This track is taken from their forth studio effort titled, “You & Me”. If you’ve picked up their previous albums, be sure to pick up this release — has more of the crooning, pop, and rock influences you’ve come to love from their previous releases.

Bio from last.fm:

The Walkmen are five New Yorkers who have played rock music since they were 10 years old. All five originally hail from Washington, D.C. where they attended the same high school and played in several bands. Over the years, and in their many ensembles, they’ve experimented with punk, noise, a lot of “garage” sounds, ska, and rock.

After Jonathan Fire*Eater imploded, Walter, Matt, and Paul rounded up enough investors to rent a Harlem industrial space, and convert it into a 24-track analog recording studio. Dubbed “Marcata Recording”, the new space became the birthplace, home, and virtual sixth member of the Walkmen. Joining with ex-Recoys, Walter’s cousin Hamilton and his friend Peter (who had for years been slaving away in the East Village for spots at the Continental and Luna as The Recoys), the lineup was complete by the summer of 2000. Over the course of the next year the band sedulously wrote and recorded late in the evenings after work. It was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. While adjusting to their new space and equipment, the band engaged in much experimentation with sound.

Their first show took place at Joe’s Pub in the East Village in September of 2000. Onto the tiny stage the band lugged an upright piano, a bass cabinet that was taller than the bass player, three amplifiers, an organ, a lap steel, two tape machines, three guitars, and a set of drums. The show was a great success, so they decided to stick together. Since then the boys have remained dedicated to their instrumentation, and even got their hands on an over-sized, rotting upright in London which nearly ruined the trip (one show was on the third floor).

Initial press for their debut EP gave the Walkmen positive reviews but focussed mainly on the former notoriety of three of its members, all of whom played in the much hyped, short-lived Jonathan Fire*Eater. The band began to be judged on their own merit with the release of their debut album, Everybody Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone (2002).

It was with the release of their second album Bows + Arrows in 2004 that they truly came to the fore, after The Rat received heavy airplay on alternative radio in both the US and the UK.

The Walkmen’s third album, A Hundred Miles Off was released in the US on 23rd May 2006 and in the UK on 26th September 2006.

The band’s influences include, Bruce Springsteen, The Pogues, The Cure, Björk, The Smiths, Joy Division, Neil Young, and New Order. Primarily piano and organ provide the basis for each song, with dashes of a variety of guitars and tapes. The bass holds a steady, booming foundation, and the drums fluctuate from minimal to down right furious. The vocals range from strong and long-held highs to reserved falsettos and lazy lows. The songs can be light and playful, or huge and atmospheric.

The Walkmen - New Years Eve

Great to hear Bernard Sumner’s voice on a track again.

Last.fm bio:
Blank & Jones is a trance duo based in Cologne, Germany, consisting of Piet Blank (Jan Pieter Blank) and DJ Jaspa Jones (Rene Runge), with help from producer Andy Kaufhold. They have released eight albums and more than 16 singles since their first single release “Sunrise” in 1997.

They also continue to DJ a couple of radio shows in Germany.

Blank & Jones (Ft. Bernard Sumner of New Order) - Miracle Cure

Latest from Brazilian Girls third album released earlier this week.

Brazilian Girls - St. Petersburg

Crackling vinyl always gets me, and this track has a wonderful sample with that old friendly sound.

last.fm bio:

The Russian Futurists are a Canadian indie-pop band based in Toronto. Their music has been defined as lo-fi and indie-electronica. Although The Russian Futurists initially had only one member, Matthew Adam Hart, the band was later enlarged. The band debuted in 2000 with The Method of Modern Love, which was praised by music stars such as Graham Coxon and Peter Buck. In 2004 the band toured in the U.S., Canada and Spain.

Russian Futurists - Still Life

Off Greg Weeks 2001 release, “Awake Like Sleep” is this very personal and slightly disturbing tale of pain. Think Elliot Smith with a Moog and Mellotron.

Last.fm Bio:

Greg Weeks is a singer-songwriter. His music has been described as folk, acoustic, psychedelic and experimental. He is now a member of Espers, a neo-psychedelic folk band from Philadelphia.

His song “Made” was featured in the “Pink” adicolor video, which was directed by Charlie White.

Greg Weeks - Made

Lryics

“Made”

A silence a sway/
A gesture a wild sashay/
Can make your today/
And then take it all away/
They made us this way/
For what they can never say/
Sent us on our way/
It’s useless to make them pay/

Holding ground

“Just live for today”/
‘Least that’s what they try and say/
They say “Pay, pay, pay/
And we’ll take your pain away/

Holding ground

So much for today/
So much for the days of May/
So much is passe/
Please just make it fade away/

Doesn’t this track just throw you back to the days of 90’s Trip Hop. Digging this track with the dissonant piano chords over some rough electronics beats and distortion.

Trip Hop group Milique are from Melbourne, Australia and are made up of James Murfet & Roni Shewan.

Bio from myspace:

milique is james murfet & roni shewan. it’s trip hop, it’s simple; and maybe you can dance to it. expect soothing minimal lows, happy grooves, bass heavy angst and a bit of fun.

james has been hacking around with music and computers since the 90’s. one-time industrial act, james has chilled over the years and now enjoys making downbeat, trip-hop and a bit of minimal/techy stuff. in milique he plays keys and clicks a mouse occasionally. check out his website

roni’s sweet but powerful voice has unpretentiously been rockin’ the melbourne scene in a variety of genres for a number of years. her sincere songwriting and jazz-inclined vocal style soars full flight in milique. check out her myspace.

Milique - Blame it on me

Ok, this track just floored me the first time i heard it (actually, i saw it / heard it since it was a music video on LOGO). Anyway, Logan Lynn is from PORTLAND, Oregon and has a great emotronic sound to his music. This particular track is taken from his last ep titled, “Feed Me To The Wolves EP”

bio from last.fm:

If the Land of Misfit Toys elected a team of cultural ambassadors, Logan Lynn would be its poet laureate. In Portland’s pulsating music scene, he occupies a singular position- an emo prophet with a penchant for electronic beats, preaching the Good Word to drug-damaged crybabies.

For the past decade, Logan has been writing and recording his own music. In 2000, he released his debut album, Glee, a blissful, sex-drenched romp through some emotionally treacherous territory. Produced by Pfog, heavy themes of religion, sexuality and identity played out alongside upbeat grooves and smiley-face rhythms. One critic said it “put the ‘disco’ back in discomfort.” That blend of spleen-venting lyrics and “Let’s dance!” optimism owes a lot to Logan’s unique, mildly scary upbringing.

Homeschooled in a fundamentalist Christian household, he was completely isolated from popular music. (Let’s just say the tagline “I Want My MTV” had especial resonance for this 80s baby.) Escape came in the form of the mid-90s underground rave scene, deejaying for tweaked-out teenagers in the Midwest, and later moving to the West Coast to pursue a degree in art school. All this helps to account for the leitmotifs threaded through much of his music: sex, drugs and Jesus.

His self-titled sophomore effort came out in 2006, using his earlier work as a springboard for exploring fresh sonic territory. He collaborated with several Portland artists on some truly radical music videos- Think the backroom of a bathhouse as reenacted by Ken dolls. The album release coincided with a much-praised performance at San Francisco’s all-leather Folsom Street Fair. To retool a phrase from the aforementioned music critic, he puts the ‘mo back in emo.

Logan Lynn - Feed Me To The Wolves

Here’s the video for Feed Me To The Wolves:

This track is taken from Unkle’s latest release, “End Titles… Stories for Film”, which was released July 7th in the UK.

myspace info:

End Titles… Stories For Film

This summer sees the return of UNKLE, as they release ‘End Titles… Stories for Film’, a collection of eclectic recordings from UNKLE and various collaborators that were inspired by the moving image in the last two years since War Stories.

For this release, UNKLE have teamed up with Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Black Mountain, Gavin Clark, Joel Cadbury (South), James Petralli from White Denim, War Stories producer Chris Goss, Dave Bateman and James Griffith, Mike Lowry and Matt Pierce (from UNKLE’s touring band).

Highlights on this new release include ‘Heaven’ and ‘Blade in the Back’ which was featured on Spike Jonze’s skate video ‘Fully Flared’, as well as being the opening and closing tracks from ‘Odyssey in Rome’, a documentary on director Abel Ferrara which UNKLE wrote the entire score for. The release also features the highly anticipated ‘Trouble in Paradise’, a full length version of UNKLE’s track from the BMW commercial that aired in the UK.

‘End Titles… Stories for Film’ will be released on 7th July in the UK and Europe. The North America summer release date will be announced soon.

Track Listing for new LP

End Titles… Stories for Film

1. End Titles
2. Cut Me Loose (feat. Gavin Clark)
3. Ghosts
4. Ghosts (String Reprise)
5. Kaned and Abel
6. Blade in the Back (feat. Gavin Clark)
7. Synthetic Water
8. Chemical (feat. Josh Homme)
9. Nocturnal (feat. Chriss Goss, James Petralli and Robbie Furze)
10. Cut Me Loose (String Reprise)
11. Against the Grain (feat. Gavin Clark)
12. Even Balance
13. Trouble in Paradise (Variation on a Theme)
14. Can’t Hurt (feat. Gavin Clark and Joel Cadbury)
15. 24 Frams
16. In a Broken Dream
17. Clouds (feat. Black Mountain)
18. Black Mass
19. Open Up Your Eyes (feat. Abel Ferrara)
20. Romeo Void
21. Heaven (feat. Gavin Clark)
22. The Piano Echoes

Unkle - Can’t Hurt (ft Gavin Clark)

Great indie rock from these boys (aka Longwave) from New York, who have a special ability of making very emotionally charged indie rock.  Reminds me at times of Death Cab for Cutie.

last.fm bio:

Since 1999, Longwave has been one of the New York City’s leading exports. After the success of Endsongs , their 2000 independent release, the band signed with RCA Records and began work with producer Dave Fridmann, known for his efforts with the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. The resulting album, The Strangest Things, led to critical raves and tours across all parts of this earth with the likes of The Strokes and The Vines. Longwave followed up on the success of The Strangest Things by entering the studio in 2004 with famed producer John Leckie, whose work with Radiohead and Pink Floyd endeared him to the critical taste of the band, and There’s a Fire was released in 2005. With a return to the studio planned for late 2007, Longwave finds itself on the list of indispensable listening for the first part of this millennium. Expect them to stay there.

Longwave - Sirens in the Deep

Fans of Crowded House and Bishop Allen will surely fall for “Sunny Day Sets Fire”, with their brand of indie psychedelic pop.

myspace bio:

Sunny Day Sets Fire have five members, hailing from four countries with three singles under their belt in the past two years; all leading up to one very anticipated debut album.

Multi-instrumentalists Mauro and Onyee met while working as ushers at a London repertoire cinema. The two shared a vision of theatre, art and music and when Mauro began writing a collection of ambitious sunshine psych songs, mutual friend Max was asked to join the group. The founding members of Sunny Day Sets Fire (the name came simply from an internet band name generator) began experimenting with every possible trick to realise the impossible task of performing music written for a small orchestra. Over the next two years, the original members released a succession of singles across Europe, the US and Australia and saw the incremental additions of Ed (bass) and Matthew (drums). Collectively hailing from Italy, Hong Kong, Sardinia, England and Canada; Sunny Day Sets Fire built a nest in East London and began working on their debut album, Summer Palace, throughout 2007.

The band will be touring throughout Europe and the US in 2008, supporting the release of Summer Palace, as well as the upcoming Stranger remix EP featuring remixes by the likes of CSS, Diplo and the Cool Kids. It’s enough to make you burn your passport and declare yourself a converted citizen of the world.

Sunny Day Sets Fire - Wilderness