Stream The Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr.'s Forthcoming Solo Album 'Momentary Masters'

The Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.'s third solo LP Momentary Masters, his first since 2008's ¿Cómo Te Llama?, isn't due out until July 31 (via Vagrant), but you can now stream it in its entirety here, along with watching the music videos for "Losing Touch" and "Born Slippy" below.

Cold War Kids Show No Sign of Slowing Down on 'Five Quick Cuts'

Cold War Kids frontman Nathan Willett's transition from writing the character-driven narratives of his earlier works, such as the band's magnum opus Robbers & Cowards, to more exposed, personal lyrics was completed long before their most recent LP Hold My Home was released last year, yet Five Quick Cuts, a collection of songs left off of that album, finds Willett reaching a new level of introspection.

Grappling with the urge to pause and reset in the opening track "Stop / Rewind," Willett finds himself pushing forward regardless in "One Song At A Time" a short four minutes later. With lines like "Oh, when I began / What a dream to entertain / How do I sustain / While my heart is on display," the LA native is not just looking inward more than ever, but also becoming increasingly literal and honest over time. 

Sonically, the almost robotic pots and pans percussion of the former and frenetic "We Didn't Start The Fire" vibe of the latter show the Kids at their most manic and playful as well. They impatiently launch into soaring choruses sooner and more often, such as in "Thunderhearts," possibly the best and most radio-ready of the bunch, and only take a breather in the sleepy, marching drums of the "Portuguese Bend" interlude.

Make no mistake, though, the chaos is still tightly controlled. The uninhibited and wild "da da da das" of the past are still firmly replaced by neatly aligned "hey hey heys," furthering the trajectory of Cold War Kids' discography as a bit of an odd paradox: as they loosen up and abandon their severity for light-heartedness, they simultaneously clean up their much-adored rawness with polish.

In any case, the pace has picked up in more ways than one as Willett has found a productive stride. Having barely taken his finger off the pulse with three LPs (including his side-project French Style Furs) and two EPs in only three years, he seems to contradict himself in "Amazing" when he warns "This is a marathon not a sprint." 

One thing's for sure, Cold War Kids show no signs of slowing down, even if it takes one of their own motivational speeches to carry on.

Originally released as a vinyl-only Record Store Day exclusive, Five Quick Cuts is now available online as well.

21 Years on, the Force Is Still with Wilco on 'Star Wars'

Dad rock. What is dad rock? I don’t know, because I just looked it up on Wikipedia and I was re-directed to the page for general rock music. I searched for a definition on Google too, and this is what the all-knowing search engine gave me for a definition: “rock music that appeals to an older generation, or that is heavily influenced by that of an earlier era.” By that definition, nearly every popular rock group is dad rock. The truth is, there’s no such thing as dad rock. Dad rock is a term that people use when they’re too lazy to properly evaluate a record or a group.

Which brings us to Wilco, a band that just released a new album, previously unannounced and for free, and a band I believe is just as good as any that’s ever existed. Yet Wilco, now in it’s 21st year of existence – it’s 11th year with the current lineup, an unprecedented era of stability for Wilco – is constantly getting slapped with the label “dad rock” – at least since the release of 2007’s Sky Blue Sky. The fact that the following two Wilco records, Wilco (the album) and The Whole Love were also labeled as such lends credence to the fact that “dad rock” is an utterly meaningless term.

Their latest album, Star Wars, was released last Thursday. As I mentioned earlier, it was released for free on the internet, without any prior notice. Various members of Wilco had stated that they had tons of new material for the next album, but even as late as June 26th, when Wilco’s music festival Solid Sound kicked off, the group wasn’t willing to disclose much more than the fact that, probably, they would release a new record towards the end of the year.

Little did we know, but the record was probably already finished by then – or just about finished. Either way, it came as a total surprise, even to the diehard Wilco nerds like me who meticulously keep track of rumors and gossip about hypothetical new albums.

The album starts off with a very short instrumental track “EKG” – it’s not the catchiest tune, but, it’s full of some neat little sonic details, and Wilco fans love details. Still, it’s a bit of an odd track, though ultimately one that makes more sense after hearing the whole record.

The second track “More...” is where things really pick up. Jeff Tweedy strumming chords gives way to a guitar riff, John Stirratt drops the bass, and Glenn Kotche and his drums kick in. It’s at that moment where your brain realizes, holy shit, this is a new Wilco record. “More…” leaves you bobbing your head, and – if you know them – singing along to the lyrics. It’s a good way to truly set the pace for the rest of the record.

“Random Name Generator” is the next track, and it will go down as one of the classic Wilco songs, especially from the post Sky Blue Sky era. While the riff playing throughout the song is simple – aren’t all great riffs? – the song itself is everything a great Wilco song can be: expansive, with so much sound to explore, extremely catchy, and something you can rock out to. Parts of the song are reminiscent of the rhythmic pounding of power chords present in “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” from 2004’s a ghost is born.

“The Joke Explained” the following song, is a slightly more playful and relaxed track, though one that still features power drumming and bass to hold it together through the verses. It’s also full of the sort of wistful, oddly insightful lyrics that Jeff Tweedy writes, including the following line, which applies to the relationship that myself and many other fans have with Jeff and the band – “I stared…at the eyes staring at my face.”

A more complex song follows, the five minute and sixteen second song “You Satellite.” It’s the longest song on the record, and perhaps the most interesting to dive into. It’s not as driving or rhythmic as some of the other songs, but it’s very layered, with all three guitar players (Tweedy, Pat Sansone, and Nels Cline, the greatest guitarist alive) at times each playing something different. In that sense it’s like a very distorted “Impossible Germany”- it’s like if that song had been released on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

“Taste the Ceiling” is my (current) personal favorite song from the record. It’s an upbeat song, with slightly less upbeat lyrics – another Tweedy special. This is the kind of song one can easily imagine hearing Jeff play solo. That’s a bit of a rarity on this album, as none of the tracks feature exclusively acoustic guitar – though Jeff plays acoustic on some songs, there’s always a heavy electric presence be it Cline or Sansone doing the playing.

The following song “Pickled Ginger” is another song from the Wilco rock tradition – like every song on this album it’s more layered and sonically altered than say, “Monday” – but it rocks just as hard. You may also recognize this song as the one Jeff Tweedy and his “band” Land Ho played on Parks and Recreation.

“Where Do I Begin” starts off as one of the more straight forward songs on the album, just guitar chords and Jeff singing, nothing too fancy. Then, towards the end, the rest of the band kicks in and quickly takes you on a plunge through some noise rock riffing, but not for long. Like several of the more noise rock-y songs on the album, it seems like something that could be expanded and really explored in depth at a live show.

The final section of the record kicks off with “Cold Slope” which is led by some thick guitar riffs in Open G that keep you nodding along throughout the song. Some folks have cited this song as having a heavy Pavement vibe, and I can agree with that. But even then, it’s Pavement filtered through Wilco’s creative process, which is an entirely different thing.

“Cold Slope” leads directly into “King of You” – the two could honestly be one longer song, but they work very well broken up. “King” is a bit more heavy, but still similar to “Slope” – enough to sound complementary, and not repetitive.

Then there’s the final track, “Magnetized.” This one will go down with many other songs as another great Jeff Tweedy love song, though one could imagine it having been an unreleased Beatles tune. The song begins, and holds for a while, with just a chromatic piano chord structure and a metronome, before, as in previous songs on this album, the rest of the band kicks in. From there, it only gets more beautiful, and, to quote the song “I realize I’m magnetized” – magnetized to Wilco, that is.

Wilco, after a period where some – but not this writer - accused them of stagnancy, have released an unexpected and complex record. It is an LP unlike their previous releases, and although you can pick out some of the continuing strands like the origins of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’s sonic exploration during “Being There” if you listen close enough, it comes as a notable departure from their other albums. All the more remarkable is that it’s only about 33 minutes long, yet it still packs a heavy punch.

Star Wars should serve as the deathblow to the “dad rock” label for Wilco (it won’t, but that’s another story), not only because they released it in an incredibly modern way on a modern medium, but because the record itself consists of utterly modern rock songs. After 21 years, - almost the course of my entire lifetime - Wilco is continuing to grow and evolve, and they’re not doing it in off in their own little comfortable corner either, but rather up there amongst the leaders of the rock ‘n’ roll brigade, still rocking into the future.

Hear "Mountain At My Gates," the Second Single from Foals' 'What Went Down'

Foals premiered the title-track off their forthcoming LP What Went Down on BBC Radio 1 last month, and they've now dropped the second single "Mountain At My Gates" in the same way this afternoon.

Though not quite as aggressive as "What Went Down," "Mountain At My Gates" is a rousing track in its own right and certainly heightens the excitement surrounding the new record. Check it out below.

What Went Down is out August 28 via Transgressive Records. You can preorder it here.

David Gilmour Releases Title-Track from and Details Forthcoming Solo LP 'Rattle That Lock,' Announces Tour

Former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has released the title-track from his forthcoming solo LP Rattle That Lock which is due out September 18 via Columbia Records.

The song itself begins with four notes from the intercom system in French SNCF railway stations, curiously enough, which Gilmour captured on his phone while at the Aix-en-Provence station. Combined with a roving bass groove, a backing choir, and a quintessentially Gilmour guitar solo, "Rattle That Lock" is a sign of good things to come.

The record features Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera and Jools Hollands, and contains lyrics primarily written by Gilmour's wife, novelist Polly Samson (who also worked with him on his preceding LP, 2006's #1 platinum album On An Island) that are inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost.

In addition to the usual formats, Rattle That Lock will be available in a deluxe box edition, which includes a staggering four Barn Jam films, four non-album audio tracks, four documentaries, two promo clips, two hardback books, a double-sided poster, a postcard in a dedicated envelope, and a David Gilmour plectrum (which is the fancy word English rock legends use for guitar picks).

Hear the single and check out the tracklist and tour dates below.

Rattle That Lock

1. 5 A.M
2. Rattle That Lock
3. Faces Of Stone
4. A Boat Lies Waiting
5. Dancing Right In Front Of Me
6. In Any Tongue
7. Beauty
8. The Girl In The Yellow Dress
9. Today

David Gilmour Tour Dates:

09/12 – Pula, HR @ Arena Pula
09/14 – Verona, IT @ Verona Arena
09/15 – Florence, IT @ Teatro Le Mulina
09/17 – Orange, FR @ Theatre Antique
09/19 – Oberhausen, DE @ König Pilsener Arena
09/23 – London, UK @ The Royal Albert Hall
09/24 – London, UK @ The Royal Albert Hall
09/25 – London, UK @ The Royal Albert Hall
03/24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
03/31 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
04/08 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
04/11 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden

Rattle That Lock is available for preorder here.

Bon Iver Ends Eaux Claires Fest With Two New Songs

In spite of Justin Vernon’s insistence that there are no future plans for Bon Iver, the band played two new songs last night during their headline set at Vernon’s own Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival. Maybe this means they’re at it again. We’ll have to wait and see.

Listen to them below:

Cold War Kids Release New Music Video for "One Song At A Time," New Tour Dates, Put 'Five Quick Cuts' EP Online

Cold War Kids' special Record Store Day release Five Quick Cuts, a compilation of tracks left off of the band's 2014 LP Hold My Home, is now available outside of its originally exclusive vinyl format on iTunes and Spotify, which you can stream below.

One of these five quick cuts, "One Song At A Time," has also been given a frenetically kaleidoscopic music video in which frontman Nathan Willett belts out the vocals while miming every instrument as a one man show.  

Check out the entire EP and full set of tour dates below.

Cold War Kids Tour:

07/17 – Louisville, KY @ Forecast Festival
07/24 – Clifton Park, NY @ Upstate Concert Hall
07/30 – Chicago, IL @ Park West
07/31 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/07 – San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands
08/15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Annenberg Space for Photography
08/22 – Wantagh, NY @ Billboard Hot 100 Festival
08/28-30 – Denver, CO @ Riot Fest Denver
09/12 – Sterling Heights MI @ Freedom Hill Amphitheatre
09/13 – Sterling Heights, MI @ Chill On The Hill @ Freedom Hill Amphitheatre
09/18-20 – Clayton, GA @ Campfest @Camp BlueRidge
09/24 – Tempe, AZ @ Summer Ends Music Festival
10/17 – Reno, NV @ Retrac East
10/23 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place 
10/24 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/25 – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
10/28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Fillmore
10/28 – Boston, MA @– House of Blues

Tame Impala's 'Currents' is Latest Evolution in Kevin Parker's Quest for Perfection

While it may have been impossible to predict that the same band that released Innerspeaker in 2010 would create an album like Currents in 2015, in hindsight it's not at all difficult to see how this new sound was reached. Just as Innerspeaker gave Tame Impala the psych-rock label that would be expanded upon in Lonerism, Lonerism in turn introduced the spacey synthesizers and pristine production that would take the lead in Currents. While this latest installment in frontman Kevin Parker's discography may be the most sonically different out of anything in the Tame Impala catalog, it still retains something that makes it familiar.

Most notably, Currents marks Parker’s transition to becoming the complete embodiment of Tame Impala, as he wrote, recorded, produced, performed, and mixed it entirely on his own in his home studio. Up until this point he had worked with other bandmates or at least producer and mix engineer Dave Fridmann, but Currents is his first singularly created album, and his well-documented obsessive nature shows through this in pretty much every aspect. From the lush synth tracks that bubble through the mix to his effortless, washed out vocals, every sound is rendered with the utmost care.

Though this LP builds upon the foundation laid by Tame Impala’s first two albums it certainly lives in it’s own space.  This was evident even in "Let it Happen," the first single released, as the nearly eight-minute track features synth-driven melodies, enough studio tricks to make nearly any producer’s mouth water, and, most surprisingly, barely any guitar. While other tracks on Currents do utilize more guitar, the instrument is mainly used as more of an accent rather than the focal point of each song, a stark contrast from previous staple tracks like "Elephant." Even the song "Eventually," which begins with a fuzzy guitar riff, transforms into a shimmering synth jam as it descends into the verse. 

Besides a lack of guitar, Currents is unique in part because Parker has come to embrace pop songwriting techniques. Leading up to the release of Lonerism he admitted “I really love, like, pop music now” in one of the videos shared by Modular Recordings, and he also revealed that he had written an entire album for Kylie Minogue, an Austrailian pop singer. Since then, Parker has gone on to record with American pop producer Mark Ronson and is featured on 3 tracks on Ronson’s 2015 album Uptown Special. 

Currents can’t exactly be classified as pop, but it’s probably the closest thing to pop that Tame Impala has released. Yet, after songs like the synthy ballad “Yes I’m Changing” and the sugary-sweet “The Less I Know The Better," Parker throws out a left turn in “Past Life," which features pitched down, spoken word vocals not unlike how documentary characters sound when trying to hide their identity in an interview, that ultimately pulls the album back down into an odd haze of phased out, psychedelic noise.

In terms of lyrical content, while Innerspeaker and Lonerism came from the mind of someone stuck inside their own head, Currents showcases that same voice venturing beyond introspection. It’s easy to call this record a break-up album, but Kevin Parker is very clear that it’s much more than that. He speaks largely about change - change in himself, change around him, change in other people - and how those changes shape his thoughts and emotions.  It seems like he’s been through a lot, but he’s pretty okay with letting things happen as they come.

Currents comes as two things: It is the most adventurous, interesting, and well-produced collection of songs Kevin Parker has created thus far, sitting atop of the Tame Impala discography as the most mature and painstakingly crafted iteration in their twisted psych-pop world. However, it also serves as a transition. If anything, we now know that Kevin Parker is unable to stick with a certain sound, forever looking for new ways to evolve his ideas and push his project beyond what was expected when Innerspeaker first hit the shelves. While this album is impressive in its own right, it’s definitely going to be interesting to see what comes next.

Wilco Just Surprise Released a Free New Album Called 'Star Wars'

No, this actually isn't a joke.

Wilco, the band, have just released an album named after Star Wars, the movie series. They did it today, with no notice, and are giving it away for free, here, for a "limited time." Definitely no questions there, right?

"Why release an album this way and why make it free? Well, the biggest reason, and I'm not sure we even need any others, is that it felt like it would be fun. What's more fun than a surprise?” Jeff Tweedy said in a Facebook post.

The surprise LP consists of 11 original tracks and makes you wonder if Wilco aren't from Chicago after all, but rather a galaxy far, far away. Marina Towers always did remind me a little of Cloud City.

Arcade Fire Announce Debut Feature Film Containing New Music 'The Reflektor Tapes,' Release Previews

Arcade Fire will release their first feature film, The Reflektor Tapes, in theaters worldwide on September 24th for a limited time, according to an official statement.

The film is directed by 2013 Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Short Films winner Kahlil Joseph (who has also worked with artists including Kendrick Lamar, FKA Twigs, and Flying Lotus) and will be "a unique cinematic experience, meeting at the crossroads of documentary, music, art and personal history."

According to a press release, The Reflektor Tapes will contain footage from Arcade Fire's recent tour in support of their last album Reflektor, as well as 20 minutes of film shot specifically for the project, and, perhaps most excitingly, a new, previously unreleased song from the band.

Two previews have been released so far, including a "First Look Trailer" and an eight-minute excerpt of the film based around one of Reflektor's best tracks, "Porno." Both are absolutely entrancing and exhilarating, and you should check them out below.

Ticket information and theater listings will be posted on the project's official website when made available.

Curiously, both the site and trailer were temporarily taken down, but have since been made available again.