Here’s a cut from Jack White’s new solo record which is said to drop April 24. It’s crazy to think that Jack’s name might be more recognizable than the names of any of his bands yet he’s never had his name on an album alone. Crazy. There’s a great feeling about this song. The energy of his voice and the guitars against the cool clarinets has a really pretty effect. I’m pretty psyched about this record .

This is really beautiful. It’s a new song from Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear.

Sorry that we never made an end of year list or anything. Larissa and I had a pretty busy but really fun break and the list kinda fell through because of that. Who cares anyway cuz we’re looking forward to some awesome releases in 2012. Looking forwards is more fun.

George

yeah I need to get a life...

Hello friends!

I’m working on a whole batch of new music right now that I hope to have finished by the new year but until then I’m excited to share the first track that I’ve finished from the bunch. It’s called “Running from Daylight” and I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

I’ve put the track on the player, or you can right-click here and do a “save as” or whatever if you really want the file. Also, You’ll notice the track is credited to Yurij. This is the name I’m recording under now. Boom.

Next topic: Radiohead recently played two shows in NYC and now they’ve recently released tour dates for a bunch of shows for the southern US but fortunately it appears there are more dates coming. But what I wanted to share was a recording from one of their recent NYC shows which features Radiohead opening their song, “Everything in its Right Place”, with Thom Yorke singing a truly beautiful rendition of REM’s “The One I Love”. I’ve included it on the player. As you may have heard, REM recently broke up and it’s a shame because they were a very powerful and benevolent force in Rock and Roll. But hey, it’s not like they’re dead or anything lol.  Michael Stipe is still out there and being ridiculously awesome. Watch below: his appearance on the “Reporrrrrrrr”.

Let me also take the opportunity to express my sympathy for all the victims of the Sandusky situation, which sadly not only includes the victims he personally touched but it also extends to all residents of the area surrounding Penn State and all the individuals who have ever associated themselves with the university. I know we’ll have the ability to rebound because us Penn Staters are really tough.

Lastly, I’ve really been listening to too much Neil Young lately so also I’m including one of my favorite Neil Young tracks to the player: “The Loner”. This track was what led me to fall in love with his music and I recently covered it at an open mic (at which I wore my REM shirt) which was fun because I rarely do stuff like that.

Respectfully,

George aka Yurij aka Yurchyk

I saw James Blake perform twice in the last 4 months. Both times I can safely say my mind was blown. This guy is taking long strides towards a future of musical domination. His new EP, Enough Thunder, does little for me except for this one song but no worries because he’s got a new EP coming out later this year and I’ve heard some of his unreleased songs when he played them live and they kick ass.

I was surprised to hear that James Blake was being called dubstep so I looked up what dubstep meant and I discovered it has a rich history steeped in two step and house and all those weird genres that come from London. Not only that, but I found out that an electronic artist with whose work I am sorta familiar, Burial, is a pioneer of dubstep. funny. Then I found Mount Kimbie, a group loosely associated with Blake, and I heard this song, “50 Mile View” and it blew me away. A lot of richness to their sound – ear candy for anyone with an ear for electronica. A lot of it comes from the way they use reverb to keep sounds lingering; every new sound sits on the residue of the previous blips and synth struts, lingering and fading simultaneously.

Next, Pitchfork just posted a new track by Gonjasufi, everyone’s favorite stoner electronica raspy-voiced psychadelia singer. That’s right kids. Anyway he’s got a new EP coming out or something and again the tracks are produced by my very favorite Flying Lotus. Listen below but first I’m going to express my excitement over the news that Flying Lotus tweeted about his new album, for which he apparently has so much music that he either has to pare it down or make a double album. Now excuse me while I clean up the mess I just left on my keyboard (eww gross).

GONJASUFI – “EATFISH” w: BLU (Produced by Johnson&Johnson) [aif] by Hydroshare.tv

It’s nice to see you guys again, signing off, this is George aka Yurij.

I certainly feel that with the most recent release of “Staircase”, Radiohead is beginning to create a story of rhythms. A sort of “new sound” that I don’t think we all caught onto given the brevity of The King of Limbs. After its 40 minutes, I think we all read just a few pages out of their entire book. But now, I like playing “Staircase” back to back with “Butcher” and creating an almost Animal Collective-like musical trance. Some “thing” is emerging.

Who knows? Radiohead may be making it about the experience… handing out sequels to the trilogy rather than dumping everything on us at once. Or maybe, Thom is simply playing around; take a look at the video below, he certainly looks like he’s having fun.

That being said, I don’t hold anything against “Parentheses” for sounding just like a Radiohead song. I mean it detracts for the “originality” of The Antlers, but the song sounds great. Many people have tried to sound like Radiohead and failed. It’s no easy thing to do – otherwise everybody would be doing it right?

If this is a little preview of what may make up the rest of their upcoming album, Burst Apart, I am extremely excited! Their album comes out May 10th. Listen to their new single HERE

What I love about the movie There Will Be Blood (easily in my top 5), is its pairing with Radiohead’s, Johnny Greenwood’s, mournful string, eerie dissonanced soundtrack rather than jolly honky-tonk one would imagine would accompany the visuals. This obscure soundtrack kept the movie from being an archetypal cowboy western about greed and oil. Instead it became one of the greatest tellings of the downfall of grandiose ambition.

This is why I have reservations about Greenwood’s upcoming soundtrack endeavor – released this week for the Japanese film Norwegian Wood. I am not doubtful of Greenwood’s skill or the resulting musical product, only its pairing with an already batshit crazy story. I may be wrong, this may turn out to be as fruitful of a coupling as There Will Be Blood + Greenwood, but from what I remember of Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on The Shore – eerie music and equally over the top visuals can tip the scale. There Will Be Blood does not break the laws of physics or tip toe into the supernatural the way that Murakami does.

Thus, we won’t get the same unexpectedness with Murakami that we did hearing dissonance and sad violins behind a western.  However, I have not read Norweigian Wood – so this criticism may be hasty.

Whatever the case, I am still unbelievably excited to see a film adaptation of a Murakami novel and to hear another Greenwood soundtrack! It seems all the good releases had to wait until this week! We have Johnny Greenwood (previews available here!), R.E.M. and Wye Oak!

By this time last year, I remember incessantly playing LCD, Beach House, Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer, and revisiting Passion Pit, Discovery, Metric… the list is longer! And forgive me if I’m a bit anachronistic, the point is, the array of choices didn’t force me to comb through my massive itunes library and rekindle old flames.

Today, out of boredom more than curiosity, I listened to everyone of Pitchfork’s songs on their “Playlist”. And as usual, I was disappointed with every pick except Radiohead’s “Give Up Ghost”. Pitchfork seems to be promoting this, let me quote, “twinkling, moonlit R&B protestation all made the more sensual by an anonymous, butter-dripping voice challenging a lover’s relationship with suggestive come-ons.” In other words, most of the stuff on the playlist is either really poor 90s grunge revival or this “slow-syrup” swanky lounge music. I can only imagine myself in D.C., sitting in a red velvet couch, sipping a drink, and watching a victorian chandelier twinkle above dancing people’s heads. This is not where I want good music to take me.

Good music can create various vignettes of emotional experiences, like The Knot, one of our 2009 Top Ten Albums did. Breaking my music doldrums is Wye Oak, releasing their new album on March 8, 2011. Celebrating this release, they are playing a free show at Baltimore downtown record store, The Sound Garden. Their blog announces the show to begin at 730 pm on Tue evening. Although, I’m too busy to make this show – I may skip our of my previous obligations in order to dive into a fresh music scene. Check out this album titled single!

I <3 NPR so much when they offer exclusive first listens for great bands like Wye Oak. Click for  NPR’s first listen to the new album.

Wye Oak – Civilian by cityslang

I could not be more excited for the new R.E.M. album. How can I even begin?  R.E.M., they’re like that kid you know with the perfect resume. Everything they do wows you.

One of Radiohead’s greatest influences, producers of quality albums time and time again, unbelievable live, and Michael Stipe are just a few of R.E.M.’s finest qualities. But what may be most telling about this band is that they don’t care about stuff like credentials. “Losing my religion”, perhaps their most famous song, is about how fame can pull the ground out from underneath a band. Michael Stipe, he’s avoided losing his religion and instead become one of the greatest voices in the world.

I don’t want to read any of the many reviews out already for R.E.M.’s new album, Collapse Into Now. I’d rather come to my own conclusion regarding what the loaded title may mean. Their last album was a personal favorite, because like Plato, their metaphors seem applicable to both the self and the state. Stipe is probably often commenting on society as a whole, but I like to think Accelerate is speaking to me personally. “Living well is the best revenge” was my motto for the couple months I listened to Accelerate on repeat.

Collapse Into Now is out March 8, 2011 in the U.S.!!!