BuzzSugar

What to Download: New Music on iTunes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:30:11 -0700

Tuesdays are big in entertainmentville: Not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores, including iTunes. So I take a spin through each week's iTunes music releases and pick out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. In addition to the songs and albums below you can now download a second volume of the Sex and the City soundtrack. Here are today's selections:

Let's Rock: The new Kings of Leon album, Only By the Night, seems like a pretty straightforward effort by the band in all its arena-rock glory. I've already been digging the track "Sex on Fire," and I think "17" sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl.

When I grow up I might not listen to this stuff anymore: First of all, I have to tell you that I laughed out loud when I laid eyes on this cover. It appears that the middle Pussycat Doll lost her shirt on her motorcycle ride. But I digress. I don't think I'll ever buy an entire Dolls album but will admit I've succumbed to their catchy dance tunes in the past. The song we've all heard a lot already, "When I Grow Up," is of course included on their new album as is an obligatory song featuring Snoop Dog called "Bottle Pop," and what I bet is the next song none of us will be able to get out of our brains, "Halo".

Two more picks up next so read more.

Reflecting: Oh, wow, I really like Cold War Kids and I'm totally digging their new album Loyalty to Loyalty. I read an article about what inspired this new album and discovered that the lyrically mesmerizing track, "Every Man I Fall For," is written about a female's perspective of relationships. I'm really enjoying the song "Relief" as well but I'll likely download the entire thing.

"Down-home Dixie-fried home-grown..." Those are some of the fun, spirited lyrics from the first track on the Old Crow Medicine Show's new album Tennessee Pusher. The banjo-plucky album has more of the OCMS's super-Southern country-folk tunes. In fact, it's like a fond love letter to the South, from the energetic "Alabama High-Test" to the much darker "Motel in Memphis" and title track "Tennessee Pusher."

Link Time! 7/22

BuzzSugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:30:08 -0700

Cinematical wonders if male movie reviewers are sexist when it comes to reviewing Mamma Mia!
GiveMeMyRemote has a clip from the recent Daily Show episode in which Ed Helms made a reappearance.
Stereogum tells us about a new track by Cold War Kids, "Something Is Not Right With Me."
According to MTV Movies Blog, Val Kilmer claims he invented Austin Powers's "Mini Me."
Katie Couric has said that sexism is more common than racism, and Brooke Hogan is not helping this matter at all; CitizenSugar has the scoop.
Popwatch says that fake book, Love Letters of Great Men, actually will be available in bookstores soon.
TV With MeeVee continues to investigate all the seasons of The X-Files in anticipation of this weekend's new movie.
Pitchfork's "review" of the latest album by Black Kids cracks me up.

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Free Downloads! Six Covers by the Cold War Kids

BuzzSugar — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 06:56:37 -0800

Cold War Kids already won me over with a stellar debut album, Robbers & Cowards, and the awesome interview the band did for BuzzSugar. But now, the boys from Long Beach have done something even cooler: They've posted free MP3s of six cover songs that the band played at a recent breast-cancer benefit show.

The very eclectic set includes CWK's version of songs by Fiona Apple, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and more. You can download the songs on the Cold Ward Kids web site.

Song of the Day: Cold War Kids, "Hang Me Up to Dry"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 08:33:00 -0800

After posting my interview with Cold War Kids, I couldn't resist featuring one of my favorite tracks from the band's 2006 album, Robbers & Cowards, as today's Song of the Day. On "Hang Me Up to Dry," the musicians build an ultra-catchy pop song with fishing-reel sound effects and almost frighteningly awesome riffs.

Band Interview: Cold War Kids

BuzzSugar — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:31:51 -0800

No band in 2006 benefited from the power of the Internet like Cold War Kids. On Downtown Records, the same label that brought us breakout hit Gnarls Barkley, the band got so much praiseworthy press early on that it was playing Lollapalooza before its first album even hit stores.

Remarkably, the album, Robbers & Cowards, totally lives up to the hype, with a collection of storytelling songs that blend rock and roll with noise collages. The guys-including frontman and piano man Nathan Willett, drummer Matt Aveiro, bassist Matt Maust, and guitarist Jonnie Russell-recently stopped by the Sugar Publishing offices on their way back home to Long Beach, Calif., for an interview.

I talked to the band about everything from the music they're digging now - including the new Tom Waits album and Cat Power - to the authors they love (David Foster Wallace is a group fave). To see what the Cold War Kids had to say about their newfound fame and what comes next, read more

First, how did you guys come up with the band name?

Maust: I was traveling through eastern Europe with my bro, and when I was outside Budapest, they had taken out all these statues and just dumped them outside of cities. You could visit them and climb on them and kick ‘em, and my brother and I had like a picnic on Stalin’s foot. I thought, we couldn’t have done this in the '70s.

How did you get hooked up with Downtown Records?

Maust: They took us to a really nice breakfast and wooed us with omelets.

Willett: They had the right balance of small and new enough, but they also had the gusto enough to do the things we wanted to do.

Tell me a bit about how the album caught fire online.

Willett: About eight months ago, our friend Matt O’Brien, who is a big blog guy, was talking to us about bloggers, and he showed us how we had a review on a blog of our EP. When we put out the second and third EPs, we decided to send them out to some blogs, like Stereogum and My Old Kentucky Blog.

Maust: At first, I was a little scared getting all this press; I was like, we gotta get an album out, guys.

Willett: The more you don’t have music that’s available to buy and people are talking about it, the more that you’re really living up to expectations. You’d rather let the music speak for your band than the hype.

How do you come up with ideas for songs?

Nathan: We just write music together. We’ll all be together in a room, and someone comes up with an idea they like and everyone else just grabs onto it.

Maust: Matt (Aveiro) might come with more of a hip-hop beat, and I come to the table from more of a punk-rock standpoint, and when those things mesh, you get a song like “Saint John.”

Aveiro: Sometimes we don’t have the biggest space that we play in, so we’ll have things laying around that we can pick up and bang on.

Most: Wine bottles, fishing reels, chairs being scooted around ...

Now that you're done with touring for a while, what's up next for you guys?

Nathan: We did some recording at the BBC a few weeks ago, including a John Lennon/Yoko Ono song called “Well Well Well.” It was in Peel Studios, a 4-hour session, and they set up lots of pianos and keys in big room, and you just get to play a bit.

Aveiro: It’s pretty much the modern equivalent of the Peel Sessions.

I can't wait to hear the band's new songs, but for now, I'll just sustain myself on Robbers & Cowards. Tune in later today to hear one of my favorite Cold War Kids tracks.