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Somewhat sad news to report today, particularly if you’re a fan of classic rock. A keyboardist, producer, solo artist and founding member of The Doors, Ray Manzarek passed away earlier today at the age of 74. The cause of death was complications as a result of bile cancer, for which he was receiving treatment at a medical facility in Germany. Manzarek’s classic keyboard work is probably best remembered in some of the biggest Doors hits, including “Light My Fire” and “Hello I Love You”. Take away his keyboard/organ parts and those songs lose all sense of meaning and quality. Let’s not forget he also had to deal with the incredible ego of Jim Morrison on a regular basis, making him a saint in many ways as well. The good news though is that Manzarek lived about 42 years longer than Morrison did, which resulted in some great creative output including a revival of The Doors in 2002 with guitarist Robbie Krieger, though legally speaking they weren’t allowed to tour under the band’s name. Still, they played Doors songs, and seemed to have some fun with it. Anyways, Manzarek was a rock legend in his own right, and his presence will be missed. Now let’s get to this week-starting edition of Pick Your Poison. Focus tracks today come from Badlands, Bernard et Bianca, Egyptian Sports Network, Le Fever, Smallpools and Stay Positive. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Destruction Unit, Escort, Laura Marling, vacation, and Katie and Allison Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) covering a Grimes classic.

Badlands – Sleeping Beauty

Bernard et Bianca – Karelia

Cosmic Suckerpunch – Glad You’re Here Now

Doctor P – Neon (A Purple Heart Remix)

Egyptian Sports Network – Leo in Cyan

Hourglass Sea – Richard III

La Historia – If I’m Walking

Last Good Tooth – Problems Leave Out of Mouths

Le Fever – White Hearts

N8 ST9 – Light Up Myself

Sep V – Zer0ne

Smallpools – Dreaming

Stay Positive – Leipzig

Strangeheart – In Another Life (8th Grader Remix)

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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:

Stream the new song “Kiss Land” from The Weeknd via YouTube

Download two new songs from Liars in exchange for your email address

Music Video: Queens of the Stone Age – If I Had A Tail

Check out the trailer for Franz Ferdinand’s upcoming album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

Stream a new song “You Took Your Time” from Mount Kimbie ft. King Krule via YouTube

Google is launching a new music streaming service

Music Video: Mikal Cronin – Change

Stream a new song “Forever” from Julianna Barwick via YouTube

Watch TV on the Radio perform a new song called “Mercy” live at ATP

Stream “I Fucked My Aunt”, a new song from The Lonely Island ft. T-Pain via YouTube

Okay, now let’s talk today’s Pick Your Poison. I’m pleased to recommend tracks from BEACH, Boyfrndz, Camera Obscura, GRMLN, Hani Zahra, Honeymoon, Pinegrove, Saltland and WhoaBear. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream new songs from The 1975, Atlas Genius (covering Daft Punk), The Dodos, Mayer Hawthorne ft. Jessie Ware and Solange ft. Kendrick Lamar.

ArtClassSink – Face the Day

BEACH – Ibuprofen

Boyfrndz – Water Weight

Camera Obscura – Fifth in Line to the Throne

Dead Stars – Fractured

Gallant – Please? (Vignette)

GRMLN – Do You Know How It Feels?

Hani Zahra – Cannibal Crime (Wait Wait Wait)

Honeymoon – Sure Stuck

Pinegrove – V

Saltland – Treehouse Schemes

SFV Acid – PT Sex

Splashh – Today (Fade Away)

Stereodyssey – In Clouds

WhoaBear – Rock Em Up!

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It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for another round of artists with new albums out in stores. As a service to those that maybe aren’t so “in the know,” I like to list the artists releasing new stuff in case one of your favorites is putting something out and you didn’t know or simply forgot. That said, the following artists have new music out this week: The Fall, ADULT., Anamanaguchi, Beaches, Ben Lee, Bibio, Blank Tapes, Boxer Rebellion, Eluvium, The Features, The Handsome Family, John Grant, Kisses, Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood, MS MR, Orange Peels, The Phoenix Foundation, Pure X, Roomrunner, Saltland, Sam Amidon, Small Black, Snowden, Standish/Carlyon, Tea Leaf Green, Vampire Weekend and Wild Nothing. Phew, that’s quite a lot for this week, and the best part is a handful of these are really great records too. Check some of them out if you’re so inspired. Also feel free to check out the tracks in today’s Pick Your Poison. They’re delightful too, including songs from The Anatomy of Frank, Daniel Badeie, Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Shy Nature, Statistics, Titles, Tunng, and Typhoon. Streaming in the Soundcloud section (after the jump) you’ll find tracks from Jackson Scott, Maps, Minks, RocketNumberNine, AlunaGeorge’s remix of Dirty Projectors and Sam Smith’s acoustic take on his previously released dance track collaboration with Disclosure.

The Anatomy of Frank – Bill Murray

Daniel Badeie – Summer Wine

Juveniles – Strangers (The Black and White Diamond Tiles Remix)

Little Boots – Broken Record (Cosmic Kids Remix)

phages. – Where’s Your Head At? (Basement Jaxx cover)

Pick a Piper – All Her Colours (Sun Glitters Remix)

PleasePlease – Viva La Piano

Scott & Charlene’s Wedding – Fakin’ NYC

Shy Nature – Deadly Sin

Statistics – Take the Lead (ft. Har Mar Superstar)

Titles – Be Not Afraid

Tunng – The Village

Typhoon – Dreams of Cannibalism

Villa Kang – Touch of Evil

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For those that don’t know, Daft Punk’s new album Random Access Memories will officially be released next Tuesday. The hype about this record has been building ever since the day it was announced, and people kept freaking out thanks to seemingly random commercials featuring seconds of new music that aired during Saturday Night Live and other fare. Posters featuring the robot heads of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo also started to appear everywhere, including SXSW where it was hotly tipped that the duo would be performing a secret show. While that never happened, it certainly got and kept people talking. There’s been so much excitement in the lead up to this that I don’t fully understand why. Allow me to explain before you get all upset and angry with me. Daft Punk put on an incredible live show. I feel honored to have seen it a few years back, as my life certainly hasn’t quite been the same since. Yes, it’s one of those things you just don’t forget. They also don’t play many shows, which makes the rarity of them that much more special. I suppose it’s for that very reason that people love Daft Punk. Well, that and their two truly classic records of Homework and Discovery. Where my confusion lies is in how people can blissfully ignore the fact that these guys haven’t released a great album since 2001. For 99% of bands, if your last great album came out 12 years ago, you don’t have much of a career left to salvage. 2005’s Human After All was a major disappointment compared to what had been released previously, and things like a live album (without a DVD of the mindblowing visuals?!) or the soundtrack to Tron: Legacy simply didn’t cut it. You can basically call Random Access Memories an official follow-up to Human After All then, which I guess creates an 8 year “gap” of truly original, signature Daft Punk material to rebuild their empire and help fans forget. So this time with a massive collection of guest stars in tow, including Pharrell, Panda Bear, Nile Rodgers and Chilly Gonzales, the duo want to remind you why you fell in love with them in the first place. As the title suggests, they want you to randomly access your memories of their classic albums and insane live show to remember the good and forget the bad. They’re playing this game, and I’ve got to give them kudos for doing it right. With that, I’m pleased to tell you (if you didn’t already know) that Random Access Memories is now streaming in full over at iTunes. If you’re interested to hear what they’ve come up with, by all means have at it. Might I also recommend checking out today’s Pick Your Poison, since you’re already here? There’s some strong songs today from Arc Rev One, Four Tet, The Morals, VOWS and Young Hunting. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from The 1975, The Child of Lov (ft. Damon Albarn), The-Dream (ft. Jay-Z), The Love Language, Rogue Wave and Var.

Arc Rev One – Transference

The Delta Routine – New York Avenue

Four Tet – Unspoken (Promo Version)

The Herbaliser – Crimes & Misdemeanours (Lopez Remix)

Kyle Andrews – The Way to Wonder

Monophona – Give Up

The Morals – Birds
The Morals – Noah Part I

Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire – Noble Drew Ali

No Middle Name – When Forever Ends

Shaun McGyver – 2 Stories With the Same Ending

Shooting Stansfield – Sign of the Times

Sivu – Bodies (Cloud Boat’s Let the Bodies Hit the Floor Remix)

Tracy Walton – If I Ever Get Away

VOWS – Symbol System

Young Hunting – Wrecking Ball

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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:

Music Video: The Lonely Island – Spring Break Anthem (+ “Between Two Ferns”)

Watch Wilco’s Glenn Kotche find a way to make sinks, pots and pans into percussion instruments in a new commercial

Listen to Queens of the Stone Age perform 2 new songs on a Belgian radio station

Third Man Records is releasing a limited edition gold and platinum LP version of The Great Gatsby soundtrack

Music Video: The National – Sea of Love

Watch a short film about DFA Records, narrated by Mark Maron

Music Video: David Bowie – The Next Day

Watch Thom Yorke perform Atoms for Peace’s “Ingenue” live on the Jonathan Ross Show

Music Video: Smith Westerns – Varsity

Music Video: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito

As far as today’s Pick Your Poison goes, allow me to recommend tracks from Graham MacRae, Jesse Ruins, Lake Isle, Sam Vicari, Two Inch Astronaut, Wild Moccasins and Wise Blood. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream some great songs from Lust For Youth, The Mantles, The Orwells, Tree (ft. Danny Brown) and These New Puritans.

Botzy – Thrill Is Gone (ft. Justyn Dow)

Graham MacRae – Game Changer

Jesse Ruins – Talk to Alicia

Koloto – Primer

Kriget – Sleeping With Buddha

Lake Isle – Steel Rails

Rituel – Club Zanzibar (Extended Instrumental)

Ross Crean – Daniel

Sam Vicari – Heart Explosion

Steelwells – Dead Song

Two Inch Astronaut – Blood From A Loyal Hound

Wild Moccasins – Gag Reflections

Wise Blood – Universe Is Blessed

Young Jeezy – RIP (ENFERNO Remix)

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Well what do you know – it’s another new music Tuesday. There’s a bunch of new albums in stores today, and to help make sure you don’t miss a good one, here’s a quick list of artists celebrating today: AM and Shawn Lee, Co La, Deerhunter, Eksi Ekso (featured below!), Fitz and the Tantrums, The Hussy, Little Boots, Mikal Cronin, Mother Falcon, Noah and the WHale, Patty Griffin, Savages, Shannon Wright, She and Him, Still Corners, The Great Gatsby soundtrack (ft. Lana Del Rey, The xx, Jay-Z and more), and Way Yes. If you’re more of a singles person, maybe some of the tracks in today’s Pick Your Poison will tickle your fancy instead. Look out for cuts from The Blood Arm, Bridges and Powerlines, Casey Black, Jack Wilson, Morningbell, Steel Phantoms and Thunderbird Gerard. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Archer & Light, Chris Schlarb (ft. Sufjan Stevens), Editors and Thundercat.

The Blood Arm – Bubblegum

Bridges and Powerlines – Bushwick

Casey Black – Fire Fire Fire Fire

Dikembe – Scottie Spliffen

Eksi Ekso – All Hail the Alchemist

Hot Natured ft. Anabel Englund – Reverse Skydiving (Benoit and Sergio Remix)

Jack Wilson – Cowboy

Jon Hopkins – Open Eye Signal (Nosaj Thing Remix)

Lana Del Rey – Young & Beautiful (The Golden Pony Remix)

LiL TExAS – Talkin 2 U

Misun – Sun Made

Morningbell – Yes Wonderful Things

Steel Phantoms – Curtain Call

Thunderbird Gerard – Trouble

Tim & Adam – One Little Taste

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And now, a few words about Nine Inch Nails. There was a period in my life when NIN was more than just a band to me – they were an obsession. That period primarily occurred during my adolescent years, when records like The Downward Spiral and even The Fragile tapped into the rage, depression and general darkness that seemed to consume my puberty addled brain. Unlike many of the bands I listened to during that period however, NIN actually remained a constant fixture in my music library straight through their final shows back in 2009. Puberty ended and I became a relatively well-adjusted human being with little to no anger issues, yet the songs stayed with me and I was always eager to hear what Trent Reznor had up his sleeve next. It broke my heart when they shut down the project a few years ago. Yet I also understood where Reznor was coming from in his decision to move on. That band and their catalogue can be tough to continue to push forward with, especially in a live setting, when you’ve been doing it for 20 years straight and have reached 40 years old. Part of me hoped that unlike Soundgarden or Stone Temple Pilots or any other number of bands that have reunited and fired up the cash cow once again, maybe NIN would be different. Reznor had movie soundtracks and the new band How to destroy angels_ with his wife, so the need to reach back and revive the sleeping giant shouldn’t have been much of a temptation. Yet here we are four years later, and NIN will be back touring this fall. Apparently there will also be new music in the pipeline, to go with the new band lineup that aims to do something a bit different with the classic NIN catalogue. I’m equal parts disappointed and excited at the prospect. What I really wanted to mention in this post, and it’s kind of pointless now, but earlier today the band uploaded their 1993 short film broken onto Vimeo. The film is something of a cult phenomenon, never officially released and something that’s really only been passed around on VHS bootlegs and certain torrent sites. Directed by Peter Christopherson, it collects the videos for all the tracks on the Broken EP which results in a snuff film that includes torture, masochism, dismemberment and cannibalism. To call it graphic and extreme would be putting it lightly. Anyways, I was going to link to the Vimeo post where you could find it and watch it yourself (if that’s your thing), but the administrators took it down because it violated the site’s terms of service. As somebody that’s seen a lot of rather explicit things on Vimeo before, you’ve really got to do something horiffic to have your video taken down. So clearly, nobody is meant to have easy access to watch this film. If you’re really compelled to see it, perhaps a torrent is your only friend. Good luck on your quest! For the rest of us, let’s talk Pick Your Poison. Nothing quite so explicit here, but some good songs nevertheless. I’m happy to recommend tracks from Cool Ghouls, The Hussy, The Koo Koos, Plastic Visions, Trivial Shields and Young Knives. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream new songs from pacificUV, Sibille Attar, WALLA, and Chad Valley’s remix of Bell X1.

bare pale – Shame

Chief Keef – Love Sosa (RL Grime Remix)

Cool Ghouls – Natural Life

Debbie Neigher + Tidelands – Atoms

e-dubble – Big Ships

The Hussy – Zummer

KLP – Roll With It

The Koo Koos – Love and Pain

Lipstick Lumberjack – Phantom Kin (ft. Button Willow Locomotive)

Me and My Drummer – So Foreign (Rampue Remix)

Mosé – Rose Gold

Plastic Visions – Kamikaze

There Is Danger – Passport

Trivial Shields – Enough

Young Knives – Reproduction

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Happy Friday! I usually like to keep the Friday intros short because it’s the start of the weekend and nobody wants to mess around with words. I’d like to wish everyone a Happy Star Wars Day and a Happy Cinco de Mayo in advance, as that’s what’s happening on Saturday and Sunday. Both days are fun, and for entirely different reasons. I hope you’ve got something enjoyable planned for your weekend. I foresee a little Iron Man 3 in my future, personally. Anyways, check out today’s Pick Your Poison, which includes some good stuff from Dana Falconberry, The Impossible Girl, Jan St. Werner, Majical Cloudz, Stat Lines, Tele Novella and Young Rival. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Balthazar, Caged Animals, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound and Sky Larkin. Have a great weekend!

Dana Falconberry – Crooked River

Dfalt – Moon Milkshake

Honeymilk – Situations of You

Houses – The Beauty Surrounds (Silent Rider Remix)

How to destroy angels_ – Keep it together (Nosaj Thing Remix)
How to destroy angels_ – Between the spaces (SONOIO Remix)

The Impossible Girl – Fix You Good

Jan St. Werner – Feed Opener

Jeremie Rose – Cold Heart

Majical Cloudz – Bugs Don’t Buzz

Night Club – Poisonous

State Lines – Linger

Tele Novella – Excalibur

Two Charming Men – I Want (Effy Remix)

Young Rival – Time

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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:

Pitchfork’s Cover Story: Savages

Video: Tame Impala perform Outkast’s “Prototype” on Triple J Radio

Stream the soundtrack to The Great Gatsby ft. Lana del Rey, Florence + the Machine, The xx and more

Watch Vampire Weekend’s full set from 4/28 at the Roseland Ballroom

Watch Tyler the Creator’s Mountain Dew commercial, called “the most racist commercial of all time”

Watch Phoenix perform a 45 minute set on “Live on Letterman”

Listen to a YouTube stream of a new song from Braids called “Amends”

Video: Band of Horses cover Songs: Ohia’s “I’ve Been Riding With the Ghost” on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Atoms for Peace perform new song “Magic Beanz”

Download Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap mixtape

In today’s edition of Pick Your Poison, enjoy songs from CREEP, Emily Bell, Josephine Foster, Night Panther, Sarah Neufeld (of Arcade Fire), Wampire and Wrapping Paper. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Max Frost, Nude Beach, Selebrities, Standish/Carlyon and Two Door Cinema Club’s remix of Is Tropical.

Challenger – How Are My Thoughts Not My Own? (Grossymmetric Remix)

CREEP – Introduction (ft. Planningtorock)

Dead Trend – Jet ’88

Emily Bell – Back to the Way I Was

Joie 13 – Paul Mack (ft. E-40)

Josephine Foster – Shay Shay

Midnight Faces – Feel This Way (Certain Creatures Remix)

The Milliband – jERRY lEE lEWIS

Mortar and Pestle – Pristine Dream

Night Panther – All for Love

Renny Wilson – Lady Pain (Jay Arner Remix)

Sarah Neufeld – Hero Brother

Wampire – Trains

Wrapping Paper – You Could Appear Anywhere

Young Aundee – Aimless

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My relationship with Beck’s music has been nothing short of an interesting one. It seems like I go through phases where I admire different facets of his catalogue for various different reasons. Perhaps it depends on my mood, but I suspect quality often comes into play as well. For example, I thought his albums Guero and The Information were rather good when they first came out. A few years later, looking back, I stopped listening to those albums around a year after they were released and haven’t really looked back since. If I don’t get a craving for a song to act as a gateway back into a full length album, there’s an almost pseudo-suggestion that maybe it wasn’t that great to begin with. Yet I don’t exactly hold Beck’s Midnite Vultures in the highest regard, but have listened to it at least once a year since 1999. There’s no faulting Odelay either, and that may be the album I’ve heard in full the most. It’s also got his largest collection of singles too, and for great reason: It’s one of the best albums of the ’90s. But when all is said and done, I think Beck’s true piece de resistance is 2002’s Sea Change. It’s a largely acoustic and somber album, something I only listen to when I’m in a very contemplative or sad mood, yet I can’t help but think it’s the truest representation of the man’s artistic skills. With last year’s Song Reader sheet music ploy as the last official offering from Beck, and one we couldn’t even hear unless we played it ourselves and sang the words with our own voices, I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to get a follow-up album from 2008’s Modern Guilt. Word on the street was that Beck has been working on a new record since 2008, and whether he’s been dealing with writer’s block or other issues since then, reports surfaced at the start of this week that the new album is finally finished after he found “a burst of inspiration.” That follows in the wake of a handful of new tour dates announced, which at first were all labeled as acoustic shows but have since been adjusted so that only about half of them are. Why acoustic? Apparently that’s what the new album is and he wants to perform a bunch of tracks from it. Does this mean a return to the Sea Change days? One can only hope. Anyways, if you’re on the East or West coasts, there might be a date near you (acoustic or full band). There might be a bunch more in the pipeline as well that will be announced in the coming weeks and months. All I know is that I’d love to see him in Chicago as soon as possible in whatever capacity he might choose. But speaking of choices, there’s plenty in today’s Pick Your Poison. Let me advise you to check out tracks from AfterParty, Ballerina Black, BNLX, Hey Anna, Lemonade, Marina and the Diamonds with Charli XCX, Run the Jewels, The Shouting Matches and SKATERS. In the Soundcloud section, stream new songs from Tessa Rose Jackson, Tricky and Dead Boots.

AfterParty – Jungle Dreams

Ballerina Black – Knves

Bitch – In Us We Trust

BNLX – Vibrant

From the Airport – Timelines

Hawk and Dove – Send Your Blood to War

Hey Anna – Dance Until Three

Lemonade – Perfect Blue

Lyriciss – Vent

Marina and the Diamonds & Charli XCX – Just Desserts

Run the Jewels – Get It

Salvatore Ganacci – Godfather

The Shouting Matches – Avery Hill

SKATERS – Armed

The Variable Why – Hazy Mystery

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And just like that, we’ve reached another new release Tuesday. Yes, the albums keep coming, even if you’re too overwhelmed to listen to them all. I feel like that every now and then myself. Anyways, there’s plenty good out there for the avid music fan, and I don’t want you to miss something potentially great or something from one of your favorite artists that somehow just slipped past your radar. So here’s the list of artists with new material out today: !!!, Adventure, The Airborne Toxic Event, Akron/Family, Alice Russell, Bambara, Beacon, The Belle Sounds, Colin Stetson, Daughter, Death Rattle, Guided By Voices, Hanni El Khatib, The Heliocentrics, Iggy and the Stooges, The Melvins, Neon Neon, Ola Podrida, Olympians, Os Mutantes, The Postelles, Solar Bears, Sun Kil Moon and Jimmy Lavalle, and Wolf People. There’s plenty of decent albums in that list, but I’ll definitely recommend that you pay close attention to what’s coming next week. I’ll have more details on that when we get there. In the meantime, please enjoy this edition of Pick Your Poison. Tracks to keep an eye on today come from Date Palms, Futuregrapher, Lid Emba, Louis Matteo, Phantoms and Picture Day. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Eluvium (ft. Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo), Kelis and Matias Aguayo.

Azekel – No Ordinary Love

Bloodgroup – Cut Out Your Tongue

Date Palms – Yuba Reprise

Futuregrapher – Panda Walk With Me

The Kobra Kicks – Krokodil

Lid Emba – Hazel in My House

Lorde – Royals (Magnifik Remix)

Louis Matteo – Blossom

Milo’s Planes – The Day We Almost Made It Home

No Name Gypsy – Sunday Morning

Okey Szoke – Light

Phantoms – The Nowhere Tape

Picture Day – One of Us

Tanaka Samuel – All Night Long

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Well, it finally happened: Neutral Milk Hotel are reuniting. It’s been 15 years since they broke up, and in that time frontman Jeff Mangum chose to become a bit of a recluse and hide from the spotlight for quite a long time. His resurfacing in late 2010 came as something of a surprise, with a couple of small solo acoustic shows announced that later led to a full blown tour in 2011 and 2012. Most people (including myself) thought that’d be the end of it. Not that he’d recede back into the darkness (though that was certainly a possibility), but might continue to challenge himself in new and interesting ways either as a solo artist or with a new band. Yet earlier today, a strange message appeared on the Neutral Milk Hotel website accompanied by a few tour dates billed not as more Mangum solo shows but actual Neutral Milk Hotel ones. Yes, the band of Mangum, Scott Spillane, Julian Koster and Jeremy Barnes, which first came together after the 1996 release of On Avery Island, is officially back in action. If you live in Georgia, North Carolina, Japan or Taiwan, those are the places announced first for this tour, with the promise of more to come. It’s probably safe to assume they’ll hit every major U.S. city this fall, but we’ll see officially in the coming weeks and months. I know lots of people are really excited about this, and while I certainly understand the compulsion, to me the thrill feels almost unnecessary. Sure, these four guys are collectively responsible for one of the greatest albums of all time, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, but I wonder how much of an impact they have on the overall sound when performing together. To put it a different way, after seeing Mangum perform NMH songs solo with a few of his friends occasionally stepping out from the shadows to fill in a horn section or some other important instrumental piece beyond the acoustic guitar, I’m not so sure that was much different than what the full band is going to sound like. I suppose it’ll be fuller and overall louder than the solo performances, but better? The power of these songs lies not so much in their robust compositions but instead the melody paired with Mangum’s incredible vocals and lyrics. Stripped away in a solo environment they retained all their essential qualities, so I could have cared less about the rest of the band. Still, will I go see them if (or when) they come to Chicago? Absolutely, without a doubt. I hope you’ll pick up a ticket should they come through your city as well. It’s thrilling that the band is back together, but let me know if they’re going to record any new material. That’s when I’ll really start jumping up and down with excitement. Okay, now onto today’s Pick Your Poison. Let me recommend tracks from Coloured Clocks, Mick Harvey, Mike Marlin, Saskatchewan, Saturday Night Gym Club and Wades. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream new songs from Clams Casino, Free Energy, Pure X and Chicago’s own Twin Peaks.

Chris Hickey – June Fifth

Coastal Cities – Entropic (Crash and the Coots Remix)

Coloured Clocks – Maze

Disco Fries – Murika

Firetail – End Beginning

Gentlemen Hall – Sail Into the Sun (Dani Deahl & Animale Remix)

Mick Harvey – I Wish That I Were Stone

Mike Marlin – The Murderer

Paper Diamond – In My Right Mind (ft. Gavin Turek)

Saskatchewan – Possession

Saturday Night Gym Club – The Nowhere Team

Show of Hands – Palisades

Thomas D’Arcy – I Wake Up Everyday

Wades – Hydrophone

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Happy Friday! Avid readers of the site may have noticed that the Friday editions of Pick Your Poison have been largely absent these last few weeks, and on that point I’d like to address why. Simply put, the content isn’t always up to the level that I feel warrants a Friday post. I try to keep a relatively fixed number of tracks in each daily edition of Pick Your Poison, and Fridays are typically slower days where I don’t get sent so much and what gets sent isn’t always anything worth writing or posting about. So basically, if I’m not satisfied with what I’ve got to offer you, I won’t offer it. Not that those tracks that don’t get used are discarded, but I like to filter them in other spots where the quality is often already higher. So as a means of quality control, please keep in mind that there might be weeks without a Friday Pick Your Poison. This week is obviously not one of them. There’s actually quite a few excellent songs in this batch, and I’m happy to recommend songs from Baobab, Georgia’s Horse, The Gorgeous Hands, GRMLN, Heliotropes, Last Days of 1984 and Sheare. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream Atoms for Peace’s remix of Four Tet, and new tracks from Matthew Herbert, Phaseone and an acoustic cut from thenewno2. Have a great weekend!

Baobab – Magdalene Street

Dead Stars – Waste Away

Dead Trend – No Sympathy

Georgia’s Horse – Ginger

The Gorgeous Hands – Desperate Mainstream

GRMLN – Hand Pistol

Heliotropes – Psalms

Last Days of 1984 – Lost Hearts

Keith Top of the Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band – Morrissey Will Never Forgive Me

Little Daylight – Name in Lights (Pacific Air Remix)

News of the Fire – Veiled in Cement

N8 ST9 – Morning Hero

Schonwald – Mercurial
Schonwald – Gemini

Sheare – We Might As Well Be Dreaming

Suzuki Method – Ask for the Moon (Adam Suzuki Remix)

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