Faronheit

Happy Ash Wednesday to you and yours, and if that’s not your thing, hopefully the fact that it’s also National Margarita Day entices you just as much. Today is a little bit of a sad day for the music world, as last night we found out that Women guitarist Christopher Reimer died in his sleep. He was 26 years old. Women have essentially been on a hiatus these last couple years after they fistfought one another in the middle of a show. Still, they put out two damn good records and I was always holding out hope they’d patch things up and start making music again. With Reimer gone that seems less likely than ever. I’d like to offer my condolences to his family and to his bandmates, who in spite of their differences must be putting those aside for at least a little bit. Now let’s get to today’s edition of Pick Your Poison. I’ll advise you to check out tracks from BBU, Ceremony, Ducky, Inca Gold, JD Samson + MEN, Sauna, Sonoi, U.S. Elevator and Violens.

BBU – Please No Pictures (ft. Das Racist)
BBU – Beau Sia

Brian Larsen – Frozen

Ceremony – Adult

Damon Moon & the Whispering Drifters – Lungs, Dirt, & Dreams

The Danvilles – Seemed So Easy

Ducky – Overdose

Inca Gold – Emergency Talks

JD Samson + MEN – Next

Now, Now – Thread

Pulpa – Min Kniv

Sauna – Wanting You

Seun Kuti – The Good Leaf (Spoek Mothambo Remix)

Sonoi – Cotton

U.S. Elevator – All Through the Night

Violens – Unfolding Black Wings

SOUNDCLOUD

Addison Groove – Savage Henry

The District Attorneys – Confusion of Trust

EJ – Mama, I’m Gonna Sing (Pete Tong Remix)

One Finger Riot – Fever

Pepper – Happy Girl (Acoustic)

The Shamefaced Sparrows – Murder In The Dollhouse (Demo)

Happy Tuesday, friends. It is my pleasure to once again name some of the artists releasing brand new records on a day such as today, so that you may make purchases wisely. Keep in mind these aren’t recommendations per se, just a list so you know what’s out there. New albums this week come from Barna Howard, Bright Moments (who have an mp3 below), Busdriver, Cheap Girls, Christopher Paul Stelling, Colleen Green, Cursive, Damien Jurado, Damon Moon, Dustin Wong, Field Music, Frankie Rose, fun., Grimes, Guy Capecelatro III, Isidore (who have an mp3 below), The James Low Western Front, Jonquil, Perfume Genius, Pontiak, Princeton, Sara Radle (who has an mp3 below), Sleigh Bells, Tindersticks, Terry Malts, Yalls and Young Empires. Phew. Exhausting. Talking specifically about Pick Your Poison today, I’ll recommend tracks from Bright Moments, Isidore, Mirror Lady, Sara Radle, and Tripwires.

Arbz – Dawn of A New Era

Bright Moments – Travelers

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Paradisco (Gottfried Beyer Remix)

Isidore – You Will Remain

Joywave – True Grit

Mirror Lady – You Left Me

Octavion X – Begun

Picture Book – Sunshine (Justin Faust Remix)

Rossi B & Luca (ft. Flirta D) – Mind the Gap (Teeza Temix Instrumental)

Sara Radle – Last

Tripwires – Emerald

Two Suns – Not the End Pt. 2

Virginia Plain – Electric Eyes
Virginia Plain – Swamp Thing

Wrinkle Neck Mules – Leaving Chattanooga

SOUNDCLOUD

Gazburn – Walkin’ On Another Planet

Rita Ora – Somebody That I Used To Know (Gotye & Kimbra BBC Live Lounge Cover)

Sam Gray Singing – Bigotry

Softwar – This Time Around

Your 33 Black Angels – Patient Love

Yuzima – My Love Is Your Love (Whitney Houston cover)

Happy President’s Day to my American brethren. Today we essentially roll the birthdays of 2 U.S. Presidents into one day and call it a holiday. It helps that they were two of the greatest Presidents of all time, whom history books have written about both at length. George Washington was our very first President, not to mention a war hero, so his work in freeing America from British rule was clearly unprecedented at the time. Abraham Lincoln held a similar key in his hand, unlocking the freedom of millions of enslaved African Americans, even though the path to true equality wound up being far longer and more difficult than anybody would truly realize. So we salute both of those great men today, not that any of you needed a history lesson filled with the most basic facts you probably already knew. Let’s move on, shall we? In today’s special extended holiday edition of Pick Your Poison, I’m proud to recommend tracks from Black Mountain, Black Tambourine, Charli XCX (part of my Class of 2012), Diplo, Electric Flower Group, Luke Roberts, Nu Sensae, TacocaT and THEESatisfaction. In the Soundcloud section, please by all means stream some great songs from Django Django along with Trentemoller’s remix of The Drums.

Black Mountain – Mary Lou

Black Tambourine – What’s Your Game

Charli XCX – I’ll Never Know

Dan London – Little Bit About Me

Diplo – Express Yourself (ft. Nicky Da B)

Electric Flower Group – Eclipsed

Jonquil – It’s My Part (Co La Remix)

A Little Affair – December

Luke Roberts – His Song

Miike Snow – Devil’s Work (Keys N Krates Remix)

Nu Sensae – Gumbo

Pets With Pets – Pixie Child

Poppet – Wayward Notions

Rusko – Somebody to Love (Skream Remix)

Subburbia – I’ve Got No Friends

TacocaT – Spring Break-Up

THEESatisfaction – QueenS

tree – Universal (ft. Ariel Thiermann)

SOUNDCLOUD

Automusik – General Masses

Django Django – Default

The Drums – Days (Trentemoller Remix)

Evans The Death – Telling Lies

Portico Quartet – City of Glass (LV Remix)

As I typically am on Fridays, I can’t wait to officially start my weekend. Not that my weekdays were anything worth writing home about. But there’s still that sense of relaxation and having nothing on the calendar or FUN on the calendar for a couple days that always brings some excitement to it. So I hope you’ve got a nice weekend planned, and we’ll start this whole thing again on Monday. Here’s some mp3s to get you going. I’ll recommend tracks from Christopher Paul Stelling, Eyes Wings & Many Other Things, Midtown Dickens, Sophia Knapp, Superhumanoids and The Young. There’s also a nice pair of covers in the Soundcloud section for your streaming pleasure, including Pete Yorn doing the Beach Boys and The Kills doing Velvet Underground.

The Cast of Cheers – Family (Royal Scams Remix)

Christopher Paul Stelling – Solar Flares

Clubfeet – BrightLightsBigCity

Dreamend – Your Apparition Stays With Me Still

Eyes, Wings & Many Other Things – Cruelty

Filewile – You Say I (Electric Blanket Remix)

The James Low Western Front – I Would Have You

The Jayhawks – She Walks in So Many Ways (Live)

Midtown Dickens – Only Brother

Pandercakes – Paint By Numbers

Sophia Knapp – Into the Waves

Superhumanoids – Geri

Uncle Roman’s Jetboat – Floodlights in the Sunlight
Uncle Roman’s Jetboat – Fearless Like Yourself

The Young – Livin’ Free

SOUNDCLOUD

Capybara – Neighbor Crimes

The Kills – Pale Blue Eyes (Velvet Underground cover)

The New Limb – Refugees

Pete Yorn – Surfer Girl (Beach Boys cover)

Skyjelly – Shepherd’s Pantry

Yournalist – C’mon People

I’ve just come to the realization that a month from today, SXSW will be going on down in Austin, TX. I’m proud to announce that this will be the first year I will be attending. It’s part of a fun little adventure I’m calling Faronheit’s First Field Trip. There’s so much to see, do and absorb over the handful of days I’ll be there, and I’m excited to report back to you all the excitement. It also pleases me to learn that over half of my Class of 2012 will be performing sometime over that week. In fact, Pitchfork just announced that Nicolar Jaar, Grimes, Purity Ring and Charli XCX will be playing their showcase, which is taking place at a church. Fiona Apple is the only other artist on that bill, which for me makes it a must-see. As it’s a 400 capacity venue however, that’s going to be tough. We’ll see how things go once I’m there. As for today’s Pick Your Poison, I’m sure more than a few of the artists below will be at SXSW as well this year. Highlights today include tracks from Aaron & The Sea, The Cribs, Emily Jane White, La Sera, Lushlife, Midnight Magic’s remix of Panama, and White Hills. In the Soundcloud section, you don’t want to miss streaming tracks from House of Wolves, Mouse on Mars and That Ghost.

Aaron & The Sea – There There Creature Creature

Cats on Fire – A Few Empty Waves

Cousins – Jules

The Cribs – Chi-Town

Cuff the Duke – I Hear You Calling (Billy Fay cover)

Emily Jane White – Black Silk

Juston Stens – Edge of the Moon

La Sera – Break My Heart

Lushlife – Big Sur

Mikill Pane – I Like You

Panama – Magic (Midnight Magic Remix)

So Many Wizards – Lose Your Mind

Ticktockman – Archaic Republic

White Hills – Pads of Light

Zander Bleck – Temptation (Hype Jones & Beastmode Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

Daniel Laufer – Gentleman (ft. Chloe Charles)

House Of Wolves – 50′s

Mouse on Mars – Polaroyced

Ninjasonik – Turned Up

Saadi – Snowyman (Delicate Steve Remix)

That Ghost – Morning Now

Now that we’re past it, I hope you enjoyed your Valentines Day, or as some might call it, Black Tuesday. Mine involved junk food and alcohol. In other words, a normal Tuesday for me. I don’t have a whole lot of time to chit-chat today as I’m writing this and my laptop claims it’s going to shut down in 10 minutes to “install updates” and I don’t want to have to sit through all that and pick up this whole dialogue when it’s done. So let me just tell you today’s Pick Your Poison is a little larger than normal, and has plenty of solid music for you to enjoy. I’ll recommend tracks from Adam Cohen, Bobby Conn, FIDLAR, Joachim Cooder, Sandro Perri, Shannon Stephens, Viper Creek Club and Yalls. In the Soundcloud section please enjoy streaming tracks from He’s My Brother She’s My Sister as well as Marissa Nadler.

Adam Cohen – What Other Guy

Bobby Conn – Underground Vktm

Cheers Elephant – Doin’ It, Right

Drunken Prayer – Always Sad
Drunken Prayer – The Missionfield

Eli Mardock – Everything Happens for the First Time

FIDLAR – No Waves

Joachim Cooder – Bright Light Blue (ft. Frank Lyon)
Joachim Cooder – Pointed Into Zoom (ft. Inara George)

Rap Muhammad – Prayer

Sandro Perri – Futureactive Kid Part 1

Shannon Stephens – What Love Looks Like

Summer Twins – I Don’t Care

TRMRS – Goodtime Blues
TRMRS – Enter the Door

Viper Creek Club – Now You’re in the Mirror

Yalls – Gave Away & Broke

Young Magic – Night in the Ocean (S.Maharba Serpent Love Song Remix)
Young Magic – You With Aid (Galapagoose and Wooshie’s Remix)

Young Mammals – Landlady

Yuksek – Off the Wall (Brodinski Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

American Royalty – Matchstick

He’s My Brother She’s My Sister – Can’t See The Stars

Killer Mike – Big Beast (ft. Bun B, T.I., and Trouble)

Marissa Nadler – The Wrecking Ball Company

Oceanwake – The Words of Gods Lie Among Us

ZZT – Partys Over Los Angeles (Attaque Remix)

Happy Valentines Day to you and yours. I hope you’re steeped in love today if you’re in a relationship, and I hope everything goes well and as planned. If you’re single like me, while we’re forced to deal with all the romance of a day such as today, we can freely self-medicate with alcohol or ice cream and not feel as guilty about it. Really there’s positives about this day for everyone. And hey, there are even a couple of Valentines Day-themed songs being featured in today’s Pick Your Poison set. Please be most fully aware that the Charli XCX song, which the girl is amazing and part of my Class of 2012, that will only be available for a short while longer. If you’re reading this and are no longer able to download that mp3, well, apologies. She said she was only going to leave it up for download for the day. The other stuff hopefully sticks around for longer. I’ll recommend tracks from Casey Shea, Fenster, Howth, I Am Oak, Minarets, Spirit Animal, Sun Glitters and Voltaire Twins. In the Soundcloud section please enjoy streaming songs from Apparat and Ex Norwegian, among others.

Arian Saleh – Underhill

Casey Shea – Let It Slide

Charli XCX – Valentine

Fenster – Fantasy II

Grouplove – Tongue Tied (Spacebrother Remix)

Howth – Wind Blows Cold

I Am Oak – Gills

Mighty Mouse – Smiling Faces

Minarets – The Tide

Octavion X – Only One You’ve Got

Soso – My Women My Guitars (Cody ChesnuTT cover)

Spirit Animal – Crocodile Skins

StoneRider – Trigger Happy

Sun Glitters – It Takes Me

Tic Tic Boom! – For Feeling

Two Suns – Time Again

Voltaire Twins – Animalia

SOUNDCLOUD

Apparat – Candil De La Calle

Ex Norwegian – Original Copy

Kotki Dwa – Poison

Mondkopf – Ease Your Pain

Have you been keeping up with my Class of 2012 the last month and a half? There’s been plenty going on, most of it with Lana Del Rey, but I wanted to take a moment to place a spotlight directly on another one of my musical students: Grimes. Her record “Visions” comes out next week, and I’ll be reviewing it then, but for the time being I want to point out you can stream the entire thing right this second over at NPR. Should you take the 48 minutes out of your day to do that? Considering I rarely if ever point you in the direction of a full album stream, maybe you take this time to heart. Of course you may not like what I have to say in my review of the record next week, so take that for what you will. For music you can download for free, look no further than right below, where you’ll find today’s edition of Pick Your Poison. I’ll recommend tracks from Busby Marou, Dana Buoy, Field of Wolves, Man Bites Dog, The Spring Standards and Warning Light. kayln rock will handle any pre-Valentines Day music needs, and Scissor Sisters positively rock the remix of a School of Seven Bells track. There are also some solid remixes of tracks by K’naan, Lana Del Rey and Miike Snow worth checking out in the Soundcloud section as well.

Busby Marou – Biding My Time

Carter Tanton – Pasture Sound (Kotchy Remix)

Dana Buoy – Call to Be

Field of Wolves – Don’t Explain

The Golden Pony – Casio Boy

The Hazard Archive – Embers

Human Machine – Future Computer

kayln rock – Valentine

Man Bites Dog – Whispers in My Mind

School of Seven Bells – Lafaye (Scissor Sisters Remix)

Shake Aletti – Light & Sparks – Bxentric Remix)

Silver Medallion & Feature cuts – Drop Out, Kiss Girls

The Sleep Tapes – White Cloud

The Spring Standards – Here We Go

Warning Light – Nightfall in the Border Country

Whitejacket – The Modern

SOUNDCLOUD

K’naan ft. Nelly Furtado – Anybody Out There (Richard Dinsdale Remix)

Lana Del Rey – Born To Die (I Am A Camera Remix)

Miike Snow – Paddling Out (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)

PoP Campaign – Schadenfreude

Shelby Grey – Chains of Love (ft. Wallace & Guzman)

Tiny Victories – Gravitron (Those Of Us Still Alive)

I tend to recall February as the snowiest month of any given year, and given the light winter we’ve had thus far, I’m anticipating at least a couple storms to blow through before the end of the month. As I’m typing this, it’s snowing outside. Today it will likely only be a couple inches of snow. A little farther to the East, specifically in NW Indiana, things are much worse courtesy of lake effect snow. How much you get and where becomes so highly dependent on wind patterns. Chicago may be getting spared this time around, but let’s talk again in a week and find out how many more bullets we’ll have dodged by then. On with today’s Pick Your Poison, a grand start to your weekend. I’ll recommend tracks from The Caseworker, Cold Blue KId, Infernal Devices, Maps & Atlases, Moonface (aka Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown), Tindersticks and Woodsman. Andrew Weatherall’s remix of Wooden Shjips is fascinating as well, and you can stream it in the Soundcloud section.

The Bodies Obtained – Life After Life

Brothertiger – Lovers

The Caseworker – Sea Years

Cold Blue Kid – Stay Alive

Infernal Devices – Life in Stereo

Jesse Thomas – Fire

Jon Vautier – The Sale Is On

Lykke Li – Love Out of Lust (Saturday, Monday Bootleg Remix)

Maps & Atlases – Winter

M.I.A. – Bad Girls (Stereoheroes’ “BattleSheep” Edit)

Moonface – Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips

Paper Beat Scissors – Rest Your Bones

Thievery Corporation – Culture of Fear (DISCOFORGIA Remix)

Tindersticks – Frozen

Unison – Brothers and Sisters

Wave Sleep Wave – Hey…What?

The Weeknd – Next (Keys N Krates Remix)

Woodsman – Supernal Radionics

SOUNDCLOUD

Binko Swink – Play

Kris Menace – Falling Star

The Makers – Don’t Challenge Me

Rebecca Gresty – Mad at the Seems

Wooden Shjips – Crossing (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

Have you been watching this season of “Portlandia”? I ask because I feel it is important viewing. So many things about the show capture that great Portland vibe that even if you’ve never been there simply watching an episode can teach you so much. It truly is one of the most unique cities in the world, and it’s also understandable as to why so much great music comes out of there. My brother lived in Portland for about a year as he was transferred there for work, and not being attuned to the little idiosynchrasies he spent much of his time weirded out by the experience. I went and visited him a couple times and loved every second. I’d move there if I were given a reason to. But I guess one of the main things I wanted to mention about “Portlandia” in addition to how the city is one of the main characters in the show, is how genuinely funny and inspired it is. It airs on IFC and truly captures that independent spirit within parts of sketch comedy. And to have Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney/Wild Flag teamed up with “Saturday Night Live” cast member/ex-musician Fred Armisen just plays well off one another. Guest stars with everyone from Jeff Goldblum to Eddie Vedder to Isaac Brock to Annie Clark also contributes to the fun. If you watch the show already though, I’m telling you all things you already know. Sorry about that, I get a little carried away from time to time. I just wanted to make mention of how much I enjoy it every week. Not many episodes are left this season, so be sure to watch on Friday nights at 10p/9c on IFC. Public Service Announcement over. Pick Your Poison today is rather enjoyable too. I’ll give a thumbs up to tracks from Andre Williams, Cuff the Duke’s covers of Smog and Guided By Voices, Cygnets, Gardens & Villa, Inca Gold, KNTRLR, Lightouts, and Turf War’s CCR cover. There’s also a new Plants and Animals song in the Soundcloud section you should stream as well.

Andre Williams – Dirt

BLUEfiveone – Moments Like These (ft. Spark the Fire)

Conor Mason – Words

Cuff the Duke – Cold Blooded Old Times (Smog cover)
Cuff the Duke – Smothered in Hugs (Guided By Voices cover)

Cuppa Joe – Something New

Cygnets – Teenager

Fredrik – Inventress of Ill (And Everything) (Eluvium Remix)

Gardens & Villa – Orange Blossom

Inca Gold – Atom

Kitty Clementine – Blow That Horn

KNTRLR – Kursk

Lightouts – The Cure for Shyness

Scout – So Close

Sean Bones – Here Now

Teeth and Tongue – Unfamiliar Skirts

Turf War – Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)

SOUNDCLOUD

Diamonds Under Fire – The One

Hopera – The Rising

Hourglass Sea – Once In A Lifetime

Mônica da Silva – Push Me Away

Plants and Animals – Song for Love

Okay, so I’m super busy this Wednesday and don’t have much time to talk, so let’s get right into this. Tracks I’ll put the spotlight on today include ones from Coast Jumper, Denison Witmer, The High Strung, Lucius, Tashaki Miyaki (covering Bob Dylan no less), The Unthanks (covering Robert Wyatt no less), and World Blanket.

Coast Jumper – Lawless

Denison Witmer – Brooklyn With Your Highest Wall

Fort Lean – Sunsick

Gangstagrass – Gunslinging Rambler

The High Strung – On Your Way Up

Housse De Racket – Chateau (JBAG Remix)

Laurel Collective – They Hate Me

Lucius – Don’t Just Sit There

The Minutes – Secret History

Orienteers – Regret (New Order cover)

Piatcions – As Seen Through A Telescope

Sourpatch – Cynthia Ann

Susurrus Station – Play the Fool
Susurrus Station – Keep Up Your Spirits

Tashaki Miyaki – If Not for You (Bob Dylan cover)

The Unthanks – Lullaby for Hamza (Robert Wyatt cover)

Vigo Thieves – Heartbeats

World Blanket – And Here We Are (Again Maybe)

SOUNDCLOUD

Arkells – Kiss Cam

Never Shout Never – Small Town Girl

San Cisco – Rocket Ship

Severin – High Shot

It’s Tuesday, which means a bunch of new records have been released for your listening pleasure. Let me try and give you a brief rundown of some of those new records, keeping in mind this is just a list and not a collection of recommendations. A Place to Bury Strangers have a new EP out this week, as do Deer Tick and Fredrik. Full albums are coming out from Air, Ben KWeller, Blondes, The Darlings, Davila 666, Die Antwoord, Dr. Dog, The Duke Spirit, Mark Lanegan Band, of Montreal, Paul McCartney, The Plimsouls, Pretty Good Dance Moves, Royal Baths, Sharon Van Etten, Swell Maps, Trailer Trash Tracys, The Twilight Sad, The Unthanks, The Valery Trails, and Zee Avi. Speaking of things also available today, here’s a fresh set of Pick Your Poison mp3s for you, and a few of these I will recommend. Be sure to check out tracks from Ani DiFranco, Baby Eagle & the Proud Mothers, Jonathan Segal, The Quiet Americans, Realistic, Two Suns, and White Arrows’ remix of Active Child.

Active Child – Johnny Belinda (White Arrows Remix)

Ani DiFranco – Which Side Are You On?

Baby Eagle & the Proud Mothers – Brave Women

Black Matter & Monolith – Better Off Alone

Eli – Baddest Bachelor

Human Machine – Hangover

Jhameel – White Lie

Jonathan Segal – (Ever And) Always

Jordan Bolton – Love Was Always Cruel, It Just Wasn’t Cruel to Me

The Knocks ft. Mandy Lee – Midnight City (M83 cover)

Lid Emba – Iscariote

The Quiet Americans – Selia

Realistic – Token Gestures

Ryan Power – I Don’t Want to Die

Two Suns – Losing, Lost

Yes Yes – Moksha

SOUNDCLOUD

Das Glow – Concrete

Fotoshop – Worries

Lux – Black Car (Black Tambourine Cover)

Markus Hulthén – Åka bil

Milano Sun – Already Gone

The Parlotones – Save Your Best Bits