Hip-hop's rising producer AraabMuzik, who is still touring with Sleigh Bells until early November, has released two brand new tracks today. "Araab Styles," which you can stream below, features some help from Styles P. The other, "After Hours," can be downloaded here via Stereogum.
A little before AraabMUZIK released his remix of Sleigh Bell's "Never Say Die" (the two are currently touring together), the MPC impresario released this supremely heavy track "Runway Bass." There's no word of more original material coming out soon, but this just might be our first taste. You can listen to both cuts below.
A few days after we found out that Sleigh Bells would make a special guest spot on the season opener of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, the duo released their newest music video for "End Of The Line." It's a slower track, for those familiar with Sleigh Bells, so the Gregory Kahn-directed video is bit more subdued than you might expect. Check it out below.
Anyone who knows me personally will note my appreciation for cult food personality Anthony Bourdain. The chef/author/TV show host isn't the typical celebrity chef, shilling bad products for a stuffy audience; he's pretty badass. A notable American punk rock fan (The Ramones remain his favorite band), Bourdain travels the world eating whatever any one else will, experiencing anything and everything he can along the way.
In the upcoming final season of his Travel Channel show No Reservations, Bourdain heads down to Austin. During his time, he meets up with Sleigh Bells and friends to cook and play in the suburbs, and, what the hell, throw on another tattoo. Check out the clip below and watch the season premiere September 3 at 9 p.m. on Travel Channel.
Hey, remember when Sleigh Bells all-of-a-sudden mysteriously dropped out of last August's Lollapalooza to record more music? Well, now we can actually confirm it without soft-hand bullshitting.
The band released this pretty awesome two and a half minute teaser for Reign of Terror, which is suspected to drop sometime around mid-2012. Watch the teaser below.
Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror from Mom+Pop on Vimeo.
Early today it was announced that Sleigh Bells would not be attending this years Lollapalooza (per the festival's Facebook) due to conspicuous "scheduling conflicts."
Festival organizers instead lampooned in their place Mexican garage band La Butcherettes, who will now be playing middle of the first day (Friday, August 5).
For one of the year's highly touted mid-card acts, this is probably a disappointment to a lot of Lolla hopefuls.
In Sleigh Bells' newest video for "Rill Rill" (debuted yesterday), Alexis Krauss is seen driving through the American Southwest with a dead (?) Derek Miller getting pushed out to his probable demise to get to high school. Whatever.
We'll continue our top 25 countdown with songs #20 through #16.
#20: On Melancholy Hill - Gorillaz Damon Albarn's return to the studio as cartoon band frontman for Gorillaz yielded "Melancholy Hill" on an album that, more often than not, showcased the talents of others: Bobby Womack, Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, etc. The song stands alone on Plastic Beach as Albarn's highest achievement because it's only him. Aside from the plush synth drives, Albarn showcases what so many Blur fans remember from the 90s; a solemn and lonely voice that drives toward subtle beauty.
Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
#19: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire "Sprawl II" is, in a way, the furthest departure Arcade Fire have ever taken from their coined sound. Regine leads the bass-heavy and synth-driven charge of an Earth catapulting spring that invokes her to scream "sometimes I wonder if the world's so small." It should be taken with a grain of salt, because there have been few times that Arcade Fire have sounded bigger
#18: I Think Ur a Contra - Vampire Weekend Contra, as Vampire Weekend's second studio effort, came off to some fans as a bit more bumpy and rushed as its self-titled preprocessor - but that argument always seems to follow any band that explodes off a debut (Strokes, anyone?). However, "I Think Ur a Contra," and it is spelled that way, is, for a moment, cold and sad. There have been very few, if any moments in Ezra Koenig's short career that he has sounded so warm that even his minuscule heartbreak seems distant from "Contra's" wintry beauty.
#17: Rill Rill - Sleigh Bells Oddly enough, Sleigh Bells softest moment from their ear-bashing (in a good way) debut Treats proved to be the record's most endearing track. The jagged guitar, borrowed a bit from Funkadelic, turns away from the group's typically bombasting approach, to turn on sly, jubilant and - most important here - catchy rhythm that escalates into a drifty high school daydream.
#16: Yulia - Wolf Parade Wolf Parade, the now either defunct or on indefinite hiatus band, hasn't gotten their fair share of compliments since their 2005 debut Apologies to the Queen Mary. With what may have been the band's last work, Expo 86, the group produced "Yulia," a harrowing and true song about Soviet cosmonauts from the 50s that were lost in space to drift along through eternity. But focusing on the bleakness, and in a way, Wolf Parade's departure, takes away from the stark love song that "Yulia" turns into. Indeed, its face front value is something completely different, but here it can't stop from sounding so engrossing and tearful.
Wolf Parade - Yulia
Stay tuned, we'll return tomorrow for songs #15 - 11.
I don't know what it is; the obscene amounts of smoke, evocations of violence, fire or the expensive Ferrari intro, but something about Sleigh Bell's new video for "Infinity Guitars", off the group's debut album Treats just makes sense. See for yourself.
Sleigh Bells seem to be exploding, in more ways than one. Brooklyn's newest indie-noise act, after making news with M.I.A., released the first single from their upcoming release, Treats.
"Tell 'Em" is a loud bombast of buzz-saw pop that has already catapulted through the blogosphere. Do yourself a favor and download "Tell 'Em," either from the band's website or below.
Treats, which also features track fave "Crown on the Ground,"is scheduled for release May 11 via Mom + Pop records.
as Albarn's highest achievement because it's only him. Aside from the plush synth drives, Albarn showcases what so many Blur fans remember from the 90s; a solemn and lonely voice that drives toward subtle beauty.
, as Vampire Weekend's second studio effort, came off to some fans as a bit more bumpy and rushed as its self-titled preprocessor - but that argument always seems to follow any band that explodes off a debut (Strokes, anyone?). However, "I Think Ur a Contra," and it is spelled that way, is, for a moment, cold and sad. There have been very few, if any moments in Ezra Koenig's short career that he has sounded so warm that even his minuscule heartbreak seems distant from "Contra's" wintry beauty.
proved to be the record's most endearing track. The jagged guitar, borrowed a bit from Funkadelic, turns away from the group's typically bombasting approach, to turn on sly, jubilant and - most important here - catchy rhythm that escalates into a drifty high school daydream.
. With what may have been the band's last work, Expo 86
, the group produced "Yulia," a harrowing and true song about Soviet cosmonauts from the 50s that were lost in space to drift along through eternity. But focusing on the bleakness, and in a way, Wolf Parade's departure, takes away from the stark love song that "Yulia" turns into. Indeed, its face front value is something completely different, but here it can't stop from sounding so engrossing and tearful.
