The Megaphonic Thrift from Norway has been turning heads with their catchy noise-pop and loud and intense shows. Their sophomore album comes on the back of extensive touring both in Europe and North America the last 18 months, together with Band Of Horses, Dinosaur Jr, A Place To Bury Strangers, Wintersleep and The Depreciation Guild among others. They have a very nice buzz going for them, and will be releasing the album on ClubAC30 in Europe and Sonic Unyon in North America in February. Below you can find the first track from the album which dropped last week.
Tune Your Mind by The Megaphonic Thrift

Wiz just wants to ride in his ride with the top down. At least that’s what he claims in in his latest video “California”. This latest track is from his Taylor Allderdice mixtape which is reportedly dropping very, very soon. If the video has any truth to it, we can be certain that Wiz is truly living life big with his yachts and craps tables and kicking it in Miami, Vegas, and California.

Having only a pair of enticing EPs to their name since their formation in 2008 Long Island-based Twin Sister finally put out In Heaven, their first full-length LP, this past September via Domino Records. Compared to the album’s dreamy first single “Kimi in a Rice Field,” “Bad Street” relies on jangly guitar and wily retro synth to manifest a worldly groove à la Speaking In Tongues. To coincide with their first North American headlining tour, Twin Sister will be releasing a limited 12″ single including remixes of both In Heaven singles. While the Balam Acab remix of “Kimi in a Rice Field” was made available over a month ago, Domino Records posted the “Bad Street” remix just the other day. Seasoned Norwegian producers Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas do their best to gloss over the original with a heaping dose of retro-grade funk, resulting in a much more attitude driven, club-worthy dance jam. Stream the remix of “Bad Street” below via Domino’s Soundcloud, or download it here if you want it all for yourself.
Twin Sister – Bad Street – Lindstrom & Prins Thomas Remix by DominoRecordCo

A week later and we’re still recovering (and dusting off) from easily the most successful Fun Fun Fun Fest to date. The new location at Auditorium Shores proved to be a much more logical setting for the fest as it offered plenty of room for the numerous food and vendor booths scattered throughout the grounds, even allowing space for a massive half-pipe right in front of the black stage. PIP’s enjoyed two meals a day and unlimited beer while “Homie” pass holders got to kick back in a private area that featured the Tito’s Vodka trailer and a Frank hotdog stand (whose most popular item was easily the Slayer dog for a bargain price of $6.66), not to mention the appearance of a few celebrities. Yes that really was Ryan Gosling filming a movie backstage at Major Lazer. But amidst all the drama of unsatisfactory onion soup and Rakim’s last minute cancellation due to a broken foot one thing is for sure – Slayer proved they were the band to see, absolutely ripping through a two hour set on Sunday night and showing that at their age they are still as brutal as ever. Check out KR’s photostream from the fest below.

tUnE-yArDs

The Oh Sees

The Oh Sees

The Oh Sees

The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable

T-Bird and the Breaks

T-Bird and the Breaks

T-Bird and the Breaks

Passion Pit

Passion Pit

Lykke Li

Lykke Li

Murder City Devils

Murder City Devils

Spank Rock

Spank Rock

Spank Rock and Big Freedia

Turquoise Jeep

Turquoise Jeep

Purity Ring

Grimes

Grimes

m83

Austra

Austra

Austra

The Lizard Man

Will Wiesenfeld, otherwise known as Baths, took time from his busy schedule to sit down with me after his performance on the blue stage at Fun Fun Fun Fest and give me the scoop on his new album, the bands that have been motivating him during the writing process and his favorite spots to visit while in Austin.

You’ve played Austin a few times now, what do you think of the city? 

Austin is rad, it’s a rad city. I’ve actually made some good friends just from the few times I’ve played in town, so I usually stay with them while I’m here. On my headlining tour in February Austin was one of the biggest cities for me, I was originally playing inside Mohawk but we ended up moving it outside because of the demand. We weren’t expecting it at all, but I’m happy with the crowd I’ve got here in Austin, I definitely have an attachment to this city.

Any spots you try to visit while you’re in town?

There’s one restaurant that I really like to go to, I forget exactly what it’s called but it’s right in the heart of everything, it’s this little asian-fusion place near a canal? Right off of Red River, it starts with a K I think?

Koriente? Next to Beauty Bar?

Yes! That’s it, I go there every time I’m here. I get this noodle salad, it’s fucking great.

Back in February you were quoted as saying you were beginning to work on a new album, we’re now almost halfway through November, any updates on your progress? Maybe a tentative release date?

I’m still just starting, just because of circumstantial things and the fact that I got really really sick. I got E. Coli poisoning a few months ago..

E. Coli?? From where?

I don’t know actually, that’s the thing that everybody asks. I’ve been recovering for about three months, I got it at the end of June/early July, and it’s just been the fucking worst. I pretty much spent two whole months at home on the couch doing next to nothing, eating nothing but bread, bananas and soup. It was fucking horrible. I’m at the tail end of it now but I’m still on a restrictive diet, at least I can still sing and perform and actually function.

So that kind of hindered your progress on the album?

Yeah, I can’t attribute it to just that, I’ve started working on it but I’m not fully in the swing of things yet.

You mentioned it was going to be a lot darker than Cerulean, is that still the case?

I have all these aspirations for what it will be but I won’t know until I actually sit down and start recording, it’s just going to be a lot more thought out than Cerulean. That album was purposefully very off the cuff, I would record the moment I felt inspired and just went with it, while this is a lot more meticulous and I’m taking parts one at a time. But the lyrical subject matter will be a lot darker.

Are there any bands that you’ve been listening to that have been motivating you to make the new record? Or any influences that have surfaced so far during the writing process?

Yes, there’s this one band I can’t escape and it’s been the death of me because everything I’ve been recording has been attempting to sound like them and that’s not good. But they’re called Azeda Booth, and it’s literally almost the only thing I’ve been listening to this year. It’s my current obsession, I’m totally head over heels for them.

Any other bands you’re listening to right now?

Yes, Azeda Booth, that’s pretty much it. Seriously.

Are there any bands that you’ve played with that you’re really into? Maybe a local band from one of your tours?

If you mean a band I’m trying to personally solicit I’d say Braids and Born Gold who used to be called Gobble Gobble. They’re close friends of mine, oh and Purity Ring as well.

Cerulean earned you major recognition even though you’ve been releasing albums under different monikers for years, does the success of Cerulean affect you as an artist? Or more so as a songwriter?

You know I’m not really sure yet because the real test is going to be when the new record comes out. I put out False Music/B-Sides earlier this year which is sort of an intermittent release and I made it a point of saying it was intermittent – a very, very loose collection of songs. It still has the same freeform feeling of Cerulean, I didn’t really think about it a whole lot, where as the next album is very important to me and I want to take the time to make something special. I don’t know what it’s going to be, more focused I guess.

Do you feel like you need to stay on the same “track” you’ve been on as Baths? As opposed to your other monikers? Like all of a sudden you’re niched in a way?

Not really, like I’m still very active with Geotic but recording with that happens very randomly. Even if Baths has become niched in a way I’m going to make the next album the way I want to. I’m not going to cater to the fact that the first album sounded the way it did, I’m gonna try to hopefully move outside of it a little more. I’m still young enough that I feel like I’m figuring out what my “sound” is going to be, Cerulean was a little too easy for what I’m trying to achieve..

It was the beginning of something in a way.

Yeah exactly, it was meant to be just that. Now I’m ready for the next step so to speak.

I just wanted to say that I saw you play with Cloud Nothings at the Longbranch Inn back during SXSW and it was one of my favorite shows of that whole weekend. The venue was packed to capacity and y’all both killed it, are you friends with those guys or ever plan on doing any touring with them?

You know, I do remember that show, that was probably my favorite memory from SXSW this year. It was such a hectic time for me, I think I played like 13 shows in those few days? That show was awesome, I know those guys only from playing with them a few times but I’m a huge fan of theirs and they’re all super rad. I’d love to do more with them.

Awesome man well thanks so much for sitting down with me, I hope you enjoy the rest of the festival.

No thank you, it’s always great being here.

After firing up a packed house underneath the tent of the yellow stage at Fun Fun Fun Fest the crew that makes up Turquoise Jeep Records casually filtered out into the festival grounds. Instead of taking the less conspicuous route backstage they made it a point to walk amongst their fans, engaging in conversations with passer-bys and taking as many photos as requested. Though little is actually known about their origins Turquoise Jeep make it pretty clear how much they value their fans, so much so that they refer to their hometown as being all across the nation. Literally. “We’re from wherever our Jeep Riders is at” said Turquoise Jeep Records CEO Flynt Fossy, “today we’re from Texas, today we’re reppin’ Austin.” When asked about new projects in the works Flossy admitted “Volume II of the mixtape is comin’ out real soon so keep watch.” Keep The Jeep Ridin’ was released almost a year ago along with a slew of low-budget, SNL short-styled YouTube videos that shot them to instant internet stardom, but virtually no new music has surfaced since. ”We’re gonna make sure our publicist and our management keep all the fans posted, so all our Jeep Riders stay posted, Volume II is comin’ out.” Though they couldn’t disclose any details about new members or even possible collaborations Watchyamacallit made it clear there are some “Jeep Treats” in our near future, including an official Turquoise Jeep clothing line that is about to drop, so expect the unexpected when it comes to the TJR crew. “People ask us why we are the way we are, why he keep it under wraps,” said Flossy, “and it’s all because of the music. That’s what we do, EMB, Existent Musical Beings, that’s who we are we do it for the fans.” Watchya even went so far as to say “the fans are CEO’s too, they have a say and they have a part in it,” so it sounds like the more fan interaction the better. I’m gonna start off and say make these Yung Humma shirts available for purchase, stat.

Seventeen Evergreen’s synth-pop track “Polarity Song” gets the video treatment this week by way of a collaboration of director Terri Timely and Sarah Applebaum. Timely is most notably known for directing an array of St. Vincent and Joanna Newsom vids. This strange, but colorful adventure starts in a mundane thrift store, but quickly takes a turn for the weird when a sock/knitted clothing/ski-mask monster appears and draws unsuspecting shoppers into a world of basketball and knitting. Yeah, it’s not really explainable. Just watch it. And make sure to check out Seventeen Evergreen’s full length alubm out November 22.

Seventeen Evergreen – Polarity Song from Lucky Number Music on Vimeo.

Kid Cudi has dropped off the video for “Maniac” directed by Shia LaBeouf just in time for Halloween. Watch as a film crew follows two serial killers documenting their exploit in this violent 10-minute short film. HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

I love waking up to The Weeknd and today I got to wake up to a new track by Abel called  “Initiation.” I am assuming the track will be on The Weeknd’s upcoming project entitled Echoes of Silence. The project is suppose to drop before the end of this year, but until then wake up to this track from The Weeknd. xoxo

DOWNLOAD: The Weeknd – Initiation

tUnE-yArDs’ most recent video for the single ‘Gangsta’ doesn’t necessarily adhere to the traditional definition of the word, but eventually the scenes of a strange, double-jointed dance, Uncle Sam playing with drumsticks, and a lot of close-ups on mouths becomes inherently gangster. Produced by the band’s front-woman Merrill Garbus, this colorless video shows a semi-intimate look into what gives this group such an endearingly odd sound. Check out their latest album w h o k i l l on 4AD.