Monday, December 19, 2011
James Blake: "A Case of You"
We've been notoriously critical in regards to the heaps of praise lumped on James Blake's debut record. It's not that we thought it was bad per se, just that, despite its two or three highlights, the album wasn't as good as everyone thought it was. All that being said, when alone with a piano, Blake can be heartbreaking and truly outstanding. Nowhere is that more apparent than on his cover of Joni Mitchell's absolute classic "A Case of You" which deservingly received the full video treatment, and is included on his recent EP Enough Thunder, that has gotten far more play around here than his actual debut. What's it say though when your two best songs are covers?
Friday, December 16, 2011
New Video: Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
We are excited to see a video spring up for this track, easily one of our favorites from Arcade Fire's latest release, The Suburbs. Odd video, but that is to be expected. Enjoy your weekend.
Blonds - "206" NSFW?
[mp3] Blonds: "Kite"
We stumbled upon this video in our internet trolling yesterday - I mean, we'll watch anything NSFW... We'd been meaning to check out the Florida-based (actually dating) couple Blonds for weeks, but hey - the world is a busy place. While what you see and hear above can be fairly easily passed over in the din of blog bands, there is something strongly noteworthy about Blonds honed songcraft and melodic sense that makes their music more than your typical electro/gauzy buzz band fare.You can download their excellent free EP Dark Roots HERE.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Lucero Announces Women & Work Tour 2012
We're extremely excited about the announcement of Lucero's new record and debut for ATO Women & Work due this March - supported by a massive tour. Supporters include J. Roddy Walston and William Elliot Whitmore, and the tour includes a co-headline with Built to Spill. Dates after the jump. Of the new album Ben Nichols says: "This record is Lucero doing what we do best. It's one part barrelhouse Rock & Roll and one part lonesome nights. The thing is, we are having more fun than ever playing both on stage and off and I think that shows on this album."
Stream New Sleigh Bells - "Born To Lose"
Well, the sound is big huh? Everyone is being "Born" to do something apparently these days.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Lana Del Rey Debuts "Born to Die" Video
The new video from one of the most interesting and polarizing artists since Odd Future. To compare a relatively mom-friendly artist and Odd Future in the same sentence, is the exact proof as to why Lana Del Rey is so intriguing. Her debut drops Jan 31 on Interscope and is forecasted to sell upwards of 50,000 copies.
Marissa Nadler Video: "In Your Lair Bear"
Marissa Nadler's new video for "In Your Lair Bear" from one of our favorite records of the year. List coming soon! Marissa Nadler is out now.
Monday, December 12, 2011
2nd Cloud Nothings Single "Stay Useless"
Now this is more like it. We get it. The first single "No Future / No Past" was attention grabbing. It was different; a sludgey departure for these pop-hook minded guitar slingers. That song was cool - but you don't listen to it more than twice really. Today, we get a solid core album track in "Stay Useless" our second look from Cloud Nothings' Attack on Memory, out January 24 on Carpark. It's raw and new but reminds us of why we loved this Cleveland group in the first place.
One to Watch: The Minutes
The Minutes - Black Keys (Official Video) from The Minutes on Vimeo.
The Minutes, a trio hailing from Dublin, Ireland, were raised on punk rock a la The Smiths, Stooges and as quoted by the press release, "70s NYC punk." It is clear that this band is composed of equal parts grit, grunge, and rock. The lead single of their upcoming self-titled US debut EP, "Black Keys" is not to be confused with the band Black Keys, though The Minutes' sound can be easily likened to them. Early Kings of Leon meets, the Black Keys, meets, 90s grunge rock -- it is clear The Minutes are musically diverse. We at Stark are jumping on this band early; if done right by label Model Citizen Records, The Minutes are poised to break out of the Irish doldrums and explode on to the US rock scene...a scene truly lacking in quality, quantity and passion these days. Put them on your list for SXSW folks.
Black Keys by The Minutes
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
New Modular Signing: Pond
As a rule, we pretty much read every press release from Modular. A consistent roster of quality talent makes you a gatekeeper, and earns you trust. Sometimes, with an inbox full of hundreds of emails, that's all you have the energy to rely on. It's just the way it goes.
But it doesn't gain you a free pass. Pond, the side project of Nick Allbrook and Jay Watson of the excellent Tame Impala, have teamed with Joseph Ryan to produce the full length Beard Wives Denim (Modular, 3/5) "recorded in a ramshackle farmhouse over two weeks in early 2010, right before Tame Impala started blowing up." The first track is filled with sick psych melodies and guitar squall... I mean, just look at the song title.
It's Finally Nite Jewel's Time
This could finally be Ramona Gonzalez's year. Not that she's been having a rough go of it... Producing tons of music under her Nite Jewel moniker, she's turned heads not so much by one stellar record or song, but by the potential everyone saw in her work to date. With her new composition "One Second of Love" the title track of her album dropping March 6 on Secretly Canadian, it seems Gonzalez has finally focused her sound, and with a true LP to work inside of an actual album cycle this could be Nite Jewel's opportunity to hit the "mainstream" indie community. The promise of the lead track is enough to have us thoroughly excited to hear the full LP. Read our interview w/ Nite Jewel HERE.
One Second Of Love by Nite Jewel
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
New Sounds: Lianna La Havas
Quickly rising in prominence in the UK behind a stellar Jools Holland appearance, 22 year old Londoner Lianne La Havas will travel stateside in 2012 to tour with Bon Iver behind the release of her 'Lost and Found' EP which came out 11/22. With sultry, smooth, and crystal clear vocals, it will be very interesting to watch Havas' path to success in the coming months. Very talented new artist.
Lianne La Havas - No Room For Doubt by PluggedIn
Wake Bake Skate
FIDLAR were the big winners of CMJ 2011 - and we wholeheartedly love these stoner skater punks from LA with the hookiest songs we've heard in a minute. Today, VICE debuted their new video for single "Wake Bake Skate." Watch for a signing announcement from these kids soon to go along with an eventual album and tour in 2012. They have an EP out now. Grab it.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Bowerbirds Announce New Album: The Clearing
The internet is a fickle place, and one of the biggest problems we have with blogs, is their extremely short memory and, at times, lack of faith in the long term careers of artists. Now - of course - this is a two way street. We'll care about bands that make second and third albums worth caring about. That rule is paramount. While we're no saints here when it comes to blogging - we think a band worth standing by for the long run is Bowerbirds.
The duo of Beth Tacular and Phil Moore came to prominence on the back of a standout debut album, but have been quietly hibernating in North Carolina, nursing physical and relationship wounds, and walking dogs after tirelessly touring behind their second album Upper Air. As these things of course go, the band was busy recording their bigger and more adventurous third album, The Clearing, announced last week with a release date of March 6th via Dead Oceans. We're psyched to hear it, and we hope the rest of the press world is as well. The new song "Tuck the Darkness In" is very very lovely.
Because We Love Posting Yelle Videos
Seriously, what good reason do we have NOT to post this? Yeah, it's more than a week old, but there are pink uni-suits (insert camel-toe joke), the song kicks fucking ass, and it seems like Yelle is making some sort of play to be the French Gaga. All of which we're totally on board with. So, here's "Comme Un Enfant" from her newest Safari Disco Club.
Comme un enfant by YELLE
New School of Seven Bells Track - "The Night"
The new album from School of Seven Bells, Ghostory, is due on 2/28/12 via Vagrant Records. We can't say enough of about the pure talent of this group; they make a indie-genre of their own with amazing melodies, great vocal harmonies and electro-samples/beats that never sound stale. From Alpinisms in 2009, to Disconnect from Desire in 2010, School of Seven Bells have been top contenders on every end-of-year Best of List. Their newest single, "The Night" was first heard through Stark ears live at Cameo a few months ago; talk about an ear-worm, we recognized it again immediately. Looking forward to this release folks. Big time.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)