The Oedipus Project
The Big Pink is the British duo Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell.
They debuted in 2009 with A Brief History of Love featuring the wildly infectious misogynistic song “Dominos”.
They lifted an old skateboard advertisement, Future This, for the title of their new album.
“Hit the Ground (Superman)” is the current single.
Cass McCombs is an itinerant American singer/songwriter.
Last year he released two albums. The latter, his sixth, is entitled Humor Risk.
It contains this dark hypnotically beautiful song “The Same Thing”. (Free download)
“Like a ring gone down the drain
Our love in sunlight, at evening, pain
Like vermin Roman sewers bring
Pain and Love, oh yeah, are The Same Thing”
If corporations were people many would be in jail for destroying so many American lives.
All true change in this country has come from the streets, from the first American Revolution to the Civil War to Civil Rights.
Occupy Wall Street is in this great tradition and what we experienced last year is only the beginning.
And hopefully, our musical artists, unlike their disgraceful silence during the Iraq War, will make themselves heard and once again sing for justice, equality and basic human rights.
OWS has grown into a global movement. Inequality is intercontinental. Our foray into the sounds of the protest begins with a band from North America. Our Lady Peace, from Toronto, encourages us to “Fight the Good Fight”.
Frankie Rose is now a solo artist, no longer Frankie Rose and the Outs as featured in 2010.
This Brooklyn-based darling will release Interstellar in Late February.
“Know Me” excites us for the album and a new year of new music. It’s also free from RCRDLBL.
Before we move into the new year allow me to suggest the free download from Spin.
24 tracks from 2011 including Deer Tick, EMA, Fucked Up, Kurt Vile, Zola Jesus, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Phantogram, and Wild Flag, all heard here last year.
Also featured is Yuck, the quartet from London, who made their debut in 2011.
“Shook Down’ is from their self-titled LP.
I have broadcast live every Christmas Eve for over three decades.
The tradition continues tomorrow on WFNX in Boston (101.7) and www.wfnx.com from 6:00pm-Midnight.
Here is a rare gem that I play every year.
Bono reads a poem by Irishman John F. Dean with U2 music in the background.
“Driving to Midnight Mass (On a Dublin Christmas Eve)”
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Jaggery is a quintet out of Boston with piano, viola, harp, contrabass, percussion and the striking ethereal voice of songwriter Mali Sastri coalescing into their own magical universe.
For Christmas they have created a most beautiful rendition of “Coventry Carol.”
From their website and Wikipedia, Jaggery informs:
The Coventry Carol is a Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story from chapter two in the Gospel of Matthew. The carol refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which King Herod orders all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed. The lyrics represent a mother’s lament for her doomed child. It is the only carol that has survived from this play.
“Coventry Carol” is available as a no-minimum pay-what-you-want download.
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Matthew Ryan is a singer/songwriter who has been recording and performing since the late 90s with a discography that includes 14 albums.
His version of “Little Drummer Boy” is my favorite.
This year he has written such a simply yet delightful Christmas song.
“It’s Christmas Time!” is a free download as well.
“Little Drummer Boy”
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“It’s Christmas Time!”
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Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah.
Although Hanukkah songs are sparse, last year Matisyahu wrote truly the best song ever about the holiday.
This year we return with a remix of “Miracle” as we celebrate the Festival of Lights.
Happy Hanukkah!
“Miracle” (featuring Shyne)
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Gotye is the nom de plume of Wouter De Backer, a musician who was born in Belgium but has made Australia his home most of his life.
His 3rd studio album, Making Mirrors, was released earlier in the year in Australia and will soon make a splash here.
The irresistible single “Somebody That I Used To Know” topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand and Belgium.
“Somebody Thay I Used To Know” featuring Kimbra
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Mazzy Star, the duo of Hope Sandoval and David Roback, have released their first new songs in over 15 years.
During the interim they both recorded and performed with a variety of artists including The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Chemical Brothers, Air, Massive Attack, and Beth Orton.
We can expect a new album in the new year.
“Common Burn” is the new single and reminds us of the beautiful quiet gentleness of their finest songs.
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We Stieg Larsson fans anxiously await the new The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie. The Swedish film trilogy was stellar so we’re most curious to experience the American version.
The soundtrack certainly bolds well for our cinematic expectations as The Social Network collaborators, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, are once again the musical maestros.
A 6-song instrumental sampler of their 3 hour opus is available as a free download.
Another song on the soundtrack is this searing version of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” sung by Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
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deadmau5 (pronounced “dead mouse”) is one of the most popular electronic DJs in the world.
His live shows are legendary as he mixes multiple tracks while wearing his trademark oversized LED mouse head.
His last album 4×4=12 was released in 2010 but the song “Raise Your Weapon” has recently been edited into a savory single.
Greta Svabo Bech from the Liverpool band Picture Book is the vocalist.
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Girl in a Coma is a Mexican-American trio out of San Antonio, Texas.
Nina Diaz-vocalist and guitar player-and sister Phanie-drummer-are joined by Jenn Alva on bass. They are signed to Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records.
There name is a reference to the 1987 Smith’s song “Girlfriend in a Coma”.
Their latest, Exits & All the Rest, is the 4th album from Girl in a Coma featuring the very catchy single “Smart”.
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