The Crystal Ark, the duo project of singer Viva Ruiz and DFA’s synthesizer master Gavin Russom, premiered the video for their first 12″ release, “The City Never Sleeps,” available now on DFA Records, on FADER.
Viva Ruiz herself directed the video for this hypnotic dance song where zombie-like humans seemed to get resurrected by a goddess of the dance floor for a psychedelic finish. Added bonus: we get to see Gavin Russom show off his moves.
Watch the video below:
Mark your calendars: The English outfit British Sea Power will be releasing their fourth album Valhalla Dancehall on January 11th, 2011 via Beggars Group! The album, co-produced by BSP and Graham Sutton, who has worked with the band in the past, was recorded in South East England and on the Isle Of Skye in Scotland. They are suspected to come visit the U.S. for a tour in the spring so be on the lookout.
If you want to have a listen at a protected stream of the record, click HERE .
The four boys of Radio Silence NYC are adding their voices to the fight against bullying with the help of DoSomething.org in their first music video for the song “Renegade.” The video, directed by Ron Jaramillo, opens with the sad statistic that 6 out of 10 American teens witness bullying at least once a day, and is a valuable call to teens everywhere to do their bit in order for it to stop. The song’s chorus says it clearly, “hatred is the enemy.”
Watch the video below:
If you want to know more about the cause and ways to get involved, go to www.DoSomething.org.
As World AIDS Day on December 1st reminded us that AIDS is still a threat and continues to kill, good news came to us from the folks of 4AD and the Red Hot Foundation. In February 2009, 4AD released Dark Was The Night, a musical collaboration conceived and produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, and Red Hot founder John Carlin, and its sales have now raised $1,000,000 for charity!
The compilation is made up of 32 exclusive tracks by Arcade Fire, Blonde Redhead, Bon Iver, Cat Power, The Decemberists, Dirty Projectors + David Byrne, Grizzly Bear, The New Pornographers, Spoon, and Sufjan Stevens… the list goes on. Each band has recommended a charity to which the funds raised will be donated. This is the 20th album put out by The Red Hot Foundation, which has been working to help fight AIDS since 1989. You can still purchase it HERE.
Here is the list of the charities chosen to receive Red Hot grants:
Advocates For Youth (recommended by The National)
After Hours Project, Inc (recommended by Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings)
AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (recommended by Bon Iver)
A Loving Spoonful (recommended by New Pornographers)
Bronx AIDS Services (recommended by The National)
Camp Amerikids (recommended by The National)
Casey House (recommended by Kevin Drew/Broken Social Scene)
Central City Concern (recommended by Decemberists)
Citta (recommended by David Byne)
Housing Works (recommended by Dirty Projectors)
Nebraska Aids Project (recommended by Conor Oberst)
Out Youth (recommended by Iron & Wine)
Partners In Health (recommended by Arcade Fire)
San Francisco AIDS Foundation (recommended by Kronos Quartet)
Tamasha (recommended by Sufjan Stevens)
In addition to Terrence Higgins Trust, PSI/YouthAIDS, and CHAI.
The Duke Spirit are giving us a taste of their upcoming album Bruiser, due out on Shangri-La Music out in Spring 2011, with a free download of their new track, “Villain,” premiered on SPIN.com.
On this fiery track, we find the band’s leading lady, Liela Moss, on the piano, and singing as seductively as ever over hauntingly carnal guitar riffs. The British rockers are sure to leave you yearning for more new sounds with this one.
Listen to the “Villain” below, and download it for free HERE:
The Hush Now look like they might be starting a tradition. After last year’s sing-along tune “Wishing You A Happy Christmas,” they are returning this year with “On Holiday,” an ode to tropical end of year celebrations. With a Brazilian groove and cheery horns, the Bostonians’ new release will make you want to ditch Christmas trees, white snow and hand-knit deer sweaters for a cool cocktail on a beach with white sand and a guitarist playing a bossa nova arrangement of “Jingle Bells.” The single was recorded with Benny Grotto and Jeff Lipton, the same team behind the band’s latest EP, Shiver Me Starships, which you can get for free on their website HERE!
Listen and share The Hush Now’s love of Christmas below:
Modern Mystery 
You must be logged in to post a comment.