PMA | Pretty Much Amazing

The National “Terrible Love” (Live on Fallon)

Luis Tovar — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:02:16 PST

The National debuted “Terrible Love,” the lead track off their highly anticipated Boxer follow-up, High Violet last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The audio doesn’t sound too great on regular computer speakers, so I suggest you pop in the headphones.

High Violet is out May 11th on 4AD. Are you ready?

Tags: The National

New jj “I Know”

Luis Tovar — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:31:56 PST

Listen to this new jj bonus track, “I Know”, which can only be found on the jj nº 3 LP (via).

You can buy jj nº 3 here.

Tags: jj

New Here We Go Magic “Collector”

Luis Tovar — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:18:14 PST

Brooklyn’s Here We Go Magic first plopped themselves onto my radar when I saw them open up for Grizzly Bear and continued to spur my interest with great tunes like “Tunnelvision”, “Fangela” and “Only Pieces”. This summer, Here We Go Magic will follow up last year’s self-titled debut with Pigeons. “Collector” is the first sample of the band’s sophomore effort, and it’s quite a departure from “Tunnelvision”. In fact, on “Collector”, Here We Go Magic seem to have aligned their sound with bands like The Soft Pack, while still keeping a slice of their original aesthetic.

Secretly Canadian is giving away the “Collector”, download it below:

Here We Go Magic’s Pigeons LP is out June 8th in the US, available the seventh in the UK.

Elsewhere, the Chicago Tribune report that the Strokes will play Lollapalooza and release a new album in September.

Tags: Here We Go Magic, The Soft Pack

GIVEAWAY: White Stripes: Under Great Northern Lights

Luis Tovar — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:04:25 PST

I am excited to say that PMA will be giving away the new CD/DVD (documentary) from The White Stripes: Under Great White Lights (watch the trailer above) Box Set. Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, March 17th. To enter just leave a comment with your favorite White Stripes song. Also, it won’t hurt to retweet this contest.

Learn more about the box set from this press release:

Live CD Track Listing:

1. Let’s Shake Hands

2. Black Math

3. Little Ghost

4. Blue Orchid

5. The Union Forever

6. Ball and Biscuit

7. Icky Thump

8. I’m Slowly Turning Into You

9. Jolene

10. 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues

11. We Are Going to Be Friends

12. I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself

13. Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn

14. Fell In Love With a Girl

15. When I Hear My Name

16. Seven Nation Army

In the summer of 2007, The White Stripes embarked on a cross-country Canadian tour to accomplish their goal of performing in every province and territory across the expansive northern nation. Beginning Friday, February 26th in Seattle and Toronto, the Emmett Malloy-directed documentary film, The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights, which captured that incredible journey will be making its way across North America for a series of special screenings – allowing fans a peek into the touring lives of one of the world’s most enigmatic bands before its official DVD release on March 16th.

Additionally on March 16th, audiences across the country will have the opportunity to host their own screenings of The White Stripes Under the Great White Northern Lights. Fans have the chance to “Be a Part of the Tour” by purchasing a special screening kit and turning a favorite room, a local hangout, or any other location of their choice into their own premiere event. For more information on being part of this momentous occasion go http://whitestripes.bside.com.

Having first premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2009, The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights documents the band playing to crowds in towns of all sizes across the Great White North – from traditional venues to matinee gigs at unusual locations such as a bowling alley, a boat and even on a city bus – culminating in a momentous 10th Anniversary show at the historic Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. A captivating mix of striking live footage and poignant off-stage moments, this visually stirring and emotive feature length film celebrates the band’s 10 year history, bringing the band full circle in their career to a place reminiscent of how they first started out; shows where no one knew who they were, and where they were left to make a first impression with their music.

AMC Theaters is holding special midnight screenings of the film on Thursday, March 11 at the following locations:

WASHINGTON DC – Hoffman 22
DETROIT – Forum 30
PHILADELPHIA – Neshaminy 24
CHICAGO – River East 21
MINNEAPOLIS – Rosedale 14
LOS ANGELES – Block 30
SAN DIEGO – Mission Valley 20
SEATTLE – Pacific Place 11
BOSTON – Boston Common 19
NEW JERSEY – Palisades 21
NEW YORK CITY – Empire 25
ATLANTA – Barrett 24

Additional screenings of the film include:

February 26th SEATTLE – Northwest Film Forum @ 9:00pm

TORONTO, Ontario – The Royal Theatre @ 9:15pm
February 27th SEATTLE – Northwest Film Forum @ 9:00pm

TORONTO, Ontario – The Royal Theatre @ 9:15pm
February 28th TORONTO, Ontario – The Royal Theatre @ 4:30pm and 7:00pm

March 1st TORONTO, Ontario – The Royal Theatre @ 7:00pm

March 2nd TORONTO, Ontario – The Royal Theatre @ 9:30pm

March 3rd MINNEAPOLIS – Sound Unseen @ 6:00pm, 7:45pm and 9:45pm

TORONTO, Ontario – The Royal Theatre @ 9:00pm
March 4th PORTLAND – Mcmenamin’s Bagdad Theater @ 7:00pm

TORONTO, Ontario – The Royal Theatre @ 7:00pm

SYDNEY, Nova Scotia – Cape Breton Island Film Series and East Coast Music Awards at Empire Theatre at 9:30 pm

March 8th PHILADELPHIA – Trocadero Theatre @ 6:45pm

CHICAGO – The Music Box @ 7:30pm
March 9th LOS ANGELES – The Egyptian Theater @ 8:00pm

March 10th NEW YORK – IFC Center @ 8:00pm

ATLANTA – The Plaza Theatre @ 7:30pm

OTTAWA, Ontario – Mayfair Theatre @ 9:00pm
March 11th SAN FRANCISCO – Variety Screening Room @ 6:30pm

NEW YORK – IFC Center @ 7:00pm and 9:00pm

DETROIT – Burton Theater @ 9:00pm

OTTAWA, Ontario – Mayfair Theatre @ 9:00pm
March 12th WASHINGTON DC – AFI Silver Theatre & Cultural Center @ 9:30pm

AUSTIN – SXSW Film Festival Premiere, Paramount Theater @ 10:00pm

EDMONTON, Alberta – Metro Cinema in the Citadel Theatre @ 9:00pm

March 13th KANSAS CITY – The Screenland Armour @ 7:00pm and 9:00pm

SALT LAKE CITY – Tower Theater @ 7:00pm

BOSTON – Brattle Theater @ 9:45pm

EDMONTON, Alberta – Metro Cinema in the Citadel Theatre @ 9:30pm

March 14th EDMONTON, Alberta – Metro Cinema in the Citadel Theatre @ 9:00pm

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – Broadway Cinema @ 7:00pm

March 15th SAN FRANCISCO – Roxie Theater @ 9:45pm

Tickets will be available at the theater box offices, and tune into your local radio stations for possible giveaways too. Additional sneak-peek theatrical screenings of The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights may also be announced soon, so be sure to keep checking www.whitestripes.com to keep updated on all new developments for these upcoming releases.

Fans will also be able to purchase The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights as part of a limited edition box set, which includes not only the film, but also a live DVD of the band’s 10th Anniversary show, Under Nova Scotian Lights, as well as a CD/double LP of 16 live tracks, exclusive 7 inch, hard cover book of photographs and a silk-screened print. This impressive package will also be available on March 16th, with pre-orders currently being accepted from http://whitestripes.com/ugwnl_boxset/.

Tags: The White Stripes

New Neon Indian “Sleep Paralysist”

Luis Tovar — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:58:17 PST

“Sleep Paralysist” is the latest free single to sprout up out of the Green Label Sound vaults. In the passed, they’ve released new, free tracks from Matt & Kim, The Cool Kids, Chromeo and Theophilus London. Today, Neon Indian graces the front page of the label’s website. “Sleep Paralysist” was co-produced by Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo and Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. I can already hear the distorted chillgaze/glo-fi synths on Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest follow-up, can you?

Tags: Grizzly Bear, Neon Indian

New Harlem “Gay Human Bones”

Luis Tovar — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:41:01 PST

Here is the second single from the increasingly rewarding new album from Austin’s Harlem. Said album, Hippies is out April 6th on Matador Records. You can pre-order the album at a 15% discount at the Matador Store. Download “Gay Human Bones” below:

Tags: Harlem

Broken Bells Broken Bells Album Review

Chris Barth — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:15:35 PST

Vinyl giveaway details at the end of the review.
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Broken Bells
Columbia Records
out March 9th
85/100
[Rating Scale]
Broken Bells Album Review" />

Rate Broken Bells

There will be lots of reviews that compare Broken Bells, Danger Mouse’s project with The Shins’ James Mercer, to Gnarls Barkely, his project with Cee-Lo Green. Let’s get this out of the way early: both Broken Bells and Gnarls Barkley pair Danger Mouse with an iconic singer, and both bands have two-word names. That’s it. The similarities end there. This is a completely different animal.

There are, however, facile comparisons to Mercer’s earlier work. Eyes closed, this is a Shins album. There’s no use pretending that Broken Bells is a larger experimental step away from Wincing The Night Away than that record was from its predecessor, Chutes Too Narrow. Or than Chutes was from debut Oh, Inverted World. On each successive album, The Shins morphed and grew, managing to strike the same chord with fans despite playing in different keys. In that vein – and because The Shins are so closely tied to Mercer’s voice and vice versa – the line between that band and Broken Bells is a blurry one at best.

Which isn’t – to be clear – a knock against the album. At all. A quality album from one of the most successful indie musicians in the past decade is nothing at all to sneer at. Nor is it a knock against Danger Mouse – billed here under his given name, Brian Burton. Although Burton’s contributions are less immediately identifiable here than on previous collaborations, that may well serve as a testament to his adaptability. He has seamlessly integrated himself into a sonic world that is heavy on melody and light on beats, donning a new hat before you even noticed that he took off the old one.

The partnership works as most good ones do, which is to say that there is no obvious aural distinction between contributions from Mercer and Burton. Both authors are given credit on music and lyrics, and the duo has gone on record saying that the entire album was written collaboratively. On Broken Bells, as Burton nudges Mercer towards a little more experimentation and fuzz, Mercer tugs him right back toward more relaxed song construction and instrumental progression. It’s a game of back-and-forth that winds up solidly in the middle, to the benefit of the listener. Rather than a jumbled mess, it’s a cohesive compromise – an album that doesn’t try to do too many things, and just is.

Broken Bells is a dark little gem of an album, an enjoyable slow burner that is pleasant to the ear on first listen and only improves with age and attention. On it, we hear Mercer at his most introspective. Gone are the upbeat songs of youth, replaced with sage wisdom; “I know what I know would not fill a thimble,” Mercer sings on “October,” “so let your mind go straight down the runway.”

Mercer’s lyrics have long been worthy of examination, and Burton proves to be a deserving co-writer. While there are plenty of lines that could be interpreted as subtle references to two of Mercer’s former Shinsmates, with whom he had a less than amicable parting, Burton’s involvement makes those inklings less sound. “The high road is hard to find, a detour in your new life, tell all of your friends goodbye,” “I cut the tie and I don’t have to rely on nothing no more,” “Digress from the people once by your side, but now that it’s over you have to pick up and start again.”

So let’s take the high road, so to speak, and assume that Broken Bells is about more than that. This isn’t some bitter barb aimed at old colleagues – it’s Mercer and Burton pondering how they got here, what they’ve done, and what there’s time left to do. Again and again the album’s musings turn to the permanence of life – the word “life” itself becomes a trope, heard on at least seven of the album’s ten tracks. It’s a wistful retrospection, but one tinged with a stop-sighing-and-do-something urgency. There’s no trace of complacency; instead Broken Bells describes a constant journey toward an impossibly distant destination. “Remember what they said,” sings Mercer, “there’s no shortcut to a dream. It’s all blood and sweat, and life is what you manage in between.”

It’s a brutish and short life that the pair describes, stagnation broken only by constant movement and change. “I was lost then and I’m lost now,” Mercer realizes on second single “Vaporize,” before confessing “I doubt I’ll ever know which way to go.” It doesn’t matter where he and Burton are going, though – it’s the going that is the important part. And Broken Bells is a step in the right direction.

To enter to win a copy of Broken Bells on LP (or CD, if you’d like), all you have to is leave a comment and retweet this review. Have you heard the album? If so, rate the album (above) and leave a comment with your thoughts on this review and the album in general. If you haven’t heard the album, comment about your expectations, or listen to it in its entirety at on the Lala player above. Make sure to leave a valid email address in the comment field. Entries will be accepted until March 14th.

Tags: Broken Bells, Danger Mouse, The Shins

Top Downloaded MP3s of February 2010

Luis Tovar — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:48:45 PST

February brought us an impressive amount of free mp3s from big names (Broken Social Scene, Kid Cudi, Kate Nash, Erykah Badu) and also exciting newbies (The Pass, Rox, Chiddy Bang, 1,2,3). These were the 15 most downloaded mp3s of February 2010.

1. Gorillaz “Stylo” (Chiddy Bang Remix)
2. The Very Best “Ambling Alp” (Yeasayer Overdub)
3. Broken Social Scene “World Sick”
4. Kid Cudi “Highs N Lows”
5. 1,2,3 “Confetti”
6. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings “I Learned The Hard Way”
7. Vampire Weekend “Ruby Soho” (Rancid Cover)
8. Major Lazer “Halo” (Beyonce Cover)
9. Kate Nash “I Just Love You More”
10. The Morning Benders “Excuses”
11. The Pass “Colors”
12. Rox “My Baby Left Me”
13. Birdman & Drake “Money To Blow” (Xaphoon Jones Remix)
14. Chiddy Bang “Opposite of Adults”
15. Erykah Badu “Window Seat”

No ZIP this time. With the Top MP3s of January, I noticed that most people preferred clicking on the links of the tracks they didn’t already have over downloading the whole set again. Let me know if the zip is terribly missed.

In other news, check out this 100% FREE day-party PMA is involved with during the SXSW jubilation in Austin later this month. Full deets later. Check out the poster. Follow Strangers In Stereo on Twitter.

Tags: Top

New MGMT “Flash Delirium”

Luis Tovar — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:51:54 PST

MGMT, one of the most beloved psychedelic indie-pop acts of the late 00s, have “returned” with the first free sample from their forthcoming sophomore effort, Congratulations. The song, “Flash Delirium” favors “Weekend Warriors” and “The Handshake” from MGMT’s 2007/2008 debut, over trailblazing hits like “Kids” and “Time To Pretend“. Don’t let that retract from your excitement though; “Flash Delirium” is still a mind-bending ride worthy of that ridiculous album art work (above). As I’ve said before, MGMT is giving the MP3 for “Flash Delirium” away. So go ahead and download it:

MGMT’s forthcoming Congratulations is out April 13th. Pre-order the album now.

Tags: MGMT

New She & Him “In The Sun” Music Video

Luis Tovar — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:50:03 PST

Cute overload from Zooey Deschanel in this High School Musical themed music video. And the too cool for school M. Ward reminds me of a certain True Blood villain in this. Download “In The Sun” for free here.

Tags: M. Ward, She & Him, Zooey Deschanel