Weekend Round-up #18/4/2010 - Black Keys, Beach House, Slow Club + more.

The sixth Black Keys album comes out next month, and if you've bought tickets for their upcoming US tour - you'll have already received your two free downloads and totally free pre-order of the 12" LP 'Brothers'. As ever with this duo, its to be excited about - they might not have invented their genre, but they've certainly mastered it. Tighten Up and Next Girl are two garage-blues anthems from the 15-track, which was mixed at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Alabama, with contributions from long-time producer Dangermouse.

Black Keys - Tighten Up (MP3) from Brothers - May 18
Black Keys - Next Girl (MP3) from Brothers - May 18


Darwin Deez have popped up yet again in somewhere I wasn't expecting to see them, this time an advert on Channel 4 UK. Judging by the facts we have (the debut came out only this week, and, they are going to be on UK television) we have a potentially very successful band on our hands who are looking all set to do very well in the UK this festival season. I plan to rendez-vous with them at the Great Escape Brighton and Bestival, but until then...

Judging from the state of the Hype Machine's links to Darwin Deez posts, the record label (Lucky Number Music) are operating a no tolerance policy on friendly, promotional MP3 downloads. So I advise you strongly to take the advice of Its The Money Shot, and don't use any of his handy links to a full album download. Looks like the frankly irritating Sound Cloud is the way forward if I'm going to avoid trouble, sorry.

 Darwin Deez - Constellations by LuckyNumberMusic

 Darwin Deez - Radar Detector by LuckyNumberMusic


Darwin Deez came out on April 12, 2010 - buy Darwin Deez (CD) or Darwin Deez (MP3) via Amazon.com


Ben Lear contacted me earlier this week. He's a singer/songwriter who recorded his Lillian EP for a musical he's put together. Its going to première at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC on May 21st with a 15 piece band. As he put it: "its a 15-piece folk opera about a man, who scuba dives into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to reclaim all he's ever lost" This kind of thing is exactly why I want to move to  New York City. If you're around, why not make a trip down. The music from the EP is also really nice. I don't have any MP3s, but you can listen to/pick up the 3-track Lillian EP from his bandcamp for just $2.99. Go ahead.

Slow Club dropped their latest video for 'Giving Up On Love' on Thursday morning, featuring an exclusive performance from Mackenzie Crook, who sits in deep thought, looking slightly bemused on a fairground ride for the duration of the video. 'Giving Up On Love' is the third single from the second album Yeah So, which came out on July 2009 on Moshi Moshi Records. Pretty soon they are heading out on tour with a few of my favourite underground acts at the moment - Veronica Falls and Spectrals, including a date at London's Koko. Record Store Day also sees the limited edition 12" vinyl re-release of Yeah So with hand-painted artwork and nine extra tracks. Very nice.

Slow Club - Giving Up On Love (MP3) single out May 24, 2010 on Moshi Moshi Records.



Canadian dream pop band Stars also had new material last week, dropping their new single 'Fixed' as the preview for their new album The Five Ghosts due via Soft Revolution (their own label) on June 22, 2010. Vocals of Amy Millan are immaculate as ever, but this time with music featuring much harder synth work and stronger beats than anything from 2007's In Our Bedroom After The War. Metric would be a rash comparison to make from one new song, but they certainly appear to be suddenly inclined that way. Pick up the new one below, and search Amazon.com for The Five Ghosts.

Stars - Fixed (MP3) from The Five Ghosts - June 22


Beach House also gave away a special edition 12" yesterday for Record Store Day, including the UK radio edit of Zebra and The Arrangement. There's only 500 Copies worldwide for release, but you can hear MP3s of The Arrangement and download Zebra (UK Radio Edit) below.

 Beach House - The Arrangement by Bella Union

Beach House - Zebra (UK Radio Edit) (MP3)

Buy Teen Dream via Amazon.com