracks of guitars, organs, winds and vocals. The songs are iconoclastic and startling, with Pink Eyes' growling vocals front and center. Though Fucked Up remain punks at heart - if quixotically diverse ones - they have created a great, weird, heavy record that stubbornly sticks in your brain and your heart. Check out front man Pink Eyes on the cover of NME.

Twice Born [mp3]


Looking For Gold - Fucked Up Blog

Department of Eagles make live debut

For the first time ever, Brookly duo Department of Eagles have performed live in public as a band, playing the track No One Does It Like You on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

DoE areDaniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear and Fred Nicolaus. Joining them on their live performance were Grizzly's Chris Bear on drums (who also features on the album), Dirty Projectors' Angel Deradoorian on background vocals and Nat Baldwin on bass.


Video care of Stereogum.

Department of Eagles' new album In Ear Park is out October 11th.

No One Does It Like You [mp3]


In Ear Park [mp3]


www.myspace.com/deptofeagles

Radiohead Reckoner video

Back in March Radiohead teamed up with aniBoom to run an animated video contest for people to create videos for tracks from In Rainbows. In May the field was whittled down to 10 videos with the final four being announced in August. Originally the grand prize winner was to receive $10,000 to make the final video, but Radiohead being Radiohead decided to award $10,000 to all four finalists, funding the prize money from their own pockets. Bless.

But there can only be one winner, and that winner is Clement Picon of France for his Reckoner clip:


Radiohead love their competitions and are currently still running the Reckoner Remix competition: radioheadremix.com

Deerhunter's new, new, new cover

Yes, Deerhunter have changed the cover for their new album Microcastle again. Third time's a charm, right?

Microcastle is the follow-up to 2006’s critically lauded Cryptograms and was recorded over the course of a week in Brooklyn with Nicolas Verhes (Les Savy Fav, Silver Jews).

The band on the record are a four-piece consisting of Bradford Cox (you may recall his recent solo ventures as Atlas Sound), Lockett Pundt, Joshua Fauver and Moses Archuleta (they have since been joined by an additional guitarist, Whitney Petty).

Microcastle is due out physically on October 25th with both the CD and LP versions featuring bonus disc Weird Era Cont. (track list here). The first single from the album is Nothing Ever Happened b/w Little Kids (demo) and will be issued on limited edition 7”.

Nothing Ever Happened [mp3]


myspace.com/deerhunter

New Ratatat video

Having previously worked their video editing magic on Predator and Chevy Chase for their Mirando and Flynn video clips, electro duo Ratatat now bring the track Shempi to the screen with the help of everyone's favourite Swedish quarter, ABBA.


Their latest album LP3 was released in July and sounds completely timeless and very, very now:
Mirando [mp3]


myspace.com/ratatatmusic

Fuck Buttons to play All Tomorrow's Parties

Bristol's Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power aka Fuck Buttons (that's RC 'fuck' band #3) have been announced to play the inaugural Australian ATP Festival. Curated by Nick Cave, the festival proper will be held over two days at Victoria's Mt Buller, with one day events being held in Sydney and Brisbane*. Also playing will be The Saints, Spiritualized, The Necks and Robert Forster.

ATP Festival Dates
Fri 9-Sat 10 Jan – Mt Buller
Sat 17 Jan – Sydney, Cockatoo Island
Sun 18 Jan – Sydney, Cockatoo Island
*Fuck Buttons not playing in Brisbane

Fuck Buttons are renowned for their electric live performances where they seamlessly weave tribal beats and subtle melodies amongst contorting Technicolor drone-scapes while preaching distorted-vocals scream for dear hope herself.

Their debut album, Street Horrrsing, was recorded by John Cummings of Mogwai and mastered by Bob Weston of Shellac and was released earlier this year.

Colours Move (radio edit) [mp3]


Okay, Let's Talk About Magic (live at SXSW)


myspace.com/fuckbuttons

Jack White teams up with Adele and Alicia Keys

The White Stripes' Jack White has been keeping himself very busy working on collaborations with songstresses from both sides of the Atlantic.

He's teamed up with UK soul singer Adele to cover The Saboteurs' track Many Shades of Black:


And if being in mega bands The White Stripes and The Saboteurs wasn't enought, he has also joined Alicia Keys to record the new Bond theme Another Way To Die: