If you're anything like us, most of your web surfing happens during the week, and it's seldom that you spend a Saturday night catching up on the latest web leaks and music availability issues. That being said, when a friend emailed us that a sample of The Strokes first single in 5 years, "Under Cover Of Darkness", had hit the web, we threw on our headphones and ignored the party for the next 30 seconds.
Well, count us in as excited. It was cool enough that The Sea & Cake's John McEntire produced Broken Social Scene's latest, Forgiveness Rock Record, and then the two bands subsequently toured together. This week the pair outdid themselves again, and announced a split 7" that's set to drop next Tuesday. The single contains an unreleased track from each band: "Curse Your Fail" from BSS, and "Skies" from The Sea & Cake. While you could wait and snag it at your local record shop, if you just can't wait it's available at Gallery AC right now!
Wild Beasts are one of the musical treats we've unintentionally kept in our back pocket over the past year. Their fantastic record Two Dancers has been in constant rotation at HAD since last winter, and before we get to the new-news, we'll tell you this: if you don't have the record yet, get it. It's a fantastic and original journey into melody and rhythm, with some fantastically unique vocals to boot. Well worth your while.
Now, there are lots of reasons to head out to head out tomorrow and support Record Store Day tomorrow: the economy, the awesomeness of record stores, and all the ridiculously exclusive merch that comes along with the event. But this year, there's something far more monumental on tap for the annual event: The return of Blur.
Sure, it's been floating around the internets for the past couple of weeks, but the digital single and seven inch drop today. Given that plus the fact that Christmas is this week and New York is shoveling out about a foot of snow, we figured today would be the best time to hit you up with Julian Casablancas' take on the "classic" Christmas tune "I Wish It was Christmas Today".
The track is sourced from an SNL skit of monumental holiday proportions, featuring the awesome foursome of Sanz, Kattan, Fallon, and Jordan (check out the video below). Julian's take wears it's humor significantly less on its sleeve, and instead is just about as straight-ahead a take as we can imagine. That doesn't make it any less awesome, or jingle bell and chime laden. Yes, Julian, there is a Santa Claus.
mp3: Julian Casablancas - I Wish It Was Christmas Today
UPDATE: The band has 4 US dates in December, see below!
By now you've probably heard all about this, but just in case you were as turkey-coma'ed as we were: last week Spoon firmed up the release details of their upcoming record Transference. The disc is unquestionably our most anticipated release of 2010, so we were more than a little bit excited to hear we won't be waiting long for the new material.
The record will drop on January 19th from Merge, but even more timely is today's release of the record's first single "Written In Reverse". The track is a digital single as of today, with a 7" release to follow in January. To anyone who's been checking out the band in the past year or so, the song should be pretty familiar, as it's been a constant in the live environ. For those of you who haven't, well let's just say this: if you haven't heard Britt Daniel let loose over a pounding piano line, this is certainly your chance.
The band has also announced their first 2010 tour dates, all of which are in Europe, with promise of US dates upcoming. Yes, we are very, very excited. Bring it!
Spoon Winter 2009-2010:
December 3 Kansas City, MO - Midland Theatre
December 4 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
December 11 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
December 12 La Jolla, CA - RIMAC Arena
December 31 Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
February 14 Glasgow @ King Tut's
February 15 Manchester @ Academy 3
February 16 London @ Electric Ballroom
February 18 Amsterdam @ Paradiso
February 19 Cologne @ Luxor February 20 Berlin @ Frannz Club
mp3: Spoon - Written In Reverse
Okay, we'll start with the truly embarrassing part: we'd never really given "Hey Bulldog" a listen. The reasoning is rather strange, and bit meandering. First, there's the fact that it's not on any of the "real" Beatles record: the song was only issued as part of the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. As such, it didn't get any play in our standard spins of Beatles wax. What's more (and this is the truly silly part), for some reason we thought it was a cover. It's hard to say why exactly; maybe it's all the covers the band was doing in the Let It Be era, or maybe it's just the silly title. Regardless, the fact remains that "Hey Bulldog" was waiting in the wings, and now that we've given it some attention, well, oh my.
You may have heard whisperings (okay, clamor) that Vampire Weekend had a new record on the way. Well, things are coming to fruition, and news is making itself known. Specifically, Contra will drop on January 12th of the New Year.
What's more, the band has taken it upon themselves to release the record's first single, "Horchata", as a free download. We have to admit, we had been a little bit concerned about what we might hear. Combine the fact that there's the ominous "sophomore slump" that tends to plague second records with the fact that the band has a relatively pigeonholed sound, and well: there was the potential for trouble.
However, we're happy to report that (at least with this tune) the band seems to have avoided any missteps, and has maybe even stepped it up a notch. "Horchata" employs many of the techniques the band used on their first record: African influenced guitars and beats, reverby vocals, and catchy melodies. That being said, the production has more depth, and it sounds less like a raw garage recording. Put differently: it sounds (in a good way) like a track that had some time spent on it in the studio, and wasn't just the product of rehearsals and live shows. Granted, it doesn't have the catchy danceability of "A Punk", but we're pretty sure it's still a win. Check it out below.
mp3: Vampire Weekend - Horchata
The anticipation has been growing for Julian Casablancas' first solo record Phrazes For The Young, and if "11th Dimension" is any indicator, the hype has been well justified. On the track, Casablancas manages to take his classic Strokes vocals and infuse them with a dancey, synthy, retro goodness that manages at the same time to be completely fresh. While it sounds very little like The Strokes, in its approach its not all that different.
Which is to say: Casablancas made a name for himself eight years ago with a record and a band that was highly derivative, yet at the same time managed to transform an industry with its originality, energy, and willingness to make high quality rock and roll. This track has that same energy and vitality. On it's surface there's little that's obvious to surpass any other dance-rock track, but somehow it manages to transcend that and deliver far more. Let's hope the rest of the record is just as tasty.
Phrazes For The Young drops on October 20th
mp3: Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension
Okay, obviously we're not calling the shots on EELS' singles, because if we were, they wouldn't keep avoiding the RAWK like the plague. Seriously, Hombre Lobo is a raucous, fun affair, and yet the band seems intent on continuing to push the uber mellow "In My Dreams" as the current face of the EELS.
Combine that with the fact that it's not just a mellow single, but the video is a cutesy montage of a (presumably) young Mr. E walking about the forest. Come on! Really?
Shit baby - give us "Fresh Blood" any day!
mp3: EELS - Fresh Blood
It's been three months since Doves dropped Kingdom of Rust, and the band is still going strong on its release. Case in point: the latest single/video from the record, "Winter Hill".
We love the tune (especially live), so we're certainly not putting up a fight. That being said, we are moderately flummoxed as to why the video focuses on a trick BMX rider. Nonetheless, that shit be cool to watch, so again, no arguments.
In other news, the band's website was apparently hacked recently, which has left them relegated to a temporary blogger domain for the time being...stupid hax0rs!
mp3: Doves - Jetstream
We were planning a post on the new U2 record based purely on our excitement in reading the monster set of interviews in the latest issue of Q Magazine. The article features in depth interviews with each of the band members, and left us more than a little excited for their latest No Line On The Horizon.
For one, the article features photos of Bono having somewhat-abandoned his recent longish hair/leather jacket look in favor of a short hair/eyeliner look. We always enjoy a persona change for the front man, and given that the band is on the "hot" angle of their hot/cold album cycle, it's definitely a good sign!
For another, the band seems to be united in their belief that this is their biggest departure in an album since Achtung Baby, which at the time was drastically different that had preceeded it. Now granted, the album still has to be good for a departure to be relevant, but we here at HAD are of the view that U2 always seems to be a bit better when they're pushing boundries than when they're in their comfort zone.
Finally, the band is taking on technical as well as musical challenges: Apparently they'll be releasing an A/V version of the album that utilizes the ever-ubiquitous flat panel television. What's more, they're planning engineering feats for the tour (yes, there's a tour) that surpass everything the band's done before. Given their touring and stage track record, that's not exactly rhetoric. Frankly, we can't wait.
Well, follow all of this new info with the ever-leaky interwebs, and last week has seen the release of not only the album cover art (above), but also the first single "Get On Your Boots" (below). The single is a little too much in the "Vertigo" category for us, but it's also the lead-off single, so we're willing to keep an open mind. More importantly, the band sounds nice and loose (in a good way), and Bono sounds like he's really having fun.
For those of you who are U2 haters, it might be time to batten the hatches. It's looking like it could be another landmark year for the boys from Ireland.
Stream: U2 - Get On Your Boots
Cardinology is still a couple of weeks away, but "Fix It" has been released as a single, and impressions are starting to trickle in. To our ears, it's pretty much what would be expected from Adams' current incarnation of the Cardinals: Lots of guitar interplay, Ryan jumping firmly into the upper vocal register, and a pretty "by the numbers" melody. Easy Tiger's "Two" comes to mind as a corrolary. We'd hit you with a download link, but frankly, it's 99 cents - isn't the tune worth a third of a latte?
The entire record is rumored to be out and about on the interwebs, but we (unfortunately) wouldn't know about such things. We're patiently waiting for our download code that will accompany the Cardinology vinyl. Most of the blogosphere appears to be getting by on the live versions of the new tracks.
In other news, Adams appears to have launched his author persona in full. Indeed.
We mentioned a while back that we were enjoying the new Coldplay disc Viva La Vida far more than we had anticipated. Well, one of our faves on the disc: "Lost!" is now set to be the band's next single. It'll be a digital-only release on November 10th, and you can check out the accompanying video (filmed in Chicago) below.
In other Coldplay news, it appears that bassist Guy Berryman has been side-projecting. Indeed.
Video: Coldplay - Lost!
