The Gertrudes

The Gertrudes are what happen when the band geeks grow up. The Canadian 9 member group is a  down-home amalgam between Passion Pit, Wolf Parade and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros minus the cult of personality. Self-proclaimed pioneers of "nerdgrass," the Gertrudes are what happens when you want to start a band and you have eight friends who are amazing musicians crashing at your place already.

This song, "Wind from the South", along with the rest of their debut album is a love letter to the Gertrudes' hometown of Kingston, Ontario. Even though the song's lyrics are referencing their own crossstreets and familiar places, "Wind from the South" evokes your own brand of nostalgia, wherever your hometown may be.

Wind from the South - The Gertrudes

Currently, their cover of "Ronny Hawkins" is nominated by CBC Radio 3 as Most Canadian Song ever. They made it past round one of these Bucky Awards and could sure use your help with round two. Vote for them here and watch a video of them performing it live below.

Oh how we've missed you, The Twelves

Over the summer, The Twelves tore it down at the Whiskey Bar here in lovely (and rainy) Portland. If you missed it, don't beat yourself up because we are beating ourselves up for not recording this. Yes, thats Luciano of The Twelves. Yes, thats a Volcano City house party. Yes, it was the most fun I've ever had dancing but don't fret because I've got some new Twelves remixes that'll cheer you right up!

Me and Madonna (The Twelves Remix) - Black Strobe

Violent Love (The Twelves Remix) - Munk

Echoing Pixels (The Twelves Remix) - Neimo

Be Like You (The Twelves Re-Edit) - Alan Parsons Project

Surprise bitches. It's a new original Twelves production they made for Skyy Vodka. It's a dancey psychedelic tune that'll bring a smile to your face. The Twelves can do no wrong.

Air - The Twelves

Come back to Portland!!

Check this out...

Flight Facilities - Paris Social Club '70's DJ Set' by Ubbs

Flight Facilities - Crave you ( Go Go Bizkitt! Remix) free download! by Go Go Bizkitt

Some lovely tunes provided by Shook

Only recently have I discovered the immense talent that this mysterious Dutch producer, Shook, possesses. His weapon is a synth and his strategy is to enrich your ears with as much electro funk as possible. It was only about a month ago that I heard his remix of Phoenix's Lisztomania and to be honest, it's probably my favorite remix I've heard to date. And I've heard A LOT. Who can say no to that funky piano? Or a that bass line in Jupiter's CHiP? This Dutchman is all class. His original productions are impressive as well. Picture Moment sounds like something out of Röyksopp's Melody A.M. album with a touch of Daft Punk's Nightvision. Postive and Focused Records recently released Shook's debut EP entitled The Glow. Get it (here) while it's hot as there are only a limited number of copies. Oh, and its also available on RED vinyl!

Phoenix - Lisztomania (Shook Remix) by Shook (Official)

Jupiter - CHiP (Shook Remix) by Shook (Official)

Shook - Picture moment (Unreleased) by Shook (Official)

Shook - Snippets you might know and some you don't. by Shook (Official)

Award Show Season

It's that time of year again, when the red carpets are rolled out and the celebrities get dolled up. OK, so I'm not actually sure if it's actually award show season BUT IT IS IN PORTLAND. The Portland Music Awards are gearing up to take the city by storm. I first learned about this courtesy of the h8rs over at The Portland Mercury who said people should boycott this prestigious award show. FUCK THAT. Not only does this event get the Volcano City seal of approval but if you keep reading you will find the inside scoop on who gets our vote.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs VIDEO

New video for Arcade Fire's The Suburbs. Directed by Spike Jonze.

Vanguard Vanguard Vanguard!

If you haven't heard Vanguard yet don't you dare stop reading. The group is comprised of two young lads from the UK, Tom Morgan and James Thomas, and they produce french touch/disco house tunes. Their sound fits somewhere between Louis La Roche, Kavinsky and Opptimo, needless to say it's pretty epic.

Sticks & Stones Video Musical

Our friends at accessories company Sticks & Stones have teamed up with our other buddies Serious Business to create a music video -- well, a video musical, in actuality. It features a brand new song by the Portland electro group and it's pretty entertaining. The song is called "Godly Fresh," and the video is called 0-60, check it out below!


STICKS & STONES PRESENTS: 0-60 from YEAHWEWOOD on Vimeo.

Here's a Serious Biz track for you about a little thing Portland knows well -- rainy weather and sexi times.


Serious Business - Sweater Weather

Winter is here and there's nothing you can do about it...Wrong.

Put that flannel to use, go cut down some wood around the neighborhood and get a big ol' fire going. Then, put this on and enjoy your home brewed Four Loko because you might as well get used to it. Kudos to Dafe for the update.

Anyhoo, Labyrinth Ear are just a guy and a girl from London making sweet, sweet music together. Maybe it helps that they are romantically in cahoots with each other? Whatever it is, it seems to be working. They dropped a FREE EP recently and it has been described as a less harsh Crystal Castles. Whoever you want to compare them to, it's some good synth pop that has been oozing out of my headphones as of late. Check out there Soundcloud for a whole lotta good shiit from these.

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To keep the winter vibe going, check out some remixes by Joe Goddard and Cookin Soul, along with some new songs from jj where she covers T.I.'s "Let Them Talk" over a sample of my boy Akon's "I Wanna Make Love", plus her track "I'm The One/Money On My Mind" where she samples The XX's "Intro".

jj - Let Them

jj - I'm The One/Money On My Mind

Dels - Trumpalump (Joe Goddard Remix)

Wiz Khalifa - Black & Yellow (Cookin Soul Remix)

Aeroplane - Without Lies (Breakbot Remix)

Once again, Breakbot has sprinkled his magic all over Aeroplane's latest single, Without Lies. Definitely one of his best this year. His ability to transform already great tracks with his own definite brand of smooth disco truly places him among one of the greats of today. Don't miss out on this one!

Aeroplane - Without Lies (Breakbot Remix)

More goodies!

Aeroplane - Caramellas

Air - So Light Is Her Footfall (Breakbot Remix)

New Girl Talk Album

America's favorite bad boy Girl Talk released his newest album overnight. His Illegal Art imprint website is extremely overloaded at the moment, but you'll probably have luck downloading it later in the day. Its free, of course. There is a tentative tracklisting up on Wikipedia, but if you're anything like me, you take a Girl Talk album song at a time and discover the samples for yourself. It seems he's continuing his tradition of succinctly dope album covers, samples everywhere from the last 50 years, and putting on jam-packed high energy live shows - he's touring this spring and will be playing his favorite Portland venue, The Roseland, on March 17th.

Here is a hotfile mirror! Enjoy!

Trophy Wife

Trophy Wife is an up and coming Oxford group whose sound is most aptly described by the band's Myspace: "Ambitionless office disco/commuter pop." A new fixture on London label Moshi Moshi alongside the likes of Hot Chip and Lykke Li, Trophy Wife sounds somewhat like a mellower Two Door Cinema Club or a more intricate Whitest Boy Alive. TW relies on dry guitars, punchy upbeat drums, and what sounds like a string quartet to round out their sound. It's poppy but also contemplative, upbeat but sometimes lofi, altogether definitely worth a listen.

Their single is titled Microlite and it's fantastic. You can download it here but you should go buy the 7" for the full experience.

Trophy Wife - Microlite by SarahAnorak

On the band's Myspace you will find an acoustic version of the single and a fantastic Joanna Newsom cover. Also they recently released a music video:

Ratatat - Neckbrace

Because kaleidoscope visuals with birds are cool.

"A musical weed brownie to the ears."

At least that's what Shae of N.E.R.D said about the recent mix released by the latest addition to their Star Trak Label, Mansions on the Moon. And I couldn't agree more. With players like Benzi and Diplo presenting the mix, it's almost a guaranteed good time. The mix, dubbed Paradise Falls, features the likes of Deadmau5, Washed Out, and Xaphoon Jones. It displays just how far their musical abilities can reach by mixing indie pop, trip-hop, and electro while you heedlessly float on cloud nine for 32 minutes.

If you haven't checked these dudes out before, the group has been around for about a year now and word on the street is they're going to be big. Currently, they're in Los Angeles working on a debut album with tour dates being announced sometime in early 2011. Keep an eye out for these guys and download the mix below or hit up their myspace and get on it.

Mansions On The Moon- Paradise Falls (Presented by Diplo & Dj Benzi) by michaelwashington

Benzi and Diplo Present...

Mansions on the Moon: Paradise Falls Mixtape Download

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And if you wanna see what else Diplo's been up to...

Leonardus + Le Babar EP

Leonardus and Le Babar have combined their disco house super duper powers to create a VERY Funky Music EP released on 17:44 Records. The beats are hot and the disco loops are fresh . It's definitely one of the best EP's I've heard in recent memory. These three dancefloor jams will have you groovin' so hard at your party that you won't even have time for a Four Loko break. It's a hard for me to choose a fave but probably the title track does it for me. You decide. Turn your speakers up and dance to That Funky Music.

Leonardus & Le Babar - In My Mind

Leonardus & Le Babar - That Funky Music

Leonardus & Le Babar - What It Takes

Duncan Alexander Matthew Johnathon-Mars Lincoln MacLennan

DCUP (aka that^ epic name) is undoubtedly my favorite Aussie producer at the moment. I have to admit I wasn't as intrigued by the Euro chart topper "We No Speak Americano" as most, but it did prompt me to look into his solo work and boy am I glad that I did. DCUP knows how to get people dancing, with bouncy basses and attack leads so characteristic of 1980s Brooklyn funk as well as modern Australian dance tunes, it's hard not to move to these songs.


Self explanatory- An Aussie expansion on an Aussie hit:
Miami Horror - Holidays (DCUP Remix)

Dance floor knocker:
DCUP - Style (Hibeams Remix)

Personal favorite (I'm a sucker for the no longer existent Damn Arms):
Damn Arms - Destination Pt. I (DCUP Remix)

And of course some Go Go Bizkitt! because his remixes are so good and SO FREE
Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP!-We no speak Americano-Go Go Bizkitt Remix by Go Go Bizkitt!

Butterfly Bones are good.

Alright this post is gonna be real straightforward.

This is a band from SF. The singer is reminiscent (to me) of Mobius Band, the music is poppy/fun/electronic and has been compared to Passion Pit or old MGMT.

But they are their own band and have their own sound, and I hold a firm belief that you will enjoy it. It is head-noddable.

They play some neat tunes. Here are some.

Butterfly Bones - Xoxo
Butterfly Bones - R U My Mother
Butterfly Bones - Magic Magic

Here is their myspace, which has other gems such as Archipelago and Crystal Caves (which I highly recommend).

So give 'em a whirl, enjoy their sound, and let's hope they come up to Portland so we can jam out to 'em real hard.

And if you're in the San area (Diego, Luis Obispo, Cruz) go see them with Kisses (listen to their song Kisses. By Kisses).

Or if you're in San Fran see them with DELOREAN(!)

Enjoy.

Kings Don't Die

What a cool guy.

A smattering of Michael Jackson news for you this afternoon:

Presale for Cirque Du Soleil's new "Immortal" Michael Jackson tribute show has begun. The awesomeness they did with the Beatles' LOVE show will almost certainly be rivaled.

A new album of Michael Jackson songs, entitled Michael, will be released on December 14th. Are we graverobbing at this point? Would Michael Jackson's ALIVE movie have been a success at all if he was still alive? Here's the cover:

 

This Renaissance-style retrospective album cover is kind of wacky. But then again its Jacko. Hee-hee!

And last but not least, DJ Mars One has made a bangin' Michael Jackson (is that redundant?) mix called Who's Bad. I believe it to be chronologically correct, and its got all your favorites. I got it from the LifeIsAParty mailing list, and after you join up Grab it here!

So, Volcano Citizens, I propose a question to you: Does our culture excuse 'genius'? Michael Jackson may or may not have invited children to his home for merry-go-rounds, treeclimbing and fellatio. I personally doubt it because children are easily malleable and false memories can be incepted, but certainly the accusations plagued him for the rest of his days. Yet, people still bought his albums and went to see him live. I say the same of Roman Polanski, who was charged with the rape of a 13 year old girl but still enjoys the celebrity of such landmark award-winning films of Chinatown and The Pianist. And brilliant orator Glenn Beck raped and murdered a girl in 1990, but his talk show is first in the nation! Do we just glass over the horrible aspects of our most cherished minds? Or is it something that comes with or perhaps from the genius? Did Einstein eat his neighbors' cats? Did Leonardo masturbate to the Teletubbies, or would he if he were alive today? We live in a strange world, everybody. At least we have the beautiful music of Michael Jackson to keep us company.