Toned down on the psych-reverb, amped up on the country rock and R&B vocals, My Morning Jacket look to further cement their status as one of America’s best rock acts, always evolving and always interesting. This is one of my most hotly anticipated albums of the year. Their previous LP Z was nothing short of glorious, with one of the best opening track sequences in recent memory.

Evil Urges drops on 6/10.

My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
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Here’s how I imagine the formation of Ungdomskulen (Wiki). First, visualize the scene: a group of talented instrumentalists in Norway are weaning themselves on giants of metal to form a cover band, studiously perfecting songs from System of a Down, the Gothenburg sound, early Metallica, Black Sabbath, prog.

They can’t really figure out their sound, so this is the natural default. All of a sudden, Arctic Monkeys, Built to Spill, Bloc Party and a swarm of other post-punk, dance-punk, new wave and indie-rock bands burst through the radio and these guys think it’s hilarious. Then the metaphorical light-bulb over head moment.

“Let’s make a parody of these guys framed within our metal and classic rock leanings. Let’s make it amazing yet playful and better than the source.”

And here we are…enjoying their newly released video for “Modern Drummer,” a track off their 2007 LP Cry Baby. Video after the jump, but MP3 right here, right now.

Ungdomskulen – Modern Drummer

Read the rest…

Given my propensity towards Blast, is it any wonder I also have a thing for big collectives of multi-instrumentalists with precious music and marching-band-like characteristics? In line with this, I adored Architecture In Helsinki’s (Wiki) second LP In Case We Die.

Their third album suffered from some slumpage. But hey, don’t let that deter you. They are still loads of fun live.

AIH also preimiere their video for “Like It Or Not” along with an El Guincho remix.

Video after the jump, MP3s right here baby.


Architecture in Helsinki – One Heavy February 2008

Architecture in Helsinki – Like It Or Not (El Guincho Remix)

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Pitchfork.tv obsession continues. Dan Deacon’s new video for “Okie Dokie” off Spiderman of the Rings premieres today. Get at it. “Crystal Cat” has been up there for a while now.

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I saw Ted Leo and the Thermals in the basin of a drained, gigantic community swimming pool in Brooklyn last summer.

It was amazing.

This summer looks to be the last one filled with concerts for the pool (at least for a while) as the McCarren Park Pool is undergoing some rehab on the order of $50mil.

Free JellyNYC Pool Parties schedule here.

Paid concert series schedule here.

Get planning on that day trip kids. The venue is unique and worth it.

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Imperial China impressed us in their last outing @ Lo-Fi with Caverns. A lot.

I don’t have time right now to really review this track and lavish the praise it deserves, but I will later today. I just wanted to get this out there.

Imperial China has their EP release party this Friday in DC with Baltimore’s own Double Dagger at the Rock and Roll Hotel. This should definitely be worth the drive.

Thanks to Matt, Brian and Patrick for leaking the lead track to us. Great, spacious post-hardcore/post-punk/post-take-your-pick, reminding me at times of my old favorites Snapcase. Watch them closely.

Imperial China – There is no translation
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So in another time, I was a marching band geek. I loved every second of it. Needless to say, when we heard about the musical Blast! (Wiki) making its way to the Kennedy Center in the early oughties, we snatched tickets post-haste.

It was a great spectacle, translating everything good about marching band (more specifically drum corps) into a tight, high-energy stage show. The deal is that drum corps participants in the Star of Indiana decided it was silly to accrue all these specific talents only to “age out” at 21, when you aren’t allowed to march anymore. So they arranged Blast.

No hash-marks? No problem. They just drew a giant grid on the stage. It was truly a great show. But as fast as it exploded and won a Tony and an Emmy, it had faded. Blast returned with a whimpering puff of smoke in the form of the horribly under-publicized Blast II: Shockwave show.

Blast is again coming through, hoping third time is charmed like the first. They play 3 shows at the Lyric Apr 25 & 26. I am very curious to see if they have recaptured some of the first show’s magic. Taste the glory in these 3 tracks from the official London album release. “Loss” is an epic heart-breaker, “Malagueña” sizzles with intensity and the arrangement of “Appalachian Spring” is absolutely electric. But hearing these tracks is only half the experience…check some spectacular video after the jump.

Blast! – Malagueña

Blast! – Appalachian Spring (Copland)

Blast! – Loss
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Those precious darlings the Terrordactyls have decided to pay homage to the Pharmacy in one of the youngest band-to-band love-ins yet. It’s ok though, because the tracks are precious and the guys are friends of each other. The covers really do have a peculiar charm to them.

The Terrordactyls – Overcast Summer (Cover)

The Pharmacy – Overcast Summer

The Terrordactyls – Growing Old (Cover)

The Pharmacy – Growing Old
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Fucking Air. I love them. Pitchfork.tv nails it again with another potentially great one-week exclusive.

And while I was over there, I stumbled upon everyone’s favorite blog-lash victims, Vampire Weekend. Fuck the haters, “A-Punk” is a spectacularly addictive song. Check the P4K vid after the jump.
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I am pulling heavy duty over at BYT this week. My review of this past Friday’s Spoon show just went up.

Review of Colin Meloy/Laura Gibson show is here.

Go on over and check em out. Great photos by Joel Didriksen.
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