February 28, 2013 – Norway's Highasakite is that rare band whose knack for glistening pop is matched by their ability to tap into the experimental other. The group initially began as a duo, between singer-zitherist Ingrid Helene Håvik and drummer Trond Bersu who met while studying at their country's Trondheim Jazz Conservatory. "We fell in love, but he was always gone, playing in bands," Håvik says "I was in bands as well. We thought we’d have more time together if we started our own group." But rather than a casual touring unit, their outfit became a formidable beast as they added personnel and fleshed out their vision: a deeply resonant mix of Phil Spector-style pop, Norwegian folk and moody electronics.

February 28, 2013 – El Perro Del Mar snuck out a lovely new record last year called Pale Fire, which, like much of the Swedish artist's catalog, nuzzles up to the Lykke Li oeuvre like a wiser, gentler older sister aiming to offer a little comfort. In December we caught the bewitching videos for the Sade-channelling single "Walk on By" and the disco-kissed followup "Hold Off the Dawn." But even though the above clip for "I Was a Boy" is the most minimal of the three, it's by far the most engrossing. The simple setup matches the song's mien: minimal New Age-tinged production burbles beneath Sarah Assbring's straightforward words, which use repetition to tell a story of personal growth brought on by strong love. Meanwhile, our hostess sings right into the camera the entire time, beaming sincerity as the lens maintains focus on her eyes.

February 28, 2013 – Savanah psych-metal quintet Kylesa not only gave us a tour of their Georgian stomping grounds back in 2009, they slayed us a year later with the sludgy riff-rocking sprawler Spiral Shadows. And then they kinda disappeared. But hark, for Death's Angel does sing: Kylesa returneth in twenty-thirteen!French-founded label Season of Mist has just announced that a new long-player is imminent: Ultraviolet will be released on May 28, and fans can expect the overall vibe to be "colder and darker." This, according to singer/guitarist Laura Pleasants, who added, "This album centers around the multiple themes of loss and you can feel it in the music.

February 28, 2013 – Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds has a gentle touch to often massively emotive results. While last year's Another Happy Day score was merely a pleasant drifter, his melancholic 2010 opus ...And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness was a cinematic-feeling feat, and his forthcoming For Now I Am Winter LP looks to reprise that greatness. With strings arranged by Nico Muhly (Usher, Passion Pit, Antony Hegarty, Grizzly Bear) and the introduction of vocals for the first time (Arnór Dan), it's no wonder a song like "Old Skin" feels as resonant as anything Arnalds has done. With piano, strings and beats, the song evolves from pensive to joyous to melancholy.Meanwhile, in the above video for the piece, a lonesome lighthouse keeper tends to his shore.

February 27, 2013 – Through their new H∆SHTAG$ mini documentary series, the fine folks at Red Bull Music Academy are working their way through as many hashtaggable genres as possible at a fairly impressive rate — and with impressive care, it should be noted. In January we pointed out Episode 1, "Don't Call It #AltRnB, which works quite well as a visual companion piece to SPIN's own Trend of the Year: Alt R&B essay.The series has also taken on #CloudRap and #PostDubStep along the way to this most recent installment, which focuses on #Beats with a large assist from Flying Lotus, and cameos from Hudson Mohawke and Lunice of TNGHT, plus the Gaslamp Killer, XXYYXX, Shlohmo, and XLR8R editor Shawn Reynaldo. At the start, we see FlyLo pal Erykah Badu explaining, "They makes beats all day long.

February 27, 2013 – First! Yeah, it's still Mumford and Sons on top, with Babel riding that Album of the Year Grammy high all the way to the bank (note the MasterCard logos above, hovering like flies around the dollar-eyed guffawing banjo-diddlers). We do not consider it good news that one of SPIN's Worst New Music recipients sold 66,000 more copies according to Nielsen SoundScan, even if that figure is rather low for a No. 1 and more indicative of the fact that no one released anything new that sold last week. Indeed, even the normally neutral Billboard used the words "dreary" and "ho-hum" to describe a situation, which, in our own parlance, fucking sucks.2 to 10: How badly does it suck? Well, there wasn't a single debut in the Top 10 this week. The good-ish news is that albums we like by Bruno Mars (Unorthodox Jukebox, No. 2, 48K), fun. (Some Nights, No. 8, 30K), Rihanna (Unapologetic, No.

February 27, 2013 – We woke up this morning to the news that Scott Weiland had been fired from Stone Temple Pilots, the post-grunge giants that he founded all the way back in 1986. Well, as it turns out, the band's singer found out about this latest development just like the rest of us did: in articles. Weiland has just released a statement about his abrupt termination, and it goes like this:"I learned of my supposed 'termination' from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press. Not sure how I can be 'terminated' from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that's something for the lawyers to figure out. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing all of my fans on my solo tour which starts this Friday."As previously reported, Weiland has promised that his presently embarking solo jaunt will include some of STP's classics.

February 27, 2013 – If How to Destroy Angels' 2013 tour plans seemed short, the subsequent news of Nine Inch Nails reformation for the road should have provided some serious consolation. Especially considering the new additions to the live band: Jane's Addiction's Eric Avery, King Crimson's Adrian Belew, and Josh Eustis of Telefon Tel Aviv. Fans of all things Trent Reznor will have plenty of lovely spirals to dive into. And now we know a couple of NIN dates to look forward to.Reznor's most famous band will be among those (Björk included) to play Japan's 17th annual Fuji Rock Festival, which runs July 26 through 28.

February 27, 2013 – Republican senator Marco Rubio has already made it quite clear that he's a learned Tupac Shakur fan. Earlier this month the Florida congressman defended his preference of the Death Row rapper over Notorious B.I.G., explained why Pitbull represents but a shadow of hip-hop's culturally rich past, and even went as far as to chastise those who characterized so-called gangsta MCs as purveyors of violence rather than, in his words, "reporters."Now he's weighed in on Lil Wayne's recent assertion that he, Weezy, is the new 'Pac — at the urging of a TMZ "reporter," of course. Rubio was not only ready with a quick response, he even knew the origin of the claim: Wayne's NBA All-Star Weekend rant."Lil Wayne's Lil Wayne," he said while on the move in an airport. "I think he's in a beef with Miami Heat too. There's only one Tupac. It's a different time. Tupac lived in a different time.

February 27, 2013 – More than 21 years after the legendary Queen singer died, Freddie Mercury's final resting place may have been discovered. Though it has long been known that his remains were cremated after he passed in November of 1991, the fate of his ashes has long been unknown. But fans have now discovered a plaque in a West London cemetery that clearly memorializes the deeply missed musician."In Loving Memory of Farrokh Bulsara, 5 Sept. 1946 - 24 Nov. 1991," reads the small dedication, "Pour Etre Toujours Pres De Toi Avec Tout Mon Amour - M." Mercury changed his name from Bulsara shortly after forming Queen in 1971.