New Releases: 9/22 - 09.22.2009
Okay, take a deep breath, because this week's list of new releases is a bit overwhelming. But having more choices at the record shop is a good thing, is it not? We certainly think so. Here's what you'll find on your shopping trip this week.

Basement Jaxx - Scars
The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
Castanets - Texas Rose, The Thaw, And The Beasts
Girls - Album
Richard Hawley - Truelove's Gutter
Islands - Vapours
Monsters of Folk - Monsters Of Folk
Mum - Sing Along To Songs You Don't Know
Noisettes - Wild Young Hearts
Owen - New Leaves
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Higher Than The Stars [EP]
The Pastels and Tenniscoats - Two Sunsets
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Rain Machine - Rain Machine
Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom
They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science
The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead
Volcano Choir - Unmap
Why? - Eskimo Snow
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band - Between My Head And The Sky

Fucked Up wins Polaris Prize - 09.22.2009


The Polaris Prize, the Canadian equivalent of the U.K.'s Mercury Prize, is awarded each year to an independent artist based on merit, rather than sales or any of that arbitrary jazz. The winner gets $20,000, and past recipients include Final Fantasy, Caribou and Patrick Watson.

This year, the unlikely but super awesome winner is Fucked Up for their album The Chemistry of Common Life. According to the National Post, the band was just as surprised. Damian Abraham, a.k.a. frontman Pink Eyes, commented, "We got frisked on our way in and I said 'this [evening] is gonna suck', but at least well get a free iPod. Well, we won the Polaris. Its a lot better than an iPod."

It is, indeed, better than an iPod. And the band intends to put the money to good use, as they are planning to record a holiday benefit album to raise awareness about crimes against aboriginal women. Great band, good cause. Congrats guys!

Broadcast's new EP is out now! - 09.22.2009


Broadcast announced, a bit mysteriously, that they would be releasing a new EP or mini-album of sorts this fall, though the details were a bit slim when they announced it. Well, as it turns out, the EP is available today! Fans can download Broadcast & the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age right now, through iTunes or Bleep.

It's billed as an EP or mini-album, but Witch Cults is 48 minutes long and has 23 tracks. A lot of music for an EP! But hey, we're not complaining. And in case you're wondering who The Focus Group is, it's Julian House, who designs the band's album art, and this EP is a full collaboration with House.

Tangible copies (y'know, on CD and all that) will be out Oct. 27. In addition, Broadcast plans to release a new full-length in 2010. Can't wait!

Tracklist:

1 Intro/Magnetic Tales
2 The Be Colony
3 How Do You Get Along Sir?
4 Will You Read Me.
5 Reception/Group Therapy
6 A Quiet Moment
7 I See, So I See So
8 You Must Wake
9 One Million Years Ago
10 A Seancing Song
11 Mr Beard, You Chatterbox
12 Drug Party
13 Libra, The Mirror's Minor Self
14 Love's Long Listen-In
15 We Are After All Here
16 A Medium's High
17 Ritual / Looking In
18 Make My Sleep His Song
19 Royal Chant
20 What I Saw
21 Let It Begin/Oh Joy
22 Round and Round and Round
23 The Be Colony/Dashing Home/What on Earth Took You?

Download at

Video: St. Vincent "Marrow" - 09.22.2009
St. Vincent's "Marrow," from the equally wonderful album Actor, is most certainly a cool song, with the noisiest saxophone you're likely to hear in a pop song. And its video is also pretty neat, with some camera tricks and lots of close-ups of Annie Clark's face. Courtesy of Pitchfork.tv.

Merge Records unveils remix compilation - 09.22.2009


Folks, the Merge20 party just doesn't stop. We've had the covers compilation, the book, the special live shows in North Carolina, and now Merge Records is releasing a special remix compilation of songs from the Merge catalog. The remix album will be released Nov. 17, and all proceeds from its sale will benefit charities chosen by its curators.

Tracklist:

1. Caribou- Kalgon (Polvo)
2. Barbara Morgenstern- Mother of Pearl (Pram)
3. Four Tet- Baby’s Way Cruel (Guv’ner)
4. The Blow- Drill Me (I Was So There Remix) (Portastatic)
5. John McEntire- The Ghost of You Lingers (Spoon)
6. Jason Forrest- No Cars Go (Arcade Fire)
7. Xiu Xiu- Volcana! (I Hope Your Train Crashes Remix) (The 6ths)
8. +/- {Plus/Minus} – Bow to the Middle (The Rosebuds)
9. Hands Off Cuba- Irene (Caribou)
10. Mark Robinson- Washington DC (The Magnetic Fields)
11. Junior Boys- The Nashville Parent (Lambchop)

I, for one, can't wait to hear what Jason Forrest does with "No Cars Go." That's gotta be cool.

Link: Merge