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THE DEAD WEATHERSea of Cowards

Sea Of Cowards is a robust and vigorous second act, filled with primal, bone quaking rock rhythms and the same stellar urban blues and throbbing sleaze as its predecessor; but this time The Dead Weather push their sound even further, brilliantly building upon their raw chemistry to create the most vital sounding album you’ll hear all year.

ARTIST: The Dead Weather
TITLE: Sea of Cowards
LABEL: Warner Bros.
RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2010
TIME: 35:12 min.
WEB: http://www.thedeadweather.com/

01. Blue Blood Blues [03:22]
02. Hustle and Cuss [03:46]
03. The Difference Between Us [03:37]
04. I’m Mad [03:16]
05. Die By the Drop [03:29]
06. I Can’t Hear You [03:35]
07. Gasoline [02:45]
08. No Horse [02:49]
09. Looking at the Invisible Man [02:42]
10. Jawbreaker [02:58]
11. Old Mary [02:53]

The Dead Weather – Old Mary

GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT
Age of the Fifth Sun

Props to God Is An Astronaut for having had a steady, noticeable progression throughout their career in post-rock since beginning in 2002. That’s quite a feat: they’ve successfully been turning mildly bumpy 90-degree angles to vary and evolve their electro-ambient-guitar-jam exploits from release to release. The three-piece have always had it in their mind to never subscribe to any of the genre’s more well-known, though restrictive, characteristics that many of their build-to-boom, echo, and reverb distant neighbors often seem to try to revitalize and make relevant in recent years. Age of the Fifth Sun fulfils the expectations.

ARTIST: God Is An Astronaut
TITLE: Age Of the Fifth Sun
LABEL: Revive
RELEASE DATE: May 07, 2010
TIME: 47:13 min.
WEB: http://www.superadmusic.com/god/

01. Worlds in Collision [07:39]
02. In the Distance Fading [05:23]
03. Lost Kingdom [05:23]
04. Golfen Sky [06:33]
05. Dark Rift [05:08]
06. Parallel Highway [03:56]
07. Shining Through [05:08]
08. Age of the Fifth Sun [06:29]
09. Paradise Remains [02:25]

God Is An Astronaut – Parallel Highway

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WE ARE SCIENTISTSBarbara

We Are Scientists is a band with two primary, famous members: Keith Austin Murray and Christopher Ian Cain. A fantastic new record on the forthcoming Barbara, We Are Scientists recruited Andy Burrows (former hitter-guy for Razorlight) to drum. Andy moved to New York for the summer of 2009 and began work with Chris on that crucial rhythm sectionn trick: playing at the same time. Keith, meanwhile, decamped to Athens, Georgia, to take inspiration from the lack of New York accents, and the songs began to take shape. They recorded that fall in London, Los Angeles, & NYC. This geographical diversity could be seen as a metaphor for how disparate the three musicians are as people. Chris likes chicken, Andy likes lamb, while Keith is a vegetarian. All three appreciate beer, but sometimes, when drinking together at a pub, they order different brands. It is a happy accident, then, that Murray, Cain, and Burrows were able to mesh their musical inclinations to such a compelling end on the songs of Barbara, a record that sees them return to the stripped-down production sensibilities of We Are Scientists‘ gold-selling debut, With Love & Squalor, while continuing to hone the melodic knack that has made them popular with fans and men who work for months at sea.

ARTIST: We Are Scientists
TITLE: Barbara
LABEL: Red General
RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2010
TIME: 31:54 min.
WEB: http://wearescientists.com/

01. Rules Don’t Stop Me [02:19]
02. I Don’t Bite [02:49]
03. Nice Guys [02:56]
04. Jack & Ginger [03:23]
05. Pittsburgh [04:28]
06. Ambition [03:16]
07. Break It Up [02:57]
08. Foreign Kicks [04:00]
09. You Should Learn [03:04]
10. Central AC [02:42]

We Are Scientists – Rules Don’t Stop Me

WOLF PARADEExpo 86

Hype certainly didn’t sink Wolf Parade‘s debut, Apologies to Queen Mary, and after 2008′s At Mount Zoomer, as well as countless prominent sideprojects from Wolf Parade members (including the Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown), the Montreal band has proven to be more than a simple Isaac Brock find. Expo ’86 is named after the world’s fair in Vancouver and was mostly recorded live in studio at Hotel2Tango, with Howard Bilerman, and while it maintains the band’s self-described “maximalist” sound, has more upbeat songs than Wolf Parade‘s earlier releases.

ARTIST: Wolf Parade
TITLE: Expo ’86
LABEL: Sub Pop
RELEASE DATE: June 29, 2010
TIME: 55:39 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/wolfparade

01. Cloud Shadow On the Mountain [04:22]
02. Palm Road [04:41]
03. What Did My Lover Say? (it always had to go this way) [05:42]
04. Little Golden Age [05:01]
05. In the Direction of the Moon [05:46]
06. Ghost Pressure [05:16]
07. Pobody’s Nerfect [05:50]
08. Two Men in New Tuxedos [03:09]
09. Oh You, Old Thing [05:46]
10. Yulia [03:47]
11. Cave-o-Sapien [06:19]

Wolf Parade – Palm Road

THE BLACK KEYSBrothers

The maturation of The Black Keys as record makers and performers has been both subtle and startling. With their 2008 Nonesuch release Attack & Release (the fifth album of their eight-year career which doubled the sales of their previous album and Nonesuch debut Magic Potion) guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney illustrated the durability of their few-frills sound, a mysterious and heavy brew of seventies-vintage rock, classic R&B and timeless, downhearted blues. Producer Danger Mouse, their first outside collaborator, didn’t try to reinvent their sound but further isolated its essence with the help of a few carefully chosen guest players and some retro-modern electronic gear. Brothers was primarily cut in Muscle Shoals, a setting that turned out to have more in common with the Akron, Ohio factories where The Black Keys used to record: the place was desolate, the town depressed, so once again the duo slipped into a world all its own. They did additional recording at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound System in Akron and The Bunker in Brooklyn. The album was mixed by engineer Tchad Blake, a veteran of sessions with Los Lobos, Pearl Jam and Peter Gabriel.

ARTIST: The Black Keys
TITLE: Brothers
LABEL: Nonesuch
RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2010
TIME: 55:37 min.
WEB: http://www.theblackkeys.com/

01. Everlasting Light [03:24]
02. Next Girl [03:18]
03. Tighten Up [03:31]
04. Howlin’ for You [03:12]
05. She’s Long Gone [03:06]
06. Black Mud [02:10]
07. The Only One [05:00]
08. Too Afraid to Love You [03:25]
09. Ten Cent Pistol [04:29]
10. Sinister Kid [03:45]
11. The Got Getter [03:37]
12. I’m Not the One [03:49]
13. Unknown Brother [04:00]
14. Never Give You Up [03:39]
15. These Days [05:12]

The Black Keys – Tighten Up

ELLEN ALLIEN
Dust

Over the past decade, Ellen Allien has helped set the pace in techno as boss of the seminal BPitch Control label. In her own work, though, she has ploughed a resolutely individual and unpredictable furrow, ranging from the abstract glitches of Berlinette (2003) to the coldly mechanistic Thrills (2005) and the dreamy, lush Orchestra of Bubbles (2006). Dust builds on the monochrome understatements of 2008′s Sool, fleshing them out into both satisfying dancefloor tracks and gently affecting reveries.

ARTIST: Ellen Allien
TITLE: Dust
LABEL: BPitch Control
RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2010
TIME: 43:21 min.
WEB: http://www.ellenallien.de/

01. Our Utopie [04:11]
02. Flashy Flashy [04:23]
03. My Tree [03:48]
04. Sun the Rain [04:27]
05. Should We Go Home [06:54]
06. Ever [06:10]
07. You [02:50]
08. Dream [04:27]
09. Huibuh [04:33]
10. Shlumi [04:08]

Ellen Allien – Sun the Rain

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TIEFSCHWARZChocolate

Stuttgart based electro dance outfit Tiefschwarz have been on the scene for quite some time producing chilled out remixes for the likes of Madonna, Missy Elliot and Depeche Mode as well as producing many notable works in their own right. Latest offering Chocolate sees them reverting back to the style of their earlier works from the late 90′s which offered a more chilled out approach to the genre, and though it lacks the pace and commercialism of later works such as Wait & See or Music its no less creatively impressive.ARTIST: Tiefschwarz
TITLE: Chocolate
LABEL: Souvenir
RELEASE DATE: July 01, 2010
TIME: 75:16 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/tiefschwarz

01. (home intro) [01:04]
02. Home [06:13]
03. Kraft [05:06]
04. Legends [04:59]
05. Black Tick [04:19]
06. I Can’t Resist [06:28]
07. What You Want [05:42]
08. Bon Voyage [02:39]
09. Trust (alternative version) [03:43]
10. Babel [06:05]
11. Find Me [05:47]
12. Stones [05:54]
13. The Whistler [06:11]
14. Scherbenbringenglück [00:30]
15. Accordage [05:44]
16. 12 a.m. [04:52]

Tiefschwarz – Kraft

THIEVES LIKE USAgain and Again

Brand new album by Thieves Like Us: the songs inside Again and Again reflect the different moods of the band focusing particularly on failed relationships, alcoholism & the yearning for that perfect imaginary soul mate. While the faster songs like Shyness, One Night With You and The Walk are clearly aimed at the French dance floors, there are plenty of downtempo songs here too: Never Known Love and So Clear fit somewhere in the spectrum of Slowdive or The Cocteau Twins. After following the band through the highs of their nighttime adventures, the album closes with the very intimate ballad Forget Me Not and we are left realizing what goes up, must come down.

ARTIST: Thieves Like Us
TITLE: Again and Again
LABEL: Shelflife
RELEASE DATE: July 06, 2010
TIME: 42:04 min.
WEB: http://www.thieves-like-us.com/

01. Never Know Love [03:28]
02. Shyness [03:39]
03. Mercy [04:40]
04. One Night With You [04:08]
05. Silence [03:42]
06. Lover Lover [02:58]
07. Love Saves [03:59]
08. The Walk [03:29]
09. So Clear [07:21]
10. Forget Me Not [03:30]

Thieves Like Us – Forget Me Not

SLEIGH BELLSTreats

Treats, the debut effort from noise-rock newcomers Sleigh Bells, is the logical conclusion of the loudness war; it manages to challenge basic assumptions of how music can (and should) sound. You either buy the Brookyln duo’s central conceit or you don’t: bombastic synth-rock for bombast’s sake, with mixing cranked so high your speakers sound like they’re about to combust. It’s a preposterous juxtposition (Alexis Krauss’ way-past-sweet vocals as the sugary glaze on Derek Miller’s gritty and serrated riffing and beats) until the soaring power chords of opener and single “Tell ‘Em” kick off the album with a thunderclap, and you barrel through a 32-minute sonic rollercoaster that’s totally, gloriously, devoid of subtlety and restraint.

ARTIST: Sleigh Bells
TITLE: Treats
LABEL: Mom & Pop
RELEASE DATE: June 01, 2010
TIME: 32:06 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/sleighbellsmusic

01. Tell ‘Em [02:56]
02. Kids [02:46]
03. Riot Rhythm [02:37]
04. Infinity Guitars [02:32]
05. Run the Hearth [02:41]
06. Rachel [02:19]
07. Rill Rill [03:50]
08. Crown On the Ground [03:49]
09. Straight A’s [01:32]
10. A/B Machine [03:32]
11. Treats [03:29]

Sleigh Bells – Tell ‘Em (rodway remix)

BAND OF HORSESInfinite Arms

Infinite Arms is Band of Horses‘ third full length album and major label debut. Produced by Band of Horses with additional production by Phil Ek and mixed by Dave Sardy, the songs on Infinite Arms project the essence of the different American locales that became the setting for the recording and songwriting process, yielding the group’s most focused and dynamic recordings to date.
Band of Horses is Ben Bridwell, Creighton Barrett, Ryan Monroe, Tyler Ramsey, and Bill Reynolds. Infinite Arms marks the recording debut for Ramsey and Reynolds, while Barrett and Monroe graced the last album Cease to Begin. Through extensive touring over the last two years, Band of Horses have become a cohesive force, with all members making invaluable contributions to the unmistakable sound that has Bridwell has crafted since the band’s inception.

ARTIST: Band of Horses
TITLE: Infinite Arms
LABEL: Columbia
RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2010
TIME: 46:18 min.
WEB: http://www.bandofhorses.com/

01. Factory [04:35]
02. Compliments [03:28]
03. Laredo [03:12]
04. Blue Beard [03:22]
05. On My Way Back Home [03:29]
06. Infinite Arms [04:09]
07. Dilly [03:32]
08. Evening Kitchen [03:57]
09. Older [03:28]
10. For Annabelle [03:06]
11. NW Apt. [03:01]
12. Neighbor [05:59]

Band of Horses – Factory

FAITHLESSThe Dance

Another masterpiece from Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz, who together have been one of dance music’s biggest successes, consistently tearing up dancefloors and smashing the singles charts across their four-album career with their unstoppable blend of acid house, pop-trance and deep, spiritual lyrics. The Dance sees Faithless collect a series of shacking tunes which will be the soundtrack to many Saturday nights for a while to come.

ARTIST: Faithelss
TITLE: The Dance
LABEL: PIAS
RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2010
TIME: 70:42 min.
WEB: http://www.faithless.co.uk/

01. Not Going Home [06:37]
02. Feel Me [07:26]
03. Crazy Balheads [03:26]
04. Comin’ Around [07:25]
05. Tweak Your Nipple [07:09]
06. Flyin’ Hi [07:12]
07. Love Is My Condition [05:21]
08. Feelin’ Good [07:06]
09. North Star [06:02]
10. Sun to Me [07:59]
11. Scandalous [04:59]

Faithless – The Dance (minimix)

THE SIGHT BELOWIt All Falls Apart

The Sight Below’s debut full-length Glider (2008) established the reclusive Seattle-based artist’s singular sound (a haze of treated guitar, a steady electronic pulse, and little else) and his similarly gloomy visual aesthetic. In the year since Glider’s release, The Sight Below honed his craft and traveled the world, toting his equipment to distant cities and festivals, playing breathtaking audio/visual performances, and wandering off into the night. Evidently, this was time well-spent. With his new album It All Falls Apart, The Sight Below expands upon his strengths at every turn, crafting a paean to impermanence, an ambient meditation that uses the sounds of sadness in the service of sweet emotional catharsis.

ARTIST: The Sight Below
TITLE: It All Falls Apart
LABEL: Ghostly International
RELEASE DATE: April 05, 2010
TIME: 55:04 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/thesightbelow

01. Shimmer [06:14]
02. Fervent [05:09]
03. Through the Gaps in the Land [09:22]
04. Burn Me Out from the Inside [06:07]
05. New Dawn Fades [05:18]
06. Stagger [13:15]

07. Splentique [05:02]

The Sight Below – New Dawn Fades

RESEARCH TURTLESResearch Turtles

The Kinks gone grunge? The 60′s gone 90′s? The rock gone pop without losing any power?
All these things togheter, i guess.
Research Turtles seems to take their name from Wes Anderson‘s film The Life Aquatic and surely they share the same electricity of the genial director. Powerful riff, enough distortion and killer harmonies that won’t easily go out of your ears. Research Turtles‘ self-titled debut album was recorded at the legendary Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana, produced by Justin Tocket (Marc Broussard, Sons of William) and it rocks, it pops, it does whatever you want.
But it does it good.

ARTIST: Research Turtles
TITLE: Research Turtles
LABEL: (self-released)
RELEASE DATE: August 14, 2009
TIME: 46:49 min.
WEB: http://researchturtles.com/

01. Let’s Get Carried Away [03:53]
02. Damn [02:56]
03. Mission [02:28]
04. Kiss Her Goodbye [03:47]
05. Cement Floor [03:56]
06. The Riff Song [04:09]
07. Tomorrow [03:31]
08. Into A Hole [02:59]
09. A Feeling [04:05]
10. 925 [02:24]
11. Break My Fall [12:41]

Research Turtles – The Riff Song

TYING TIFFANYPeoples Temple

Exceptional musician, revolutionary DJ, actress, venerated muse of countless artists, is practically no end in characterizing the Italian electropunk queen Tying Tiffany. Riotous live performances and the glamorous world of uncounted magazine covers, the posh artist has created her unique dazzling universe which she is about to expand broadly with her new album Peoples Temple.
Something beyond simple electroclash.

ARTIST: Tying Tiffany
TITLE: Peoples Temple
LABEL: Trisol
RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2010
TIME: 33:21 min.
WEB: http://www.tyingtiffany.com/

01. 3 Circle [03:37]
02. Storycide [02:54]
03. Lost Way [03:22]
04. One Breath [03:19]
05. Still in My Head [02:33]
06. Miracle [03:18]
07. Cecille [03:03]
08. Border Line [04:21]
09. Ghoul [03:17]
10. Show Me What You Got [04:07]

Tying Tiffany – Lost Way

SOFA SURFERSBlindside

New release from the Austrian alt-rock outfit. Blindside captures the dynamic of a Sofa Surfer concert, creating a textual and acoustic representation of our modern society, of increasingly uncertain identities, of our cohabitation on this world, of a societal skepticism of rushing from crisis to crisis born from the constant pressure to maximize and increase profits. The Sofa Surfers‘ mix of rock and electronics has been thrilling audiences worldwide since their 1997 debut album, and it hasn’t stopped yet.

ARTIST: Sofa Surfers
TITLE: Blindside
LABEL: 101
RELEASE DATE: March 30, 2010
TIME: 44:28 min.
WEB: http://sofasurfers.info/

01. Playing the Game [04:52]
02. Hardwire [04:40]
03. Tired Nation [04:48]
04. Heavy Water [04:22]
05. Sinus [07:17]
06. Deserter [04:21]
07. Gutcut / U.D.H.W. [03:39]
08. 100 Days [04:33]
09. Safe Zone [05:56]

Sofa Surfers – Hardwire