The Killers New Single

The Las Vegas based synth-rockers, The Killers unleashed their sprawling new single simply titled Human today.  Last week the band announced Day & Age, the follow up to their grossly underrated Sam's Town, will be released on November 25th.  Human sounds like The Killers version of Viva La Vida, if only for the steady bass drum that plays through the whole song.  But if you ask me, and you haven't, the similarities don't end there. Layered synths, strings and elements of U2 worshipping are all present.  Check it out for yourself and download the mp3 directly by right-clicking here.

Keep It Like A Secret (Machine)

One of my favorite bands from my high school years, The Secret Machines, has returned with a slick new jam called Atomic Heels.  This single precedes their upcoming Secret Machines album, set to be released on October 14.  The compact Atomic Heels marches through a mid tempo groove, building to soaring space rock climax, in classic Secret Machines style.  Although I doubt it is likely to top my favorite song of the groups, Lightning Blue Eyes, it is definitely a great track.  Despite line-up changes, I think this single is a good indication of another solid album from the Texas via New York band.  Click here to download the Atomic Heels mp3, courtesy of Spin magazine.

Dead & Gone (T.I. STRIKES AGAIN!!!)

T.I. is unstoppable.  I never thought I wouldconsider myself a T.I. fan but the dude has released and/or leaked four songs in the past few weeks and I haven't heard one I didn't like.  I'll admit I was dissapointed by what should have been the collaboration of the century, Swagga Like Us.  Any song that features Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne AND a sample of M.I.A.'s insanely cool Paper Planes should be, mathmatically speaking, the best song ever.  Instead, Swagga Like Us is decent at best.  Enjoyable, sure, but not the world ending collaboration it should have been.  Then I heard the undeniably fun Whatever You Like.  This song is everything pop-rap-excessess should be.  Within hours of my first listen of the track, the phrase 'whatever you like' was solidified as more than just a  song title, but rather a whole new paradigm, nay, a lifestyle.  Then another collaboration! But instead of the best rappers in the business, T.I. called upon the top pop singer in the industry: Rihanna.  Sampling O-Zone's Dragostea Din Tei (made famous by the Numa Numa dude), Livin' Your Life is another guarunteed chart topper.  Soaring choruses from Rihanna and some pretty respectable verses from T.I. make Livin' Your Life a bonafied anthem.  But did T.I. stop there?  Is there anything left to prove?  Apparently, there is, because today yet another track surfaced this time featuring the greatest pop musician of our generation: Justin Timberlake.  Dead & Gone is awesome.  I'm tired of writing about T.I. and frankly, amazed that I had this much to say about a guy I never gave any serious credit to just weeks ago.  Check the song out, and when T.I. takes over the world, remember that I told you so. 

James Bond + Alicia Keys + Jack White = Another Way To Die

This unlikely duet from The White Stripes/Raconteurs front man Jack White and singin' sensation Alicia Keys is the theme song for the upcoming James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Reminiscent of some of the classic Bond theme songs from the 60s and 70s, Another Way To Die is with out a doubt one of the more original songs to be written for 007.  I don't think that either of these individual artists would have been a particularly strange choice for a Bond theme but the pairing of the two certainly is.  It gets wierder.  A clip of the tune was recently featured in a Coke Zero commercial and shortly after it aired, Jack White issued a statement that claimed this commercial was done without his blessing. Although conceptually bizzarre, the cascading horns, heavy piano chords and fuzz-box guitars combined with Key's smokey vocals and Jack White's signature wail make Another Way To Die one hell of a jam.  Click here to listen to a stream of the track or here to download the mp3.

Of Montreal? Of Course!

Of Montreal is a pretty nutty band, so I shouldn't have been so surprised when I found out that they are releasing their forthcoming album Skeletal Lamping (check the nutty album art here) in a variety of formats such as CD, vinyl, t-shirt, wall decal, sticker set and paper lamp. For those objects less inclined to store music, a digital download will also be included. Like I said, nutty. Also, nutty, if not bat-shit crazy, is Nonpareil of Favor, the first single from the album. Download the track here, courtesy of P-Fork.


Furthermore, I've decided to, in honor of this insanity, list my top five albume release gimmick/packaging


THE TOP FIVE CRAZIEST ALBUM RELEASES SCHEMES (in order)

5. Bright Eyes - Digital Ash In The Digital Urn/I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

Why release a double-album when you can release two single albums on the same day? Indie-neo-Dylan-singersonger-savior-wonderchild Connor Oberst is also not above cashing in on some sweet marketing ploys. I'll admit that material is substantially different and artistically speaking, it was probably the right call...but still.

4. Nine Inch Nails -Year Zero, YEAR&()(&ZE()*_)*R_)E(*M#$%@IX@@errwhatever, Ghosts I-5, The Slip

Trent Reznor is nuts. He makes two albums in like a decade and then goes crazy and starts releasing albums on a daily basis. The crazy starts when the Rezonator leaks Year Zero on a USB drive by dropping it in a bathroom in Europe. I mean with technology being what it is, what difference does it make if you start your marketing campeign in a European bathroom. Then come a ton of viral websites that all are in weird codes and shit. Then the remix album, months later, then come the Ghosts. Part one of the 5 part, two-disc epic was released for free with the other four parts availble as a download, a two-disc set and even some crazy super expensive thing. Then comes the Slip. For free, released as a thank you to all of fans for buying the last bunch of albums. Then that was rereleased as a two disc dvd thingamabob. Nutty.


3. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping

Scroll up.

2. Beck - The Information

Blank album cover and a bunch of stickers that let you design your own album cover.
Weird? Yes. Awesome? Obviously. Jams? Sick.

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows

Announced mere days before the release, Radiohead's incredible 7th LP In Rainbows was released for the price of free-ninety-nine, or how ever much you wanted to pay for it. This concept lead for other artists such as the aformention NIN, Girl Talk and plenty of other artists who have started releasing albums for free, with the option to pay. As an added bonus AmpLive made a remix album and released it for free to anyone who actually paid for In Rainbows. Like most things Radiohead does, this was as innovative as it was awesome. Oh yeah, and the album itself is just shy of perfect.

Rockdown! Pt. 2!

Unsatisfied by the initial release of Love Lockdown, everybody's favorite egoist Kanye West returned to the studio record new drums and vocals for the lead off single to his upcoming album. The changes made in the studio cleaned up elements of the song that previously sounded a little messy. Check it out. Stream it from Kanye West's blog or download the mp3

Rockdown!

Kanye West released a new single and has started leaking details about his forthcoming album. The new song is called "Love Lockdown" and it was debuted at the MTV VMA's this past weekend. The songs is a departure from pretty much all of his previous material, but I like it. Coming off of the larger than life egotism of "Stronger" and the whole Graduation album, I'm surprised but none the less, incredibly intrigued by this new direction. The song is comprised of a pulsing beat, rythmic piano and what I can only assume is a robot clone of Kanye West. Either that or a vocoder. It's weird, it's simplistic, and I like it. Check it out.
Listen to the stream on Kanye West's blog or download the mp3 here.

(BONUS: Check out Ye's sweet post on a Heath Ledger Joker action figure. What a baller. On top of the world, and he's blogging about toys. Baller.)

It's ALIVE! Best Summer Albums of 2008

Aaaand were back from a very long self imposed hiatus. I've decided to start writing this again, but I am not making any promises in terms of format. I'm just going to write what I want. If you don't like it, you can shove it. But you don't like it, you love it (thanks for that line, Rivers). And on that note I'd like to count down my top 5 Albums of Summer 08:


5. Weezer - Weezer (The Red Album)

I might like this album better than I like the Green Album. It's no Pinkerton or Blue Album, but it's pretty fun. The first four songs are incredible. The rest of the album is fun and enjoyable. A good summer jam, but nothing too legendary. Just another very solid album from a band with a very solid career. The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived shines above the rest with a seemingly endless amount of movements and crescendos, and includes a spoken word breakdown that is responsible for the quotation featured in the intro of this post.


4. Cookin' Soul - OJAYZIS (Oasis vs. Jay-Z Mixtape)

So much damn fun. Fans of either artist will enjoy the reinterpretation produced by Cookin' Soul. Although neither the best free album of the summer, nor is it the best mashup album of the summer, OJAYZIS is blast and a half. The mixtape begins with a live performance of Wonderwall by Jay-Z from this years Glastonbury Festival. From there, the hits start rolling, and there is no looking back.


3. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

When the first song of an album released in mid July has a chorus that exclaims "We're gonna build somethin' this summer!" you know your in for some good old fashion summer jams. Although it's no Boys and Girls In America, Say Positive is an incredibly good album. Hitting on many of the very themes and ideas that define summer, this album is a great summer soundtrack for excessive amounts of drinking, smoking, grilling, roadtripping and well, building shit. Over-all, Stay Positive is more than just a great summer album, it is easily one of the best albums of the year and a worthy follow-up to the nearly perfect predacessor.


2. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals

You do the math:

Every fun song you've ever heard

- The songs that appear on Night Ripper

+ Summer

x The best mash-up artist I've ever heard

= Feed The Animals

'Nuff said.


1. Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III

Club jams? Check. Social and politcal commentary? Check. Guest appearances galore? Check. Song about being an extra-terrestrial? Check. Best Summer Album of 2008? Hell yes. Tha Carter III, in addition to being probably the best album of the year and perhaps one of the best rap albums of all time, it's one of the most fun rap albums I've ever heard. This album's balance of style and substance is unparelled. It's original, vicious, funny, poignant and above all, brilliant. From where I'm sitting, there is only one song on this album that doesn't have the potential to be a real hip-hop classic. Coming in at a whopping 77 minutes, this album does two things that rarely happen in the world of rap: live up to hype, avoid fluff. I say this as a music listener/critic who used to think Lil' Wayne was a talentless hack: Tha Carter III is one of the best albums I've ever heard, and it is most certainly the Best Summer Album of 2008.


Peace.