Gainsbourg: The Biography by Gilles Verlant "is the best and most authoritative in any language."
[MUST LISTEN] Jessica Pratt
White Fence's Tim Presley started Birth Records with sole intention of recording neo-folk songtress and Jessica Prattwho is based in San Francisco. Her music is mysterious and haunting and sounds like it's from another time. Presley says about Pratt, "Jessica Pratt's music feels like I have found a lost LP of an old forgotten mystical folk singer, that feeling of discovering a record all by myself: Without the help of friends or the Internet. Like Stevie Nicks singing over David Crosby demos, with the intimacy of a Sibylle Baier." Jessica Pratt's self titled album, which might be the best record of the year, is now available on vinyl and digital. Hear our favorite track below called Titles Under Pressures.
[LIVE] Sophie Auster Album Launch @ Chez André
Sophie Auster, daughter of writer Paul Auster, performs live her song Lonely at Chez André in NYC to celebrate the launch of her album Red Weatherwhich is officially available today. You can purchase the album here.
[MUSIC VIDEO] King Krule - Rock Bottom
Music video for King Krule's single Rock Bottom out now on Rinse directed by Paraic & Michael Morrissey. King Krule or Zoo Kid is Archy Marshall an 18 year old musician from the UK.
Orties Sextape
Introducing Flume
Twenty year-old Australian producer Flume just returned to Sydney after playing his first US shows last month at CMJ to an overwhelmingly positive response. Before diving into all that's happening now for this young beatmaker, let's go back to Flume at age 13, when he got his first taste of production by finding a music production program in a cereal box. This discovery began his obsessions with all things synthetic, and started his addiction for plug-ins, sample packs and vintage analogue hardware. Taking a no-holds-barred attitude to music creation, Flume learned to find inspiration in a wide variety of sources and scenes, distilling his sound into a melodic bass heavy style that is uniquely his own. Flume's self-titled debut, Flume, will be out digitally on November 9th via Future Classicwith an official physical release slated for early next year.
[Must Listen] 'L'Impératrice
Paris based DJ'L'Impératrice or Empress has released a new EP on Cracki Records. The eponymously titled record is an amazing mix of funk, French 90s house, and hiphop. See the music video, shot on Super 8 which follows a girl on skates looking for a mythical city on a postcard, for the title track 'L'Impératrice.
[MUSIC VIDEO] Tamaryn "The Garden"
Psychedelic pop duo Tamaryn and Rex John Shelverton, otherwise known simply as Tamaryn release a new music video for the track The Garden off their current album Tender New Signs out now on Mexican Summer, directed by Miko Revereza.
Michelle Williams Stars in New Wild Nothing Music Video
Shot in LA, New York, St. Maarten & Niagara Falls, the video chronicles travel by plane and the paradise found just beyond the window. Three-time Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams was brought onboard by director Matthew Amato who explains: "I loved Wild Nothing the moment I heard Gemini and I jumped at the opportunity to make a video for the new record, Nocturne. My instinct told me to send Michelle the three tracks they were considering for a video and she chose Paradise." The video was shot on Japanese Harinezumi cameras and features a new edit of the song, with Michelle Williams reading from Iris Murdoch's A Word Child. It was recorded for the video by Jack Tatum at the Rare Book Room in Brooklyn, NY, where Nocturne was also recorded.
Behind the Scenes: Adarsha Shoots Another Video for Woods
Devendra Banhart in Moscow
Devendra Banhart playing in Moscow on October 20, at the opening of Garage Center For Contemporary Art's opening of the pavilion in Gorky Park near Pionersky pond, a new venue for exhibitions, lectures, workshops and more. The pavilion is designed by internationally acclaimed architect Shigeru Ban. photograph by Maxim Ksuta
Strawberry Alarm Clock Wearing Future Eyes
Cult 1960s psychedelic band Strawberry Alarm Clock wearing Future Eyes in Los Angeles. photograph by Brent Paul Pearson
[FIRST LOOK] Reptile Youth New Music Video by Rei Nadal
Copenhagen based Reptile Youth have invited ten directors to each direct a video for their new album. For the latest video, for the track Dead End, they have invited Rei Nadal. Rei Nadal is an artist based in Barcelona. Born in Sevilla, Spain, Nadal went on to complete a fashion design degree before beginning an internship with fashion brand American Perez. She has garnered attention for her unique and intriguing esthetics. She intersperses imagery from fashion editorials, art photography, and video, alongside candid self-portraits and text. As part of the annual CMJ 2012 music festival, Reptile Youth will give four performances, starting with one gig at Alphabet Lounge, October 17th , followed by shows @ Spike Hall, Webster Studio and finally @ Drom – Nicky Digital Showcase on October 20th.
[Music Video] Disclosure 'Latch' feat. Sam Smith
South London pop duo and real life brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, otherwise known as Disclosure, release the music for their track Latch featuring Sam Smith. The music video, directed by Ross McDowell & Ben Murray of the Bullion Collective is a surreal portrait of lip locking and love in the 21st century.
[First Look] Music Video For El Perro Del Mar's Walk On By
Music video for Swedish popstress El Perro Del Mar's track Walk On By, taken from the album Pale Fire, available through The Control Group, on 12th of November 2012.
Memory Tapes Set To Release New Album
Dayve Hawks (AKA Memory Tapes) is set to release what could be his most experimental album to date on December 4 via Carpark Records, entitled Grace/Confusion. The album "inhabits more the title's first word than the last, showcasing an artist embracing his idiosyncrasies and constructing beauty from chaos." Hear the first track released from the album – a chaotic, electronic love ballad called Sheila. Hear song after the jump.
Sky Ferreira Music Video for Everything is Embarrassing
Elfin dreampop songstress Sky Ferreira releases a new music video for the track Everything Is Embarrassing, directed by Grant Singer. Ferreira's album EP Ghost is due out October 16.
Crystal Castles New Tracks Wrath of God
Canadian duo Crystal Castles are close to releasing their intense dystopic third album entitled (III) on November 6 and in the meantime they release the track Wrath of God.
James Franco's Band Daddy Releases First Music Video
James Franco and musician Tim O'Keefe (a former classmate of Franco's at the Rhode Island School of Design) have released an EP under the moniker Daddy. James Franco directed the duo's first video, Love in the Old Days, a meditation on romance in the 1960s. Daddy's debut EP, Motor City, hits Sept. 25 and features vocal contributions from Motown's Smokey Robinson, whom Franco met on a flight. The cover art is a polaroid of Franco's Spring Breakers costars Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine. The music video stars Autre's own Adarsha Benjamin, along with Henry Hopper, Lily Donaldson, Nina Ljeti and a host of Franco's merry band of postmodern pranksters.