1. Morning Benders “Promises”
2. Wavves “Post Acid”
3. Of Montreal “Coquet Coquette”
4. Cloud Nothings “Hey Cool Kids”
5. Surfer Blood “Floating Vibes”
6. Vampire Weekend “Giving Up the Gun”
7. Miniature Tigers “Bullfighter Jacket”
8. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin “Let It Sway”
9. Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”
10. Ra Ra Riot “Boy”
Christmas time is upon us, which for some means eggnog and carols. We here at Modern Mystery cannot supply you with eggnog, but we can give you the music to brighten up your holiday season.
Little & Ashley, whose music you’ve likely heard in commercials for Amazon’s Kindle, released a dynamite Christmas EP, entitled Winter Night, last month. The title track from that EP is currently available for free download via Amazon’s 25 Days of Christmas, as are a number of other wonderful holiday ditties.
But wait, there’s more! NY based band Sleepy Rebels also dropped a Christmas record this holiday season. The full-length LP, entitled Bah! Humbug!, is filled with original tunes worth adding to your collection. One such tune, “California Christmas,” is available for free download HERE. The band also shot a video for their song “Sweet Things,” which I’ve included below.
You may want to leave a key under the door for Santa this year, because with all the goodies he’s bringing, he just might not fit through the chimney. In his bag he’s got the latest from west-coast happy-folk darlin, Jenny O, her holiday gift, “Get Down for the Holidays,” releasing on Target’s The Christmas Gig. Do Santa’s back a favor and grab her other holiday single, “Prettiest Little Present,” for free, here.
Mixing influences from the 60’s and 70s along with her jazz-fueled hip hop and pop music, Jenny O’s new video, “Well OK, Honey” was shot with help from some friends in Humboldt County. View the video below and if you’re in the Greater Los Angeles area or looking for an excuse to get your Hollyweird on, Jenny O will be performing at the Bootleg Theater in February for four weeks.
February 7 – Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theater
February 14 – Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theater
February 21 – Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theater
February 28 – Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theater
Hailing from rooftop gigs and sweaty warehouse parties of New York City, Unstoppable Death Machines are excited for the release of their debut video “Slumlord”, the title track from the 7” EP released on Last Ever Records.
Directed by Scott Cramer, the “Slumlord” video is the perfect visual embodiment of Unstoppable Death Machines’ penchant for abrasive noise punk. Brothers Billy and Mike have emerged as one of New York City’s best noise punk bands and were recently featured in Village Voice and The Deli, garnering an ever-growing local fan base.
Playing venues nationwide on “self-booked, sweat drenched DIY tours”, Unstoppable Death Machines have shared the stage with bands like Ninjasonik, The Death Set, Zach Hill as well as performances at South by Southwest in Austin and CMJ. They will be touring with fellow New York punk band, Japanther and will kick off 2011 with a tour with Xry. Stay up to date with Unstoppable Death Machines and check out their debut video for “Slumlord”.
ON TOUR
1/3 – San Antonio, TX @ The Ten Eleven ^
^w/Xry
Don’t let the title of this post fool you, even though it doesn’t give any hint as to what the post is about. Delicate Steve just seem to invite this sort of diction – whether it be their unwaveringly funny PR email with quotes including, “We are as delicate as the wings of butterfly with AIDS. Anything could crush us. And until we all decide that art is the only thing that makes life livable, we’ll just be another instrumental five-piece from New Jersey.” and “I’ll fight anyone, for any reason. I’ll fight a dog for no reason. I’ve seen the inside of juvenile hall. I’ve tasted blood in my mouth. I’ve stepped on throats and I’ve thrown bottles at strangers. But that was all in the past. It’s still part of me, but – now – I use that intensity for good. I want to attack people with music the same way I used to attack them with my fists.” or the reminder they give us that life is more palatable when (metaphorically) take a la mode. Whatever that may mean to you, Delicate Steve fittingly leave almost everything up to interpretation. Being an instrumental band, in a way, you choose your own adventure. Take the video for single, “Wondervisions” featuring Dirty Projectors’ Nat Baldwin as an example.
Delicate Steve take you back to the days when basketball players wore shoes made vintage upon conception that offered no support whatsoever. And with that alone, a non-point has been made: if anything, Delicate Steve wanted to disassociate themselves from an effortlessly applicable “beach vibe” that gets slapped onto this kind of music (see Ducktails) and pit their music against an irrelevant backdrop. The result is you wonder why you’re watching two men play one-on-one while you dig on a fun little jam. And thanks to the power of editing, nobody misses a shot, and you don’t have to either because it’s streaming below. Look for Wondervisions out February 1st on Luaka Bop.
Some artists shy away from what could be considered controversial content in their music videos. The Glass gleefully dive in to questionable content headfirst, showing the (very negative) effects of drug use on their video for the song “Four Four Letter” in stark black and white contrast.
The song is off of the band’s latest At Swim Two Birds, which is out via Plant Music. You can also hear the Black Van remix of the song “Four Four Letter” right here.
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