New songs from Beck’s Modern Guilt streaming on iLike

The hype just keeps on growing for Beck’s new album Modern Guilt, which, if you haven’t heard yet, is being produced by Danger Mouse. If the awesome album art and nifty single “Chemtrails” aren’t enough to keep you satisfied until the July 8 released date though, you should head over to iLike immediately. There you’ll find two new songs, titled  “Orphans” and “Gamma Ray,” both of which further back what is certainly a new direction for Beck (finally!). The feel of “Gamma Ray” doesn’t sound too far off from something you might’ve heard with Gnarls Barkley (go figure, right?) while “Orphans” boasts an incredibly intricate production and surprisingly organic quality to the music which perfectly melds the 60’s pop/folk/rock/psychedelic tone the album seems to be aiming for.

Click here to check out the songs. If you are too lazy to click links, have a listen to “Chemtrails,” in case you haven’t heard it enough:

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The Cool Kids The Bake Sale

Fuzzy Bits:

Release Date: June 10

Last Album: Totally Flossed Out (2007)

Sounds Like: Much like what you’d find at a typical bake sale. Nothing is particularly innovative, but it is strangely addicting.

Overall Rating: 83

With hip-hop finally becoming cool again for the indie kids, it’s acts like The Cool Kids that are among the forefront of bloggers favorites. Their most recent “EP” (which is hardly that seeing as its 10 tracks long) The Bake Sale, does no wrong, with its minimalist production and the duos laid back, old school delivery. While The Bake Sale never blows you away, it certainly brings to mind a number of throwback acts from hip-hops golden era while remaining smartly relevant and hip to current times.

“One Two” and “Mikey Rocks” in particular are very engaging tracks, while “88″ is more obvious about its 80’s hip-hop roots. “What It Is” is another stand out, particularly from a production standpoint as its one of the few vibrantly produced tracks on the album, alternating between the simplistic to a percussion-filled jazzy beat.

Every song is incredibly solid and gives great hope to what this Chicago-based duo can bring in the future. What is possibly most refreshing about the Cool Kids is that, as their name implies, they are simply cool. They never seem to be too high or too low (or too hard or too soft for that matter), and everything about them seems to be natural, never pressed. As it stands, The Bake Sale may not be the huge splash, but it’s certainly noteworthy and will be blasting out of many a car stereo this summer.

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Lollapalooza Central 2008 Coming

As I’m sure many of you know, Lollapalooza 2008 is just a month and a half away. As such, I wanted to let you know that you can expect lots of in depth analysis about the artists that will be playing as well as daily recaps once the festival is underway. Starting in July I’ll be highlighting particular bands that will be playing this year and there will also be a few other surprises going as well, so be sure to check back soon for all of your Lolla-related news.

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Sigur Rós Announce North American Tour

 

Life for Sigur Rós fans just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter. If you’ve worn out your computer speakers from repeatedly streaming Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, you can now go see the band live assuming you’re able to snag tickets when they go on sale at 8am CST tomorrow. The tickets will be available directly from the band here. Here are the announced dates:

SEPTEMBER
Wed 17th – New York, The United Palace
Thur 18th – New York, The United Palace
Fri 19th – Boston, Bank Of America Pavilion
Sat 20th – Montreal, Quai Jacques Cartier
Mon 22nd – Toronto, Massey Hall
Tues 23rd – Detroit, The Fillmore
Wed 24th – Chicago, The Chicago Theatre
Thu 25th – Minneapolis, Orpheum Theatre
Sat 27th – Denver, Morrison Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Sun 28th – Salt Lake City, Saltair
Tues 30th – Tempe, The Marquee

OCTOBER
Wed 1st San Diego, Copley Symphony Hall
Thu 2nd Los Angeles, The Greek Theatre
Fri 3rd – Berkeley, The Greek Theatre 
Sun 5th – Seattle, Benaroya Hall 
Mon 6th – Portland, Arlene Schnitzer Theatre 
Tue 7th – Vancouver, The Chan Centre

Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

Fuzzy Bits:

Release Date: June 17

Last Album: X&Y (2005)

Sounds Like: A much improved album that is quite possibly one of the most enjoyable Coldplay releases.

Overall Rating: 90

With Brian Eno on board for production, it’s obvious that Coldplay is finally wearing their U2-influenced heart on their sleeves. This is evident from the gorgeous opener “Life in Technicolor,” which builds ever so organically into a triumphant instrumental piece. It all seems very familiar, but yet, Coldplay performs the material with such great conviction that you can’t help but become enamored with the music. That is largely the theme that can be found on Viva La Vida, as you can certainly play a game of “that sounds exactly like…” on every track (and on some occasions, you can play that game on different increments of said track), but the music is so damned enjoyable it doesn’t make much difference. While “Cemeteries in London” and “Lost!” make for an awkward transition out of the starting gate, although the latter is a fine song on its own merit– just out of place, Viva La Vida picks up from there and never looks back.

The Air/Radiohead-esque “42″ is mesmerizing in its simplistic beauty and recalls an intimacy that Coldplay hasn’t displayed since Parachutes before breaking out into an all-out anthem.

The two longer songs, “Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love” and “Yes” both serve as epic centerpieces for Viva La Vida’s larger than life image. The former song is another exercise in triumphant songwriting that somehow doesn’t feel too forced and breaks off into another lovely, lush piano-centered piece. “Yes,” on the other hand shows off the lower register of frontman Chris Martin’s range– a surprisingly welcome experience, particularly with it being offset by the highly rhythmic strings, guitars and percussion. The second movement, if you will, of “Yes” is pure shoegaze and the band does almost too good of a job impersonating My Bloody Valentine (which is a good thing, because if you have to rip off a band, MBV is a pretty good place to start).

The most familiar tracks, “Viva La Vida” and “Violet Hill” surprisingly fit in perfectly on the album and aren’t nearly as overbearing as they appeared to be as individual singles. Both songs are exquisitely well done, even if the title track was infused with more than a few shades of U2 and Arcade Fire. “Violet Hill” is stunning, especially with the bittersweet refrain and somber closing. “Strawberry Swing” romps along with a carefree bounce before leading to the closing “Death and All His Friends,” which boasts an chorus that’s sure to be chanted at all future Coldplay concerts.

While Coldplay will continue to feel the brunt of bitter reviewers everywhere for aping U2 (or any other reason for that matter), hiring Brian Eno as producer was possibly the best thing the band could have done. Never before has the band appeared as focused and driven as they were on this record. Viva La Vida may not be the hands down best album of their career, but it’s definitely close.

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Lollapalooza Schedule Unveiled

Finally, the schedule has been released for Chicago’s biggest three-day festival. Fortunately, despite packing on the heavy-hitting acts, there isn’t too much overlap, so decision making should be relatively easy (with a few exceptions of course) for the most part. Also, note that Lolla organizers did the smart thing and made Radiohead the only unopposed opener, despite playing on Friday. The schedules are listed below, but if you want to download your own, click here.

 

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New From Common, “Universal Mind Control” feat. Pharrell

With his new Kanye-free release Invincible Summer coming in July, “Universal Mind Control” gives a sneak peek as to what Common has in store for you this summer. Definitely some electronic/futuristic-influenced vibes going on with the track, which is pretty refreshing considering the path that Common had been on for a while. The songs on the album this time around have all been produced by The Neptunes or Mr. DJ (most famous for his work with OutKast).

Note: The song posted is unedited and contains explicit lyrics.

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Wale The Mixtape About Nothing

Fuzzy Bits:

Release Date: May 30

Last Album: 100 Miles and Running (2007)

Sounds Like: An incredibly well-executed “concept mixtape” of sorts.

Overall Rating: 94

If the album art and title aren’t a dead giveaway, The Mixtape About Nothing is, yes kids, a Seinfeld-based concept mixtape (all the songs even begin with the word “The”). While this in itself is a novel concept, Wale goes one step further by using the Seinfeld theme to express his disappointment in a shallow and, in many ways, tired hip-hop game, as hinted at in such titles as “The Cliche Lil’ Wayne Feature.” Submerging the observations of the music industry underneath the Seinfield clips is a smart move on Wale’s part, as it allows him to speak his mind without coming off too much as overly cynical.

The mixtape, despite being 19 tracks long, never feels tiring, and is a much more consistent effort than even 100 Miles and Running. There’s only one skit, appropriately titled “The Skit,” and it features the same ignorant record label that was lampooned on 100 Miles and Running. “The Feature Heavy Song” and “The Freestyle” are both incredibly well executed, the latter truly showcasing Wale’s relentless flow and clever wordplay.

Wale then gets serious on such songs as “The Perfect Plan” and “The Kramer,” which features the infamous tirade by Michael Richards. “The Kramer” might be one of the most poignant and intelligent songs about the usage of the n-word (likewise for b******, for that matter) in a long time.

Other standouts include “The Crazy,” “The Star,” “The Artistic Integrity,” and “The Manipulation,” which is a perfectly done “good guy”/”bad guy” song for the dating world.  In Wale’s terms, the good guy wants to romance you, while the bad guy just wants to own you.

One final standout is “The Chicago Falcon Remix,” where Wale just goes crazy with his flawless wordplay and flow. Even with its relatively abbreviated duration, Wale makes quite an impression with the Budos Band’s complex rhythms pushing Wale to deliver some of the best lyrics on the album.

Wale once again proves having fun is key, even when you’re discussing serious topics. His heavily go-go influenced rap approach is refreshing, as is his relentlessly complex (and occasionally quirky) wordplay. The Mixtape About Nothing may be known more so for integrating Seinfeld quotes than anything else, but this mixtape has some serious substance to it, not to mention staying power.

To Download the Mixtape click here.

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Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes

Fuzzy Bits:

Release Date: June 10

Debut Release

Sounds Like: The perfect solution for those disappointed with the latest My Morning Jacket release.

Overall Rating: 96

From the moment Fleet Foxes begins, you find yourself immediately brought into a world where My Morning Jacket once resided in the “olden” days. Despite being a Seattle-based band, Fleet Foxes’ sound is distinctively based on southern roots music, and their vocals certainly lend to be compared favorably to My Morning Jacket. Don’t claim them to be rip off artists however, far from it. If anything, this debut is so concise, confident and well-structured that it outshines every debut album this year– and holds up very well even when you look at debuts from the past five years.

The opening track, “Sun It Rises,” begins as if it were playing through an old radio before transforming into a suitably grandiose track with superbly delicate lyrics and guitars. From there, the album progresses to the more radio-ready songs “White Winter Hymnal” and “Ragged Wood” that are both hypnotically beautiful.

Another stand out is the somber “Meadowlarks” that seemingly lulls its way into space and envelops you as a listener.

Truth be told, there isn’t anything to dislike about the album. It’s an incredible debut, and for MMJ fans who felt shafted in buying the new album, they should find some resolve in purchasing Fleet Foxes. With that in mind, however, let’s not pigeon-hole Fleet Foxes as simply being an MMJ-clone, because honestly, Fleet Foxes is an incredible album in its own right. Highly recommended.

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New Hold Steady album is now streaming on MySpace

That’s right kids! If you can’t wait to get “Sequestered in Memphis” with the Hold Steady, you can listen to Stay Positive in its entirety on their MySpace page. While it’s always hard to truly appreciate music that’s being streamed on MySpace (or another site for that matter), Stay Positive sounds like a very fine follow-up to the breakthrough Boys and Girls in America. The album will be released June 17, courtesy of Vanguard Records.

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