an otherwise exasperating day at work today was brightened by a rousing late afternoon round of Name that 90s Song (thank you rhino records Whatever! box set), during which i was reminded of what a great song this is. despite the absurd vocal looping at the end of each chorus. seriously listen to it. they hold that note for like 16 measures. ridiculous. great song tho. -d

the second (and in my opinion, better) of the two new arcade fire songs that were released this week. this one features david byrne on backing vocals, and honestly would have made a perfect addition to the original suburbs album. wonder why they waited on it…

arcade fire debuted two new songs on some british radio show yesterday. they’re available now as a single on itunes, and will be released as a part of the suburbs deluxe edition cd/dvd combo on august 2. which will also feature the ‘scenes from the suburbs’ short film by spike jonze. which by itself is reason enough to get it. i’ll post the second song tomorrow. -d

well, basically every other artist i’ve posted this week has been a repeat. might as well keep it going. this is one of those tracks that got lost when the album first came out. too many other big things going on. don’t actually even remember ever hearing it. thank heaven for superfluous re-releases. -d

the pretty great opening track from this 2009 project from Pixies frontman Black Francis and his wife Violet. it set the tone for a gritty-good-time of an album. which is not what the rest of the album turned out to be. but hey. one great song is still one great song. most artists that release albums don’t have any good songs. look at michael bolton. or taylor swift.

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

i was as impressed as everybody else was with ‘lungs’ when it came out. there’s something appealing and sort of baffling about a debut that’s so resolute, so totally confident. but i hadn’t listened in a while until a few weeks ago, when i finally got my hands on a copy of ‘between two lungs’, the re-release that includes an extra disc of unreleased tracks, remixes and live performances. this is the first track on the bonus disc, and again: the rough, industrial sound that permeates the track from the first whirrs all the way through that jackhammer of a chorus is a perfect example of this paradox a brand new band inexplicably at ease in their own weird, new skin. can’t wait to see what these guys pull out next. -d

these guys just released a new one. which got me listening to the old one. which, while coming off a little contrived at times, actually spends most of its time being pretty enjoyable. kind of reminds me of the black crowes in their shake your money maker days…

and on this, the 26th Annual Power Christmas Day of Greatness, the day on which we celebrate all things great and powerful, we enjoy the new single from TV on the Radio. -d

*this is a free download at http://www.tvontheradio.com/ for the price of a fake birthday and a junk email address. full album out soon.

sure, the opening chord makes me want to burn down a church. (thanks a heap, win. you’ve ruined organs forever.) but these guys are great. despite (or perhaps due to) the fact that they are totally unsigned and completely self-funded, they continue to churn out impressive albums. a true indie band. -d

*also, happy 250th post. w00t!

leave it up to jack white to convince a 73-year-old rockabilly icon cum born-again christian to growl her way through an amy winehouse cover. and she totally nails it. (so much so that if you try and picture a 73-year-old woman singing thorough the sultry breakdown about 3:45 in, it gets a little weird.) the whole album is a knockout. jackson is a force of nature. white’s an unequalled genius. end of story. -d

not quite what i had in mind when i typed ‘sun’ into the iTunes search bar, but man what a track. so dark, so ironious. the whole album is actually really interesting. epic and synthy like so many others, but with a hint of Reznorian creepiness bubbling just beneath the surface. the album isn’t due out for another week or so, but they’ve got loads of great stuff floating around the web to keep you busy till it’s out, including singles, videos, a tumblog and a soundcloud page with some sweet remixes. not bad for a band who has yet to release their debut LP. -d

feeling a little tired this afternoon. at 530 this morning, my niece told her mom she wanted to call her grandma on the east coast to tell her she’d lost a tooth. instead, she picked up the phone, sneaked off to the other room and called me in LA. :) i wish i could be tired every afternoon. -d

…so i’m posting two. -d

been listening to these guys a lot lately. i think the initial appeal came from presence of more than a little frightened rabbit in here. (and it’s not just the accent. he’s got that same plaintive yearn lodged somewhere between his heart and his larynx.) but their influence reaches well beyond the basic guitars and drums of scott and friends. there’s some shoegaze fuzz, plenty of electronics, even a banjo from time to time. i mean, it’s really interesting stuff. one of those bands you can’t really get a grasp on with just one song…