The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong

Brooklyn dream-poppers The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will release the physical version of their excellent sophomore album Belong this coming Tuesday. However, if you head over to the band's site you can stream the entire album now. The record, which was produced by Flood and mixed by the legendary Alan Moulder, takes on the heaviness that one would expect from the guy who mixed Loveless and continues the band's blend of the Cure's dreamy 80s sound with early era Smashing Pumpkins alternative guitar drones. The album seems to be the logical step forward from the band's self-titled debut as they still supply powerful harmonies and choruses with the addition of noisier shoegaze guitar strokes. They played single "Heart in Your Heartbreak" on Letterman last week, which can be viewed above (via Pitchfork) , and the new album is available to stream below.

Cults - "You Know What I Mean"

The Brooklyn duo uploaded this excellent new track from their forthcoming debut album out in May. Check out the fuzzy pop gem below or via the band's website.

Cults - You Know What I Mean by cultscultscults

Godspeed You! Black Emperor played Brooklyn Masonic Temple

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Brooklyn Masonic Temple - 3/16/2011 from Francesco Marchione on Vimeo.


It began with a stage shrouded in darkness. A small red glow and the flicker of the projectors ushered in the band members, one by one, as a slow rumbling began to pour out of the speakers. As the ensemble broke into their set, terrifying drones played underneath flashes of the word 'hope' and slowly these sprawling orchestrations erupted in monstrous form. These post-rock titans built towering swells of sound that would climax in ear splitting and body melting pinnacles before returning to calm yet gloomy arrangements. Without ever speaking a word, the band established a presence that commanded pure silence and devotion from everyone in attendance. Hiding themselves in shadows the band let the music speak for itself demanding not only attention during long exhilarating crescendos, but also demanding the endurance to withstand the pure intensity that came with each mountainous wave of sonic blasts concocted by the group. While listening to the band in an intimate private setting can prove to be a truly pleasurable experience, the raw impact of seeing this illustrious sound performed in front of a devoted crowd can only compare with few other live acts.

Setlist:
Hope Drone
Gathering Storm
Monheim
Albanian
Chart #3
World Police and Friendly Fire
Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls
Moya
BBP3

Thom Yorke / Burial / Four Tet - "Ego" and "Mirror"

In what seems like a dream, it was announced earlier today that Thom Yorke, Burial, and Four Tet will be collaborating on a 12" single. Four Tet debuted the songs this afternoon on the BBC and unsurprisingly, it did not take long for the two tracks to make their way to the internet.

"Ego"


"Mirror"

Battles - "Ice Cream" (feat. Matias Aguayo)

The future seemed dim for Battles when Tyondai Braxton left the group in the fall to work on solo material. Since then, the band has announced that there will indeed be a follow up to the epic Mirrored and it will be called Gloss Drop (due June 6th). Today the BBC premiered the first song off the album entitled "Ice Cream" which can now be found below via We All Want Something To Shout For. The song definitely shows more progression and some style changes from their previous material, but at the heart keeps the intensity of Battles alive.

Battles - Ice Cream (Feat. Matias Aguayo) by weallwantsome1

The Get Up Kids played Music Hall of Williamsburg

There was certainly some buzz in the air leading up to last night's performance by emo pioneers the Get Up Kids. Would they still play old songs? What kind of crowd still cares about these guys? Will the energy be just like I remember? After entering the stage to Kraftwerk's epic "Autobahn" it definitely seemed like things would at least be interesting. However when the band jumped right into material from their newest release There Are Rules people seemed a little underwhelmed. However that all changed the second the band made the immediate transition into "I'm a Loner Dottie, a Rebel". The kids were back with the same intensity as ever. The show started with an interesting mix of both old classics and new material. "Coming Clean" really started to get people moving as the fourth track of the night, yet it was "Action and Action" that got the night rocking. From there on out the band used their new songs as buffers between timeless tunes such as "Close to Home" "Mass Pike" "Red Letter Day" and "No Love". While the band may like to put the past behind them and focus on their more recent accomplishments, clearly the audience had other things in mind. After announcing that some changes were going to be made to the set list, the band gave in to what the fans wanted to hear. Throwback "Woodson" and other highlights from Four Minute Mile and Something to Write Home About launched the crowd into a pure frenzy. Ballads "Campfire Kansas" and main set closer "I'll Catch You" made for some excellent sing along moments, but "Shorty" and "Don't Hate Me" were the energy packed anthems that got the pit flowing. For the encore, the band did anything but disappoint. Launching into "Holiday" and ending the show with "Ten Minutes" established that even though this is clearly a band remembered for their pop-punk tendencies rather then the mature sound they wanted to bring out on their latest release, these songs still mean the world to a specific group of people. People that wouldn't have survived middle school or high school without these guys providing a very emotional and influential soundtrack will never shy away from their heroes and as long as the Get Up Kids don't mind catering to their fans desires, there will always be place for them in our hearts.