popwreckoning

The oh so love-able band Lovedrug is self releasing a new album, Wild Blood, this upcoming March. In light of the upcoming release, the band put out a two-single split in September which you can get on iTunes. Lead vocals, Michael Shepard also has a love for film and with his film background, he wrote and directed their video for “Dinosaur” off the split.

Videos:
Pink Champagne 
Dinosaur

Lovedrug | website

Currently on tour with Manchester Orchestra and Cage The Elephant, O’Brother is gearing up for a late summer album release, as well as touring throughout the year. The band just released a new song performed with Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra. Check out the video below:

http://vimeo.com/23962007

www.myspace.com/obrothermusic

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Priscillia Ahn has released a new music video for “I Don’t Have Time To Fall In Love.” Her newest album When You Grow Up is out now on EMI’s Blue Note Records, produced by Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Ray LaMontagne). Check out the video below:

www.priscillaahn.com

Photo by Abby Williamson

In case you hadn’t heard, Brent Knopf has left Menomena. No, he hasn’t announced that he’ll be leaving after this next tour – the original Menomena lineup is no more as of last week. Pitchfork was the first to report it last Friday, and I have to say – I was more than just a little bit upset.

While the news is heartbreaking to those of us who were planning on seeing them in Austin in March for SXSW, the remaining members will still be going on with this tour. Whether you still want to see them is still questionable, but I do have some good news for you.

Knopf’s announcement was not his retirement announcement, more like “I’ve left the band to pursue other things.” Knopf will now be exclusively working on Ramona Falls music, which is good news in itself, but quite bittersweet.

Being a big fan of Menomena, and the last record in particular, I’m still holding out hope that Knopf will one day return to Danny Seim and Justin Harris to rekindle the odd and amazing genius that they’ve created over the last ten years, but I’m not counting on it.

So while we mourn the loss of one of Portland’s finest, take a gander at some of their most memorable videos, live performances, and some stuff you may not have seen.

“Five Little Rooms” (live on KEXP)

“Cough Coughing”

“Intil” live at OPB

RealcookN.tv Episode 10 – Potato and Cheddar Pierogies from Dave Curlee on Vimeo.

“Evil Bee”

“Wet and Rusting” – A Takeaway Show

And if you haven’t heard any of Knopf’s Ramona Falls stuff, take a gander.

Ramona Falls – “Russia”

If you still would like to see what remains of the band on their upcoming tour, dates are below. But I know I’m glad I had the chance to see them play in their hometown back in September, at perhaps one of the best shows I saw in 2010, maybe ever.

The tour will feature Paul Alcott on keyboards, rounding out the quartet.

• 03/03/11 Menom­ena in Min­neapo­lis, MN at U of M Buy tick­ets
• 03/05/11 Menom­ena in Ames, IA at The Main­te­nance Shop Buy tick­ets
• 03/06/11 Menom­ena in Iowa City, IA at The Mill Buy tick­ets
• 03/09/11 Menom­ena in Colum­bia, MO at Blue Note Buy tick­ets
• 03/10/11 Menom­ena in St Louis, MO at The Gargoyle
• 03/11/11 Menom­ena in Louisville, KY at Head­lin­ers Music Ball Buy tick­ets
• 03/12/11 Menom­ena in Ashville, NC at The Orange Peel Buy tick­ets
• 03/15/11 Menom­ena in New Orleans, LA at Repub­lic Buy tick­ets
• 03/16/11 Menom­ena in Hous­ton, TX at Ware­house Live Buy tick­ets

Check out Holy Ghost!‘s new video for “I Know, I Hear”, one of the four tracks from their Static on the Wire EP released earlier this year. It features Caroline Polachek of Chairlift.

Holy Ghost!: website | myspace | Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! – 12” Split Single| Interview with: Alex Frankel of Holy Ghost! | @ U Street Music Hall | @ 9:30 Club

Everything Everything is one of many bands out of the burgeoning and quite exciting Manchester music scene. We previously featured this song of theirs, “My Kz, Ur Bf”, and remixes done by their peers on PopWreckoning. They have recently released a new promo video for the song – watch it in all its surrealism below. The single will be released on August 23 in the UK, followed by the album Man Alive to drop on August 30. Expect big things from these Northerners.

Here is Two Door Cinema Club‘s new promo video for upcoming single “Come Back Home’. The single will be released in the UK on July 12, but you can pre-order the 7″ single from Recordstore.co.uk here.

If you’re a fan of the film ‘Sliding Doors’, this will be right up your alley. In this, Alex Trimble, Kev Baird, and Sam Halliday are the players in three different vignettes with three very different outcomes. Catch the Irish trio on tour this autumn.

Tour Dates
Oct 07 – Warehouse Live / Houston
Oct 08 – Loft / Dallas
Oct 09 – Austin City Limits Festival / Austin
Oct 11 – Mercy Lounge / Nashville
Oct 12 – Loft / Atlanta
Oct 13 – Norva / Norfolk
Oct 14 – First Unitarian Church / Philadelphia
Oct 18 – Royale / Boston
Oct 21 – Webster Hall / New York City
Oct 22 – Black Cat / Washington, DC
Oct 24 – Le National / Montreal
Oct 25 – Phoenix Concert Theatre / Toronto
Oct 27 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago
Oct 28 – 7th Street Entry / Minneapolis
Oct 30 – Bluebird Theatre / Denver
Nov 02 – Henry Fonda Theatre / Los Angeles
Nov 03 – Belly Up Tavern / Solana Beach
Nov 04 – Slim’s / San Francisco
Nov 05 – Hawthorne Theatre / Portland
Nov 06 – Neumo’s / Seattle

Two Door Cinema Club: website | myspace | Two Door Cinema Club To Tour with Phoenix in Spring, Headline First North American Tour | “Something Good Can Work” video | @ Constitution Hall | Interview with: Sam Halliday of Two Door Cinema Club | @ Johnny Brenda’s | Two Door Cinema Club Announce Fall North American Tour

Tamar Kaprelian takes fans on a fantastical journey with her piano through beautiful fields and forests in her new video for “New Day.” “New Day” will be on Tamar’s debut album, Sinner or a Saint, out later this summer.

Phoenix have remixed Grizzly Bear. Well, kind of. Here’s what they actually had to say about their “remix“:

A long time ago Grizzly Bear asked us to remix one of their tracks, but we never found the boldness to mess with their beautiful songs.
So the other day we figured, maybe if we combine great things together (Grizzly Bear, Eno, chance), it would create something good.

So instead, Phoenix posted these two songs side by side and allow people to kind of create their own remix for them:

I N S T R U C T I O N S
1. Press play on either player
2. After an indefinite number of seconds, press play on other player
3. You can create your own mix by adjusting the volume on either player
4. If it’s good : enjoy, if it’s bad : try again !

It’s pretty fun, so be sure to give it a try.

Recently, former brain behind Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor, announced his new project with wife Mariqueen Maandig: How to Destroy Angels.

Not much is known about the project yet, but short video clips are slowly being rolled out on howtodestroyangels.com that seem to give hints about what Reznor fans can expect. On Sunday, video 3 was premiered, giving the longest sample so far.

A self-titled six-track EP is expected out later this summer.

03 from How To Destroy Angels on Vimeo.

02 from How To Destroy Angels on Vimeo.

01 from How To Destroy Angels on Vimeo.