Daughn Gibson - "Lite Me Up"/"Mark of a Man"

Remember Daughn Gibson? The Pennsylvania native released his debut album All Hell but a few short months ago and promptly took his brand of electronic-infused folk/country on the road for a short romp about the east coast. I'm glad to say I was in the audience for his Union Hall show and got to witness the premiere of his brand new track "Lite Me Up". Believe me when I say it's the absolute pinnacle of baby-making music. So light some candles and settle down for what's sure to be pleasurable dose of aural sex and maybe more It's a real scorcher.

And make sure you pick up Gibson's Lite Me Up 7" which features another track, "Mark of a Man" on the b-side. You can order the 7" here.

You can also buy the digital version from Gibson's personal bandcamp here.

(via Filter Magazine)

Watch: Ivan & Alyosha - "On My Way" Live

It's hard to believe that Seattle duo turned moresome Ivan & Alyosha have yet to release a full-length album after their years and years of music-making. Since it's inception in 2007, the band has released two EPs, expanded into its current lineup and gone on a multitude of tours most notably with Brandi Carlile. And while Ivan & Alyosha have certainly taken their sweet time in getting there, the group is gearing up to finally release their debut album due in part from a successful Pledge Music campaign. While news has certainly been quiet on that front, you can here a brand new song called "On My Way" they recorded in Austin for the Look Sessions.

The tracks has got harmonies for days. If their debut album was just the fellas of Ivan & Alyosha harmonizing names and addresses out of the phonebook, I'd probably still buy it. They're just that lush; that velvety smooth. Hear "On My Way":
  

?uestlove, tUnE-yArDs, Angelique Kidjo Akua Naru - Lady (Fela Kuti cover)

Turns out one of the greatest ways to get a great musical collaboration involves an act of charity. The Red Hot Organization has pretty much been uniting acts this way for years now in order to raise money for the fight against AIDS/HIV and this year is certainly no different.

While past collaborations have included the likes of Feist, Beirut, Justin Vernon, Of Montreal, and Sade (to name but a few), a most recent endeavor has brought together ?uestlove of The Roots fame with Angelique Kidjo and Akua Naru, and just to make sure it's an extra good time they throw tUnE-yArDs' Merrill Garbus into the mix to cover Fela Kuti's "Lady".

The result is a bustling, brassy update on Fela Kuti's criticisms of westernized African women into something a little less harsh but at no point less enjoyable. From the swaggering saxophones, to the three women's bold delivery, even to the added rap, the song is a flawless musical contribution. Hear it below and support a great cause:



If you like what you hear, buy the single. Do it.

(via Okay Africa)

Grizzly Bear - "Sleeping Ute"

If you've followed any of my ramblings about Daniel Rossen on here, you're more than familiar that I much prefer Rossen's sideprojects and solo efforts to those of his actual band Grizzly Bear. Or at least I was fairly certain I did until now. For some time now the Brooklyn foursome have been working on their fourth album, the follow up to 2009's Veckatimest, and with the album now just about ready to see the light of day we're being treated to a sneak peek of it.

I use the word treat in every sense of the word as the new track "Sleeping Ute" combines many of the elements I thoroughly enjoyed about Rossen's projects (Silent Hour/Golden Mile, Department of Eagles) and brings them to the forefront of Grizzly Bear. The dizzying rush of intricate, nearly overwhelming arrangements that crackle with pop catchiness? It's enough to make a true Grizzly Bear convert out of me. Almost. I look forward to hearing the new album to see if that's indeed the case. "Sleeping Ute" has an insanely epic grandeur that fills you with complete awe as the winds and bends along, slowly unfurling it's tendrils and grabbing you tightly and closely after drawing you near with its come-hither coo. An absolute stunner of a track, really.

Listen to the first track from Grizzly Bear's upcoming yet untitled fourth album, out September 18th on Warp Records, "Sleeping Ute":


(via Under the Radar)

Watch: The Dø - "Slippery Slope", "Gonna Be Sick", and "The Wicked & The Blind" Live at Studio Pigalle

The Dø are going on tour! The France-based duo's sophomore album Both Ways Open Jaws was mistakenly left  off my favorites of 2011 list last year and it seems like now is the perfect opportunity to redeem myself. Or really just the re-live the amazingness that was the eclecticism of that record. I've never seen the duo live before have certain wondered what that must be like. Looks like I'll soon have my answer as The Dø prep for a very short North American tour later this summer. They'll be playing three US dates and one Canadian date at least at this point. If they plan to expand that tour, that'd be great.

If you're in the NY area you're in pretty much the best of luck as the duo will playing three easily reachable shows: July 31st at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, August 1st at Mercury Lounge in Manhattan, and Western New Yorkers, you're not being ignored either, there's a show at Lee's Palace in Toronto on August 3rd that's sure to be worth the trek.

I can hope that band sound as absolutely incredible as they do in their live session at Studio Pigalle:






(via Brooklyn Vegan)

Sunglasses - "Swim"

One of my favorite blogs of note, We Listen For You, is undergoing a massive overhaul in content delivering solely one well thought out post a day. While that means less actual discoveries at the site a day, it also results in a stronger desire to check out what they do champion. Also, all the tracks they love get place in one easy to read/listen to post. And that's where I found Sunglasses' "Swim": a 7 minute jam of the most epic proportions.

Slowly building out of silence and fuzz, mechanized percussion accompanies the pretty bare vocals at least until instrument after instrument slips in completely without fanfare and just when that threatens to overwhelm, they drop out and start again from scratch. It's a bright, shimmering wave of sound that remains as unexpected as your initial listen. And despite it's labyrinthine sprawl, it coasts rather easily on its catchiness.  It's a track you'll have the hardest thing not listening to because of how much is actually happening inside of it.



(via We Listen For You)

Pitstop: Micachu and the Shapes

One of the greatest and most simplest ways to find something new that you're bound to love is to follow tips from bands/artists you love. It just makes sense. And that's how I was introduced to UK experimental trio Micachu and the Shapes. Through tUnE-yArDs' Merrill Garbus in tweet form after their most recent show together at Terminal 5. The brainchild of London composer Mica Levi, Micachu and the Shapes (Micachu being Levi's adopted stage name) play stitched up pop with an avant-garde twist. That's about the simplest way to explain what this band does but in no way is it the most definitive. And that definition of sound may not define the group for very much longer as the threesome prep to release their sophomore record Never, the follow up to their rather poppy debut Jewellry.

 Micachu - Golden Phone by The Green Bird Heard


Preview tracks "Never" and "OK" mark a far less accessible and linear style for the band which while not completely out of the ordinary for the three-piece promises to be a fairly enjoyable departure from their debut.

Considering how catchy their debut is, I'm a little surprised that the track that most hooked me was from a live album they recorded with the London Sinfonetta (which is fitting as Levi's work is not wholly out of the conventions of modern classical music). "Everything", from the aforementioned live album entitled Chopped & Screwed, is the first track I ever heard from the group and currently my absolute favorite. It's an expansive yet simple glitch-pop gem. Or at least it sounds like Micachu's cut-copy style of glitch but couldn't possibly be when you realize it's live which is a mindboggling effect really. Combined are minimalistic percussive rhythms with lightning quick flutters from winds and dissonance that gives the track's perpetual motion a sort of discomforting unease. Levi employs a rapid-fire assortment of techniques that gives the track an added layer of depth besides it's large number of players. It's the kind of track that upon each listen you heard something entirely new: a pizzicato here, rumbling bass riff, a tunefully hit woodblock, each instrument arises and fades in a flash requiring your absolute attention and even then it might not be enough. 

 03 Everything/Micachu & the Shapes and the London Sinfonietta/Chopped & Screwed by ohtaffeta


Micachu and the Shapes' Never is due out July 24th on Rough Trade Records.

You can hear Micachu's Jewellry and Chopped & Screwed on Spotify.