Cults- "Go Outside"

This cool track by mysterious Brooklyn duo Cults is getting some hype and it definitely shows some promise for the band. The sing song melodies and tropical, punchy percussion of "Go Outside" bring to mind acts like The Ruby Suns or The Flaming Lips. The band has made "Go Outside" and two other tracks available for free on bandcamp so check that out or stream the song below.

Cults- "Go Outside" from Cults (via Weekly Tape Deck)

Anti-Apartheid Poetry, DC Shows, Etc.

Welcome back. Been kind of slacking with posting lately so here's a bunch of goodies.

I had this awesome guest lecturer yesterday for my US-Africa Policy course named Dr. Keith Gottschalk. He grew up in South Africa during apartheid and would read his poetry at anti-apartheid rallies. He performed a few for us and I managed to find some more of it here.

For those readers reporting from the DC area, there are some awesome shows coming up.

The Black Cat
Wed Mar 24- THE RUBY SUNS, TORO Y MOI $10 Backstage 9:00
Thu Apr 15- OWEN PALLETT (formerly Final Fantasy) $15 Mainstage 8:00
Fri Apr 23- THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH, NURSES $12 Mainstage 9:00

Tobacco To Drop Maniac Meat

Above you can see the predictably terrifying album artwork for Tobacco's new album, the similarly predictably titled Maniac Meat. Tobacco is the alias of Tom Fec, a member of the mysterious collective of bubblegum psych weirdos Black Moth Super Rainbow. Tobacco's work expands off the sugary psychedelic synths, vocoder vocals and general lo-fi weirdness that Black Moth Super Rainbow has become known for. But Tobacco's work owes more to hip-hop and dance than anything else the group has done. Tobacco's 2008 debut Fucked Up Friends is one of my favorite albums and is definitely an underrated 2008 gem.

No official tracks are available yet but we do know Beck will be featured on two tracks! Additionally, if you head over The Hairy Cult, which seems like it is run by someone closely affiliated or enamored with all things BMSR, you can find what I presume is some early demos from Maniac Meat. If your a fan of BMSR or Tobacco, definitely check out some of the other posts, the guy has uploaded a bunch of awesome rare tracks, demos and other cool stuff.

In other Black Moth news, I am currently listening to keyboardists The Seven Fields of Aphelion's debut solo album Periphery. Definitely not as compelling as Tobacco's work, but cool nonetheless.

Life Magazine Profiles The Great Liteary Boozers & Drug Addicts

Found this awesome article on boing boing. Having read work by many of the authors mentioned, it provided insight into some of their interesting writing styles. The embedded gallery doesn't list their names but you should know them already! If you don't, click the link at the top of the gallery for the article on Life's website, complete with the author's name, drug(s) of choice and some hilarious quotes. Dig it.

Caribou- "Odessa"

Caribou is the moniker of Canadian electronic musician/multi-instrumentalist Daniel Snaith. Although I dug a few tracks from his 2007 Polaris prize winning album Andorra, I never really quite understood all the praise that it got. But I could definitely respect it; it's undeniable that the man has a knack for composing some interesting and catchy tunes.

A few days ago, Merge Record announced the release of Caribou's new LP Swim on April 20th and debuted the album's first single, "Odessa." Upon listening to "Odessa" for the first time, I was instantly drawn to it more than any of the tracks on Andorra. The track has Snaith's ethereal vocals and smooth melodies, both familiar dynamics of Caribou's music. But its funky bass line, dissonant background noise and simple percussion give the track a certain danceable feel that was absent on Andorra. "Odessa" has got me excited for Swim, despite any gripes I might have had with Andorra. If Snaith is able to blend his unique palette of sounds with more rhythm-oriented, upbeat dynamics, Swim may be one of the most interesting releases of the year and certainly a restorer-of-faith, so to say.

Download "Odessa" by clicking the album artwork above or stream the track below.

Caribou- "Odessa" from Swim (via I Guess I'm Floating)

Liars- Sisterworld (2010)

By now, Liars probably need no introduction. After putting out two stunning LPs, 2006's Drum's Not Dead and 2007's Liars, the New York City trio have returned as strong as ever with 2010's Sisterworld. The record lies halfway between the ambitious noise/heavy percussion of Drum's Not Dead and the more straightforward punk of Liars. What comes out is kind of like the bastard child of Radiohead and Sonic Youth. "No Barrier Fun" is a haunting combination of pulsating percussion, throbbing bass and eeire violins, while "Scarecrows On A Killer Slant" could be the heaviest thing Liars have done, full of sadistic lyrics and blaring guitars. The rest of the record employs all the dynamics Liars have been perfecting over the years: the haunting lyrics and moans of Angus Andrew, the experimental guitar soundscapes of Aaron Hemphill and of course the captivating percussion of Julian Gross. Even the dance punk of the band's early albums is present. The result is a masterful mix of punk and unfettered noise that might make Sisterworld Liars' most focused and well written release to date.

Sisterworld comes out on Mute on March 9th and will feature a bonus disc of remixes by artists like TV On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, Atlas Sound and Thom Yorke. Click the album artwork to sample the record but be sure to pre-order it or buy it when it comes out.

Pantha du Prince- Black Noise (2010)

I'm just gonna get this in there, before all (well, before some of) the hype, the new Pantha du Prince album Black Noise rules. I first heard of this dude from his remix of Animal Collective's 'Peacebone,' but apparently he's been putting out music in Germany for a couple years now. His latest effort, 2010's Black Noise features contributions from Animal Collective's Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) and !!!/LCD Soundsystem bassist Tyler Pope. It's hard to describe, but I've seen the term minimal techno thrown out there a lot so I'll stick with that. Definitely more chilled out than The Field, it's mostly more ambient stuff. He does drop a couple heavier beats throughout the album. Anyway, I'm expecting some good reviews for it once it drops on February 8th on Rough Trade, so be the first one in your circle of friends to be repping this awesome album. Click the album artwork to sample.

Pantha du Prince- Stick To My Side (feat. Panda Bear) via morecowbell.net
Animal Collective- Peacebone (Pantha du Prince Remix) via hype machine