The Oedipus Project
Wavves, (spelled with the double “v’s”), are apostles of noise-pop, a niche of alternative rock that features the melodies and song-structures of pop music combined with distorted instrumentations and elements of white noise.
With Wavves it’s warped, lo-fi intensity.
We featured Wavves here last year. With a new album forthcoming, leader Nathan Williams has posted a free download on his blog.
“Horse Shoes” is the Song of the Day.
[jwplayer mediaid=”4521″]
“Horse Shoes” by Wavves
tUnE-yArDs, spelled as you see it, is the music of Merrill Garbus.
Originally from New England, she now resides in Oakland.
Her 2009 debut BiRd-BrAiNs introduced us to her most unusual musically stylings and now continues with the song “Bizness” a free download from the forthcoming album whokill.
Uniquely fascinating.
[jwplayer mediaid=”4516″]
“Bizness” by tUnE-yArDs
Interpol is currently on tour with School of Seven Bells (SVIIB) and Matthew Dear.
All three have been featured here in the past. The “Search” button above will take you to their music.
On the Interpol website there is a free Tour EP of all three bands. Included is Interpol’s “Lights”, a pre-release free download.
I’m particularly fond of SVIIB’s “Dust Devil”.
[jwplayer mediaid=”4512″]
“Dust Devil” by School of Seven Bells
Dum Dum Girls initially began as a Dee Dee solo project. She then expanded the project into an all-female four-piece with the addition of Jules, Bambi and Sandi.
Songs from I Will Be, the first album from this Los Angeles-based outfit, were included here last year in previous podcasts.
We feature Dum Dum Girls today from the new four-song EP He Gets Me High. Dum Dum Girls just keep getting better and better. The title track is the Song of the Day.
“He Gets Me High”
[jwplayer mediaid=”4928″]
As we have discussed here in the past, corporations are increasing associating themselves with musicians in the alternative world to enhance their products. In kind, this corporate underwriting has helped these artists to survive and to create, particularly in light of the deteriorating revenue streams of the music business over the past couple of decades.
Gucci has commissioned Bat For Lashes (the wonderful artist Natasha Kahn) to cover Depeche Mode’s 1987 hit “Strangelove” as the soundtrack for the new fragrance Gucci Guilty Pour Homme.
Gucci has also made it a free download here.
[jwplayer mediaid=”4505″]
“Strangelove” by Bat For Lashes
The Glitch Mob, a three-piece electronic outfit out of Los Angeles, have released a remix and a free download of “Seven Nation Army” by the now defunct White Stripes, one of the greatest and most influential bands of the last decade.
In the Mob’s own words: “It’s no secret that we’re huge music geeks. More specifically, we love The White Stripes. We had started an unofficial remix of “Seven Nation Army” back in November and it was sitting around in a folder waiting to be finished amongst many other projects. When we heard the news about them breaking up, it was all the impetus needed for us to finish the track. Here is our homage to The White Stripes.”
[jwplayer mediaid=”4500″]
“Seven Nation Army (The Glitch Mob remix)” by The White Stripes
Beginning in 1998 Bright Eyes was singer/songwriter/guitarist Conor Oberst and a revolving cast of musicians.
Since 2006 the band has settled into the permanent trio of Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott, while utilizing the talents of varying contributing musicians from the Omaha music scene.
Prolific and profound, the new Bright Eyes album is entitled The People’s Key.
Two free songs are available from the Saddle Creek website under the “downloads” section.
“Shell Games” is one of them.
[jwplayer mediaid=”4498″]
“Shell Games” by Bright Eyes
Moby’s latest album Destroyed will be released in May.
He offering a free download of a three-song EP from the album on his website.
Aspiring filmmakers and videographers should note that on his website under mobygratis.com, Moby gives his film soundtrack music away for free to film students and non-profit filmmakers. If used for commercial purposes the licensing fee benefits the humane society.
Concerning the album and EP, in Moby’s own words:
“my next album is called ‘destroyed’ and it comes out in the middle of may sometime. musically it’s very melodic and atmospheric and electronic, and if i had to sum it up i would describe it as: ‘broken down melodic electronic music for empty cities at 2 a.m’.
that’s what it sounds like to me, anyway. and the music was all originally written late at night while on tour, as i often have insomnia and spend a lot of times awake in hotel rooms at 2 a.m when everyone else in the world seems to be asleep. so rather than buy more drum machines on ebay (as nice as they are) i try to spend my insomnia time working on music. then i take the songs back to my studio and try to finish them with my weird collection of old, broken down drum machines and synthesizers and i try to convince my friends to sing on it (my friends emily zuzik, inyang bassey, and joy malcom sing on the record, as do i). then i put the songs on a record. then i call it ‘destroyed’. then i put it out in may of 2011. at least that is the plan.
why ‘destroyed’? well, in addition to the album i’m also putting out a book of photos (with the nice people at damiani/d.a.p). i’ve been a photographer since i was 10 years old, and i’ve decided to finally release a book of photographs. i know, in the age of digital photography EVERYONE is a photographer. but i’ve been shooting pictures for 35 years with a nikon F, and i used to work in darkrooms, developing and printing, so i feel like i’m not a complete dilettante digital photographer.
so, the title: ‘destroyed’. i was in laguardia airport and my flight was delayed and i was wandering around and i saw a small sign that said ‘unattended luggage will be destroyed’, but the sign only fit one word at a time so i waited until it read ‘destroyed’ and i took a picture and somehow the picture and the title make sense to me when i listen to the music on the album and when i look at the other pictures in the book and yes this is a huge long run on sentence about the title and cover image of the book and album but i like run on sentences because they remind me of ‘a prayer for owen meany’ by john irving.
in addition to the album we’re also putting out an e.p. ‘e.p’ means ‘extended play’, another vestigal descriptive term from the halcyon days of vinyl.
the e.p contains 3 songs: be the one, sevastopol and victoria lucas.
i hope you like them. the e.p is free free free, as i think that increases the chances the music will actually be listened to. also i’m the worlds best businessman, as evidenced by starting mobygratis.com which also gives away free music.
some trivia: ‘be the one’ was in the paul haggis movie ‘the next 3 days’, ‘sevastopol’ is an interesting city in the ukraine, and ‘victoria lucas’ was sylvia plath’s pseudonym.”
[jwplayer mediaid=”4493″]
“Be the One” by Moby
Cut Copy is an electro-pop/techno-pop quartet from Melbourne, Australia.
Their third album Zonoscope is due shortly.
Reminiscent of the some of the best synth-pop bands from the 80’s, Cut Copy compels you get up and dance.
“Need You Now” is a free iTunes download and is the Song of the Day.
“Need You Now” by Cut Copy
[jwplayer mediaid=”8607″]
Vivian Girls, the influential female trio from Brooklyn, is due to release their third album, Share the Joy, in April.
The current lineup consists of Cassie Ramone–guitar/vocals, Katy “Kickball Katy” Goodman–bass/vocals and Fiona Campbell–drums/vocals.
“I Heard You Say” is the first single and a free download.
[jwplayer mediaid=”11426″]
Expect a new Strokes album in late March. Their first since 2006.
Angles is the title and the first single, “Under Cover of Darkness”, is a free download.
The Strokes we know and love return to form.
[jwplayer mediaid=”4487″]
“Under Cover of Darkness” by The Strokes
Cold Cave is Wesley Eisold. His second album, Cherish the Light Years, is due in April.
The amazing new song “The Great Pan is Dead” is a free download from the album.
In Wesley’s own words: “This is the first song on the forthcoming full-length, Cherish the Light Years. It was also the first song I wrote after the group of songs that makes up Love Comes Close and it existed in some half-finished way in my head for almost two years. It had to be the first song on the album and serve as a declaration of everything I want to assert through Cold Cave.
When the album was announced a few weeks ago it was said that the record is a love letter to NYC. That’s not exactly true. It’s a love letter to the path that has led me to where I am now, to loss and love and friends and enemies and the dizzied and blurred ways of the world. This song and record is about magic, preservation, youth and movement.
I spent the months before recording visiting old homes and record stores and small towns and cities I grew up in. I went to Boston, Philly, Portland and Brunswick Maine, Virginia Beach, San Diego, Monterey, and more to soak in the nostalgia, some version of research for the record.
I miss a lot of people. I used to deal with that by assuring myself I’d see them again. I know that can’t be true. This song is dedicated to all of them.
More soon..”
WE
[jwplayer mediaid=”4485″]
“The Great Plan is Dead” by Cold Cave
What better way to return from aboard then to a gorgeous new Fleet Foxes song.
The second album from this Seattle-based band, Helplessness Blues, is due in May.
The title track is a free download from the Fleet Foxes website and is the Song of the Day.
[jwplayer mediaid=”4482″]
“Helplessness Blues” by Fleet Foxes
The Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John, best known for the song “Young Folks”, are offering a free download of “Breaker Breaker” an angry rave-up from their forthcoming album Gimme Some.
Sign up for the download and see the video below.
More free Christmas music, this time from Amazon, America’s largest online retailer. The website is offering 25 days of free holiday music, a song a day.
Thus far we have songs from Fleet Foxes, Superchunk, and Shelby Lynn among others, plus this lovely little treasure from Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan. “Time of the Season” is from their album Hawk released earlier this year.
The season in this song is Christmas.
[jwplayer mediaid=”4474″]
“Time of the Season” by Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
