I haven’t really put any thought into what this song is about or what the lyrics are, and I’m pretty OK with that considering Harlem probably didn’t either.
If you go by their Myspace page, Harlem are a thrash band covered in BBQ sauce from Austin, TX who only like “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Fair enough. [...]

If Jersey-rock were a genre, it would sound like Titus Andronicus. The subtle (and not so subtle) influences of Bruce Springsteen, summers on the shore, classic punk rock, rebellion, and the Garden State Parkway mesh together to make up Titus Andronicus’ unmistakable sound. The band’s debut XL release is their second full length, and, according [...]

Bear Hands are dreaming about your goddamn long nails.
The Brooklyn band recently released a great new single and video, “What a Drag,” which, fair to say, is hard to get through without thinking of Modest Mouse. Not complaining. The track is available as a 7″ with “Can’t Stick Em,” also streaming on the band’s site.
No [...]

‘Fresh from Nairobi,’ Kenyan band and recent Akwaaba signees, Just a Band, released their debut album, 82, earlier this month via the LA based African digital music label. Been streaming the single, “Ha-He” for about an hour trying to figure out exactly how to describe it. Turns out it’s indescribable, and it’s clear that the [...]

Atlanta rapper and recent Atlantic Records signee, B.o.B., is set to release his long-awaited debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, on May 25. B.o.B.’s latest mixtape, May 25th (nicely done), hit the internets last weekend and features appearances from J. Cole, Asher Roth, and Charles Hamilton (so, someone still likes him).
The tagless, merciless mp3 [...]

Above, an excellent new video from LA based band Local Natives. The track “Airplanes” is from their debut album, Gorilla Manor, and is due February 16 in the US. The band are currently touring Europe through the spring, including the Route du Rock Winter Festival in France with Beach House and The xx.
So, the haunted [...]

This is why songoftheday was invented, guys.
Peter effing Gabriel’s cover of Arcade Fire’s “My Body is a Cage” (which premiered yesterday on Stereogum) will appear on his upcoming cover album, Scratch My Back (due February 15). The album is intended to inspire a cover album where the featured artists would return the favor. The tracklist [...]

French [via British] singer Dan Black’s 2009 breakthrough single, “Symphonies,” is from his Polydor debut solo album, ((un)). It very noticeably samples the drum intro from Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” and also pretty much encompasses the finest qualities of the best British pop music of the last 15 years into a perfectly wrapped 3 minute and 30 [...]

“Candy man Candy man/Spit me a dream
Blow a chunk of the levee out/and spit me a stream
Knock a man house down and build a casine
a $2,000 government check from feme”
Almost a year and a half after the Just Blaze produced Jay Electronica track, “Exhibit A (Transformations),” was recorded, Funkmaster Flex plays the song on Hot97 [...]

Sydney based electronic band, Seekae, recently had a track highlighted on IGIF’s most recent MAP installment (Music Alliance Pact), which brings together music sites from different countries for a monthly global blog post. “Seekae is the clear breakout band out of Sydney’s re-surging experimental electronic music [scene],” goes the quote from Aussie music site, Who [...]