Since it was reported months ago that Daft Punk would be orchestrating the entire soundtrack for the upcoming Tron film, the whole music world has been eagerly anticipating samples, tracks and the final album. I personally am overly awaiting the film’s release to theaters. The trailers look amazing and so is the soundtrack from what I’ve heard so far.

Daft Punk are the kings of electronic music so it only made sense that they should write the score for this game based movie.

I have always said that Daft Punk are one of the band’s that I have to see and I hope with the release of this soundtrack that they jump back on the plane and do another full blown world tour. I will be first in line to get a ticket.

tracklist:
01. overture
02. the grid
03. the son of flynn
04. recognizer
05. armory
06. arena
07. rinzler
08. the game has changed
09. outlands
10. adagio for tron
11. nocturne
12. end of line
13. derezzed
14. fall
15. solar sailer
16. rectifier
17. disc wars
18. c.l.u.
19. arrival
20. flynn lives
21. tron legacy (end titles)
22. finale

daft punk – tron legacy (original motion picture soundtrack)

…rowan

LCD Soundsystem could’ve spent the week after they played the Glastonbury Festival kicking their feet up. Instead, they holed up in a London studio to record the live-in-studio LP The London Sessions.

This album has it all, songs ranging from This is Happening all the way down to their self titled album, LCD Soundsystem.

Even though they basically make electronic dance music, LCD refuse to replicate any of their sounds with computers; you won’t see a laptop onstage with them. Instead, they bash things out the hard way. James Murphy, as I’ve previously stated is “the man”, it will be sad to see this great project come to an end but all is not lost as Murphy will carry on producing and remixing other amazing bands.

The digital release November 9 via DFA/Virgin. This LP will be exclusively available through iTunes until December 6.

tracklist:
01. us v them
02. all i want
03. drunk girls
04. get innocuous
05. daft punk is playing at my house
06. all my friends
07. pow pow
08. i can change
09. yr city’s a sucker

lcd soundsystem – the london sessions

…rowan

Deerhunter have become one of my favorite bands of our generation simply because of Microcastle, it is amazing. So understandably I was frothing at the mouth in anticipation for their 2010 release Halcyon Digest, and with only a couple of listens I can already see this is going to live up to the hype I had for it.

Since their debut album Turn It Up Faggot the band has grown and adapted with the end result being a nice clean original sound which I could now recognize anywhere.

The album starts out with ‘Earthquake’ which slowly brings the listener into the subdued, dream like feel of the album. The albums stand out tracks are ‘Don’t Cry’, ‘Revival’, ‘Helicopter’ and ‘Fountain Stairs’ (personal opinion) with ‘Revival’ and ‘Helicopter’ being the first two singles.

I had the privilege of seeing them last year. The show left myself and the rest of the crowd gobsmacked. For the encore they ended up playing ‘Microcastle’ as per my request.

tracklist:
01. earthquake
02. don’t cry
03. revival
04. sailing
05. memory boy
06. desire lines
07. basement scene
08. helicopter
09. fountain stairs
10. coronado
11. he would have laughed

deerhunter – halcyon digest

Below is the official video for ‘Helicopter’ which once again portrays a dream like feel with the lead singer, Bradford Cox’s face super imposed over a series of black & white images:

…rowan

Below is the video for Muscles’ new single, ‘Girls Crazy Go’.

Shot on location in Tokyo by Beaufort and starring a stack of young ladies being let loose in the neon city. This video is a perfect introduction to Muscle’s forthcoming EP, ‘Younger & Immature’ which is set to be released in October under Modular records.

The video portrays the song perfectly with an odd ending?? Don’t know, whatever, it’s a fun video and I look forward to the EP.

…rowan

Are Radiohead the greatest band of our generation? Possibly! First they gave us a free album, now they have given us a free DVD.

Back on August 23rd, 2009 at a show in Prague, 50 fans filmed the concert from 50 different positions in the crowd. The footage has since been professionally edited with professional show audio. This is a Radiohead concert DVD shot by fans, for fans.

Download the DVD here (fo’ free): Radiohead live in Prague

You can watch a trailer for it below:

…rowan

deerhunter – revival

tracklist:
01. revival
02. primitive 3d

download:
deerhunter – revival

here is also 3 bonus demo tracks:
deerhunter – 3 bonus demos

japandroids – younger us / sex and dying in high society

tracklist:
01. younger us
02. sex and dying in high society

download:
japandroids – younger us / sex and dying in high society

klaxons – echoes

tracklist:
01. echoes
02. echoes (instrumental)

download:
klaxons – echoes

lcd soundsystem – i can change

tracklist:
01. i can change
02. you wanted a hit (soulwax remix)
03. i can change (tiga remix)
04. i can change (stereogamous remix)
05. i can change (stereogamous inlovestrumental)

download:
lcd soundsystem – i can change

menomena – double

tracklist:
01. taos (edit)
02. let me know
03. five little rooms (edit)
04. copious

download:
menomena – double

wild beasts – we still got the taste dancin’ on our tongues

tracklist:
01. we’ve still got the taste dancing on our tongues
02. through the iron gate
03. two dancers (ii) (jon hopkins remix)
04. devil’s crayon

download:
wild beasts – we still got the taste dancin’ on our tongues

…rowan

Senior, the fourth LP from Norwegian electro-duo Röyksopp, is described as a moodier sibling to 2009’s upbeat, hook-heavy Junior.

I have always had two minds about Röyksopp, on one hand they have some brilliant tracks like ‘Eple’, ‘What Else Is There?’ and ‘Sombre Detune’ and some not so good tracks (personal opinion), but besides all of that I was looking forward to their latest album Senior to be released especially because it was originally intended for a late 2009 release but Röyksopp pushed Senior’s release date to 2010 in fear that the latter might infringe upon the former’s (Junior) highly successful sales. Senior will play dark to Junior’s light.

Details about Senior have been kept under tight wraps, but rumor has it that fans can expect a more instrumental-heavy album, thick with atmosphere and mood.

tracklist:
01. … and the forest began to sing
02. tricky two
03. the alcoholic
04. senior living
05. the drug
06. forsaken cowboy
07. the fear
08. coming home
09. a long, long way

röyksopp – senior

Note: This isn’t the best leak at 192k but if you can’t wait (like me) for a 320k then this is better than nothing

…rowan

bombay bicycle club

tracklist:
01. my god
02. ivy & gold
03. the giantess / emergency contraception blues
04. cancel on me
05. autumn
06. evening / morning
07. always like this

bombay bicycle club – itunes festival 2010

florence + the machine

tracklist:
01. ghosts
02. drumming song
03. girl with one eye
04. rabbit heart (raise it up)
05. cosmic love
06. between two lungs

florence + the machine – itunes festival 2010

phoenix

tracklist:
01. lisztomania
02. lasso
03. fences
04. countdown
05. rome
06. 1901

phoenix – itunes festival 2010

two door cinema club

tracklist:
01. cigarettes in the theatre
02. undercover martyn
03. do you want it all?
04. eat that up, it’s good for you
05. this is the life
06. something good can work
07. i can talk
08.What You Know

two door cinema club – itunes festival 2010

…rowan

Last Thursday (29/07/10) I took a trip up to Auckland to attend the Florence + the Machine concert. With supporting acts The Drums (USA) and The Naked and Famous (NZ), this was a show I didn’t want to miss out on, so a 2.5 hour trip there and back home was what was needed in order to be back at work for Friday. Needless to say my Friday wasn’t too productive.

The Naked and Famous had just started their set upon my arrival. This band’s fan base is growing by the day mainly because of their latest single ‘Young Blood’ which has been played by every radio station throughout New Zealand. Anyway their set was very good and didn’t miss a beat, ‘Young Blood’ being the crowd pleaser.

The Drums were on next and were nothing short of amazing. I have been closely following this band since I found out they were supporting Florence back in March. The set was cut short because they had to get the stage ready for Florence which was disappointing as there were a few songs that I would have liked to seen. However ‘Let’s go Surfing’, ‘Best Friend’ and ‘I Need Fun in My Life’ were played which kept me happy. The Drums were full of energy running around the stage and slinging guitars around, they are with out a doubt a new and fun up and coming band of 2009/2010.

So… after seeing Florence earlier this year at the Laneway Festival I knew I was in for a good time. With colorful backdrops which changed every couple of songs and birdcages placed around the stage with dimming lights inside them the stage was set and ready. Starting the set out with a bang was ‘Drumming Song’ which immediately got the crowd moving. Florence has a huge amount of energy; she was constantly in motion: twirling, leaping and jumping around the stage. Throughout the set were songs, ‘Rabbit Heart’, ‘I’m Not Calling You a Liar’, ‘Cosmic Love’ and the crowd got treated to a new song ‘Strangeness and Charm’ which will be out on her new album, before finally ending with ‘Kiss With a Fist’.

She came back out for a final encore preforming her most poppy single ‘Dog Days Are Over’ as well as her single off the Twlight Saga:Eclipse Soundtrack ‘Heavy in Your Arms’.

It was a great show and a great night, after the show I just had the drive back home to look forward to

Florence + The Machine – Kiss With A Fist:

(Photos possibly to come, if Fleur or Susan or Rob took any decent snaps that I can steal)

…rowan

Department of Eagles is a small two piece band consisting of Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear). I first heard of them when their song ‘In Ear Park’ was played on Season 3 of Skins. I liked the song instantly and once I had found out who preformed it I was all over DOE like a rash. In my opinion Grizzly Bear always had a better feel and sound especially with their latest album Veckatimest but that’s not to say that Archive 2003-2006 doesn’t hold it’s own ground. The album is good from start to finish with stand out tracks being ‘While We’re Young’ and ‘Brightest Minds’.

2. two door cinema club – tourist history

Two Door Cinema Club is a fun electro pop band from Northern Ireland. This is a band that I have recently got into. I wouldn’t go as far as to say they will become a long lasting favourite band of mine but the songs are catchy enough to keep me happy for awhile. They remind me of a mix between Friendly Fires and Klaxons (kind of). A couple of good singles are ‘I Can Talk’ and ‘Undercover Martyn’.

3. pavement – brighten the corners

Pavement are an indie rock band from the nineties which recently re-grouped to do a reunion. Although they experienced only moderate commercial success, they achieved a significant cult following, and their music has been a major influence on many bands of the late 1990s and beyond. I have only recently discovered Pavement with their re-releases. Pavement are the type of band that can be played anywhere, they have songs that could be accepted in any social situation. Although I am still listening through the albums, my favorite so far is Brighten The Corners.

4. rilo kiley – more adventurous

A friend of mine recently took off to America for a holiday but before he did he mentioned a band that was on repeat on his iPod, that band was Rilo Kiley. I decided to follow up his suggestion and am currently cycling through a couple of their albums, More Adventurous and Under the Blacklight. Although both albums are good I find myself going back to More Adventurous a lot more than Under the Blacklight. A couple of good tracks are ‘Portions for Foxes’ and ‘It’s a Hit’.

honorable mention
1. sigur rós – takk…

For me, Sigur rós has been one of those bands that I knew of but never found the time to listen to and now regret every minute that I didn’t. They are amazing, Jónsi (he has just released a solo album named Go – also brilliant) has a beautiful voice that carries the songs. I don’t know what else to say about them, they make music that’s good, very good. Listen to them, now.

…rowan