Good Weather For Airstrikes

UPDATE: I’ve uploaded the mix to SendSpace for those of you who are experiencing difficulty with Megaupload and the individual downloads; link is available below.

[artwork adapted from the photography/scrapbooking of Devonte Hynes]

Those of you who have been reading with even the slightest modicum of consistency have likely picked up on the increased focus on singer-songwriters and folk acts. This is a considerable departure from the typically Britpop and electro-heavy leanings of this site, and to tell you the truth, I’m a bit surprised to. Heading into my summer abroad, I’d largely written off singer-songwriter folk types altogether, only to return to the states with a healthy obsession with the genre. I mean, I was asked to scout Noah and the Whale for my boss back in May and immediately wrote them off as a second-rate Neutral Milk Hotel ripoff with barely a second thought. Now it’s six months later and I’d consider them one of the best bands to come out of the UK all year.

This newfound interest in folk now comes to a head in M3 Volume 15. Spotlighting nearly all of the essential players in London’s new folk renaissance (may I call it that?), the mix is a crash course in British folk music in 2007. All of the acts featured here possess a connection to the scene, though some are more tenuous than others. Jaymay, for example, is an American (the only non-Brit on the mix), but the majority of her success - and her major label deal with Heavenly - is rooted in the UK. There’s a pretty substantial arc of time here too, with some acts preceding the folk explosion by a bit (Jeremy Warmsley and, to a lesser extent, Emmy The Great) and others still yet to secure a deal or put out a release of any sort to this point (Thom Stone, Florence and the Machine, Tom Williams).

Perhaps the best thing about the London folk scene is its incestuous nature. Emmy The Great is on everyone’s tracks (Jeremy Warmsley, Lightspeed Champion, Noah and the Whale, et. al) and Florence has collaborated extensively with Lightspeed and Kid Harpoon (and LC’s Dev Hynes is now apparently the “Machine” in Florence and the Machine). Adele is best mates with Jack Penate and Jamie T, Noah and the Whale’s Charlie is dating Laura Marling (he also produced her My Manic & I EP) and Kid Harpoon and Kate Nash were also rumored to be romantically linked for a while. The result is a flourishing artist community of talented musicians producing some of the best music in the world right now.

Everyone will have different favorites here, but “Jocasta” is probably my favorite thing on this and exclusives from newcomers Thom Stone and Tom Williams (who drops an excellent cover of Regina Spektor’s “Hotel Song” here) are not to be slept on either. Adele and Florence are easily the most gifted vocal talents here, Jeremy Warmsley and Laura Marling are likely the best pure songwriters and Noah and the Whale could well be the most promising act of them all. So yeah, join me in revelry of London’s next great contribution to the international music community and check out the mix below.

High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]

Download: M3 Volume 15 [follow link] [Alternate Link]

M3 Volume 15:
01. “Hometown Glory” - Adele
02. “Riverside” - Kid Harpoon
03. “Myrtle Parade” - Eugene McGuinness
04. “5 Acts” - Jeremy Warmsley
05. “Waiting Game” - Lightspeed Champion
06. “Jocasta” - Noah & The Whale
07. “Canopies and Grapes” (Demo) - Emmy The Great
08. “Gray or Blue” - Jaymay
09. “Five Years Time” - Noah & The Whale
10. “She Knows” (Demo) - Thom Stone [EXCLUSIVE]
11. “Sea Green, See Blue” - Jaymay
12. “New Romantic” - Laura Marling
13. “Girl With One Eye” (Demo) - Florence and the Machine
14. “Hotel Song” - Tom Williams [EXCLUSIVE]
15. “Nicest Thing” - Kate Nash

So there you have it. Anyone you think I missed? Got any other artists who you think might fit in with this lot? I’m well aware of others like Nic Dawson Kelly, Alan Pownall and Jay Jay Pistolet making the rounds in venues throughout London and they just didn’t make the cut this time, but I’m definitely open to whatever recommendations you may have for me. Hit the comments, y’all.

In other news that mildly pertains to this mix, check out Kate Nash. Bitch covered Black Kids! And now it’s official: the Black Kids hype machine is completely out of control.

MP3: “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” - Kate Nash

Thanks to Panda Toes for the track; those kids are killing it on the regular these days. Alright, I’m out.

Remember Test Icicles? Yeah, they totally ruled. Sadly, they broke up not long after releasing their awesome debut LP, but silver lining has arrived in the form of Lightspeed Champion. Guitarist and sometime vocalist Devonte Hynes must have had some sort of epiphany after Test Icicles’ demise, as he traded the searing guitar riffs and acid-throated vocals (not to mention the hot pink guitars) of his former project for a whole new acoustic approach and began to record folk songs under the Lightspeed Champion moniker in 2006. A year later, he’s got two great singles under his belt and a highly anticipated debut album waiting in the wings, and appears primed to become the unlikeliest star the alt-country genre has ever seen. But before Test Icicles fade from our collective memory forever, let’s just this appreciate this track one last time, because, well, it’s the fucking jam.

MP3: “Circle Square Triangle” - Test Icicles

Staying close to home and working once again with Domino Records, he put out his debut single, “Galaxy of the Lost”, through the label last summer. Featuring the amazing “Waiting Game” stealing mad thunder on the B-side, it was one of the best debuts of the summer and established Hynes as one of the most promising talents in London’s burgeoning folk scene. Among Lightspeed Champion’s biggest fans is one Conor Oberst, who personally invited Hynes (who is originally from Houston) to his Omaha, Nebraska studio to record his debut album with Saddle Creek resident producer Mike Mogis. That record, titled Falling Off The Lavender Bridge, is due for an early 2008 release in the UK with a US release to follow shortly thereafter. Only two singles have been culled from it so far (the other being the four-act, 10+ minute epic “Midnight Surprise”), but their excellence - combined with the remarkable quality of their B-sides - suggests Lavender Bridge could be one of the best alt-country records since Bright Eyes’ own I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning in 2005. In fact, Hynes’ best track to date just might be the aforementioned B-side, “Waiting Game”, and that’s not even a lock to make the final cut for the record.

MP3: “Waiting Game” - Lightspeed Champion ((highly recommended))

There has been shit talked about how Lightspeed’s tracks are made on the female backing vocals often found on his recordings, but such accusations are clearly unjust when one considers the brilliance of “Waiting Game” and “No Surprise” (on which backing vocals are noticeably absent), easily two of his best tracks to date. That said, such doubts are somewhat understandable considering the incredible vocal talent Hynes surrounds himself with - Emmy The Great and Florence (of Florence and the Machine) are frequent collaborators - but its still Hynes emotive vocal stylings and impressive guitar work that have gotten him where he is today.

With the “Galaxy of the Lost” and “Midnight Surprise” singles already having earned him notoriety in the UK scene, Dev is set to make his American debut next week with the Galaxy of the Lost EP. The five-track EP culls the stand-out B-sides from his two single releases (”Waiting Game” and an acoustic version of “No Surprise”), alongside the title track and two cover songs - a brilliant rendition of “The Flesh Failures” from the musical Hair and a decent take on former ELO frontman Jeff Lynne’s “Xanadu”. Emmy The Great shows why she’s one of the most coveted backing vocalists in the London folk scene (even if her own material can’t quite stack up to that of her collaborators quite yet) on “Flesh Failures” and “Galaxy of the Lost”, but it’s Florence who really took the tracks to a whole new level when she supported Dev in his recent live session for BBC 6Music. In fact, the 6Music rendition of “Galaxy of the Lost” actually surpasses the brilliance of the original for me.

Lightspeed Champion, Live @ BBC 6Music
1. “Galaxy of the Lost” (ft. Florence) - Lightspeed Champion
2. “No Surprise” (ft. Florence) - Lightspeed Champion
3. “Mr. Fisk” (ft. Florence) - Lightspeed Champion

British audiences have had plenty of chances to catch Lightspeed throughout the UK over the last 18 months, but US audiences will have to wait to 2008 to see Hynes live. That is, unless you live in our fair city of New York, where Dev will be making his American live debut at Soundfix (N 11th and Bedford in Williamsburg) this Halloween Wednesday. It’s his only US show of the year, so definitely make it out if you can - I can assure you it’ll be worth your time. Check out the flyer for more info here.

Finally, while I won’t be offering the MP3 for download (though the song is quite good), definitely make sure to check out/download this high-ass resolution copy of the “Galaxy of the Lost” video. It’s totally fucked up (think Little Shop of Horrors gone plush), but it’s kind of awesome too. As it’s a large file and those download issues still aren’t totally resolved, I’m hosting it on Megaupload for y’all to download and enjoy over and over again. Check it:

Video: “Galaxy of the Lost”
Artist: Lightspeed Champion
Director: Ferry Gouw
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [AVI • 67 MB] [follow link]

In other news, I saw Anton Corbijn’s Control (that Ian Curtis biopic) over the weekend and it was totally amazing. Go see it, assuming it’s out in your city. I know its run in NYC (at the Film Forum on W Houston between 6th and 7th) ends Thursday so you might have to act fast, but it’s worth it.
Oh and one final thing: M3 Volume 15 drops Halloween (hollerrr). See you then.

You know what, fuck it, I’m gonna come clean: I really don’t enjoy writing live reviews. I don’t know what it is, I’m just really not into it. And writing about CMJ just feels like bragging sometimes and I don’t really like how that comes across. Plus, I didn’t see anyone on Thursday or Friday that you haven’t already read about on this site (and every other one like it) thousands of times before. M.I.A. was a fucking party, as were Erol Alkan and MSTRKRFT (especially when they dropped “Da Funk” and their ill “D.A.N.C.E.” remix within ten minutes of each other), and Justice was honestly mind-blowing. Easily the best thing I’ve seen since Daft Punk in Hyde Park, which is no small feat considering LCD Soundsystem put on a pretty much flawless performance at Randall’s Island earlier this month.

A lot of this had to do with the fact that I’ve legitimately never seen a crowd so into a show. Even after the band had finished their encore and the house lights came on, the crowd hung around to scream out “We! Are! Your friends! You’ll! Never be alone again!” for a good ten more minutes, prompting the duo to come out and make one last curtain call from high up on the second-level balcony to roaring applause. Once out in the streets, people were pretty much just hanging around, still buzzing about the epic performance they’d just seen, when a car drove by pumping “We Are Your Friends” on the soundsystem and people just started dancing and belting out that chorus right there in the street. Shit was awesome. One thing though, I’d somehow managed to totally sleep on “DVNO” to this point until I totally woke up to it when they dropped it in their set on Saturday, so definitely get on that below if you’d made the same mistake I did. Also, did anyone stick around long enough at Studio B to see if Justice played that “secret” set that people had been whispering about all week? We were there for the first hour (maybe two, who even knows) of Erol Alkan’s set before we rolled out. We saw Xavier chilling in the background up in the DJ booth, but did he ever actually play? I’d be interested in hearing how it was if it actually happened/anyone saw it.

MP3: “DVNO” - Justice

Finally, I also caught Black Kids playing Brooklynvegan’s final day party at R Bar, which was apparently their only good show of the week. They’re performance was kind of cheesy (any mention of the word “heart” in their lyrics was always accompanied by keyboardist Ali making a little heart-shaped sign with her fingers and there were plenty more lame moves where that came from) and the lead singer came off as a bit of a prick at times, but I guess I might too if I’d spent the last four days being told by everyone in the industry that I was fronting the best band in the history of music ever (which is what seemed to be the consensus on Black Kids heading into the festival - they were the band to see). All that aside though, they put on a fucking great show. Most in attendance had only heard the four song demo available on their MySpace and I’ve got the full eight song version they sent to labels, and they still had great songs even beyond that. One track from the full-length demo that I haven’t seen hyped up nearly enough ’round the blogs is “Listen To Your Body Tonight, which totally slayed at R Bar on Friday. Ali takes lead vocals on this one and steals the show, but its that back-and-forth dialogue between her and Reggie towards the middle (”Hell-O?”, “Hello this is your body”, “What do you want my body?”, etc.) that totally rules despite the fact that it blatantly shouldn’t. Check it out below and sorry for any of those who wanted a full-fledged rundown like Part 1, but something tells me there aren’t very many of you included in that group.

MP3: “Listen To Your Body Tonight” - Black Kids ((highly recommended))

And I might as well take this time to address this issue: Apparently a lot of you are having trouble with the downloads? I’ve gotten a lot of complaints that the tracks often download only halfway or less before timing out, yet any time I try to download a file it always works fine without fail… So I’m not really sure what to do. Basically, how many of you are having this issue? And anyone have any ideas how I can fix it? Get at me in the comments.

It’s Monday now and I think I’m actually deceased. As in, no longer living. I woke up today (after only leaving bed yesterday long enough to watch the Redskins game and then collapse again) covered in bruises I don’t remember getting with my throat on fire and a hangover leftover from a Thursday through Saturday bender that probably won’t go away until mid-week. Whatever though, it was worth it. Below is a day by day account of my evolution from a normal, functioning human being to the pile of uselessness that I am now.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17
With two midterms just waiting to get all up in my kool aid on Thursday, I took it easy on Tuesday and Wednesday and only treated myself to a few CMJ pleasures in the early evening of Day Two. The main event for me was Vampire Weekend’s “secret” gig with Jack Penate at the Cakeshop, which was easily the smallest venue either band had played in months. Penate announced the show through his MySpace, but I’d say the crowd was still populated almost entirely of industry types or those with direct ties to the two acts. These kind of events are often a letdown, but it turned out to be a pretty great show.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND W/ JACK PENATE (CAKESHOP, 2:00 PM)

I saw Jack Penate twice in Brighton at the Great Escape last year, and on both occasions he played with his backing band to absolutely packed venues of amped up fans. The nature of Wednesday’s secret gig at Cakeshop was quite a different affair, with Penate playing solo to a room of subdued industry folks with a few in-the-know fans scattered amongst them. Primed to become the UK’s next great pop talent, Penate plays a unique blend of brass-less ska and, uh, rockabilly to put his own distinct spin on the singer-songwriter genre. The essential quality of Penate’s music - and his entire persona, really - is how unequivocally fun it is, and this came across loud and clear in a live setting. His inter-song banter is grade-A and totally endearing, and he races through his tracks cutting a rug while rocking out on his electric guitar. He played all the favorites during his short set, even taking the time to sing a few bars in his best Morrissey impression and just generally winning over the audience with his catchy pop songs and playful persona.

MP3: “Second, Minute or Hour” - Jack Penate ((highly recommended))

Vampire Weekend was up next, playing the smallest venue they’ve played since becoming NYC’s Official Next Big Thing this summer. Their Columbia University fan club was noticeably absent, but they were still able to coax the audience into some crowd participation on “One” (”Blaaake’s got a new face!”) and were well received from the respectful, if a bit detached attendees. They kicked out the jams and all the fan favorites (”Oxford Comma”, “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “A-Punk”, et. al) and treated us to new songs like “I Stand Corrected” and “M79″, both of which are destined to be stand out tracks when the quartet finally releases their hotly-anticipated debut album proper next January. I stepped out to meet up with Lizzy and the rest of the Vassar radio kids before finding out if the band closed with their typically mind-blowing rendition of “Walcott”, but I’ve seen VW like ten times now, so I kind of knew what to expect by that point. Their first single proper, “Mansard Roof”, is out tomorrow backed by way good B-side “Boston” on XL in the US and XL-subsidiary Abeano Music in the UK, so be sure to cop that from your local record store at your earliest convenience, as it’s bound to be a collector’s item before you know it.

MP3: “Boston” - Vampire Weekend

My plan for the rest of the day was to get as drunk as possible on free beer and liquor so as to allow me to fall asleep by 8 and be able to wake up at 5 the next day to study for midterms (yeah, I’m that responsible), so we rolled over to the The FADER Sideshow party to get our dranx on and take in a few mediocre performances from HEALTH (loud), MGMT (not worth the hype) and Adrian Orange (boring). The performances were a total letdown, but the converted gallery proved to be a terrible venue that would have been hard for any band to engage a crowd in. Either way, I succeeded in my goal and stumbled home just in time to pass the fuck out around 8:30. All in all, a decent first day.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17
So my big “plan” kind of backfired and I only got about an hour total of studying in on Thursday, but it ain’t no thing. My Art of Listening exam went decently, but I totally killed my History of Film midterm, so it’s all good. You could care less about that though, so onto the shows. Thursday was the first real day of CMJ for me, and with the Frenchkiss Showcase, Simian Mobile Disco and New Young Pony Club ahead of me, I overcame my adderall comedown and forged ahead into the night.

FRENCHKISS SHOWCASE (PIANO’S, 7:30 PM)

Piano’s was the first stop of the evening for the Frenchkiss Showcase, so I met up with Kira and Lizzy on the corner and we headed in. Juiced Elfers (the new project of Nick Diamonds of Islands/Unicorns, Les Savy Fav’s Syd Butler and two of the dudes from AIDS Wolf) were supposed to play from 7:30 to 8:30, but Nick was way late and they only got to play a truncated 20 minute set. It wasn’t a huge deal though, as they only actually have four songs written and rarely remember how to play them anyway, but it was still a fun time. They played one original song, a Troggs cover, an improvised song about eggs (seriously) and a three-minute rendition of “The Bird’s The Word” (again, I’m serious) and it was all fine and good. Nothing even remotely serious or something to write home about, but certainly not a waste of time either. I’m not really sure where this is going to go - if the band is actually gonna release anything or not - but it’ll definitely be fun while it lasts.

Next up was New Zealand’s finest, power-pop guitar-rockers Cut Off Your Hands. Where Juiced Elfers might not take themselves seriously enough, Cut Off Your Hands might take themselves a little too seriously, but they fucking rock, so it’s okay. I saw them a bunch last winter, but this was the first time I’d seen them since they’d secured a deal in the UK (courtesy of 679), put out their debut EP in the US (out this month through IAMSOUND) and released another EP of new material in New Zealand through Levi’s LeviTY label, which I guess was created to spotlight new talent coming out of New Zealand or something. It’s called Blue On Blue and it totally rules, so definitely check it out if you can find it. Regarding their performance though, it was great. They sounded as good as ever, with the band ripping through debut EP standouts like “You And I” and a new-and-improved version of “Expectations” alongside new hits-in-waiting like “Still Fond” and “Closed Eyes”. Frontman Nick Johnston freaked out all over the place, jumping up on the drum kit, launching himself from the amps and hanging from the rafters as usual, and it was a totally rockin’ affair throughout. Attendance was sparse - likely because they played like 40 other shows during the course of CMJ - but it was definitely a set worth seeing and enough to get me really excited to see what this band can do in the future.

MP3s:
“Still Fond” - Cut Off Your Hands ((highly recommended))
“Closed Eyes” - Cut Off Your Hands

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO (MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG, 12 AM)

Simian Mobile Disco was an hour later than scheduled in taking the stage, which threw off my schedule a little bit, but they still fucking killed it. We rolled up just before they hit the stage and managed to get all the way up front, where the sensory overload was at critical levels as a result of the blinding light show and deafening brilliance of the band’s set. They pumped out chart-toppers like “Hustler”, “It’s The Beat” and set-highlight “Sleep Deprivation” and generally brought the venue to its proverbial knees while the duo unplugged wires and twiddled knobs on their analog set up. An encore including more lightshow hotness and a bangin’ rendition of “I Believe” rounded out their set, sending us hustling out the door to get over to Studio B for the Modular Showcase. In other news, anyone seen SMD’s new video for “Hustler”? Shit is fucked up.

MP3: “Sleep Deprivation” - Simian Mobile Disco ((highly recommended))

NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB (STUDIO B, 1:30 AM)

SMD’s delayed set time meant we had to miss Muscles set at Studio B (my only significant regret of CMJ), but we were still able to catch New Young Pony Club at the best venue in New York City so it all good. NYPC took the stage a few minutes late around 1:30 to a crowd that was clearly pumped to end a day full of drinking and debauchery with the sexiest band around (those basslines, ooooh), and they didn’t disappoint. I’d seen them perform twice in London to crowds of 1,000+ on both occasions, so the comparatively intimate setting of Studio B was a welcome change of venue and totally owned my previous live experiences with the band. “I hear this is the city that never sleeps, so fucking prove it to me,” Tahita challenged the audience before launching into the band’s set with new single “Get Lucky”, and the audience responded by losing their collective shit and dancing into the early hours of the morning. Their set consisted of all the standouts off their fantastic Fantastic Playroom LP, but the real treat was a cover of Technotronics’ Jock Jams-era burner, “Pump Up The Jams” (file under: wayy awesome). Sidenote: Anyone else still got love for those classic Jock Jams compilations? I found Volume 1 in my basement during a party I had over winter break last year and you better believe it soundtracked the rest of the night; Jock Jams were AMAZING. Moving on though, “Pump Up The Jams” was an awesome surprise in a thoroughly excellent set, and the night only got better when Simian Mobile Disco rolled over from Music Hall of Williamsburg to close off the night with a killer DJ set of their own. I eventually made it home around 3:30 and Day Two officially came to a close with me asleep in my bed with all my clothes on, apparently only managing to get one shoe off before unconsciousness took hold and ushered in Friday morning. A fitting close to an endlessly awesome evening, I’d say.

MP3s:
“The Bomb” - New Young Pony Club
“Get Lucky” (MSTRKRFT Remix) - New Young Pony Club

That’s it for the first half of my CMJ 2007 coverage, check back later for the full rundown of Friday and Saturday.

Thanks to Soundbites, Pitchfork and Music Snobbery for the photos.

I became very familiar with Adele as a result of interning at XL this summer. Not only was I able to hear the finished versions of many of her album tracks there - a blessing and a curse, as the wait to the point where I could actually have the songs has been interminable - but she was also in the office all the time, chainsmoking at the computers and merrily socializing with anyone and everyone, usually in the company of her mate Jack Penate. Her and Penate, along with Cajun Dance Party, are part of the new class of breadwinning XL signings for 2007 that have the label set for truly massive success in late ‘07 and 2008, and the trio of artists were all among Britain’s most hotly pursued acts before choosing to sign on with the esteemed Notting Hill-based imprint. Adele (full name: Adele Adkins), however, just might be the most talented of the bunch.

Alright, listen: I know I’m prone to hyperbole, but when I say Adele has one of the single best voices I’ve ever heard I’m not even close to exaggerating. It’s everything you could want it to be: powerful, soulful, nuanced and developed far beyond her years. A product of the Brit School, which counts both Kate Nash and Amy Winehouse among recent alumni, Ms. Adkins was actually discovered after industry heads came across the song she wrote for her final project in a music course. Titled “My Same”, it’s still available for free download from the school website, but it’s nothing more than an initial taste of the brilliance to come in her later recordings.

MP3: “My Same” - Adele

Signed to XL within a year of graduation on the strength of only three tracks, she’s been writing and recording ever since and her debut is due out early next year, with debut single “Hometown Glory” out next week on limited edition vinyl as the first release on Jamie T’s Pacemaker imprint. Ostensibly about life, love and trying to figure your shit out in the wake of high school, the album is called 19 and could easily be one of the most popular releases of early 2008. Even at this stage, there’s an extraordinary amount of buzz surrounding the young artist and it will only increase from here, especially with the news that Mark Ronson is producing at least one track (”Cold Shoulder”, if memory serves) on the record. There’s nothing terribly cool or “now” about Adele’s sound, but that’s what makes her great: she’s a timeless artist with vocal talents that recall (and rival) anyone from Amy Winehouse to Etta James. Seriously, she’s got a voice that just might knock you off your feet if you’re not ready for it. That was the case for thousands across the UK when Adkins made her national TV debut on Later With Jools Holland last summer, her brilliant performance of “Daydreamer” inspiring awe in any and all who saw it and sending hundreds of new fans to her MySpace to discover more.

And while “Daydreamer” is truly a wonderful track, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. “Hometown Glory” is the real show-stopper in her repertoire, a piano-driven ode to London written as a protest song when her mother suggested she consider leaving London for university. It’s arresting, haunting and one of the year’s most promising debut singles, the first sign that Adele has arrived and is here to stay. But it’s “Chasing Pavements” that should lay the foundation for massive chart success for the young singer-songwriter when it sees release as a single preceding 19 early next year. Making its money on a huge, sweeping chorus wrought with emotion and longing, even the cheesy production (see: the massive, swelling strings of the chorus) can be forgiven in the context of a song this sensational. It’s a timeless classic-in-waiting; completely removed from any temporal context, it could be a hit single from any of the last three decades and is destined for success in this one as well. To some, Adele is just one of many shining young talents in the thriving new London folk scene, but on these tracks she displays a vocal prowess unrivaled by any of her peers and the songwriting chops to back it up. 19 will undoubtedly be the your mother’s favorite album of next year, but give it a chance and it just might be yours too.

MP3s:
“Hometown Glory” - Adele [removed]
“Chasing Pavements” - Adele [removed]
JUSTICE REMIX KLAXONS FOR NEW SINGLE/EP RELEASE
For a complete stylistic 180, cop this brand new Justice remix of Klaxons’ “As Above, So Below”. Klaxons have been remixed by just about ever major player in the remix game (Erol Alkan, SMD, Metronomy et. al), so it was only a matter of time before Justice got in on the action. I always thought “As Above, So Below” was a considerably underrated track on Myths of the Near Future, so I’m glad to see that it’s finally stepping out of the shadow of that record’s monster singles (”Atlantis To Interzone”, “Golden Skans”, “It’s Not Over Yet”, “Gravity’s Rainbow”, “Magick”) and getting some love of its own. Granted, six singles from the same record is a bit much, but I can’t really complain if they keep bringing the heat with the grade-A remixes.

MP3: “As Above, So Below” (Justice Remix) - Klaxons

I’m not sure how great I’ll be at updating this week (despite all the awesome shows I’ll have to draw material from) due to midterms/CMJ madness, so I’ll be throwing up some non-CMJ posts throughout the week to tide you guys over. Oh hey, here’s one of them.

New kids on the block Pete & The Pirates have been making a racket in Reading for a minute now and seem primed to make a significant dent in the public consciousness with upcoming single “Knots”, out on Stolen Recordings today. It’s an excellent release, succeeding on the strength of it’s boisterous immediacy, clattering instrumentation and a rawness that’s so often missing in the UK rock scene these days. The mix is cluttered and rough (in a good way like the Pixies), but the track’s all the better for it, as it’s the way in which the song’s arcing, angular central riff bursts forth from the mix at key intervals throughout that really makes the song from an instrumental perspective. Lyrically, it’s all desperate, frantic nostalgia and somber reminiscing. “Sometimes I see your face/it makes me sad,” laments frontman Tommy Sanders over the bridge, matter-of-factly with no need for pretense or artifice. Nothing here’s terribly poetic or overly-complex, but this brand of youthful guitar-rock isn’t supposed to be.

It’s nothing terribly groundbreaking, but it’s nice to see a band that’s not trying to be something they’re not. Pete & The Pirates know what they’re good at and focus their energy on doing it well. That said, this could easily be an early recording from any number of bands who’ve recently enjoyed success in the British indie rock scene. There’s the urgency and desperation of Bloc Party’s early tracks, the frantic pacing of Maximo Park and the group vocals and herky-jerky guitar style of that first Futureheads LP. Sadly, those bands have all moved onto bigger, glossier production values, so it’s refreshing to hear the style done right, in it’s rawest, purest form. It will be interesting to see if Pete & The Pirates can retain this freshness as they work towards the completion of their debut album, due in early 2008, but for now we have “Knots” to enjoy and can only hope for more of the same from the band in the future.

MP3: “Knots” - Pete & The Pirates ((highly recommended))

It’s that time of year, and once again CMJ is upon us. Its a bittersweet return, what with the whole CMJ rejection controversy still hanging in the air, but the ridiculous line up I’m planning to take in from Thursday to Saturday has me excited enough to look past it, even if I am currently working with one of the 670 bands who were so unceremoniously (many of which unfairly) rejected from the festival last month. Last year was my first CMJ experience and saw me taking in Justice and the Knife live for the first time in addition to catching shows from Cold War Kids, 120 Days, Annuals and Tokyo Police Club. That was great and all, but CMJ 2007 promises to own last year’s proceedings in every way possible. The big-ticket events last year were the Knife and Justice, and while that’s damn hard to top, the Friday/Saturday combo of M.I.A. and Justice at NYC’s brand new super-venue Terminal 5 (with its 3,000+ capacity) should give it a pretty good run for its money. Justice’s set last year was considerably underwhelming compared to the more recent sets I’ve seen them play (their secret/contest-winners-only gig in London was particularly phenomenal), but they’d only just begun to take their live act on the road and hadn’t fully established their live persona (see: giant flashing cross) at that point. Everything seems to be in place now though, and their Saturday night date at Terminal 5 with Australian electro-kings Midnight Juggernauts should be considerably epic. The night before sees M.I.A. taking over at Terminal 5 and I’m pretty fucking pumped for it, especially considering Kala’s status as my tentative album of the year (narrowly edging out Les Savy Fav’s Let’s Stay Friends) and the fact that I’ve never actually seen her live to this point. While that’s a pretty solid weekend in itself, that’s only the beginning. Here’s my complete plan for CMJ, though I’ll inevitably be adding and dropping shows on the fly throughout the week.

Tuesday and Wednesday promise plenty of brilliant shows, but the small fact that I have two fucking midterms on Thursday puts a bit of a damper on it. At this point I’m planning on studying my ass off over the next two days and then taking a break to catch the secret Vampire Weekend/Jack Penate gig on Wednesday afternoon and then maybe making it out to catch Foals at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Black Kids at VICE’s late night party, but I’m not totally sure I can pull it off. You better believe I’m gonna try though. Thus, I’m focusing most of my attention on Thursday through Saturday, and only terminal illness could keep me from missing any of the shows on my planner for those nights. Here’s how things are shaping up…

THURSDAY
• Frenchkiss Records Showcase (Juiced Elfers, Cut Off Your Hands) @ Piano’s (7:30-9:30 PM)
• Simian Mobile Disco @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (11:00 PM-12:00 AM)
• Muscles & New Young Pony Club @ Studio B (12:00-2:00 AM)

The FKR showcase is really an all-evening affair, but I’m gonna be ducking out after the first two acts in order to get over to Williamsburg for Simian Mobile Disco at 11. The whole showcase promises to be great, but sadly I’m gonna have to roll out after Juiced Elfers and Cut Off Your Hands do their thing. Juiced Elfers are the new project of my step-bro Syd, Nick Diamonds of the Unicorns/Islands fame and some other dudes from the Candian indie scene. I haven’t actually heard any of their recorded material yet, since Syd seems to have misplaced their recordings on his computer and there’s nothing but live MP3s floating around the internet at this point, but I’ve heard it described as partyfuntime 60’s dance music and am super pumped to hear his new work. Cut Off Your Hands are more familiar territory for me, as I’ve been plugging them since last autumn and have enjoyed watching them develop over the course of their two EP’s. I’ve also seen them live on multiple occasions and I’m well aware of their ability to bring the fucking rock in spades, but I haven’t seen them play since last winter and they’ve since released another EP of corking tracks that I can’t wait to hear live. They’ve just announced a huge full-length deal with 679 Recordings (The Streets, Mystery Jets, Plan B) in the UK after recording a new EP, titled Blue On Blue, with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler. They’re finally getting some stateside love as well, having just released their debut Shaky Hands EP (out since last year in Australia) on up-and-coming LA-based imprint IAMSOUND. Both EPs are excellent and the band display an impressive evolution of their sound across the two releases, with their debut featuring a more raw, intense, straight-forward punk sound while Blue On Blue is all about a much more polished, post-punk vibe. Below are the standout tracks from each.

MP3s:
“Still Fond” - Cut Off Your Hands ((highly recommended))
“You And I” - Cut Off Your Hands ((highly recommended))

I’ve featured Simian Mobile Disco enough times in this space to render any explanation of why I plan to be in attendance for every fucking second of their Music Hall of Williamsburg set completely pointless, so I’ll just cruise on to discussion of the Modular showcase at Studio B that’s going on at the same time. Muscles and New Young Pony Club are headlining, and if I straight-out sprint from Music Hall to Studio B after SMD’s done I shouldn’t have to miss too much of Muscles set, so that’s exactly what I’m planning to do. Muscles has been getting mad hype all year long, but I’ve somehow managed to let him slip under my radar until “Ice Cream” shat all over my consciousness about two hours ago. Honestly, I really don’t know how I let that happen, considering his whole LP sounds phenomenal and “Ice Cream” and “Sweaty” are just about the two best things I’ve heard all week outside of that new Daft Punk live track. Suffice it to say, I’m gonna do my damnedest to catch as much of his set as possible after SMD. New Young Pony Club round out the night after Muscles and I can’t wait to experience them at Studio B, despite having caught them twice during my stay in London this summer. All in all, should be an extremely ill night. Grab my two favorite tracks off of Muscles’ Modular debut, Guns, Babes & Lemonade, below, and don’t miss that certified-bangin’ MSTRKRFT rework of NYPC’s new single, “Get Lucky”, either.

MP3s:
“Ice Cream” - Muscles ((highly recommended))
“Sweaty” - Muscles
“The Bomb” - New Young Pony Club ((highly recommended))
“Get Lucky” (MSTRKRFT Remix) - New Young Pony Club

FRIDAY
• Brooklynvegan Day Party (Yeasayer, Black Kids) @ R Bar (4:00-5:30 PM)
• M.I.A. @ Terminal 5 (8:00-9:30 PM)
• MSTRKRFT @ Studio B) (2:00 AM - ?)

Friday’s a bit more concentrated, as I’ve only got Yeasayer and Black Kids to thrill me before focusing all my energy on getting super fucking amped to see M.I.A. for the first time at Terminal 5. I just said it up there, but I really think Kala could be my album of the year. I’m sure you already know this, but “$20″ is THE JAM.

MP3: “$20″ - M.I.A. ((highly recommended))

Then it’s just about killing time (which shouldn’t be very hard) between the end of M.I.A.’s upsettingly-early set and MSTRKRFT’s awesomely late stage time at 2 AM. VICE late night doesn’t have shit on Studio B. But yeah, I’ve done a pretty good job of catching all of my favorite electronic acts over the past two years, with one of the only exceptions being MSTRKRFT (I’d also kill a man to see Royksopp, but that’s a whole different story). Thus, I’m way psyched to finally see them live, especially after my friends saw them in Miami last year and declared it the best thing they’d ever seen. The duo dropped a pretty-good debut LP last year (featuring really-good single “Easy Love”) and have followed it up with non-stop hot fire in the remix arena in 2007. Their update to “D.A.N.C.E.” is easily one of the best remixes of the year, and I can’t wait to freak the fuck out when they drop the needle on the track on Friday.

MP3s:
“D.A.N.C.E.” (MSTRKRFT Remix) - Justice ((highly recommended))
“Easy Love” - MSTRKRFT

SATURDAY
• Justice w/ Midnight Juggernauts @ Terminal 5 (8:00-10:30 PM)
• Erol Alkan @ Studio B (11 PM - ?)

Saturday keeps it way simple, with nothing but three brilliant electro acts to get my blood pumping. Justice and Midnight Juggernauts just might reduce Terminal 5 to smoking rubble, but I’d kind of be okay with that… it’d be a pretty sweet way to go. After that’s all said and done, we’ll be hopping in a cab and racing to Studio B for the start of Erol Alkan’s set. I love the man’s remixes and production work, but still haven’t seen him do his thing on the ones and twos. Should be a great way to cap off an absolutely absurd weekend, assuming I’m even able to stand at that point.

MP3: “Engine” (Erol Alkan’s Transonic Re-Edit) - LA Priest

So yeah, that’s how I’m expecting my CMJ experience to go. Obviously I’ll be putting other things on my schedule as the week progresses, but those are the core events that I’ll likely be remembering CMJ 2007 by. Who else is hitting up the festivities? What are you looking forward to? Anyone looking to trade Thursday night M.I.A. tickets for Friday night M.I.A. tickets (I’ve got a friend who will trade two Thurs tix for one Friday ticket, or two for two plus cash)? Anything you think I’m missing? Want to invite me to some super exclusive parties? Let me know in the comments and keep it real in the meantime.

Canada’s yielded some of the world’s best new bands over the last five years, but 2007 is yet to see a single band (save for maybe Holy Fuck) come close to the greatness of previous exports like the Arcade Fire, New Pornographers and Wolf Parade. However, Vancouver’s own Paper Cranes look primed to carry the torch with an extremely promising debut EP and 7″ out in Canada and the UK, respectively. The Veins EP compiles four of the band’s best tracks to date and an excellent remix, while the vinyl single takes the EP’s standout tracks, “I’ll Love You Until Your Veins Explode” and “Milkrun”, and slaps them onto two sides of a 7″ record to introduce the band to audiences across the pond. Out on Longest Mile Records, the label founded by the Futureheads’ Ross Millard, it’s one of the most impressive debut singles of the year featuring two sides of keyboard and piano-driven pop perfection.

As the story goes, one who folds 1,000 paper cranes will be granted one wish, for whatever they desire. It’s from this Japanese legend that the band take their name and draw the inspiration for “I’ll Love You Until My Veins Explode”, a pounding piano-based track featuring a haunting, almost hollowed-out production approach that emphasizes the dark desperation of the lyrics perfectly. The track draws heavily from the styles of the Cure and the Arcade Fire to an almost egregious point, but the brilliant songwriting is enough for me to look past that without a second thought. Invoking the paper cranes story to illustrate his desperation (”One thousand paper cranes for you, you cut my paper heart in two”), vocalist Ryan McCullagh’s emotive lyrics are some of the best of the year. I’m especially taken by his brilliant allusions to the Trojan War (”You’ve got wooden bones, you trojan horse/I’ll let your soldiers in my fort”) and Christian Saints (”Like Saint Sebastian on a tree/I’ve got your arrows stuck in me/It hurts too much to pull them out/So I’ll cut holes into my coat”) to represent his emotional strife, and you really can’t ask for more here from a songwriting perspective.

While the Arcade Fire/Cure comparisons are clearly justified on “Veins”, it’s primarily a vocal similarity, but on “Milkrun” the Cure’s influence holds dominion over the entire song. From the vocal structure, to the keys and guitars and especially that chorus, a lot of people will hate on the Cranes for such blatant aping of an established sound. To be honest, it just sounds like a really great Cure song, and I can’t really have a problem with that. Besides, Robert Smith and company have inspired FAR shittier bands in recent years, so I’m not really complaining.

Built around the creative force and husband-wife duo of Ryan McCullagh (vox/guitar) and Miranda Roach-McCullagh (keys) with a rotating cast of musicians and friends pitching in to make up the rhythm section, the Paper Cranes are the flagship artist on up-and-coming Candian imprint Unfamilar Records and a band to get very excited about in the coming months. In “Veins” and “Milkrun” alone you’ve got massive pop songs just waiting to break into the limelight, but too much polish would rob the tracks of the desperate atmosphere in which they flourish. Thus, one can only hope the songs don’t fall victim to overproduction and the charm of the originals holds over from the EP to their upcoming album. Said album is Halcyon Days, which was originally meant to be released in August, but has been since postponed while Unfamiliar looks to secure a legitimate distribution deal. Regardless of when it comes out though, it’s destined to be hotly anticipated by anyone with even the slightest exposure to the tracks below and will likely turn a lot of people onto the Paper Cranes’ cause. Acquaint yourself with the band below and don’t be surprised when you see “Veins” on my Top Tracks list at the end of the year.

MP3s:
“Love You Until My Veins Explode” - The Paper Cranes ((highly recommended))
“Milkrun” - The Paper Cranes

Some of you may remember I mentioned Vice’s virtual Lower East Side (vLES) project a few weeks ago when Les Savy Fav hosted. If not, you’re probably all “What the fuck?” and should read the summary above. Basically, it’s Second Life for hipsters and now I’ve been invited to host this Thursday’s virtual show with Beirut at the virtual Bowery Ballroom. James from Green Pea-ness will be hosting with me, even though I’m pretty sure neither of us have ever devoted a word of text to Beirut on our respective pages. That said, I’ve got all of his releases, have seen him live in London, am in love with his video for “Elephant Gun” (see below) and am really impressed by what the kid’s doing. I just don’t quite love him as much as everyone else seems to. Also, I’ve been called his doppleganger on countless occasions, but that’s neither here nor there. Regardless of my level of enthusiasm for Beirut, I’m psyched to be a part of this whole vLES thing even if I don’t totally know what to make of it yet. It could be something that’s fun for a few weeks or it could become a whole new phenomenon of its own. Or it could totally suck, but the literature on Vice’s site promises “it’s going to be so totally the opposite of boring you don’t even know”. I got high as balls last night and tooled around the vLES site for a little bit, but that’s pretty much the extent of my vLES experience to this point. So what do you say we all drop by from 6-7 PM tomorrow night and try it out together? It’ll only be a little bit weird I promise.

Not interested? Fuck off. Interested? AWESOME - follow THIS LINK to sign up. The whole thing is still in beta testing, so you can only sign up by following that specific link, which you will be able to then use for the next week and decide whether or not you’re into it for when the official full-fledged launch hits at some point in the near-ish future. And no, I’m not getting paid to promote this, I just think it might actually become something worth giving a fuck about at some point and want to see what it’s all about.

So yeah: THURSDAY NIGHT. 6-7 PM EST. REGISTER HERE. Please come. Thanks.

In specifically Beirut-related news, I may only really love a handful of tracks by him, but I totally worship at the altar of his video for “Elephant Gun”. Directed by Partizan newcomer Alma Har’el, there’s not much more to say about it other than that it’s fucking amazing. Possibly the best video of 2007, featuring the best choreography this side of Lil’ Mama and breathtaking cinematography and set design to rival even the silver screen’s finest cinematic accomplishments of the year, “Elephant Gun” proves Har’el to be a very special directing talent who’s certainly someone to keep an eye on. While I prefer the “Elephant Gun” video to her other Beirut clip for “Postcards From Italy”, both are most excellent and warrant a special spot in your heart and your hard drive. Enjoy them both in mad pretty high resolution below.

Video: “Elephant Gun”
Artist: Beirut
Director: Alma Har’el
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [Quicktime • 51 MB]

Video: “Postcards From Italy”
Artist: Beirut
Director: Alma Har’el
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [Quicktime • 92 MB]

In other news, LCD Soundsystem fucking KILLED IT at Randall’s Island on Saturday. I hope you were there.

Also, I’ve decided to do my best not to freak out about In Rainbows, considering every other blog ever is already doing a pretty good job of that for me. Instead, I’m currently focusing my energy on flipping my shit about how totally bad ass the first available track from Daft Punk’s Alive live album sounds. “Too Long”/”Steam Machine” was made available for streaming on the duo’s MySpace today, and fuck if it doesn’t sound absolutely glorious all professionally mixed and shit. This is a record I am very excited for.

Obviously it would have been nice if I could have put this out at some point during the summer, back when fun was still allowed and dance parties were an everyday occurrence. But as some of you may remember, this shit wasn’t exactly operational during the summer months. It’s especially frustrating since I’ve had the bulk of this mix done since, like, March, so it’s a bit outdated, but I hope you can deal. Basically the goal here was to make the essential party mix for summer 2007 and I don’t think I was too far off the mark, but I’ll let you be the judge.

That’s it though; no more words. Just dancing.

High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]

Download: M3 Volume 14 [follow link]

M3 Volume 14:
01. “The Bomb” - New Young Pony Club
02. “Chick Fit” (Kissy Sell Out’s Excellent Adventure) - All Saints
03. “D.A.N.C.E.” (MSTRKRFT Remix) - Justice
04. “Night Is On Fire” (Demo) - The Moths! [EXCLUSIVE]
05. “Anyway You Choose To Give It” - The Black Ghosts
06. “Brain Leech” - Alex Gopher
07. “Muzzle No. 1″ (Black Ghosts Rmx) - The Whip
08. “Drop The Pressure” (Radio Mix) - Mylo
09. “We Are Your Friends” - Justice vs. Simian
10. “It’s The Beat” (Radio Edit) - Simian Mobile Disco
11. “Tell Me” (Phones Remix) - P. Diddy
12. “British Mode” - Goose
13. “Standing In The Way Of Control” (Soulwax Edit) - The Gossip
14. “Love Is A Number” - White Rose Movement
15. “Evil Has Never” (Single Edit) - Union of Knives

At some point I’m going to do my best to get all the previous M3 installments re-uploaded and whatnot, but it’s going to be quite an undertaking so I’m not sure when I’ll get around to it. Rest assured though, it’s on my to do list.