Category: pick your poison Page 97 of 141

Instead of writing about some random music news item today, I think I’d like to to go a little more in depth on one particular track that I’m proud to feature as part of today’s Pick Your Poison. So let’s do that briefly with the new single from CHVRCHES called “Recover”. It’s available for streaming in the Soundcloud section (located after the jump). The song is the title track to the band’s forthcoming EP, set for release on March 26th in the U.S. As the band are members of my Class of 2013, I’m not only highlighting them for that reason but also because the song is really, really good. It’s a gorgeous slice of electro pop done in a dark and off-kilter style that puts it just an inch or two away from being immediately familiar. You’re compelled to like and enjoy this track, complete with its massive chorus, but you don’t fully understand why. That mystery is one of the keys to its brilliance. It stays relatively true to the comparisons with The Knife that CHVRCHES have been enjoying, though of course if you’ve heard The Knife’s latest single you know they’re in a class all their own in many respects. Still, “Recover” only pushes the idea further that this band is worthy of the attention being shoved onto them, and things will only get bigger in the next several months I suspect. But beyond CHVRCHES, there are other artists in today’s Pick Your Poison, and you might want to keep an eye on some of them as well. Notably, in this set there’s some great tracks from Hey Anna, Kristin Errett, LVL UP, New Ivory, Shy Mirrors and SKATERS. In the Soundcloud section, stream new stuff as well from araabMUZIK, Brendan Benson, Gun Outfit, and Rachel Zeffira, among others.

Big Chocolate – Blue Milk (Spacebrother Remix)

Body Parts – Rest While You Sleep

Computer Magic – Million Years (Flying Horse Remix)

Destruction Unit – Evil Man

Dizzy – Am I (ft. Ace Hood)

Hey Anna – Tiny Kiss

Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers – Your Story (Live at the Russell)

Kristin Errett – Don’t Call Me Sweetheart

Lovelier Other – Leave This Behind

LVL UP – Graveyard

The March Divide – Jose Cuervo

New Ivory – Day By Day

Shy Mirrors – First Wave Out

SKATERS – I Wanna Dance (But I Don’t Know How)

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Do you like Beach House? I sure do. Do you like films – not music videos, but actual films? I like them almost as much as I like music (and by some degree, Beach House). Well, if you answered “yes” to those couple questions, I’ve got a treat for you. Beach House have created their own short film called “Forever Still,” a 30-minute chronicle of the band performing four songs from their latest album Bloom at four different locations in the Texas desert over the course of one night. If you thought these songs were gorgeous before, just wait until you see them paired with some lovely and striking camera work. I’ve always thought of Beach House as a very “sunrise and sunset” sort of band, best during the two most relaxing times of day, and this short film only enhances that idea. So anyways, if you’re interested in watching it, the full thing is up on YouTube for your enjoyment. It certainly gets my recommendation, as do tracks in today’s Pick Your Poison from the following artists: Airstrip, Field Mouse, Glow Marrow, Herve, Low, Shy Mirrors and The Turn ACLs. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream tracks from Cannon Beach, Elephant, Kisses and Summer Hours.

Airstrip – Sleepy

The Battle of Santiago – Republic

Eric & Magill – Tangled Up in Nets

Field Mouse – Tomorrow Is Yesterday

Glow Marrow – Bear Creek

Hervé – Gold (feat Maria Minerva)

Kameronessi & King Kong – Lisbon to San Francisco

Kurt Von Stetten – First Daughter

Low – Just Make It Stop

NICKEL – ZYGZM (Jean Nippon Remix)

Put Your Hands Up For Neo-Tokyo – Breaking Through

Shy Mirrors – Tinted Windows

Steel Trees – Revolution

Tom Morgan – One True Love

The Torn ACLs – Something About the Sky

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Okay, while I continue to battle illness this week (which during one particular drug-induced haze I apparently found the willpower to finish an album review), let’s try and make things as normal as possible and talk about new music releases out this week. In addition to the new My Bloody Valentine album, which arrived in digital form on Saturday, you might want to be on the lookout for new records from Chris Stamey, Coheed and Cambria, Darkstar, EELS, Elephant Stone, Frightened Rabbit, Grouper, Guards, Hayden, Jenny O, Jim James, Matt Pond, Night Beds, The Spinto Band, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. There’s quite a few good ones in that bunch, so if you see a name you recognize or simply want to go exploring, I strongly encourage you to investigate further. Also worth investigating is today’s edition of Pick Your Poison. Let me advise you to specifically download tracks from The Bear and The Sea, Beat Radio, Bets, The Bixby Knolls, Daniel Inouwa, Oddczar and Polly Scattergood. In the Soundcloud section, stream tracks from Coves, Mikael Cronin and the great Psychic Twin.

Arc Rev One – sELectric Shiva

Bear Ceuse – Dixie Brothers

The Bear & The Sea – Sandblonde

Beat Radio – Hurricanes, XO

Benbrick – Beyond That Nothing

Bets – Rooftop Lover

The Bixby Knolls – Runnin’ and Runnin’

Daniel Inouwa – Fade Out

La Luz – Call Me in the Day

The Memories – I’m Easy

Multiplier – To the Top

Oddczar – One Word

Polly Scattergood – Wanderlust

Post War Years – All Eyes (BROLIN Remix)

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It’s official: I’m sick. Not life-threateningly ill, just your run-of-the-mill cold (or is it the flu?). Either way, it’s severely unpleasant and brings my productivity down to almost nothing. I’ve got an album review I’ve been writing for the last few days that I simply can’t finish because I need the extra time to rest. The more I rest the quicker I recover and the sooner life and everything with it returns to normal. Of course my world (and hopefully yours) was shaken pretty hard over the weekend, as though it came later than expected, we finally got our hands on the new My Bloody Valentine album. It’s called m b v, and is available in various formats here. Go buy a copy – digital, physical or otherwise, and listen to it with the volume turned all the way up in your headphones. It’s basically intended to scorch your eardrums. Please enjoy it. I’m just grateful I can stop complaining about the poor way this whole release was managed, between the false alarm release dates and then the band’s website collapsing on Saturday night when they finally unleashed it into the world. Everything’s right again, and I’ll have a review of the album for you sometime before the end of February. I need to spend some time with it first. If that doesn’t distract you too much, let Pick Your Poison be your guide today. Enjoy songs from Everett Parker, Hollis Brown, Judy Kang, Nite Jewel and The Shifting Sands. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream new tracks from Action Bronson, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Pond, Young Dreams and the Peaking Lights remix of Young Galaxy. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to climb back into bed.

Chromatics – Kill for Love (Kraak & Smaak Bootleg Remix)

ELIM BOLT – Field (Punk Ending)

Everett Parker – Dirt I Will Be

Gliss – Hunting (C-Berg Remix)

Grizzly Bear – What’s Wrong (It’s Overture Remix)

Hollis Brown – Nightfall

Home By Hovercraft – Zoo Lion

Judy Kang – Dream

Mr. Jenkins – Suddenly I Don’t Feel So Afraid

The Neighbourhood – Let It Go (Ghost Loft Remix)

Nite Jewel – Memory Man

Opposite Sex – La Rat

The Shifting Sands – Tonight

Zen Mystery Fogg – Raccoon

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Picking up on a thread of discussion I started Monday, I’d just like to comment quickly that it’s been longer than the “2-3 days” that Kevin Shields promised us he’d deliver the new My Bloody Valentine album in. The guy has his timetable all screwed up, apparently. Every single deadline he’s set has not been met. He has come pretty close, but nothing is ever on time. So maybe it’ll be another few days for a new MBV record, or maybe it’ll be another month or two. Just hold on to the hope that we’ll get it sometime in the near future. While the wait continues, please enjoy some more Pick Your Poison tracks. Highlights today come from Caitlin Rose, Clin Stetson, LIZ, Margaret Glaspy (covering Lauryn Hill), Millionyoung and Oceanography. In the Soundcloud section (located after the jump), stream new songs from Alpine and Caveman, among others.

Blue Hawaii – Try to Be (No Big Deal Remix)

Caitlin Rose – I Was Cruel

Carl Creighton – Tripping in Our Living Room

Colin Stetson – High Above a Grey Green Sea

e-dubble – Plan A

Gray Young – Canopy Reflected

Ishi – Disco Queen

LIZ – XTC

Lycaon Pictus – I Give You a Rose

Margaret Glaspy – Ex-Factor (Lauryn Hill cover)

Michael Persall – A Tear Sheds for You

Millionyoung – Lovin’

Oceanography – Drinking Water

Odesza – Don’t Stop

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It’s the middle of a particularly busy week for yours truly, and as a result I don’t have as much time as I normally would to not only write an album review or two, but come up with some great introductions to Pick Your Poison posts. So please enjoy this respite from my normal rants and raves. It’s not likely to last very long. Talking about today’s Pick Your Poison, let me advise you to keep your ear to the ground for tracks from The Delta Routine, FLOTE, Gabriel Minnikin, Heavy Hawaii and John Grant. In the Soundcloud section (after the jump), feast on some good streams from Fort Romeau and Golden Bloom.

The ACBs – Record Store

Avicii – Fade Into Darkness (Black Matter Remix)

Benzi & Willy Joy – VIBES

Birds and Arrows – Firefly

Bombay Bicycle Club – Shuffle (Timegroove 45 Remix)

The Delta Routine – Oh, No

FLOTE – Paperweight

Gabriel Minnikin – The Hand That Feeds You

Glorie – Sunshine Then Nightmares

Heavy Hawaii – Airborne Kawasaki

Irontom – Mind My Halo

John Grant – Black Belt

MF/MB/ – Casualties

Notes to Self – Sky Light (InBetween)

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As it happens every week, there’s some new albums out for your enjoyment. So you don’t miss a thing, here’s a list of artists unleashing EPs and LPS: Adam Green and Binki Shapiro, Amor de Dias, Bleeding Rainbow, Buke and Gase, Ducktails, Elin Ruth, Fiction Family, Golden Bloom, The History of Apple Pie, Indians, John Zorn, Local Natives, Mice Parade, On An On, Onward Chariots, Radar Bros., Ruby Suns, Tall Firs, Tegan and Sara, Tomahawk, Total Warr and Y La Bamba. There’s some pretty great stuff in that pile so keep your ears open to try and find something that suits your tastes. Speaking of which, Pick Your Poison is all about discovery too, which is why I encourage you to check out the tracks below. There’s some really great tracks today from Everyday Animals, Ginger and the Ghost, Little Daylight, Mice Parade and Takka Takka. The Soundcloud section is particularly great today, and you can stream new tracks (after the jump) from The Knife, Sleep Over and Wavves.

DJ Sun – Heart Seed (ft. Leah Alvarez & Martin Perna of Antibalas)

Everyday Animals – Two Minus One

Ginger and the Ghost – One Type of Dark

The Hood Internet – Pyramidspeak (Frank Ocean x Purity Ring)

The Hyper Actives – The Promised Land

LA Font – Onshore

Little Daylight – Overdose

Mice Parade – Contessa

New Metro – Bones

Rare Monk – Drumhead

Satellite Stories – Kids Aren’t Safe in the Metro (TJH87 Remix)

Silver Medallion & DJ DStar – Stars 2.0

Sweet Knievel – The Horror (RJD2 cover)

Takka Takka – When You Leave

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Kevin Shields has lied and betrayed us before. A few years ago when My Bloody Valentine reunited, he said they were headed back into the studio to work on a new record, which he expected to have completed within a few months. Well, it’s been like 4 years and we’ve gotten nothing. Then this past fall, Shields popped up once again in an interview and said that the new MBV album would be out before the end of 2012. Knowing by this point not to trust his grand estimations of things, perhaps the smart move was to not get our hopes up too much. Then came the announcement on December 21st that the new album was officially done with the mastering process. In other words, they could well have uploaded the files to their digital distribution server and put an mp3 version of the record for sale the very next morning. Again, they did not do that, and the end of 2012 passed without the new MBV record. But the question remained: when would that album finally see the light of day? If you’re believing Kevin Shields this time, the answer is “in the next 2-3 days.” That’s what he told the crowd at a show last night, where the band also performed a new song. Video of it being performed was all over the internet for a short period before it was removed by the band’s label. And so we wait. Will there be a new My Bloody Valentine album out before the end of this week? The moment I hear about it, I’ll make sure you hear about it. In the meantime, let’s all listen to some fresh tracks as part of your daily dose of Pick Your Poison. Thumbs up today goes to tracks from ADR, Dark Colour, Elite Gymnastics’ remix of How to Dress Well, Knocking Ghost, Mister Lies and Photo Ops. In the Soundcloud section (after the jump), stream some excellent tracks from Kilo Kish, MS MR and thenewno2.

ADR – Slush Fund

The Baboon Show – What a Feeling

Dance Bear – Snakadaktal (Chad Valley Remix)

Dark Colour – Burn It Down

Fatch – Trash

How to Dress Well – & It Was U (Elite Gymnastics Remix)

Knocking Ghost – Distractions

Leaf – Naked & Wasted

Lexy and the Kill – Black Dog

Lid Emba – Third Rail to Paradise

Mister Lies – Lupine

Misun – Harlot

Photo Ops – Someplace

Simon Deer – Maggie Fargo

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Okay, it’s time for me to weigh in very briefly on this year’s Coachella lineup. In case you’ve not yet seen the massive list of artists playing the two weekends of April 12-14 and April 19-21, go to the website and check that out. To my eyes, Friday night looks to be great, with The Stone Roses and Blur acting as co-headliners. I’ve heard The Stone Roses aren’t exactly a great live band, especially recently with their reunion dates, but I could be wrong on that. Still, their recorded output is small but highly impressive, and given that they haven’t really played in the U.S. in quite some time, it feels like a good get. The same goes for Blur, though I have a much greater passion for that band and their catalogue. Saturday’s headliner is Phoenix, and to me that seems a little premature. Sure, Phoenix is a great band that has risen to quite a bit of fame, but are they headliner material? They didn’t even get much attention until 2009’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix came in and blew everyone away. It’s been close to four years since then, and though their forthcoming record is much anticipated, one hit record with two hit singles (“1901” and “Lisztomania”) do not a headliner make in my opinion. Sunday night’s headliner are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who haven’t been great since John Frusciante left, and even when he was still around seemed to have trouble finding their footing since 2002’s By the Way. They may still have songs on the radio, and their back catalogue is largely legendary, but they’re also a bit played out as a festival headliner. I’d like to know what happened to their supposed deal with the Rolling Stones. I’m sure that would have built up far more excitement than the relative drivel the rest of this lineup boasts. Okay, so it’s great to see The Postal Service back for some live shows, and projects like New Order, Jurassic 5 and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds are nothing to brush off. I’m starting to wonder if music festivals in general are headed for a slump the next few years. Then again, you look at a lineup like Primavera Sound and can’t help but be impressed even if they spent a fortune to get some of those bands. We’ll have to wait and see what Bonnarroo will be offering in 2013, though as always my money is on the Chicago fests of Pitchfork and Lollapalooza. More on that in the coming months. Now then, let’s get this weekend started right with some good Pick Your Poison tracks. Recommendations today go to Dada Trash Collage, Dan Friel, Othello Woolf, Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Screaming Females, Thinking Machines and Y La Bamba. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, you can stream new stuff from Julian Lynch, Mount Moriah, Olof Arnalds and Young Galaxy, among others. Have a great weekend!

Bremen – Laika

Crash and the Coots – Don’t Kill Bugs

Dada Trash Collage – Up and Down

Dan Friel – Thumper

D-WHY – 2,000 Miles

Fake Problems – Making It Up (Allison Weiss cover)

Othello Woolf – Odysseus

Scott & Charlene’s Wedding – Two Weeks

Screaming Females – Poison Arrow

Stamping Mill – Belong

Thinking Machines – Lunge

Unlike Pluto – Girl, Walk This Plank

The Weather Station – First Letter (ft. Marine Dreams)

Y La Bamba – Oh February

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If you didn’t know already, beyond my extreme passion for music, I’m also a bit of a film connoisseur. By that I mean I watch an average of 6 films every week, many of them at an actual theater, plus my DVD collection numbers close to 1,000 at this point. Some of my friends know me as the “movie guy” or call me their “personal Netflix” or the “human IMDB.” I’m not trying to brag (seriously), but rather attempt to establish that I know movies about as well as I know music, only I don’t really write about movies. Perhaps I should, but that’s a discussion for another day. What I really want to talk about is the intersection of music and movies. When an artist I love does a soundtrack for a film, like Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood doing the score for The Master, that’s an intersection. Similarly, when someone makes a movie about a rock band, like an Almost Famous or last year’s Not Fade Away, that’s an intersection too. Well, today I saw something that affected me more than most movie and music intersections. See, The Coen Bros. are among the most respected of film directors these days, what with masterpieces such as No Country for Old Men and The Big Lebowski under their belts, among others in their rich oeuvre. Each of their new movies is met with heavy anticipation thanks to great casts, acting work, plots and visuals. So imagine my surprise upon hearing that their next film due for release in 2013 is called Inside Llewyn Davis. It tells the story of a Bob Dylan-like folk musician trying to find success in 1960s New York. That one sentence summary is simple enough, but things are far from simple if you know the Coens. A trailer for it came out today, and it hit me straight at the core of my being. Bob Dylan’s “Farewell” acts as the soundtrack as we see the character of Llewyn Davis (played by Oscar Isaac who you may remember from Drive) travel around New York with his guitar, meeting restless souls and trading rather funny barbs with an ex (Carey Mulligan). John Goodman, F. Murray Abraham, Justin Timberlake, and Adam Driver (from the HBO show “Girls”) help to round out the cast. To me, this seems like it could be one of those really important films about rock and roll, which is why I wanted to share my thoughts with you on just the 2 minute trailer on the day it premiered. There’s currently no release date for the film, but I guess there’s a special screening or two happening early next month, the times and locations of which I have no idea. But yes, I’m dying to see this film, and if you watch that clip, I hope you will be too. Okay, now let’s talk Pick Your Poison. Tracks that get a gold star from me today come from Boxed Wine, Christina Courtin, Cliff Dweller, Matmos, Parisian and Pearl Necklace. In the Soundcloud section (located after the jump), you can stream new songs from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Mister Lies, Snowden and a remastered oldie from Husker Du.

Boxed Wine – Bones

Chadwick Station – Startin’ Tomorrow

Christina Courtin – Lightfighter

Cliff Dweller – Peace in the Valley

Das Kapital – BrainBang (ft. Louis Blaise)

Lane 8 – Every Night

Matmos – Teen Paranormal Romance

Niagara – Seal

Notes to Self – Popular Music

Parisian – Sean

Pearl Necklace – Why Toto?

Peh Per Ghost – That Awk

Swamp Dogg – If I Die Tomorrow

Yumi and the Weather – Not Again (Ambassadeurs Remix)

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There was a big Chicago show announcement today that I’m very excited about while simultaneously very disappointed about. The excitement factor is that it’s Pearl Jam, and they’re playing at Wrigley Field. They’ve had some interesting bands play at Wrigley these last few years, including Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters. It feels like an improvement over years prior which featured big name country acts or pairings like Elton John and Billy Joel. Those artists are either offensive to my personal tastes or skew towards the much older crowd. Granted, names like Springsteen and Waters also skew older, but they’re at least legendary staples of rock music. So anyways, to have Pearl Jam at Wrigley seems like a fantastic idea, and I was the first to say that I’d be all set to buy a ticket the moment they went on sale. What I failed to anticipate was the date of the show: Friday, July 19th. You know what’s also going on that day in Chicago? The Pitchfork Music Festival. That and Lollapalooza are pretty much the two big 3-day shows I try not to miss a single second of every year. Now if Pitchfork announces their lineup and the Friday night headliner is a band I absolutely despise (this is highly unlikely), I may skip out of there to go see Pearl Jam. Ed Ved & Co. have put on an amazing show every single time I’ve seen them, and it mostly winds up being one gigantic sing-along for 2.5 hours. If you’re a Chicagoan and are sure you won’t be at Pitchfork this year, I do think that going to the Pearl Jam show is something you should be going to. Tickets for that show go on sale Feb. 9th at 10AM via tickets.com, but if you’re a Ten Club member there are certain presale advantages available to you. So there you go. Now let’s talk Pick Your Poison. Enjoy tracks today from ANtwon, Calvin Love, Dog Bite, Lindstrom’s remix of Grizzly Bear, Mark Mallman, Milk Music and Ulfur. In the Soundcloud section you can stream new songs from The 1975, Cave Painting (covering Frank Ocean) and Devendra Banhart.

Antwon – Automatic

Baby Baby – Keep On Dancin

Calvin Love – Missions

The Connects – Love in Las Vegas

Darwin Deez – Free (Billy Mix)

Dog Bite – Native America

Grizzly Bear – Gun Shy (Lindstrom Remix)

The March Divide – Pick Me Up

Mark Mallman – Like a Car Crash

Milk Music – I’ve Got a Wild Feeling

Ms. Henrik – Doing It for the Man

Nick and the Ovorols – Try Me

Tecla – Fake Tears

Ulfur – So Very Strange

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Welcome to Tuesday. I hope everyone had a nice Martin Luther King Jr. Day. If you’re from a foreign country, that probably means little to nothing, and if you’re American it may not have even meant a day off from work. But some people were lucky enough to get an extended weekend, and to those people I say I am jealous. Now then, let’s talk about what new albums are out this week. This is the first hefty release week, and boy is it a good one. Look for new full lengths from A$AP Rocky, Bad Religion, Camper Van Beethoven, Esben and the Witch, Everything Everything, FIDLAR, Foxygen, Gliss, The Growlers, Guided By Voices, The Joy Formidable, Mountains, The Night Marchers, Nightlands, Nosaj Thing, Ra Ra Riot, Speck Mountain, Toro y Moi, Villagers and Widowspeak. I’m excited to review a couple of these records later this week. If you’re looking for brand new single songs though, Pick Your Poison has you covered in that department. There’s good stuff today from Dream Curtain, Gospel Claws, The Kill van Kulls, Lazy Talkers, Lead Mule and Strangers. In the Soundcloud section (located after the jump), you can stream some excellent tracks from Disclosure (ft. AlunaGeorge), Ducktails and Twin Shadow’s remix of Sky Ferreira.

Dash – Into the Sounds

Dream Curtain – Glowing

Goldroom – Sweetness Alive (Touch Tone Remix)

Gospel Claws – Looming Darkness

Honeymilk – This Time Around (The Gods Won’t Save Me)

The Kill Van Kulls – Wooden Heart

Kiven – Hope and Smoke

KYLE – Keep It Real

Laurelin Kruse – Jupiter

Lazy Talkers – Killing Time

Lead Mule – Third Degree

M8ME – Forever

Sam Page – Hold On

Strangers – Bred for Breeding

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Happy Friday! I hope you’ve got some great weekend plans going on. I know it’s sort of the dead of winter and it can feel a little dead out there sometimes, but there are things to do if you look hard enough. For my Chicago friends, I do want to recommend that you check out any/as many shows as you can that are part of the Tomorrow Never Knows festival, which started a couple days ago and finishes up on Sunday night. There’s a bunch of shows happening at a bunch of different venues by bands such as Free Energy, Vacationer, The Walkmen, Father John Misty, Chelsea Wolfe, Freelance Whales, Snowmine, Lucero, Geographer, The Hudson Branch, ON AN ON and Jessie Ware, among others. It’s a lot of really great shows by some great up-and-coming bands (along with a few more notable names). So give winter the finger and go see some live music. For those not in Chicago, well, I hope your weekend is grand too. Please try and discover some new music via this weekend-starting edition of Pick Your Poison. Great tracks today come from Bobby Long, Cy Dune, Gentlemen Hall, Tiger Waves, Umberto and Vato Gonzalez. In the Soundcloud section (located after the jump), you can stream some good tracks from Blood Diamonds (ft. Dominic Lord), Fear of Men, Julia Holter (covering Arthur Russell) and The Postelles, among others.

Admonic – Tick Boom

Alex Metric – Rave Weapon (Amtrac Remix)

Arima Ederra – Flow Chart

Bergen – Dancing in the Garden

Bobby Long – Devil Moon

Cy Dune – Move the Room

Everything Everything – Kemosabe (Post War Years Remix)

Gentlemen Hall – Sail Into the Sun

Matpat – Everybody Rise

Mist Glider & Heart Tricks – Krystal Kingdom

Rams’ Pocket Radio – Cavities

Skye – Featherlight

Tiger Waves – Fields

Umberto – Night Fantasy

Vato Gonzalez – Cats Are Evil

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Every six months or a year or so, really whenever I feel like it’s time, I like to offer a refresher to new visitors explaining what Pick Your Poison is and why it exists. Since we’re still pretty much at the beginning of a new year, I might as well cover those details today. So Pick Your Poison started a couple years ago, when I came to the realization that I was getting hundreds of emails a day and was using maybe 5% of that content. I listened to 100% of it, but writing album reviews and sharing the occasional mp3 only allowed me to do so much curating. There was so much more good music out there I simply wasn’t able to give to you, the reader, because I didn’t have the time or fortitude to write about it all. Few people do. Plus, there are so many different types and genres of music around you’re never going to satisfy everyone’s tastes. I felt like the artists and their promoters deserved a little more than having their music pass through my ears and then sail off into oblivion. The choice I made was to completely open up the flood gates. Pick Your Poison got its name because it lays everything out on a virtual table in front of you, and then you choose your own fate. You might download something thinking it’s going to be interesting and exciting, only to discover it’s terrible. By that same logic you might also discover your new favorite band. The point is, the opportunity is there and the selection of music is eclectic enough that there’s a little something for everyone. I hope you enjoy the thrill of these daily posts as much as I do, even if some days are definitely better than others. Today’s edition is decent. Of the tracks below, I can definitely advise you to check out songs from Carroll, Circle, Frank Rabeyrolles, Frontier Ruckus, Midnight Spin, Stubborn Heart, Wintersleep and Youth Lagoon. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream tracks from Cold War Kids, The Go, Kinski and Night Moves.

alt-J – Breezeblocks (Acid Invaders Remix)

Apparatjik – Datascroller (Blue Foundation Remix)

Carroll – Lead Balloon

Circle – Shake It Off

Clementine & The Galaxy – Robot

Frank Rabeyrolles – Lush

Frontier Ruckus – Dealerships

Houses – Beginnings

Midnight Spin – Don’t Let Me Sleep

MT WARNING – Burn Again

Myopic – Jura

Stubborn Heart – Need Someone

Wintersleep – Permanent Sigh

Youth Lagoon – Dropla

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