If you haven’t heard of what has been dubbed the “new rave” then here ya go. Sure the buzz engulfed these guys earlier this month but lets extend it a bit. I have a really mixed opinion of the Klaxons. On one side the music gets old really fast. Like it’s too much for me to handle. Then on the other side I like it because it is too much to handle. There is alot going on and it all makes you want to dance. Their album “Myths of the Near Future” is basically pure addiction. Its actually hard to tear yourself away from it. With tracks like “Gravity’s Rainbow,” and a cover of “It’s Not Over Yet” I honestly cannot not listen to the album. Confusing eh? Whatever. If you like to dance, and sounds kinda sorta barely like Ima Robot, the grab some tracks.

There is also a butt load of remixes over at Culture Bully.

Klaxons: Klaxons | Official Website | Buy on iTunes

MP3
Klaxons - Two Receivers
Klaxons - Gravity’s Rainbow
Klaxons - It’s Not Over Yet

Ror-Shak is DJ Stakka and DB over in New York. Their latest album Deep is loved by many including Moby who was quoted saying simply what he means, “Great Electronic Music.” Well if if has Moby’s seal of approval I don’t know what else you need?! In all honesty this album will leave you wishing for more. Kinda like every Thievery Corporation album. Ror-Shak collaborated with other great artists on the album like MorningWood’s Chantal Claret and Pedro Yanowitz (more MorningWood in the archives) along with Julee Cruise, Lisa Shaw, Wendy Starland. All amazingly beautiful voices. You will hear the influence of Zero 7, Thievery Corporation and many others. If you like any of those groups mentioned you must get a hold of this album

Here’s a little bit on their name that I thought was interesting.

The name Ror-Shak is a play on the swiss psychiatrist Dr Rorschach, who devolved the ink blot test in which everybody sees something different. In Ror-Shak’s case, everyone hears something unique, it’s also a tip of the hat to Alan Moore for His Watchman character by the same name.

Ror-Shak: Myspace Buy on iTunes

MP3
Ror Shak - Fate or Faith (Featuring Julee Cruise)
Ror-Shak - A Forest (Featuring Chantal Claret)

I am a dear fan of Scottish bands. These four guys have a catchy array of sounds and notable influences. The Cure, Interpol, The Smiths, and so on… Their album came out last month and has been gaining some attention around the this never ending time use we call the internet. They have some incredibly catchy songs. I don’t know about you but I want to do a little foot tapping and dancing every song I hear. The song that caught my special attention was a cover of Becks “Sunday Sun” off his Sea Change album released way back in 2002. It’s just a sweet cover, that’s all there is to it for me.

It’s Friday and here is some good songs to listen to. If you feel like dancing you probably should.

The Cinematics: Myspace | Official Website | Buy on iTunes

MP3
The Cinematics - Break
The Cinematics - Race to the City
The Cinematics - Sunday Sun (Beck Cover)

Maybe you’re like “Uhhhh wtf?” or maybe you’re like “Uhhhh sweet” when you think of Duran Duran but I’m more like later. Every now and then like here and here I like to throw in older stuff on this site. Sometimes all the new “indie” and rock music gets a little too much so it’s always good to look back. Duran Duran had their fill in the 80’s and then the early 90’s when I started listening to them. The band was first somewhat of a band in 1978 and officially formed in 1981. Songs like “Hungry Like a Wolf,” “Girls on Film,” “The Reflex,” “Ordinary World,” and a slew of topped the both the U.K and U.S charts. One of my favorite songs in my of all time category is definitely “Come Undone.” Honestly my friends and I used to listen to that song everyday on repeat. It was the song when I was like eleventeen years old.

In reality there is nothing I could write about Duran Duran that you can’t find out for yourself. They are one of those bands that hit the 80’s synth pop scene hard and fast and rode it into the 90’s. I actually decided to write this post cause I heard they are going to release an album this year. Sure enough after consulting the book of knowledge it looks like they will be releasing one in /around May. I’m a wee bit tickled by this but honestly I think it’s gonna be tough to be good. They aren’t Depeche Mode who continues to release good albums all the way up until 2006. I guess only time will tell.

Anyways, here’s a couple radio favorites. Go ahead and enjoy the 80’s again for a minute or two.

Duran Duran: Myspace | Official Website

MP3
Duran Duran - Ordinary World
Duran Duran - Come Undone
Duran Duran - Girls on Film
Duran Duran - The Reflex
Duran Duran - Wild Boys

I meant to post on Patrick Cornell weeks ago but I wasn’t really blogging at all the last couple weeks. So here it is. Patrick Cornell is extremely talented. He produced his album “This Much Is True” completely by himself. Played all the instruments, sang the vocals, and put the tracks together. With all that work, the album is a masterpiece. When I first listened it reminded me instantly of Oasis. Patrick’s clean yet somewhat raspy vocals add a little extra bit to each track. He came out to LA and he’s one of those stories that actually did what he needed to do. Just this week he has now joined LA band Circus Diablo. He’s filling in for bassist Brett Scallions [former lead singer of Fuel] and will be playing alongside Billy Morrison, Billy Duffy [The Cult] and Matt Sorum [drummer - Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver]. He’ll be playing LA shows with them this Spring then OzzFest in the summer. Basically he’ll be doing some serious rocking.

Here’s the bottom line - Patrick Cornell deserves all he can get. He has the talent and determination to make whatever he wants happen.

Patrick Cornell: Myspace | Buy on iTunes

MP3
Patrick Cornell - Dies Irae
Patrick Cornell - Silently Insane

I know I’ve been out of the blogging scene for the past couple weeks. my bad. This just happened that way. I’ll return with the band Low from Minnesota. The trio has been around well over a decade, releasing their first album in 1994. Low is many things. Most of witch relate to slow, deep, and dark. I’ve heard the term “slowcore” thrown out there. I first heard of Low from their last album “The Great Destroyer” and I absolutely love the song “Monkey” on that album. Their latest album “Drums and Guns” is just as brooding and beautiful as their others. They are going on tour starting this Friday for the next three months so make sure to go see them.

gvsb has a great version of “Hatchet.” Head over to him for that.

Low: Myspace | Official Website | Buy on iTunes

MP3
Low - Breaker
Low - Always Fade
Low - Monkey [from The Great Destroyer]

I’m obsessed with the amount of awesome music coming from down under. Tons of good dance stuff and Cut Copy is no exception. Cut Copy is three dudes on Modular which is an awesome label. Today and all Friday’s should be dance friday. It makes the end of the week a tiny bit more fun than it already is. Cut Copy would be playing every Friday. It’s hard not to love synths and influences like New Order and other 80s pop. Not the 80’s pop that everybody was listening to but the cool 80’s pop. You might know what I’m saying, if not all well. They’ve got their own tracks plus put down awesome remixes every now and then. I’m sure you’ve heard of them - if not make sure to grab “Hearts on Fire” which is the single off their latest album, Hearts on Fire.

Cut Copy: Myspace Official Website

MP3
Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire
Cut Copy - Time Stands Still
Cut Copy - Future

Since Texas is about to be super packed with everybody invading SXSW I thought it would be appropriate to post up a band from Austin, Texas. They’ve got that catch powerpop music that’ll you’ll rock out to for like a minute in between doing something. Maybe that’s just me though. In some songs you can definately hear the influence of The Beatles - and who doesn’t like The Beatles? I was cruising their myspace and found a funny blog entry of theirs, see here. I’m sure every band gets nice letters like that one. In closing, listen to The Drawing Board because it’s just plain fun.

The Drawing Board: Myspace

MP3
The Drawing Board - Haven’t We Been Through This (recommended)
The Drawing Board - It’s A Lie

The Glass Set is a group from somewhere I’ve never heard of, Allston MA. A trio you may never hear of, but now it’s your chance. Just goes to show you music comes from anywhere and everywhere. This indie/shoegaze band is led by the vocals of Leah Callahan who has a style all her own. Some of the music feels a bit dark, but then right behind there’s a pop song to tap your foot to. Their debut album “Something Unknown” came out last month and they’ve got a true little indie following. Take it in and do some gazing.

The Glass Set: Myspace

MP3
The Glass Set - Telescope
The Glass Set - 23
The Glass Set - Something Unknown

Pilot Speeds debut album as Pilot Speed (formerly Pilate) Into the West came out way back in September of 2006. I shared with you all a video way back then and now I’m back with some words. Pilot Speed is four guys from Toronto, Ontario. I don’t think I know of any other band that I listen to from Canada than Billy Talent, and those guys are way different music that I’ll probably share sometime. They are as a whole alternative rock, YET it’s not all that hard; more melodic and beautifully composed. It’s all very poetic and they rock when they do, and yet they can put out a perfect tear jerker for some movie. At least that’s what I would do with some of these tracks.

Here’s a few tracks to grab hold of and enjoy.

Pilot Speed:
Myspace | Official Website | Buy on iTunes

MP3
Pilot Speed - Barley Listening
Pilot Speed - Knife-Grey Sea
Pilot Speed - Into Your Hideout

Well I just found out that MOKB posted this but whatever. Honestly I should read music blogs more like I used to. Anyways I wanted to write about this because Shout Out Out Out Out remixed a Bang Gang song which I posted on a bit ago.The song is Find What You Get off their album Johannsson album. SOOOO has an arsenal of fifteen instruments to create all kinds of dancy tracks. If you read this blog I’m usually all about the dance tracks. They will be at SXSW this year so make sure to go dance if you are going to be there.

Shout Out Out Out Out: Myspace | Official Website

MP3 (from all over the web)
Bang Gang - Find What You Get (Shout Out Out Out Out remix)
Shout Out Out Out Out - Dude You Feel Electrical
Shout Out Out Out Out - Procrastinators Fight Song
Shout Out Out Out Out - Chicken Soup For The F**K You

You may say - “Isn’t this an indie rock blog?” and “Why is he writing about such a mainstream band?” To answer these possible questions: 1) I guess this is an indie rock blog, yet it’s more of just a blog where I write about music I like. 2) Because Foo Fighters is one of the bands that I have been listening to forever. I’m talking 1997 The Colour and the Shape when most of you may have started listening. I was just a wee lad in elementary school and the Foo Fighters were awesome. Songs all over the radio - “Everlong,” and “Monkey Wrench” were the really popular ones. Soon after I started slowly getting my hands on all the Foo Fighters albums I could - all the way up until their last full length release in 2005.

IN YOUR HONOR (2005) Mini Review
In Your Honor is a dual disk that is very unique. Disc one is all the usual things you’d hear from the band; good solid rock. The first three songs are one of the best starts to an album that I’ve ever paid attention to. It opens up with “In Your Honor” which screams in your face and has a super epic lead up. Next is “No Way Back” that is excellent in true Foo Fighters style. Third is the single “Best of You” which is pretty easy to like even with any musical standard you may have. The video is stunning aswell.

Disc two is all acoustic/softer tracks. I think Grohl and crew wanted to make something different, yet didn’t want to just mix in a few acoustic tracks with the rest so disc two was born. I can’t really pick a couple tracks out of the rest because I find them to be for myself on an equal awesome scale

Back to why I why I’m writing about the Foo today. Honestly it was just what I ended up listening to first today and I remembered how much progress they’ve made over the years that developed into the album In Your Honor. I like em so I write about em. They just released a live album Skin and Bones which I havn’t checked out yet but will soon.

Foo Fighters:
Myspace | Official Website | Buy on iTunes

MP3 (nothing off of disc two cause you should buy it! or listen on iTunes)
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
Foo Fighters - Best of You

Radars to the Sky is a Los Angeles band that recently emailed me to let me know about their e.p release show yesterday. I couldn’t make it out yet when I woke up today at around noon I gave their music a listen again and thoroughly enjoyed it on this sunny afternoon. It’s a mixture of rock with some softer bits. I can’t seem to avoid listening to “Long Walk Home.” Mostly because the beautiful mixture of male/female vocals.

I think I’ll go take some photos. The song has inspired me today at this hour. By the way if you havn’t noticed I don’t usually post on weekends thus this post not really being full of information. I just wanted to share the band/song and would especially like to see a good video made out of it.

Radars to the Sky: Myspace

MP3
Radars to the Sky - Long Walk Home

Way back in early 2006 I wrote about these guys and just yesterday they released a little taste of their new album. No label yet - yet they say they are going to send them off to some labels. Take a listen - I’m really into “All These Accidents” right now.

There is also lots of words and free songs over on DayTrotter. (Which is an amazing site by the way)

Track a Tiger: Myspace | Official Website

MP3
Track a Tiger - All These Accidents
Track a Tiger - Saints About to Fall

Raccoo-oo-oon is nothing short of raw, and gnarly. It’s the music you want to be violent to. Enough said, just listen to the tracks. It’s Friday and I don’t feel like typing any more than I have to.

Raccoo-oo-oon: Official Website

MP3
Raccoo-oo-oon - Behold Secret Kingdom
Raccoo-oo-oon - Black Branches
Raccoo-oo-oon - Call Out Your Friends
Raccoo-oo-oon - Cave of Spirits
Raccoo-oo-oon - Mirror Blanket
Racoo-oo-oon - Uh Oh