MP3 + New Video – Marty Angus : Break Free
Dirty Projectors : Swing Lo Magellan
Rating: 5/5 stars
Label: Domino
No one could accuse Dirty Projectors leader David Longstreth of doing the same thing twice. Swing Lo Magellan is a poetic art-pop album, matching warm and personal music with outlandish intellectual ideas that is eclectic, without being esoteric. For a band constantly experimenting with their own sound, this album is no exception. More “beat-driven” and accessible than any Dirty Projectors previous albums, Longstreth has cited a slew of influences here, ranging from Nirvana, Lil Wayne, Michael Jackson, Neil Young, En Vogue, Blind Willie Johnson to classical composers Arnold Schoenberg and György Ligeti…and maybe even a little Dylan.
Listen : Dirty Projectors : Gun Has No Trigger (via SoundCloud)
Purity Ring : Shrines
Rating: 5/5 stars
LABEL: 4AD
If ’sleep is a welcome gadget’ for Canadian electro-pop duo Purity Ring, then Shrines is what pop dreams are made of. Together, Corin Roddick and Megan James blaze fearlessly into the future with clean pop melodies that conjure surreal dreamscapes of the arcane. Roddick lays out a dense ephemeral fog of sensual beats underscored by Megan James fearful and fragile voice, driven by corporeally obsessed lyrics that are appealing to both hip-hop and french house enthusiasts, alike. On Shrine, Purity Ring utilize technology to create a sound that is, surprisingly, the complete antithesis to the future – an album more about bodies, than computers.
Listen: Purity Ring : Ungirthed
Listen: Purity Ring : Lofticries
Listen: Purity Ring : Obedear
Listen: Purity Ring : Fineshrine
Bravestation: Giant’s & Dreamers
Rating: 4/5 stars
Label: None
Bravestation may be the future of indie pop. The latest worldbeat torch bearers combine the ambient textures and spaced-out guitars of New Wave sheen with vibrant harmonies and tribal percussion to achieve a sound both immediately familiar and new…with mystery.
Back in 2010, the band released a self-recorded/produced EP, which i(heart)music called “one of the best albums of the year…occupying a space somewhere between The National and The Killers,” and The Toronto Star lauded for its “airy, sidewinding mini-epics”.
Equally acquainted with Foals and Fear of Music, this quirky “tribal pop” Toronto foursome have released their debut album – Giant’s & Dreamers. With ‘Giants & Dreamers’, Bravestation dive even deeper into their realm of sonic exploration and imagination. The song-writing and recording process began over a year ago, with each member capturing ideas in isolation on their home computers; the resulting demos shared in a communal online space for collective sculpting. An independent one month tour of the United Kingdom in June 2011, following an invitation to play the main stage at North-East England’s largest music festival, Evolution (alongside Iggy and The Stooges, Two Door Cinema Club & The Kills), provided a great opportunity to road test the new material in front of a foreign audience; before returning to Toronto to finish the album in basements, bedrooms and Canterbury Studio. This constantly shifting discourse led to the revisiting and reshaping of ideas over time which contributed to the new material’s unique complexity – adventurous artistry, filled with visions of fantasy and a future that struggles between dystopia and utopia.
The album, including recent singles ‘Western Thrills’, ‘Tides of the Summit’ and ‘Signs of the Civilized’, can be streamed on the band’s Bandcamp page. If you missed the videos for ‘Signs of the Civilized’ and ‘Western Thrills’, these can be seen on the band’s YouTube page.
Bluesfest Music Festival – July 4-15
No one knows why it’s called Bluesfest, and I doubt we will ever find out. For our friends up North, this week kicks off Bluesfest: a 12-day Canadian Music Festival in the capital city which a). should not be mistaken for a “Blues Festival” and b). is in Ottawa, aye? (contrary to Canadian Bacon, the capital is Not Toronto!)
Bluesfest may have nothing to do with blues music, but it’s still a great time of year for government employees to stop pretending they work, and indie music fans from all over North America to flood the city and party until a stage collapses. This year has a great lineup you can check out after the jump:
What to look forward to: Other than being excited to boo Chad Kroeger of Nickelback and grind your significant other (or willing proximity other) to Seal’s “Kissed by a Rose” while eating poutine, you should keep on the peg for:
Beirut, Pretty Lights, Mustard Pimp, Grimes, Big Boi of Outkast, A$AP Rocky, Diplo, Felix Cartal, MSTRKRFT, The WEEKND, Tyga and Deltron 3030, who will be playing some of their new material off of their upcoming album: Event II. The show will consist of the Deltron core (Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien and Kid Koala), along with drums, guitar, keyboards AND the “Deltron Orchestra” – You can expect 16 additional band members which incorporate strings, horns and background vocals.
Our Ottawa envoy Darcy Ujjainwalla will be covering all the shows, so if you see him at the festival, stop on over and say “hi” and tell him who you’re excited to see. And maybe, just maybe, he will hook you up with a Discosalt T-shirt (while quantities last of course).
Video – KidsOf88 : Tucan feat. Alisa Xayalith
New Zealand duo KIDSOF88 have released a new remix of their official single, “TUCAN,” from the forthcoming album MODERN LOVE, expected in summer 2012 via Dryden Street. On the original version of “TUCAN“, Sam McCarthy and Jordan Arts are joined by Alisa Xayalith of The Naked And Famous, uncovering a soaring sense of yearning previously unseen within KidsOf88’s oeuvre.
KIDSOF88 : “TUCAN” L-O-L-O Remix
New Track – The Vaccines : No Hope
The Vaccines Come Of Age is the follow-up to the bands’ unabashed, critically-acclaimed debut What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? Of the overall album, frontman Justin Young told NME earlier this year, “The record is a lot more intimate and close than the first record.” To capture this intimate sound the band worked with producer Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Laura Marling), recording over the last few months at ICP studios in Brussels and Distiller in Bath.
The first single “No Hope,” is available now and can be listened to below:
Album Stream – Bravestation : Giants & Dreamers
With just a couple of weeks to go now until the release of their debut full-length Giants & Dreamers, Toronto’s Bravestation have unveiled the video for the album’s third single ‘Western Thrills’ – which, combines the bands ambient textures and spaced-out New Wave guitars with colorful harmonies and tribal percussion. Listen to the album and watch the new video after the jump.
New Video – Sebastien Tellier : Russian Attractions
French vocalist Sebastien Tellier just dropped a great new video for the Morrissey-esc single ‘Russian Attractions’ produced by VICE with the help of Air. Starring an olympic caliber synchronized swim team, the video for the latest track from his new album My God Is Blue is reminiscent of a classic kaleidoscopic Bond title sequence.
Album Stream – Milk Maid : Mostly No
‘Mostly No’, Milk Maid’s second album, follows hot on the heels of last year’s debut record ‘Yucca’ and finds frontman Martin Cohen cementing his reputation as a talented songwriter able to straddle the line between noise and pop whilst also expanding the sonic terrain the band covers. Adding swirls of Psychedelia to ‘Yucca’s’ crafted fuzz, the home-recorded ‘Mostly No’ explores a trans-Atlantic sound that at times simultaneously recalls the grand traditions of Manchester indie and Californian acid rock but which also sits alongside contemporaries such as Ty Segall, White Fence, and The War on Drugs.
This mix of influences comes together perfectly on ‘Summertime’, the lead single from ‘Mostly No’, which combines the haze of early Jesus and Mary Chain with the sun-bleached guitars of Roky Erickson and the classic songwriting of Jefferson Airplane. Its title and hooky chorus may suggest a carefree summer anthem, but the season simply presents the “doomed man” of the 1st verse with a “nicer time” to kill himself; Manchester miserabilism raining on a sound so associated with hippy optimism.
Milk Maid’s new album ‘Mostly No’ will be released on 9th July via FatCat Records. Pre-order the album now.
MP3 – Bike Warrior : Mixtape # 1
Secret Ra Ra Riot Show in NYC
MP3 – Beach Day : Walking On The Streets / Boys
Hollywood, Florida is not your typical beach town. The buildings, diners, and of course the beach appear frozen in the 1950’s. Probably a result of the town’s population boom happening in that era, a current drive down the streets feels like your moving through an R. Crumb drawing.
Things seem exaggerated and a bit odd. The now mature population seems a caricature of their former selves. It is this strange place, lovingly dubbed Hollyweird, Florida, that the trio Beach Day calls home. Their sound is heavily influenced by their surroundings. They make new music, but it is definitely old at heart. And it’s definitely sunny, but not without some murkiness.
Video – Bowerbirds : Sweet Moment
Watch the Bowerbirds brand new video for “Sweet Moment“, off The Clearing.
You can also grab some MP3’s and watch the mini-documentary about the Bowerbirds’ The Clearing after the jump.
MP3 – Bowerbirds: Tuck The Darkness In
MP3 – Bowerbirds : In The Yard
About “The Clearing” by Bowerbirds from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.
BFF New York 2012
The Bicycle Film Festival hits New York City June 28- July 1 at Anthology Film Archives. Watch as Discosalt Magazine goes inside The Bicycle Film Festival headquarters in New York City with it’s founding director, Brendt Barbur to discuss the festival. Then, check out, what looks like another great schedule of events and films after the jump.
6:30PM // BIKE STORIES
TDF
Rockville
Another Bike Theft Experiment
Georgena Terry
The Inverted Bike Shop
Boy
Three-Legged Horses
Candy Rides
8:30PM // BIKE STORIESSee PROGRAM 1
10:30PM // BIKE STORIESSee PROGRAM 1
AFTERPARTY // TBA
STREETPARTY // 12PM-6PM
PROGRAM 4
2:00PM // HIT ‘EM IN THE MOUTH
Boy
Inspiring Ride With Ines Brunn
Hit ‘Em In The Mouth
PROGRAM 5
4:00PM // L’EROICA
Rockville
Philippa & Nancy
Spoke Folk
Bikes, Bread, & Wine: L’eroica
PROGRAM 6
6:00PM // URBAN BIKE SHORTS
Sister Session
Camper Bike: Kevin Cyr
Signatune Bis
Full Glory
4th Grazian Old Building Cycle Criterion
The First Unstoppable
Bike Cart Bungee Skating
Monstertrack: MT13
PROGRAM 7
8:00PM // URBAN BIKE SHORTS
See PROGRAM 6
PROGRAM 8
10:00PM // URBAN BIKE SHORTS
See PROGRAM 6
AFTERPARTY // TBA
PROGRAM 9
1:00PM // BFF’S GREATEST HITS
Stephan and Simone
Bike Lane
Belle Epoch
Denton/Fort Worth, T.X.
Mark On Allen
Le Tour de Kagawa
Waffle Bike
+ more
3:00PM // FUN BIKE SHORTSWe Love Bikes
Courier Culture
Less Car, More Go
Tour De Tan
Joe Moody
The Road Ahead
Make The Move
+ more
PROGRAM 11
5:00PM // SHAY ELLIOT
Cross-Dressed
Nifty-Ten-Fifty
Shay Elliot: Cycle of Betrayal
PROGRAM 12
7:00PM // LINE OF SIGHT
Brooklyn Rides
Line Of Sights
PROGRAM 13
9:00PM // LINE OF SIGHT
See PROGRAM 13AFTERPARTY // TBA
MP3 – Cat Power : Ruin
Longtime Miami indie Goddess Chan Marshall is back with a short, cropped, breakup haircut and the first Cat Power album of original material in over six years! Was it worth the wait? Check out the first single “Ruin” from the new album Sun – performed and produced entirely by Chan in various locations including a studio she built in Malibu. Sounds pretty awesome. The album drops September 4.
Chan introduces “Ruin” via this clip below directed by Austin Conroy.
Video – Gem Club: I Heard The Party
Watch this intriguing, new, slow-motion love story video from Gem Club – beautifully directed by Joshua Stocker.
Gem Club – I Heard the Party from Gem Club on Vimeo.
MP3 – FIDLAR : Got No Money + No Waves / No Ass
FIDLAR are known as much for their noisy, infectious West Coast punk as for their insane ability to rile crowds. The band hits Terminal 5 on Friday, June 22nd, joining The Hives on the East Coast leg of their tour. Click Here To Listen To Daytrotter Session or Grab some MP3’s after the jump:
MP3 – FIDLAR : Got No Money
Taken By Trees : Other Worlds – Official Trailer
Victoria Bergsman has announced a new album for her main creative outlet, Taken By Trees. The LP, her first since 2009’s East of Eden, is called Other Worlds and will be released October 2 on Secretly Canadian.
Other Worlds is a impressionist poem for the Hawaiian Islands, where on a recent visit, Bergsman found a swell of creative inspiration. Working closely with photographer Amanda Marsalis, Victoria intimately documented her time in Hawaii gathering ideas for songs and recording nature sounds while Marsalis filmed and took photos.
Bergman says, “I remember two songs that really triggered the whole ‘Hawaiian/tropical’ album idea and kept hanging on through out the whole process of the album as sound and feel atmosphere. The first song was the instrumental track ‘Diamond Head’ by The Beach Boys and the other one is Augustos Pablo’s song ‘AP Spezial,’ also an instrumental track. Both of the songs have beautiful nature sounds added to them of waves, thunder and birds. The Beach Boys song turned me onto pedal steels and the Augustos Pablo song turned me onto the more dubby feeling.”
Album Stream – Lockah : When U Stop Feeling Like A Weirdo & Become A Threat
Lockah, a standout among the bourgeoning bass music community of Scotland, has released his debut EP on Diplo‘s Jeffree’s imprint. When U Stop Feeling Like A Weirdo & Become A Threat succinctly demonstrates his penchant for melody in the context of sub-octave bass music that defies any singular genre tag. A resident and general proponent of the fringe-city of Aberdeen (think the Milwaukee of Scotland), Lockah has helped build an organic, exceptionally self-sustaining scene with his Tuff Wax imprint that has become a glaring blip on the global radar with releases from ¥oin, Bones & Money,Grobie and others. The album features skittering drums that reference New Orleans bounce and southern trap music circa ’98, warbling synths that feel at home among boogie 12-inches of the late ’80s, and the low end that is undeniably en vogue currently. An emotive and frankly un-danceable collection of 3 tracks capped off by a breathtaking remix by Pictureplane, Lockah has created a thoughtful piece that sits among some of the most interesting and compelling releases from the post-dubstep-era UK.