After numerous tours together, indie singer-songwriter Kevin Devine and Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra have formed Bad Books. A super group of sorts, they have recorded a self-titled album due October 19th via Favorite Gentlemen, the record label founded by Manchester Orchestra. The lyrically strong 10-song album includes five songs written by each songwriter and showcases their hidden pop sensibilities.

The churning “You Wouldn’t Have To Ask” is the first mp3 released and is a great introduction with Andy’s gruff howl and Kevin’s rich and gentle voice blending seamlessly into the straightforward power-pop.

DOWNLOAD “You Wouldn’t Have To Ask”
VISIT Bad Books

America’s indie rock community stuck their noses so far up Phoenix’s ass that they came out sniffing somewhere around The Bewitched Hands on the Top of Our Heads. Unfortunately, that is a band’s name. Fortunately, like their compatriots they can also make some decent music. Of course we take great pride in hearing the French attempt to sound American–we already gave our endorsement (along with their premiere download of the MP3) to “Hard to Cry” a few months back. And “I Don’t Know” is a much better song, by a band with apparent range. The fact that I don’t know the significance (or insignificance) of lines like “Going down in my life//I wanna think but it was wrong//falling down in my eye//I wanna think but I don’t know” doesn’t necessarily bother me. What does bother me is that the song comes from the Hard to Cry EP, due out on the 26th via Sony, and i haven’t even heard the whole thing yet. Hopefully it’ll be more of what “I Don’t Know” is, unpretentious indie rock from a French band.

The Bewitched Hands On The Top Of Our Heads – I Don’t Know

Orbital – “Don’t Stop Me” Single Review

Written by Lance Shakespeare

Learning that Orbital was back together and making music was quite possibly one of the greatest bits of news for the summer for me.  Seems like just yesterday that the Hartnoll brothers were announcing that they were calling it quits.  I recall this struck me deeply since I had a conversation with a friend years prior about the groups I wanted to see before I die.  Orbital was on the top of the list.  Being the group that peaked my interest in electronic music more than 15 years ago, I’m happy to say that Orbital is back, and with a strong release as a preview of what’s to come.

Don’t Stop Me is most notably recognizable by the vocal sample from The Buggles’ Video Killed The Radio Star.  The warped “Oh-a oh” that echoes throughout the track had me wondering if I was going to like the song at first.  Orbital has done the same in the past with other less recognizable samples though, so why should I criticize them on something that most people may know?  It didn’t take long to really get into the song and the multiple layers that compromise this somewhat dark, but powerfully thumping piece of work.  Don’t Stop Me is an aggressive paced song that will surely become an anthem for the summer, and will most definitely result in remixes of a wide variety.  All throughout the track, signature sounds that have been in some of Orbital’s most notable releases creep their way in, one of my favorite segments at about 4:10 as the sputtering chimes are brought in to ensure you the track isn’t quite over.

Though there exists a vast range of sounds that Orbital has composed over the years, each track including Don’t Stop Me, has been able to hold tight to the key Orbital elements that blends an electronic ambience with warping synth and beats, that is almost unmistakably a sound of their own.  While others have challenged and even tried to mimic the unique Orbital sound, most have ended in failure, as it seems to demand the minds and hearts of the Hartnoll brothers to succeed.  While I can’t wait for a full-length release from Orbital, this single will keep me satisfied until that time comes.

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Peter Wolf Crier – Hard As Nails

(click to listen – right click to download)

Something wicked this way comes a song quickened by electricity of nature, not to be undone by any magic man can make and with the purpose of mind to drive home to you, a tune culled by hands something solid in nature but other-wordly in feeling. Ok, it’s just a rock song. But one hell of a rock song at that. Yet perhaps after you have heard Peter Wolf Crier’s second single “Hard As Nails” you will come to understand what I wrote above. Or maybe it’s just nonsense meant for feelings and descriptions. This is my conclusion…. music is meant for all of us, from lonely bedroom rooms to packed concert halls the energy to get lost in it’s depths is inherent in our every day lives.

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Spirituals – Wanderings

(Click to listen, right click to save)

The name given by Spirituals for their new song “Wanderings” is a great portrayal for the sound of the song. It’s dynamic movements are easily intoxicating, sliding consciousness from the surface of thoughts into created rhythms. Above all of this there lies a plethora of musical gizmos to get wide eyed with wanderlust. The track comes from their upcoming full length album out June 22nd on Waaga Records.

Visit Spirituals

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Written by Lancifer

“Drive It Like You Stole” it is the first taste of Glitch Mob’s highly anticipated upcoming album, Drink The Sea. Not only are they headed down a path that has yet to be paved, they’re moving along full speed. Drink The Sea has the potential to be something groundbreaking, drawing comparisons to an atmospheric soundscape journey like Dark Side Of The Moon, and the symphonic and haunting likeness of Portishead. The expectations are high for this soon to be released album, though I’m certain Glitch Mob has what it takes to be able to exceed such expectations. Catch the boys live when they come through on their tour in support of Drink The Sea this spring/summer.

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Very Be Careful – La Furgoneta
(click to listen)

Don’t call Los Angeles’s seminal vallenato band Very Be Careful a “world music” act. The musicians’ sound may be seeded in a particular region – the coastal northeast of Colombia, where this accordion-driven folk music has been making pulses race and libidos rise since the 1950s – but what they play is raw and groove-oriented.

“I guess our parents were party animals,” says bassist Arturo Guzman, who co-founded the band in 1998 with his accordion-playing brother Ricardo, joined by Richard Panta on caja vallenata, Craig Martín on guacharaca, andDante Ruiz on cowbell. “We grew up listening to a lot of cumbia and vallenato.” As second-generation Colombian-Americans raised in what is now called Korea Town, the Brothers Guzman came to appreciate their cultural roots through the family’s record collection. But they weren’t content to stop there.

“My parents were into the ‘70s stuff when we were growing up,” Guzman continues. “As musicians we’re exposed to older music in other genres, even if you’re talking about rock’n’roll. You know, ‘80s rock is fine, but check out the ‘50s and ‘60s stuff you can’t hear on the radio. It’s amazing. Discovering older music in other genres made us want to dig deeper into the history of vallenato, too.”

Visit Very Be Careful

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June 8th will be here before you know it, and that means great new music by Blitzen Trapper. Destroyer of the Void will be their 5^th studio album, and from the sound of their track Heaven and Earth, which you can download below, we can’t wait to get our grubby hands on it.

Click here to download Heaven and Earth
(click to listen, right click to download)

The band will be rocking the stage at some fine festivals this summer including Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival and the High Sierra Music Festival.

Tour Dates:

06/02/10  Wed – Spokane WA @ Knitting Factory *

06/03/10  Thu – Missoula MT @ The Palace *

06/04/10  Fri – Bozeman MT @ The Filling Station *

06/06/10  Sun – Fargo ND @ The Aquarium *

06/07/10  Mon – Omaha NE @ Slowdown *

06/09/10  Wed – Atlanta GA @ Variety Playhouse *

06/10/10  Thu – Manchester TN @ Bonnaroo

06/13/10  Sun – Charlotte NC @ Tremont Music Hall *

06/14/10  Mon – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club *

06/15/10  Tue – Philadelphia PA @ Trocadero *

06/16/10  Wed – New York NY @ Webster Hall *

06/18/10  Fri – Lancaster PA @ Chameleon Club *

06/19/10  Sat – Pittsburgh PA @ Diesel *

06/20/10  Sun – Newport KY @ Southgate House *

06/21/10  Mon – St Louis MO @ Off Broadway *

06/22/10  Tue – Kansas City MO @ Record Bar *

06/24/10  Thu – Aspen CO @ Belly Up *

06/26/10  Sat – Telluride CO @ Telluride Wine Festival *

06/28/10  Mon – Phoenix AZ @ The Clubhouse *

06/29/10  Tue – Los Angeles CA @ El Rey Theatre *

07/01/10  Thu – Quincy CA @ High Sierra Music Festival

07/02/10  Fri – Quincy CA @ High Sierra Music Festival

07/23/10  Fri – Portland OR @ Crystal Ballroom #

07/27/10  Tue – Minneapolis MN @ First Ave #

07/28/10  Wed – Milwaukee WI @ Turner Hall #

07/29/10  Thu – Cleveland OH @ Beachland Ballroom

07/31/10  Sat – Newport RI @ Newport Folk Festival

08/04/10  Wed – Detroit MI @ Majestic Theatre #

08/05/10  Thu – Indianapolis IN @ The Vogue #

08/06/10  Fri – Chicago IL @ Lollapalooza

08/07/10  Sat – Chicago IL @ Lollapalooza

08/08/10  Sun – Chicago IL @ Lollapalooza

08/10/10  Tue – Iowa City IA @ Gabe’s

08/12/10  Thu – Denver CO @ Ogden Theater

* w/ The Moondoggies

# w/ Avi Buffalo

Visit Blitzen Trapper