Arcade Fire - "The Sprawl ll (Mountains beyond Mountains)"

     Nearly a year and a half after the release of 'The Suburbs', Arcade Fire teamed up with Vincent Morisset & friends for an interesting new project based around one of the album highlights, "The Sprawl 2 (Mountains beyond Mountains).
The idea was to create an interactive experience for the viewer. What they came up with was a "dance" activated version involving your webcam; your "dancing"(random movements, choreographed by you) will determine the speed and direction of the film. Interesting?, Yes. Unique?, Yes. Trendsetting?, unlikely but possible, as for now it simply plays out like a "Hipster" version of Xbox's 'Kinect' (in a good way).
Get your dance on via the Hipster Dance Machine

Luckily, for those who don't wish to break out in dance...they also filmed a more "traditional version. Both versions share the same footage, shot in a very 80's fashion, circa 'The Goonies' & 'Red Dawn'.

The Shins - New LP

     The Shins announced yesterday, they will release their fourth album [Port of Morrow] in March on Apothecary Records which is frontman James Mercer's own imprint, a division of Columbia Records.

It has been nearly five years since the last LP [Wincing the Night Away], needless to say this will be a HIGHLY anticipated release leading up it's still unannounced official street date. Today we find Mercer as the only member left, in which case he helms all of the songwriting duties along with most of the instrumentation.

For those of you who can't wait another month or so for the pre-order to be up and would like to start fantasizing now...Here's the tracklisting:

The Shins - Port of Morrow

1. The Rifle's Spiral
2. Simple Song
3. It's only life
4. No way down
5. September
6. Bait and Switch
7. Fall of '82
8. For a Fool
9. 40 Mark Strasse

10. Port of Morrow

Since, according to Natalie Portman, this song will or already may have changed your life - this seemed appropriate.

Is it March yet?

Grinderman is Dead

     The news made it's way around the world within minutes....But, for those of you whom have been in a coma the past two days...

Reportedly, Grinderman frontman, Nick Cave announced "That's it for Grinderman.  It's over.", following their set at Meredith Music Festival in Australia over the weekend. He quickly added, "See you all in another 10 years when we'll all be even older and uglier".

With only two full lengths under their belt ( the aptly titled 1 & 2 ), it seems a pretty short run ( even for a side project ) from an artist as prolific as Cave. We'll just take it as a sign that 'The Seeds will be back in full force soon, which is always welcome.

R.I.P.  Grinderman

The Big Pink take on "Mayonaise"

     It may seem coincidental that the duo of Robbie Furze & Milo Cordell, aka Britain's 'The Big Pink', stopped by BBC's Radio 1 and decided to cover The Smashing Pumpkins classic "Mayonaise" shortly after the  heavily hyped release of the "Pumpkins" - 'Gish' & 'Siamese Dream' reissues. However, the pair have apparently been covering the track at their shows for quite some time. While their version is slightly more stripped down (for obvious reasons), it still seems to strike a familiar chord, one that even the ever-arrogant Billy Corgan would be hard pressed not to acknowledge.

We dare you to listen to this and not immediately have the urge to dig out some of your old Grunge records, assuming you were smart enough to hang on to them through that whole "Rap-Rock" musical apocalypse of the late 90's..

The Big Pink - Mayonaise (The Smashing Pumpkins Cover) by ErnestimesBlog

Discover : Carrousel

Carrousel are a duo from Tallahassee, Florida who describe their sound as Dream-pop/Folk, which sounds pretty spot on. They've spent the last two years writing, recording and perfecting their style/sound in their home studio, leading up to the November 15th release of their debut EP, entitled 'Darling'. Since then we've had 'Darling' in regular rotation; while only three tracks, it was intended as a teaser of sorts, preparing the masses for a full length expected in February.
The band has graciously put the EP up for FREE download via their Bandcamp; Check it out below.

Also, they have put together a stunning video for the standout track, titled "14"...

Find them on Facebook - Carrousel

Planet of Sound

After a lengthy hiatus, we are back and looking forward to spreading the good word once again.

[Editor's note] - The "good word" stated above was meant to be taken in the musical sense.