Pixies – “Dancing The Manta Ray (Live from Paris)”

For those of you not getting enough live Pixies this week while the band takes residence at The Fox Theater in Oakland, you can now download a live EP from the tour too. The band is offering a live digital EP sampler of 4 DRM-free tracks from their Doolittle 20th Anniversary tour recorded while they were in Paris last month. Download the EP now. Then someone tell me how the show was last night.

Album art comes to life in the new video for Jarvis Cocker’s “Further Complications” album and title track. A great album and great video.

The Raveonettes – “Suicide”

Crocodiles – “Summer of Hate”

The Raveonettes and Crocodiles are playing at Bimbo’s in San Francisco on 11/9 in support of their new LP In And Out Of Control [Vice Music], and I’ve got two tickets to giveaway!  A great line up. First person to email me at theocmd@gmail.com wins.

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Claude VonStroke – “Monster Island”

Electronic/House music is not my genre. My Twitter handle isn’t indierockgirl for nothing, after all. I’ve gone so far as contemplating a filter in my inbox that would automatically delete anything with the word ‘remix’ in the subject line. But that’s not really fair. Every genre of music has it’s time and place. And the San Francisco underground DJ scene definitely has it’s place, especially on a night like Halloween. Maybe I’m still reverberating from the energy of that evening’s all night dance fest and secret loft parties, but when I got the email about Claude VonStroke’s new record release I couldn’t resist a spin. Particularly when it’s from one of San Fran’s most respected DJs.

Claude VonStroke is better known to locals, as Barclay Crenshaw, the owner of San Francisco’s quirky tech-funk label, dirtybird. The label consists of Crenshaw (VonStroke,) fellow producer Justin Martin, and a diverse assortment of top remixers from around the globe such as John Tejada, Audion, Diplo, 3 Channels, Dj Assault, and Kevin Saunderson. He has many releases under his belt but his latest, called Bird Brain, features a track that even Pitchfork approves.  Take a listen and join the fun at his record release party at The Mezzanine on November 13.

The new video for the title track, “Losing Feeling” from No Age’s Sub Pop 7″ released in October.

Atlas Sound – “Quick Canal”

Bradford Cox is a genius.  That’s all there is to it.  And a prolific one at that. Between his work with Deerhunter and his solo work under the alias Atlas Sound, I’m more than satiated, compelled and intrigued. Cox, who suffers from Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by abnormally long limbs, uses his music as a portal into is pain. Who knew suffering could sound so good.

His second album, ‘Logos’,  is just as good as his first, ‘Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See...‘ and features a couple collaborations: “Walkabout ” with Noah Lennox of Panda Bear, and the centerpiece of the album for me, “Quick Canal” with Stereolab’s Lætitia Sadier that is truly sublime.  The 9 minute journey is like an homage to the late Mary Hansen days of Stereolab. Perfection.  Just put your headphones on and get lost.

Atlas Sound and Broadcast play Great American Music Hall in San Francisco tonight.

Built to Spill - “Things Fall Apart”

Off the latest album from Built to Spill, There is No Enemy, the band’s seventh album and first since 2006’s You In Reverse.“…It doesn’t matter if you’re good or smart. God damn it, things fall apart.”

The Frequency - “Ego Is The Drug/3AM”

Put this one in your pipe and smoke it.  Preferably at 3AM.  The Frequency is an unsigned LA based duo that sounds a little like Air on a 70s acid trip. “Ego is the Drug/3AM” is the first half of the expansive B side from their new EP “Morning to 3AM”,  out now and available for all of $2 on their website.

Social Studies – “Time Bandit”

“We Choose Our Own Adventures”

Social Studies founding members Natalia Rogovin and Michael Jirkovsky lead a rotating cast of characters with a sound that tempers the Fiery Furnaces with the love of pure pop songwriting. With a new full length slated for release in 2010, “The Hourglass” is a digital single that features the San Francisco band’s first new tracks since 2006.  The band is hitting the East Coast in November for a tour.  Check out their MySpace page for dates.

Tim Williams – “I Hit Another Wall”

Tim Williams is an LA-based (by way of Brooklyn) troubadour who’s just released his latest album, “Careful Love.” The story behind the album is so sweet. As his bio tells it, “Careful Love” is a confirmation of Williams’ new outlook on life.

In May 2008, he had a change of heart – literally. After going through an intensive open heart surgery that left him bedridden for months, he began writing new material for the album. Once out of the hospital he also had courage to try new things, like going to Los Angeles for the first time in his life.  He explains “Having lived in Brooklyn for such a long time, I was programmed to hate the sun-soaked city.”  Instead, he loved California.  He also met someone amazing and fell in love.

“Finally some warm sun
to heal all my new scars.
Life’s what you make it.
Now I can take it.”

-Tim Williams
“I Hit Another Wall”