Billy Corgan Talks Watchmen Trailer, “G.L.O.W.” Single

As you may have heard, the trailer for Zach Snyder’s The Watchmen features a Smashing Pumpkins song, “The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning.” That’s different than “The End Is the Beginning Is the End,” which appeared with the former on the Batman & Robin soundtrack, but the reference is intentional. The placement of the song has given on-line sales a serious boost. La Times’s blog was curious about all of this so they emailed Billy Corgan. He’s a tad defensive at first (”My fans seem to be confused when the outside world appreciates our work, so I can only imagine this terrifies them”) and doesn’t say too much (”Before this I’d never heard of the ‘Watchmen’ series, but from what I’ve seen it looks very interesting”), but then he digs in a bit (”I love the way it’s used in the trailer. I’ve asked the movie people if [...]

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CSS, Go! Team Make Sweating Fun in Minneapolis

It was a dog day, a sunglasses-and-cool-jams day in the Twin Cities. And good thing CSS and the Go! Team were on hand last night (July 30) to bring music and sex appeal to Minneapolis’ First Avenue venue, as it was the perfect kind of day to move into an all-night dance party.
Tour newcomers Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head (sure to make both Best and Worst Name lists this year) primed the audience with their slinky electro-pop while Matt and Kim had an abortive performance. A couple bars into opening up with “The Final Countdown,” Matt’s keyboard crapped out. His replacement made it through two more songs before dying, as Matt attributed it to all the “rock in the room.”

More on SPIN.com:
>>Artist of the Day: CSS
>>CSS, Go! Team Tour
>>Artist of the Day: the Go! Team

There were no fears of a short set from the Go! Team. The Brighton, U.K. crew covered [...]

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Hype Monitor: Spitzer, Air France and Kasai All-Stars

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Spitzer
The Buzz: French electronic duo with no interest in escorts and a penchant for music that sounds like bright green sine-waves.
Listen If: You have a fondness for fat keyboards and skinny beats.
Key Track: The remix of Kylie Minogue’s “In My Arms,” which sets the Aussie diva’s soulful vocals against spitting synths.

The Band: Air France
The Buzz: Bright pop duo deliver everything the Swedes have taught us to expect: sweeping synth-strings, sweet pop vocals and skyrocketing synthesizers. Added plus: Air France are more subdued than most.
Listen If: You fondly recall St. Etienne, or like music that implies more than it states outright.
Key Track: “June Evenings,” which buries a light, heavenly melody under layers of fizzy atmospherics.

The Band: Kasai All-Stars
The Buzz: Endlessly inventive Congolese outfit is the second band selected for the mighty Congotronics series, and [...]

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Conor Oberst

What? Tapping into the same spiritual curiosity he sought in a town full of psychics on Bright Eyes’ Cassadaga, Conor Oberst seeks solstice in the footsteps of Mexican lore, ditching longtime producer Mike Mogis’ genius for an unadorned, hee-haw Americana jam session; a far enough departure from Bright Eyes’ decade-plus formula for the Omaha native to dub his new project a “solo” affair. Set amidst a “mystic valley,” Conor and his new crew — aptly dubbed the Mystic Valley Band — sling crunchy electric guitars and country yelps, from the Tom Petty power strums of “Moab” to slower moonlight fingerpicks of “Lenders In The Temple.” And though certainly a genre-based hootenanny, the new set is full of the troubadour’s trademark cathartic wit.

More on SPIN.com:
>> Conor Oberst Solo Album Due Aug. 5
>> Bright Eyes Tap Symphony, Saddle Creek Open Complex
>> Bright Eyes Debut at No. 4

Who? Conor Oberst, a founding [...]

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New Vampire Weekend Video - “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”

The Ezra Is A Dreamboat factor is high in this one. As promised to John Norris, the video for “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” features a “narrative” and “preppy people” and “actual characters”: Ezra plays the Andrew McCarthy role, Rostam and the Chrisses play the other members of Vampire Weekend. The first half is as John Hughesy as advertised — all mansions and lives of leisure and sitting on linens with girls pretty in pink (see also) — the second half is “Thriller,” if styled by Robert Smith.

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Metronomy Light Up Chicago

Last night (July 29), Metronomy commanded the PA at the Funky Buddha Lounge’s Tuesday “Outdanced” series, in which Chicago’s most fashionable hipster-clubbers shake their asses on the cheap while local DJs support hype machines like Crystal Castles and Simian Mobile Disco. And on this particular evening, U.K. trio Metronomy unleashed their Devo-esque synchronizations like one perpetual Tri-Lam concert from Revenge of the Nerds.

More on SPIN.com:
>> Audio: Klaxon, “Atlantis” (Metronomy Mix)
>> Metronomy on Gorillaz ‘D-Sides’ Comp
>> Metronomy Remix Dntel for Comp

The performance was an exercise in British humor, as frontman Joseph Mount and his two keys-and-bass bandmates came donned in their trademark push-light-duct-taped-to-chest rig, and the tunes that followed that same line of wit. Mount, the man otherwise known for his remix skills on records by everyone from Architecture in Hesinki to Zero 7, robot-shimmied to a series of singles from the group’s new LP, Nights Out, due this September.
He and [...]

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Brazilian Girls

What? No, they’re not Brazilian, and only one of the members is actually female, but then again, NYC’s schizo-phonic Brazilian Girls have always strove to be anything but themselves. Between the down-tempo lounge excursions of 2005’s self-titled debut and the threatening house-driven atmospheres of 2006’s Talk to La Bomb, the Girls’ sonic designs are as interchangeably — and irresistibly — garish as their stage getups can often be. And this week, the trio return with the simplistically titled but no less daring New York City, which dips its feet into dark tropicalia, overcast soundscapes, and old-fashioned cabaret — and that’s not even half the record. Download the pop-psychedelia of single “Good Time” below.

More on SPIN.com:
>> New Brazilian Girls Album Due Aug. 5
>> Radiohead, Kanye West Top Lollapalooza Bill
>> Kelis and the Brazilian Girls Drink Up with Hennessy

Who? Originally a quartet comprised of Sabina Sciubba (vocals), Didi Gutman (keyboards), Aaron Johnston [...]

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Breaking Artist: Metro Station

Who: Los Angeles’ Metro Station, a sugarcoated emo quartet led by the older siblings of two Disney stars — including one who’s currently topping the charts.
Sounds Like: Led by singer/guitarist Trace Cyrus (yes, Miley’s old brother), Metro Station bridge the gap between Fall Out Boy’s emo pop and High School Musical, especially on tracks liked their million-selling synthed-out single “Shake It.” “We never thought this one would succeed,” Cyrus says. “At first we just had the chorus. Our manager told us, ‘You need to write verses for this!’”
Vital Stats:

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The Airborne Toxic Event

What? A tad grimy and wholly gimmick free, Los Angeles’ the Airborne Toxic Event sport fuzzed out six-strings and danceable Franz Ferdinand-like grooves on their self-titled debut, out Aug. 5. Alternating between steady Strokes-y guitar rock and more free-form vibes, these Cali rockers even flirt with new wave on album opener “Wishing Well,” building atmosphere with anthemic synths and strings. And the group get a touch cheeky on “Does This Mean You’re Moving On,” delivering deadpan lines like, “I come to your door / I hear a moan / Then another voice / Oh, Christ, she’s not alone.”

More on SPIN.com:
>> The Airborne Toxic Event Treats Post-Break-Up Stress
>> Airborne Toxic Event, Download S.F. 2008

Who? Formed in 2006 by singer/guitarist Mikel Jollet, and hailing from the edge of the Hollywood Hills in Los Feliz, California, the Airborne Toxic Event have cultivated local buzz into a launching pad for international [...]

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Xavier Rudd Exclusive Track From Upcoming Album Only Here! [JamBase]

Xavier Rudd Gives JamBase Exclusive Airing of New Track “Guku”
From Upcoming Album Dark Shades Of Blue Due August 18
For a limited time only you can preview Xavier Rudd’s unreleased track “Guku” right here on JamBase. Check it out HERE. The forth song on Rudd’s upcoming August 18 release Dark Shades Of Blue, this is the only place you can hear “Guku.”

Dark Shades of Blue finds Rudd at his most assertive, heavy and psychedelic. Dusky and cool, the disc’s guitar-driven jams expand on a sound only hinted at on previous releases, as distortion often supplants the pretty jangly guitars heard on earlier work, like 2007’s White Moth. While Rudd’s signature didgeridoo remains, along with the myriad of instruments and voices featured on other records, the results are less “world music” than they are the makings of a truly global record.

Preorder Dark [...]

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