The Oedipus Project
Last year Mates Of State gave of us Crushes, an album of some of their favorite cover songs.
They return in September with a LP (their seventh) of new material they call Mountaintops.
This husband/wife duo from Kansas offers a free download of the first single “Maracas”.
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It’s been ten years since The Strokes album, Is This It, debuted.
This seminal record catapulted New York City once again to the forefront of rock ‘n’ roll, something we hadn’t experienced since the early days of punk.
Stereogum has compiled a free tribute album celebrating Is This It, featuring such bands as Peter Bjorn and John, Real Estate, Owen Pallett, and the Morning Benders.
Like most tribute albums, the covers are hit or miss, versions of favorite songs worthy of deep praise or intense resentment.
I particularly like Frankie Rose’s rendition of “Soma”.
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It’s Lollapalooza weekend in Chicago.
Perry Farrell’s vision is now 2O years old.
As usual the lineup is impressive and Spin is offering a free download of 14 of the performing bands such as Lykke Li, Foster the People, Black Lips, Titus Andronicus, the Mountain Goats and Ratatat.
Beirut, the Balkan folk indie-rock band from Santa Fe, led by Zach Condon, is included as well.
“East Harlem” is from Beirut’s recently released third album, The Rip Tide.
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Era Extraña will be the second Neon Indian album.
It translates from the Spanish as “Strange Era” or “She was Weird”.
Led by the Mexican-born Alan Palomo, we highlighted the song “Deadbeat Summer” last summer.
“Fallout” is a free download from the forthcoming recording.
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In May we featured the first single, “Calgary”, from Bon Iver’s stunning second album named after himself.
He is now offering another free download from Bon Iver, one of the best albums of the year.
Lose yourself in the beauty of “Holocene”.
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M83 is French electronic musician Anthony Gonzalez.
He name derives from Messier 83, a barred spiral galaxy found in the Hydra constellation and visible with binoculars.
His sixth album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, a double LP, is expected in October.
“Midnight City” is free download from the M83 website.
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Last year we spotlighted the Girls EP Broken Dreams Club.
The second full-length Girls album, Father Son, Holy Ghost is due in September.
This San Francisco duo is now a full band and they have given us a free song from the forthcoming album.
It’s a long slow-building heartbreak love song with the unlikely title “Vomit” and a sound reminiscent of Pink Floyd. Yes, Free Vomit.
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In June, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah gave us the song “Same Mistake” from their forthcoming Hysterical album.
Now this Brooklyn quintet give us “Maniac”, another free download from their website.
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I’m loving the new Washed Out album, Within and Without.
We featured the first single, “Eyes Be Closed” here early in the month.
Another gorgeous song from the album, “Amor Fati”, is free download from Sub Pop.
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St. Vincent, the moniker of Annie Erin Clark, has given us two marvelous albums.
Her third, Strange Mercy, is due in September.
The former Polyphonic Spree member, offers a free download of the new single “Surgeon” from her website.
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Nevermind, the Nirvana album that helped define a generation, will mark its 20th anniversary in September.
In celebration and to honour its brilliance, Spin has compiled a free tribute album of contemporary artists performing the 13 tracks in original song sequence.
Meat Puppets, Titus Andronicus, the Vaselines, EMA and dear friend Amanda Palmer are a few of the artists included.
Download the album via Spin’s Facebook page and listen now to Amanda’s version of “Polly”. She does have a way with a cover song: thoughtful, respectful, insightful.
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She Wants Revenge released their third album, Valleyheart, in May.
Justin Warfield and “Adam 12” Bravin are the duo from Los Angeles that is the band.
Their sound, sometimes referred to as Darkwave, has the power of Joy Division and the synth-pop dancebeat of Depeche Mode.
“Must be the One “was the first single and the video can be seen in the YouTube button above top right.
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“Take the World” is the new single.
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Last year’s Dum Dum Girls charming debut album was followed by the infectious He Gets Me High EP.
Their second album, Only in Dreams, will be available in late September.
“Coming Down” is the first single and a free download from the band as is the pop brilliance “Bedroom Eyes”.
“Coming Down”
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“Bedroom Eyes”
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Tom Morello is the Nightwatchman.
The Nightwatchman has been the former Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave guitarist’s acoustic alter-ego. But his forthcoming album World Wide Rebel Songs is full-on electric.
Politically impassioned, a powerful voice against injustice and a champion of the oppressed, he’s got our back.
“It Begins Tonight” is our first listen.
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