Dark Was The Night

I don't know if the all the hope in the air is bringing people together but there certainly has been a lot of collaborations popping up lately and I have to say I have just been stricken by the Dark Was The Knight charity compilation. An incredible tracklist with awesome artists collaborating on new material as well as expanding on old. The comp. comes out February 16th. Up till then a new track will be streaming everyday at their myspace. Below is my favorite track off the album so far (via widget), a reworking of an old Grizzly Bear song with Feist, alongside another equally good track put together by Dirty Projectors and David Byrne.

Download:
Dirty Projectors + David Byrne - Knotty Pine

Negative Surf

Seeing as you might as well catch more waves in your toilet bowl than anywhere else in Southern California, it is quite fun watching Brian Wilson forced to surf by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. (via dublab)

Black Lips

I opened up my email this afternoon and was pleased to find Black Lips' new track, "Short Fuse", off their upcoming sophomore full length 200 Million Thousand, due out February 24th, in my inbox. As Stereogum says, it draws on “state-mates R.E.M.'s jangly salad days in the verse, with plenty of weird whooshing space sounds to keep tight to their ‘flower-punk’ self-descriptors.”

Download:
Black Lips - Short Fuse
Black Lips - Starting Over

You may like to know that Black Lips are safe but have now fled India, where they were touring. They apparently have a very "short fuse" for on-stage nudity over there. Also, the bands video contest with vimeo.com for "Starting Over" is still up and running. Submit your video by February 15th, or until the video limit hits 200 million thousand.

Mi Ami

Mi Ami is a tropical punk band that includes ex-members from The Black Keys, Daniel Martin-McCormick and Jacob Long. At first their sound can be off putting due to screeching lyrics and schizophrantic rhythms, but as songs progress these bracing features seem to fade into a much larger wall of sound. Mi Ami has a very keen dub aspect about them. Their first single, Echononecho, was released today as a 12" and can be purchased here on Quarterstick Records. The band will also be releasing a full length, Watersports, on Feb. 17th (purchase here).

Download:
Mi Ami - African Rhythms
Mi Ami - Clear Light

Pacifika/Quiet Village Remix

Quiet Village's remix of Pacifika's "Sweet" is what I've been listening to as I have been here in pleasantly chilly Los Angeles, sipping red tea. The track is soft in texture and tells of a far more tropical location.

Download:
Pacifika - Sweet (Quiet Village Remix)

Vincent Markowski

Vincent Markowski is the Polish alias of producer Tom Tyler. His first single, "The Madness Of Moths," was released two years ago, and since his time spent with the moths he has done much. He traveled to Russsia, where after rummaging through some old Soviet relics he was able to acquire a suitable space capsule to see him safely on his trip through the cosmos. It was there that his new single, Dirty Capsules was forged. In late August of 2008, DC Recordings picked up a transmission from "The Space-Chrysalis," and is now happy to present the single to all grounded forms of life. Get ready for "echoing pulses, bass driven melodies, snatches of incomprehensible lyrics and haunting ambient atmospheres."

Download:
Vincent Markowski - Dirty Capsules

Fever Ray//Fuck Buttons

Fever Ray (aka one half of The Knife) released her self-titled debut today. There has been much buzz circulating around the outcome of this album, yet I have to say I have not really decided whether or not I like Fever Ray. You can see where The Knife's deep pulsating rhythms wore off heavily in the album, but Karin Dreijer adds her own eerily tribal vibe...and I don't know if I'm totally buying it. While "If I had a Heart" is good, Fuck Buttons added the extra drive that I needed. The remix will be out on the 26th as a b-side on the 7".

Download:
Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart (Fuck Buttons Remix)

Warpaint

Warpaint will be playing at the Echoplex tonight. Doors will open at 8:30 and I recommend everyone to go. The girl's voices will wash over you, winding around and around. Make sure to pick up a copy of Exquisite Corpse, their new EP, while you're there.

Download:
Warpaint - Billie Holiday

Here We Go Magic

Okay, so Pitchfork beat me to posting this...but I've decided to post it all the same. I had never heard of Luke Temple up until last week. I did not know that he had released previous material, especially in the folk vein. And, I could not help but look into Here We Go Magic, his new project, after hearing "Tunnelvision".

Developed over a two-month period of stream-of-consciousness recording in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Luke's self-titled debut under his new moniker Here We Go Magic is a remarkable departure from his signature singer-songwriter material. Luke recorded the album at home using analog synths, a cassette 4-track, and his trusty SM-57 mic, coloring the sound with warmth and creating textures you want to wrap yourself in.

Here We Go Magic will be hitting up a few venues on the East Coast alongside Department of Eagles.

Download:
Here We Go Magic - Tunnelvision

Abe Vigoda

Abe Vigoda were well received last year, and seems to be a little under credited to me, now that I have actually gotten to listen to Skeletons in its complete form. But what seems to be even more amazing than their past is the shift that has taken place between then and their Reviver EP, due out Feb. 17th. Though the band frolics in their accelerated, frantic rock, there has been revealed in the songs on Reviver a more defined thought process. The fact that they have slowed down says a lot. "Wild Heart", which lasts for 5:30, has monopolized my headphones since I first listened to it on this past, overcast, weekend in LA. The energy still remains whole heartedly within the music, yet is redirected and reveals a nostalgic side of the group that until now was hidden under an incessant need to be dialed a good twenty miles faster than the average human being. Make way for new and better changes in 2009.

Download:
Abe Vigoda - Wild Heart
Abe Vigoda - House