We've Moved!

We are moving! We have packed up our things and are moving over to a new and fancy Word Press blog. Neat Eh? Head over to Toomuchbirthdaycake.Wordpress.com

Wild Nothing - Shadows

The Wild Nothing is a one man pop band with that one man being Jack Tatum. Jack seems to dream up an ambient like softness with a gentle pop. He has a new album coming out later this summer called Nocturne and the first song released is titled Shadow. Check out the track and stay tuned for the album.

Blu & Exile To Release Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them

 In December of 2011 Blu & Exile posted a steam to their follow up to Below The Heavens. It was a highly anticipated album that fans got a taste of early. Now these guys are finally ready to officially drop Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them, fully remastered with new tracks and some guest features. The new album will be released September 4th.

To tie us over until September the duo are dropping an EP on July 24th titled Maybe One Day. Pre Order the EP Here




One of my favourites by Blu and Exile from the modern classic Below the Heavens the track The World Is..
  Blu & Exile - The World Is by hwrd_bryn

Phantogram Has A Mouthful Of Diamonds

Phantogram is a duo from the states and they play mostly indie style pop music. With only one studio album out and a few EPs these guys are gaining a lot of attention. It also helps that they have toured with pretty much everyone in the 'indie pop world'.

I'm really liking this track from '09 titled Mouthful of Diamonds.

There's No Leaving Now

    The Tallest Man On Earth has finally released his 3rd studio album There's No Leaving Now today on Dead Oceans. I have been counting down the days for this one and I am definitely not disappointed.
The single1904 holds the same consistent energy heard off of his previous albums while songs like the title track There's No Leaving Now have a new softness. This shows a clear evolution not just in song structure but in a new diversity of instruments, bringing woodwinds and pianos into the mix. Easily one of the best folk albums of 2012. Worth the purchase and the download.


  The Tallest Man On Earth - "1904" by Rolling Stone Magazin

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis At Rifflandia!

One of the many acts headlining Rifflandia this year that I am stoked for is Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The rapper and producer duo from Seattle. Making big waves this year by being on the cover of XXL's Freshman Issue and Unsigned Hype in The Source. With live performances like this I'm really excicted to see these guys live on a festival stage!

P.O.S Announces New Album We Don't Even Live Here

P.O.S has announced the details of his next album! Well maybe just a few details... It will be titled We Don't Even Live Here and be released on Rhymesayers September 18th.

Apparently this album was recorded with Andrew Dawson a Grammy award winning producer who has worked with the likes of Kanye West, Jay Z, Kid Cudi and Fun.

P.O.S joins Brother Ali and Aesop Rock in releasing albums on Rhymesayers this year.

Meanwhile check out the single Drumroll from his last release Never Better (2009) 

  P.O.S. - Drumroll by roverthsub

Tune-Yards (Merrill Garbus Is Amazing)

Merrill Garbus (vocals, drums, ukulele all looped) and Nate Brenner (bass) are Tune-Yards (or tUne-YaRdS) and they released their second album Whokill last year on 4AD Records. The single Bizness is a new favorite of mine as well as the lip syncing elementary school kids in the awesome video.



Also check out this amazing video of the duo performing Real Live Flesh

 
 Another killer track by Tune-yards is Gangsta
  Tune-Yards - Gangsta by The Recommender

The A Team By Ed Sheeran

A sweet gem of song by 21 year old English singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran. His album + was released last year in the UK and since then he has blown up.

The A Team By Ed Sheeran

  The A-Team by Ed Sheeran 

Childish Gambino And Beck

Childish Gambino pulls in the big feature for his new Mixtape. Beck drops a verse for this definitely unexpected collabo. 

Head over to foreverchildish.com/mixtape to download

  Silk Pillow (prod. Beck & Childish Gambino) - Childish Gambino by Forever Childish2 

Donald Glover also got some custom artwork for the mixtape by Sam Spratt

Ben Howard - Old Pine

Here is a song and an artist I am really diggin' lately. Ben Howard (UK) released Every Kingdom in September of last year and I am ashamed to say I just heard of this amazing album recently. Every song off of this album carries its own weight. No filler. Old Pine is one of my favorites and has some awesome guitar playing, as does the entire album.
 

Bliss N Eso Play With Lana Del Rey's Video Games

Australian Hip Hop artist Bliss N Eso drop a new track to celebrate hitting 400k fans on their Facebook page. The flip Lana Del Rey's Video Games and make it their own. The Australian Hip Hop scene is really blowing up lately and it's cool to see these guys get the attention the deserve.

Beck Releases A New Track About Hating People

 Like Insane Clown Posse and Tom Jones, Beck releases a one-off single on Jack White's Third Man Records. The new track is called I Just Started Hating Some People Today. At first the song doesn't quite sound like him. An old Folksy and Country tune but it picks up fast and starts to sound very Beck. He even offers up two awesomely weird endings. The Country twang is nice and definitely feels like it has Jack White all over it.

  Beck -Just Started Hating Some People Today by zonnora

Jay Z & Kanye West Release No Church In The Wild Video

Jay Z and Kanye West release the the new video for No Church In The Wild. Directed by Romain Gavras (M.I.A's Born Free and Bad Girls) the video is an epic riot scene of apocalyptic proportions.
Check out the craziness below!

Bobby Womack and Lana Del Rey

Another odd pairing as of late is Lana Del Rey and legend Bobby Womack. Teaming up for a track on the 68 year old's new album The Bravest Man In The Universe due out on XL June 11th. The track is a really cool spaced out sound that seems like it's begging for a Jamie XX like remix.


The track is called Dayglo Reflection by Bobby Womack featuring Lana Del Rey..

Preview of Azealia Banks New EP 1991

After a couple of push backs and a management change, Azealia Banks releases the details for the new EP. 1991 will feature her hit 212 as well as three new tracks.  Listen below for a one minute preview of each song. Sounds dance-tastic! I still got 212 on repeat from last week.
 
1. 1991
2. Van Vogue
3. 212
4. Liquorice

Lupe Fiasco - Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)

Lupe Fiasco is back at it again with his first single of of his fourth studio album Food and Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album. The new single is called Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free.) The new track samples Pete Rock and CL Smooth's classic T.R.O.Y. and at first Pete Rock seemed to have beef with the rework but he updated his Twitter to say him and Lupe spoke and are cool. Lupe defends reworking the classic track...

"All the credit goes to my partner and manager Chill, he just felt like it was time to bring back a joint, Go back and take one of the iconic records of Hip Hop and put a new spin on it and put it back out there" 

  Lupe Fiasco – Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free) (HIPHOPYT.WORDPRESS.COM) by HipHopYT

What do you think? Paying respect? or jacking beats?

Ron Burgundy Is Back And This Time... He's On Top

Two new teaser trailers are out for Anchorman 2! So stoked for this even though it is not out for another 9 months
  

Azealia Banks Has Arrived

Not entirely sure what to think of Azealia Banks. This twenty year old rapper/singer from Harlem certainly has a new style that could very well be the future of female of Hip Hop. For now, this is just the beginning of Azealia Banks. The song was released at the end of 2011 but it definitely getting some attention on the old interweb.

Her debut album 1991 will hit the web on May 29th and the stores on June 12th.

Against Me Singer Comes Out As Transgender

Tom Gabel, the lead singer of Against Me! has done an interview with RS and revealed himself to be Transgendered. Tom will soon begin living as a woman and eventually take the name of Laura Jane Grace.  Since the news broke on Friday the band has seen support from fellow rockers Gaslight Anthem and GLAAD. President of GLAAD Herndon Graddick told RS...  

"Tom is displaying extraordinary courage by coming out as transgender after already establishing herself as a rock star. For many of the band's fans, this may be the first time they're actually thinking about transgender people and the bravery it sometimes takes in order to be true to yourself. We've seen nothing but support from Tom's fanbase online, and we hope her story will help countless transgender youth who have not had someone like her to relate to before."

The Art Of Mike Mitchell

 

Bert & Ernie

 

Ron Swanson

 

The Ultimate Warrior

Check out the Mike Mitchell store for prints and tees!

And check out this website for more art!

Cheers Elephant

Here is a fun and bright pop song to wrap up your spring. As the weather starts to heat up a track like this is perfect for a sunny day. The track is called Leaves and the band Cheers Elephant, is described as a raw, rootsy, psychedelic pop rock quartet from Philadelphia.

You can get their album by donation on the band's Bandcamp page.

Cheers Elephant with Leaves
  Cheers Elephant - Leaves by Viva Indie Rock2

Jay Z Backs President Obama On Gay Marriage

Jay Z takes a stance on gay marriage and back President Barack Obama. With Hip Hop still tolerating so much homophobia within the culture, it is great to see a name like Jay Z speak out. Hopefully with all this attention this topic is getting we will start to see change and see more rappers speaking out.
 

New Song by The Tallest Man On Earth

The Tallest Man On Earth releases the first single, 1904, from his upcoming album, There's No Leaving Now. This new track isn't drastically different from the sound we are used to from this Swedish folk hero but it definitely feels like an evolution. The sound is more full of body and feels less stripped down than his last album The Wild Hunt. We can only assume that his new album will reflect this new found fullness throughout.

Head over to Rolling Stone for the free download and brief interview

Here is 1904 by The Tallest Man On Earth

 The Tallest Man On Earth - "1904" by Rolling Stone Magazin

Grouplove - Tongue Tied

The Zone has been playing a fun little indie pop song by a band called Grouplove lately and holy shit is it catchy. I'm pretty sure that this has been stuck in my head for an entire week now. These guys just formed in 2010 in Portland but it seems like they are already exploding. This track Tongue Tied is already number six on the Rock Charts.

Their album Never Trust a Happy Song is definitely worth the purchase BUY IT

Grouplove - Tongue Tied

Wake Owl

One of the awesome bands that will be hitting up Rifflandia this year (and also May 25th at Lucky Bar) is the Vancouver indie folk/rock collective Wake Owl. These guys have a great sound and I'm stoked to see it live. Hit up the website to buy tickets/support.

"We are a band from Vancouver" - Wake Owl

This is Gold by Wake Owl off the Wild Country EP

  Gold by Wake Owl

Brother Ali Drops A New Track!

Brother Ali drops a new track and video called Not A Day Goes By. Head nod warning: Jake One is on the beat. Head over to Rhymesayers to download the mp3
 Brother Ali is currently putting the finishing touches on his 6th studio album Mourning In America And Dreaming In Color.
 

New Album From The Tallest Man On Earth

There's No Leaving Now is the new album by The Tallest Man On Earth and boy does this guy have great timing. The new album is set to be released on June 12th, just before summer. What better way to soundtrack your summer in Victoria than with a folksy indie album. This guy would fit right in at Rifflandia.

Here's the track listing to the new album.

There's No Leaving Now:
01 To Just Grow Away
02 Revelation Blues
03 Leading Me Now
04 1904
05 Bright Lanterns
06 There's No Leaving Now
07 Wind and Walls
08 Little Brother
09 Criminals
10 On Every Page

Here is one of my favorites The Weather Of A Killing Kind

   The Tallest Man on Earth - Weather of a Killing Kind by All Around Sound Blog

The Uncluded

Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson (The Moldy Peaches) are making an album together and they call this project The Uncluded. They are definitely an unlikely duo of underground legends but with a lot of similarities this project seems like a no brainer. They both have built a strong level respect based on their DIY careers and they both carry an incredibly unique style. An odd pairing but it definitely works. Aesop has also worked with Kimya recently on her album Thunder Thighs(support) and she is set to be featured on his upcoming album Skelethon(support). 

Their album will be released sometime this year and will be titled Hockey Fright. On Aesop Rock's website the tracklisting is released as this screen shot...

 

Lots of live footage is up on you tube and Bats and Delicate Cycle have been released so far. 

Heres Bats!

   The Uncluded (Aesop Rock & Kimya Dawson) - Bats by Tube2ouf

UPDATE: Andre 3000 To Star As Jimi Hendrix, Estate Opposes

Three Stacks from Outkast is set to star in the recently announced Jimi Hendrix biopic. According the the Irish Times filming is to begin shortly in Ireland. Transforming Bray and Dún Laoghaire into 1960s London. The film, titled All Is By My Side was written and also will be directed by John Ridley (Three Kings) Full details are said to be released at the upcoming Cannes film festival.

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal reported the estate has made it clear that they oppose this biopic. They stated:

  "Experience Hendrix LLC has made it known many times in the past that no such film, were it to include original music or copyrights created by Jimi Hendrix, can be undertaken without its full participation.”

They did however go on to say that they might be interested in getting involved in something like this in the future. I wonder how the film will make it work with out using original music.

WSJ said a representative for Andre 3000 didn’t immediately respond to a request for a comment.

The Dudes Play Victoria

Victoria! Get ready for some high quality Rock n' Roll brought to you courtesy of The Dudes! These fellows from Calgary are back with a new single American Girl and new album on the way, Barbers, Thieves and Bartenders.

   They will be hitting up Club 9ONE9 Thursday, May 10th and they won't be alone. Poor Young Things, another solid rock band from even further out east (Thunder Bay, Ontario) will be opening up and doors are at 8:00pm.
  

Aesop Rock Releases A Video For Zero Dark Thirty

Aesop Rock premiers his brand new video for the single Zero Dark Thirty off his upcoming album Skelethon out on July 10th on Rhymesayers.

Finally! It always feels like forever between solo albums for Aesop and sometimes it is. 5 Years for this one but it is on it's way along with a side project with Kimya Dawson (The Moldy Peaches) but that's worthy of its own entire post.




Another little bonus was that the Rhymesayers released the lyrics in the description on the youtube page. Copy and pasted below for your reading enjoyment.

Unsigned hype, front line aeronauts flurry, zero dark thirty, zero friends, minotaur-fugly stepchild, evoke lunch jumped over plunging necklines, up, beside tongue-tied hungry enzymes, devolved into mothmen munching textiles, punisher, out past go-time, back 10 fried worms chubbier, brown grass both sides, canned food, manmade tools, Lanacane, band-aids, mandrake root, bindle on a broom stick, pancaked shoes and handshake-proof campaign, can't lose, can't gain, smoke out moles like a force of nature, pray fortune return to his favor, swiftly, maybe in the form of a nest egg, maybe in the form of a tesla death ray, or a solid gold scene with something better to celebrate than powder on your face like a flat foot on jelly day, m-m-moral compass all batshit, spinning in the shadows of immoral magnets, are we supporting the artist or enabling the addict, I mean, I guess it matters to me, I wish it mattered to you, how a thousand virtues, kick the same bucket like chinatown turtles

Roving packs of elusive young, become choke-lore writers over boosted drums, in the terrifying face of a future tongue, Down from a huntable surplus to one

(check his own) Breakneck pulse over colors in a drain that emote sugar skulls in the rain, flower-eyes melting, guided by a levy made of bath tiles tilting, quarter up and headed for the kill screen, no corner cut, no build team, only a particularly menacing, angle perpendicular to everything, boys room cherry bomb, boy/goon very much runnin' with the devil in the mellotron, hello, here's where a tale of caution, pounds coffin nails to bootlegs of Hawkwind, saw tooth, nevermind straw to gold, spin hearts on sleeves into heads on poles, arm in the maw, fish out pith like a business card from a jar at the mall, A-alike androids dreaming of carbon applause get stuffed with cartoon cigars, cold pack, neti-pot, home to roost, around folk backed into what they most lampoon, shook to the fevered brow and broke ankles, daisy, declawed pound, no thank you, fade me, failed all basic training but I spent a couple groundhogs days with a changeling, silouhette the god last cigarette, anything less would be re-god-damn-diculous

The Tale Of You & I

Here is a nice little piece of Indie Folk by the group Wild Child from Austin Texas. Really enjoying the back and forth banter of the male and female vocals. A similar style to Of Monsters And Men but Wild Child seem to take the new dark folk sound a bit further. I would highly suggest The Tale of You & I from their album Pillow Talk.
Head over to their website and get the album!
The Tale Of You & Me by WildChildSounds