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Best of the Week-New Vampire Weekend, Dave Grohl SXSW, New Divine Fits, JT/Fallon History of Rap IV

Let’s start with the most recent, and move our way back. Vampire Weekend at SXSW debuting two new songs definitely will make people stop and take notice.
“Diane Young” is really interesting with all of its “baby baby baby’s” shifting to a full blown jam at the center of the song. It sounds like it could be a home run on record.

 

“Ya Hey” sounds a lot mellower, but equally as interesting with its part military drum stomp and deliberate bass beat in unison. Good previews from the forthcoming “Modern Vampires of the City” due May 7th.

 

JT and Jimmy Fallon doing the History of Rap 4…six and a half minutes of mad skillz. Fallon is sweating all over the place while Timberlake makes it look like it’s easy. They do a great job with this once again. 

 

The Strokes took their grainy footage and festival gigs with a look back at great moments in their career with “All the Time.” Not touring behind the album? Wha? Good luck with the label barely promoting your album then. Comedown Machine will be out March 26th.

  

Somebody with (thankfully) too much time on their hands took every one of Metallica’s James Hetfield’s “Yeah’s” ever recorded and made one track out of it. Believe it or not, it only lasts under 4:00.

Dave Grohl gave a nice speech as the keynote speaker at SXSW earlier in the week. Everything from how Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” inspired him to how he couldn’t dream of playing music after Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Eventually he did of course, which was a healing point for him and became Foo Fighters. It’s about an hour long. It’s well worth your time.Watch here.

 

Yeah Yeah Yeahs playing four new song at SXSW was also a good highlight, but the video has been yanked off YouTube.

One that thankfully still remains available is this killer debut of a new Divine Fits tracks. Fitting that they played in Austin, because that’s where it all really began last year. Of course it’s the indie supergroup of sorts with Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner and New Bomb Turk’s Sam Brown. This track is just an awesome rocker. I wish I could get it somewhere now, in better quality.

 

AlunaGeorge did a fun cover of “I Want to Be Like You” from The Jungle Book on BBC Radio earlier in the week. I dare you not to tap your toe, or snap your fingers.

UPDATE: How about I add Wavves new album stream as an added bonus. Stream it in full over at NPR.

JT on SNL, New Mumford and Sons Video, Foals NSFW Video and More

Justin Timberlake was good on SNL this weekend. There are many jumping on the hyperbole train on twitter with “best show ever” type of remarks. I certainly wouldn’t go that far. There were a couple of bits that didn’t work, like the Caligula one. Overall though, there were a lot of highlights, maybe the Dating Game segment being the best.

On a side note, I watched the show on Hulu. They didn’t show the Elton John “Candle in the Wind” bit. I didn’t even know about it, until I stumbled on it accidentally via Twitter. I guess copyright issues were to blame? 

Alabama Shakes Brittney Howard collaborates with Ruby Amanfu on the Rodriguez cover of “I Wonder,” and it’s a pretty good one. It really doesn’t showcase either voice though, which is unfortunate. I would have liked to have heard them tackle something a little more challenging. "I Wonder" will be released by Third Man Records as a special seven-inch vinyl on March 12th, with a b-side acoustic version of "When My Man Comes Home," originally recorded by Memphis Minnie.

The new Mumford and Sons video for “Whispers in the Dark” is pretty cool, as we get four squares that show each member doing various activities on an off day. Who knew Marcus Mumford rode motorcycles? Maybe that’s his stunt double.

Foals will be at Ace of Spades in Sacramento on 4/20 and have made a real strong NSFW video for “Late Night.” It’s a look at what is going on in various rooms of a hotel that they are playing at.

Depeche Mode tour dates were announced this morning. Locally, they will show up September 26th in Mountain View at Shoreline. Go here for the rest.

How about this new Four Tet track? It's time to get funky up in here.

Two New James Blake Tracks, New Surfer Blood, Thee Oh Sees, She and Him, Plus Phoenix New Video

James Blake as you know has been one of the more discussed names in the last month or so. Here comes two more from the forthcoming record Overgrown out April 8th.

First, a radio rip from BBC Radio of "Voyeur (Dub)", which pretty much is a beat with the same phrase repeated, repeatedly.

“Digital Lion” grabbed my attention, with the guest appearance from Brian Eno. Personally, this song is more enjoyable with its mellow ambiance. You could easily zone out to this in many settings. A good tribal drum beat with “mmmm hmmm’s” meshing together well.

The new Surfer Blood “Demon Dance” is just a great straight ahead rock track. A nice riff, good lyric and good hook from the forthcoming sophomore record Pythons on June 11th, which is being labeled as more of a driving rock record. If this track is any indication there won’t be a soph slump here.

Anytime San Francisco's Thee Oh Sees does anything, I’m listening. "Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster" is a fuzzed out psych rocker with cosmic reverb on the vocals. It almost makes me feel like Wayne Coyne should be floating over the crowd in his giant bubble. From Floating Coffin; out 04/16.

Thee_Oh_Sees_-_Toe_Cutter_-_Thumb_Buster

Finally, we share with you the entertaining new video from Phoenix, “Entertainment.”

UPDATE: Also, the new She and Him track just dropped. Poppy, catchy, and semi-retro. Not a fan of Zooey Deschanel the singer still. lovethe fact that they are playing Berkeley with Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell at the Greek on 6/22 though.

Mila Kunis’ Awesome Interview, New Shannon and the Clams, “Call Me Maybe/Head Like a Hole Mashup, ” New Iggy/Stooges and Much More

Mila Kunis was already damn near perfect before this day began, but as I type this I think she’s even hotter. How can that be possible? She rescues this UK reporter who’s nervous as hell during a press junket, and she shows why she’s the hottest babe EVER. This isn’t an interview; it’s a genuine conversation between a novice reporter about his buddies and Mila who loves the uniqueness of his unpolished ways. Watch it over at Grantland.

 

I caught some sheeeee-ite from people on Twitter and text about me tweeting the “Call me Maybe/Head Like a Hole” mashup, “Call Me a Hole.” I think it’s very well done, using the pop music with Reznor’s angst delivery make it a beautiful, hellish marriage. Watch/listen below.

 

Eric Clapton’s full stream of his new album “Old Sock” is now out. I really like the single, “Gotta Get Over,” which is only one of two originals on the album. This is likely his last record and tour, as he said a few days ago that he was planning on retiring at 70, just two years from now. Hey, it worked well for KISS.

Oakland’s garage/60’s doo-wop heros are back in Shannon and the Clams with a new track, “Rip Van Winkle.” Stream, download and maybe turn to 11. The new record Dreams in the Rat House will be out 05/21 on  Hardly Art

The Santa Cruz Blues Festival sounds awesome. Listen to this bill blues lovers! Steve Miller, Jimmie Vaughan),  Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Sonny Landreth, Oakland act the California Honey Drops, Texas blues from Lou Ann Barton,  James Hunter and Carolyn Wonderland. More acts are expected to be announced. It’s happening May 25 and 26 at Aptos Village Park. Tickets go on sale tomorrow 3/6 here.

Last, but not least...the new Iggy and the Stooges track, "Burn." Their new album Ready to Die out April 30th via Fat Possum.

Also, let's throw in this performance of John Fogerty and Foo Fighters or Sound City Players or whatever you want to call them on Jimmy Kimmel. This is actually a preview from Fogerty's "Wrote a Song For Everyone" where he will do several duets of his CCR classics. "Fortunate Son" with the Foos will open the album. I thought Grohl hit all the notes, but Fogerty seemed to take awhile to warm up. He usually destroys this song live, and didn't last night. Take a look.

Watch the Nickel Slots New Video- "The Devil's Chain Gang"

If you didn’t know, The Nickel Slots have been a treasure in Sacramento for years. Here’s their new video for “The Devil’s Chain Gang” which captures them in fine form. A midtempo country rocker, with a fine piece of storytelling to boot. It’s the opening track from their latest release, which you can hear on their website.

By the way, they have a show next month at the Powerhouse Pub in Folsom, February 27^th if you want to check these guys out. Do it!

Watch Jack White's Full Set on Austin City Limits

As he has been doing this year, Jack White has taken an all male band for half of his set, and then brought out his all female band for his second part. Many highlights on his appearance on the Austin City Limits show on Saturday, mixing in solo material from Blunderbuss to sprinkling in some White Stripes too. You can watch the whole thing below.

Watch Jack White on PBS. See more from Austin City Limits.

Check out the Mellow Vibe of Eternal Summers-"Good As You"

Eternal Summers were a duo and are now a trio out of Roanoke, Virginia. Their latest second album Correct Behavior came out in July and shows a new maturity, adding more textures to their sound. It shows up in a track like this one, "Good As You," a mellow shoegazey like number that you can't turn away from. The vocals are pretty nice too. 

Take a listen below.