Lefse Records, the place that brought us the likes of Neon Indian, Phaseone, and Tape Deck Mountain, have begun an offshoot label Waaga Records. To celebrate this new beginning they have offered a free digital compilation containing many of their fine artists. Among them are Baltimore’s own Soft Cat (who have and album on the way!!!) and FUR (aka Denton’s Bryce Isbell). Check out their tracks:
mp3: Soft Cat – It Won’t Be Long
mp3: FUR – Black Castles (featuring Alan Palomo of Neon Indian)
It’s been no secret ’round here of my love for Baltimore’s Height With Friends. Baltimore Highlands was aces in my book and the remix album just released a little while ago through Aural States was fresh too. Now he’s gone ahead and released the first of a series of free EPs via Splice Today with Swiss Chard. This thing goes from clubbed out jams to deep woods winter wonder…
mp3: Height With Friends – Swiss Chard
mp3: Height With Friends – Right Road
Get the full thing here.
Baltimore’s Beach House gave us all a treat yesterday when they unveiled the first taste of the upcoming third album Teen Dream with the track “Norway”. To say this track is great is an understatement. It’s friggin golden and is making this week sound soooo much better. For this album Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally grabbed Chris Coady and burrowed away in a church in upstate New York to record. The isolation and musical saturation sure paid off. “Norway” is as powerful as it is melodic – yes much like the Beach House of old – but taken to a higher level in all aspects.
mp3: Beach House – Norway
The single for “Norway” will be released as a 7″ on January 11th with a b-side of “Baby”. Teen Dream will be released via Bella Union on January 25th.
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mp3: Beach House – Gila
San Fran’s Ring Trick, producer of perhaps one of my favorite Radiohead remixes, is being quite the ambitious musician this month by posting a demo a day on his tumblr blog. If you’re in the mood for some solid electronics song sketches then please dig into what he’s doing here. He was nice enough to send us a few of the recently one-a-days so here they are:
mp3: Ring Trick – Puddle jumping
mp3: Passion Pit – Sleepyhead (Ring Trick Remix)
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mp3: Radiohead – Videotape (Ring Trick Remix)
St. Louis DJ/Producer Phaseone has been more than generous this year with not only giving out his Thanks But No Thanks album out for free (see our review here) but now making White Collar Crime, his new mixtape, also up fro grabs. We’ve heard a majority of the tracks before, and they are still sick, but there are a few newbies as well. The grouping includes remixes of Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Bon Iver with El-P, and Raekwon with Blind Man’s Colour. Here’s a selection, but you really should down load the full thing here.
mp3: Animal Collective – Daily Routine (Phaseone Remix)
mp3: Phaseone – Raekwon/Blind Man’s Colour – Vine Swinger Blend
mp3: Phaseone – Louis Vuitton
Rolling Stone just premiered the video for Andrew Bird‘s “Anonanimal”, perhaps one of my favorite tracks off of Noble Beast. The article (found here) is actually pretty interesting. Apparently Mr. Bird has been working on the video with director Lisa Barcy since before Noble Beast was released. The track meant so much to him, and he was so impressed with Barcy’s stop motion animation work, he thought that he should really go all out on the video. Needless to say it’s a beautiful visual representation of the abstract nature of living things and the way they evolve. Take a look here.
mp3: Andrew Bird – Anonanimal
Andrew Bird is also on an extensive tour with St. Vincent. Check the dates after the jump.
I was hoping this was not true, but apparently on September 27th Beau Velasco of the amazing band The Death Set passed away. This is a big loss for music. My heart and prayers go out to his family and friends. Here’s the information that has been released to us:
A message from Johnny Siera of The Death Set:
“R.I.P. my dear brother, friend and band mate Beau Velasco. We are all so devastated that I will keep this short. We love you and you will be
missed. You affected us all so much in the most positive ways. Our lives would not be as is, if not for you. We love you.”
Beau Velasco, beloved brother, co-founding member, guitarist and vocalist of The Death Set, passed away Sunday, September 27, in Brooklyn, New York. Beau co-wrote the Worldwide album and previous two EP’s with Johnny Siera, with whom his partnership reaches back beyond The Death Set’s beginnings, to Black Panda from the Gold Coast, Australia. The Death Set moved from Sydney to the US in 2005, but Beau took a back seat from touring a while later. This original core lineup of the band had recently rejoined to write and record the next record and to resume touring together.
Beau was also a talented artist, tattoo artist and jewelry designer. Working at Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg and Black Ink in Harlem. His artwork has been exhibited in Australia and America. There is a nice piece remembering him in the New York Village Voice here:
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2009/09/remembering_bea.php
Please see details for the memorial services below and forward to those who wish to pay their respects.
Viewing. (This is an open casket, where you can view and pay respects to the Velasco/Parsons family.)
Friday 10/2
B Anastasia Funeral Home 533 Lorimer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
2:30pm – 4:30pm (viewing service at funeral home)
4:30pm – 7:30pm (gather at Roebling Tea Room for a rest)
7:30pm – 9:30pm (viewing service at funeral home)
Memorial Service (This will be a gathering and a celebration of Beaus life.)
Saturday 10/3
Saved Tattoo
3 Hope Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
5:00pm
A memorial is also being organized by band mate Dan Walker for Beau’s hometown, the Gold Coast, Australia. It will be tentatively on October 22nd. There will be a gathering and later a wake at Elsewhere Bar. Please email Dan [email protected] for details. Please note this is being organized by friends from the Gold Coast and is not an official funeral organized by Beau’s parents Charles and Ella. When those details become known I will let people know.
This was our last show together…
