Stream: Garage Swim (ft. Bass Drum of Death, Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff, and more)

Usually fans of electronic-oriented and rap-heavy mixes, Williams Street Records (the Adult Swim imprint) have fully released the wonderfully stacked Garage Swim mixtape. The 15-track record is loaded with familiars, including Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff, Bass Drum of Death, Black Lips, King Khan, and plenty more worth your time. And as a usual Williams Street bonus, the whole thing is available for free.

For now, stream the whole mix below.

Watch The Black Lips in the Middle East

Last year, the always adventurous Black Lips saw their hopeful Middle East tour dashed in the wake of the Arab Spring. Not letting that stop their intentions, the band set out for stops in Dubai, Lebanon, Egypt, and a few other hot spots, while Vice music collective Noisey follows them on the way. Watch the fun below.

Lollapalooza 2012 Must-See Artists, Pt. I

By the fifth year in a row, I'm used to this.

With less than two weeks to go before the August 3-5 Lollapalooza festival begins in Chicago, I'll be providing my annual top ten countdown of 2012's Must-See Artists. Last year, headliners My Morning Jacket and Deadmau5 rounded out the top two, with regular Bears and Bullets favorites Black Lips and Titus Andronicus also landing in the countdown.

As it is every year, seeing every act - notable or otherwise - is impossible. So for those waiting through the list to see Jack White, unfortunately, won't be seeing him. Regardless, let's start with #10.

#10: Jeff The Brotherhood
Despite officially beginning their careers in 2001, Nashville brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall didn't really catch anything close to buzz until their 2009 album Heavy Days. Pulsed with fuzzy blues and cool garage punk, the recently released Hypnotic Knights LP finally gave some more ground for the band to walk on. Amid an extremely extensive touring history, the band has finally reached the major festival circuit. And, more than likely, they'll be returning very soon.

You can see Jeff The Brotherhood early Saturday, August 4, at 1:30 p.m. on the Playstation stage.



#9: At The Drive-In
The first project of Mars Volta figureheads Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López made huge news earlier this year after announcing their 2012 reunion. Rodríguez-López has already declared that At The Drive-In would not be recording new material, despite finally returning after more than ten years. Their April performance at Coachella marked one of the very few appearances for the band, so having them perform at Lollapalooza should be considered extremely rare.

Catch the band one last time (probably) Sunday, August 5 at 6 p.m. on the Red Bull Soundstage.



We'll continue with Part II tomorrow ...

Tuesday Bears: New Black Lips - Dance With You

The Black Lips just released "Sick of You," recorded alongside the other tracks packaged into last year's Arabia Mountain with a killer new B-Side "Dance With You." You can grab the download below.

Black Lips – “Dance With You”

Bears and Bullets Top 25 Songs of 2011: Part IV

We'll continue our countdown today with songs #10 - #6.

#10: Big K.R.I.T. - Country Shit (Remix ft. Ludacris and Bun B)
Return of 4Eva, while Big K.R.I.T.'s true breakout album, isn't totally single-minded. For Justin Scott, the 25-year-old breakout Mississippi rapper, every southern rap anthem is met with self-conscious ones. But forgive me for not ignoring "Country Shit (Remix ft. Ludacris and Bun B)," a heavy souvenir of modern southern rap; dirty, party-minded, and as unapologetic as it is enjoyable. Rap music needs real voices now and again, but no one will argue against this change of pace. 



#9: Black Lips - Family Tree
Arabia Mountain's defining moment, "Family Tree" is the product of a well-placed production snarled in between the Black Lips now effortless messy pragmatism. It's inherently sloppy, but consciously put together, combining what the band had already perfected, and what it desperately needed work on. There's something to love about the Black Lips and their renown stage persona, but it seems ill-needed for any band who doesn't sound like they're drunk seven days a week. And maybe now they're still drunk six of those days, but they figured out something right in between those chaotic moments.



#8: The Weeknd - The Morning
The world's true introduction to The Weeknd, "The Morning" is the expertly crafted new-wave hip-hop soul, in a drilling, real-world sense. The production, as I've repeated several times over, is something to be in awe of. But rather than staying stuck on the ethereal sounds spiraling through the background, Tesfaye's soft, but wrenching vocals of high-style dejection eventually stick out. Parties, women, sex, and nothing to show except the human that comes out of it. It's richer than it sounds, but not because of the subject matter, but the sly attempt of spilling his guts out enriched in a glorious "ambiance." 



#7: Battles - Ice Cream (ft. Matias Aguayo)
The long march of "Ice Cream's" sexually-addled introduction - brimmed with soaking, short-breath "oh" and "ahs" - is a eyebrow raising mark, not only for a song, but for a band like Battles that settles so often without any kind of vocals in their work. And while no member of the three-piece progressive group actually puts their time into the singing (that's what Aguayo is for), it speaks louder than most of their instrumental work on Gloss Drop. The group's tread the pop-prog territory before with 2007's "Atlas." And while "Ice Cream" isn't "Atlas," in terms of off-hand oddball structure and unpredictability, it comes through with that same level of insane enjoyment. Also, the best video of 2011 helps.



#6: Radiohead - Lotus Flower
When the video for "Lotus Flower" debuted on an early February morning, a calm sense of pre-hype hysteria rose. Fans had only heard of Radiohead's The King of Limbs roughly a week before the release, and almost knew nothing about it aside from a few sparse live performances from Thom Yorke's solo work. The video was instantly transfixed as internet-rattled gifs and t-shirts with Yorke's "choreographed" dance routine, but mostly in fun of what Radiohead has become to the internet community. But in honesty, "Lotus Flower" is a monumentally complex rendition for the veteran group, filled with dual percussion, Johnny Greenwood's quietly chaotic sound bites, and increasingly skillful sound arches that sound unfamiliar even to a band as accomplished as Radiohead. The King of Limbs may have not been the flaunting standout that many hope from the band, but "Lotus Flower" clears the temporary uneasiness.  



We'll continue our countdown tomorrow with the top five songs of 2011 ...

Bears and Bullets Albums of the Year: Pt. IV

We'll continue today with our top 25 countdown with albums #10 through #6.

#10: Iceage - New Brigade
And all of you said there's no way anyone will talk about Danish punk music. Well, no one said that, but before Iceage's New Brigade, no one was thinking of it either. The messy, cathartic, and often disheartening record has no common pulse, just launching forward with unpolished, grimy sheen. The fact that Iceage are Danish teenagers does little to put New Brigade in a clever niche. It's carefully all over the map, from garage punk to polished underground new wave, in a tinge all its own.

#9: Danny Brown - XXX
Collectively speaking, 2011 was somewhat of a disappointing year for music in general, full of less-than expected album releases and a slew of band breakups. With that in mind, however, hip-hop came through stronger than it has in years with a new class of rappers garnering national attention. Danny Brown, the often overlooked, off-beat Detroit rapper, and his latest XXX comes through as a dirty, close to death last-call. Brown proudly retells his kinda disgusting instincts in porn-riddled tracks like "I Will," but fills you in on his less-than stellar ambitions like how he wants to, "Party like Chris Farley" on "Die Like a Rockstar." XXX, like the title, is indulgence and the underscored after-effects, crushing and killing the soul without resolution.

#8: White Denim - D
Psychedelia has uncomfortably addled itself next to 'boredom' in a music sense. The long-winded emphasis on musicianship strangling anything of the idea of new age virtuosity has, no matter how stereotypical, constantly attached itself to the genre. Enter White Denim, Austin's answer to a generation of music listeners who never try to confide their time in the aging music movement. For every guitar-driven episode on D, the group's fourth studio album in only three years, there's a change of pace to softer, pop sounds. So while "At the Farm" sounds like every other early 70s jam piece, "Street Joy" comes through unlike anything else on the album at that point. Guilty indulgence on all-too long instrumental pieces are fine, but White Denim puts out consistently strong albums because they understand that it isn't the end-all, be-all of music, and for very good reason.

#7: Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
The Black Lips have made a career resting on the laurels of garage punk. Little to no instrumental showmanship has ever showed up on the group's studio releases, and if you ever experience the group live, you'll understand that the instruments are merely a tool to help them wade through and project their collective insanity. Knowing that, the band's previous albums haven't tried too hard for craft, true garage punk by its most modern means. But on Arabia Mountain, arguably the group's best work yet, the band comes to understand that the grime of their early years can still exist, but not necessarily present it in such a meager way. There's a necessary polish on the album that fits the band well, but never hinders the joyful, careless nature of the message. Call it growing up for people who were always cooler when they were kids.



#6: James Blake - James Blake
The dubstep genre has been mangled by misguided, preconceived stereotypes and club aesthetics to the point where artists like James Blake are hardly identifiable in the oft-ridiculed movement. In part, because the construction of Blake's work is hardly aligned with those misgivings - slow, soulful, and delicately moving through the London-natives harping voice. The electronic architecture of Blake's self-titled album are merely means of conveying his deceptively artful songwriting, rather than the distracting centerpiece.



We'll continue our countdown tomorrow with albums #5 - #1 ...

Tuesday Bears: New (Again) Black Lips video - Raw Meat

Today marked the release of the Black Lips fifth (!) video from they're Mark Ronson-produced Arabia Mountain. "Raw Meat" times itself pretty well with last nights cop explosion in NYC over the OWS protests.

Black Lips - Raw Meat

Thursday Bears: New Black Lips video - Family Tree

Arabia Mountain standout "Family Tree" is the most recent single from the Mark Ronson-produced effort from the Black Lips to get the video treatment. This time around, it's much more on the NSFW side of things with puking, blood, nudity, crucifixion, guy on guy, and I imagine some animal cruelty somewhere.

Arabia Mountain is available now via Vice Records.

Black Lips - Family Tree

Thursday Bears: Lollapalooza 2011: Day Two Review

Day one went well, for the most part, but would that trend last through Saturday? My Morning Jacket were set to play later that night, who if you may recall, were my most anticipated act of this year's festival, as were a handful of others earlier in the day. And as far as streaks go, Lollapalooza's second day always turns out well, so the odds were in my favor.

Day Two:

The early afternoon sun was quickly covered by an earthy grey overcast, setting doubts that rain would be at any point avoidable. Through J Roddy Waltson and the Business' noon set on the north side, the rain luckily strayed away. The Baltimore four-piece received a modest crowd on a stage that they're likely not used to, but rampaged through sets of hard-nosed blues. Waltson, the band's lead, mashed his way through Little Richard covers and some of the group's more well-known spins, including "Used to Did," the band's first single. Lollapalooza organizers did good justice to record this themselves, which you can watch below.

J Roddy Waltson and the Business



Unlike Friday, Saturday wasn't totally over-saturated with scheduling conflicts, and the split between J Roddy Waltson and Friendly Fires served a better purpose. The rain unfortunately did amass, but nothing more than a short spray between sets. The Hertfordshire (UK) group were a bit of a surprise to me, despite hearing both of their previous albums and their numerous appearances on BBC, I was unsure of what to expect from a live show.

In the group's second venture to Lollapalooza, the performance was more than what I hopefully expected. Frontman Ed Macfarlane is single-handily enough to see, but the group's power-blast dance rock only fueled one of the weekend's most fun sets. Macfarlane danced through each and every note, while giving the crowd even more incentive to by jumping in a few times. Some bands just don't do well in a festival setting, with wide open air and sunlight - Friendly Fires, on the other hand, excel in this type of setting, and are worth seeing whenever they come around.

Ed Macfarlance of Friendly Fires

A short walk away, I got ready for one of my favorite acts of the year -  Black Lips. I talk about them enough as it is, so a synopsis isn't totally necessary. The band's insane. The stage was covered in puke and beer, while the more "into it" fans found it easier to throw their fists here than at any other show during the weekend.  A large portion of the crowd were just casual onlookers, but I couldn't help myself getting into the fights, which included one for one of the band's broken guitars. I unfortunately lost that fight, but this guy didn't.

We were all winners

Gleefully exhausted, I took the short trek back to the same stage where Friendly Fires performed to catch Death From Above 1979. I've heard that their shows were loud, but the actual thing was ridiculous. Sebastien Granger yells, yells, and yells to ear-cracking extremes while Jesse Keeler's thundering bass makes any guitar sound almost pathetic. The show definitely isn't for everyone, but for a few hundred (or thousand) rabid fans it was exactly what they wanted. The duo is better suited in an enclosed setting, but a lot of the show still proved to be endearing.

Granger from DFA gets around sign language

Much like the day before, the Sony stage on the park's south side for Local Natives was literally choked with far, far too many people. Arriving at any point other than 10 minutes before it started pretty much guaranteed you a less than ideal spot. I took it as a time to relax and just listen nearby, rather than struggle in the mid-day heat.

Live, the band is a total joy, as was their set at Pitchfork in 2010. The limited source material actually served the band surprisingly well, with only a few onlookers not knowing what to expect. Still, the group hasn't released anything since 2009's Gorilla Manor, which is odd a band playing anything but a closing set.

Local Natives

Local Natives - Who Knows Who Cares (Live at Lollapalooza 2011)



Rather than squander my chances by checking over a few other acts, I opted to grab an early spot for My Morning Jacket. Thanks mostly to Eminem, who was playing on the opposite side of the park that night, but there may have never been a smaller crowd for a headlining act in recent Lollapalooza history. Literally getting from the back to the near front is an impossible feat for any closing act, but it was relatively easy that Saturday night. Thankfully, it only enhanced the atmosphere for fans of the band, who would have gladly opted for a more comfortable setting, compared to Eminem's slew of mud-drenched fans.

Live, MMJ are a must, for any and every festival. The band is pitch perfect, masterful instrumentalists who are fully capable of putting on an awe-inspiring show, and Saturday wasn't an exception. Blasting through over 20 songs throughout the band's catalog, the closing "One Big Holiday" became the staple of the entire weekend, which you can watch below (I'm also in the video for a split second).

My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday (Live at Lollapalooza 2011)



Again, another success story. Find out tomorrow how the festival's final day turned out.

Best Performances: My Morning Jacket, Black Lips, Friendly Fires
Worst Performances: None

Highlight: "One Big Holiday," "Wordless Chorus," and "Mahgeeta" by My Morning Jacket. "Bad Kids," by Black Lips
Lowlight: Local Natives' all too enormous crowd, missing The Glitch Mob.

Wednesday Bears: Lollapalooza 2011 Must-See Artists, Pt. III

Today, we continue our Lollapalooza 2011 countdown with part three.

#6: Black Lips
The Atlanta punk band makes their second return to the festival this year, but a bit different from last time around. Back in 2008, the somewhat lesser-known Black Lips bounced onto a major label the year prior, performing most of 2007's Good Bad Not Evil in a very early afternoon show. Four years later (although with a few different members), the group is a little more refined following the release of their Mark Ronson-produced Arabia Mountain.

You can see the band on the Playstation Stage, Saturday, August 6 at 3 p.m. In addition, the group will also be signing autographs at 4:30.



#5: Beirut
Zach Condon's enormous project will actually be making their first ever appearance at the Chicago music festival weeks before the release of their third full studio LP The Rip Tide. For those unfamiliar, Beirut is an incredibly unique piece, comprising of a dozen members, the Condon-led group perform a whirring blend of accessible world, folk, pop, electronica, and a litany of other potential genres.

To make the appearance even more special, they'll be closing out Saturday night, August 6, on the Google+ stage at 8:45 p.m.

Beirut - Nantes (Live on Take Away Show)



We'll continue with Part IV tomorrow ...

Monday Bears: New Black Lips video - New Direction

In "New Direction," the third video from the Black Lips most recent album, Arabia Mountain, the Atlanta guys do whatever they can in front of a cheap green screen, and nothing much else.

Black Lips - New Direction

Monday Bears: Top 10 Albums of 2011 ... so far (Pt. II)

Here's part two.

5: Smith Westerns - Dye it Blonde

4: The Weeknd - House of Balloons

3: Black Lips - Arabia Mountain

2: White Denim - D

1: Fucked Up - David Comes to Life

Tuesday Bears: New Black Lips video - Modern Art

A few weeks after the Black Lips premiered "Go Out and Get It," the first video from the Atlanta group's upcoming Arabia Mountain LP, the group debuted their smoke-induced, violet-lit cock fights (?) in, who guess, Williamsburg.

The Mark Ronson-produced Arabia Mountain is due out June 7, via Vice Records.

Black Lips - Modern Art

Thursday Bears: New Black Lips video - Go Out and Get It

The Black Lips premiered their first new video since the release of their 2009 album 200 Million Thousand for "Go Out and Get It," a heavily surf-rock laden track produced by Mark Ronson.

The video sets the Atlanta band on a Bahamas cruise full of other fun-loving white people, that was apparently a bitch to shoot.

The group's new album, Arabia Mountain, is scheduled for release in June via Vice Records.

The Black Lips - Go Out and Get It

Wednesday Bears: Deerhunter on Letterman

Deerhunter, with a few friends from the Black Lips and Back Pockets, brought an extended edition of "Memory Boy," the short Halcyon Digest track that the group plans to release as a single on Record Store Day, to Letterman last night. Go on, watch.

Deerhunter - Memory Boy (Live on Letterman)

Wednesday Bears: Beck and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the live-action take on the celebrated comic series, is due in theaters August 13. For those who aren't familiar with it, it stars Michael Cera as the aforementioned Scott Pilgrim, and his quest to stay with Ramona Flowers and so on and blah bleh bah. In the film, Pilgrim's band Sex Bo-Omb sings over pre-recorded tracks from artists like The Black Lips and Broken Social Scene.

Some tracks, however, didn't make cut it in the film-version, including Beck's two-minute-plus 90's garage fuzz diddy "Summertime." You can listen to the stream below, along with a couple Pilgrim-related trailers.

The Scott Pilgrim vs. the World soundtrack is available now.

Beck - Summertime - Stream




Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (movie trailer)



Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (video game trailer)

Thursday Bears: New Black Lips Video - Let It Grow

The Black Lips (in band news not related to the whole Wavves incident) released the video for "Let it Grow," the fifth from this year's 200 Million Thousand LP.

The video showcases an aging American tourist, immersing himself in what appears to be rural New Mexico. The bald, stocky figure visits the most cheaply wonderful sights anyone with a disposable camera could even dream of, including a meeting of UFO minds.

The cat in the video? Well, make up your own interpretation. Mine? The cat's the alien and the human is his servant.

Black Lips - Let it Grow

Wednesday Bears: Yo La Tengo on La Blogotheque

New Jersey alternative hall of famer's Yo La Tengo made their first performance on everyone's favorite music video website La Blogotheque yesterday, performing slow acoustic melody's from their recently released Popular Songs LP.

The clearly aging indie icons play their slow songs in front of likely confused French children playing in a park and in a damp alley, while throwing rousing renditions of "Sugarcube," stirring the sparkling noise of acoustics through the hollow echoes of a garage, and the new Beck-esque "Periodically Double or Triple" down the cobble-stone streets of Paris.

Despite their age and reclusive habits, the band still stands as one of the most pure eclectic music machine's ever. The trio will perform at New York's Roseland Ballroom September 25 with Atlanta garage-punk heroes the Black Lips before heading out on their Fall world tour.

Yo La Tengo - Part 1 (A Take Away Show)



Yo La Tengo - Part 2 (A Take Away Show)

New Black Lips Video: Drugs

The Black Lips newest (fan-made) video for their 200 Million Thousand single "Drugs" is about the giddy of the 1960's and 70's era drug prevention videos. You know, the ones that get to kids in the health classroom.

Black Lips - Drugs

New Yo La Tengo: Here to Fall

Hoboken, New Jersey natives and Matador alums Yo La Tengo are set to release their 12th studio album, Popular Songs, September 8. The album (which also features the single "Periodically Double or Triple" released several weeks ago) is the usual eclectic mesh that shot Yo La Tengo into the indie-alternative stratosphere over two decades ago with their 1986 debut Ride the Tiger. "Here to Fall," the opener of Popular Songs, showcases the notable unpredictable nature of the band, mixing a fluid rush of electronic induced vocals and an array of strings providing the score.

The band's upcoming tour stops off at New York City's Roseland Ballroom September 25 with The Black Lips also scheduled to perform for what should be a very exciting show. You can grab Popular Songs through Matador's Buy Now Get Early program if patience isn't your thing.

Here to Fall - Yo La Tengo - MP3