As if one masterful Wolf Gang remix wasn't enough, Baby Monster further demonstrate just how much creative heat they're packing by adeptly pitching strike two in the cage. The Wolf Gang original already killed it, but Baby Monster legitimately raise the dead with reverbing incantations and electronic boomerangs swooping in and out of the afterlife on this one. It's a spellbinding reimagining that transcends time and space to flip on the lightswitch in your head and broadcast your live excitement through widened eyes. Every iteration of "The King And All of His Men" has basically been a musical Game of Thrones, but as umpires in the pop game, we've got to give credit where credit's due on this crowning achievement for the Baby Monster gentlemen.
NYC you're killing it this summer. Rooftops are buzzing, the streets are alive and there's beautiful people everywhere you look. And things are only gonna get better next week when we throw down Neon Gold style with an all-American Popshop for the ages July 7th at Tammany Hall. But first let's talk about last month for a minute, because it might have been the biggest Popshop yet - Body Language tore the roof off of the place with one of the best performances we've had yet, Xaphoon Jones killed it with a DJ set for the ages and Chiddy even stopped by joining Xaph for a Chiddy Bang video shoot in the club before dropping an impromptu late night performance on the mic. In other words, it was HUGE.
Onwards and upwards though, as we look ahead to the July edition with another stellar lineup and more open bar deals than ever. Joining us once again on the Popshop stage after crushing it with The Knocks at POPSHOP 002, it's our main man Penguin Prison back to run things in the headline slot with support from Brooklyn hip hop sensation K. Flay (homegirl KILLS it) and NYC indie hopefuls Spacecamp, plus another barnstorming DJ set from our dudes Captain Cuts, who have put together one of the best sets we've ever heard for Popshop this month. And then we've got Absolut back with another hour of open bar vodka from 8pm-9pm, and Heineken getting in the mix to pop open a free keg for the crowd late night. It's all going down at Tammany Hall on July 7th, which gives you just enough time to recover from your July 4th festivities and get back in tip top raging shape for Thursday night. As per usual, tickets are $10 in advance and $13 on the door, kind of an insane bargain giving just how much free alcohol we'll be plying you with all night. Tickets HERE, let's do this New York.
There's no denying it, Kyla La Grange is here to stay. Don't let her manic pixie dream charm fool you, her songs pack serious emotional heat; visceral knockouts with no pulled punches in sight. "Been Better" is her latest offering, coming off like a statement of intent from La Grange and an exciting preview of what we can expect on her forthcoming debut album, all British folk-rock peppered with a little Americana that tastes like a surprisingly delicious combo of Fleetwood Mac and Aerosmith. The track steamrolls along relentlessly as it's supercharged by Kyla's cathartic self-assurance, which literally pours out of her in the song's epic conclusion. And of course it doesn't hurt that her endearingly smoky pipes reek of Natasha Khan with the fierce bite of Cat Power. If you're into living a life without regrets and happen to be in London on July 12, you should probably find your way to the Lexington to do it up large with our friends at Chess Club for the "Been Better" single release party, big styyyyle.
Details about the UK's most enchanting new chanteuse Bluebell are few and far between, and aside from her friendship with fellow Neon Gold favorite FOE and former involvement in Hampshire four piece Lady & The Lost Boys, there's not much known about Miss Annabel Jones. This much we do know though: her debut single "Normal Heights" is anything but, so extraordinary is the orchestral pop instrumentation that strings you along throughout, leaving you breathless with dramatic looping vocals and its delightfully circuitous structure. Combining Au Revoir Simone grace with raw Imogen Heap emotion, its a special track and the perfect intro song to your new band crush. Plus, we can personally attest to the consistent brilliance of the releases to come, filled to the brim with the kind of massive pop hooks we want to get real friendly with. For now though, “Normal Heights” will keep you grounded, in the best way imaginable. Consider this the post-“Such Great Heights” during the comedown, right before you decide to dive back in.
Everyone's favorite good girl gone rad Electra Heart comes to town Tuesday when Marina & The Diamonds headline Webster Hall, and since we're really great at raging we decided to put together an afterparty for the show at The Jane hotel. The Jane's basically always amazing and we're going to be going extra large as we bid Marina farewell before she hits the road with Katy Perry later this week, so come out and get your dranx on with us Tuesday night, it's gonna be a good one.
Yes, you read the header correctly: a festival. Having spent the summers of our youth growing up on Martha's Vineyard, we've always dreamed of bringing a music festival to the island and next month we take one step closer to making that dream a reality. Enter Stars + Stripes Fest, a new annual "festival" we're bringing to Martha's Vineyard this July 4th weekend together with our friends at NUE Agency, featuring an all-star lineup of Neon Gold favorites in Savoir Adore, French Horn Rebellion, The Knocks and Chiddy Bang headlining. Sure, it's more of a mini-festival right now, but it's a jumping off point for what we hope to grow annually into a summer staple for New Englanders and - let's be real - that lineup is kind of insane.
Furthermore, it's all for a great cause, with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the newly completed Martha's Vineyard YMCA, dedicated to providing a community center for the Island population and fostering the youth of Martha's Vineyard through social programs for all ages. The YMCA is an important year-round presence on an island that - despite it's reputation as an affluent vacation destination and tourist hotspot - remains one of the poorest counties in Massachusetts and much of the Atlantic Northeast, and with the proceeds raised by Stars + Stripes we hope to finally be able to give back to the community that gave us so much in our formative years.
It's all happening Saturday, July 2nd at Nectar's MV from 9pm until late, with advance tickets available now from EventBrite for $30 at the dedicated Stars + Stripes page HERE. Basically, it's going to be the best party we've ever thrown (need we remind you of the line up?), and those of you still looking for the perfect way to spend your July 4th weekend just had your weekend sorted in a big way. Set times and mp3s below, time to go large for America y'all.
"Statues" starts like the soft tapping of rocks at your window. Within seconds and without warning, Auction is up the fire escape and through your window to take you by pleasant surprise. In other words, the climb starts like a soothing Young The Giant-sized croon that suddenly segues into blistering Foals-esque oblivion, a heady mix of cartwheeling synth accents that float like a butterfly and Stings like The Police. As you feel the energy of five rowdy young London boys fully contained in the ticking timebomb of a chorus that blows its fuse at the perfect moment, time suddenly starts to stand still in a moment of pristine pop clarity. You really need to experience firsthand their meticulous electro-tinged Brit rock to believe it, so get involved because it's time to get sold on Auction.
We admit we slept on this one. But as usual Kitsuné - our bedfellows from across the Atlantic - were there to pick up the slack and we have them to thank for introducing us to the delicately crafted pop gems of Nightbox. The group of Irish transplants come to us via Toronto (where they picked up some slick production from Death From Above 1979's Al-P and Sebastien Grainger), and lucky for us they sound exactly like a five-piece from Ireland by way of Canada would. It’s like lucid dreaming at a Two Door Cinema Club meets Winter Gloves kind of costume party, and all of a sudden there’s a “no need for small talk” song that does away with any false pretenses and jumps headfirst into the great unknown with you. Then, just as the pre-chorus burns slowly towards the explosive bass-driven climax on the chorus, you're thrust back to reality and the dream is over. So wake up.
Imagine KateBush suspended in the cosmos, simultaneously shrouded in waning sunlight and waxing moonlight. Brooklyn’s Chrome Canyon, or Morgan Z (née Whirledge, formerly of Apes & Androids) unravels this precious, balled-up ballad, installs whirring rocket power engines, and watches it take flight. Not so much a cover as it is an intricately woven re-imagining, Chrome Canyon brings vocalist Phoebe Oglesbee into the mix on the verses but keeps Bush's legendary soprano beautifully intact on the chorus and backing vox (we think? they work so well together it's almost hard to tell where one ends and the other begins), all the while drawing out the glorious drum line of the original and throwing a sheer spaceman jumper on top for good measure. Released in commemoration of the release of Bush's new album, Chrome Canyon’s “Suspended in Gaffa” is the sound of 21st century heartbreak, and it's kind of perfect.
This Strange Talk EP we dropped in May (available for sale here) has really been earning its stripes as the official soundtrack of our summer - we're spinning this record on the daily and it's still got legs for miles. Helping to prolong its shelf life though are a crop of brilliant remixes, which we've been dropping for you every few weeks since the release. Last month Lightwaves and Vanguard brought the heat in the first round of "Eskimo Boy" remixes, but here comes Draper ready to deliver the coup-de-gras knockout with one of the fiercest remixes of 2011. Speeding up the spiraling synth riff of the original, Draper strings the listener along with punchy percussion and swirling electronics before plunging them into a moment of crisis on the chorus with a MASSIVE drop into a wind tunnel of warped synths and chopped up vocals. BIG MOVES.
So last week our main man Xaphoon Jones promised a new beat to his fans when he hit 20,000 followers, and now that he's eclipsed that milestone he's come to us to help him deliver the goods with an exclusive premier of his remix for Grouplove's "Colours". This track's already been remixed into oblivion and beyond by the homies Captain Cuts, but here Xaph's intertwined elements of their empire-toppling mix with the stems of the original, thrown them into the Xaphoon Jones pop magic machine and come out the other side with a barnstorming floor-filler that comes off like like Grouplove wildin' out down in Jamaica with Gyptian and Nicki Minaj. And trust us, that is a GREAT thing.
Xaphoon tore the fucking roof off of Tammany Hall at Popshop last Thursday with a DJ set for the ages, and he's back for round two next Tuesday at the Beyond Goldlaunch party, which conveniently also features Grouplove headlining live and the NYC debut of Captain Cuts alongside Xaph on the decks in what we can only hope will develop into a Neon Gold House Mafia DJ supergroup scenario. Tickets are only $5 (and did we mention there's free beer and vodka from 7-8pm too?) and are still available HERE, so get involved before it's too late. Trust us when we say this event will sell out.
Don't know if y'all got the memo, but summer's here in a big way and it's time to throw the top back and turn the radio up on some serious summer anthems. Enter LA's Capital Cities, who arrive just in time with a little sonic head rush called "Safe + Sound", an easy, breezy, beautiful slice of effervescent electro-pop that even comes complete with a massive "trumpets in da club" bit that absolutely kills it. This is a full-bodied concoction of happy-go-lucky lyrics and syrupy cloud nine harmonies that have them coming off like Yes Giantess with the beards of My Morning Jacket and the solid gold hooks of Empire of the Sun to boot. NOT MAD.
Like an invitation you weren’t expecting to get, Atlas Genius knocks on your door and creeps into your peripheries in stealth mode. Fair warning: “Trojans” will invade your head, all dressed up in a clever disguise of earnest vocals riding a hooky riff that easily approaches Phoenix-esque levels of infectiousness. And then there’s that driving bassline gliding over a frenetic bridge with athletic ease, the kind of thing cruise control dreams are made of. It pulls up outside your window, blasting from a fully functional boombox, shouldered by some dude in a trenchcoat holding the weight of the world. It won’t leave. And then you realize you never want it to. If you need protection from generic brand “party indie”, try this one on for size.
As if one masterful Wolf Gang remix wasn't enough, Baby Monster further demonstrate just how much creative heat they're packing by adeptly pitching strike two in the cage. The Wolf Gang original already killed it, but Baby Monster legitimately raise the dead with reverbing incantations and electronic boomerangs swooping in and out of the afterlife on this one. It's a spellbinding reimagining that transcends time and space to flip on the lightswitch in your head and broadcast your live excitement through widened eyes. Every iteration of "The King And All of His Men" has basically been a musical Game of Thrones, but as umpires in the pop game, we've got to give credit where credit's due on this crowning achievement for the Baby Monster gentlemen.
