Read The Lastest Music News/Reviews

The band will be re-releasing NME's 2012 Track of the Year on July 1

After spending much of this year associated with French robots, super-producer Pharrell Williams is linking back up with world-conquering super villains. Williams helmed the soundtrack to the first Despicable Me, and now he’s contributing music to its upcoming sequel.

Among the three tracks Williams supplied is “Happy”,  a ’60s pop ditty that switches gears from sexy disco anthems. Williams lays down some effervescent organ, snappy handclaps, and lyrics so simplistic and joyful they’re irritatingly catchy (“Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof”). Listen in below.

The Despicable Me 2 soundtrack hits stores on June 18th. The film stars Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig, Steve Coogan, and Ken Jeong, and hits theaters July 3rd. Watch the trailer below:

The Feelies at The Bell House last Saturday (more by Greg Cristman)

Jangly post-punk legends The Feelies just played two NYC-area shows last week, and they've since announced the return of their annual July 4 shows, which they'll play in their hometown of Hoboken this year. The shows will happen on July 4, 5 and 6 at Maxwell's. Tickets to night 1, night 2, night 3, and all three nights are on sale now.

They've got a few other upcoming Northeast dates scheduled too. All dates are listed, along with a video of the band playing "Crazy Rhythms" off their classic 1980 debut LP of the same name at The Bell House last week, below...

Continue reading "The Feelies playing July 4 shows at Maxwell's (& other dates)" at brooklynvegan

The song will appear on the soundtrack to the animated Despicable Me 2.

As he did for Despicable Me, Pharrell (and collaborator Heitor Pereira) will be responsible for the music of the animated sequel. The first peak at the soundtrack is ‘Happy’, which finds Pharrell in soul-throwback mode a la Mark Ronson or Janelle Monae. It’s definitely one of his more, er, animated songs.

The Despicable Me 2 soundtrack is due out on June 18, with the film to follow in July. Pharrell recently teased a host of projects in the pipeline, and he appeared on an album you might have heard of. [via Atrilli]

Read and comment. From thedailyswarm.com.

If you’re heading to The Gorge for Sasquatch! this weekend, you probably already know to check out Sigur Rós, Vampire Weekend, Tame Impala, and other live favorites. But, as with Coachella, there are some hidden gems of the festival that you need to check out. Some are groups on the verge of breaking through, some are already great bands that just got a bum set time, and others are already popular artists who are going to have some special things in this setting that you may not have realized. So click here to start our list of the 10 less obvious must-see sets for Sasquatch ’13, and look for more coverage this weekend.

Read More...

The square in Granada honours the late frontman of The Clash

Modern Worship LP" title="Listen to two tracks from Hyetal's Modern Worship LP" width="685" height="666" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-155292" />

The Bristol producer unveils two new tracks as his sophomore album is pushed back.

Originally due out on May 20, Hyetal’s first album for True Panther, Modern Worship, is now scheduled for a release on June 3. In the meantime, enjoy these two Modern Worship cuts: the stuttering ‘Moving Statues’ (which takes a decidedly ravey turn halfway through) and the glossy, chiptuned ‘Jame The Network’.

Hyetal recently teamed up with fellow Bristolian Kowton as Systems of Desire, and will inaugurate hometown label Happy Skull. FACT recently spoke with Hyetal about escapism, synth-pop inspiration, and working with Jessie Ware.

photos by PSquared Photography

Tom Jones @ Bowery Ballroom, 5/18/2013

Jones's voice is so gigantic that it can seem like a put-on, and he's always known it; part of his charm is the way he'll play it up, often with a hoarse cackle at the end of a line, or between songs. But this is a good time for adult-leaning vocal interpreters from the rock generation, especially with atmospheric backing - see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's Raising Sand, for starters. Jones's new Spirit in the Room (Rounder), produced by Ethan Johns, isn't the first time Jones has put together something of this nature - Johns also produced 2010's gospel-leaning Praise & Blame - but it's clearly a departure from his Vegas-identified norm. - [Rolling Stone]

Tom Jones, who doesn't normally play small rooms like Bowery Ballroom, did just that this past weekend (5/18), one of a few club shows plugging his rootsy new album, Spirit in the Room. Those hoping for a glitzy, hit-packed set may have been disappointed -- only his 1966 #1 cover of "Green Green Grass of Home" was played (no "It's Not Unusual" or "Delilah") -- but they did get the Welsh legend's mighty pipes in an intimate setting without the sound of slot machines in the background.

Opening the night with a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Tower of Song," he also gave the audience earthy renditions of The First Edition's "Ju...

Here’s the playlist from today’s My Old Kentucky Blog Radio on SIRIUS XMU, Channel 35! Tune in to channel 35 on either SIRIUS or XM at Noon ET or 12am ET/9pm PST each and every Tuesday!

Night Moves – Country Queen
National Park System – Eggsong
Har Mar Superstar – Lady You Shot Me
Postiljonen – Supreme
Jack White – Love Is Blindness
Wampire – Trains
The National – Don’t Swallow The Cap
AELIUS – Echoes
Dead Times – Centuries
Pure Bathing Culture – Pendulum
Freeze-Tag – Hours (Ours)
Empire Of The Sun – Alive
Phoenix – Trying To Be Cool (RAC remix)
ASTR – Operate
Airbird and Napolian – In The Zone
Tim Woulfe – Joyce
No Joy – Slug Night
Chad & The Meatbodies – Mountain
The Love Language – Calm Down
Belle Mare – The Boat Of The Fragile Mind
Grouper – Living Room
Pascal Pinon – Bloom
Young Wonder – Electrified
Kisses – Hardest Part
Lockets – Surrender
Prides – Out Of The Blue
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak remix)

Return of the Loop Digga.

Madlib‘s sprawling collection of Beat Konducta records still stand as a high point in the producer’s career, and none hit harder than 2010′s Beat Konducta in Africa. Now he’s set to follow that up with a brand new 7″ entitled Rock Kondukta 45, which hints at the kind of sounds we’re due to hear from the forthcoming Rock Konducta LP. From the track previewed below it sounds like Madlib is going deep, draping a typically dusty rhythm with the kind of rock riffs that exist cut into 12″s and LPs most of us never knew existed.

The producer has also announced a very rare show on June 7 at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco, in which he will be exploring the sound of Zambian rock music or Zamrock for short. He’s not coming alone either, the last surviving member of cult Zambian rock act WITCH Emmanuel

There’s a couple of well-known versions of “Psycho Killer” already out there: the studio version which appeared on The Talking Heads’ debut album Talking Heads ’77, and the live version from the 1984 live concert film Stop Making Sense, where Byrne brings out a boombox, announces to the crowd, “I have a tape I want to play,” and goes into an acoustic version of the song. Now, there’s one more to add to the list.

According to the AV Club (via Dazed Digital), this version of “Psycho Killer” was recorded with singer/songwriter and, as evidenced on the track, noted cellist Arthur Russell. This particular version of the song will be included in a selection of previously unreleased Arthur Russell material, premiering at an exhibition in Detroit this Saturday. If you’re around Motor City area, you can find more info on the event here.

If you can’t make it, enjoy the somber cello underneath the new-wave classic, plus an alternate, more orchestrated version of Russell’s song “Oh Fernando Why”, also being presented at the Detroit exhibition.

Deafheaven at Public Assembly in 2012 (more by Greg Cristman)

As mentioned, San Francisco black metallers Deafheaven are releasing their new album, Sunbather, on June 11 via Deathwish. You've already heard the first single, "Dream House," and now they've let loose the title track, which like the last single, leans just heavily on shoegaze and post-rock as it does on metal. Check it out below (via FADER).

Deafheaven's tour with Marriages hits NYC for an Invisible Oranges-presented show on July 2 at Saint Vitus with NOTHING. Tickets for that show are still available.

Song stream below...

Continue reading "listen to the title track from Deafheaven's new 'Sunbather' LP" at brooklynvegan