New video for 'Chained' - The xx

Watch the awesome new video by The xx for the song 'Chained'. It was directed by Young Replicant and made in conjunction with The Creators Project. 'Chained' is part of The xx's most recent work 'Coexist', released in September. You can fully listen 'Coexist' if you go over the Best Albums of 2012 page.

You liked the new video? Watch a few more at the band's official website.

YesYou to release self-titled debut EP

YesYou's EP cover

YesYou is an indie dance-pop band from Brisbane, Australia, founded in 2010 by Jono Kirkham and Gav Parry. YesYou first appeared in the musical scene with the debut track 'Half Of It' in 2011 and recently they've been in the studio writing and producing new tracks. Their major influences are Foster the People, Friendly Fires and Mark Ronson.

YesYou's self-titled debut EP is finally finished and it will be released on November 2. Have a listen to the first brilliant single 'Frivolous Life' below.

[ YesYou's official website ]

Crystal Castles' new album (III) announced

Crystal Castles have finally revealed details on their new album (III).

Accordingly to Ethan Kath, who enterily produced the new album, (III) will sound like a completely different and new experience - he worked with a new pallete of sounds and everything was recorded to tape in the first take (no computers were used).

(III) is coming out on November 5. Plague and Wrath of God were the first two tracks to be released and there's already an official video for Plague.

Take a look at the album's tracklist below.

Best New Music Releases – October 2012

New month, new music! Here are some new music releases I suggest you to listen this month…

Andrew Bird doesn’t seem to stop for a minute! Break it Yourself was released March this year, but he’s already back with a new record! I guess one album wasn’t enough to contain all the music he created this year! Hands of Glory is out on October 30 and if you’re curious you can have listen to the opening track – Three White Horses.

Bat for Lashes will release her third studio album, The Haunted Man, on October 15. The producer, Natasha Khan stated that she had enough songs to put out as an album in 2010, but she chose to spend more time working on new material. Two years were certainly more time than expected, but such dedication will surely result in a great album. Check out three tracks: Laura, All Your Gold, Marilyn.

Lonerism, the new album from Tame Impala is out on October 5! Kevin Parker revealed that his recent obsession for pop melodies and pop chord progressions influenced the band’s sound. While in Innerspeaker they’ve used mainly guitars and no synths, in Lonerism they’ve surrendered to synths, drum machines and samples. The whole album is available over NPR, check it out!

Boys Noize’s new upcoming album Out of the Black will be released on October 16. Listen to the two awesome tracks available: XTC and What You Want. While XTC is a classic Boys Noize track with a touch of weirdness that makes it feel like a trip, What You Want attempts to catch the raw and rough sound of Ridha's earlier music.

Flying Lotus’ new album was released today (October 2). Until the Quiet Comes is an electronic jazz album influenced by african percussion, psychedelic music, human-subconscious and dream world concepts. It was very well received my music critics so you should definitely have a listen to the full album here.

Muse New Songs Revealed One Week Before The 2nd Law Release

Muse new songs were revealed at E-Work gig in Cologne (Germany) on September 20th.
The band played five new songs that are part of their upcoming album The 2nd Law, to be officially released on October 1st.

Muse - The 2nd Law Cover Art

If you're a big fan of Muse and you are desperate to listen some new material, even if it is a poor live recording, follow these links to the songs: Supremacy, Panic Station, Animals, Save Me and Follow Me.

Muse also started the Connectome project to reveal the album's last track - The 2nd Law: Isolated System. The more people join the project, the more of the new song will be revealed.
At the moment, 35% of the track has been unlocked and made available at the website in decent quality!

Carly Rose Sonenclar - Amazing Audition On The X Factor

Carly Rose Sonenclar is the newest superstar born on the american tv show The X Factor. For her audition in Providence, she chose to sing Feeling Good by Nina Simone and her performance was so good The X Factor judges approved the contestant immediately.

Carly is only 13 years old but she is really confident and her voice is absolutely amazing. She began singing when she was 2 and during her childhood she took singing, dancing and acting classes.
Carly worked a lot to reach this level and she's undoubtedly one of the favorites to win the competition.
Even if it doesn't happen, thanks to her amazing talent she will certainly have a very successful career in the music business.
In fact, she already has - she played roles for several musicals - but The X Factor audition granted her a big exposure and a passport to fame! Clever move, uh? Good luck Carly!

The xx 'Coexist' Full Album

The xx's new album Coexist is finally available for streaming, one week before its scheduled release date (September 11). If the player above isn't working, you can listen it at NPR.org.

The first listen left me a bit disappointed. After a three year hiatus I was hoping the band would have searched and explored a new kind of minimalistic sound, different from their debut's.

They don't sound enough experimental. I think they have repeated themselves a bit, making use of the same soft and quiet melodies that guaranteed them universal acclaim in 2009.

I guess with a couple of more listens it will eventually grow on me. One thing is certain though: Coexist won't be as memorable as xx.

Muse: the first band to play in space?

In a recent interview for MTV News, Muse's bassist Chris Wolstenholme talked about their latest work and made a surprising revelation.

When questioned about the band's ambitions for the future, Chris said that hopefully they will be the first band to play in space. He wasn't sure if gravity would allow him to play though.
Someone must have been skipping physics classes back in High School!

Well, I admit I skipped a few classes too and his sentence left me so curious I had to do research on this.

August 2012: Best New Music Releases

September is just around the corner and school summer holidays are almost over. Sadly, it's time to return to our boring daily routines... But not before spending some time listening the best new music selection! Check out the top songs for August 2012 (to listen a particular song press the headphones icon).

Grizzly Bear - Yet Again


Wild Nothing - Shadow


Animal Collective - Today's Supernatural

Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon

Two Door Cinema Club are a three piece rock band from Northern Ireland. The trio was formed in 2007, when they decided to give up their university degrees to try their luck in the music business.

They spent three years working hard and releasing studio material, when they finally caught everyone's attention in 2010 with Tourist History, their debut album.
The record was positively received by critics and soon they achieved success with popular hits such as Something Good Can Work, What You Know and I Can Talk.

Now, Two Door Cinema Club returns with their sophomore album, Beacon.

The fans that became really attached to their debut's sonority won't certainly be disappointed since the band used the same winning formula: short, clean and catchy.

Fans who look for creativity will get tired after a couple of listens, since it sounds all the same. It's likable and listenable, but they basically attempted to replicate Tourist History.

The album is out September 4, but you can already listen to it below. Enjoy!

The 27 Club: Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison is one of the most iconic frontmen in rock music history. Following The Doors' explosive rise to fame in 1967, Morrison developed a severe alcohol and drug dependency that burned him out. He was sentenced to jail because of his rebel behavior in a Miami concert that nearly derailed the band. He started a revolution that ended up with two warrants: one for indecent exposure and the other for use of obscene language.

In the months following the incident, he decided to take a break from his wild lifestyle and told his band mates and friends that he and his long-term companion, Pamela Courson, were going to Paris to be alone. Back in Los Angeles, The Doors continued to rehearse without him.

On July 2 of 1971, in Paris, he went to see a movie and came back home complaining of chest pains. In the middle of that night, Pam found him dead in the bathtub.

Only Pam and the doctor who signed the death certificate ever saw Jim Morrison's body. There was no autopsy. That prompted endless speculation: did Morrison fake his death and disappeared to get away from the courts and the spotlight? Did he buy heroin from a french dealer and overdosed? The exact cause of his death is still disputed.

Listen to new Muse song "Madness"

Muse will be releasing their first single of The 2nd Law today. Zane Lowe will be premiering Madness at 19:30 BST (British Summer Time) on BBC Radio 1, followed by an interview with Matt, Chris and Dom.

If the waiting is killing you, you can hear a 1 minute sample from a Korean music website here.

Madness sounds like a really simple electro-pop song, based on 12-bar blues chord progression, which is typically used in gospel, soul and rnb.

UPDATE: Listen to the full song below!

Muse's dubstep song revealed: Unsustainable

A new Muse song was released just now!!! It's called Unsustainable and it is the 12th track of their new album!

Do you recall hearing a dubstep based song in The 2nd Law album trailer? That song was made available in its entirely to select fans who pre-ordered the band’s sixth studio album, and it has been leaked to Youtube! Everyone was left surprised and shocked because of its sonority (something not usual from Muse)!

Live music concerts

A few days ago, back when I posted the link for Lollapalooza stream, some of my readers really liked it and thanked me for letting them know about the live transmission of the music festival.

Due to the positive feedback of that post, I've decided to search for live music concerts, and I've found a channel over Youtube that will broadcast concerts from some pretty decent bands: Bloc Party, Yeasayer, Quicksand, Wye Oak, Bon Iver and Metric.

New The xx: Chained

The xx have revealed today the second track of their upcoming new album Coexist. The track is called Chained and the band stated the song was written towards the end of the recording process of the album. Mark your calendars folks, because the release date is near! Coexist is coming on September 10th/11th (US)!

Do you want to sing along? Here are the lyrics!

Lollapalooza 2012 live stream!

Lollapalooza 2012 starts today! The band who will open this well known american music festival will be on stage in a few minutes! If you're reading this, you probably aren't going to attend the music festival, but do you know what? Good news!
A live stream of Lollapalooza will be available during all the weekend at a dedicated channel over Youtube, transmitting a great number of performances. Make sure you stay tuned!

UPDATE 1: Lollapalooza was suspended due to dangerous weather conditions!

New music by Tame Impala, Crystal Castles, Bloc Party and TDCC

Tame Impala return with their second album, Lonerism, out October 2012. Following Innerspeaker, their 2010 debut album, Lonerism is a whole new level of cosmic sounds. The lead single was finally revealed!

If you liked it, have a listen to Apocalypse Dreams, another track off the album!

---

Crystal Castles will return in late September with their still untitled third album. They have unveiled a new single, Plague, the first one off their upcoming album. Have a listen!

---

Bloc Party released a new song from their upcoming album Four, coming out August 21 in the US and August 20 in the UK. Listen to Day Four below!

---

Two Door Cinema Club will release their second album, Beacon, on September 4. The album's first single, Sleep Alone, is already available! It seems the band chose to stick with the winning formula of their 2010 debut album... I guess they thought "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

New music videos!

Bat For Lashes will release her new album, The Haunted Man, in the UK on October 15 and in the US on October 23. She has recently released a studio version of the lead single, Laura, along with its music video. The song is a piano ballad and the clip creates a romantic scene that fits with the melody.

The Gaslight Anthem's fourth album, Handwritten, was finally released today (July 24)! The band have also released the music video for the track Handwritten a few days ago. The clip shows us how a musician builds up a record and how can it influence other people's lives.

Finally, let me show you another one from Lana Del Rey's Born to Die! It's the music video for the track Summertime Sadness, which tells the story of Alma Mahler's life, a Viennese-born socialite well known in her youth for her beauty and vivacity.

Three hot new singles!

Muse unveils The 2nd Law tracklisting

Muse finally revealed, in an official announcement, The 2nd Law tracklist:

Supremacy

Madness

Panic Station

Prelude

Survival

Follow Me

Animals

Explorers

Big Freeze

Save Me

Liquid State

The 2nd Law: Unsustainable

The 2nd Law: Isolated System

Their upcoming sixth studio album is set to be released worldwide on 17 September 2012. The band's latest song, Survival, is the official song of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. You probably have already listened to it, since I posted it a few weeks ago, but you should definitely have another listen to get ready for this highly anticipated new release!

EDIT: The 2nd Law official cover art was revealed on 30/7. Here it is:

July 2012: Best New Music Releases

For almost a year I've been gathering the list of albums being released every month, but I realized that was not worthy. Some of my readers often tell me they don't even know some of the bands from the monthly lists. Thanks to their feedback, from now on I've decided just to mention the best new music releases. Check out below the recommended albums for July!

Baroness - Yellow & Green


Yellow & Green is the third studio album by the American rock band Baroness. The album will be out on July 17. Three singles have already been released! Make sure you check them out: Take my Bones Away, March to the Sea, Eula.

Blood Red Shoes - In Time To Voices


In Time To Voices is the third album by Brighton based rock band Blood Red Shoes, and it will hit USA/Canada stores on July 24 (the album is out now in the rest of the world though). Check out two official music videos the band have released for two tracks off the new album: Cold and Lost Kids.

Fang Island - Major


The Brooklyn party-rock band Fang Island are about to return with a new album! Major is the follow-up to their debut record and it will be out on July 24! Have a listen to Asunder and Sisterly, two tracks off the album!

Listen to Survival by Muse (new single)

The first single from Muse's next album - The 2nd Law - will make its debut today on BBC Radio 1 (7:30 PM, UK time).

The band have also announced the new song Survival has been selected by the Olympic committee to be the main official song for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The album trailer released 3 weeks ago left the fans surprised. Some fans seem to dig the dub-step based song, while others don't like it at all and beg for a heavy guitar riffs album.

Will Muse be able to please everyone? Do not miss the debut of the song on BBC Radio 1 or later via iTunes.

UPDATE: Survival has surfaced Youtube. Check it out!

Swedish House Mafia break up

Today is a sad day for Swedish House Mafia fans. The house trio announced via their official website that when their current tour comes to an end, they'll split up and go separate ways.

No one truly knows the reason why they broke up, but rumors say they got tired of each other's company and they started to feel uncomfortable working together.

For now they stated only three show dates. The final part of their tour will be announced in August.

Swedish House Mafia Last Tour Dates:

Milton Keynes Bowl, England (July 14)

Ushuaia, Ibiza (July 4 – August 29)

Friends Arena, Sweden (November 24)

Listen to DIIV's debut album Oshin

DIIV are a four piece Brooklyn indie rockers who have recently appeared in the music scene.

The band was formed in 2011, when Zach Cole Smith decided to start a project of his own, later recruiting three of his childhood friends.

They were previously known as Dive, but unfortunetly there was a 90s Belgian band named Dive already, and they had to change the band's name (there was no lawsuit though).

Their music is a mix of dream pop and shoegaze with sounds of early 80s British bands like The Cure.

After releasing three singles, DIIV will finally release its debut full-length album, Oshin, on June 26. Guess what... good news! The record is fully available for streaming, via Hype Machine. Just press play in the player below and let yourself float through the sound waves.

Green Day to release three new albums

Green Day claim they are living the most creative moment of their lives. And it really seems so because the band will release a triology of albums titled ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré!. The albums are scheduled to be released on September 25, 2012, November 13, 2012, and January 15, 2013 respectively.

Why a triology? The band said the songs just kept coming and coming, until they realized they had plenty of good material that wouldn't fit in just one album.

The band have recently released the official trailer for ¡Uno! as well as the album cover. Check it out below!

Radiohead performs a new song in Chicago (Full Stop)

Radiohead performed live in Chicago this Sunday night. When Thom Yorke announced "We have never played this before", the crowd gone crazy and immediately started to go along with the new song - apparently named Full Stop.

Fortunately there were a few people who got it recorded so we can also enjoy the brand new song. Watch one of those videos below!

New Bloc Party, Muse and The Killers albums!

Bloc Party's upcoming record, Four, is scheduled for release on August 21. There are no full length tracks to stream yet, but you can check out a trailer for the record that includes fragments of the new material.

On September 18, Muse will release their new album, The 2nd Law. The announcement came with a two minute trailer that portrays a global financial crisis and a reporter stating that the world's energy supply has come to an end. None of this is revealing, but in the end of the trailer a dubstep breakdown kicks in and it makes us wonder if the band's sonority will be influenced by this kind of music, that is becoming more and more popular nowadays.

The Killers will release their fourth album, Battleborn this fall. The band has also uploaded a trailer recently, featuring an instrumental track which might be an excerpt of the album's first single.

Johnny Depp plays two songs with The Black Keys

Johnny Depp never stops surprising me! Besides being one of the best actors of all time, he is definitely a man of many talents.

You probably don't remember (even if you've been following my blog since its beginning), but one of my first posts was about the song Society, by Eddie Vedder (from Into the Wild OST). By that time, I've found a live performance of the song where Johnny Depp supported Vedder and played along with him.

Today I was reading about MTV Movie Awards, and what have I found? A video of Johnny Depp playing with The Black Keys at the ceremony, and I must say he did a great job... Watch the videos below! (They might not be available in your region, and for that I am sorry)!

Get More: The Black Keys - Gold on the Ceiling featuring Johnny Depp (Live), Music, More Music Videos

Get More: The Black Keys - Lonely Boy featuring Johnny Depp (Live), Music, More Music Videos

June 2012 Album Releases

June is here and summer music festivals are just around the corner! It's clearly evident many bands take advantage of this time of the year to release and promote their new records!

The Smashing Pumpkins.

Recommended New Music:

Hot Chip - In Our Heads
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Liars - WIXIW
Metric - Synthetica
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Americana
The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
The Beach Boys - That's Why God Made The Radio
The Flaming Lips - The Flaming Lips & Heady Fwends
The Tallest Man on Earth - There’s No Leaving Now
The Temper Trap - The Temper Trap

Check out more upcoming music releases for June 2012!

Sweden wins Eurovision 2012

Loreen, from Sweden, won the 2012 edition of the Eurovision contest, which took place this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.

With 372 points, the song Euphoria was the most voted, leading Sweden to victory among 26 countries present in the grand final.

This was the fifth time the country won the competition (the last one was in 1999). With this accomplishment, Loreen guaranteed her country will receive the next edition of Eurovision, in 2013.

Stream new albums coming out in May

NPR’s First Listen series is streaming new releases from Saint Etienne, Regina Spektor, Sigur Rós, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and The Walkmen. Just follow the link to the album(s) you want to listen to.

Saint Etienne - Words and Music (May 21st)
[Synthpop, alternative rock, house]

Words and Music is the forthcoming eighth studio album by Saint Etienne.

Regina Spektor - What We Saw From the Cheap Seats (May 29th)
[Anti-folk, indie rock]

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats is the sixth studio album by Russian–American singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. The album is a collection of new material along with the studio recordings of several of Spektor's older live songs.

Sigur Rós - Valtari (May 29th)
[Post-rock, ambient]

I previously posted about their first single, Ekki Múkk. Now you can fully listen the sixth full-length studio album by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós!

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Here (May 29th)
[Alternative]

Check out Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros' second LP!

The Walkmen - Heaven (May 29th)
[Alternative]

The album was completed in early March and I bet the waiting was making the fans quite desperate. Fortunetly we now have the chance to fully listen Heaven, the band's seventh LP, a week before its release! Enjoy!



And also, thanks to Hype Machine, I bring you the new record from Lemonade. It's titled Diver and it will be out on May 29th. Just press play in the player below.

Two new songs by The xx

The xx returned to the stage to finally present us songs from their new record. The band have been playing a series of exclusive shows in their hometown - London, but soon they'll start to tour the rest of United Kingdom and Europe.

Two songs they performed were leaked to the Internet - one of them is untitled and the other one is called As I Am.

Watch the footage below!

Enterro da Gata 2012

Enterro da Gata (portuguese for The Burial of the Cat) is a major event that takes place in Braga (Portugal) every year in May, before the beginning of the study period preceding the school year's last exams. The cat represents the unwanted academic failure.

The week starts off with the funeral and the Serenata (Serenade) on Friday, reaching its peak with the Cortejo Académico (Academic Parade) on Wednesday, when students from the universities march through the downtown streets till they reach the city hall, where they greet the Mayor.

During every night of the week a series of concerts takes place on the event's venue; the students in the second year build small tents where alcoholic beverages are sold to finance their parade through the city.

Here are the artists that will perform on the event.

Why am I telling you about this? Because a friend of mine invited me to work as a DJ on Tuesday (May 15th) in a tent, and I accepted.

I'll be working on my set for the next couple of days, and of course I'll be having fun with my friends at the venue.

Someone suggested I should publish my music selection for the session and I really liked the idea, so it will be posted when the event is over.

I'll try to give my best and I hope people have fun listening to my set. Stay tuned!