The package I ordered from Amazon is set to arrive a day early. Also arriving a day early (to me) is New Zealand artist Lorde’s two new tracks. She said this morning that she’d release them “tomorrow;” turns out tomorrow in NZ is this evening in America. She’s my favorite new artist, and “Tennis Court” shows exactly why: production, powerful delivery and a strong songwriting identity.

“Tennis Court” is another single-worthy track from a girl who has only seven songs out for public consumption. It’s a heartfelt, reflective song from a girl who’s about to blow up in a major way. So when she sings that she’s about to be “getting on [her] first plane” and look down on her city “like they do in space,” it feels genuine in a beautiful way. Also available is a cover of the Replacements’ “Swingin’ Party.” Before she made it available, she tweeted that the song she covered was was two years older than she is. Great to know she’s young, but still drawing from a deep well.

Lorde: “Tennis Court”

Lorde: “Swingin’ Party” (the Replacements)

Ugh. I kept forgetting to post about this great track off Born Ruffians’ excellent new album Birthmarks. Yesterday it popped up as the opening music in Sklarbro Country and I knew I had to jump on it while it was still fresh in my mind.

MP3: Born Ruffians – Ocean’s Deep
If you focus on any one instrument (vocals included) as this song progresses, it’s like watching someone throw bullseye after bullseye. Everyone is just nailing it through and through. The track sounds much more like the “preppies in the sun” vibe of Vampire Weekend than Born Ruffians used to, but it’s a sound that suits them well. Even if you don’t want them to wind up in a VW commercial, it would be tough to argue that this isn’t a step forward and a big hit for Born Ruffians.

Born Ruffians’ website

Ohboyohboyohboy. New music from Divine Fits! Last night the Spoon/Wolf Parade union brought two new songs to Conan. You can watch their medley performance of “Chained to Love” and “Ain’t That The Way” below and snag both singles through the digital music service of your choice today. They’ll be releasing a 12″ of both songs on July 23 because everyone loves a good two month delay between digital and physical media.

Portugal. The Man’s new album Evil Friends is in stores today. It’s a fantastic record that’s been on repeat for me ever since I got a promo copy. The cover artwork is amazing, so I suggest that you pick up a physical copy at an indie store if you haven’t gone completely digital by now. To celebrate its release, I ripped the audio from this acoustic cover of “Fly Like An Eagle” where they threw in a little bit of “No Church in the Wild”

MP3: Portugal the Man – Fly Like an Eagle in the Wild (Steve Miller / Kanye West)

And if you love Portugal the Man and covers, you’ll want to check out my collection of all the covers I could find by PTM.

NO just released this new video for “What’s Your Name?” over at Filter. Apparently it was in a recent episode of Marc Maron’s show on IFC, too. Not too bad, NO! You can grab the track on NO’s “What’s Your Name”/”Eleven Eleven” seven-inch single on White Iris.

If any of you were wise enough to snag some earlybird tickets to Boomslang when I reminded you to do so, you’ll no doubt be jumping for joy when you see this initial lineup. We’ve got Blonde Redhead, Clinic, Body/Head (featuring Kim Gordon), Youth Lagoon, No Joy, Dent May and a bunch of other great bands and artists headed to Lexington on Sept 20-22.

Grab your tickets at (bleh) ticketmaster

Full lineup after the break.

(more…)

Is there a better deal than getting to see a goofy 1968 movie and a sweet mod music cover set for only $5? Well, if you can find it tonight I suggest you do it. Otherwise I’ll see you at the Green Lantern for The Mini-Skirt Mob and a set by The Moral Panic, featuring [...]

Cayucas have been killing it in the music video department for their debut album Bigfoot. Their latest looks like a charming Bonobos commercial starring preppy twins. And when I started writing this, I thought it was some really well done camera trickery, turns out that lead singer Zach Yudin’s twin brother Ben is in the band! After you’re done enjoying this little flick, do your summer a favor and go pick up Cayucas’ record Bigfoot, which I’ve been enjoying nonstop for months now.

via Nylon

Some of you may remember yOya from their amazing song/video for “Fireworks”. Their new EP Go North, features this great new track “King of Nothing” and will be in stores July 16.

MP3: yOya – King Of Nothing
It’s pretty tough to be more upbeat than yOya. I mean, you could definitely be more smiley 1969 hippies than them, but songs like “King of Nothing” are like sunshine directly hitting my soul. The production and vocals are so bright and radiant from top to bottom that it’s hard not to have your mood improve. I could see this being used as a starting-over/repairing-my-life song in a movie or TV show pretty soon.

yOya’s web site