In what’s shaping up to be a really sad year full of notorious music losses, headlines this week were paying tribute to the figure of Malcolm McLaren. The godfather of punk and also the man who brought hip-hop to the UK lost his battle against cancer at the age of 64.
Other newsworthy acts during the last seven days were Thom Yorke – previewing a brand new track live – and veteran US new wave band Devo who launched a song study for their fans to select the 12 tracks that will be part of their next record, after two decades away from the studios.
Better news came out of the festival circuit. The most important being the reunion of Godspeed! You Black Emperor. According to an online message, the apocalyptic gang will reunite for a few live dates, which will include curating the first of two ATP festivals in December, right before Belle & Sebastian’s ‘Bowlie 2’.
And London’s Meltdown this year will have a distinctive folk flavor as Richard Thompson is in charge of a bill that will have among its highlights the Wainwright siblings heading an all-star bill for a tribute to their mum Kate McGarrigle. The rest of the festival’s line-up can be checked here.
Swim by Caribouband
Among the records to stream this week, the new Caribou album marks a step back to their electronic beginnings. The first single, ‘Odessa’, is already one of our favorite tracks of the year.
London energetic, guitar loving and punk infused trio Male Bonding are also offering their debut album ‘Nothing Hurts’ to stream. To celebrate they’ve been signed by Sub Pop, they were also giving away their new and excellent single ‘Year’s Not Long’ at their blog.
Up and coming Brooklyn quintet Twin Sister, currently being championed by all the hip sites, were also giving away on MP3 their new Mini album for two weeks, before it is actually released in physical format. The freebie includes the current hit ‘All Around And Away We Go’.
More free stuff this week: the notable indie label Kill Rock Stars offered a sampler of their finest moments, including back catalogue classics by label’s roster finest such as Elliott Smith; Gossip; Bikini Kill; The Thermals; etc. Elsewhere, No Age gave away a live version of the 17 minutes track they have written as a soundtrack to the film ‘Aanteni’; and Canadian indie bunch Stars came back with ‘Fixed’, the first taster from their forthcoming album.
Among the best videos, Karen Elson’s music debut, ‘The Ghost Who Walks’. Jack White’s wife shows a lot of promise in this, her first track. Other female fronted acts with new audiovisual offerings were the haunting Zola Jesus with the title track of her recent EP, ‘Stridulum’, and British newcomers Peepholes’powerful new single ‘Ladder’.
Xiu Xiu carried on the string of clips to promote his latest album with this promo inspired by old arcade video-games for ‘This Too Shall Pass Away (For Freddy). And last, but not least, from Tijuana Los Macuanos put into images their contagious ‘La Burrita’ (‘The Little Donkey’), whereas veteran psychedelic purveyors Apples In Stereo added a touch of Hollywood calling Elijah Wood to lipsynch their latest single ‘Dance Floor’