they’ve been playing the dickens out of this guy on kcrw lately. he’s the former frontman of the brooklyn-based indie rock outfit elefant. which, incidentally, this solo stuff sounds absolutely nothing like. instead of guitar-driven indie pop, he seems to be tapping back into his roots - specifically 1970s argentina. it’s mellow, lovelorn stuff, tho it seems to lack the commitment of somebody who is truly lost without love. like he’s sad, but he thinks he’s hot ish so he’s not too worried about it. i will say tho: the songwriting is solid. the boy can craft a melody. and this particular track, while sounding unironically readymade for a wes anderson soundtrack, is actually pretty smooth. -d

somehow listening to a lot of amon tobin segued into these guys. not sure why. i guess like tobin, it’s sort of experimental. and parts of this new album do hit pretty hard. but it lacks the gut-scraping intensity — and the menace — that alternately leak and explode from most of tobin’s stuff. in fact this track is downright cheery. weird, but cheery. -d

for some reason lately i’ve been in the mood for really hard hitting instrumental stuff. tho i’m not sure if i started listen to a lot of amon tobin b/c i was in the mood for that kind of music, or if listening to a lot of amon tobin put me in the mood for it. but there is something strangely compelling about his particular brand of trip-hop that makes it rise to the top of an otherwise forgettable genre. -d

new beastie boys album. so much fun. so much funk. so many silly puns. (best line: “Cause like a mormon, I’m on a mission.”) it’s everything a beastie boys album should be. if you have half an hour to kill, check out the long-form music video/promo video featuring every celebrity you’ve ever heard of. the boys are back. -d

matt + the D&D brothers composed this track special for the new ‘portal 2’ video game. (if you’ve watched hulu at all in the last month, you know which game i’m talking about. it’s the ad with what appear to be the retarded little brothers of the sexy bjork robots.) and the song is good. very nationaly. and it did it’s job. i thought the game looked dumb. now i’m kind of intrigued. -d

*thanks to MelMo for sharing. you should check out the other music blog she guests on.

this is off her latest album, which came out a few months ago. like the previous one, it was produced by dan auerbach (of the black keys). but the similarities end there. the simple, folksy mountain pop of the past still peeks through on a few tracks, but it’s really only just a nostalgic sprinkling. a very new sound - one with occasional synths and drum machines and a straightforward pop sensibility - takes clear precedent on this one, and for the most part it works for her. it really sounds like nothing she’s ever done. and nothing that auerbach has ever done either. and more than anything it makes me excited to see what the black keys are up to next. -d

holy smokes. okay, real quick, before you hit play, go find some good headphones and a quiet room and turn it up as loud as you can take it. this is going smack of hyperbole, but it honestly sounds like the fleet foxes, justin vernon, james blake and the avett bros all got together and made an album just for me. an album, i should add, that just leapt into the top spot for best album of the year so far. incidentally, he’s just announced some tour dates with the band whose album he replaced at the top of that list. genius loves company. mercy what a sound…

after a successful merging of french and american cultures in our accentually diverse production of ‘the scarlet pimpernel’ last weekend, it seems only natural to post a song that likewise illustrates the happy results of franco-american collaboration. vive le mashup! -d

*by the way, there’s an entire EP of this spectacular nonsense available for free on tumblewoof’s homepage.

haven’t seen the movie yet, but i’ll say one thing: when it comes to movie music, joe wright knows how to pick em. first person to make/find a mind-blowing chemical bros vs. dario marianelli mashup gets 1000 music points, redeemable for my admiration. -d

so rumor has it these guys made the longlist for the BBC’s Sound of 2011 lineup. they also appear to have won another big UK poll, MTV-UK’s Brand New for 2011. so they signed with Island Records and their debut is set to drop in May - but only in the UK. all pretty strange for a band based out of Nashville. and one that, honestly, isn’t that great. (they sound like kings of leon but with even less spine, if that’s possible.) and quite frankly, mr. sitek isn’t having any of it. he uses the remix to yank them out from behind their edgy indie rock facade and present them, on a stage of synths and skips, for the dopey dance popsters they really are. the result is head and shoulders above the original. take the hint, gents. -d

generally not a huge fan of the new album. adding a bit of punk is one way to switch your sound up, but these guys don’t have the scruff for it. i’m posting this solely for the opening drum solo. -d

elbow is another band that, like breathe owl breathe, i generally consider a good band. i’m not in love with them. when i saw them in concert it was b/c they were at a festival with another band i liked more, but i was glad i saw them. and generally speaking, this new album is right in line with that opinion. except for this song. this song sucks me in, entrances me sort of. and i know what it is. it’s that chorus, exhaling a strange, spoken ‘with love’ almost like a mantra. it’s oddly soothing. and as it loops and folds into the round that wraps up the track, i get this calm but persistent feeling that i should probably start the song over again. which i have done. 15 times this afternoon alone. so strange….