Hanoi Janes - Year of Panic [2010]

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SLEIGH BELLS - TREATS [2010]

This Brooklyn act is another male-female duo receiving a lot of buzz, but don’t expect the dream-pop vibe of Beach House or the folk-tinged sound of She & Him. Rather, Sleigh Bells make grungy dance pop that’s been praised by Pitchfork, which lauded their “fun synth rave-ups” for being “blurrier and more intense than you’d expect.” The group is comprised of guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss, who ended up working as a duo when former members of the band went on to form another buzz-band, Surfer Blood. This debut was produced by Derek Miller. Stereogum has named them a “Band to Watch” and the New Yorker has given them attention. This release comes out on Mom + Pop Music in special partnership with NEET Recordings, a label run by M.I.A., with whom Krauss has been compared.
prefixmag.com

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THE MAGNETIC FIELDS - REALISM [2010]

"The Magnetic Fields is a New York-based group fronted by Stephin Merritt. Recent albums released under the name “The Magnetic Fields” usually consist of synth-pop music in a 1980s style underlying clever lyrics which are often heavily ironic. While synth-pop often forms the foundation of their music, The Magnetic Fields’ music borrows from many other styles, notably country, folk and indie pop.
The band was originally formed in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1990 by friends Merritt and (percussionist/pianist/vocalist) Claudia Gonson. While 1991’s Distant Plastic Trees and 1992’s The Wayward Bus (now most easily available together as a compilation, The Wayward Bus / Distant Plastic Trees) are sung by Susan Anway, all subsequent albums are principally sung by Merritt himself.
Longtime members include: Gonson, (cellist) Sam Davol, and (banjo player/guitarist) John Woo. Contributors include (but are not limited to) the singers Susan Anway, Dudley Klute, Shirley Simms, and LD Beghtol, and the accordionist/writer Daniel Handler (famous for writing the childrens’ books A Series of Unfortunate Events under the alias Lemony Snicket).
Their most popular and best-selling album to date is 69 Love Songs issued on Merge Records as a triple album filled with many fairly short songs that are reminiscent of early Beatles productions" LAST.FM
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THE FLAMING LIPS - THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON [2009]

"According to an L.A. Times report, the Flaming Lips are set to follow-up their life- (and death)-affirming LP Embryonic with a full-album redo of Pink Floyd's gazillion-selling 1973 psych-rock classic Dark Side of the Moon.
The Lips version of Dark Side is a collaboration with the band Stardeath and White Dwarfs (which includes Wayne Coyne's nephew Dennis Coyne as a member), and features guest spots from Henry Rollins and Peaches. It will most probably be an iTunes-only release.
The announcement was made last night during a Q&A session with fans at a MySpace show last night at L.A.'s Nike/Ricardo Montalbán Theater.
Other tidbits revealed: While Embryonic was the final album of the Flaming Lips' current contract with Warner Bros., they plan on sticking with the label for future releases.
Also, the video for "Watching the Planets" features a nude Wayne Coyne (as well as a bunch of nude bikers). The internet's not ready." PITCHFORK
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ASOBI SEKSU - REWOLF [2009]

"Asobi Seksu is an indie rock/dream pop band which formed in 2004 in New York City, New York, United States. The band consists of Yuki Chikudate (vocals, keyboards), James Hanna (guitar, vocals), William Pavone (bass) and Larry Pavone (drums). The band’s name in Japanese consists of two words, “asobi” meaning “play” or “for fun”, and “sekkusu” the Japanese imported word for”sex” .
Their sound has been said to draw influence from the shoegazing movement of the late 1980s to early 1990s, which was coined to describe the textured and effects-heavy sound of alternative rock in that era.
Asobi Seksu released their eponymous debut album in 2004. The band regrouped with a new rhythm section for their second album, Citrus, which was recorded in Gigantic Studios, New York City with producer Chris Zane.
One Little Indian Records re-released the band’s first album Asobi Seksu and the follow-up Citrus in 2006.
The band changed its name to Asobi Seksu from the previous name, sportf*ck, when they signed to their current label.
According to the band’s official website “James and Yuki have almost completed writing songs for the new record and will be hitting the studio, once again with producer Chris Zane, this summer (2008). The new album will be released on Polyvinyl Record Co., the band’s new US label.” LAST.FM

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SPIRITUALIZED - LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE ARE FLOATING IN SPACE [1997]

"Spiritualized's third collection of hypnotic headphone symphonies is their most brilliant and accessible to date. Largely forsaking the drones and minimalistic, repetitive riffs which have characterized his work since the halcyon days of Spacemen 3, Jason Pierce re-focuses here and spins off into myriad new directions; in a sense, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, with its majestic, Spector-like glow, is his classic rock album. "Come Together" and the blistering "Electricity" are his most edgy, straightforward rockers in eons, while the stunning "I Think I'm in Love" settles into a divided-psyche call-and-response R&B groove, and the closing "Cop Shoot Cop" (with guest Dr. John) locks into a voodoo blues trance. Lyrically, Pierce is at his most open and honest: The record is a heartfelt confessional of love and loss, with redemption found only in the form of drugs -- designed, no less, to look like a prescription pharmaceutical package, Ladies and Gentlemen is pointedly explicit in its description of drug use as a means of killing the pain on track after track. Conversely, never before have the literal implications of the name "Spiritualized" been explored in such earnest detail -- the London Community Gospel Choir appears prominently on a number of songs, while another bears the title "No God, Only Religion," pushing the music even further toward the kind of cosmic gospel transcendence it craves. A masterpiece." AMG

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MOONSHAKE - EVA LUNA [1992]

"The only full-length album recorded by Moonshake's original lineup, Eva Luna is bursting with ideas and tension; dissonant instrumental lines careen off of both noisy samples and spacey dream pop textures, resting on a bed of hypnotic dub bass grooves and deliberate, deeply funky percussion. Just as exciting as the seemingly alien soundscapes is the precarious coalition between singers and songwriters Dave Callahan and Margaret Fiedler, who weave their divergent songwriting and performance approaches into something of a double-sided personality. Callahan delivers his tales of despairing cynicism and rage over modern urban life with theatrical growls and nasal wails, while Fiedler's hushed murmurs and understated purr belie the aggression lurking under her songs' often nightmarish psycho-sexual dramas. Above all, Eva Luna's sound collages are dark and edgy, regardless of whether their overall tone is mellow or furious; the album's dense layers of sonic detail and the ebb and flow between Callahan and Fiedler's contrasting songwriting styles make it a richly inventive, endlessly fascinating listen -- and unfortunately the only full-length album of its kind in the group's oeuvre. Matador's American reissue appends the three tracks from the "Secondhand Clothes" single." AMG

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THE FLAMING LIPS - EMBRYONIC [2009]

"The Flaming Lips are an American experimental rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States in 1983. Currently the band consists of founding members Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, theremin, keyboards) and Michael Ivins (bass, keyboards), longtime member Steven Drozd (keyboards, guitar, drums, synths, vocals) and Kliph Scurlock (drums at live shows)

Although grounded in an indie rock/alternative approach to rock music, The Flaming Lips are known for their lush, multi-layered arrangements, spacey lyrics and bizarre song titles. They are also acclaimed for their elaborate live shows, which typically feature animal suits, puppets, streamers, video projections and complex stage light configurations.

In 2002, Q magazine named The Flaming Lips one of the “50 Bands to See Before You Die”. In 2006, Oklahoma City named a street Flaming Lips Alley in their honor.

The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label in the 1980s and early 1990s. After signing to Warner Brothers, they scored a top ten hit in 1994 with She Don’t Use Jelly. Although it would be their only hit single, the band has maintained critical respect and, to a lesser extent, commercial viability with sonically majestic albums such as 1999’s The Soft Bulletin and 2002’s Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. The Flaming Lips’ 11th studio album, At War With The Mystics, was released by Warner Brothers on the 4th of April 2006." LAST.FM

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MY BLOODY VALENTINE - GEEK! EP [1985]

SIMILAR/RELATED: SLOWDIVE, RIDE, CHAPTERHOUSE, PALE SAINTS, THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, LUSH, ASTROBRITE

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MY BLOODY VALENTINE - YOU MADE ME REALISE [1988]

"Like the Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, and the Jesus & Mary Chain before them, My Bloody Valentine redefined what noise meant within the context of pop songwriting. Led by guitarist Kevin Shields, the group released several EPs in the mid-'80s before recording the era-defining Isn't Anything in 1988, a record that merged lilting, ethereal melodies of the Cocteau Twins with crushingly loud, shimmering distortion. Though My Bloody Valentine rejected rock & roll conventions, they didn't subscribe to the precious tendencies of anti-rock art-pop bands. Instead, they rode crashing waves of white noise to unpredictable conclusions, particularly since their noise wasn't paralyzing like the typical avant-garde..."

SIMILAR/RELATED: SLOWDIVE, RIDE, CHAPTERHOUSE, PALE SAINTS, THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, LUSH, ASTROBRITE

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