lykke li + bon iver :: "dance dance dance"

I understand that Lykke Li has a bit of a crush on Bon Iver, so apparently she asked Justin Vernon and crew to lend their talents to this impromptu version of "Dance Dance Dance," shot Take Away Show-style around a fountain in L.A. Featuring some nice sunny harmonies and never-before-seen dance moves from Ms. Li:



mp3:
lykke li :: dance dance dance

**************************************

gvsb on the radio

nite jewel

Our weekly GvsB Sirius radio show aired today at noon and will replay at midnight EST on Left of Center. Brand new stuff this week from Nite Jewel, Little Joy, Crystal Stilts, White Hinterland, Amadou & Mariam, and more. You can listen right here, for free. Full playlist for this week + some mp3s after the jump...

********************************************

gorilla vs. bear sirius blog radio :: september 29

1. little joy :: keep me in mind
2. deerhoof :: fresh born
3. radiohead :: reckoner (diplo remix)
4. radiohead :: reckoner (flying lotus remix)
5. radiohead :: reckoner (julianna barwick remix)
6. nite jewel :: weak 4 me
7. beach house :: used to be
8. fight bite :: swissex lover
9. grouper :: heavy water/i'd rather be sleeping
10. crystal stilts :: the dazzled
11. vivian girls :: where do you run to
12. the dirtbombs :: livin for the city
13. amadou & mariam :: sabali (produced by damon albarn)
14. vampire weekend :: cape cod kwassa kwassa (radioclit remix feat. esau mwamwaya)
15. the knife :: we share our mother's health (ratatat remix)
16. cut copy :: strangers in the wind
17. the presets :: talk like that (cfcf remix)
18. empire of the sun :: walking on a dream
19. memory cassette :: asleep at a party
20. white hinterland :: mon amie la rose (francoise hardy cover)
21. stereolab :: people do it all the time
22. panda bear :: good girl/carrots (radio edit)
23. the walkmen :: four provinces
24. the muslims :: extinction
25. white denim :: sitting
26. q-tip :: gettin' up
27. madlib :: anthenagin'
28. erykah badu :: the healer
29. tripping daisy :: waited a light year

new empire of the sun

Empire of the Sun's forthcoming Walking on a Dream LP is one of my most anticipated albums that's still left to be released in '08, based solely on the strength of the sublime title track. Until now. Luke Steele + Nick Littlemore are streaming 5 album tracks on their myspace page, and despite the totally annoying new myspace music interface, they're definitely worth a listen. "Standing on the Shore" is particularly tight. You can also stream an additional track here. Walking on a Dream is out October 4.

mp3:
empire of the sun :: walking on a dream (sam la more remix)

******************************************

little joy :: live in san francisco

Fab Moretti, Rodrigo Amarante, + Binki Shapiro // Little Joy :: San Francisco

We might've mentioned a time or two that we fell in love instantly with Little Joy's irresistible debut LP. Unfortunately, the group has no immediate plans to visit Texas, but our good friends Hobi + Zach hit up the band's show last night at the Indie in San Francisco, Polaroid machine in hand. They report that the evening saw a lot of instrument trading, with Fab spending the majority of the night on guitar and playing drums on one song, and Devendra Banhart joining in on percussion/keys/guitar for much of the set. Sounds like a good time. Now come to TX, Little Joys. Here are some photos:


noah georgeson + little joy


fabrizio moretti // little joy


binki shapiro // little joy


rodrigo amarante // little joy


devendra banhart of megapuss fame


the little joys



More shots from the evening after the jump...

*********************************************


fabrizio moretti + devendra banhart


binki shapiro // little joy


fab moretti // little joy


little joy


fab + rodrigo // little joy


noah georgeson

Austin City Limits Festival 2008

As usual, this year's Austin City Limits Festival was a laid back affair, made even more pleasant than normal by the relatively balmy weather -- we were blessed with a nice steady breeze, and even a few occasional clouds this year -- but I spent most of the fest running around trying to see as much as possible. Here are some highlights:


david byrne

In addition to being the nicest dudes, Fleet Foxes' harmonies were every bit as heavenly as advertised, and their "bailout humor" banter was great. Spiritualized sounded amazing from afar, with "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" acting as an absolutely perfect score for the setting sun. David Byrne was one of my (and everyone else's) most anticipated sets of the fest, and he didn't let us down. The Talking Heads stuff was brilliant, as expected, and despite me being embarrassingly unfamiliar with the majority of his solo material and his new collaboration with Eno, Byrne's set was one of the most thoroughly engaging things I saw all weekend.


erykah badu

The best set of the fest: Erykah Badu. Dallas' own Ms. Badu finally rolled onstage fashionably late, almost 15 minutes after her scheduled set time, to the sounds of Weezy's "A Milli" (specifically the line, "Where is Erykah Badu at?," obvs). She broke out most of her old classics, gave her new friends in MMJ a shout out, and delivered an unbelievably soulful, chillingly powerful version of "The Healer," cementing the song as one of my favorites of the year. Sidenote: also saw Beck and some of the cast from Friday Night Lights -- Lyla Garrity, holler -- checking out Badu's set from backstage.


david byrne

Some other assorted observations: Beck opened his set with "Loser," Jenny Lewis sounded good but was unfortunately relegated to a tent, Jamie Lidell should be more famous than he is, teenage girls really love Vampire Weekend, Hot Chip probably could/should have headlined on Friday, and the amazing Sharon Jones is now 3-for-3 at fests I've attended this summer. Lowlights: I ran out of film before Sunday, and I regrettably never ran into Bill Murray. That's about it. Here are some photos; make sure to check our friend Chad Wadsworth's still-expanding ACL set for more.


jenny lewis


jamie lidell


j. tillman + robin pecknold // fleet foxes


badu


some girls


lovefoxxx // css

View more photos from ACL Fest '08 AFTER THE JUMP...

***********************************************


jamie lidell & the hot chips


the strange boys


beck


sharon jones


landry + smash


beck x 2


chuck woolery


david byrne


CSS


jamie lidell


jose gonzalez


erykah badu


lovefoxxx // css

coconot

Our friends at Funeral Pudding recently put up a rad post detailing Barcelona's thriving, vibrant music scene (and more specifically, the adventurous DC/Luv Luv label). The highlight for me was this colorful, swirling new tropical pop jam from El Guincho's other project, Coconot, taken from the band's forthcoming record, Cosa Astral (due in November). Okay, I'll concede that this sounds vaguely similar to some of the newer Animal Collective material, but in this case that's a good thing:

mp3:
coconot :: conservad el rayo

**********************************************

elsewhere:



Secretly Canadian and Bodies of Water are giving away a couple more songs from the band's stellar LP, A Certain Feeling. If you haven't yet checked out the record, then this is as good a place as any to start:

mp3:
bodies of water :: water here
bodies of water :: gold, tan, peach, and gray

*********************************************

new vivian girls :: "blind spot" (the daisy chain cover)

We leave you for the weekend with this tight cover of the Daisy Chain's "Blind Spot" by Vivian Girls. Although none of us can claim to be even remotely familiar with the original, their waltzing, narcotic stab at the jam is more than fine for now.

mp3:
vivian girls :: blind spot (the daisy chain cover)

hey leah

In the latest installment from our friends at La Blogotheque, The Walkmen play one of my favorite songs from You & Me, "Four Provinces" -- apparently once called "Hey Leah" -- while taking a late-night, possibly drunken stroll through the streets of San Francisco earlier this spring. After you watch this clip, play around with La Blogotheque's fancy new player there to view another clip of the band playing "I Lost You."



*************************************

elsewhere:

Holy shit that (NSFW) new Flying Lotus video is insane.

*************************************

cut copy + the presets :: live in dallas

Aussies Cut Copy come to TX next week, and our friends at the Granada have hooked us up 5 pairs of tix to give away for Tuesday night's show. Email us at gorillavsbearcontests@gmail.com if you'd like to go, and I'll pick the winners on Monday. Their homies the Presets will kick off the party, and while I've never really gotten into them, CFCF's consistently tight remixes always tend to make me reconsider (via HRO):

mp3:
the presets :: talk like that (cfcf remix)
cut copy :: lights & music

***********************************************

keep me in mind

In case you somehow missed this the other day, Rough Trade is now "officially" streaming "Keep Me in Mind," one of the Strokes-iest (and best) songs from Little Joy's awesome self-titled debut LP:



You can also now pre-order the record on vinyl here for 12 bucks. Fab Moretti and crew will kick off a U.S. tour in November, but first they'll play a few shows (starting tonight) on the West Coast with Devendra's Megapuss. Hopefully Dev won't break this thing out (link extremely NSFW).

******************************************

...in other Beggars-related news:


shempi 12"

RATATAT's latest 12" -- for LP3 standout "Shempi" -- is now available here. The single also features remixes by E*Rock and Zongamin. Download the Zongamin remix here.

******************************************

finally:



El Guincho's Palmitos Park 7" comes out September 29 on Young Turks. This thing is limited to only 500 copies, so get on it before they're gone forever. The b-side is this cover by the Ruby Suns (now in English!) that I posted a couple weeks back:

mp3:
the ruby suns :: palmitos park [version de the ruby suns]

***********************************************

don't let it bother me

(photo)

Since hearing his haunted cover of Burial's "Archangel," I've made it a habit to hit up Banjo or Freakout's blog on a regular basis. He continues to drop daily gems over there, including this killer cover of Invisible Conga People's "Cable Dazed." Banjo or Freakout lifts the darkly thrilling original version up into a murky, almost unrecognizable haze, eventually allowing it to dissolve altogether into the ether. Both jams, however, make for essential early A.M. listening:

mp3:
banjo or freakout :: cable dazed (invisible conga people cover)
invisible conga people :: cable dazed

*****************************************

new deerhoof video :: "fresh born"

Here's the new video for Deerhoof's "Fresh Born," from their upcoming Offend Maggie LP. This nonsensical, slightly disorienting clip stars a confrontational stuffed gorilla with a mini-baseball bat, alleviating those concerns from the other day that the band had shed some of its collective eccentricity. Turns out that's not the case at all. Can't wait to see these guys at FFFFest.



***************************************

previously:

mp3:
deerhoof :: offend maggie

****************************************

mp3 :: wilco + fleet foxes cover bob dylan

Go here to download a free, relatively decent quality live recording of Wilco + Fleet Foxes covering Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." All you have to do is pledge to vote in the 2008 election, but you were going to do that anyway, so not a bad deal. Recommended, if only to hear Tweedy's awesome forced falsetto:

mp3:
wilco + fleet foxes :: i shall be released (bob dylan)

*************************************

elsewhere:

While we're talking covers, here's another one, just uploaded by the adorable Little Boots. Here she tries her hand at MGMT's "Time To Pretend," armed with nothing but her voice and a Tenori-on:



***************************************

le couple aveugle

amadou et miriam

Following my man Esau Mwamwaya in the line of authentic, glorious, genre-transcending afro-pop to be released in 2008 is this new Damon Albarn-produced single from Mali's legendary Amadou & Mariam. The hypnotic "Sabali" showcases Mariam Doumbia's soulful and slightly weary vocals, which somehow manage to be both uplifting and devastating at once. Also, this is without a doubt the best thing Albarn's touched in a minute (via):

mp3:
amadou et mariam :: sabali (produced by damon albarn)

Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali LP is out November 17 on France's Because Music.

************************************