Post War Years – Galapagos

Release date: Monday, 25/February/2013
Over the last twelve months Post War Years have been championed for their unique brand of rich and innovative melodies and irresistibly squelchy, electronic basslines. Following two critically acclaimed EP’s ‘Glass House’ and ‘The Bell’, Post War Years announce the release ‘Galapagos’ – a vivid, emotive, and audacious second album, coming out on the 25th February on Chess Club Records.

‘Galapagos’ produced by long-term collaborator James Rutledge (MGMT, Grizzly Bear, Late of The Pier, My Bloody Valentine, The Kills) sees the band tapping into a new and rich stream of subversive and frequently delightful Avant-pop.

‘Galapagos’ is partly an autobiographical account of the band’s less than perfect lives when first moving to London; financial struggles and claustrophobic living conditions fracturing their friendships and driving them to seek release through their music. All of these experiences are reflected lyrically on ‘Galapagos’ through themes of existentialism and personal identity (‘All Eyes’ &‘Nova’), romantic retrospection (‘Glass House’ &‘Volcano’), evolution/atheism (‘The Bell’ & ‘God’) and escapism (‘Growl’)

‘Galapagos’ is packed full of rampant ideas, inexorable grooves, variation in tempo, nuance and arrangements, signaling a major evolutionary leap for Post War Years. To bolster this confident new direction, the band enlisted the talents of Philadelphia’s far out animator and filmmaker, Tobias Stretch (Efterklang and Radiohead). Tobias has duly bestowed his brand of dream-logic surreality upon the band. On top of making all the bands videos, Tobias is working across the entire visual content for ‘Galapagos’. Alongside the work Tobias is creating will be 10 DIY videos, one for every track on the album, created by the band and filmed on their phones.

Along with headlining their own tour in 2013 and dates with Everything Everything, Post War Years have just finished an arena tour as support to Grammy Award winning Mumford and Sons.

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2013 EVERYTHING EVERYTHING TOUR
16th February – Sheffield – Leadmill
17th February – Liverpool – Academy 2
18th February – Dublin – Whelans
20th February – Glasgow –Oran Mor
21st February – Newcastle – Academy 2
22nd February – Manchester – Academy 2

FEBRUARY / MARCH HEADLINE UK TOUR
23rd February – Reading – Oakford Social
26th February – London – Cargo
27th February – Brighton – Komedia Studio Bar
1st March – Portsmouth – The Registry
2nd March – Bournemouth – Sixty Million Postcards

http://www.postwaryears.com/

Wintersleep Announce New Album, “Resuscitate” MP3 Download

Wintersleep

Hello Hum Drops June 12 via Roll Call Records/ILG

Wintersleep has spent the last decade establishing, developing, and re-inventing their sound to share with audiences around the world. After winning a Juno Award for 2007’sWelcome To The Night Sky, touring extensively in support of 2010’s New Inheritors and performing on The Late Show With David Letterman last year, the band settled down during the summer of 2011 to focus on their next endeavor. Co-produced and mixed byDave Fridmann (MGMT, The Flaming Lips) and Tony Doogan (Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai), Wintersleep’s new album, Hello Hum, signifies a new chapter in the band’s history. Inspired by the members’ collective experiences, waking dreams, and musical experimentations, Hello Hum will be released June 12 via Roll Call Records/ILG.

A collection of diverse tracks that showcase the band’s versatility, Hello Hum contains a mix of bright, upbeat tunes and soft, sweet ballads. For a preview of the album, check out “Resuscitate,” a lively cut driven by energetic bursts of guitar and dynamic percussion.

Download the “Resuscitate” MP3 HERE ! “Resuscitate” is out now on iTunes and album track “In Came The Flood” is also available at Wintersleep.com.

Characterized by resonant harmonies, rich layers of elaborate instrumentation and ear-catching melodies, Wintersleep produces music that has the ability to grab listeners with its pop charm and keep them captivated with its subtle complexities. The new record opens with “Hum,” offering a swirling, slow-building intro to the series of energetic tracks that follow. The upbeat “In Came The Flood” showcases the depth of the band’s sound, featuring melodic vocals atop a densely layered foundation of guitars, vocal harmonies, and driving percussion. From its first note, “Nothing Is Anything (Without You)” possesses the instant appeal of a pop tune, with a prominent guitar melody and toe-tapping rhythm. “Smoke” closes out the album on a softer note, allowing melodic vocals to shine over a subdued instrumental background and steady rolling drum beat.

Wintersleep has seen successful tours in North America, the UK, Ireland and Europe, sharing stages with Pearl Jam, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, The Hold Steadyand Paul McCartney among others. Praised by Flavorpill as having “catchy hooks, intricately crafted arrangements and intelligent lyrics,” stay tuned for more from Wintersleep as they storm the US this spring!

Hello Hum Tracklist
1.    Hum
2.    In Came The Flood
3.    Nothing Is Anything (Without You)
4.    Resuscitate
5.    Permanent Sigh
6.    Saving Song
7.    Rapture
8.    Unzipper
9.    Someone, Somewhere
10.  Zones
11.   Smoke

 

Late Night Tales – MGMT (October 3rd)

Continuing the series’ 10^th anniversary, 2011’s third Late Night Tales compilation is by celebrated psychedelic rock band MGMT.

Formed in 2002 in Brooklyn, New York the band consists of multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, both alumni of Wesleyan University. Their 2008 debut album ‘Oracular Spectacular’ spawned the almost ubiquitous hit singles ‘Kids’, ‘Time To Pretend’ and ‘Electric Feel’ while 2010’s follow up ‘Congratulations’ saw them embrace more of a progressive, guitar-driven sound.

The band’s Late Night Tales selection of post-punk, cult indie and counter-culture figureheads reflects the band’s multifaceted sound, and draws comparisons with contemporary dreampop/chillwave/shoegaze/folk scenes on both sides of the Atlantic.

The listener finds MGMT presiding over the playlist “after-the-after-party”; daybreak creeping through the curtains earlier than desirable, broken bodies lining the corridors, the emotionally bankrupt kept alive by timeless songs of heartache and longing.

Luminaries The Velvet Underground, Suicide and Julian Cope, although not with their most famous songs, sit alongside less familiar names such as Disco Inferno; whose ‘Can’t See It Through’ from their final ‘96 album ‘Technicolour’ opens proceedings.

MGMT’s exclusive cover of ‘All We Ever Wanted Was Everything’ by Bauhaus sits comfortably alongside the UK post-punk-gothic band’s peers The Durutti Column, The Chills, The Jacobites and Felt’s brief but imposing instrumental ‘Red Indians’.

Paranoia strikes deep: the double header of Cheval Sombre’s ‘Troubled Mind’  and ‘Drug Song’ by 60’s Christian folk singer Dave Bixby accentuate the hope offered by the ever penitent Spacemen 3 (MGMT’s second album ‘Congratulations’ was recorded with founder Pete Kember aka Sonic Boom), who deliver ‘Lord Can You Hear Me?’ in respect to the beautiful closer ‘Morning Splendor’, taken from Pauline Anna Strom’s rare ‘82 LP ‘Trans-Millenia Consort‘.

Putting a full stop on the selection, music journalist and Art Of Noise founder Paul Morley continues his ‘Lost For Words’ short story.

Label: Late Night Tales
Cat no: ALNCD26
Web: www.latenighttales.co.uk
Released: Monday October 3rd, 2011

Tracklist

1. Disco Inferno – Can’t See Through It
2. The Great Society – Love You Girl
3. Suicide – Cheree
4. Television Personalities – Stop & Smell The Roses
5. The Velvet Underground – Ocean
6. Felt – Red Indians
7. Julian Cope – Laughing Boy
8. The Durutti Column – For Belgium Friends
9. Charlie Feathers – Mound of Clay
10. Mark Fry – For Wilde
11. MGMT – All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (Exclusive Cover Version)
12. Cheval Sombre – Troubled Mind
13. Dave Bixby – Drug Song
14. The Jacobites – Hearts Are Like Flowers
15. The Chills – Pink Frost
16. Martin Rev – Sparks
17. The Wake – Melancholy Man
18. Spacemen 3 – Lord Can You Hear Me?
19. Pauline Anna Strom – Morning Splendor
20. Paul Morley – Lost For Words Part. 2 (Exclusive Spoken Word Piece)

More info can be found at:
www.whoismgmt.com

Princeton Announce Phase II Mixtape

PRINCETON DROP PHASE I I MIXTAPE

Download It For Free Courtesy Of Yours Truly ‘To The Alps’ Limited Edition 7″ Vinyl Available March 29 On Hit City U.S.A.;
National Tour With Sleigh Bells & CSS kicking off April 15 In San Francisco

“charming and frisky with touches of The Cure, Leonard Cohen and even shoegaze pop.”
– New York Times

LA’s pop multi-instrumentalists Princeton just dropped their Phase I I Mixtape blending some serious pop and electronic music from artists such as Hercules & Love Affair and MGMT. You can check it out here via Yours Truly.

The quartet has been keeping busy with releasing content in anticipation of their upcoming To The Alps limited edition vinyl 7″ available tomorrow, March 29 on Hit City U.S.A.

Track Listing:
01. Teengirl Fantasy: Cheaters
02. Hercules & Love Affair: My House
03. Princeton: To The Alps
04. Iggy Pop: Success
05. MGMT: Siberian Breaks (Ed Banger All Stars Remix)
06. Actress: The Kettle Men
07. Oneohtrix Point Never: Stress
08. Laurie Anderson: Falling
09. Mayo Thompson: Fortune
10. Symphony of Science: The Poetry of Reality

Pre-order The Alps here