walking on a dream (click for larger image)

I can't get enough of Empire of the Sun's perfect end-of-summer single, "Walking on a Dream," which has quickly become one of my favorite songs of the year, and accompanies me just about everywhere I go lately. Thanks to James for sending over the just-released, epically fantastical art for the duo's debut record, which was inspired by the time Luke Steele + Nick Littlemore spent in Shanghai filming their first video. Can't wait to hear the full record -- due out in October -- but here's a remix of the first single from Nick's big brother, Sam La More:

mp3:
empire of the sun :: walking on a dream (sam la more remix)

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Also, in addition to making me nostalgic for the over-the-top movie posters of my youth, that ridiculous cover got me thinking about the best album art of '08. I'm sort of drawing a blank right now, but I've posted a few more of my favorites from this year after the jump...who am I missing?

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click for larger images:


Paavoharju :: Laulu Laakson Kukista


Grouper :: Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill


White Denim :: Workout Holiday


Sebastien Tellier :: Sexuality


Booka Shade :: The Sun & The Neon Light


Gang Gang Dance :: Saint Dymphna


Ariel Pink :: Odditties Sodomies


Lucky Dragons :: Dream Island Laughing Language


Diplo x Santogold :: Top Ranking (inside sleeve)

Love Is All have a new LP called A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night coming out in November. You can pre-order it here now, and you'll get a free 7" and accompanying immediate digital download, featuring lead single"Wishing Well," and the band's maybe slightly gimmicky but still totally rad cover of Faith No More's "Epic". Recommended! And in case you still haven't heard the single:



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Here's another one from Esau Mwamwaya + Radioclit's upcoming collaboration, which is shaping up to be about the very best thing ever. As I've mentioned before, guests on the record include Santogold, Vampire Weekend, the Ruby Suns, Marina from Bonde Do Role, BLK JKS, and others. The latest leaked demo, "Rain Dance," heavily features M.I.A.:



Also, Esau + Radioclit rework -- and vastly improve on -- Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" (no offense, dudes) on the official remix, which can be purchased on iTunes. Listen here.

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previously:

mp3:
esau mwamwaya, M.I.A., santogold, + radioclit :: get it up

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It's been a slow week, so I feel fairly comfortable saying this recording of some little Ugandan kids covering Bjork's "All is Full of Love" is the best thing you'll hear all day. Listen at Bitone's myspace. The song is part of an album to benefit the Bitone Children's Home, and the whole record was recorded with a laptop and one microphone in the center's living room. Awesome. All of the tracks on their page are worth a listen, and you can help out by purchasing the mp3s (or requesting a hand-made album) here. (via)

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elsewhere:



Our dudes from Good Weather For Airstrikes have their new label, Neon Gold, up and running. First up: the 7" for instant-blog-classic "Sleepyhead," from Boston's Passion Pit. Pre-order here. We'll be checking these guys out next weekend at one of the Monolith afterparties to see if they're the real deal. By the way, don't listen to this more than twice in a row, unless you'd like this song lodged in your head for the rest of your life.

mp3:
passion pit :: sleepyhead

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Not sure how legit or official this thing is -- I'm guessing "not so much" -- but who cares. It's Doom's verse from De La's "Rock Co. Kane Flow" over Diplo's now ubiquitous Clash sample, making him possibly the last rapper on earth to get on this beat:

mp3:
mf doom vs. m.i.a. :: paper planes

Thanks to our friends at IGIF for the tip. Download the whole mixtape here.

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temper

I've been immersed in Benoit Pioulard's hazy and haunting new record all afternoon, and while I really loved his last effort, my initial thoughts are that this one is even better. Recorded in both Michigan (the first half) and Portland (the second), Pioulard discusses how the change of scenery affected the recording of Temper:"My mindset when I still lived in Michigan was a lot of anticipation and uncertainty, so I think that definitely affected the songs I recorded while I was there. And when I got here I found a lot of sudden inspiration in my new surroundings, different circumstances and everything that I'm sure had an effect on the songs I recorded thereafter so sequentially it's almost chronological. There are a couple songs that are out of order, but the first half is, for the most part, from the first part of the year, and the second part is absolutely from the latter half."That "sudden inspiration" might explain why the second half of this record is made up of some of the best songs I've heard this year, including these two. Read the rest of the interview here.

mp3:
benoit pioulard :: idyll
benoit pioulard :: brown bess

Temper is out October 14 on Kranky. Pioulard will also offer a limited number of handmade copies, which promise to be amazing if they're anything like the handmade versions of Precis. Watch the video for "Idyll" here. Pioulard also takes beautiful Polaroids; view his photos here.

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previously:

If you're unfamiliar with Pioulard's atmospheric folk-pop, this is as good a place as any to start:

mp3:
benoit pioulard :: palimend

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I realize I'm a little late on this, but since hearing the two stunning (and previously unavailable) Arthur Russell songs recently posted to Audika Records' myspace page, I haven't really had any desire to listen to much else. "Close My Eyes" and "Eli" will appear on Love Is Overtaking Me, an expansive collection of Russell's unreleased pop, folk, and country songs. The compilation comes out in October, and features mixing, restoration, and editing by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor. Go here to listen.

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Okay, this rules. Nick Catchdubs just posted his latest mix up on his Fool's Gold blog. The mix features seemingly every single band that played Lollapalooza from '92-'96, not to mention every other band you liked in the '90s, including Nirvana, Pavement, Beck, Sonic Youth, A Tribe Called Quest, Tripping Daisy(!), and many more, as well as countless recognizable audio snippets from your favorite '90s flicks/cartoons. Catchdubs says:"Even with double digit-old tunes, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter feels right on time, connecting the dots between Sonic Youth breakbeats, weeded Lollapalooza rap, gloriously fuzzed-out one hit wonders and much more. No irony, no empty nostalgia, just a lot of music we love that shaped what we do today."Download the full hour-plus-long mix here:

mp3:
nick catchdubs x mr. ducker :: radio friendly unit shifter (93 mb)

Full tracklist here.

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elsewhere:

Sorry for all of the Walkmen-related chatter lately, but I still can't get enough of their new record, and this song in particular. Last week we saw the official video for You & Me's lead single, and now we have the band playing the same song in a basement. After the performance, the band goes on to discuss their enormous carbon footprint in this special "green edition" of Juan's Basement.



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No Age's Randy Randall recently directed a short film, called The Foreigners, documenting the Altamont Apparel skate team's trip to Paris. Here's a teaser clip for Randall's film -- featuring Nouns standout "Ripped Knees" -- which offers proof that No Age jams are definitely better suited for scoring gritty old-school skate vids than clips of dudes riding around on fixies.



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weird tapes

Weird Tapes is one of the guys from Philly's Hail Social. He sent over his blissful Get Religion EP today, and I've been zoning out to this thing all evening. Warped strains of vaguely familiar melodies -- I think I heard some Boards of Canada, Van Halen, Michael McDonald, and Isley Brothers (or Ice Cube), among others -- fade in and out, swirling and floating up into an ethereal cosmic disco haze. So yeah, the guy apparently knows what he's doing (check that glorious Gram Parsons sample on "Home"). Also, not to be overlooked, it's free.

mp3:
weird tapes :: heavens
weird tapes :: home

Not surprisingly, our friends at Discodust are also fans of these Weird Tapes. Download the free EP here, and check the equally tight new songs on Weird Tapes' space.

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the GZA







Photos by David. More shots of GZA performing Liquid Swords :: Live in Dallas after the jump...

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killah priest

...for a Lincoln commercial? Recorded in June by Chan and crew. Not bad, but I think my favorite version of Bowie's "Space Oddity" will always remain Langley Schools Music Project's heartbreaking rendition.



(via the pharmacist)

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Here's RATATAT's LP3 standout "Falcon Jab," extended and reworked by like-minded producer/electro-guitar ripper (and Audio Dregs homie) Copy, the dude responsible for that rad Diva mixtape from a couple years ago.

mp3:
ratatat :: falcon jab (copy remix)

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(via palms out)

previously:

RATATAT is coming to Dallas

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elsewhere:


the GZA at pitchfork fest '07 (photo)

A reminder: GZA plays one of the best hip-hop records of all time, Liquid Swords, in its entirety (sort of), live tonight in Dallas at the Loft.



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You guys seemed to like that Fan Death stuff from the other day as much as I did, so here's another track that's available for free download on the group's myspace page. "When the Money's Right" is a pulsing, cinematic instrumental, and like the duo's exceptional first single, "Veronica's Veil," it's the live strings that really set it apart:

mp3:
fan death :: when the money's right

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not related to anything:

I've been inexplicably singing this jam all day, so I thought I'd dig up the video, which I hadn't seen since it was in rotation on BET for like a week back in the day. In addition to the impossibly infectious hook, this song features one of Andre 3000's most absurd (and underrated) verses ever, and his cameo here is just ridiculous. Anyone know what happened to this guy?



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finally:



Banksy in New Orleans (via YANP)

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There was quite a bit going on last night, so chances are you missed Lykke Li's national television debut. Also, if you haven't heard the Punks Jump Up remix of this song that I posted the other day, I highly recommend it:



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If you missed the Radiohead webcast last night from Santa Barbara, here's Thom Yorke's solo performance of The Eraser standout "Cymbal Rush," which kicked off the first encore:



More from the webcast here.

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unrelated:


high places (photo)

High Places have gone and made the prettiest song on their forthcoming self-titled debut LP available for free download. Here's the dreamy album-closer, which has already become a staple on our Sirius Blog Radio show:

mp3:
high places :: from stardust to sentience

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elsewhere:

Sounds like this new album from The Streets is shaping up nicely. Here's the new video for the title track, "Everything is Borrowed":



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Not sure if this is the official video for Air France's sublime "Collapsing At Your Doorstep," but based on the imagery remaining pretty consistent with other Sincerely Yours vids, I'm going to go with a firm "probably." Either way, it's another chance to listen to one of the best songs of this year (if you're still not paying attention). Plus, I happen to find watching those wind turbine generator things pretty relaxing:



(watch hi-res version here)

mp3:
air france :: collapsing at your doorstep

radiohead live in dallas (photo)

...according to Colin's latest post on dead air space. This is the last show on the current U.S. tour (and probably the last U.S. date for quite some time), so anyone that missed the band this time around should probably check it out. I assume it will be streaming in a few hours at www.radiohead.tv.

EDIT: the broadcast is now live, the band took the stage just after 10:50 PM EST. Only about a 3 minute overlap with Obama's incredible speech.

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previously:

Radiohead covers Neil Young

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Some of my favorite online destinations have been raving about a sultry new disco-pop group called Fan Death. While the jams on their myspace are all pretty consistently sexy, "Veronica's Veil" is the obvious "hit" (12" coming soon): a string-laden after-hours gem with an authentic retro-disco feel, the song sounds like the most spellbinding Italians Do It Better single of the year. It's new(er), darker, vaguely Knife-like song "The Constellations," though, that's been on repeat all day, rendering me enamored with the mysterious duo. Hopefully we'll be hearing more from these two in the near future.

mp3:
fan death :: veronica's veil
fan death :: the constellations

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unrelated:

Looks like Radiohead may be planning some sort of webcast for later in the day. Stay tuned, if you care about that sort of thing.

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Two young girls from Sweden who call themselves First Aid Kit -- Klara is 15, and Johanna is 17, and they've recently signed to the Knife's Rabid Records -- cover Fleet Foxes' "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" in a Swedish forest. I'm generally not a big fan of covers, but at the risk of being banished from Blogville, I think I like this better than the original. I like my pastoral folk to be mad pastoral (via):



And here's the mp3, apparently ripped directly from the video:

mp3:
first aid kit :: tiger mountain peasant song (fleet foxes cover)

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