Category: pick your poison Page 88 of 141

So we’ve reached another Tuesday, and another week packed with new album releases as part of the fall season. As I like to do every week, here’s a list of the artists and bands putting out fresh material, which you might want to consider purchasing at your local independent record store: Alvin Lee, Arp, Berlin, Bill Callahan, Blouse, Campfire Ok, Carol Kleyn, College, Crystal Stilts, Cult of Luna, Delorean, Dustin Wong, Elvis Costello and The Roots, Factory Floor, Forest Swords, Gregory Porter, Grouplove, Islands, Jack Johnson, Jessy Lanza, Las Kellies, London Grammar, Mark Lanegan, MGMT, Mike Doughty, Mum, The Naked and Famous, Nightmares on Wax, Placebo, Potty Mouth, Said the Whale, San Fermin, Sebadoh, Sidi Toure, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Trentemoller, Wesley Stace, Why?, Windhand, Wymond Miles and Yip Deceiver. Wow, that’s a lot of stuff. Next week is going to be even bigger too, I think. Save your money so you can buy some of these albums, many of which are very good to great. Of course you don’t have to spend any hard-earned cash on any of the songs I’m offering up as part of Pick Your Poison. There’s plenty of free music to add to your library and plenty of new bands to learn about and perhaps discover a new favorite. Don’t miss tracks from Beautiful Lou, Blessed Feathers, The Fire Tapes, Linda Draper, Schooner, SWF and Teen Daze. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Ejecta, Four Tet, Lolawolf, Sleigh Bells and White Sea.

Barny Carter – Bouquet

Beautiful Lou ft. Action Bronson & Riff Raff – Long Pinky

Blessed Feathers – Real Song for Emily

D-R-U-N-K & Distrakt – Sightless

The Fire Tapes – Skull & Xbones

Keep Shelly in Athens – Flyway (Tears of Techno Remix)

Linda Draper – Glass Palace

Milwaukee Banks – Pluto Bounce

Schooner – Trap

Sundays – Forces

SWF – Let It Be Told

Teen Daze – Listen

Vita Bergen – A Picture of Before

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When I preview a show on this site, that’s typically the one and only time you’ll hear about it. While there are plenty of Chicagoans who read the site, many of you are located around the country and world, so some of my locally-based rantings don’t particularly appeal to you. Today though, I’m sort of breaking an unwritten rule to give a second mention to an upcoming Chicago show. Why? Because of two things: It’s for a good cause, and I booked it myself. So let me break it down for you once again. This Wednesday, rising Chicago band JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound will be performing at Lincoln Hall. All profits from the show will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and their efforts in fighting blood cancers. That means a lot to me, and it also means a lot to my friends, who are the driving force behind putting together this benefit concert. They asked me to find and book a band, and I feel lucky that JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound were willing and able to do this. They are, after all, a band on the rise. Their latest album Howl is a classic mixture of funk and soul, and the music video for their single “Rouse Yourself” stars actors Jake Johnson (from “New Girl”) and Aubrey Plaza (from “Parks & Rec”). They also put on a really fun and engaging live show, which is sometimes half the battle with bands these days. Anyways, if you’re in Chicago on Wednesday night and don’t already have plans, please come out to this all ages show. Tickets are $35, but if you enter the code “LLS” (without quotes) at the online checkout, you can get $10 off. For non-Chicagoans or those who can’t make it to the show but would still like to help out this great cause, please donate if you’re able. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Now then, let’s get to this Monday edition of Pick Your Poison. Gold star tracks today come from Alice Russell, Chromeo, Junip, Scenic, SETH, Summer Aviation and Whale Belly. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Azealia Banks, Katy B, of Montreal, Phantogram, Swearin’ and Woman’s Hour.

Alice Russell – I Loved You (Acoustic)

Baby Alpaca – Sea of Dreams (Turbotito Remix)

Boys School – Can’t Come Back

Chromeo – Over Your Shoulder

Cloud@Last – Simple

Joie 13 – Ouija Board

Junip – Walking Lightly

Long Long Showers – Red Card

ODESZA – If There’s Time

Scenic – Hours On End

SETH – Don’t Open Your Make

Summer Aviation – Lift

Whale Belly – Bubbles in My Blood

Wolfcatcher – Whisper

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It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another weekly dip into the pool of music news, interviews and videos that I like to call This Week In Music! Yes, in addition to the normal Pick Your Poison mp3s and Soundcloud streams, I like to toss out links to a bunch of other music-related content that I’ve found interesting or worthwhile over the course of the week. I encourage you to check some, if not all of these things out, particularly if you’re looking to waste some time. There’s plenty to see, read and hear:

Watch Janelle Monae perform “Dance Apocalyptic” on Letterman

Music Video: Glasser – Design

Check out the shortlist of artists nominated for this year’s Mercury Prize

Stream a new live EP from Nine Inch Nails on Spotify, recorded during their Fuji Rock and Lollapalooza festival dates

Watch Kurt Vile cover The Clash’s “Guns of Brixton”

Entertainment Weekly reports that Sigur Ros will appear on “Game of Thrones” next season

Watch Kanye West perform “Bound 2” on Fallon

Watch the Anton Corbijn-directed music video for Arcade Fire’s “Reflektor” (Also experience the second, interactive version)

Music Video: Franz Ferdinand – Evil Eye

Watch Julianna Barwick perform “The Harbinger” in the middle of nowhere Iceland for a Take Away Show

There was so much fun stuff this week for music fans! All this stuff is just the tip of the iceberg of course, and the set of songs below helps to prove it. This is overal a pretty cover-heavy selection in today’s Pick Your Poison, but they’re all fun and enjoyable renditions so I hope you take that into account. Don’t miss cuts today from Apricot Rail, Clare Maguire, Jessy Lanza, Kaylee Johnston, Los Waves, Nat Baldwin (ft. Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors), Neon Hitch and Phaeleh. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Heavenly Beat, Jungle, Kaskade & Project 46, Parade of Lights and Fang Island’s remix of Tera Melos.

Apricot Rail – Dore Strauch

The Bootlegs – All In

Clare Maguire – The Last Time I Saw Richard (Joni Mitchell cover)

James Fox Higgins – Stand Up

Jessy Lanza – Move Closer (Phyllis Nelson cover)

Jitterbug Vipers – Stuff It

Kaylee Johnston – Gone

The Landing – Strange Charm

Los Angeles Police Dept. – The Only One

Los Waves – Got A Feeling

Mood Blanc – On the Radio

Nat Baldwin – Look She Said (ft. Dave Longstreth)

Neon Hitch – We Can’t Stop (Miley Cyrus cover)

Phaeleh – Make You Feel

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I don’t mean to bring everybody down, but if you look at the date or check the news, you’re sure to be reminded that today is the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attack. It’s not something that I really like talking about, yet I struggled to come up with something more fitting on a day like today. While it truly was a tragic day for the United States, I wonder if we’ll ever get to the point where it becomes “just another day” again. I don’t mean to trivialize what happened, or even throw out the memories of lost loved ones, but my thinking is to eliminate what the date symbolizes. That doesn’t mean forgetting the lessons we learned on that fateful day either. It’s about reclaiming what was taken from us, which was largely our sense of security. A group of terrorists achieved their goal and terrorized a nation. While most, if not all of those terrorists are now dead or in prison, the mark that they made will be felt for the foreseeable future, and perhaps all time. It will appear in history books and live on through memorials in New York. In a sense we can celebrate because we are a stronger and more vigilant nation today than we were 12 years ago, but we had to pay a hefty price to get there. I guess what I really want is something great to happen on a 9/11 in the future to help balance things out, you know? So we can say, “Yeah, on this day in 2001 we were attacked, but then on the same day in 2015 we achieved world peace.” Being able to neutralize a hallmark of tragedy, like the eventual fade of our own scars, changes our character but also has a remarkable restorative power. I’ll be so happy if we can eventually get to that point. Anyways, let’s have a “just another day” edition of Pick Your Poison. Don’t miss tracks from Astrid Swan, Blair Crimmins & The Hookers, GoNorthToGoSouth, The Herms, Miguel, Otonana Trio and The Wyld. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Blitzen Trapper, Cate Le Bon, Cut Copy, The Dismemberment Plan and Young Galaxy. Blood Diamonds remixing Chvrches is pretty great too.

Astrid Swan – Four Months to Kill

Blac Hollywood – Runaways (ft. Bear Mountain)

Blair Crimmins & The Hookers – I Love You That’s All

Colette – Hotwire

GoNorthToGoSouth – Turn It Up

A Grave With No Name – Poltergeist

The Herms – Power Joystick

iLL CAMILLE – Slip Away (ft. Amaru)

Le Trouble – Real Talk (Part 2)

Miguel – Can’t Sleep 2gether

Otonana Trio – Interruption

Qurious – Termina

Truest – Cities

The Wyld – Odyssey

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Have you had a chance to hear the new Arcade Fire single “Reflektor” yet? It technically leaked over the weekend, but the big deal that was supposed to happen on 9/9 at 9pm was basically that song being released and put up for sale at independent record stores around the globe. Exciting stuff, and I would have attempted to purchase one of those 12″ singles had any stores within a 2 hour drive from Chicago carried them. I fail to fully understand how two stores in Wisconsin get it, but zero stores in Chicago (and only one in all of Illinois) do. I guess some retailers are willing to play ball more than others. Anyways, the new Arcade Fire single wasn’t the only new music released this week. It’s Tuesday, so let me run down (as I do every week) the list of artists unleashing some great new product out into the world: The Albertans, Arbouretum, Arctic Monkeys, Ben Rector, Blair Crimmins & The Hookers, Body/Head, The Clash, Emiliana Torrini, Forest Fire, Goldfrapp, Holy Ghost!, Infinity Shred, Jacuzzi Boys, Janelle Monae, Joanna Gruesome, Juliana Hatfield, Kaskade, Man Man, Mark Knopfler, Miniboone, Moving Mountains, Moving Units, Obits, The Orwells, Peelander-Z, Rise Against, The Rubens, Ry Cooder, The Stepkids, Terry Malts, Toy Soldiers, The Weeknd, and Willis Earl Beal. You’ve got to love the fall, when so much great new music is coming out. If any of the albums from the artists I just listed above aren’t going to meet with your approval, perhaps something in Pick Your Poison below will. Allow me to recommend tracks from Ben Miller Band, Dante, Diane Coffee, The Grisly Hand, Hey Geronimo, Meanest Man Contest, The Pedaljets, and Rue Royale. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Active Child, Ducktails, Goldroom, Grails, Toro Y Moi and Upset (Ali from Vivian Girls/Best Coast).

Ben Miller Band – Get Right Church

Ciara – Body Party (Swish Remix)

Dante – Son

Diane Coffee – Tale of a Dead Dog

The Grisly Hand – That’s Not Affection

Hey Geronimo – Lazer Gun Show

Kool Head – Stick Up Kids

Meanest Man Contest – In the Dark

Mind Spiders – Make Make Make Make

The Pedaljets – Nothing Boy

Raw Geronimo – Magnetic Love

Rue Royale – Set Out to Discover

Tic Tic Boom! – These Motions

Toro Y Moi – So Many Details (Maths Time Joy Rework)

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Let me talk for one hot minute about something that I consider to be pretty serious and important. Okay, so this isn’t going to be super serious, but rather I want to talk about a fun way to support a difficult part of life. Nobody likes it when we get sick. If you’re diagnosed with an incurable disease, it can lead to a compromised life or even death. Organizations like the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society work hard to try and find a cure for things like blood cancer. It’s a very worthwhile cause that has helped millions of people fight this terrible disease. I’m proud to be a supporter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and hope that you might consider becoming one too. While a donation to the organization would be great, why not get a little bit of bang for your buck? There’s a benefit concert happening on Wednesday, September 18th at Lincoln Hall in Chicago. Local favorites and worldwide rising band JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound will be headlining the show, with support from How Far to Austin. Chicago’s own funk and soul DJRC will spin tunes between the main sets as well. Tickets are $35, and all profits from the show will go directly to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If you’re not yet familiar with JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, they’re a pretty great band both on record and on stage. Their most recent single “Rouse Yourself” has a great music video that stars Jake Johnson (from “New Girl”) and Aubrey Plaza (from “Parks & Rec”). The band also does a pretty great cover of Wilco’s “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” that I’d recommend checking out. But back to the show: It is all ages, there will be a silent auction, 50/50 raffle and you can also purchase a drink package that gets you discounted beer and wine if you’re into it. Anyways, if you’re in and around Chicago next Wednesday, please please please come out to the show. I will most definitely be there, so we can hang out. Advance tickets are on sale now here. I promise you it’ll be a great time, and you’ll be supporting a very worthwhile cause. Now then, let’s get on to the business of today, which is Pick Your Poison. Don’t miss tracks from Andrew St. James, The High Wire, Lime Cordiale, Parentz and Superhuman Happiness. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Banks, The Darcys, Stars, and Avalanches’ remix of Hunters & Collectors.

Andrew St. James – The Lost, The Vain

Anonymous Conglomerate – Craft Mastered (ft. One Ton)

David Bronson – Living in Name

goodbyemotel – Michael

The High Wire – The Thames & The Tide

Hillary Capps – New Melody

Lime Cordiale – Sleeping at Your Door

LPZ ft. CHVZ – Think for Yourself (CVNT Remix)

Maur Due & Lichter – Faces

May McDonough & Company – Plump Little Fleshies

Parentz – Fly

Superhuman Happiness – Sentimental Pieces

The Superman Revenge Squad Band – A Funny Thing You Said

XNY – Ride On

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It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another weekly dip into the pool of music news, interviews and videos that I like to call This Week In Music! Yes, in addition to the normal Pick Your Poison mp3s and Soundcloud streams, I like to toss out links to a bunch of other music-related content that I’ve found interesting or worthwhile over the course of the week. I encourage you to check some, if not all of these things out, particularly if you’re looking to waste some time. There’s plenty to see, read and hear:

Watch Twin Shadow cover Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”

YouTube Audio Stream: Oneohtrix Point Never – Zebra

Neil Young has announced that his digital music service PONO will launch in 2014

Music Video: TV on the Radio – Mercy

Watch Passion Pit perform an hour-long set for “Live on Letterman”

Check out a short trailer for Arcade Fire’s upcoming album Reflektor

YouTube Audio Stream: M.I.A. – Come Walk With Me

Music Video: Savages – I Am Here

YouTube Audio Stream: Cults – High Road

Music Video: Sleigh Bells – Bitter Rivals

Once you’re done wading through all of those great highlights from this past week, be sure to check out today’s Pick Your Poison below. There are highlights there too. Don’t miss Little Daylight’s remix of Atlas Genius, The Haxan Cloak’s remix of Cloud Boat, and songs from Dark Colour, Fenech-Soler, Jonny Rodgers, PLOY and Shake the Baron. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, strean cuts from The Blow, Caitlin Rose (covering The National), Slow Magic, Survival Knife, Tourist’s remix of Haim and RZA’s remix of alt-J.

Atlas Genius – If So (Little Daylight Remix)

Bent Denim – Periodic Table

Cloud Boat – Amber Road (The Haxan Cloak Remix)
‘
Clubfeet – Acapulco & LA

Cock & Swan – Inner Portal (IG88 Remix)

Dark Colour – Reach for the Night

Expwy – Scraping blue terra cotta (Waterloo cannibals)

Fenech-Soler – Maiyu

Jonny Rodgers – Everything Is Yours

Jupiter Project – Peer Pressure

Kaytranada – At All

MiniBoone – Baby, I Hope So

PLOY – Future Voyager

RII – Black Zombie

Shake the Baron – Ghost Hits

Submerse – Melonkoly

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And we’re back! I hope you had a great Labor Day holiday. Like most Americans, I got together with some friends and family and had a great BBQ. It was a lovely way to unofficially kiss summer goodbye. The good news about that though is fall is fast on the way, and with it comes cooler temperatures, pumpkin spiced everything, and sweaters. All good things in my opinion. Also, fall is traditionally a great time to catch a live show or discover a new album. Speaking of which, today is Tuesday, and there’s a bunch of new records out for your consumption. Here’s the list of artists releasing things this week: The 1975, Bastille, Caged Animals, Califone, Chelsea Wolfe, Dave Holland, Ditt Inre, Esmerine, Glasvegas, Gorguts, Grooms, Holograms, Holy Ghost!, John Legend, Jonathan Rado, The Julie Ruin, King Khan and the Shrines, Neko Case, Nine Inch Nails, Okkervil River, Richard Buckner, Richard Youngs, Sleepmakeswaves, Stereophonics, Surf City, TV Ghost, Volcano Choir and White Poppy. Wow, there’s a few strong records in there, I can tell you that much. Of course if you’ve heard of those already or none of those artists are your cup of tea, maybe you’ll discover something new and great as part of today’s Pick Your Poison. Allow me to recommend tracks from Armani of York, Imaginary People, Leftover Cuties, Michael Persall, Moving Units, The Swiss and Tiger Forest Cat. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream new songs from Bardo Pond, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, HSY and Mount Eerie.

Arc Rev One – Beam

Armani of York – Sigh of Relief

Daughter – Youth (Lane 8 Remix)

Imaginary People – Better Minds

John&Garry – Hide Away

Leftover Cuties – Clarity

Liam Gale and the Ponytails – Antipodean Honor

The Meets – Even When the Time Comes

Michael Persall – Back to Bed

Moving Units – Bright Nights

The Swiss – Connect

TIDEUP – A Dance in the Dark

Tiger Forest Cat – With the Winds of Despair

The Worriers – Little Lucy

Xela Zaid – Twelve

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Well what do you know. It’s a rare Friday edition of Pick Your Poison. I feel like the last couple Fridays that I’ve done this I’ve commented on how it only happens rarely because I don’t have enough music to give you to make a Friday edition worthwhile most of the time. On those occasions when I do meet the quota, there are Friday editions. This is one of those weeks, and it’s even better because it marks the start of a holiday weekend. If you’re American and reading this, Labor Day is on Monday so I hope you enjoy a day off and have some BBQ or whatever. There won’t be a Monday edition of Pick Your Poison due to the holiday, but I am going to try and take some time out of that free day to write at least one album review for next week. I’ve been slacking way too much in that department lately, and there’s way too many great records out there for me to keep ignoring them or writing about them only in 140 character spurts on Twitter. So we’ll see what I’m able to get done. Now then, about this weekend-starting Pick Your Poison. Allow me to advise listening to tracks from Deep Well, Infinity Shred, Karen O, Los Campesinos!, The Octopus Project, The Shilohs and Zachary Cale. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from The 1975, The Band in Heaven, Breathe Owl Breathe, Death Cab For Cutie, Frankie Rose and Tony Molina. Have a great extended weekend, and we’ll catch up on Tuesday!

12 dirty lovers – It Seems to Be Dead

Deep Well – Never Turn Away

Dolomite Minor – Let Me Go

Frank Rabeyrolles – Fears

Infinity Shred – Sanctuary

Karen O – The Moon Song

Los Campesinos! – What Death Leaves Behind

The Morning Episodes – Alive

The Octopus Project – Perhap

The Pure Conjecture – I Just Want You to Love Me

The Shilohs – Get Ready Now

Underground Man – Bad Vibrations

Your Fuzzy Friends – The Unicorn Song

Zachary Cale – Wayward Son

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It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another weekly dip into the pool of music news, interviews and videos that I like to call This Week In Music! Yes, in addition to the normal Pick Your Poison mp3s and Soundcloud streams, I like to toss out links to a bunch of other music-related content that I’ve found interesting or worthwhile over the course of the week. I encourage you to check some, if not all of these things out, particularly if you’re looking to waste some time. There’s plenty to see, read and hear:

Check out Nicolas Jaar’s new subscription-based record label, plus stream/download the first 11 minutes of the debut album from his new band Darkside

Watch a 13.5 minute mini documentary about the visuals for the new Nine Inch Nails tour

Watch Phoenix perform an acoustic version of their song “Entertainment” at the Palace of Versailles

Stream a new song from Paul McCartney, appropriately titled “New”

Check out the initial artist lineup for CMJ 2013

Watch Franz Ferdinand cover Grimes’ “Oblivion” in an acoustic radio session

Check out a Daft Punk curated playlist on Spotify

YouTube Audio Stream: Glasser – Shape

Music Video: TV on the Radio – Million Miles

Music Video: The National – Graceless

Of course beyond passing the time with those distractions, I’ve got a boatload of free downloads for you to enjoy as well. Today, enjoy some magic from [The] Caseworker, Cate Le Bon, Howe Gelb, Irontom, Quasi (covering Black Sabbath), and Yeah Saint Paul. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from The 1975, Banks, Keep Shelly in Athens, Throwing Muses and CFCF’s remix of Majical Cloudz.

Alias Punch – Micro Machines

Anonymous Conglomerate – Wednesday

Capital Cities – Safe and Sound (KTown Shekki vs. Cave Kings Remix)

[The] Caseworker – Dependence Day

Cate Le Bon – I Think I New (ft. Perfume Genius)

Happy Fangs – Lion Inside You

Howe Gelb – Blue Marble Girl

Irontom – Nitro

Joel Compass – Astronaut (Henry Krinkle Remix)

Nathan Angelo – What Love Is All About

Quasi – War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)

Richard Lomax – Glamour (Demo)

Tadzio – Lying in the Grass

Yeah Saint Paul – A Universe in the Grain

Zacho Fraser – Making Fiction

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The connect and disconnect of artists around the world will always be fascinating to me. By that, I mean sometimes bands and singers will obtain popularity in one corner of the globe, and be completely ignored in the other. One of the more memorable stories I recall from the last 10 years was hearing how The Strokes became massively popular in England long before they found any sort of success in America, despite being from New York. One of the bigger case-in-points today, Flume is an electronica producer who released his self-titled debut album earlier this year. In the U.S., not a ton of people have heard of him. In his native Australia, the album did so well it beat out One Direction for the top spot on the country’s iTunes chart. The man behind Flume, Harley Streten, is in his early 20s and has already played to 10,000+ person crowds in a few spots around the globe. His single “Sleepless” is a chilled out and chopped up piece of dance music that holds its own against similar R&B flavored electronica producers such as SBTRKT, Disclosure and Flying Lotus. Flume is currently in the middle of a U.S. tour, and makes a stop at the Metro in Chicago this upcoming Wednesday, September 4th. As evidence that certain places around the world don’t entirely understand an artist’s appeal, there are still tickets available for that show despite the relatively small venue size. I suspect that most people have no idea what they could be getting themselves into, otherwise it would have sold out rather quickly. A fair number of electronica artists and producers don’t do much with their stage production, resulting in sets that feature them standing behind a laptop or some turntables and pushing buttons. Well, most modern DJ-types would argue that’s not what they’re REALLY doing, but my point is it tends to be not very pretty to look at. Unless you’re Girl Talk and you’ve got a team of toilet paper canons and are willing to ride on an inflatable raft across the crowd, people are there more to hear your beats than to see how you put them together. But then you have your Daft Punks, your DJ Shadows and your Deadmau5, all of whom clearly care about stage production and keeping things interesting. It can take a simple dance set and turn it into something far greater and more enjoyable. Flume is the sort of artist who invests in production, which is why the creation of The Infinity Prism is a real game-changer for him. The setup is impressive and cool and unique to every show, as Streten can tweak things at his own leisure along with the songs. So if you’re 18+, live in Chicago and aren’t busy one week from today, I strongly recommend you check out the Flume show. Tickets are $18 in advance and are available here. Now then, let’s tackle today’s Pick Your Poison. There’s some great stuff today from Bad Sports, The Bynars, Eureka Birds, Papermoons, Seth Smith, This Frontier Needs Heroes and Tim Hecker. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Angel Haze, Digitalism, Gap Dream, Icona Pop, Sebadoh and Shearwater (covering Xiu Xiu).

Angel Katz – Genuine Zeal

Bad Sports – Terrible Place

The Bynars – Never Gonna Die

Campfires in Winter – Picture of Health

Eureka Birds – Mila Don’t Make A Sound

Jaymes Young – Dark Star

Loves It – Wild

LPZ – Without You

Marie Lala – Surrender My Soul

Papermoons – No Love

Seth Smith – Red River

There’s Talk – The Salt

This Frontier Needs Heroes – It’s Over Now

Tim Hecker – Virginal II

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As we do every Tuesday, let’s talk new album releases. Another bunch of artists are pushing new product out into the world, and even though you may love some of them, you might not be fully aware of said releases. So n an effort to give you a proper heads up, here’s the list of artists with fresh albums out this week: Belle & Sebastian, Black Joe Lewis, Bob Dylan, Dent May, Disappears, The Dodos, Ellie Goulding, Flaamingos, Franz Ferdinand, Ghost Wave, Drumgasm (drummers Janet Weiss, Zach Hill and Matt Cameron), King Krule, Lucy Schwartz, Lumerians, Robbie Fulks and Spineriders. If you can’t find some new music sustenence in that pile, or simply can’t afford to pay for much of anything these days, let alone music, perhaps some of the free downloads in today’s Pick Your Poison will be helpful. Let me recommend tracks from Andy Stott, Cub Sport, Empra, Fairchild, HDSPNS, Migrant Kids, Silver Soul and Tal National. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Blitzen Trapper, Dean Wareheim, Destruction Unit, Dosh, and Matthew E. White.

Andy Stott – Anytime Soon

Baron Rouge – Holy Clock

Cub Sport – Paradise

Dot Dash – (Here’s to) The Ghosts of the Past

Empra – Strange Condition

Fairchild – Dancer

Gravious – Rolling Thunder (Octo Octa Remix)

HDSPNS – Awa

Love Is A Burning Thing – Moves

Manicanparty – Monarch

Migrant Kids – Lucktear

Silver Soul – Distinguish

Taiwo Heard – Frontier to Eternity

Tal National – Wongharey

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Sigh. I don’t know about you, but I woke up this Monday morning regretting something that I did over the weekend. Well, as with many of us, it’s one of several regrets. The biggest of them all of course is what happened on Sunday night. I allowed myself to watch the MTV Video Music Awards. Like many of you, I’m a bit outside of the MTV demographic, and actually am one of those people who fondly recalls when the network used to have legitimate VJs and played music programming instead of the nonstop stream of reality shows and poorly scripted original programming. The letter “M” in MTV used to stand for Music, but today it either means nothing or has an alternate m-word that has replaced “music”. That alone is upsetting enough, but then the network continues its annual tradition of hosting the VMAs, which is their sole contribution to pop culture and the music scene in any given year. So they try and make the most of the night. They bring together the biggest stars in music, hand them moon man statues for being popular, and hope that somebody says or does something during a performance or acceptance speech that will make headlines the following days. The more eyes they can draw and the more controversy they can generate, the better. Again, it’s not so much about music as it is the business of keeping yourself relevant and hip. Which is why almost all the performances during the show were from pop stars (Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry) and hip hop stars (Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Drake) with a little room left over for some soulful singers (Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke, Bruno Mars). I guess this was the year we forgot about rock and roll, even if Mumford & Sons headlined virtually ever music festival known to man. And while I have more respect than you’d think for Lady Gaga’s art house film-inspired opening song, most everything else was a train wreck of varying proportions. Drawing the most attention, particularly with news organizations and Twitter, has been Miley Cyrus’ overly sexy, twerk-tastic performance as she spent half her time on stage dancing in bra and panties while grinding on Robin Thicke. There was something about it that to me reeked of desperation, though many are arguing it’s just a young girl trying to shake up her image and prove herself to be an adult. Britney Spears went through the same thing, and look at how well she’s turned out (<-- sentence should be read with extreme sarcasm). Whatever. The show is like a bad hangover that I'm now trying to shake and eventually eliminate from my memory. Perhaps some palate-cleansing mp3s as part of Pick Your Poison will help with that. Don't miss tracks today from Blessed Feathers, The Cloak Ox (ft. TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe), Dream Boys, Helado Negro, Left Lane Cruiser, M+A, Minks, ODESZA and Tape Deck Mountain. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream cuts from Cass McCombs, The Dismemberment Plan, Leverage Models (ft. Sharon Van Etten), London Grammar and Roosevelt. Anonymous Conglomerate – So What

Blessed Feathers – Ahbinreedis

Chris Malinchak – So Into You

The Cloak Ox ft. Tunde Adebimpe – King Rope

Dream Boys – Born Yesterday

Flume – More Than You Thought (Orikami Remix)

Helado Negro – Stop Living Dead

Keep Shelly in Athens – Recollection (Selebrities Remix)

Left Lane Cruiser – Juice to Get Loose

M+A – When (ft. EMAY)

Metropolis America – Bittersweet

Minks – Everything’s Fine

ODESZA – My Friends Never Die

Post Honeymoon – Kid With A Gun

Tape Deck Mountain – Pretend Friends

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