Listen to a New Karen O Song From the Frankenweenie Soundtrack

Check out this track called 'Strange Love' by Karen O for the new Tim Burton film coming out via Disney called Frankenweenie. Here is how Karen O describes the track:

"Tim [Burton] wanted an unconventional unconditional love song. My music inspiration came out of the same era of B movie fright film references sprinkled throughout the film. I went in the direction of exotica and calypso stylistically because it's quirky, good vibes music of that era and when you throw in a theramin solo it's a marriage made in heaven. I remember Beetlejuice introducing me to the genius of Harry Belafonte's calypso record so I wanted to give a nod to that too. We ended up with a love song for the end of the film to the film! Frankenweenie is so special, it's an unbelievable honor to be involved with it."

Strange Love

Here is the song list for the soundtrack:

Frankenweenie Unleashed!:
01 Karen O - "Strange Love"
02 Neon Trees - "Electric Heart (Stay Forever)"
03 Mark Foster - "Polartropic (You Don't Understand Me)"
04 Passion Pit - "Almost There"
05 Plain White T's - "Pet Sematary"
06 Kimbra - "With My Hands"
07 AWOLNATION - "Everybody's Got a Secret"
08 Kerli - "Immortal"
09 Grace Potter feat. the Flaming Lips - "My Mechanical Friend"
10 Imagine Dragons - "Lost Cause"
11 Grouplove - "Underground"
12 Skylar Grey - "Building a Monster"
13 Robert Smith - "Witchcraft"
14 Winona Ryder - "Praise Be New Holland"

- Matt

Watch the Video for Animal Collective's "Today's Supernatural"

Check out the video for the first new track, "Today's Supernatural" from the new Animal Collective album, Centipede Hz; out 09/03/12 internationally and 09/04/12 in the U.S. via Domino.



- Matt

Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits

I have been meaning to post about Divine Fits for some time now. Their first two singles were released a while ago and now their whole album is up for stream on NPR, First Listen. Divine Fits is composed of Britt Daniels of the awesome band Spoon, Canadian Dan Boekner of Wolf Parade and Sam Brown who plays in Columbus.

Stream the whole album HERE.

- Bryce

Cuff the Duke - Side by Side

You may remember my post from a couple days ago on Cuff the Duke's upcoming album, Union. They have just released a "Paper Bag Session" for their new song which is called, Side by Side. You can check out the video for that song below... but this isn't the finished product, the album version will feature Basia Bulat.



- Bryce

Japandroids - "The House That Heaven Built" (Video) and Tour Dates

The Japandroids have released the video for their epic track "The House That Heaven Built" today, which also happens to be my favorite song of 2012 to this point. The video features clips of their shows, touring, with little boating and cabin vacation time snuck in (something Bryce, Matt and I relate to very well). All the while the boys from Vancouver are enjoying a few brews.

And if you want to see what the festivities of this video are like in person, Japandroids have embarked on a massive tour across Europe and North America. Including dates in Canadian cites Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary. Check out the tour dates below:

Tour Dates:

08-14 Ponte Do Lima, Portugal - Paredes De Coura
08-16 Dublin, Ireland - Workman's Club
08-17 Belfast, Ireland - Mandela Hall
08-18 Skipton, England - Beacons Festival
08-19 Leicester, England - UK Summer Sundae Festival
08-22 Reykjavik, Iceland - Gamli Gaukurinn
08-24 Hannover, Germany - Bootboohook Festival
08-25 Dornstadt, Germany - Obswiesenfestival
08-27 Frankfurt, Germany - Zoom
08-28 Dresden, Germany - Beatpol
08-29 Berlin, Germany - Magnet
08-31 Poznan, Poland - Fabrika
09-01 Warsaw, Poland - Hydrozagadka
09-03 Budapeset, Hungary - Akvarium
09-04 Vienna, Austria - Chelsea
09-06 Ljubljana, Slovenia - Kino Siska
09-07 Graz, Austria - Postgarage
09-08 Zagreb, Croatia - NKC Park
09-10 Prague, Czech Republic - Lucerna Music Bar
09-11 Munich, Germany - Feierwerk
09-12 Luzern, Switzerland - Treibhaus Luzern
09-14 Brussels, Belgium - La Chocolaterie
09-15 Leffinge, Belgium - Leffingeleuren Festival
09-16 Tilburg, Netherlands - Incubate Festival
09-18 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
09-19 Rotterdamn, Netherlands - Rotown
09-21 Hamburg, Germany - Reeperbahn Festival
09-22 Munster, Germany - Gleis 22
09-23 Cologne, Germany - Luxor
09-25 Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuset
09-26 Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
09-28 Gothenburg, Sweden - Pustervik
09-29 Stockholm, Sweden - Strand
09-30 Oslo, Norway - John Dee
10-12 Madrid, Spain - El Sol
10-13 Barcelona, Spain - Sala Apolo
10-15 Winterthur, Switzerland - Salzhaus
10-16 St. Gallen, Switzerland - Grabenhalle
10-18 Rome, Italy - Lanificio 159
10-19 Bologna, Italy - Covo
10-20 Padova, Italy - Loop
10-24 Athens, Greece - AN Club
10-26 London, England - Heaven
10-27 Manchester, England - Sound Control
10-29 Sheffield, England - The Harley
10-30 Birmingham, England - Hare & Hounds
11-01 Paris, France - Pitchfork Music Festival
11-04 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Fest
11-05 Dallas, TX - Trees *
11-07 Scottsdale, AZ - Martini Ranch *
11-08 Los Angeles, CA - Fonda *
11-10 San Diego, CA - Porters Pub *
11-12 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore *
11-13 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom *
11-15 Seattle, WA - Neumos *
11-17 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
11-18 Denver, CO - Bluebird
11-20 St. Louis, MO - Firbird
11-21 Nahsville, TN - Exit / In
11-23 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
11-24 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone
11-25 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks
11-27 Orlando, FL - The Social
11-28 Tampa, FL - Crowbar
11-29 Gainesville, FL - High Dive
12-01 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
12-02 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern
12-04 New York, NY - Webster Hall
12-07 Washington, DC - Black Cat
12-08 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
12-09 Boston, MA - Paradise
12-10 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret Mile End
12-11 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix
12-13 Chicago, IL - Metro
12-14 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
12-15 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
12-17 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid
12-18 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Louis Pub 
12-19 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlite
12-20 Calgary, Alberta - Republik
12-22 Vancouver, British Columbia - Rickshaw

 - Spence

Cuff the Duke - Union

When Cuff the Duke released Morning Comes last fall they noted that it was the first part of 2 albums to be released. Today they announced the second half of the project and the album is called Union. Here is what Cuff the Duke has to say about it.

Cuff The Duke is excited to announce details of their new album, Union, which will be released in Canada on October 2nd on Paper Bag Records.  As promised, Union is the second part of a two part album project that stared with the release of Morning Comes late last year.  The two albums relate lyrically and visually. A number of the songs on the new album act as a response to the songs from Morning Comes. Union's 'Rise Above' relates to 'Standing on the Edge' and 'Something For Free' relates to 'Time Is Right'. Basia Bulat guests on album stand-outs 'Side By Side' and 'Stay'.

"On Union, we moved away from our usual-sounding song structures, rock solos and harmonies by adding more sonic textures," says the band's Wayne Petti. "Morning Comes was more acoustic-based, this album is more electric-based. Instead of trying to find the perfect tone, it was more about exploring interesting sounds."

Tracklisting:

1. Live My Life
2. Side By Side
3. Where Did We Go Wrong
4. Open Your Mind
5. Stay
6. Carry On
7. Something For Free
8. All I Want
9. Rise Above
10. Night After Night

Order the limited edition 180g green vinyl at the Paper Bag Store!

- Bryce

Mother Mother - Little Pistol

More music from Mother Mother's upcoming album The Sticks. Check out the new track Little Pistol, below:



Have a great long weekend, everyone!

- Bryce

Icona Pop - "I Love It"

Next to join the likes of Swedish Female superstars such as Lykke Li, Robyn and First Aid Kit maybe the duo Icona Pop. These two ladies are creating some very infectious indie-pop tracks, especially their new single "I Love It". To date Icona Pop have only an EP titled Nights Like This but a full length should be out in the near future. Check in for more information as it becomes available, but for now check out the video and soundcloud for  "I Love It" below.





 - Spence

FFWD Weekly: "Canadian music is boring"

Fast Forward Weekly (FFWD) is a news and entertainment weekly which provides news, alternative viewpoints, entertainment information, review articles (including local music reviews) and specialized advertising. It is distributed throughout Calgary, Banff and Canmore. Last week FFWD had an article that looks at the Polaris Prize and the direction taken to award one band the prize. It challenges the process, who has been selected to date and most of all, the culture of Canadian music. I don't necessarily agree with it all, but it gets you thinking. Also check out the comments after the article. They are really interesting. Read the article HERE.

- Matt

Jason Collett - Reckon

Jason Collett is planning to release his new record entitled Reckon, on September 25th of this year via Arts & Crafts. The first single has been released and it is called I Wanna Rob a Bank.

Check it out, below:





Here is what Jason Collett has to say about Reckon:

The consistent thread throughout this record is loss. The love songs are largely emotive reflections of the ‘political’ songs. All written through the distillation of events since the economic calamity of 2008 and it’s insidiously long looming shadow. I’ve seen first hand the kind of devastation this crisis has wrecked upon much of the world I’ve toured these last few years. The shut-down-shops and foreclosed homes on the suburban fringes as I’ve made my way to and from cities I’ve played. This record is a personal reflection of the crisis we’ve all witnessed and read about every day in the paper. Calling it Reckon is an acknowledgement of loss ... lost jobs, lost homes, loss of faith in our political and financial institutions and in turn, loss of illusion.

It seems politics are unavoidable if you choose to write about or engage with the world in front of you. I didn’t set out to make a record with these overtones, but neither did I try to stop it. I just did my best to avoid the shrill rhetoric that makes most political songwriting unlistenable.

There’s a poetic serendipity to the fact that I started recording this record during the same month that Occupy Wall Street began. I have felt a genuine solidarity with the passion of this movement in these precarious and volatile times.

- Jason Collett

- Bryce