Album Download: After Dark 2

Nearly six years after Italians Do It Better released the seminal After Dark mix, spearheading the career of Johnny Jewel - aka Mr. Chromatics - the label finally put out the much anticipated sequel. The second mix features help from Jewel's aforementioned Chromatics (three songs), Glass Candy, Mirage, Symmetry, and plenty more worth the time.

Click here for the entire setlist. Downloads are available now on iTunes, but for those waiting for the real deal, physical copies will be distributed in the near future. For now, listen to a few of the After Dark 2 cuts below.

Bears And Bullets Albums Of The Year (#25-11)

Now that the Honorable Mentions are out of the way, here's the official Bears and Bullets Top Albums of 2012 list (part one):

New Johnny Jewel mixtape

Every December, the pace here begins to slow down. Less and less new fun stuff seems to leak out, and instead we see more and more year-end lists. Not that that's a bad thing, because I do love my year-end lists. But until Bears and Bullets gets to its annual year-end ones, we're stuck with little to say.

Luckily, that time is very quickly approaching. Until it does, we'll do our best to provide what little seems to be out there. Today, workaholic Johnny Jewel released a brand new mixtape featuring work from his collective Chromatics, Glass Candy, and other projects. Also included are a few seminal cuts from Kraftwerk and Nico. You can stream it or download it below.

New Chromatics - Cherry

For our American friends, welcome back from Thanksgiving and all that. Yesterday, Chromatics dropped what seems like their 400th song of 2012 with "Cherry." The excellent track comes from Italians Do It Better's After Dark 2 triple LP compilation. You can stream and/or download the track below, and check out the brand new video for "Cherry" directed by Alberto Rossini.

Chromatics - Running From The Sun (Album Stream)

Last night, Chromatics member Johnny Jewel uploaded several unreleased cuts from the band's massive March album Kill For Love on Soundcloud, compiling the B-Side album Running From The Sun. You can stream all eight free tracks below, which were recorded in between November 2009 and December of last year.

New Chromatics video - Looking For Love

Director Albert Rossini takes a fuzzy art house look at the Chromatics' live performance during the Chanel show during Fashion Week in Paris earlier this month, with an edited "Looking For Love" setting the score. Check it out for yourself below.

Wednesday Bears: Albums of the Month - March 2012

Albums of the Month - March 2012

After hitting a snag in January and seemingly going through the motions last month, March exploded. Quality albums from big names like Odd Future and Tanlines, alongside some unknown entities really made gave a lot of optimism for the remainder of 2012. Number one may not be a surprise for some of you, but the month gave us a lot of unexpected gems. Here are my favorite three.

3.) The Men - Open Your Heart

Distilled and aggressive, Open Your Heart (Insound) spills out half chaotically, half practically. The New York four-piece's sound goes through like aging punk veterans, still stout enough to seem destructive, but fluid enough to displace garage punk's DIY side. It's hard not to love The Men here, who find a median to blend all the laborious elements of clever alternative rock without flipping over a boring pass. In effect, the record sounds like it could be from anywhere between 1987 to 1995, but maybe that's part of the brilliance here - reverence without falling over itself trying to sound like Husker Du.

2.) Chromatics - Kill For Love

Luckily, we were able to hear all of Kill For Love a little before the month actually ended, so that qualifies it for the list. Blippy and atmospheric, Chromatics find their niche in Euro post-wave, with subtle instrumental effects coursing over harmonizing romanticism. It's what gave the band a good amount of hype long, long ago in 2007 with Night Drive. The long delay, however, allowed the group to create a huge amount of material - 90 minutes in fact on the new double-album - full of bright, electric, indie pop that remains startlingly consistent.

1.) The Shins - Port of Morrow

If you follow me on Twitter, this can't be a surprise. There wasn't any album scheduled for release before April of this year that had nearly as much of hype as The Shins return after a five-year absence, especially after the release of the heavy favorite lead single "Simple Song." The reformed James Mercer project sounds affectionate, although slightly less experimental than the group's previous three albums, but is so perfectly crafted and polished that there isn't any desire for it. Mercer sounds more genuine than he ever has on Port of Morrow (Insound), crafting blissful harmony between his usually impeccable song-writing. Particular cuts like "It's Only Life" stand out, and will be one of the sweetest damn songs you'll hear all year. The delay may have been too long for original material, but if all that time means we get something this good, then it'll always be worth it.

Thursday Bears: Stream Chromatics' new Kill For Love entire album

Yesterday, Chromatics made their giant double-album Kill For Love available in full stream over on their Soundcloud page, and we couldn't be happier. There's been a few comparison's to M83's last album (my favorite of 2011) Hurry Up, We're Dreaming in the size and scope of the whole endeavor, but the new work is a complete joy in itself. Listen to the entire thing below.

New Chromatics video - Lady

Anyone familiar at least with the Drive Soundtrack should recognize The Chromatics, who debuted their hazy, glitter-sheen video for "Lady" today. Watch beautiful people mope below.

Wednesday Bears: Hidden Chromatics gem

New Chromatics? Reelz?

Not quite. The band has released an extended versions of their 2006 12" In The City and the "soundtrack" to their nonexistent film Night Drive. The extended editions contain several previously unreleased tracks, including "Circled Sun," available below.

The new version of In The City and Night Drive are available here.

Chromatics - Circled Sun - MP3