Hailing from LA, Fool's Gold merges Afro-Pop with Western-sounding tweed guitar as if the two generes were made for each other

I think this group is real gold! This tune here is a single off their upcoming LP that will be released in September. “Surprise Hotel” is certainly a refreshing effort. I’ve found it on the heels of all these afro-pop beats provided by The Very Best, and I must say that Fool’s Gold takes standard afro-pop harmonization and riddim and turns it into something truly unique. It bustles with the life of urban LA, but simultaneously hap-hazardly rolls through ghost towns like a tumbleweed from an old Wild West film. In the end, we arive someplace that’s part desert part African village. Grab this teaser to keep you anticipating the upcoming release in September.

Fool’s Gold – Surprise Hotel

Luke Top's solo effort, Friends, is out now

Luke Top, a member of, among other things such as Cass McCombs and Foreign Born, also dabbles in the aforementioned band Fools Gold. His solo album, Friends, is in stores now. Top, incidentally, was born in Tel Aviv and is the son of an Iraqi refugee. Like the bands he partakes in, he resides in LA. As evidenced by his past, his musical ideas are certainly eclectic.

Luke Top – Friends

Forest Sword's latest Limited Edition Casette features the new tune "Glory Gongs"

Forest Swords, who more famously released the single Miraches, have just released another limited edition Cassette (150 copies). This tune, “Glory Gongs” is some serious dub, mixed with a little bit of psychadelia. The reverby echoes swirl as squalks for vocals take center stage. The regaee inspired bass-line continues to provide the beat as new thoughts pop in and out of the song. Whether or not it’s worth the journey remains up to you. If you’re up for experimenting, then this is sure to please. If you want something more straight forward, well, see the post below about the Smith Westerns.

Forest Swords – Glory Gongs

Embryonic, the newest offering from The Flaming Lips, is due out within the next two months

The upcoming Flaming Lips album, Embryonic, looms large on the horizon with its monstrous 18 track playlist. This most recent offering allows us a glimpse into its vast halls. Although the majority of the album is still shrouded in secrecy (quite a feat in this day and age!) this little piece of bait is sure to keep my mouth watering for the next month or two. The tune itself is a dark, shifting piece that throws the traditional male-female vocal duo for a loop by creating a sound intentionally un-perfected, intentionally raw, but most of all, intentionally longing. Paired with the minor, almost baroque chord progression that snakes in and out of time, the overall result is that of sheer emotional power. Have a listen over at stereogum.

The self titled debut LP is out now.

The Smith Westerns burst into my itunes library with a rush of tweed and vintage sounding fuzz. This track features collaboration from fellow rockers Times New Viking. The simplicity and methodical thump of the floor toms complimented by the grinding of guitars on top of guitars makes for a pleasant interlude from all the non-sensical psy-surf-garage-punk floating around the internet latey. This band knows how to rock. They know how to make simple, cheerful tunes that’ll keep your head nodding and feet tapping. I’m trying my best to get my hands on their self-titled debut LP, but for now here’s Girl In Love.

These two songs below are new tracks from this collaboration. The first has been floating around the internet for a little while, but nonetheless has been officialy released! Warm Heart Of Africa is in many ways much like the MIA remix: upbeat, a simple chord progression that is developed by vocal harmonies throughout, and most of all, tribal. It’s a great late – summer track; a breath of cool air amidst the sticky month of August. The second track, Yalira, is not as upbeat. It’s a more introspective tune that builds over the course of four minutes. Taking its cues from dubstep, it features a slow backbeat with quicker vocals going on over the top. The highlight of this song is not the beat or the rhythm, as it is in other The Very Best tunes, but is the vocal and melodic development. Both are worth checking out!

Warm Heart Of Africa – The Very Best

Yalira – The Very Best

The reason it’s called Oink is the combination of OK and IN. Now, after a little research of my own (looking at my vinyl edition of OK computer for a bit), there is indeed a Pig on the inside album artwork and beneath it lies check boxes with A B and C, which leads me to believe that there could perhaps be a third album involved in all this (kid A?).

Before you scoff, at least hear the theories out. This summary, via Puddlegum.net:

Ten years after OK Computer shocked the world, Radiohead released In Rainbows on October 10 (10/10). Though no one was expecting the album to be released until 2008, Radiohead announced In Rainbows just ten days in advance. In Rainbows, which consists of ten letters, has ten tracks, and would be downloadable from a rumored ten servers.

Radiohead preceded the release of In Rainbows with nine cryptic messages. They repeatedly emphasized X, the Roman Numeral for ten, in phrases such as “March Wa X”, and “Xendless Xurbia”. The tenth message was posted on October 10 with a photo of the band drinking tea.

There has been a lot of speculation over Radiohead’s emphasis of ten surrounding the release of In Rainbows. One theory suggests that Radiohead was typifying a binary code of ones and zeros, 1010101010. This has come to be known as the Binary Theory, also called the TENspiracy by some.

Puddlegum first addressed the Binary Theory in Radiohead: 1010101010. Someone associated with Thom Yorke contacted Puddlegum, sharing Thom’s reaction to Puddlegum’s article:

“The meaning behind all of this is right in front of our faces, we’re just overlooking it. [Thom] has been expecting an article much like this one for a couple of years, as have I. But I’m willing to wager he’ll have fun waiting a few more. On the other hand, it seems to annoy him that no one ‘gets it’ yet, given the mountain of clues.”

Ten days after our original article, we have come to believe that OK Computer and In Rainbows were meant to complement each other. During the writing and recording process of OK Computer, Radiohead used the working title of Zeros and Ones. If OK Computer is represented by 01, and In Rainbows is represented by 10, then we have 01 and 10. In binary code 01 and 10 complement each other.

Consider that In Rainbows was meant to complement OK Computer, musically, lyrically, and in structure. We found that the two albums can be knit together beautifully. By combining the tracks to form one playlist, 01 and 10, we have a remarkable listening experience. The transitions between the songs are astounding, and it appears that this was done purposefully.

The lyrics also seem to complement each other. There appears to be a concept flowing through the 01 and 10 playlist. Ideas in one song is picked up by the next, such as “Pull me out of the aircrash,” and “When I’m at the pearly gates, this will be my videotape.”

To create the 01 and 10 playlist, begin with OK Computer’s track one, Airbag, and follow this with In Rainbow’s track one, 15 Step. Alternate the albums, track by track, until you reach Karma Police on OK Computer, making All I Need the tenth track on the 01 and 10 playlist. Follow Karma Police with Fitter Happier from OK Computer, for tracks eleven and twelve. These two tracks act as a bridge between the first ten and the following ten tracks on the 01 and 10 playlist. Then continue to alternate the albums again, picking up with Faust Arp on In Rainbows, with Electioneering on OK Computer as the following track.

Radiohead – 01 and 10 playlist:
1. Airbag (OK Computer)
2. 15 Step (In Rainbows)
3. Paranoid Android (OK Computer)
4. Bodysnatchers (In Rainbows)
5. Subterranean Homesick Alien (OK Computer)
6. Nude (In Rainbows)
7. Exit Music (For A Film) (OK Computer)
8. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi (In Rainbows)
9. Let Down (OK Computer)
10. All I Need (In Rainbows)
11. Karma Police (OK Computer)
12. Fitter Happier (OK Computer)
13. Faust Arp (In Rainbows)
14. Electioneering (OK Computer)
15. Reckoner (In Rainbows)
16. Climbing Up The Walls (OK Computer)
17. House Of Cards (In Rainbows)
18. No Surprises (OK Computer)
19. Jigsaw Falling Into Place (In Rainbows)
20. Lucky (OK Computer)
21. Videotape (In Rainbows)
22. The Tourist (OK Computer)

Luckily for you, I’ve done the legwork for you. This is a .zip of the playlist, as described. Whether you buy this or not, it’s certainly a fantastic listen. After doing it myself, I have to admit, the songs flow nearly perfectly. Like any vast project such as this, its not as absolutely precice as an album mastered and mixed down, but you hear how the songs flow beautifuly one into the next. Its precice to a point well beyond coincidence. What I recomment you do is, on your itunes, set crossfade to 10 seconds when you give this a listen. To do this, go to Itunes>Preferences>Playback>Crossfade and set it to 10 seconds. Now, this affects your entire library (you win some, you lose some). So after listening to this, you’ll have to take crossfade off. Have fun! Leave comments with thoughts. Also, to add to the theory of 10, the first ten songs on OK Computer are grouped together on the vinyl art, and songs 11 and 12 are distanced from the original group of 10. Hmm….

From start to finish. from a 20 minute Fireworks to a 15 minute In The Flowers, the band had me thoroughly engrossed for the 2 hour set. I was all the way up at the front, so the sound wasn’t the best, but the stage, which was apparantly designed specifically for the CElebrate Brooklyn shows, added so much to the show. There were tiki men, there were moving cardboard waves, there were all sorts of gimmicks.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the show was how the band was able to move from a-tonal highs to spaced-out psychadelic lows, and not only flow between them smoothly but also bring the audience along with them.For example, the medly from In The Flowers into Lablakey, and then out of that into Slippi was a perfect example. My favorite song of the night, though, was a Panda Bear tune they whipped out in the encore: Comfy In Nautica. It’s such an amazing tune.

I got to the show in time to see Dam Funk, one of the two openers, who happened to be pretty neat. He’s a DJ who claims to bridge east and west. He plays a whole bunch of 70′s and 80′s style funk music. A lot of it’s coming out of the UK (props, England), and although the crowd was really just waiting with baited breath for Animal Collective, they were sorta digging his music, which was nice to see. Then again, who DOESN’T dig funk?

…make me smile. Here’s a cool clip of fleet foxes doing “Your Protector” at the tail end of their recent tour promoting their self-titled LP, Fleet Foxes. Added bonus: the opening act, Dungon, came out and joined them for this tune. The audio’s a little shotty, but it gives you a glimpse at the awe-inspiring live performance that Fleet Foxes can deliver.

Fleet Foxes “Your Protector” with Gustav Ejstes of Dungen- First Avenue 8/9/09 from Stacy Cupcake on Vimeo.

Now, this tune may or may not be in the soundtrack. That hasn’t been confirmed. The only thing we DO know is that this is a fairly high quality new Radiohead. Thom Yorke’s voice is just as haunting as ever, and for one of the first times, the band employs a dropped C tuning! Not that it’s heavy at all; it’s not. In fact, the tune, “These Are My Twisted Words,” is an ambient sojourn. The band flows fluidly from melodic minor to phrygian modes, creating a dark, middle eastern texture that’s complimented by Thom’s smooth, reverb-y vocals. Like taking a drag from a hookah in the corner of a dark room, we inhale, hold in, and release the silky smoke.

Here’s a stream from youtube:

and here’s the actual song:

Radiohead – These Are My Twisted Words

Cool Jumper – WAVVES

On to something a little more mellow. The Bon Iver side project titled Volcano Choir has released its first single in advance of its upcoming LP, Unmap, coming out 9/22. As promised, the single features the melodic voice of Justin Vernon augmented by an electronic ensemble that creates soundscapes and corners of the musical world previously left unexplored by Vernon and Bon Iver. The new context in which his voice is featured certainly gives us a new glimpse at his marvelous vocal abilities as well as potential for what is to come on the album. Many have trepedations about Vernon venturing into the electronic world, but this new track should assuage any fears. His voice melds perfectly into the mix.

Island, IS – Volcano Choir