Adubsthoughts Top 10 Weekly Music Round Up – Frank Ocean, tUnE-YaRdS, Yuck, Fleet Foxes, Foals, The Antlers, YACHT, White Denim, Battles, Austra

1) Frank Ocean

Long story short. Frank Ocean is an RnB Singer/Song Writer. He joined with OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, YES the group I mentioned a couple weeks ago featuring rapper Tyler, The Creator) in late ’09, around the same time signing with Def Jam Recordings. He has written songs for the likes of Justin Bieber, John Legend, Brandy, and Beyonce. Ocean has also worked with Nas, and Pharrell. Frank Ocean like many other artists today rose up via social media, and there seems to be some turbulence between him and the label these days….why? Well he just dropped the stupid, amazing, ridic, wicked mixtape ‘Nostalgia, ULTRA’ (via mixtapetorrent.com)…you MUST listen. It is incredible!…and it had nothing to do with the label…it was ALL Mr. Ocean. Look out for big things from this artist. I think late this year, early next he will blow up.

2) tUnE YaRdS

I’ll tell you one thing, this band is totally CRAZY the way they use lower case and upper case in their name. Man, epic.

Merrill Garbus is the leading lady of this group from New England (not gonna lie, I thought it was a dude singing when I heard them for the first few weeks). She loops a load of stuff and then it comes out sounding pretty rad. Their second album w h o k i l l was released April 19th, 2011 and is pretty damn good (Um, HELLO…Pitchfork gave it an 8.8. And we all know Pitchfork is the bible when is comes to music ratings/reviews…insert sarcastic comment here). Check out the lead single ‘Bizness’ below…I must say, the Video is well done for what I would imagine is a small budget.

3) Yuck

Young band originating from England. Their first studio album is self titled and came out in February ’11. If you like Dinosaur Jr. or Sonic Youth, you might like this familiar sound. It’s the rebirth of the 90′s college rock sound (I see more and more of this lately))…check out the video for ‘Get Away’ below

4) Fleet Foxes

You know about them, well at least you SHOULD! They just released their second full length album on May 3, 2011, Helplessness Blues. They are like folk rock with wicked harmonies.

First single off the new album, ‘Helplessness Blues’

First/Second single ‘Grown Ocean’ get’s a VIDEO!

‘Classic’ Fleet Foxes

5) Foals

Let’s stick to the letter ‘F’ and move on to Foals. Their from Oxford, their latest album ‘Total life Forever’ was released May 10, 2010.First came across them about 1.5 years ago, this song was used in the trailer to Entourage, Season 7.

Good right?

6) The Antlers

I like this song, but I don’t love it. Off the new album ‘Burst Apart’.

Old stuff is better right?

7) Yacht

This band is new to most, but they have been around as a solo project of Jona Bechtolt since about 2002. It wasn’t until Claire Evans joined in 2008 and helped the group with vocals for the 2009 album ‘See Mystery Light’ that things started to take off. They are very electro poppy, but also have the touch of Talking Heads in there.

‘Psychic City’ is the real first big ‘single’ off of ‘See Mystery Light’. Very catchy…haven’t listened to the rest of the album yet but thought this song is enough to throw them up on your music radar! I do not understand the video for the song at all…and at one point I am pretty sure the dude is masturbating!

8 ) White Denim

Four piece rock band from Austin, Texas. Have yet to really listen to any albums yet…but I`ll tell you…every time I hear a single, it gets my ears perked. These guys are very garage rock/psychedelic sounding…and I dig it. Check out their latest single ‘Drug’ off their forthcoming album ‘D’.

9) Battles

Experimental rock band from NYC, formed in 2002. A ton of critics bin them as ‘Math Rock’. They have a new album coming out on June 7th called ‘Glass Drop’. This is the first single from that album came out in March, ‘Ice Cream’. Super fun video from these guys below…

10) Austra

Always have to represent that home grown Toronto talent! Austra is based out of Toronto and lead by Katie Stelmanis. All kinds of warm synth riffs here…will they blow up out of the Great North? The bands first album ‘Feel It Break’ was released May 13th, 2011 on Paperbag Records. Below are a couple singles from that album….promising artist here I think…

Phew! Moving forward I am going to one up posts and a Top 5 Weekly round-up….10 just takes too long for me to get up for you folks. Enjoy and let me know if there are any ‘up and comers’ you would like to see shared here!

Adubsthoughts Top 10 Weekly Music Round Up – J.Mascis, The Kills, The Vaccines, Tyler The Creator, City & Colour, DOM, The Weeknd, Death Cab For Cutie, Jamie Woon, Jessie J

1) J. Mascis

A key member of the ‘legendary’ band Dinosaur Jr., J. Mascis released his latest album ‘Several Shades Of Why’ on March 15th, 2011. Kurt Vile and Kevin Drew guest on the effort. I have never really listened to much Dinosaur Jr., but I see them in the music news all the time. They are big time classic ‘indie rock gods’ or something. So anyways, I came across this album a few weeks back and haven’t let it leave the rotation…it’s a perfect chill rock album and I highly recommend you give it a spin.

Wicked animated video for his latest single ‘Not Enough’:

2) The Kills

You into powerful garage rock duos? Like The White Stripes/DFA1979/Japandroids/The Black Keys? Get into The Kills yo. I’ve been hooked since I first heard ‘No Wow’ off their second album (of the same title) in 2005…you might recognize the lead singer of The Kills, yup, that’s Alison Mosshart of The Dead Weather. Their latest album ‘Blood Pressures’ is out now in Canada.

‘No Wow’ (2005):

‘Satellites’ (2011):

3) The Vaccines

A post over at We All Want Someone To Shout For about the Arctic Monkeys latest tour plans caught my eye yesterday. I saw that this band called ‘The Vaccines’ were opening for them at their stop in Toronto May 21st. Checked out some of their songs, and plan on doing more listening over the next week…so far they sound GREAT! Their debut album ‘What did you expect from the Vaccines?’ dropped on March 14th, 2011. Here are some of the singles so far…

Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra):

Post Break-Up Sex:

If You Wanna:

4) Tyler The Creator

I keep hearing about this rapping bro on the blogs. Hadn’t had a chance to check him out yet, but saw him at some music show, green mask on and a midget…just rapping and jumping into the crowd. Oh yeah, it was the recent mtvU Woodie awards. It was Tyler and his crew called ‘Odd Future’ performing ‘Yonkers’ and ‘Sandwitches’. Peep dem songs a little cleaner below.

Yonkers:

Sandwitches:

5) City & Colour

Dallas Green and his solo project ‘City & Colour’ (how witty!), is releasing a 3rd album called ‘Little Hell’ which drops June 7th, 2011. The first two albums were very emo/acoustic. This first single from the new album looks like there will be more depth to the songs coming soon…a much fuller band sound. Interesting…but I kinda liked the solo acoustic stuff…this is going to take some time to get used to…

Exclaim.ca has the single up for your listening pleasure. What do you think?

City & Colour – Fragile Bird

Here is some classic City & Colour live…

6) DOM

Here is a new American band to watch. Only started playing in January of this year…YES, a couple months ago. Here is their first single, ‘Living in America’. Pretty catchy. Saw these guys Sunday night at The Opera House in Toronto, opening for The Go! Team….they were pretty good…especially considering they only started playing together a few months ago. Expect bigger things from DOM in the near future.

7) The Weeknd

20 year old Abel Tesfaye, from Toronto, Canada has you reminiscing about Aaliyah, or seeming oddly similar to The Dream or Drake. It’s a new day for R&B. Just like James Blake is changing R&B in the UK, The Weeknd seems to be creating in parallel over here in North America.

On March 6th, Drake tweeted this new artist and catapulted The Weeknd out of nowhere. Drake pointed his twitter followers to this track ‘Wicked Games’, and it created a frenzy on the internet.

The Weeknd’s first mixtape release ‘House of Ballons’ is pretty dope from front to back…get it over at The Weeknd’s website.

8 ) Death Cab For Cutie

Classic indie heroes Death Cab have a new album coming out May 31st called ‘CODES and KEYS’. The first single called ‘You Are A Tourist’ was launched on the net for streaming on March 28th via the official band site. Just this past week DCFC recorded the video for You Are A Tourist LIVE…LIVE people! And it worked….good for you Ben Gibbard. Good for you. Watch it below.

9) Jamie Woon

I expect to see some decent things happen for this emerging UK electronic pop crooner. His debut album ‘Mirrorwriting’ drops on April 18th, 2011. If you are into James Blake or The Weeknd as I mentioned above…then you will probably dig Jamie Woon.

His first single ‘Night Air’ killed it last year in the UK, and his latest single ‘Lady Luck’ is ruffling feathers in the UK now.

Will these UK electronic pop crooners survive in the US? We already have Drizzy right? lol.

10) Jessie J

She is an emerging UK artist that Universal Music expects to hit stadium status real soon. Her debut album is titled ‘Who You Are’, and it has me thinking Adele, Duffy, Amy Winehouse….but when you watch her live she is going for that P!NK/Katy Perry showtime status. What do you think? Do we have too many of these type of artists right now? No doubt, she is VERY talented!

Adubsthoughts Top 10 Weekly Music Round Up – James Blake, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, White Stripes, Death From Above 1979, Foster The People, Lolla ’11, Kanye West/Jay Z, AWOLNATION

This is new a blog weekly piece I plan on providing moving forward. I will select 10 items from the week including news, new album releases, new artists….and provide some content as well as my opinion. Please let me know your thoughts so that I can ensure this continually evolves. May tackle this top 10 weekly list idea for ‘Social Media’ as well…baby steps

1) JAMES BLAKE

Who is he? A British musician, listed as ‘electronic’. Has released several EP’s to date…on February 7th, 2011 his first full length album self titled ‘James Blake’ was released.

He hit my radar when I stumbled onto a cover he did of Leslie Feist’s ‘ Limit To Your Love’…plus I guess all the buzz on the net over the last year about him as a new artist.

Check his cover of ‘Limit To Your Love’:

2)  FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS

Who are they? HELLO…check them out STAT!  An American soul group from LA….but they are a also just a relatively new indie group. Love their sound. This first single ‘MoneyGrabber’ is awesome…they have opened for groups like Maroon 5…check out their new full length album ‘Pickin’ Up The Pieces’ if you are down with the song below!

First single from their new full length album ‘Pickin’ Up The Pieces’:

3)  THE STROKES – NEW SINGLE – ‘UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS’

On their new album ‘Angles’, said to have a release date of March 22, 2011, The Strokes have returned to their ‘classic’ sound you may remember from ‘Is This it?’ The single was released via the bands website and was offered for free in exchange for your email address.

I love the new song…looking forward to see them touring in the latter half of 2011!

4)  LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – ANNOUNCE NYC FAREWELL SHOWS

Last Saturday the band announced they would be playing one final farewell show spanning the whole bands catalogue in NYC at Madison Square Garden…yesterday they announced 4 shows leading up to that date at Terminal 5 in NYC…guess they realized they should work out any minor kinks first, before the big barn burner show. Sad to see the end…

My favourite LCD Soundsystem song:

All My Friends

5)  WHITE STRIPES – BREAK UP…TO MAKE UP?

So, after wondering for 4 years if we would see anything new from these friends/siblings/partners/husband & Wife…I guess we have our answer folks. On February 2nd, 2011 the duo announced they would cease making and releasing music. They said it wasn’t due to artistic differences…”a myriad of reasons … mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band”. Yeah riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight, Jack White has like 10 other bands…all of them relatively successful…and I am guessing platforms where he can do what he wants, when he wants. Still sad to see this though….

Remember when people first heard about ‘em?

6)  DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 – THEY’RE BACK!!!

Here is something I thought was loooooooooong gone…the reunion of DFA1979. I am STOKED! Dance/Punk/Noise Rock duo from Toronto, whom I have watched from the beginning…just as they were about to explode….the group disbands…apparently artistic differences. Who cares…they are back. I saw it originally on the Coachella lineup announcement a few weeks ago…did a double take, and some research…can confirm, the duo is back in action. Haven’t heard anything like new music/albums or full tour from them yet…just a few reunion shows

• April 17th, 2011 – Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival – Indio, CA
• May 4th, 2011 – London HMV Forum – London, England
• May 5th, 2011 – London HMV Forum – London, England
• May 6th, 2011 – Donaufestival – Krems, Austria
• May 27th, 2011 – Sasquatch Festival – Seattle, WA

Hope to see them come back home to Toronto for a show…I imagine it will happen soon, maybe as a warm up to these bigger festivals? Time will tell…

Death From above 1979 live are AMAZING!!!!

7)  FOSTER THE PEOPLE

New indie band from LA. Have a self titled EP coming out this year…dunno when…pretty much have one killer song, ‘Pumped Up Kicks’. LOVE it, looking forward to hearing more from this band!

8)  LOLLAPALOOZA ’11 – LINEUP RUMOURS

Word on the street this week was that the following artists will be taking part in Lollapalooza this year, including: Eminem, Foo Fighters, Muse, Kings of Leon, Best Coast, Girl Talk, Crystal Castles, and Lykke Li. Guess we will know when they announce the lineup in full some time in April…

Daft Punk were incredible at Lolla in ’07, I got to see it!:

9)  Kanye West/Jay Z – New Single – H.A.M.

I can’t tell you how pumped I am for ‘Watch The Throne’ to drop in March!!! It’s a full length album from Kanye and Jigga…it’s gonna be mind blowing. The first single ‘H.A.M’ is produced by Lex Luger…it stands for ‘Hard As A MotherFucker’, and it’s one of those shit talking tracks. Dope. Check out the blog Hip Hop Update for the MP3.

10)  AWOLNATION

New indie rock artist from the US, made up of Aaron Bruno, formerly of ‘Under The Influence of Giants’. This first single ‘Sail’ is pretty cool…haven’t listened to any of their other stuff…are they any good past this ‘gate way drug’ song I have heard? Would love to know, leave me a comment…