When Time and Place Collide

After much anticipation (at least for me), The Kills have released their first single today, "Satellite", off their upcoming record, Blood Pressures. Clearly, knowing how much I adore the duo, I have nothing bad to say; I think the song is nothing short of amazing. It's ridden with sex appeal, clever lyrics, and interesting musical experimentation.... but what else would one expect from Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart? Not that I had any doubts that The Kills would deliver with their new material, but hearing this has made me shiver with anticipation for what's to come. Download the song on iTunes if you haven't yet, and keep an eye out for the release of more singles in the upcoming months!

New Fleet Foxes!

YES!! Fleet Foxes have posted a brand new song as of today, entitled "Helplessness Blues". It's absolutley beautiful; chalk-full of gorgeous harmonies (as their music always is), sophisticated and eloquent lyrics, and the perfect combination of folk, country, and indie rock. If Frightened Rabbit and Mumford & Sons were to have a baby, this would be it. The best part: there's a link to a free mp3 of it!
Listen/ download here:

Fleet Foxes: "Helplessness Blues"

The Perfect Winter Song

We all sort of dread having to get up in the morning, bear the cold, and inevitably slip or fall at some point in the day on this so called "black ice". However, there are definitely upsides to this weather, one of them being the fact that it was inspiration for Beach House's latest and greatest, "I Do Not Care for the Winter Sun". Lyrically and musically simple yet absolutely breathtaking, as I find all of Victoria and Alex's songs to be, this new tune seems to makes me look at the snow and the cold a bit more affectionately, even if it has undertones of a broken heart. You don't much hear them use the slide guitar in their music, which I think makes this song unique in their repertoire; yet, there's no denying that it still has that quintessential Beach House dreamy quality to it. I highly recommend this song, especially to those who would rather do nothing than stay in with a cup of tea and enjoy the snowfall at a distance. Listen to the mp3 here:

Beach House: "I Do Not Care for the Winter Sun"

Lykke Li- "I Follow Rivers" Music Video

Lykke Li has been releasing singles from her forthcoming album, Wounded Rhymes, and now has just posted the music video for her latest, "I Follow Rivers". Personally, I don't really feel that drawn to the video; it's a cool concept but I think it's a bit underdone. The song itself, however, is quite well done and rather catchy, and has absolutely captivating vocals in the chorus. Overall, I think she has proven to fans worldwide that her sophomore album will not dissapoint; from what I can see so far, it is full of musical experimentation and is both rough around the edges and beautifully melodic, the perfect combination in my book. Judge for yourself, watch the video below.

Watch Out... Ida Eats Boys Like You For Breakfast

Ok, I can no longer deny the fact that I couldn't wait for the US release of Ida Maria's newest album, Katla... I had heard a lot of the tracks on her Myspace and on youtube a while back, and I just had to download it (Ida I promise I will buy it when it's released). Honestly though I have no regrets because the entire album is jaw-droppingly good. I thought her debut album, Fortress 'round My Heart, was amazing, but this shit is unbelievable. I've always seen her as one of the most unabashed young musicians of her generation (re: her dress falling off at Coachella...), and this album proves that. Songs like "I Eat Boys Like You For Breakfast", "Cherry Red", and "Let's Leave" show off her endearingly vulgar and raw sense of humor, while songs like "Quite Nice People" and "10,000 Lovers" seem to speak the words that everyone thinks, but doesn't want to say. My favorite though, "Bad Karma", really resonates with me lyrically, and is so wild and powerful it makes you want to.... scream and kick stuff? Any song that's an excuse to make a scene is good in my book. She is amazing, and I am so happy that Katla came out as well as it did. PLEASE don't do what I did; wait for the album to be released on iTunes and download it there :). But for now, listen to some of her best new tracks below.

Ida Maria- "Bad Karma"

Ida Maria- "I Eat Boys Like You For Breakfast"

Ida Maria- "Let's Leave"

This is a HUGE DEAL.

Let it be known that on January 11th, 2011, my dreams have become a reality. I cannot adequately express how much what I am about to say means to me, but The Kills have just announced their follow-up album to 2008's Midnight Boom, Blood Pressures. What an apt name, seeing as mine has absolutely skyrocketed upon hearing this. Excuse the overexcitement, but it is hard for me to convey a) how much I idolize Alison Mosshart, b) how long I have been waiting for this, and c) how much I have prayed that they would play live shows together again. Horrible rumors were spread a while ago about Kate Moss, who happens to be Jamie Hince's ex-girlfriend, throwing Jamie's computer (which had the only copies of their new tracks) into a pool and ruining all their work...I still am unsure if this is true or not, but needless to say I was not happy; that, combined with Mosshart's new role as lead singer of The Dead Weather, sadly gave me doubts of the promise of this ever happening. And against all odds, it has. And I'm fucking ecstatic. The duo posted this morning that their new album is set to be released April 5th... just in time for Coachella but I won't get my hopes up just yet. The tracklist is as follows:

01 Future Starts Slow
02 Satellite
03 Heart Is a Beating Drum
04 Nail in My Coffin
05 Wild Charms
06 DNA
07 Baby Says
08 Last Goodbye
09 Damned If She Do
10 You Don't Own the Road
11 Pots and Pans

My god, EVERY SINGLE track name is amazing. I can't wait.

The Duke Spirit w/ Crash Kings @ The Roxy Theatre in LA: 12/30/10

I have been desperate to see The Duke Spirit for almost 3 years, and by miracle I happened to notice the day before the event that they were playing a small show at the Roxy… obviously I seized the opportunity and bought myself tickets at 1:30 in the morning the day before the show. As if seeing Leila Moss and her gang wasn’t great already, I was lucky enough to see Crash Kings open for them, a tree-member band out of LA who I have been a fan of for quite some time. They were amazing; Mike and Tony Belveau, who happen to be twins, both have incredible voices and I found their music to be quite powerful. They also use a Clavinet D6 instead of an electric guitar, which I had never seen before but found quite amazing as it sounds like the real thing (I later learned with some investigation that this keyboard-posing-as-a-guitar was used as the guitar in Stevie Wonders’ “Superstition”). Although I think Crash Kings played for just a liiiiittle too long, I was quite impressed and will definitely check out more of their music.
After Crash Kings played, The Duke Spirit came crashing on stage, a lightening bolt of energy accentuated by Leila Moss’s unbelievable stage presence and all sequenced pants. I always knew that this band was incredibly talented and that Moss had very strong vocals, but this show proved to me that she is absolutely a star; her way of commanding the audience’s attention and palpable level of enjoyment that the band in its entirety was having while performing was completely inspiring and so much fun to watch. They opened with “The Step and the Walk”, undoubtedly their most famous song, which more than pleased onlookers and summoned an equal amount of energy from those around me than was displayed on stage. Their performance also included some of my favorites such as “Lassoo” and “Love Is An Unfamiliar Name”, as well as new tracks off their new EP, Kusama, which was released in early December. It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything new from this band and, from what I could see, their most recent material seems to hold a lot of promise. I thoroughly enjoyed this show, and strongly encourage you readers to check out both The Duke Spirit and Crash Kings, and to check out Kusama.

Ida Maria's "Quite Nice People" Video Premiere

For all you Ida Maria fans out there, I just noticed that everyone's favorite Norwegian songstress has posted a link to the official music video premiere of "Quite Nice People", one of the tracks off of her forthcoming album, Katla, which was released internationally last year and is, as far as I know, set to be released in the US very soon. The song is much more mellow than most of her other stuff, a "Keep Me Warm" vibe of sorts. The lyrics, however, are so subtly sassy and relatable; I, being the misanthrope that am, am in love with this song. The video itself is visually very pleasing and beautiful in its simplicity. Those of you who don't listen to her before should really give this listen, she's truly talented and a rare gem of an artist.