Music Under Fire

Since the inception of the idea that Coldplay would release an album dating all the way back to the beginning of 2007 kept their fans bubbling with enthusiasm over the course of the last extended year, and just as the band promised, we get a sneak peek at Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends thanks to Coldplay's generosity. Let's get right to it - you can download "Violet Hill" right now and for FREE as the air you breathe by visiting Coldplay.com and entering your email address. Its as simple as that. As for the song itself, we'll restrain ourselves and just say its quite good in a new Coldplay sort-of-way.

The artwork you see above is the painting 'Liberty Leading The People' by famous French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. For you history buffs, Delacroix created the painting in 1830. It depicts a three-day uprising by republicans that took place in Paris near Delacroix's painting studio.The main character seen on the album cover is Marianne, the symbol of the French nation. The painting is currently on display in the Louvre gallery in Paris. "Viva La Vida" means "Long Live Life".

Coldplay will also be playing a free show at Brixton Academy, London on Monday, June 16th as well as another free show in NYC at Madison Square Garden on June 23rd. Check back on Coldplay's website for more details.

In the meantime, check out this rare live song recorded at the Bell Centre in Montreal, which dates back to 2003.

MP3: Coldplay - Ladder To The Sun (live)

http://www.coldplay.com/
http://www.myspace.com/coldplay
http://last.fm/music/Coldplay

Hardly getting to go through all of last week's strong releases, we are back again with another list of hopeful albums from many solid artists. Headlining the list for the week includes Augustana, Santogold, Portishead, Run Kid Run, South and The New Frontiers.

As many recall, it was two and a half years ago when Augustana released All the Stars and Boulevards, which featured "Boston". Their new Can't Love, Can't Hurt album will be aiming to slightly change that sound.

The highly hyped Santogold, or Santi White for the lay person, has released her self-titled album today. Previously she worked with artists Lily Allen, Res and Ashley Simpson by means of writing and producing tracks.

Portishead is releasing their first album since their self-titled album in 1997 with Third while Run Kid Run (This Is Who We Are) is releasing their sophomore album, Love at the Core, and The New Frontiers is releasing their debut album, Mending.

Lastly, from the UK, South makes their appearance with You Are Here. This is their first freshest material since 2004 and their new album really hits the spot.

MP3: The New Frontiers - Mirrors (buy)
MP3: Santogold - XXX Change Remix (free download here)
MP3: South - Better Things (buy)
MP3: Langhorn Slim - Rebel Side of Heaven (buy)
MP3: Heloise and the Savoir Faire - Downtown (buy)

65daysofstatic - The Distant and Mechanized Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties EP (Official) (MySpace)
Augustana - Can't Love, Can't Hurt (Official) (MySpace)
Awesome Color - Electric Aborigines (Official) (MySpace)
Backseat Goodbye - Dressed Up Like Dreams (Official) (MySpace)
Boris - Smile (Official)
Carly Simon - This Kind of Love (Official) (MySpace)
Cloudland Canyon - Lie in Light (Official) (MySpace)
Constantines - Kensington Heights (Official) (MySpace)
David Karsten Daniels - Fear of Flying (Official) (MySpace)
Def Leppard - Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (Official)
Dizzee Rascal - Maths+English (Official) (MySpace)
Estelle - Shine (Official) (MySpace)
Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll (Official) (MySpace)
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight (Official) (MySpace)
Ghost of a Stranger - Hers and Yours (MySpace)
Heloise and the Savior Fare - Trash, Rats and Microphones (Official) (MySpace)
Jamie Lidell - Jim (Official) (MySpace)
Langhorne Slim - Langhorne Slim (Official) (MySpace)
Madonna - Hard Candy (Official)
Make Believe - Going to the Bone Church (Official) (MySpace)
Mindless Self Indulgence - If (Official) (MySpace)
Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch (Official)
Nerf Herder - IV (Official) (MySpace)
New Found Glory - Tip of the Iceberg EP (MySpace)
New Frontiers - Mending (Official) (MySpace)
Portishead - Third (Official) (MySpace)
Quarter After - Too Much To Think About 7" (Official) (MySpace)
Robyn - Robyn (Official) (MySpace)
Run Kid Run - Love at the Core (Official) (MySpace)
Santogold - Santogold (MySpace)
Sea Of Treachery - At Daggers Drawn (MySpace)
Steve Winwood - Nine Lives (Official) (MySpace)
The Cab - Whisper War (Official) (MySpace)
The Roots - Rising Down (Official) (MySpace)
Forever The Sickest Kids - Underdog Alma Mater (MySpace)
Tickley Feather - Tickley Feather (MySpace)
We Shot The Moon - Fear and Love (Official) (MySpace)

DCFC just posted their songs for the 'Daytrotter Sessions' on Daytrotter.com. Available for FREE are six tracks from Gibbard & Co., including the already leaked "Cath..." and our first listen in on "Talking Bird" from Narrow Stairs.

Here's the tracklisting for the Daytrotter Sessions:

1) A Movie Script Ending
2) Cath
3) Styrofoam Plates
4) Talking Bird
5) The New Year
6) Why You'd Want To Live Here

MP3: Death Cab For Cutie - Talking Bird (Daytrotter Sessions)

To download all of the tracks, go to Daytrotter's Official Post.

Bell X1 were overwhelmingly received on their first tour when they took the trip from Dublin to the States, so much that they've decided to revisit many of the cities they loved the most. They will circle back around after they're done touring Europe on their last stop in Copenhagen, then will start their second US tour with Boston and ending Pittsburgh. Bell X1 will also be performing on the Craig Ferguson show tonight at 12:30 from a show taped about a month ago.

MP3: Bell X1 - Bigger Than Me (buy)

Their tour dates are as follows:

May 2008
2 Munich, DE - Atomic Cafe
3 Nürnberg, DE - Hirsch, w/Nada Surf
4 Aschaffenburg, DE - Colos-saal, w/Nada Surf
5Cologne, DE - Luxor Tickets
6 Luxembourg, LU - Den Atelier, w/Nada Surf
7 Utrecht, NL - Tivoli, w/Nada Surf
11 Copenhagen, DK - Rust
16 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
17 Annapolis, MD - Rams Head
18 Charleston, WV - NPR’s Mountainstage
20 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
22 Atlanta, GA - Vinyl
23 Orlando FL - The Social
25 Nashville,TN - 3rd & Lindsley
27 Columbus, OH - The Basement
28 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
29 Pittsburgh, PA - Club Café

June 2008
3 Wash, DC - 9:30 Club
4 New York, NY - Fillmore @ Irving Plaza

With a spastic energy akin to Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse, The Sweet Serenades continue to form the mold of their Swedish indie pop day by day and new listener by new listener. Riding the release of their First Taste EP last year and invigorated by a new album slated for release in September of this year, the duo from Stockholm are on the move.

First meeting back to 1991, frontmen Martin Nordvall (vocals/rhythm guitar) and Mathias Näslund (lead guitar) didn't materialize The Sweet Serenades until 2002. With the aid of various friends on all of their "guest" instruments, the guys mesh emotions of sexual frustration, failed relationships and an overall enjoyment of their creations in their songs.

Claiming influences from The Boss, Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Stones and The Hives to name a few bands, The Sweet Serenades will be releasing their first full-length album off of Leon Records. They can also be found on myspace.

Although currently recording the new album, Nordvall will be touring as the bassist with Pelle Carlberg in Germany. Check out Pelle here.

MP3: The Sweet Serenades - I Can Never Die (buy)
MP3: The Sweet Serenades - First Taste of Trouble (buy)

Before I get into all of this, be sure to enter our Ragged/Filter contest - we're giving out a bunch of free goodies, so don't miss out!

Now, on to our mix. Our third installment of the weekend mix is a particularly good one and includes a lot of music from the UK, per usual. You may have perused our new music this week and noticed we were talked up Tokyo Police Club quite a bit. No album this year hit me quite the same as this one - its a singing, clap-fest of an album, filled with all of those earnest indie confections other bands can't seem to scrape up. Or maybe its just "Tessellate" that made it for me. I see no reason why this won't be a top 10 song for me this year.

Other groups to note on this list are Delorentos, whose song "Do You Realise" is one of our Songs of the Week this time around. Their song "Eustace Street" reminds me a bit of The Cinematics, who we were able to see open up for Mute Math last year. Also, check out Annual's "Sore". There's something truly unique about this song style, this song in particular keeps showing up on the good ol' iPod.

The longest song out of the bunch is Sonic Flyer's "Overseas", whose London, UK sound has been stuck in my head all week. The shimmering guitars and that little guitar diddy they do every minute or so make this song for me. And lastly, take a closer look at The Coast as well as The Courteneer's acoustic version of "Not Nineteen Forever". Enjoy the list!

MP3: Tokyo Police Club - Tessellate (buy)
MP3: The Courteeners - Not Nineteen Forever (acoustic) (UK store)
MP3: Camphor - Confidence Shattered (buy)
MP3: Annuals - Sore (buy)
MP3: Delorentos - Eustace Street (buy)
MP3: Bridges and Power Lines - The Golden Age (buy)
MP3: Cloud Cult - Chain Reaction (buy)
MP3: My Brightest Diamond - Inside A Boy (buy)
MP3: Sonic Flyer - Overseas (buy)
MP3: The Coast - Nueva York (buy)
MP3: The Dears - Lost In The Plot (buy)
MP3: The Details - The Height of Land (buy)
MP3: The Dimes - Delilah (buy)
MP3: Driving By Night - Fears of Men (buy)

Arbor Day (4/25) isn't something we normally celebrate, but it makes for a great playlist opportunity that we couldn't pass up. Since we missed out on Earth Day (4/22), we threw in an Earth theme as well. First place for the best tree song goes to Rush. You rock.

So grab some seeds, maybe a beer and some mulch and enjoy our list. Happy Arbor Day.

MP3: Rush - The Trees (buy)
Trees rock!
MP3: Sea Wolf - Leaves In The River (buy)
This was such an easy pick. Leaves In The River is pretty much a metaphor for Arbor Day.
MP3: Matt Pond PA - The Trees and the Wild (buy)
If Matt Pond sings about trees, so should you.
MP3: The A-Sides - We're the Trees (buy)
MP3: Silversun Pickups - Three Seed (buy)
Amazing song, amazing album, amazing band. And this song might have something to do with trees. We're not totally sure.
MP3: Embrace - Nature's Law (buy)
MP3: City & Colour - In The Water I Am Beautiful (buy)
MP3: The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow (buy)
MP3: MGMT - Kids (buy)
The randomness of MGMT sticks well. "A family of trees wanted, to be haunted"
MP3: Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees (acoustic) (buy)
Picture above from the "Paranoid Android" video if you didn't know.
MP3: Dredg - Planting Seeds (buy)
"I'm good at planting my own seeds..." Good to know.
MP3: The Academy Is... - Seed (buy)
MP3: Frog Eyes - Bushels (buy)
"Give the birch birch back it's swing" for crying out loud
MP3: The American Analog Set - The Green Green Grass (buy)
One of my favorite bands. They obviously love grass.