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Rapper Kitty (formerly known as Kitty Pryde) is behind the second single in Adult Swim’s Singles series. Titled Barbie Jeep, the Hot Sugar-produced song is Kitty in her element: it’s sarcastic, features a toy-like beat, and revolves around awkward real-life situations. The song chronicles her journey through a club and the touchy-feely environment it cultivates. Full of pop culture references like “I’ll send you up in the air/wingardium leviosa,” Barbie Jeep is definitely a song of the moment. If you’re in need of some quirky hip-hop, look no further.

The Adult Swim Singles series will continue throughout the summer; the next single comes from METZ. You can stream Barbie Jeep, below.

The post Kitty (Formerly Kitty Pryde) Drops “Barbie Jeep” For Adult Swim Singles appeared first on CMJ.

Things took a bit of a turn for Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver) in 2009, when he premiered

by Andrew Sacher

As mentioned, Volcano Choir (aka Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and the members of Collections of Colonies of Bees) are releasing their sophomore album, Repave, on September 3 via Jagjaguwar. We heard a little clip of it in the album trailer, and now they've revealed the full song, titled "Byegone." From the sound of things, this is already shaping up to a stronger album than Volcano Choir's debut. Check out the new single below.

Volcano Choir will bring their tour to NYC on September 14 at Webster Hall. Tickets for that show are still available.

Continue reading "listen to a new song from Justin Vernon's Volcano Choir" at brooklynvegan

As the self-professed greatest rapper in the world, Lil Wayne’s no stranger to controversy. Late last year, the Young Money honcho made headlines by threatening a lawyer during a deposition. Then, just recently, there was the whole non-apology to the Emmett Till estate over unsavory lyrics. Now, Weezy finds himself in more hot water as footage has surfaced in which he appears to walk all over an American flag.

The footage is taken from the set of Wayne’s video for “God Bless Amerika”, off his album I Am Not A Human Being II. A large U.S. flag drops down behind Wayne, at which point he performs on top of it.

It’s worth noting that “God Bless Amerika” has a number of different interpretations. Conceptually, it’s either 1) a meditation of America’s aggressive nature and military mindedness, or 2) a sweeping look at how mankind creeps closer to outright godlessness and moral decay.

It was clear things would be ending better than they began when I showed up in Williamsburg for the last day of Northside Festival. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits thanks to a false weather forecast — we showed up on Sunday expecting more rain and got surprised with a pretty nice day. Not that it mattered once you got to the dark, dingy Cameo Gallery for a showcase culminating with Light Asylum‘s stunning performance. If you haven’t been to the Cameo Gallery it deserves a little bit of explanation. Walking in makes you feel like a character in Goodfellas as you move to the back of a crowded bar, go down a hallway past the kitchen and finally find an unmarked white door splotched in paint. Go through and you’re in another world. A small intimate space that’s dimly lit at best

Andrew W.K. might want to stock up on a some ice packs soon. The musician and party master will attempt to set a new world record for the longest drum session in a retail store by drumming for 24 consecutive hours during the O Music Awards, an awards show that celebrates the heavyweights of digital music, including Grimes (Must-Follow Artist On Twitter nominee) and Angel Haze (Best Web-Born Artist).

Andrew’s stunt, which will take place in an Oakley store (’cause his future’s so bright), is part of the Live Music Day Festival. Previous O Music Awards record-breakers have included Chiddy of the rap-pop duo Chiddy Bang, who set the record for the longest freestyle rap, and Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips, who set the world record for most concerts played in a 24-hour period. Think Andrew has what it takes?

Drumming nonstop for a whole day hardly seems like an easy task, but no need to pity the tenacious rockstar (or his arms): We hear that Questlove will be pounding it out with Andrew for the first portion of the drum-a-thon along with some other surprise drummers. Tune in here during the live awards event on June 19 to see how long Andrew keeps his drumsticks steady. Drum (and party) hard, Andrew!

The post Andrew W.K. Is About To Prove His Party Power Once Again appeared first on CMJ.

The Gaslight Anthem @ Coachella 2013 (more by Dana [distortion] Yavin)

Red Bull Sound Select is an ongoing series of monthly $3 shows in multiple cities around the country. Each show has a headliner and three local openers chosen by a curator. BrooklynVegan is one of the curators in NYC -- maybe you came to our Foxygen show at Knitting Factory. Stay tuned for our next show which is happening in September.

The series is already bringing big shows for a small price but in July they're going even bigger and even cheaper with 10 really big free shows in 10 cities all happening over the same weekend (7/26 & 7/27) including NYC at Irving Plaza on July 27 with The Gaslight Anthem, Dave Hause (of The Loved Ones), The Scandals, and Frances & the Foundation. Head to their page and click on the show of your choice to "request a ticket." Good luck.

That NYC date comes right inbetween The Gaslight Anthem's two big outdoor shows at Hudson River Park's Pier 26. The first of those shows is being opened by the Bouncing Souls (7/26), and the second by The Hold Steady (7/28). Tickets to both shows are still available.

Meanwhile. look for the continuing series of RBSS shows each month in NYC, Austin, Chicago, LA and Nashville, with more cities coming soon. NYC's next one is curated ...

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Speedy Ortiz - "No Below" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Speedy Ortiz - "Tiger Tank" (MP3)

Speedy Ortiz at Big Snow - 6/15/13 (via BrooklynVegan Instagram)

After catching Chance the Rapper at Europa on Saturday (6/15), I finished my day 3 of Northside Festival at Big Snow for the Exploding In Sound showcase. The place had already hit capacity by around 9 PM (not an everyday feat for Big Snow), and every band I saw was pretty great. The similarly styled stop-start post-hardcore of Grass Is Green and Two Inch Astronaut (who were playing much of the material from their new album, Bad Brother, out this week) was totally on point. Not only do both bands have the chops for their sometimes-technical sounds, but they've got a ton of power on stage too.

One of the main attractions of the night was Speedy Ortiz, whose debut album, Major Arcana comes out on July 9 via their new label home, Carpark Records. Speedy's a great band recorded, but they bring even more rage live. Singer Sadie Dupuis screams more, their guitars ring with layers of distortion, and guitarist Matt Robidoux ended up crowd surfing at least once. They have a great time on stage too. Performance stuff aside, one of the most memorable moments of the show was the drummer singing "Started From the Bottom" and then dedicating their next song to Yeezus.

And though Speedy was t...

Together Anthony Harrison and Arev Konn form Paco Sala, a dreamy synth pop band. Today, via Fact, the duo released “Impossible Places,” the first single off of its forthcoming LP Put Your Hands On Me. The pair’s previous record Ro-Me-Ro used an arsenal of synths to explore lightweight soundscapes, but from the sounds of “Impossible Places” we can expect more distortion, guitar pedals, and mysterious vocals.

The track itself spirals into a collage of smooth synthesizers and frenzied hi-hats; it’s pretty easy to picture this playing at dusk on some beach in southern California. It’s a promising start and signals an album that may sound more complete than the former. Aside from this teaser there isn’t much information about their forthcoming full length around. What we do know that it’s due out on Digitalis this fall. Stream “Impossible Places,” below.

The post Paco Sala Announce ‘Put Your Hands On Me’ And Reveal “Impossible Places” appeared first on CMJ.

Ruby Pins is the solo songwriting project of Lilian Maring, drummer for Grass Widow. On June 25, M’Lady’s Records will release her debut full-length, a haunting and carefully-crafted self-titled record written over the past three years. We’ve already heard the first single, “Chameleon.” Now here another cut, “Chariot.”

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Just over a minute into Yeezus, Kayne West is riding the malfunctioning-star-destroyer glitch-screams of “On Sight” when he poses a rhetorical question: “How much do I not give a fuck? Let me show you right now, ‘fore you give it up.” He repeats the question, as the screaming robots underneath him disappear into empty black space. Then, welling up like a chorus of angels, we hear a classic-level Kanye soul sample, one of those things that once made his music sound so life-affirming. It’s actually a gospel sample, a full choir pleading that “He’ll give us all we need,” their voices just slightly decayed, like they’re coming through an old speaker. And then that choir disappears just as abruptly, the robot roar returning, the laser-sounds pretty soon working like they’re fighting each other, like they’re pushing themselves so hard that they’re falling apart, while Kanye barks about dicks in mouths. He’s dangling his beloved old self before us, then snatching it back. A few songs later, as “New Slaves” — the defiant blast of wrath that weaponizes the so-self-conscious ambivalent consumerism that Kanye was doing way back on “All Falls Down” — is fading out, soul-sample Kanye comes back, cooing that he can’t lose in Auto-tune over celestial strings while Frank Ocean answers him back. That’s where the old Kanye becomes triumphant. He’...