A new track from Cloud Nothings‘ forthcoming release on Carpark Records, Attack on Memory, out 24 January.

Perhaps because of the fact that it’s drawn controversy from The Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family already, it’s worth noting this particular new Christmas anthem that has been served up by the UK band Babybird with a familiar cameo.

The band, whose roots date back to the mid-1990′s, is fronted by Stephen Jones, also a terrific solo performer in his own right. Babybird have scored a number of minor hits in the UK but remain widely unknown here in the U.S. save for the song “You’re Gorgeous” which gave them international exposure early on. But after breaking up in 2004, the band have since reformed and been recipients of great patronage by one of their biggest fans and supporters, Johnny Depp — a.k.a. the Jack Sparrow of this shit — including cameos on recordings and videos directed by the world-renowned, multi-talented performer. His inclusion on this humorously tongue-in-cheek (albeit now controversial) bit of Christmas music (which leads off their latest album The Pleasures Of Self Destruction [iTunes]) is about as predictable as the sun coming out at night; nobody, including me, would expect to be updating their blogs to discuss a controversial Christmas recording featuring Johnny Depp.

But with religious groups demanding the song be banned from the airwaves as the song vies for a shot at being the Christmas #1 in the UK, it seems pertinent to share it with you here so you can decide what all the hullaballoo is really for and, if you like it, give you a chance to purchase it, edging it even closer to the #1 position on the UK charts.

What’s It About? The song tells the story of a group of teenagers that hire a Jesus look-alike whom they convince to organize a “stag night”. When things go wrong, the Jesus look-alike (who likes to have a bit of the drink and drive the occasional stolen car) ends up dying and, somehow, learns that he actually is the REAL Jesus.

::: LISTEN ::: Babybird feat. Johnny Depp – Jesus Stag Night Club

[buy from iTunes UK] | [buy from iTunes USA]

Saw a man in a bar with his hair like a lady
Bloody thorns ’round his ears like he was a crazy
He had holes in his hands and a cross for a spine
Crushed a berry in his Perrier and called it wine

He said, “There’s great sadness in life, but don’t sit there and blub:
Here’s some tickets for your friends to the Jesus Stag Night Club!”

I can’t remember where I was last night
Think I was hanging naked off a church spire
Tied by my ankles to a weathervane
Felt like I was Jesus on fire
Cuffed to the bumper of a big truck
I begged my dad (?) to take me to a strip bar
Drank kerosene slammers through my eyeballs
Drove myself home in a stolen car

Turn a bird upside down and it lies in your fingers like a dead man
When you throw it in the air it’s resurrected from your hand
We went to a motel, he showed me his Bible
I said, “Tell me the truth,” while he looked me in the eyeball

He said, “There’s great happiness in life but don’t just sit there in love:
Here’s some tickets for your friends to the Jesus Stag Night Club!”

I can’t remember where I was last night
Think I was getting on a night bus
Lyin’ on the laps of my good friends
Judas Priest and Lazarus
I’m getting married in the big bad morning
But it feels like I’m giving birth
I feel so happy I could scream
“This is my last few seconds on Earth”

Saw a man in the street lying on the floor beaten up
He had a fish finger sandwich and a yellow M coffee cup
I bent down drunk and tried to pick him up
But when I turned around I could see…it was Jesus…

I can’t remember where I was last night
Think I was hanging on a church spire
Tied by my ankles to a weathervane
Felt like I was Jesus on fire
Cuffed to the bumper of a big truck
I begged my dad to take me to a strip bar
Drank kerosene slammers through my eyeballs
Drove myself home in a stolen car

I can’t remember where I was last night
Think I was getting on a night bus
Lyin’ on the laps of my good friends
Judas Priest and Lazarus
I’m getting married in the big bad morning
But it feels like I’m giving birth
I feel so happy I could scream
“This is my last few seconds on Earth!”

Now I don’t know about you, but who can argue with a having a gleefully catchy rock-and-roll Christmas #1 that is so filled with humor and drunken malarky that people actually take seriously the premise? If you’re one of those who realizes you like it, follow the links below to spend your £0.79 to inch it closer to a Christmas #1. It’s humor, folks. They’re just taking the piss, and now people have gone haywire about it. Laugh. Have a pint or two, listen and, you know … Have A Merry Christmas.

::: Purchase Babybird’s The Pleasures Of Self Destruction [iTunes]
::: Purchase “Jesus Stag Night Club from iTunes UK
::: Purchase “Jesus Stag Night Club” from iTunes USA

One of the two or three best acts I got to see at Bonnaroo 2011 was an early-in-the-day performance from the disarmingly wonderful and completely understated Sharon Van Etten. Her first album, 2010′s half-mockingly entitled Epic, was (it turns out) actually befitting of such a name; something in every piece of those 7 songs could rip out your heart and shove it back in your chest before your tears had hit the ground. Her new album Tramp arrives in February 2012 & I am anticipating the chance to hear it eagerly. For the time being, enjoy this brutish, brooding hammer-and-nails folk piece featuring members of The Walkmen, Wye Oak and The National backing her up.

Does she have your attention now? Hope so.

Sharon Van Etten – Serpents

New York City is pretty much already the definition of sensory overload, all by itself, on a random Tuesday, in the middle of nothing, when half of the city calls in sick. So when it’s time for the annual cluster-you-know-what known as the CMJ Music Marathon? If I were Johnny-Five, my circuits would have shorted. Lucky for you, I just eeked by in the “living to tell about it” category, so I here I am, living. And telling you about it! In no particular order, I present to you: my favorite finds from CMJ 2011.

BUXTON

It’s possible that when I saw Buxton at the Living Room on Thursday, I wasn’t even planning on staying. In fact, I think there might’ve been something upstairs or next door or across the street or in the ladies’ room that I’d actually intended to see — until I walked in and heard Buxton.

Most any six-piece can’t help but catch your attention by sheer size alone, but these guys caught my attention and kept it. Well, guy. Singular. Jason Willis, lead guitar, at your service for fast, effortless and wildly roaming guitar melodies. Right underneath them you’ll find a rich layer provided by two more guitarists and keys and these big, unabashed drums. And then, just fade it all out for a minute so you can sink into the unassuming vocal — sort of sweetly drunken, love-song-folk.

DATAROCK

The Datarock set at Brooklyn Bowl Thursday night sort of happened to me, the way really good things often do. I’d actually come for the DJ set that was happening later but then there they were, in all their track-suited glory, like the uncle you should probably find creepy but is somehow pretty endearing.

Upon further investigation, I’m fairly sure that this was a legitimately impromptu-type situation. Not sure who was meant to be there that night, but after the guys reenacted the final scene from Dirty Dancing (complete with appropriate soundtracking) and had everyone sit cross-legged on the floor, I don’t think anyone cared. They sang “California” for the crowd that resembled, from my vantage point, an oddly grown-up-sized kindergarten class during music time. It was perfection. I only wish I could’ve joined them all down there, but the ensemble I’d chosen that evening would not have supported floor-sitting without me showing everyone my Britney Spears.

Alas. Next time, guys.

BLONDE SUMMER

Never was a band better matched with its name and its homeland. (Okay, maybe once.) Danceable, surf-inspired rock with solid pop songwriting and just enough reverb on the guitar to never let you forget you’re in the Sunshine State.

Blonde Summer – Silver Jesus

WIM

The award for best on-stage banter definitely goes to the lead singer from WIM, who paused before the song “Moth” to remind us that a moth only lives for 24 hours. And a lot of stuff can happen in 24 hours. One can live, one can love, one can die.

One can buy shrooms?

Incidentally, though, I can’t stop listening to that very song. It’s got these big playful choral hooks and bouncy, jam-band-prog-inspired organ/guitar melodies with about three different movements that ebb and flow into each other — it wants to be its own little opus. When I listen to WIM I sort of feel like I should be at a planetarium. Or watching one of those weird shape-shifting screen savers from early versions of Windows.

One can buy shrooms?

CITIES AVIV

Cities Aviv said “fuck all you bloggers” during his set more times than I can count (thankfully somebody did it for me), but you can’t really take it personally when he also did a few rounds of “fuck everybody here.” Fuck everybody? I’m not even special anymore. All fucking aside, I’ve liked this kid since I first heard Digital Lows and he’s one of the few solo rappers who rhyme with DJs that I even care to see live. Maybe it’s that fuck-all attitude or just the style of his flow, but I tend to forget there’s no band and just lay into the tracks. His CMJ show was no different, and I think the packed house at Pianos agreed.

Planet (ft. Clement Roussel x Alexia Gredy) by Cities Aviv

ARMY NAVY

Army Navy was possibly the only band during CMJ that I saw more than once, and though I knew they would make this list I was having a hard time articulating exactly what it was that I liked about them so much — until I came home, starting writing and found the music video you see above. You’re welcome.

A HOUSE FOR LIONS

I had a 90s alternative rock dream, filled with the kind of music best punctuated by the rhythmic passing of streetlights on some interstate in the middle of nowhere. But then I woke up. Turns out? I was at The National Underground on Friday night, seeing A House for Lions. In my case (unlike Biggie’s) it wasn’t all a dream — but while there are flashes of Gin Blossoms or Toad the Wet Sprocket or Better than Ezra in there, there are also these lovely little patches of John Hiatt and veritable miles of Lyle Lovett.

All nostalgia aside, this is a band that has figured out how to craft a song, entirely in the present tense. The writing is simple, but evocative and intelligent. Mike Nissen’s guitar work is smart and versatile — warm where it needs to be, piercing through the texture where it needs to, calling up country and bluegrass on one track and settling into alt-rock reverb on the next. And on just about every track, my ear jumps at an inescapable comparison to Mark Knopfler. It’s these subtleties of tone that allow them to take their sound into a lot of different territories — so far they seem to be charting all of them with ease.

A House For Lions – Come On Let’s Go

The CMJ Music Marathon is held every fall in New York City. Details are available year round at cmj.com/marathon

The nail-gun Nashville duo known as Jeff The Brotherhood are having a pretty great year. Their album We Are The Champions is drawing stellar reviews from everyone & they’ve been blowing up shit from one end of the continent to the other in their live show. Now, Jake and Jamin have released a new video for the song “Wastoid Girl” directed by Michael Carter and filmed by Dustin Lane. NOTE: THIS VIDEO IS DEFINITELY NSFW so probably be careful about cranking it at the office?

Meanwhile, if all this activity wasn’t enough, details are still emerging on the Blue Series single produced by Jack White for Third Man Records, which will feature the songs “Whatever I Want” and a cover of “Everything I Need” by Tiger B. Smith.

::: JEFF the Brotherhood on tour! :::

08-17 Nashville, TN – Exit/In*
08-18 Chicago, IL – Reggies Rock Club*
08-19 Cleveland, OH – Peabody’s*
08-20 Rochester, NY – Montage Music Hall*
08-21 NY, NY – Le Poisson Rouge*
08-24 Philadelphia, PA – Bookspace
08-25 Reading, PA – Reverb*
08-26 Pittsburgh, PA – Mr Smalls*
08-27 Baltimore, MD – Sonar*
08-29 Washington, DC – DC9

08-30 Harrisonburg, VA – Blue Nile
08-31 Morgantown, WV – 123Pleasant St
09-01 Willkes-Barre, PA – Redwood Art Space
09-02 Milford, CT – Daniel Street
09-04 Boston, MA – Great Scott
09-05 Worcester, MA – Clark University
09-06 Middletown, CT – Wesleyan Univ @ Eclectic Haus
09-07 Richmond, VA – Strange Matter
09-08 Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch II Fest
09-09 Knoxville, TN – Pilot Light
09-15 Nashville, TN – Ryman+

09-17 Brooklyn, MI – Michigan International Speedway (MI Fest w/ Raconteurs and more)
09-24 Nashville, TN – SoundLand/NextBigNashville

10-20 Halifax Pop Explosion – Reflections Cabaret

* with Pentagram & Valient Thorr
+ with Raconteurs

Jeff The Brotherhood – Shredder
Jeff The Brotherhood – Diamond Way

Yesterday, Calgary’s Chad VanGaalen released his newest album, Diaper Island on Sub Pop. I’ve been quite impressed and curious to see what direction the notoriously guarded songwriter will take which, in this case, seems to be somewhat more of an album of rock songs painted with his trademark dark restraint. Check out this song from the album, “Peace on the Rise” & the accompanying video.

Chad VanGaalen – Peace On The Rise

After a lengthy battle with lung cancer, Gerard Smith, bassist for TV on the Radio, died this morning at the age of 34.

After announcing to the world in March that he had been battling cancer, he expressed that he would not be part of this year’s extensive tour to support the band’s latest album, Nine Types of Light.

Smith joined TV on the Radio in 2005. In addition to Nine Types of Light, Smith appeared on 2006?s Return to Cookie Mountain and 2008?s Dear Science.

While the overall future of their tour remains uncertain, TV on the Radio have canceled their next five scheduled tour dates. We’re keeping Gerard’s friends, family and bandmates in our prayers and thoughts.

(Information courtesy of Consequence of Sound)

TV on the Radio 2011 Tour Dates:
04/20 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew Hall
04/22 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
04/23 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
04/24 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
04/26 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
04/29 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
04/30 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
05/02 – San Diego, CA @ 4th and B
05/03 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Music Box
06/22 – Zagreb, HR @ T Mobile Inmusic Festival
06/23 – Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
06/24 – Berlin, DE @ Astra
06/27 – Manchester, UK @ Academy 2
06/28 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 ABC
06/30 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/01 – St. Gallen, CH @ St. Gallen Festival
07/03 – London, UK @ Wireless Festival
07/04 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
07/05 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall
07/08 – Bilbao, ES @ BBK Live Festival
07/09 – Lisbon, PT @ Optimus Alive! Festival
07/13 – Paris, FR @ Olympia
07/17 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
08/28 – St. Louis, MO @ LouFest

[ music provided by Roof Light. You should listen to the mixtape below while reading. ]

‘Looking At The Light Through The Pouring Rain’ Mix for BLBX by Roof Light

If you’ve spent time walking the aisles of your local record store, you probably have experienced the sense of discovery that comes from picking up a record you’ve never seen before, placing it on a turntable and hearing some kind of magic pour out that you thought impossible. No matter what genre of music you’re into, these days many of your favorite artists are releasing their records on vinyl & offering companion digital downloads for your purchase. The experience of music discovery these days, for most people, is via social networking and internet services which purport to act as filters for listeners — everything from Twitter and Facebook links to Pandora, Soundcloud, Elbows, Hype Machine, Shuffler and the like. Maybe you read music blogs like mine & download MP3′s or maybe you find yourself attaching to a lifestyle site like Complex Magazine or The FADER or (if you’re particularly savvy) you tune into internet radio stations like KEXP, KCRW, WEVL or East Village Radio. These are all great ways of learning about new music, but none of them compare to the experience of purchasing and hearing an album on vinyl from beginning to end.

From the time I was really little, I started collecting records. I have always loved the feel of vinyl in my hands, the smell of the record as the plastic was cracked & the record removed from its sleeve for the first time. Pulling a record out and placing it on a turntable, the sound of the needle as it hits the first groove, the warmth as the first notes come through the speaker — these are only things you can understand and experience if you purchase vinyl records.

In a world that is moving so quickly, where there is so little time to slow down and appreciate any one thing for any length of time before moving onto the next, vinyl records require an effort. They require an effort on the part of the creative people who put them together, to package them in an artistically pleasing way that delivers a message about the music you’re about to hear. Vinyl requires an effort on the part of the listener, a willingness to allow their discomfort of getting up to flip the record over to not interfere with the joy of listening.

Roof Light – IntroRetrospective

::: Crossing Generations :::

Like many of you reading this, I am part of the generation in which 8-tracks and reel-to-reel came and went & cassettes and CD’s became the medium of choice for transporting music to listeners. I amassed enormous collections of both cassettes and CD’s, none of which I still have (save those which people have sent to me over the years), but I never lost my affection for vinyl. Yes, to the average person, a vinyl record represents an antiquated method of listening to music and a bygone era. But what we’ve learned, both in terms of sales and artistic cache, is that vinyl’s resurgence represents both a desire to find new ways of supporting musicians & a feeling of connectivity to our shared past.

The big fear has been, for some time, that this shared experience of listening to vinyl records or going to record stores would disappear due to technology. People who chose to shepherd the cause of keeping vinyl alive have been met, in many instances, with the same arguments made about people as they age — vinyl is ‘a burden’ and simply ‘in the way’. But vinyl advocates feel the opposite to be true and, counting myself among them, treat vinyl records as what they really are and always were — affordable pieces of art that individuals can own & share. They represent rarity & collectability, something to satisfy the hunter and collector in each of us.

People frequently have some story to be told of the time a particular record was purchased that is lost in the digital experience. I can so clearly remember the day, the situation, who I was with and how I felt when I bought certain records. Rather than a burden, it is a hallmark of what is most beautiful about the form of expression behind the work — the liner notes, the colored vinyl, the label, the photographs and inserts. It is a point of pride, something I can show off to guests and talk about with the affection that it deserves.

I believe there is some part of each of us who listen to & purchase vinyl records that feels a connection to our parents and our grandparents, to the advances in technology that they experienced and saw first-hand. Perhaps it was a stack of 45′s that were placed on top of each other on the changer as they studied, read, wrote in their diaries or just daydreamed. Perhaps your grandmother learned how to do the twist or your mom & dad made out for the first time to a record they eventually passed down to you. Maybe it was hearing the Archies sing “Sugar Sugar” as they watched a man land on the moon for the first time, or listening to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon in their headphones against a stoned, lazy afternoon. The shared memories and experiences are a way of bridging the conversations between generations. I think some part of each of us wants to know the beauty of those experiences, to be able to share them with our children and grandchildren.

Roof Light – Cheerio For Now…

::: To The Future :::

With hundreds of local record stores to choose from, Record Store Day represents an opportunity not simply to relive the record shopping days of the past but to provide a future for the record shopping experience & discovery of generations of music fans yet to come. Parents and children shopping together for new records, you and the one you love pouring over stacks or, perhaps, a group of friends getting together to celebrate these limited edition releases from bands that they love is a way of generating the shared music experience in the real world, in a much more beautiful and tactile way than the internet.

Or maybe, like me, you feel like you’re the only one who truly understands what records mean and you love to peruse the shelves on your own. But even then, you share something with record store employees and purveyors around the globe. Shopping for records is something which requires a special kind of music fan. It demands a type of unsullied social interaction and a willingness to support the dedication behind the artful forces of music.

Now that the digital age is in full swing unlikely to be turning backwards, the warmth and depth of vinyl records has, more than ever, become an experience for one to have rather than a description one can write. For true music fans, vinyl records are one of the best ways of connecting to the artists we revere, to support local businesses, and to bridge the generation gap between friends and families in a symbolic gesture of artistic goodwill.

Record Store Day 2011 will happen tomorrow, Saturday, April 16th. Loudersoft urges you to support your local record retailer tomorrow and every day.

[ A List of Special Releases for Record Store Day 2011 (PDF) ]

Just when you finally managed to say your goodbyes, a new LCD Soundsystem track surfaces — this time, a cover of “Live Alone” by Franz Ferdinand. Well, okay, cry one more time if you must. If you’re crying, I’d not worry: I’d imagine there’s probably vaults of stuff out there to appease you for many years to come, and surely LCD Soundsystem will return one day to bring back all those fond memories of hours spent chasing the New York City dawn.

Swedish pop band Frantic Sunday has been making a splash in Scandinavia since forming in 2008, and they’ve just come out with a new single called “The City Is Listening”. Instant comparisons to Cut/Copy and/or VHS or Beta aside, I’m a sucker for a great pop rock song, and maybe you will be, too.

The City Is Listening by Frantic Sunday

Check out this video for their track “I’m Your Volunteer” which, I am told, is in rotation on MTV North.

If you didn’t know it, the most anticipated indie album of 2011 has been from Animal Collective member Noah Lennox’s solo incarnation, Panda Bear. Have a first listen to the new album by Tomboy by Panda Bear in it’s entirety, courtesy of NPR.

To listen: follow this link to NPR & read their complete First Listen write-up.

Tomboy will be released via Paw Tracks on 12 April 2011. Pre-order the vinyl from Insound here. If you can wait just four more days until 16 April (which is Record Store Day), you may be able to get one of the 1000 limited t-shirt bundles which will only be available during Record Store Day 2011 with a t-shirt like the one below. _{(HT: Brooklyn Vegan)}

Manchester’s WU LYF have developed a moniker that stands for World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation. I first heard about them last January from Veronica at CreamTeam. While I’ve been looking the other way, WU LYF have been blowing up huge, and with good reason. Here is their latest video for the song “L Y F” from their forthcoming debut album Go Tell Fire To The Mountain due 13 June 2011. If you’re going to watch this, watch ALL THE WAY TO THE END. Trust me: it’s worth it.

[ WU LYF on Facebook | WU LYF Official Site ]

WU LYF – L Y F

:: WU LYF 2011 TOUR DATES ::

30.07.11 Fuji Rock / Naeba / JAPAN
16.07.11 Manchester International Festival / Manchester / UK
09.07.11 Optimus A Festival / Lisbon / PORTUGAL
31.05.11 Sydney Opera House Studio / Sydney / AUSTRALIA
30.05.11 Sydney Opera House Studio / Sydney / AUSTRALIA
29.05.11 Sydney Opera House Studio / Sydney / AUSTRALIA
28.04.11 Messeglande / Donaufestival/ Krems / AUSTRIA
09.04.11 Domino Festival / Brussels / BELGIUM
08.04.11 Motel Mozaique / Rotterdam / NETHERLANDS
02.04.11 Shea Stadium New York / USA
01.04.11 Glasslands / New York / USA

Sleigh Bells. Derek Miller. Alexis Krauss. Good band. On tour. Go see them. Don’t ask questions, just go! Full tour dates after thee jump.

[ Sleigh Bells Official Website | Buy Treats on Vinyl from Insound ]

SLEIGH BELLS :: Spring Tour 2011 :: April – May

APRIL
4/13/11 Pomona, CA @ Glass House
4/14/11 San Diego, CA @ 4th&B
4/15/11 Indio, CA @ Coachella
4/18/11 Tucson, AZ @ Rialto
4/21/11 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
4/22/11 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
4/23/11 Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
4/24/11 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
4/26/11 Baton Rouge, LA @ Varsity
4/28/11 Orlando, FL @ Firestone
4/29/11 St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theater
4/30/11 Miami, FL @ Grand Central

MAY
5/2/11 Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage
5/3/11 Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom
5/4/11 Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
5/6/11 Richmond, VA @ The National
5/7/11 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
5/8/11 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
5/11/11 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
5/12/11 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
5/17/11 Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy
5/18/11 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews
5/19/11 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

[ PHOTO: Above & Beyond Mag ]

This brand new video from Justin x Adam aka She Wants Revenge was directed by none other than Justin Warfield himself. Reinventing themselves with a fresh new sound & completely different direction, I can’t wait to hear the new album Valleyheart from the Los Angeles duo due out 24 May 2011.

PS: OFWGKTA makes an appearance in this video #swag

[ She Wants Revenge official website | She Wants Revenge on Twitter | She Wants Revenge on Tumblr ]

[ PHOTO CREDIT: Patricia Spanjer ]