Idolator: listening station

Karen O Messes Around In Her Bedroom Again

Maura Johnston — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O has been recording what she calls "a body of love songs" under the name Native Korean Rock over the past two years, and now she's ready to show them off to the world; four of them are on her MySpace page, and they're stark, spare affairs with deliberate vocals that definitely fall under the "Melodramatic Popular Song" rubric that MySpace has given her. She'll be performing them live with "a motley crew of NYC natives"; there's a show scheduled for next week at the teeny Brooklyn bar Union Pool, and I'm pretty sure that if you want to catch what she promises will be a night full of high drama and high stakes, you'll probably have to start standing in line, oh, about now. [MySpace via ONTD]

Hayden Panettiere's Perfunctory Pop Single

Maura Johnston — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Even if you're a big fan of Heroes and/or the type of person who is waaaaay into staring at photos of young girls, is it at all possible to be enthusiastic about Hayden Panettiere's debut as a recording artist? There's something depressingly fatalistic about it, as if poor Hayden never really had a choice but to sing a third-rate knock-off of Paris HIlton's "Stars Are Blind" and put it in some lame Candies television ad. It makes me wonder if there's actually some contract that young actresses must sign that obligates them to record some half-assed pop songs in order to, you know, have a TV show and get on magazine covers. It's all so joyless, and it's hard to imagine that any of this music has been written with human pleasure in mind—if anything, it seems to have been designed to be ignored, then forgotten as quickly as possible. [E!]

The Academy Is... Not Wasting Much Time (Or Many Words)

Maura Johnston — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EDT

It's probably no surprise that the forthcoming album by bandom faves The Academy Is..., Fast Times At Barrington High, is one of the more anticipated late-summer releases around these parts. The band released "About A Girl" to its MySpace page earlier this week, and between this and that new Alphabeat single and the fact that there's more music from both Ne-Yo and Lloyd on the horizon, I'm starting to think that maybe our summer jam tournament of last month needs some sort of late-season sequel. (This time, it counts!) "About A Girl" is a cute, anthemic breakup track that's clearly trying to pick up where Jimmy Eat World left off with its run of singles from its self-titled album, and its charms are working well enough to give me a hellish case of senioritis on this summery day. [MySpace]

Start Enjoying Naim Amor Now, Before Everyone Does

Dan Gibson — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Parisian expatriate Naim Amor has been kicking around Tucson for ten years now with his previous act, the Amor Belhom Duo, and as a solo artist. His charming French troubadour inspired live shows has been one of my acts to catch whenever I'm in my hometown. Of course, my own elitism ranks higher than my desire for others to become successful, so seeing Amor featured in the LA Weekly and on tastemaker station KCRW prepares me for a day when I'm going to grumble about how much better he was playing at Club Congress back in 2003. There's still time for you to get on my embitterment bandwagon by checking out the tracks featured on his MySpace page, or picking up his Joey Burns of Calexico-produced album Sanguine before the rest of the blog world ruins it for all of us. [MySpace]

Huey Lewis Soars To New Heights

Maura Johnston — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:55:00 EDT

Well, Huey Lewis' title-track contribution to the Seth Rogen/James Franco stoner comedy Pineapple Express has made its way to the Internet, and like much of the output from that arm of Hollywood, the good idea at its core ("hey, let's have Huey Lewis write a sequel to 'The Power Of Love' with pot jokes!") gets stretched out and beaten so thin that even the memories of liking its early bits go up in smoke. Pros: Like all Huey/News tracks, it does have the requisite sax solo; Lewis still sounds like Lewis. Cons: The saxophone solo and the smoking-up solo probably weren't both necessary; the song on a whole sounds somewhat wan, almost as if it's been beaten down by studio notes dictating what lyrical jokes should be punched up and the exact length of the whole "smoke it if you got it" bit. It's streaming at the soundtrack distributor's MySpace page. (Warning: Click quickly after the song's finished, or you might be subjected to Mike Myers singing Steve Miller.) After the jump, a clip of the song that Rogen and Franco should have probably used in the first place.

Lakeshore Records [MySpace; HT The Playlist / Stereogum]
Huey Lewis & The News - I Want A New Drug [YouTube]

The Verve Serve Up A Flashback Lunch

Maura Johnston — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Recently revived Brit band The Verve released its first new piece of post-reunion music, "Love Is Noise," on its MySpace page yesterday; Richard Ashcroft's voice sounds a bit craggier and more world-weary, which plays well off the backup singers who eerily resemble a troop of megaphone-carrying hobbits. Here's the weird thing, though: You'd expect a reunited band's new material to have a sense of nostalgia about it, and "Love Is Noise" does, in fact, have a '90s alt-radio feel. But the music sounds more like dozens of other bands from that era who weren't the Verve (think Sister Hazel et al), and it's simultaneously driving me crazy by making me try to recall a lot of songs of that ilk and making me wonder just what, exactly, the combination of time off and apparent new influences on their forthcoming album (out in August!) will result in. [MySpace]

T.I. Adds His Swagger To A Song That Doesn't Really Need It

Maura Johnston — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:30:00 EDT

No offense to Mr. Harris, of course, but Mariah Carey's "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" was pretty OK for summertime consumption the way it was, and this version—which is going to be the official single release, according to word on the e-street—seems somewhat superfluous. Surely there was a song that actually needed some assistance out there that could be transformed into "I'm Real '08" by a few throwaway "heys" in the background and a couple of tossed-off verses? [YouTube]

Lloyd Goes To The Bank

Maura Johnston — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EDT

I'm happy to note that more people have joined my campaign for Lloyd's Lil Wayne-assisted "Girls Around The World" to be the other official jam of this summer, but the crafty R & B crooner has done me one better, releasing another song in advance of Lessons In Love, which is scheduled for August. The snaking "Money On The Brain" isn't as hooky as "Girls" (and Lloyd's second fiddle, who goes by the name of Bree, seems to have learned her pitch control from old freestyle records), and I think we all know how I feel about materialism-rich imagery in the current economic moment, but dude's falsetto is sounding better and better with each leaked track. [YouTube / Lloyd]

Voxpop Go Crate-Digging At Rough Trade

Maura Johnston — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT

This morning I've been enjoying the MySpace offerings of the British outfit Voxpop, whose demo MP3s show a band gliding through various phases of post-C86 NME fillers with all the moxie of an indie disco DJ. The peppy chime of "All The Time" has been helping alleviate today's seemingly endless gray skies, but something tells me that the bulk of the Idolator readership is going to freak out over "Hacienda Motel" (!), which gives off a low-budget Suede vibe. Hey Bernard Butler, now that you're done with the Black Kids, can you maybe give these kids some time in your studio? The songs are there—a fact which, given your previous production entanglement, should come as something of a relief—they're just a bit spare, but I'm sure that your deft touch will allow them to blossom. [MySpace; HT Loudersoft]

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Puts On Her Dancing Shoes

Maura Johnston — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Two new tracks from Sophie Ellis-Bextor's current recording sessions—which were originally supposed to be for an extra track or two to be tacked on to a greatest-hits album, but have since blossomed into a full-on album-planning outing—are currently on her MySpace page, and oh boy are they deliciously icy. The Calvin Harris-produced "Off And On," which has apparently also been shopped to Roisin Murphy, works both the glum and club-ready sides of the fence, with 8-bit arpeggios driving the whole thing; meanwhile, "Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer" sounds like a lost Pet Shop Boys track, complete with big swooshy pre-chorus and drama-fueled string break. Love, love, love. [MySpace via Popjustice]

Cof Cof Liven Up Your Summer Playlist

Kate Richardson — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Your overall opinion on Spanish duo Cof Cof will depend entirely on your tolerance for blippy, tongue-in-cheek dance music. They hover in that often unbearable, sometimes incredibly endearing laptop pop universe, oscillating somewhere between the cleverness and originality of The Blow, the nasty, hedonistic riot that is Gravy Train!!!!, and the sweet charm of Houston's The Mathletes. And their song "Caribbean Boy" is so fun, so downright pleasant, it practically dares you to dislike it.

Actually, "Caribbean Boy" is more like a sonic manifestation of light-hearted fun than an actual song: It has adorable lyrics ("I think I fell in love with someone next to you, and no one in this party can stop me! I think I've drunk too much, but this thing must be love. I'll have another shot. You've done it!"), choppy guitar, and electronic hand claps, and before you know it life is looking up, like one long backyard party with an unlimited supply of cold fruity drinks. Or a shot-for-shot tequila contest.

Side note: How could you not love a band that lists "BEER BEFORE MAKING MUSIC" under "Influences" on their MySpace?

Cof Cof [MySpace]

CSS' Creative Path Is Littered With The Corpses Of Bygone Alt-Rock Stars

Maura Johnston — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Those of you who lived through the '90s, when "alternative music" broke and was subsequently broken, may remember the unfortunate cycle endured by a few bands who stormed out of the gate with a strong first single: The song would be inescapable, the album would be mostly decent, and the follow-up would sound like the band in question had all of its edges shaved off by producers, executives, and self-made delusions Apparently the Brazilian glam-punk band CSS, known by many as "that band from the iPod Touch ad" but who I hold near and dear to my ears because of the still-infectious "Alala," is now in stage three of that evolution.

The band's new single "Rat Is Dead (Rage)" strips the band's swagger and replaces it with a Q101-ready stomp; there's a sparky guitar riff buried way down there, but it's underneath so much alt-by-numbers production that finding it almost seems like a worthless cause. A note to CSS: Maybe you should try and find Bob Rock between now and June, so he can at least help you slap together a "Volcano Girls" before you ship Donkey out to stores? [CSS]

Ida Maria Gets Exclamatory

Maura Johnston — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:05:16 EDT

In the hour or so that has followed since I was first sent this video, which is by the Swedish-by-way-of-Norway singer Ida Maria, I have listened to the tense, frenetic song in the clip three times and ripped through all the songs offered up on her MySpace page twice. (The last part of that equation would have probably taken more time had Universal, her current Norwegian label, not been scrooges about letting entire songs from the records they've put out stream from her embedded player. Booo!) "Oh My God," which is a solo track in the clip but appears in duet form on her MySpace-posted demo, soars because it's simultaneously nervy and nervous, and the jittery video is almost as fist-clenching as the jumpy guitars. More like this, please! [YouTube / MySpace]

Tut Tut Is Watching Every Move You Make

Maria T Sciarrino — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:00:41 EDT

My knowledge about Kansas City/DC's Tut Tut is scant at best—I found them through WPRB's Facebook page. This sort of stumbling around makes me love the Internet! Tut Tut are firmly rooted in the Elephant 6 aesthetic (this shit never dies, huh?), and frontman/band mastermind Alex Abros' vocals suggest many heavy sessions listening to the Magnetic Fields. The flaws in production keep this from sounding hopelessly devoted to their reference points, as well as retain its own appeal. With that said, when Tut Tut manages to get the mix just right, as in "Pins On Your Purse," the payoff is big—a well-worn groove accented by ukelele and classical guitar plucks, strings as wide and open as the midwestern skies and a catchy chorus that sticks in your head. [Myspace / Facebook / Iron Paw Records]

Mussels Make Us Happy As A Clam

Maura Johnston — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:45:00 EDT

Yesterday's travels around Austin took me to the back patio of a pizza parlor that was putting on a three-day popfest, and I stuck around long enough to hear a set by the Brooklyn band Mussels, whose chiming, revved-up rock and roll bounced off the baking concrete and made the slowly-heating-up afternoon all the more pleasant. It probably says something about New York's music "scene" that I had to go all the way down to Austin to find a band that wasn't hyped to the gills by the city's blog-equipped cognoscenti that also happened to be actually pretty decent, but I'll save all that cranky thinkpiece-styled stuff for my return to the drizzly early-spring weather of the East Coast. [MySpace]

Kirsten Ketsjer Is A Rock Band, Not A Person In A Rock Band

Maura Johnston — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:29:07 EDT

The Danish trio Kirsten Ketsjer The Rock Band—named, I was told, after a friend of the band who was in no way affiliated with its music—play nervy indie rock that a friend compared to their sorta-countrymen 18th Dye^*. Which is music to my ears—and a very apt analogy, although Kirsten Ketsjer's music gets a little more frenzied and experimental at times, with singer/drummer Anja Jacobsen caterwauling so hard during one epic song's freakout that I thought she was going to propel herself off her drum kit's stool and out into the club's side lot, leaving broken glass and gorgeous guitar arpeggios trailing behind her. [MySpace / Yoyooyoy]

^* Who have a new record coming out this month!?

Diving Onto Torche's "Grenades"

Christopher Weingarten — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:30:19 EDT

When I was asked to guest-blog, I was truly upset that the gig wouldn't be like "Weird Al" Yankovic hosting AL-TV in 1988 and I could just play Utopia videos all day. Luckily one of the bestest rock bands around dropped a new track on their MySpace page, thus barely meeting the vaguest, most minimal of requirements for a "news peg"!

Miami sludge-pop band Torche have unleashed Grenades," the latest song of their upcoming, totally righteous Meanderthal, the best album with a comically embarrassing title since—oh, let's say Endtroducing. If you haven't heard them before, Torche is like the Melvins with Animal Collective harmonies, which we used to call Beach Boys harmonies back in my day. If you have heard Torche, well, they still sound like that.

Torche [MySpace]

The Futureheads Engage In Some Controlled Chaos

Maura Johnston — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:45:45 EST

British spaz-punks The Futureheads have posted a new song to their MySpace page, and I definitely think it needs to be released from the confines of its embedded player to be properly appreciated; it's one of those tracks that needs to be listened to repeatedly in order to get it. See, "The Beginning Of The Twist" starts off sounding so straightforward as to be almost kinda glammy, but as things move along an advancing horde of background singers almost menacingly harmonizes its way to the song's forefront. Given that the Futureheads' greatest strengths are always brought to the fore when the members indulge their reform-school glee club urges, that chaotic chorale actually serves as a backwards complement to the song's restrained opening, so anyone within listening range can hear the band limbering up for whatever "twist" is being referred to in the title, whether it's the dance or a plot kink. [MySpace via A to Z]

Los Planetas Sneak Into Your Galaxy

Kate Richardson — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:56:33 EST

I've been in Spain a little over a week now and already I've talked to some drunk Madrileños in a bar about Nick Cave and pestered a local for recommendations. She gave me a list of Spanish bands, and so far my favorite is Los Planetas, a stoner pop band in the vein of Yo La Tengo who've been around since the mid-'90s. Last night during a stint of Idolator Pop '07 data entry I happily listened to the songs on their MySpace page several times through, soaking up the '90s college radio aesthetic.

Los Planetas is one of those bands who seem like they're kind of just flimsily strumming their instruments, wearing plaid, looking bored, when in fact they're weaving hooky melodies in and out of droning vocals, creating solid atmospheric rock that's perfect for mindless tasks and long road trips. I recommend the song "Alegrias del Incendio," which is downloadable from their official site, and "Reunion en la Cumbre," which is on their MySpace page. And here's a quintessential mid-'90s music video for their song "David y Claudia":

(So disaffected! So frumpy!)

Los Planetas [Official Site]
Los Planetas [MySpace]
"David y Claudia" [YouTube]

Lil' Mama Demolishes Everyone In Her Path

mjohnston — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:30:45 EST

"Everyone needs T-Pain, Maura. Haven't you figured that out?" Jess asked me when I griped about the new Lil Mama single, which features T-Pain and Chris Brown, to him. And I can see his point in a way; Lil Mama's follow-up single to "Lip Gloss," the not-bad-at-all "G-Slide (Tour Bus)," was one of those songs that managed to hit only in the alternate pop universe of TRL, and her album's been pushed back so much, she probably won't be very lil by the time it comes out. So starpower can only help her career. But!

Is it just me, or does Lil Mama simply demolish T-Pain when it comes to flow? I swear there was one part during T-Pain's first verse that caused me to have a vision of him running behind the song, panting all the way. Lil Mama, meanwhile, is namechecking Twista in her verses, which almost sounds like a dare for a future duet that would be a lot more fun to listen to than "Shawty Get Loose (Remix)," which also has the most generic Chris Brown chorus ever committed to tape. Perhaps T-Pain's presence on the song is actually a very shrewd move on the part of Lil Mama's label to position her as a fleet-tongued young lady ready to slay any dragon in her path, even if said dragon's fire is vocoder-assisted, but I dunno.

Lil Mama Feat T-Pain, Chris Brown - Shawty Get Loose (Remix) [YouTube via Blender]

The Best Mousse-Shilling Song You'll Hear All Day

mjohnston — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:05:42 EDT

Recently spotted on MTV2: an ad with a soundtrack that absolutely leapt out at me, in large part because it sounded as if it had been concocted by some cunning songwriter who'd heard Lionel Vinyl's mash-up of Jet and Girls Aloud^* and decided to rework its formula—bratty, girly vocals, glammy guitars—into a song of its own. I actually rewound the ad five or six times just to pick out the lyrics, in the name of "research."

As it turns out, the song's "No Sleep Tonight" by the now-defunct UK trio The Faders, not to be confused with the Levi's-hoarding magazine of the same name. "No Sleep Tonight" was a modest hit on the UK singles chart when it came out in 2005, and it's apparently been used as a backing track on a lot of other ads and TV shows that I don't watch and an episode of Veronica Mars that I guess I missed back when it first aired. Anyway, this song is a lot of fun, and it's doing quite a nice job of making me forget all about that Black Kids song I listened to this morning. (Really, Best New Music? For that? Is rewriting Madness' "Our House" and slapping "sloppy" indie-rock vocals on it what passes for "impressive" in the blog-rock hothouse these days?)

The faders- No Sleep Tonight [YouTube]

^* Still completely worthy of an around-the-home-office dance party!

Listening Station: Schooner Tightens Up

Brian Raftery — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:00:38 EDT

Schooner's 2004 debut, You Forget About Your Heart, was a true promo-pile discovery—a low-fi guitar-pop record with lots of unexpected stylistic turns and no shortage of invasive choruses. The Chapel Hill, N.C., outfit's next album, Hold On Too Tight is due out in August, and it's been getting heavy rotation at the Idolator flophouse; two new tracks are below, though we also encourage you to get Heart pumping on your stereo:

~~Schooner - They Always Do!~~ [MP3, link expired]
Schooner - There's Enough To Do [MP3]
Schooner [MySpace]

Listening Station: Once Again, A Band Of Bees Takes Flight

Brian Raftery — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:27:51 EDT

Last fall, we griped about the fate of a U.K. rock-soul group called the Bees (a.k.a. A Band Of Bees), whose excellent albums have all been dumped into the marketplace with zilch support from its U.S. label, Astralwerks. Earlier this month, the group's third effort, Octopus, was finally released here in the States—and once again, it was met with little or no fanfare. Come on, Astralwerks! What will it take to at least get these guys a few U.S. gigs? If it means having to say nice things about some Fatboy Slim/Air collaboration, we're willing to do it.

~~A Band Of Bees - Who Knows What The Question Is?~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~A Band Of Bees - Love In The Harbour~~ [MP3, link expired]
The Bees [MySpace]

Listening Station: Milking "Cornflake Girl" For All Its Worth

Brian Raftery — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:00:18 EDT

By request, here's another cover version of Tori Amos' "Cornflake Girl," this time performed by the D.C. powerhouse known as Jawbox. Weirdly, according to Wiki, Amos' original version hit No. 4 in the U.K., surely making it the second-most popular raisin-related song of all time.

~~Jawbox - Cornflake Girl~~ [MP3, link expired; via speed of dark]

Listening Station: The CosmoSonics Are Wild At Heart

Brian Raftery — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:15:33 EDT

The Idolator flophouse is stacked high with promo CDs, many of which we'll never get a chance to listen to, especially the ones with stickers that say "special Diddy remix" or "produced by Les Claypool." But Pittsburgh's CosmoSonics went straight to the top of our must-listen pile when we noticed that their press notes name-checked the WIldhearts, our beloved metal-pop band. Thankfully, the 'Sonic's Junk Rock ... For Lovers does not disappoint, and we're confident that the two tracks below will please fans of throwback sleaze-rock:

~~The CosmoSonics - Stun Gun Fun~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~The CosmoSonics - Punchdrunk Baby~~ [MP3, link expired]
The Cosmosonics [MySpace]

Listening Station: Apparat Gets Closer To The Edge

Brian Raftery — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:45:51 EDT

For the last few weeks, many of our electro-pop-inclined friends have been going nutty over Walls, the latest record from German artist Apparat (a.k.a. Sascha Ring). We love our electronically addled pals, but sometimes they steer us toward records that sound like two coffee presses tasering each other, so we treat their suggestions with caution. But in this case, they were right: Walls is lovely, intense stuff, with no shortage of stand-out tracks, including the brooding "Hailin' From The Edge," below. We predict 1 comment, from Ned Raggett.

~~Apparat - Hailin From The Edge~~ [MP3, link expired]
Apparat [MySpace]

Listening Station: Sniffing Out Dogs

Brian Raftery — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:58:02 EDT

Two years ago, a London-based band called Dogs put out Turn Against This Land, a really-pretty-good debut that never got released here in the states, possibly because they are one of thousands British guitar acts writing three-minute anthems. This month sees the release of a follow-up album, and if the vigorous "Dirty Little Shop" is any indication, it'll be worth yet another trip to the import section (or at least a quick scour of some U.K.-savvy .rar. blogs):

~~Dogs - Dirty Little Shop~~ [MP3, link expired]
Dogs [MySpace]

Listening Station: You Are Invited To The Dismemberment Plan's Reunion Shows

Brian Raftery — Wed, 30 May 2007 13:55:05 EDT

Last month, beloved D.C. dance-rockers The Dismemberment Plan (1993-2003) reunited for two shows that helped raise funds for Cal Robbins; we were sorry we missed the shows, but Can you see the sunset from the southside? has pretty-good-quality MP3s from both nights, and now we're really sorry we missed the shows. A few highlights below, though you might want to goose the volume up a bit to get the full effect:

~~The Dismemberment Plan - What Do You Want Me To Say? (Live 4/28/07)~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~The Dismemberment Plan - Time Bomb (Live 4/28/07)~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~The Dismemberment Plan - You Are Invited (Live 4/28/07)~~ [MP3, link expired]

Listening Station: Velvet Revolver Rages Against The Machine

Brian Raftery — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:45:00 EDT

"She Builds Quick Machines" is the first single from Velvet Revolver's not-particularly-well-named Libertad, and as far as ongoing intra-band struggle between STP and GNR, this is one is definitely in Weiland's wheelhouse (that "push right now" bit, which could have been lifted straight from Core). We're feeling ho-humish on this one—it's hard to believe anyone still believes rhyming "exes" with "Texas" is a novel lyrical tactic—but we'll hold off further judgment until we hear Libertad's token power ballad ("Fall To Pieces" still makes the magic):

~~Velvet Revolver - She Builds Quick Machines~~ [MP3, link expired; via Deaf Indie Elephants]

Listening Station: Marilyn Manson Comes Around

Brian Raftery — Thu, 24 May 2007 10:00:39 EDT

A question for the music bloggers WTF-ing themselves into a tizzy over Marilyn Manson's Justin Timberlake cover: Heh? Are you really that surprised by the notion of an "edgy" musician doing a semi-ironic cover of a pop song? This has pretty much been a go-to attention-getting ploy for years, which is exactly why Manson did it. In fact, the only thing shocking about this ca-razy cover is that Manson didn't do it six months ago:

~~Marilyn Manson - What Comes Around Goes Around~~ [MP3, link expired; via Whudahexup]

Listening Station: Okkervil River's Twin Cinema

Brian Raftery — Wed, 23 May 2007 10:30:31 EDT

Pitchfork has an MP3 of "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe," the opening track from Okkervil River's forthcoming The Stage Names. Despite our recent frustration with any and all songs performed by bookish guys with guitars, it's an enjoyably boisterous track, even if we did mishear one of the verses as "something something fake Master P":

~~Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe~~ [MP3, link expired]
Okkervill River [MySpace]

Listening Station: Panic! At The Disco Gets Furtive, Furtarded

Brian Raftery — Tue, 22 May 2007 17:42:05 EDT

Admittedly, we've been pretty skimpy on the indie MP3s the past few days, which tends to make our overlords cringe and our cool-cred dwindle. But until something more interesting than the GREATEST BAND EVER comes along, we'll just have to make do tracks like this acoustic Panic! At The Disco cover of "Maneater." We present this as less of an endorsement, and more of a conversation piece:

~~Panic! At The Disco - Maneater~~ [MP3, link expired; via Whudahexup]

Listening Station: Wilco's "Vine" Intervention

Brian Raftery — Wed, 09 May 2007 10:31:46 EDT

MOTOVRES MUSIC has an MP3 of "One True Vine," the first b-side from Wilco's Sky Blue Sky. Rumors are swirling that the mid-tempo piano number is Jeff Tweedy's ode to Craig Nicholls, and we've confirmed that those rumors were 100 percent made up by us:

~~Wilco - One True Vine~~ [MP3, link expired]

Listening Station, Part Two: Bob Dylan Is Not Huckin' Around

Brian Raftery — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:30:29 EDT

One more track from that Lucky You soundtrack: Bob Dylan's "Huck's Theme," the first new Zimmaterial since last year's Jackin' Pop-beloved Modern Times album. We're not certain if the languid "Theme" was taken from the those same sessions or recorded specifically for the film, but hopefully there are at least one or two Dylan fans who on the Internet (maybe?) who can let us know:

~~Bob Dylan - Huck's Theme~~ [MP3, link expired]

Listening Station: The Rakes Clean It Up

Brian Raftery — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:50:33 EDT

U.K. guitar act the Rakes had one of the best singles of 2005 with "Retreat," a dark but poppy tale of British nightlife (which is basically all any U.K. guitar act writes about these days). The band's sophomore album, Ten New Messages came out in the the U.K. last month, and while there's no U.S. release date yet, you can grab it from eMusic; we know we're suckers for this stuff, but you'll thank us ten years from now, when Idolator Records releases NOW That's What I Call Standout Tracks From Post-Libertines U.K. Guitar Bands That Also Listened To Maybe A Little Bit Of The Jam:

~~The Rakes - Trouble~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~The Rakes - We Danced Together~~ [MP3, link expired]
The Rakes [MySpace]

Listening Station, Part II: Arcade Fire Brings Its A-Game To Its B-Sides

Brian Raftery — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:00:16 EDT

Arcade Fire's "Broken Window" is a vinyl-only B-side from the band's recent Ne-Yo Bible sessions—which means that it was only a matter of days before someone digitized it and sent it to our inbox. Listeners should be patient, as it starts off real quiet-like before becoming all gloomy n' doomy. And by the way, is it just is, or is that Times magazine picture starting to look familiar?

~~Arcade Fire - Broken Window (Vinyl Rip)~~ [MP3, link expired]

Listening Station: The New Shins B-Side Could Put You To Sleep

Brian Raftery — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:37:37 EDT

The Shins' most recent album, Wincing The Night Away, was released thirty-seven years ago. Or at least it feels like it was, because no matter where we go—bars, parties, dog funerals, bars—we cannot escape hearing it in the background. Enough already! We realize the record fits into that cool-but-not-inaccessible category preferred by soundtrack supervisors and barkeeps everywhere, but would it kill you to throw on some Pointer Sisters or Adam Ant or something?

Anyhoo, the group has just released a new import-only EP for "Australia," and it's B/W a mellow (but not too snoozy) remix of "Sleeping Lessons." So consider this the first Shins song in months that has not been shoved into your ears, and be prepared to be sick of it within three weeks or so:

~~The Shins - Sleeping Lessons (The Rac Mix)~~ [MP3, link expired]
RAC [Official Site]

Listening Station: Deerhunter Puts Us In The Crosshairs

Brian Raftery — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:45:44 EDT

Everybody loves Deerhunter! Well, maybe not everybody, but certainly everybody who enjoys droning, drifting guitar melodies and the occasional peyote chip. The Atlanta quintet has been a Hype Machine perennial for months, so Lord only knows why we're only getting to them now, but better late, etc.:

~~Deerhunter - Cryptograms~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Deerhunter - Octet~~ [MP3, link expired]
Deerhunter [MySpace]

Listening Station: The A-Sides Go To The Movies

Brian Raftery — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:44:00 EDT

Philadelphia's A-Sides first got our attention with 2005's charmingly low-key power-pop collection Hello, Hello. "Cinematic" is the first single from the band's upcoming SIlverstorms album, and while it's no "All You Zombies," we're guessing it would still make Eric Bazilian proud:

~~The A-Sides - Cinematic~~ [MP3, link expired]
The A-Sides [MySpace]

Listening Station: The Super-Fly Sounds Of Black Moth Super Rainbow

Brian Raftery — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:38:58 EDT

Pittsburgh's Black Moth Super Rainbow returned from their SXSW stint to find all sorts of big-time big-ups, including a glowing mention in the New York Times. So we're now more eager than ever to catch a BMSR live show, especially since the group's trippy, who-put-the-acid-in-my-mescaline album Dandelion Gum—due out in May—has been fuzzing up our workspace for the past few weeks. "Sun Lips," below, provides a pretty good idea of the band's sound, which would work well either a 1973 nature documentary or midnight-movie serial-killer thriller:

~~Black Moth Super Rainbow - Sun Lips~~ [MP3, link expired]
Black Moth Super Rainbow [MySpace]