There’s not much I love more than stumbling upon a new band that’s oozing with talent and just on the cusp of making it big, and that’s exactly what you have with Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club. The band follows in the current trend of mixing indie rock with electronica, but they do it with such expertise and vitality, that any cries of unoriginality are besides the point. Their debut album, Tour History, is a genuinely exhilarating listen from start to finish. It’s no accident that the crisp, exuberant production on this album can be easily compared to that of Phoenix’s masterful (and Grammy-winning) Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Both bands share the same producer, Phillipe Zdar and record label, Glassnote Records. Another thing that Two Door Cinema Club shares with Phoenix, is their exceptional talent at making irresistible pop hooks, which they bring those in droves on this album.

Perhaps the most instantly catchy song on Tour History is “Something Good Can Work”, which has already seen a single release in the UK. The song does a great job of summing up the band’s huge appeal, with an enthralling guitar riff, highly danceable beat, and additively catchy chorus. Alex Trimble’s rapid-fire vocal delivery is excellent, he manages to be carefree and energetic at the same time, and it perfectly complements the delightfully upbeat track. “Do You Want It All” is another standout, showing a more expressive side of the band, with Trimble taking on a yearning falsetto against a guitar riff that sound like it could have been found on an early Bloc Party song. The song continues hitting that melodic sweet spot until the coda, when it suddenly explodes into a full-out dance breakdown, thrusting the song towards a thrilling conclusion. Download both of these highly recommended tracks below.

MP3 Something Good Can Work
MP3 Do You Want It All

Two Door’s Cinema Club’s debut album, Tour History, will be dropping in the UK later this month and in the US shortly after. Watch for it!

Lissie “In Sleep” [Part 1 of 2] from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

At the end of my post about Lissie a few weeks back, I wrote “Here’s hoping we’ll see more of Lissie soon.” It turns out that “soon” was much sooner than I thought it would be. Shelley from Yours Truly was boss enough to send over a video of Lissie playing “In Sleep”, a brand new song from her forthcoming full-length. The video is right above these words right here, in case you didn’t see it yet. Below these words is a video of Lissie playing my favorite song of hers, “Little Lovin’”.

Lissie Little Lovin’ [Part 2 of 2] from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

While I’m at it, I’m going to post another great clip from Yours Truly. I recommend that everyone become regular readers/watchers of what they’re doing, because it never ceases to be great. They do a wonderful job of capturing great artists in intimate/odd settings with fantastic results. (The Lissie videos are from the Fillmore, but the upstairs lounge part.) The video below is Pure Ecstasy performing “Easy” at an in-store at Aquarius Records. This song has been one of my jams lately.

Pure Ecstasy – Easy [part 1 of 3] from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

You know, it’s an album like this that really just makes me forget the rest. We’re only one month into the new year and I’m already feeling like 2010 is every producers’ due date. I really don’t know where to begin, honestly. It’s hard to distinguish any major differences between any one of their records. Not in the sense that they fail to ever improve, but rather in addressing the fact that they remain true to themselves as well as their sound.

The softer side of Made In The Dark was definitely the format for their fourth album, One Life Stand. Where Hot Chip is staunchly conducive to one, outrageous dance party, they seem to be revisiting that very physical and/or bodily experience to emphasize its effects on the mental. Off the bat, you’ll notice a much more balanced ratio between music and lyrics–through-and-through. As always, Alexis succeeded in portraying this chic-geek image, however this time around he made absolutely sure his guileless lyricism was not rendered meaningless by the synths.

The album starts off pretty energetic, but quickly straightens out. Their video-game influences are released in the opening track, “Thieves In The Night”… and after six-minutes of what you think is going to be fifty-minutes of flurried disco, you’re suddenly listening to London’s definition of electro-pop–and perhaps better understanding the UK’s pioneering reputation. On tracks like “Hand Me Down Your Love”, “I Feel Better” and “One Life Stand”… the compelling undertones of house music cleanly carries Taylor’s lyrics, delivering danceable tunes that sound just as good in your headphones as they will blaring out of 50-inch speakers. Then we have “Brothers” and “Alley Cats”. Being both lyrically and instrumentally sound, I’d say they possess a calm, Whitest-Boy-Alive feel to it… and that comparison seems fairly adequate, as they segue in and out of a ballad-slash-sing-a-long titled, “Slush”. The rest of album takes its own shape and form, where I hate to say the band kind of stopped caring about song-order, but that really shouldn’t take away from the overall mastery of this record. It’s one of their best by far and besides, there’s nothing good ‘ol Shuffle can’t fix!

MP3 Hot Chip – I Feel Better
MP3 Hot Chip – One Life Stand

LOST: The Final Season is finally here and to pay tribute to my all-time favorite show I’ve made what I consider to be the definitive mix of music featured on LOST. You can download the entire mix in a zip here, and read how each song is used in the show (plus which episode it appeared first) below. Feel free to use this to soundtrack your LOST premiere party tonight. I’ll most likely be posting some thoughts on here as the season progresses. Enjoy!

Download LOST Mix (78.83 MB / 1.1 hours)

MP3 Driveshaft – You All Everybody (1×01, “Pilot”)

Driveshaft’s one-hit wonder was sung by the band’s bassist, Charlie Pace in the “Pilot” and later shown in it’s full glory in “The Moth”.

MP3 Joe Purdy – Wash Away (Reprise) (1×03, “Tabula Rasa”)

Remember back in season 1 when LOST when Hurley had a working CD player and there was poignant music montages for every other episode? This is the song that started all that.

MP3 Charles Trenet – La Mer (1×12, “Whatever The Case May Be”)

Sayid asks Shannon to translate notes made by Danielle Rousseau on her map, which turn out to be the lyrics to this song. Shannon recognizes it from the French version of Finding Nemo.

MP3 Damien Rice – Delicate (1×17, “… In Translation”)

The song Hurley is playing on his CD player right before it breaks. “Son of a bitch”

MP3 Bob Marley – Redemption Song (1×23, “Exodus”)

Michael and Sawyer briefly bond after Sawyer starts singing this song on the raft, but then quickly go back to hating each other.

MP3 Mama Cass – Make Your Own Kind of Music (2×01 “Man of Science, Man of Faith”)

Probably my favorite musical cue in the show, this song is first played by Desmond as he gets ready for his day in the opening scene of season 2 before he is interrupted when Locke blasts The Hatch door open.

MP3 The Hold Steady – The Swish (Live) (2×04, “Everybody Hates Hugo”)

Hurley asks his crush, Starla if she’d like to see The Hold Steady live at the Troubador with him. This particular song isn’t technically featured on the show, but I’ll use any excuse I can to put a Hold Steady song on here.

MP3 Patsy Cline – Walkin’ After Midnight (2×09, “What Kate Did” )

Patsy Cline songs always seem to show up when there’s a Kate flashback. This track is heard first in the diner scene of “What Kate Did” and then later in “Left Behind” on a tow truck radio. Christian Shepherd seems to like Patsy as well, he’s listening to this track on the radio in “Two For The Road”.

MP3 Glen Miller – Moonlight Serenade (2×13, “The Long Con”)

Sayid and Hurley heard this song on the radio picked up from the Arrow station. Sayid says the signal could be coming from anywhere and Hurley responds “or any time… just kidding, dude”. Time travel foreshadowing?

MP3 Petula Clark – Downtown (3×01 “A Tale of Two Cities”)

Juliet plays this song on her CD player in the season 3 opening scene while she’s preparing for her bookclub (which then gets interrupted by a certain plane tearing apart in the sky).

MP3 Oasis – Wonderwall (3×08, (“Flashes Before Your Eyes”)

Sung by Charlie on the street outside Widmore Corporations as Desmond’s walking out. Features some more classic LOST foreshadowing with the line, “Maybe you’re gonna be the one that saves me”.

MP3 Three Dog Night – Shamabala (3×10, “Tricia Tanaka is Dead”)

This song starts playing when Hurley starts up the DHARMA van they found in the jungle. We hear it again in the same DHARMA van when Ben kills his father.

MP3 Nirvana – Scentless Aprentice (3×22, “Through The Looking Glass”)

Played by crazy drug-addicted, bearded Jack on his car ride to Jeremy Bentham’s memorial. The beginning of the “Who’s in the coffin?” craze.

MP3 Beach Boys – Good Vibrations (3×22, “Through The Looking Glass”)

Charlie discovers that playing “Good Vibrations” on the keypad inside The Looking Glass station is the code to stop transmissions being jammed, and leads to his phone chat with Penny.

MP3 Buddy Holly – Everyday (4×11, “Cabin Fever”)

This song is playing on a pregnant Emily Locke’s record player as she’s preparing for a date, before she gets hit by a car and prematurely has her baby (spoiler alert: she names him John).

MP3 The Pixies – Gouge Away (4×13, “Theres No Place Like Home”)

Jack apparently loves to listen to early 90’s alternative rock bands when drunk driving to the Hoffs/Drawlar Funeral Parlor. This Pixies song is playing in the car in the scene that finally answers who’s in the coffin.

MP3 Willie Nelson – Shotgun Willie (5×01, “Before You Left”)

Continuing the “playing a song while someone is going about their morning routine” mantra, this song opens season 5 before the record begins skipping. Hey, kind of like the skipping record metaphor that Faraday uses later in the episode.

MP3 Cheap Trick – Dream Police (5×02, “The Lie”)

This song is playing in the convenience store where Hurley goes in to buy the “I heart Shih-tzus” shirt.

MP3 Geromino Jackson – Dharma Lady (5×06, “316″)

Geromino Jackson is a fictional band that’s referenced many times throughout LOST, and who is finally heard in season 5 on a DHARMA van radio and later at the DHARMA processing station.

MP3 Dawn (with Tony Orlando) – Candida (5×08, “LaFleur”)

The song that DHARMA kids Jerry and Rosie are dancing to in the security station. Phil breaks it up and complains about them having a hootenanny.

MP3 Patsy Cline – Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray) (5×16 “The Incident”)

This song is heard in Kate’s flashback in the Season 5 finale, where Kate tries to steal a New Kids On The Block lunchbox before Jacob sort-of creepily intervenes.

Thanks to Lostpedia for the info. See you in another life, brutha.

I feel sort of ashamed that it took me this long to catch on to this band, but I’m glad I finally gave in and listened to Surfer Blood’s fantastic debut album, Astro Coast. The Florida indie rockers follow the lead of recent debuts from Japandroids and Cymbals Eat Guitars in their reverb-heavy garage rock revival. “Swim (To Reach The End)” is the first single and the song simply kills, with a huge fist-pumping guitar riff, infectious sing-a-long chorus, and an awesome mid-song Tropicália-like break-down. It’s quickly becoming one of my most-played tracks of the year.

The music video features the band on what’s presumably a standard day for them, romping around their home state in their underwear, running into old people and Disney characters (token Florida hallmarks) and then jamming out a club. Video is embedded above, download the track below.

MP3 Surfer Blood – Swim (To Reach The End)

Whether Four Tet is giving new meaning to the word remix or reinventing the standard measures of an intro, Kieran Hebden is always up to good. Producing heavy tunes since 1990, Hebden’s discretionary use of drum lines and dusty jazz samples has helped in establishing a subtlety consistent style that chases your train of thought and let your ears do all the thinking… yet as well as all of that plays out–notwithstanding the numerous collaborations and side/secret projects throughout the past decade–Kieran hasn’t released a full-length album “on his own” since 2005, two years after Rounds jumped on the decks and pretty much set the standard for gold, instantly making him a gateway artist for anyone who was just beginning to explore the whole electronic/experimental genre… and now, nearly five years later, it is as though he’s never left.

I’m always intrigued by a song with little to no words and I couldn’t be more serious in saying that Four Tet never fails to produce songs of that said nature. I should add, they’re entirely listenable. There Is Love In You is forty-seven minutes of seamless thinking. The album is one of his most focused yet and with a title like that, you can bet your ass it plays as smooth as those five words would on a Hallmark card. Surely it is not for everyone, but be it textured, atmospheric or stealthy mathematical… it never reaches a point of becoming too much of one thing–and that my friend, is a good thing. Each track fades in with a variety of harmonic samples that pull apart your senses while simultaneously forgetting to round themselves out. Incredible background music, especially on Sundays. String instruments pan from left to right over a steady and unchanging bass line. It’s the perfect formula for relaxation if you ask me. In fact, I’m not sure why this hasn’t been considered for hypnosis. Now do as I say and listen.

MP3 Four Tet – Angel Echoes
MP3 Four Tet – She Just Likes To Fight

I considered waiting a few days or so before posting again, but this really couldn’t wait and I figured it’d be a good way to kick-off your weekend–or year, my dearly beloved procrastinator. Don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware of the blogosphere and its ongoing love affair with electronic bands (especially those led by a female vocalist), but let’s be honest… they make a really cute couple.

Two words come to mind when I think of Chew Lips: Listen! and Now! Well, OK. More like, “Chew-What?” but that’s besides the point. We can’t all match wits with Dr. Funke’s 100% Natural Good Time Family Band Solution now can we? After releasing two buzz singles on a boutique label (Solo and Salt Air via Kitsuné Records), the London-based trio teamed up with Bat For Lashes collaborator, David Kosten and threw all caution to the wind… in the form of spandex leggings and floor-filling basslines.

Their debut album Unicorn is a bullet-proof vinyl showcasing youth and a warrant to stay relevant. While they carry a style that seems to have themed all of 2009 and then some, the band fearlessly composed a record that makes me sheepishly reminiscent and yet genuinely anxious to hear more. Track after track (repeatedly might I add) lion-hearted vocalist, Tigs, refuted any and all of my preconceptions. Her soulful croon passes glances at Fever Ray and Karen O, while Will and James geek-out on scattered ping-pong beats and restless synths. It all makes good for a damned party if not an incredibly fast drive home… but the band isn’t all happy-go-lucky on merry-go-rounds. Numbers like Too Much Talking and Piano Song separate them from the likes of La Roux, revealing a much more sensitive side of the group that confesses just how serious they are.

MP3 Chew Lips – Play Together
MP3 Chew Lips – Toro

I’ll admit the spanking man-pigs thing was a little too weird, even for of Montreal, but this video from the same concert completely makes up for it. The band is playing “A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger”, one of my favorite tracks from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, and Susan Sarandon, apparently the world’s hippest grandma, is back on stage, this time dancing with mimes and throwing streamers at the crowd while the band gives an energetic performance of the indie pop gem about being on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway. It’s totally surreal and amazing. This looks like the funnest show ever.

MP3 of Montreal – A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger

Solange Knowles duet with Kevin on “I Want You Back” is pretty great also.