Faronheit

Who loves free mp3s? That’s what Pick Your Poison is all about. Every Monday through Friday I bring my inbox filled with free mp3s straight to you for your downloading pleasure. If you spot a song from a band you like or have heard a bit about, go ahead and download. If you’re looking for the “next big thing” and want to take some chances, download away. What I personally will recommend this Thursday are the songs from Cap’n Jazz, Darker My Love, New Young Pony Club, the La Roux remix, and the Tame Impala cover. All great, and worth your time. Of course the other stuff might be too, depending on your tastes. Go for what you like or might like!

Alejandro Escovedo – Street Song

Cap’n Jazz – Little League

Dog Day – Rome

Darker My Love – Dear Author (follow link; email required)

Kaz James ft. Macy Gray – Can’t Hold Back (Don Diablo Remix)

La Roux – Bulletproof (Hyper Crush Remix) (follow link)

Midnight Juggernauts – Get Connected

New Young Pony Club – Chaos

Rox – I Don’t Believe (Don Diablo Remix)  

Shundak – Here I Am to Save the World

Son of the Sun – Get Together

Susanna and the Magical Orchestra – Palpatine’s Dream

Tame Impala – Vital Signs (Midnight Juggernauts cover)

Expectations can be a tricky thing. Whether you’re talking about a star athlete, a band or simply your co-workers and family, the more familiar we get with a person, the easier it is to place expectations on them and anticipate they’ll be met. When that guy in your office went ahead and made back-up copies of all those important files just to make sure they were safe in the event of a catastrophic disaster, it creates an expectation. When Michael Jordan would hit that game-winning shot at the last second, that created expectations. They don’t always work out – that co-worker I just mentioned might get busted sleeping at his desk a week later – but when somebody does perform in line with however much we expect of them, there’s a certain pleasure we can take from the results. In the case of LCD Soundsystem, expectations are high. James Murphy, the singular man with the plan behind the moniker, has released two albums worth of dance music with indie rock pastiche so far, and both are critically acclaimed and beloved by those who have heard them. The last official LCD Soundsystem album, 2007′s “Sound of Silver”, was so highly regarded it not only wound up atop many publications’ “best of the year” lists, but it also tended to place quite well in the “best of the decade” lists. Crafting an equally compelling follow-up to that album has to be a near impossible task, but as Murphy has already shown us, near impossible is what he does best.

“This Is Happening” is largely cut from the same thematic cloth that “Sound of Silver” was. Murphy may craft a number of intense dancefloor beats, but lyrically speaking he’s an intense realist, choosing to make his subject matter about some of the sadder things in life, be it losing touch with your friends or ending a romantic relationship. The words may betray the tempo, but that’s part of the brilliance LCD Soundsystem brings to the table. It’s also something that many great artists have done before, in particular Brian Eno on many of his records. Of course Murphy isn’t always deadly serious, as on the first single “Drunk Girls”, which lampoons the differences between the genders when both have had too much alcohol. And though it may essentially be an angry rant against sell out, major label artists, there’s also plenty of humor to be found in “You Wanted a Hit” (which, coincidentally, clocks in at over 9 minutes long and has 0 chances of becoming a hit). Perhaps my favorite line on the entire album though comes from the funny but eventually darkly-themed “Pow Pow”, where Murphy exclaims “Eat it Michael Musto/You’re no Bruce Vilanch”. For those who don’t know, Michael Musto is a writer for the Village Voice, Bruce Vilanch is a comedy writer best known for scripting award show presenter banter. Murphy and Musto are in a pseudo-feud after Musto called Murphy a douchebag for “pulling a Kanye” (twice) at an awards show. So there’s some insider info on the insult.

When it comes to the really serious stuff though, “This Is Happening” tends to focus on romantic issues. “I Can Change” finds Murphy waxing poetic about how we’ll sometimes make personality adjustments to make a relationship work, while at the same time calling love a “murderer” and a “curse” and “an open book to a verse of your bad poetry”. The somber “Somebody’s Calling Me” is about the desire for a relationship with a girl, but all the lines of communication are shut down. The excellent and highly emotional “All I Want” laments a break up, with Murphy acknowledging his sorry state and begging her to come back by saying “All I want is your pity/And all I want are your bitter tears”. Nothing quite packs the same resonance as “Sound of Silver”‘s big moment “All My Friends”, but there’s plenty of relatable and highly effective highlights across this album too.

What makes “This Is Happening” a truly great record is that James Murphy makes it crystal clear that he’s working as hard as possible to try and top himself yet again. Though he doesn’t completely succeed, that he comes extremely close is nothing short of admirable. Where other artists might use the opportunity to take a few chances and try something experimental or simply forego putting up as much of an effort, Murphy refuses to take such success with ease and candor. The drive to consistently make strides forward in the face of immense pressure and opposition is the mark of a true champion. What this new album lacks in an expansion of the overall LCD Soundsystem sound, it more than makes up for with stronger writing and vocal performances from Murphy. And of course if words and emotions aren’t your thing, there’s also plenty of classic beats to keep you happy on the dancefloor. In a year already filled with excellent albums, chalk up another great one from LCD Soundsystem. We’re less than halfway done with 2010, but mark your calendars and anticipate hearing much more about “This Is Happening” when year-end listmaking season comes around.

Buy “This Is Happening” from Amazon

Band of Horses have gone on record claiming that their new album “Infinite Arms” is a “game-changer” for them. What’s really changed about the group is the lineup. Several band members have come and go over the past two albums, and the only constant connecting the three records at this point is frontman Ben Bridwell. They are currently a five-piece ensemble, and “Infinite Arms” marks the first time these guys have fully collaborated in the writing and composition of the songs. This change in how they do business is also somewhat evident in their sound, as having a full band means fuller sounding songs on the whole, along with the addition of some intense vocal harmonies. If you were expecting some real curveballs like a shift in style, chances are you’ll be disappointed. Of course if you liked what Band of Horses were doing before you might be disappointed anyways.

On their first two albums, Band of Horses found a way to take an unoriginal sound and make it all their own. They were skating the thin line between traditional indie rock and alt-country, coming from the same angle that bands like Wilco and My Morning Jacket have succeeded at before them. What broke Band of Horses away from the pack were two things – a strong ear for invigorating and fun hooks along with the intense and distinctive vocal performance of Ben Bridwell. “Infinite Arms” is unfortunately missing both those elements. Listening to the album is closer to taking a sleeping pill with all the slow acoustic-driven songs. They’re taking a decidedly stronger alt-country angle here than they ever have before, and the couple songs (“Compliments”, “NW Apt.”) that feel like they could have found a stylistic home on the previous two Band of Horses albums feel whitewashed and flat rather than brimming with fun and soaring possibility. A few songs legitimately sound like the entire band was chained to their instruments and told they couldn’t leave the studio until the songs were finished. Following on that same beat, while Ben Bridwell is still the unequivocal leader of the group, his vocals are far more contained and less dominant than they have been in the past. There aren’t any choruses that allow him to stretch his singing wings and soar above everything else. That’s largely due to the subdued nature of the album, not lending itself as well to such expansiveness. Add in these new vocal harmonies, and Bridwell’s signature voice gets lost in the mix more often. The loss of his singular vocal presence at points can be just a little upsetting, but the harmonies actually do far more good than harm in the end.

The experience of listening to “Infinite Arms” can best be equated to watching a beauty pageant. Everything looks and sounds very well put together, and the record does contain some of the band’s most gorgeous songs to date. The problem comes when you try and look beyond that superficial beauty and try to find something deeper. The lyrics won’t help you any, because the generalized platitudes Bridwell has always written (and often covered up by an enthusiastic or unique singing of said lines) are still there, but with fewer acrobatics to distract you from their emptiness. Everything also feels like it’s covered in some sort of glossy sheen that may preserve it in time but lacks the emotional continence to give the accurate impression the band members believe in what they’re doing. Given that Band of Horses have made the leap from indie powerhouse Sub Pop to the major label dens of Columbia, a loss of distinction and the pressure to come through with a money-making hit sort of come with the territory. With “Infinite Arms” they’re submitting to at least one of those two caveats as they tend to sound like any number of country and alt-country bands making music today. Whether or not the album spawns a legitimate hit remains to be seen. The thing is, outside of this new album, all indicators suggested that Band of Horses deserved every shred of success they had gotten. The music world was supposed to be a better place once these guys finally hit the big time. Instead, it feels like they broke down and are now functioning with a chip on their shoulders. The album might be titled “Infinite Arms”, but despite its attempted warm embrace, those arms don’t stretch nearly far enough anymore.

Download “Laredo” for free from Amazon MP3

Buy “Infinite Arms” from Amazon

My personal highlights from today’s Pick Your Poison are remixes of songs from Yo La Tengo and Tokyo Police Club (by Passion Pit, no less). Check those out, among other things. Download what you like!

Alasdair Roberts – The Daemon Lover

Alex Kemp – On Your Side

Caddywhompus – Let the Water Hit the Floor (ZIP)

Communist Daughter – Fortunate Son

The Happy Hollows – Monster Room

Human Life – In It Together (Acid Girls Remix)

Leopold and His Fiction – Golden Friends

Moondoggies – Fly Mama Fly

Savoir Adore – Bodies (French Horn Rebellion Remix)

Shadow Shadow Shade – Is This A Tempest In the Shape Of A Bell

The Streets on Fire – No One’s Fucking to the Radio

The Telepathic Butterflies – Circle Man

Tokyo Police Club – Wait Up (Boots of Danger) (Passion Pit Remix) (follow link)

Versus – Invincible Hero

Yo La Tengo – Here to Fall (Pete Rock Remix)

We are quickly approaching the 10 year anniversary of the birth of The Black Keys as a band, and during that time they’ve been remarkably productive. The duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have together released 6 albums if you include their new one “Brothers”, and that’s coming off a year-long break from the band where both guys went off and did their own things. Auerbach released a solo album that was basically another Black Keys record in disguise, while Carney got together with a group of fellow percussionists and created the beat-centric band Drummer. Back from their brief separation, despite essentially working the entire time, The Black Keys are returning a refreshed and reinvigorated band looking to reclaim the loose and fun blues revivalist sound that made their first few records so compelling.

With their 2008 album “Attack & Release”,. Auerbach and Carney practically admitted their sound had grown stale after four albums, so they hired Danger Mouse to shake things up a little bit and bring some of that edge back. The experiment wasn’t an unmitigated failure by most standards, and it did take the band away from their heavy blues influences for a moment to incorporate some psychedelic elements. Danger Mouse isn’t helping out with “Brothers”, but The Black Keys haven’t entirely forgotten a few of the tricks they learned from him. They continue to incorporate some hazy, drug-fueled bits on this new record, though the overall sound is far more easygoing and old school than anything else. Auerbach continues to stir up some seriously fierce guitar work while Carney’s rhythms remain some of the best around these days. The small innovations they have made for “Brothers” include an increased reliance on organ and piano, as well as the incorporation of harpsichord for “Too Afraid To Love You”. Auerbach also breaks out a brand new secret weapon in the form of a falsetto that he’s apparently been hiding all this time, which is surprisingly strong and compelling. It adds a new dimension to songs like “Everlasting Light” and “The Only One”. Where that really shines though is on their cover of Jerry Butler’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”, which becomes nearly indistinguishable from the original. They were smart to avoid trying to make the song their own or improving upon it, as you don’t mess with perfection. And that the song passes by and fits in so perfectly with the rest of the album is just another sign of how The Black Keys aren’t so much ripping off past records but instead making music that’s of no particular time and place – it sounds good in any era.

The real tragedy with “Brothers”, if you can call it a tragedy, is that it once again shows that The Black Keys aren’t exactly interested in taking many chances. If you pick up any Black Keys album, there are certain markers you expect them to hit, and they almost always do. Their fuzzed out, swampy blues sound has carried them across these 6 records and they don’t appear to want to do a whole lot to change that. Given that most of those albums have turned out quite well though makes their lack of ambition more respectable, because you don’t always need to mess with success. “Brothers” may not be the best record The Black Keys have ever done, but it is more of a return to form after their last couple albums took much darker and more serious tones. Hell, if the cover art announcing “This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers.” doesn’t make you crack at least a little bit of a smile, perhaps the music video for “Next Girl” which features Frank the Dinosaur puppet will. The album thankfully maintains that looser and goofier vibe and is better for it. For those familiar with previous Black Keys albums, “Brothers” won’t change your opinion of them either way, but it just might attract some new fans to the fold. That’s about all they can ask for this far along in their careers, though you have to start wondering exactly when the bottom is going to drop out on these guys and they become just another band settling for being average rather than continuing to try and expand upon what they’ve already done.

Buy “Brothers” from Amazon

Among today’s highlights in Pick Your Poison, there’s a brand new track from Dean & Britta, cool stuff from Holy Ghost! as well as Under Byen. Plenty to recommend, but of course what you actually choose to download is up to you. Have at it!

Dean & Britta – Making Me Smile

Empires- Damn Things Over

The Golden Filter – Hide Me

Gordon Voidwell – Ivy League Circus

Holy Ghost! – Say My Name

Jews and Catholics – Up For Days

Keepaway – Yellow Wings

Milagres – Outside

Screaming Females – Arm Over Arm

True Womanhood – The Monk

Twin Tigers – Everyday

Under Byen – Alt Er Tabt

What’s the loudest bass you’ve ever heard? Are you the sort of person who enjoys buying a highly expensive subwoofer and cranking the volume up as loud as possible in either the car or at home? Is the noise loud enough to make the entire neighborhood shake? You might think that those sorts of albums are almost exclusively hip hop specific, with “those damn kids and their rap records”, but that’d be before you met the duo of Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss, otherwise known as Sleigh Bells. They caught the attention of critics and music fans everywhere last year thanks to their wild live show and an EP of demos that spread around the internet like wildfire. Their unique sound, combining Miller’s intensely loud guitars and Krauss’s calm and collected vocals, felt familiar even though most people have struggled to accurately define it. “Noise pop” is the tag most frequently affixed to Sleigh Bells’ music, and given that it’ll split your eardrums while bouncing around in your head for days, that’s not too far from correct. Now with debut album “Treats” released digitally last week (June 1st physically) on M.I.A.’s label N.E.E.T. Recordings, the duo truly seems ready for their close-up. The question is are we?

If you heard the Sleigh Bells demo EP last year, no matter whether you may have loved it or hated it, those tracks reappear on “Treats” in re-recorded form. The good news is that these new versions are still louder than you could imagine, they just sound a little clearer and better mixed. It also makes for some great highlights across the record, as songs like “A/B Machines” and “Crown on the Ground” are more compelling than ever. The bad news comes only in the form of lyrical content, because those looking for deeper meaning in the words of these songs will be left high and dry. Assuming that Krauss does all the lyrics, there are very few actual verses and many times songs will only feature a phrase or two repeated over and over ad nauseum. The great benefit of this is that they get stuck in your head that much easier. The thing about those words though is that their main purpose is to act as a supplement to all the insanity taking place across the rest of the track. These are beats and guitar parts probably best designed for somebody to rap on top of, and given that Krauss is smartly not feigning to have any sort of rhyming skills allows yout to accept her lack of lyrical meanings and variations with little to no thought. Besides that, the main intention of this album is to have a whole lot of fun with few consequences (except for maybe hearing damage), so Sleigh Bells hit it out of the park in that respect.

Assuming you’re okay with excessively loud rock music with a sharp, beat-driven edge to it, “Treats” is exactly what its title describes. Miller and Krauss are unique crafters of a record that’s both ambitious and a blast to listen to, if that’s your sort of thing. Divisive is one of the best words to describe how people are going to react to this album, because for all the interesting compositions and fun it might otherwise bring, there will be plenty who won’t understand or just generally won’t like all the noise. The real question now is where Sleigh Bells will go from here. Sustaining the same sandblasting sound for 30 minutes of excellence is one thing, but to pull it off for multiple records might get a little tedious. It also begs the question of how long “Treats” might remain in the good graces of its fans before they move onto something else and forget all about it. This isn’t a life-changing record, but it is a highly enjoyable one for the moment. Their popularity might only wind up a momentary blip on the music radar, but for the moment it feels like a crater filled with noise, announcing that a loud, brash rock and roll record can still wholly satisfy if done right.

Sleigh Bells – Tell ‘Em

Stream the entire album at NPR

Buy “Treats” from iTunes
Preorder “Treats” from Insound

To help start your week off on the right foot, Pick Your Poison has some extra mp3s today for your downloading pleasure. Or I just got more emails and links in my inbox than usual. A couple songs from Fang Island, a b-side from Inlets, a new song from Light Pollution, and a hot new band called 2:54. Most of the downloads today are fantastic, so be sure to check them out!

2:54 – Creeping

A Lull – Weapons for War

Cowboy Indian Bear – Mathmaticians/Colour
Cowboy Indian Bear – Saline

Fang Island – Daisy
Fang Island – Life Coach

The Flying Change – Singer

Hamacide – Carnies (feat. Fielded)

Holopaw – The Art Teacher and the Little Stallion

Inlets – Spotsylvania 

Light Pollution – Oh, Ivory!

The Radio Dept. – Never Follow Suit

Stereo Total – Baby Ouh

Still Flyin – Higher Than Five

Teamforest – Blind
Teamforest – Most Things Are Doomed

Thieves Like Us – Forget Me Not Remix EP  (follow link)

This Will Destroy You – Communal Blood

Trees On Fire – Live Life

The Whigs – Dying

The White White Lights – Space Invaders

Dear friends and faithful readers,

First I want to thank you for your love and support these past few years that Faronheit has been in existence. It wouldn’t exist as it does today without your presence (silent or not), so I do appreciate you stopping by and reading, downloading, commenting, etc. I try not to ask for much, but when I do I’m always grateful to those who lend a hand. If you can help me out here I’d really appreciate it.

The wonderful Lollapalooza organizers have asked the general public (YOU) to help point out some of the best music blogs in Chicago. As you may or may not know (or if you haven’t looked at my banner at the top of the page), Faronheit is a Chicago-based music blog. I’ve lived in and around this city my entire life and I love it here (despite the weather). Since Faronheit started in 2006, I’ve worked hard to bring you the best and most complete Lollapalooza coverage this side of the official festival website. If you’re a regular follower of my Twitter, you also may have seen that I revealed bits and pieces of this year’s Lollapalooza lineup before the official announcement. And when that official announcement did happen, it was my very first post on the brand new Faronheit.com after moving away from the old Blogspot location. Really I want this site to interact with Lollapalooza as much as possible, so I can continue to provide the festival coverage this city deserves.

That said, please vote for me. Follow the link, type in my web address into an open slot, and press submit. Your email address is NOT required (unless you want on to their mailing list). Whether you’re going to Lollapalooza this year or not, I’d still appreciate it if you’d help me out on this. Thanks again for your support!

Vote for Faronheit as one of the “Can’t Miss Chicago Blogs”

This week’s Live Friday session is from none other than the absolutely wonderful She & Him. The band, in case you didn’t know, is comprised of singer-songwriter M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. Their origins stem largely from Deschanel becoming friends with Ward and later revealing to him that she had written a whole bunch of songs. The sound is classic AM pop music from the good ‘ol days of the 1950′s and 60′s. Their last album, “Volume One” came out a couple years back, and they’re now headed out on the road to tour surrounding its also-great sequel “Volume Two”, which was released a couple months ago. This session was recorded for WXPN in Philadelphia, but the band was actually at Capitol Studios in California warming up for their tour. No matter how it was recorded, the session is very fun and sunny, much like the weather these days in anticipation of summer’s full arrival.

Should you want to hear the interview with the band as well, which you can stream via the link below, Ward and Deschanel talk a little about how the band came to be, what their influences are, and how they decided on the couple cover songs they’ve included on “Volume Two” (one of which they played during the session, available to download below). Pretty good stuff, and if you can or are so inclined, you should see She & Him out on tour for much of the next few months. Have a great weekend!

She & Him – Live from Capitol Studios – 5-7-10:
She & Him – In the Sun (Live from Capitol Studios)
She & Him – Thieves (Live from Capitol Studios)
She & Him – Me and You (Live from Capitol Studios)
She & Him – Ridin’ in My Car (Live from Capitol Studios)

Stream the entire interview/session

Buy “Volume Two” from Amazon

Another day, another collection of mp3s for you to download free via Pick Your Poison. There’s lots of good stuff in today’s edition, including a new song from Math and Physics Club, a hot new hype band Lower Dens, and something new from Damien Jurado. Browse the selections and by all means take what you like!

April Smith – Movie Loves A Screen

Damien Jurado – Cloudy Shoes

Delays – Find A Home (New Forest Shaker) (follow link)

The Ex-Girlfriends Club – Your Prescription

Ghosty – Team Up Again
Buy the “Team Up Again” EP from iTunes

The Golden Dogs – Permanent Record

Josiah Wolf – Ohioho

Lower Dens – Hospice Gates

Math and Physics Club – Jimmy Had A Polaroid

Neverever – Young and Dumb

Pearly Gate Music – Big Escape

Red Wire Black Wire – Breathing Fire

Setting Sun – Make You Feel

Suckers – Black Sheep

Just in time for summer, Delorean are showing up with a new album’s worth of dance confections to please your ears and move your feet. They burst onto the music scene last summer with their “Ayrton Senna” EP, which attracted plenty of attention for its strong grasp of 90s house and techno styles combined with anthemic choruses that could turn any dance party from warm to white hot in an instant. Their first long player “Subiza” now trades on that same style as the Spanish foursome looks to capture even more hearts, minds and dancing shoes around the world.

If “Subiza” were just another upbeat dance record, Delorean might not be getting the attention they currently are. Starting out as your traditional guitar and drums indie band, they began to incorporate more electronic beats and keyboards into their songs and noticed they had a particular knack for it. Naturally then, their sound has been shifting further and further in that direction, to the point where it very much blurs the lines between dance, pop and rock music. There are elements of each, and even a little bit of hip hop, on “Subiza”, wrapped in a mixture of electronica styles that keep the tempo upbeat and fun. It’s that inability to place Delorean in an easily definable box that makers them so unique and worthwhile to listen to.

Album opener “Stay Close” hits hard from the get-go with some killer keyboards and an uplifting chorus that will stay with you for days. Followed by the 6-minute rave-up of “Real Love”, which takes on a slightly more hip hop flavor and throws in some helium-pitched vocals for added variety. There are some brilliant vocal harmonies on “Subiza” as well, and tracks like “Infinite Desert” and closer “It’s All Ours” sharply recall the genius that Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” had to offer last year. “Warmer Places” is a gem from late in the album, dialing in a hook that nearly overwhelms with Italo-house flavor. Compared to the “Ayrton Senna” EP, this full length doesn’t sound quite as big and anthemic, but what it lacks in bombast it makes up for in more carefully considered composition. The songs on “Subiza” also fit together better, despite the consistent changes in style. It’s all electronica in some form or another, and what some of the tracks lack in stylistic similarities they more than make up for in overall mood and tempo.

Above all else, fun is the name of the game on “Subiza”. Many will view it as a simple club record that will benefit most from being blasted on the dance floor. Hopefully some smart DJs take it upon themselves to expose as many people as possible to Delorean and their throwback electronic style. Yet the album goes so much deeper than so many realize, and the verse-chorus-verse structure on many of the songs deceptively turn them into pop hits without much prodding. It takes strong musical talent and knowledge to pull off a record this well proportioned, and Delorean just barely manage to do it. This may be a record that’s challenging to break down and describe accurately, but all you really need to know in the end is that this is a gorgeous album that will draw you in quickly and never let go until your body is tired from too much dancing.

Delorean – Stay Close

Buy “Subiza” from Amazon