Category: pick your poison Page 128 of 141

Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras. These things are going on today. If you’re Polish (or just like tasty pastries), pick yourself up a paczki and enjoy it while it lasts. I already had one last week, but will naturally indulge again because they’re so good. Also because I’m Polish, but that’s neither here nor there. If you’re in New Orleans, I hope you’re having a lot of fun (but not TOO much fun if you know what I mean). Indulge in all those wonderful things you’ll be potentially sacrificing in the coming 40 days, if you do that sort of thing. Best of luck to you all, and I’ll try to be more solemn on tomorrow’s Ash Wednesday. Anyways, Pick Your Poison has some…interesting tracks in it today to be sure. Fill up on them now, this version’s a little FATTER than normal because of the date. I will recommend tracks from Adam and Darcie, Parenthetical Girls, powerdove, Rich Bennett, and The Sound of Growing Up. Everything in the Soundcloud section is worth your time today, with new music from The Chemical Brothers, Crystal Stilts and Wild Beasts. All three of those are awesome.

Adam and Darcie – 2 Cities

Amtrac – Take Your Throne

The Angry Years – Dress Yourself As Someone Dead

Arrange – Turnpike

Bullmeister – Baby

Chromeo – Fancy Footwork (Haydn Hoffman Remix)

Eureka Birds – That Mountain Is A Volcano
Eureka Birds – There Was Light

Hourglass Sea – Tubbs & Crockett

Parenthetical Girls – The Pornographer

powerdove – Resting Place

Rebirth Brass Band – Do It Again

Rich Bennett – Wild Ride

The Sound of Growing Up – Drifting

W-H-I-T-E – Fountain (Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

The Chemical Brothers – Container Park

Crystal Stilts – Through The Floor

Wild Beasts – Albatross

Hope your weekend was excellent. If you didn’t grab your three day passes to this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival, I have bad news for you – they’re all sold out. Single day tickets are still available though, you’ll just be paying a bit more if you want to go to all three days because you have to buy them separately instead of in a single package. But yeah, Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, Dismemberment Plan, TV on the Radio, James Blake, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Odd Future, Yuck and a whole lot more will be there. Just under half the lineup has been announced thus far, and I know there are a couple more surprises on the way so keep an eye out. Alright, so your Monday edition of Pick Your Poison is pretty gigantic. Lots of mp3s, nothing to stream. Here are my picks to click: Call Me Kat, The Coathangers, Haushcka, Lab Coast, Planningtorock and Seapony.

Bing Ji Ling – Everybody

Call Me Kat – Bug in a Web

The Coathangers – Hurricane

Cornershop – Supercomputed (Old TImemachine Version)

Dynamite Walls – Blood On My Hands

Eatliz – Sunshine

Goddamn Electric Bill – Girl From School (alternate reality instrumental take on Hot Chip’s “Boy From School”)

Grand Pianoramax – Roulette (ft. Black Cracker and Karsh Kale)

Haushcka – Ping

The Idle Hands – Socialite Death Squad

Jake Mann + The Upper Hand – Get What You Came For

Lab Coast – Really Realize

Planningtorock – Doorway

Seapony – Dreaming

Skeletons – Grandma

Torpedo – Waiting for the Fall

Twiggy Frostbite – Written Within

Happy Friday everyone. Hope you’ve got a grand weekend coming up. The weather’s starting to warm up, so it’s okay to venture out a little more than usual. Especially if you live someplace where the threat of snow is all but gone by now. Pick Your Poison highlights for this Friday include tracks from Big Wave Riders, Hungry Kids of Hungary, I Was Totally Destroying It, Simon Says No, and Therapies Son. Also the Soundcloud section is really bringing it today with tracks from Guillemots and Junip, among others (see the Queen mashup as well, off the forthcoming “Sucker Punch” soundtrack).

Adele – Rolling in the Deep (Johnny Lawson Remix)

Big Wave Riders – Skate or Die

Duologue – Get Out While You Can

Fizzle Like A Flood – Killshot

Flash Fiktion – Capsules of Sun (DID Remix)

Hungry Kids of Hungary – Wristwatch

I Was Totally Destroying It – Control

The Knocks – Ain’t Too Proud to Beg (Temptations cover)

Moddi – Ardennes (Kontaktor Remix)

Pegasuses-XL – Sea Mountain Island

Simon Says No – Solitary Rush

Skysaw – No One Can Tell

Therapies Son – Touching Down

SOUNDCLOUD

Boombox Saints – Bringin’ The Boom Back

Guillemots – Walk The River

Junip – Näckrosdammen

Queen with Armageddon Aka Geddy – I Want It All / We Will Rock You Mash-Up

Sarandon – Big Trev

Just to remind everyone in case you were interested, tickets for this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival go on sale tomorrow. There’s been some strong lineup rumors going around, and while I’ve been dropping hints via Twitter the last couple days, expect a couple of huge surprises when the first batch of acts are announced. Honestly, from what I’ve seen, it’s the festival lineup to beat so far this year. But we’ll know more once the whole thing is out there and public knowledge. Okay, so Pick Your Poison today has some decent songs in it. Personal thumbs up go to Blueprint, David Kilgour, Freddie Gibbs, and Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death. In the Soundcloud section you’ll find a new song from Cat’s Eyes, a cool band from Faris Badwan, frontman for The Horrors.

Ayah Marar – Follow You (Youth Kills Remix)

Blueprint – So Alive

Blue Skies for Black Hearts – Majoring in the Arts

Campfires – Dusty Mansions

Clara May – Hyderabad

David Kilgour – Diamond Mine

Dimbleby & Capper – Let You Go (Animals on Wheels Remix)

Display – Play This
Display – Level Up

Freddie Gibbs & GLC – Heads of the Heads

Metal Mother – Billy Cruz

Star & Micey – Back to the Night

Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death – Let’s Leave the Elephant in the Room

Zoo Bombs – Highway A Go Go

SOUNDCLOUD

Cat’s Eyes – Not A Friend

Golden Glow – Adore Me

Toro Y Moi – Talamak (Robot Science Remix)

A delightful set of songs for you today as part of Pick Your Poison. You should most definitely check out tracks from Craft Spells, Joan As Police Woman, Low, Parts & Labor, The Rural Alberta Advantage, and Vandaveer. Neon Trees’ remix of a Jon Fratelli song is also pretty solid. Of course those are just my personal recommendations, and honestly there’s a whole lot more great stuff in this pile that I hope you’ll discover on your own.

Buried Beds – Ivory Towers

Chamberlin – Fools

Craft Spells – You Should Close the Door

Ed Askew – Deep Water

Icona Pop – Manners

Joan As Police Woman – The Magic

Jon Fratelli – Santo Domingo (Neon Trees Remix)

Kyla La Grange – Courage Free

Low – Try to Sleep

Parts & Labor – Rest

The Rural Alberta Advantage – North Star

Shipbuilding Co. – You Tunguskaed My Heart

Swimclub – What You Want

The Two Koreas – Haunted Beach

Vandaveer – Concerning Past and Future Conquests

SOUNDCLOUD

The Daydream Club – The Record Shop

Poly Styrene – Virtual Boyfriend (CREEP Remix)

March roars in like a lion and out like a lamb. The meaning of that classic phrase is only somewhat lost on me, except to say that the quicker we get out of the doldrums of February the better. So hell yes, I’m ferociously excited that we’ve arrived in this third month where Spring finally gets sprung and we can begin the big defrost. Better days are ahead, friends, so let’s celebrate that. Pick Your Poison today is solid, though there’s a couple more Soundcloud tracks than I normally like for a single day. My personal picks include songs from All Tiny Creatures, Baby Dee, Easter Island, Erland & the Carnival, Sam Owens and The Sandwitches. In the Soundcloud section The Fallen Angels do a decent cover of Air’s “Sexy Boy”, and songs from The Last Royals, Outasight and Suck Shaft are worth streaming.

All Tiny Creatures – Glass Bubbles

Ancient Astronauts – Worldwide

Baby Dee – Yapapipi

The Boombang – Tobacula

Easter Island – Better Things

Erland & the Carnival – Nightingale

Kinema – My Beautiful Machines (Laubfrosch Remix)

Mesita – Somewhere Else

Sam Owerns – How to Build A Clock

The Sandwitches – Joe Says
The Sandwitches – Lightfoot

Tree Pit – Eleanor Rigby (Beatles cover)

SOUNDCLOUD

The Fallen Angels – Sexy Boy (Air cover)

The Last Royals – Crystal Vases

Outasight – It’s Like That

The Pigeon Detectives – Done In Secret

Suck Shaft – Michal

I promised on Friday that I’d have a brief commentary on the Academy Awards last night, and so let me take a very brief moment to talk about the good, the bad and the ugly. The good: This was one of the few years where I genuinely wasn’t upset by any winners. Everything that won deserved to win, including the accolades for “The King’s Speech”. As much as I loved “The Social Network”, it lacked real emotion and conflict for me. We’re supposed to feel some sympathy for Mark Zuckerberg, but him having to give away hundreds of millions of dollars to people suing him while still having billions left over isn’t going to garner much sympathy from me. Nor does his lack of real friends. The bad: What a slooooow ceremony. Of course it always is, with a 3 hour running time and such, but it seemed like several portions really dragged on for much longer than they needed to. Plus, there was a distinct lack of humor by most of the presenters, and at times I wondered if they were left to write their own poor filler dialogue instead of professionally written comedic banter. The ugly: I care very little about fashion, so I’m not gonna mention that. But as Oscar hosts, James Franco and Anne Hathaway did not do a good job. I’d go so far as to say it was poor. They were being touted as younger and hipper but some of their supposed “jokes” felt either way too broad or dated. Franco was the worst offender, and Hathaway did a nice job trying to keep things lighter and more upbeat despite the poor results. Okay, that’s all I’ll say about the Oscars. On to Pick Your Poison. Highlights today include songs from The Alps, The Donkeys, The Holidays and Sebastian Zimmer (aka One In A Googolplex). Also, I love me a good Radiohead cover, and Grand Lake’s version of “The Tourist” isn’t half bad.

The Alps – For Isabel

The Crackling – The Three of You

The Donkeys – Don’t Know Who We Are

Grand Lake – The Tourist (Radiohead cover)

The Holidays – 6AM

Hosannas – Be Careful

The Morning Birds – Heart’s Desire

Nowonder – Dream

Peace – The Dark

Sebastian Zimmer (One In A Googolplex) – Lilly

The Sewing Circle – Lead Role

Sounds Under Radio – Sing

The Whip – Muzzle #1 (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

Anna Calvi – Blackout

It’s Friday, there’s a grand weekend coming up, and I’ve got some really exciting mp3s for you today. I do want to mention quickly that the Oscars are this weekend, and given my intense love for all things film I’m rooting for a couple things to happen. Best of luck also goes out to “The King’s Speech”, “Black Swan” and “The Fighter” for the acting and overall picture awards, while I’ll advocate for “The Social Network” on screenplay and soundtrack. That’s just a handful for you right there. I’ll talk a little more about the show on Monday. Pick Your Poison highlights for today though include new songs from Boris, The Dodos, Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, Hunx and His Punx, Man/Miracle, Sloan and Sonny and the Sunsets. Wow, this is a REALLY good block of songs.

Boris – Hope

Delhi 2 Dublin – S.O.S.

The Dodos – Don’t Stop

Ezra Furman & the Harpoons – Hard Time In A Terrible Land

The Heavenly States – Model Son

High Tension Wires – Backbone

Hunx and His Punx – Too Young to Be in Love

Love Inks – Blackeye

Man/Miracle – Don’t Waste It

Sloan – Follow the Leader

Sonny and the Sunsets – I Wanna Do It

Street Chant – The Fatigues

Sweet Thing – Change of Seasons

SOUNDCLOUD

Azari & III – Hungry For The Power

French Horn Rebellion – This Moment (edit)

Skunk Anansie – Search and Destroy

As I continue to work towards not getting any sicker than I currently am, let’s get straight to the point and do some Pick Your Poison for the day. Highlights include tracks from Acrylics, Candy Claws, Echo Lake, Gospel Claws, and Kinch. In the Soundcloud section you’ll also find a new song from Atmosphere if you enjoy some great hip hop.

Acrylics – Sparrow Song 

American Babies – Dance All Night

Candy Claws – Snowdrift Wish

Echo Lake – Sunday Evening

Futurebirds – Dirty D

Gospel Claws – I Can, I Will

Jordan Bolton – Control

Kinch – Once I Was A Mainsail  

Phineas and the Lonely Leaves – The Bros of Summer

Nedry – Dusk Till Dawn

Punches – Sleepless City (Flosstradamus ReRub)

The Seven Fields of Aphelion – Mountain Mary

tonedeff – Bang

SOUNDCLOUD

Atmosphere – Just For Show

SLUTEVER – No Offense

Three Colours – Calvaire (The Sonic Emporium Remix)

There’s not a whole lot worse than getting sick, at least in my opinion. Sure, if you’ve ever had to deal with a major disease you agree, though you’ll probably think I’m overreacting when I say even the common cold is a serious problem. The point is, if I don’t feel at or very close to 100%, we’ve got a problem. Why am I bringing this up? Well, for the first time since late last spring, I’m legitimately getting a cold. Severe sore throat, eventually giving way to blocked sinuses and extensive tissue use. It’s in the early stages and I don’t feel like crap just yet, but it’s on the way and I’m angry about it. Hopefully if I start medicating now, I’ll cut it off before it gets really bad. Just know that if I go on some insane rant later this week that doesn’t make much sense, it’s the cold or cold medicine talking. Let’s get to the perfectly sane business of Pick Your Poison. Today I’m happy to feature a number of artists from Chicago’s own Thrill Jockey label, in addition to the usual crop of other stuff. Tracks I’ll recommend come from ALSO, Eleventh Dream Day, The Extraordinaries, Liturgies, Maps & Atlases, Obits and Say Hi. In the Soundcloud section there’s also a couple good ones from Erland & the Carnival and The Fresh & Onlys.

ALSO – Call It Funny

Baron Bane – My Slow World

Eleventh Dream Day – Satellite

Eternal Tapestry – Galactic Derelict

The Extraordinaries – The Big Show

Hot Challenge – Across the Room
Hot Challenge – A Chance

Johanna & the Dusty Floor – Forest of Sorrows

Liturgy – High Gold (Edit)

Maps & Atlases – Living Decorations

Mi Ami – Hard Up

Obits – Shift Operator

Pet Scenes – Man Contest
Pet Scenes – Living the Dog

Say Hi – Dots on Maps

SOUNDCLOUD

Erland & The Carnival – Map Of An Englishman

Evening Magazine – Millionaire Beach

The Fresh & Onlys – Do You Believe In Destiny

Happy “The King of Limbs” Day to you all. It’s Friday, but Radiohead pulled another fast one on all of us by releasing their new album a day earlier than they promised. Good for them, and good for us, as the sooner we get new Radiohead material the better. Don’t expect me to pass judgment on it anytime soon, as every album by the band is incredibly complex and challenging to the point where I need months if not years to properly understand everything that’s going on. I could write full books on every Radiohead album, I’ve studied them so much. Fact: I listened to “Kid A” once a day for 2.5 years, and only stopped when the CD got too scratched up to play properly anymore. Keep in mind this was back in the early 00s before mp3s really took hold. Anyways, I’d better get to this Friday edition of Pick Your Poison. Exceptionally high quality tracks today come from D. Rider, Middle Brother (which is members of Dawes and Delta Spirit, among others), Storms, Tape Deck Mountain, tUnE-yArDs, Way Yes and Chicago’s own yourfeetstoobig. Ooh, and the Young the Giant track in the Soundcloud section is pretty solid too, for an Adele cover.

Chris Lake – Secrets in the Dark (Alex Kenji Remix)

cirKus – Drug of Choice

D. Rider – Mother’s Meat

Davila 666 – Esa Nena Nunca Regreso

JM Airis – Numbers Man

Madison Square Gardeners – Innocent

The Megaphonic Thrift – Candy Sin

Middle Brother – Middle Brother

Motopony – King of Diamonds (Demo)

Run With the Hunted – Double Zero
Run With the Hunted – Silverfish

Storms – Wolves and Bells

Tape Deck Mountain – Secret Serf

tUnE-yArDs – Bizness

Way Yes – When Hearts Turn to Blue

yourfeetstoobig – Pintail

SOUNDCLOUD

Young the Giant – Rolling in the Deep (Adele cover, Dermot O’Leary BBC Radio 2)

We’re just one month away from one of my favorite holidays of the year, St. Patrick’s Day. I’m going to spend the time wisely these next few weeks, ingesting as many Shamrock Shakes as possible, in preparation for the onslaught of green beer that will happen on the actual date. Because I’m not Irish, and some people do this just BECAUSE they’re Irish, it’s pretty much a day to spend drinking, which is fine with me. Alright, enough about holidays weeks away, let’s talk Pick Your Poison. Great stuff packed in today from Beaten By Them, Gregory and the Hawk, Leila Broussard, Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship, and Snowblink. Remixes are pretty hot too, from Tyler the Creator’s remix of a new Lykke Li track to Johnny Lawson remixing Mike Posner.

Beaten By Them – Damp Sky

Floating Action – Please Reveal

Gregory and the Hawk – Landscapes

Illy – Wilin’ Out (Radio Edit)

Leila Broussard – Alone on a Train

Lovett – Heart Attack

Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers (I Follow You Tyler the Creator’s Mix)

Mike Posner – Save Your Goodbye (Johnny Lawson Remix)

Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship – Opener
Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship – Warm Eyes

Robert Miles – Miniature World (Critical World Remix)

Saigon – Clap (ft. Faith Evans)

San Cisco – Solitude Is Bliss

Southeast Engine – New Growth

Snowblink – The Tired Bees

Team Me – Dear Sister

The Waifs – Angela

It’s a fuller than usual buffet of free mp3s for you in today’s Pick Your Poison. More songs that you can shake a stick at, if that’s your preferred turn of a phrase. Highlights include tracks from Batwings Catwings, Briefs, Girls Names, Gypsy Blood, Rocky Business and Stereoflower.

Alex Winston – Locomotive (Jaybird Remix)

Bag Raiders – Sunlight (Stopmakingme Remix)

Batwings Catwings – Misbehaving

Briefs – Fake Plastic Knees

Found – You’re No Vincent Gallo

Giant Hand – Starting As People II

Girls Names – Seance On A Wet Afternoon

Gypsy Blood – Take Your Picture

The Humms – Buttermilk

Injured Ninja – Fallopian Tube Screamer

Little Wings – How Come

Robert Svensson – The Madness  (ZIP)

Rocky Business – Kim Kardashian

Sarah Darling – Something to Do With Your Hands (Radio Edit)

Stereoflower – The Cocaine Bebop

Stylofone – Loose Boots