Maybe it’s just me but instead of rejoicing at the idea of James Mercer and Danger Mouse working together I was generally annoyed. So I thought, okay, I’ll give it a whirl. Instead, I was even more annoyed by the duo Broken Bells‘ music video for “The High Road” than the song itself. A couple months back St. Vincent’s video for “Marrow” utilized the same desolate rode schema that has been ubiquitious in various forms of media (think the climactic scenes of Seven or North by Northwest – something about encountering different types of crazy while walking about on an isolated road has captivated audiences for decades). In the end, I say “meh” to Broken Bells; I’m not surprised and not really amused. Maybe I’m just bitter, but although “The High Road” is well done and well produced, it doesn’t take me anywhere I haven’t been before. Compare the videos for yourself below. Also, St. Vincent will be at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas February 15.

Broken Bells “The High Road”

St. Vincent “Marrow”

by: Bene Garcia

Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk have a new record in the works entitled Skeletor and Me and to give a preview the band is offering their track “Jeremy Irons Couple Skate” as a free download. The song itself scales back their usual ramshackle distortion in favor of a more haunting production style not far removed from the minimalism of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. Look for BBDDM during their west coast tour which begins Januray 30 in Bellevue, Washington.

Download “Jeremy Irons Couple Skate” here
See all of BBDDM’s tour dates here

posted by: Harold Johns III

From Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr – Virgin Records 1999

posted by: Harold Johns III

Specter‘s latest project, a series of hand painted billboards to coincide with “The Gentrification of Brooklyn: The Pink Elephant Speaks” show at MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts), took two months to create and can be seen throughout Brooklyn. (source: Wooster Collective)

John Brown

Blackbear Bosin

Langston Hughes

posted by: Tricia Rock

Surfer Blood‘s first album Astro Coast is full-fledged guitar rock with an album’s worth of catchy, generally radiant songs that intermingle power-pop circa Weezer, Big Star and Dinosaur Jr. with sporadic doses of Afro-pop ala Paul Simon’s Graceland. Over the course of an entire album lead singer John Paul Pitts’ distant-sounding voice can feel weak at times yet Astro Coast never wavers in its momentum, largely due to the irresistible interplay of guitar riffs and a clean, no-frills production style. Overall Astro Coast is a stellar debut album built from a time-honored tradition of big riffs and lasting melodies, one Surfer Blood will surely continue to explore as they win over both frat boy bro hams and twee hipsters alike.

Astro Coast is out now via Kanine Records.

Watch John Paul Pitts strip down to his tighty whiteys in Surfer Blood’s video for “Swim”

Look for Surfer Blood in a city or town near you:

posted by: Harold Johns III