I have slowly been falling for Beach House this winter, moving from that stage of "huh what is this, let's fastforward on my iTunes" to "oh hmm?" to "singing along," and so am gratified to hear a new song today from their forthcoming fourth record.
And you can download the mix here. The new album is out today in the UK; the whole thing can be heard here.
Of course NME and Pitchfork are trying to make it all about a beef with Radiohead (who, by the by, do tend to get overpraised even though, no, they don't blow) but the point is: Beck has a new song up for streaming on his website. Be patient if it takes some time to load (as it did for me). The new track isn't actually "10 and a half minutes of insanity," though "Harry Partch" is indeed a very engaging and lovely tribute to the American oddball composer of the same name.
Morrissey's last album, 2009's "Years of Refusal," was so much better than it had to be—with at least three tracks that were actually terrific, A+ Morrissey material, and at least three more that were solidly really good. So the advance from his new album (which does not yet have a label??) is disappointing—he played three songs live on BBC Radio 2 last night and they were not so enjoyable! (Despite each of them having pretty terrific Morrissey titles.) Above is "The Kid's a Looker," the one I like best. Perhaps these songs will be formulated, in their final versions, into wonderfulness?
Surely we will be discussing this at great length come its release later this month, but for now, all of Destroyer's new album Kaputt is streaming online. You can put it in your ears via your computer while you "work" today.
Here is a much more effective and fun way to donate to the Japan earthquake relief cause than sending a bunch of text messages: a series of upcoming benefits organized by John Zorn. The first has sold out, it looks like (on Sunday March 27 at Columbia's Miller Theater), where Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, Marc Ribot and a bunch more are performing. At that benefit and at least three more to follow, 100% of the money will be going to the Japan Society's Earthquake Relief Fund. For-real charity + free radical music = good deal all around, right? Last night, The Awl emailed back and forth [...]
Oh my God, I heard the new Britney song on the radio. For those of you who do not have radios or did not know there was a new song by Britney Spears that "leaked" yesterday on the Internet (AKA how we release music now), you are living in a world where you have not come face-to-face with the monstrousness of contemporary emptiness. I say this as a person who owns Britney Spears albums! As a person who is resolutely unafraid of "oh baby, look at my butt in da club" music! But if you have previously experienced the work of Ke$ha, you may have guessed what was [...]
