Grizzly Bear - Mourning Sound

I made a mistake
I should have never tried
I took the cake
Finished every slice
I moved away
Still playing off the fights
For every day
I share our love delight

I stare at the face
Looking through my eyes
I move at a pace
That I cannot survive
I'm hauling away
I do it all the time
Let love age
And watch it burn out and die

"Mourning Sound" was the first single from Painted Ruins the widely acclaimed new album by wonderfully atmospheric, sometimes psychedelic, Brooklyn indie quartet Grizzly Bear. This album is slightly less dreamy than previous recordings, but remains completely them. They've recently released the fourth single and another surreal video to go with (below). 

RIYL: Foxygen, Deerhunter, Yeasayer, Fleet Foxes, Department of Eagles

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Villain Park - We Out Here

How about a little hip-hop for your hump day? LA's Villain Park reminds me a whole lot of some of my favorite acts from the new underground movement in the late 90's. Think Jurassic 5, Souls of Mischief, Dilated Peoples and the like. They've got a few singles and an EP out on Spotify and it's all solid, the latest "We Out Here" being my favorite of a terrific bunch.

RIYL: Dilated Peoples, Jurrasic 5, Earl Sweatshirt, Flatbush Zombies, Injury Reserve

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Wolf Parade - You're Dreaming

All these scenes of shattered glass
All your systems in collapse
On the screen they move so fast it’s just like life
But we’re dreaming

I got
Metal in my blood
Dancing around to the magnets
What about our love
So hard to start in a violent age
And i don’t wanna
I don’t wanna live in the place anymore
Everybody cries
Everybody needs some comfort

Canadian post-punk indie rockers Wolf Parade released their first LP on SubPop in 2005, went on hiatus in 2010, but are coming at us hot & fresh with this new single. And they're opening up for Arcade Fire (as they did when first starting) - including tomorrow night in Austin. Happy we saw them earlier this year at Boston Calling!

RIYL: Broken Social Scene, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Okkervil River, The Walkmen

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Beck - Up All Night

When you get the rhythm and words all make you cold
When they break it down and this world is all you know
Hands up, you're waving it 'round
Now get yourself together
When you count the dominos fall, it's time to go

Now I'm feeling so far away
I see the colors and all the kids going home
Night is crawling into the day
I hear my voice ringing
The summertime's singing

It's an objectively amazing feat to be a mononymously known, multi-instrumental, multi-decade, multi-grammy winning artist. I have to admit to respecting Beck's artistry, talent, and uniqueness way more than I actually love most of his songs. "Loser" will forever be an anthem - I mean, I was in high school when that came out so of course. The Kanye West weirdness at the 2015 Grammy's was another unforgettable moment. Those things are almost 25 years apart!! He seems like a cool cat and I like this single more than most of what I've heard from him over the years (my personal taste, and maybe about exposure as well -- gotta admit his affiliation with Scientology became a real turn-off for me). Anyway, here's to being weird and making it work, kicking off this week's Most Important Songs. 

RIYL: Weezer, Cake, Beastie Boys, The Dandy Warhols, The Flaming Lips

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Parlours - A Little Afraid

We're spending the whole weekend in Nashville and though we're not huge country music fans, we can appreciate that a lot of good music comes from and through Music City. Today's MIS comes from an Iowa indie band if we're getting technical, but was featured on the last episode of CMT's hit TV show "Nashville" so I think it's a perfect compromise. Lead singer Dana Halferty also does a slow, beautiful cover of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" - if you want to check that out it's on SoundCloud & below. 

RIYL: Elizabeth & the Catapult, Deb Talan, Lennon & Maisy, The Band Perry

Upcoming Shows