Song of the Moment: Lightning Love, "So Easy"

End-of-summer/ back-to-school madness got you stressed? Take a time out with "So Easy," the positively infectious new track from Ypsilanti, MI's Lightning Love. Front woman Leah Diehl's vocals strike the perfect balance btw conversational and impassioned -- and the chorus blooms with the splendor of 1000 suns. Plus it's pretty much impossible NOT to bounce along to that piano line.

"So Easy" appears on the Blonde Album, out now.


Psssst! Wanna hear more Lightning Love? Tweet at 'em to score a single of equally sweet single "Deadbeat."

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Best New Music: Animal Collective

What a long, strange trip it's been for Animal Collective. Since 2009 (and the release of the fantastic, universally-acclaimed Merriweather Post Pavilion), the Baltimore boys have basically skyrocketed to fame, bringing their lush, trippy concoctions with them. Now, 3 years later, they're about to drop their ninth LP -- to a world unsure of what to expect.

Another thing we're unsure of: who's who in this pic. Impossible

to tell with these bizarro masks!

Over at Phrequency.com, I review the new record -- and answer the burning question of whether the best band of 2009 can still lay claim to the title in 2012. Head over there to check it out -- and catch the appropriately weird new vid for "Today's Supernatural."

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Cool / Lame: Made in America

Cool: The idea behind "Made in America,"
most  of the bands playing Made in America, the fact that Jay-Z
(who <3s  NYC) chose  Philly as his locale, the fact that a portion
 of the profits  actually go to charity

Lame: The retardedly expensive ticket
prices, the giant walls to keep poor Philadelphians out, the fact
that half the bands aren't even  "Made in America," the lack of
local bands represented, the fact that the Parkway is a clusterfuck
 already, Pearl Jam

'Merica's finest

Final verdict? You tell me.

See more cool / lame here.

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XPN2 Playlist, 8/27/12

Underwater Explosions Radio!

6:00

Super Furry Animals, "Golden Retriever"

Phantom Power

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, "Symphony of the Nymph"

Mature Themes

.

The Hidden Cameras, "Ban Marriage"
The Smell of Our Own

Sleigh Bells, "Rill Rill"

Treats

Deep Time, "Homebody"

Deep Time

Ape School, "You Don't Know You Don't Know"

Junior Violence

Audacity, "Subway Girl"

Mellow Cruisers

.

Vintage Kicks, "Absolutely Crazy"

King Geek

Chomp, "Fresh Wounds"

Buddha Jabba Momma

Lightning Love, "So Easy"

Blonde Album

Spoon, "Jonathan Fisk"

Kill the Moonlight

Divine Fits, "Flaggin' a Ride"

A Thing Called Divine Fits

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The Soft Moon, "Die Life"

Zeros

Big Wave, "Dying on the Vine"

The Biweekly 5" Pizza Club

Darlings, "Pet the Ghost"

Pet the Ghost / Shelley 7"

The Knife, "Silent Shout"
Silent Shout

Broken Bells, "The Ghost Inside"

Broken Bells

Apparently "The Ghost Inside" is some angry-looking hardcore

band,  which made finding appropriate images tough. 

So here is image #14 for "Ghost Inside LOL." Enjoy.

7:00

Metric, "Youth Without Youth"

Synthetica

.

Twin Sister, "Kimmi in a Rice Field"

In Heaven

Pet Shot Boys, "West End Girls"
Ultimate

Grimes "Vanessa"
Darkbloom

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, "Thought Ballune"

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Laser Background, "Pinwheels"
Laser Background

.

Beck, "Tropicalia"

Mutations

Os Mutantes, "Panis Et Circenses"

Tecnicolor

The School, "Summer's Here"
Loveless Unbeliever

Who Knew, "Made Belief"

Bits and Pieces of a Major Spectacle

.

The Very Best, feat. Mo Laudi, "Come Alive"

MTMTMK

Vampire Weekend, "Walcott"

Vampire Weekend

Man Man, "Piranhas Club"

Life Fantastic

Mannequin Men, "Don't Grow"
Mannequin Men

.

Jens Lekman, "I Know What Love Isn't"

I Know What Love Isn't

Tune in again in two weeks (I'm off for Labor Day) for more hot jamz.

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Music Video Mondays: Backwords dive in + Bleeding Rainbow rage

Brooklyn's Backwords craft low-key folk-pop, perfect for resisting the back-to-school bustle...and this new vid for "Hey Kid" is a perfect reminder that we still have a few days left for soaking up summer vibes:

Pool-snorkeling turns magical with the help of a little "imagination."

"Hey Kid" appears on the record By the Neck, out now.


And for those of you who prefer your Monday coffee with a healthy dose of ragin', check out this srsly sick vid 2 of my friends put together for Bleeding Rainbow:




"Pink Ruff" appears on the record Yeah Right, out October 9 on Kanine.

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Best New Music: Divine Fits

I pretty much knew this would rule from the second I caught wind of it...and lo and behold, DIVINE FITS -- the new project from Spoon's Britt Daniel + The Handsome Furs/Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner -- is pure rock'n roll bad-assery, wrapped up in a package of quivering synths and frenetic drumming (courtesy of New Bomb Turks' Sam Brown.)

Boeckner + Daniel or spaceman clones? The world might never know

(from FB)

On debut record A Thing Called Divine Fits, this bad-assery takes several forms, from head-banging ragers to introspective growers. Check out my full review over at Phrequency, and learn how you can stream the record for free right now.

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XPN2 Playlist, 8/20/12

Underwater Explosions Radio!

6:00

Fool's Gold, "The Dive"

Leave No Trace

Foreign Born, "Blood Oranges"

Person to Person

.

Islands, "Switched On"

Vapours

Tanlines, "All of Me"

Mixed Emotions

Reptile Youth, "Shooting Up Sunshine"

Reptile Youth

Fanfarlo, "Harold T. Wilkins or How to Wait for a Very Long Time"

Resevoir

Freelance Whales, "We Could Be Friends"

Weathervanes

.

Beat Connection, "Palace Garden, 4 a.m."

The Palace Garden

Theme Park, "Milk"

Wax

Blackbird Blackbird, "Happy High"

Summer Heart

Passion Pit, "Constant Conversations (St. Lucia Remix)"

Gossamer

Space Fight, "22"

Space Fight

.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, "Mature Themes"

Mature Themes

Guided by Voices, "How I Met My Mother"

Let's Go Eat the Factory

The Bastards of Fate, "Digging Up the Dinosaurs"

Who's a Fuzzy Buddy?

Mister Heavenly, "I Am a Hologram"

Out of Love

King Tuff, "Bad Thing"

King Tuff

 Google image result #80-something (I lost count) for "Bad Thing."

And just in time for Shark Week!

7:00

Wavves, "King of the Beach"

King of the Beach

.

Police Teeth, "Bellingham Media Blackout"

Bellingham Media Blackout

Ty Segall, "The Hill"

The Hill (Single)

Fergus & Geronimo, "Funky Was the State of Affairs"

Funky Was the State of Affairs

The Black Keys, "Stop Stop"

El Camino

Jack White, "Blunderbuss"

Blunderbuss

.

Agent Ribbons, "Family Haircut"

Let Them Talk

Cheap Time, "People Talk"

Cheap Time

Jamaica, "Gentleman"

No Problem

The Soft Pack, "Tallboy"

Strapped

Portugal. The Man, "Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now)"

In the Mountain In the Cloud

.

Nomen Novum, "Pony Trekkers"

If You Look for It, It's There

Tennis, "Dreaming"

Young and Old

Yo La Tengo, "The Summer"

Fakebook

The Beach Boys, "Wouldn't It Be Nice?"

Pet Sounds

Arcade Fire, "Sprawl II (Moutanins Beyond Mountains)"

The Suburbs

.

JJAMZ, "Heartbeat"

Suicide Pact

Tune in again next week for more sweet summer jams.

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Music Video Mondays: King Tuff

Been sorta obsessed with this the new King Tuff record...and this vid (for killer single "Alone & Stoned") is basically perfect. No commentary necessary, as the vid  pretty much says it all:

"Alone and Stoned" appears on the record King Tuff, out now.

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Best New Music: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Maybe it says something about me that I'm always attracted to the strange (see: The Bastards of Fate, Django Django, Via Audio)... and that something is that strange people make the best music.

Ariel Pink: sublimely strange (and possibly injured

after playing football?)

Ariel Pink is stranger than most, with tunes that combine the accessible and the weird in startling (strange!) new ways. On new record Mature Themes (out next week on 4AD), Beverly Hill's fave musical oddity (with the help of the equally strangely-named Haunted Graffiti) -- craft a record that delves deep into the world of trashy '70s disco...and comes up kicking with g-spots, H-bombs, time warps, schnitzel, and even a few love songs. Check out my full review over at Phrequency -- and get ready to indulge in the bizarre.

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Cool / Lame: Cutting Work for Politics / Consumerism

Cool: Ducking out of work early to

register people to vote

Lame: Ducking out of work early for a

sale at Urban Outfitters

(at least they could give you more than 10% off, amirite?)

Also sorta-don't-wanna-admit-its-cool: this tee,

from Urban. Every time you buy Obama gear

at U.O., Richard Hayne weeps a little

See more cool / lame here.

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XPN2 Playlist, 8/13/12

Underwater Explosions Radio!

6:00

Japandroids, "For the Love of Ivy"

Celebration Rock

Thee Oh Sees, "Flood's New Light"

Putrifiers II

.

Cloud Nothings, "No Sentiment"

Attack on Memory

Eternal Summers, "I Love You"

Correct Behavior

Jacuzzi Boys, "Automatic Jail"

Glazin'

Screaming Females, "It All Means Nothing"

Ugly

Royal Headache, "Never Again"

Royal Headache

.

Reptar, "Sebastian"

Body Faucet

Said the Whale, "We Are 1980"

Little Mountain

Santigold, "Disparate Youth"

Master of My Make-Believe

LCD Soundsystem, "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House"

LCD Soundsystem

.

Yeasayer, "Longevity"

Fragrant World

Night Panther, "Fever"

Fever (Single)

Of Montreal, "Disconnect the Dots"

Satanic Panic in the Attic

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, "Fright Night (Nevermore)"

Before Today

.

Work Drugs, "Lisbon Teeth"

Absolute Bearing

My favorite Google image result for "Lisbon Teeth."

Can't decide whether this is awesome, or freaky (or both!)

7:00

Wild Nothing, "Paradise"

Nocturne

MGMT, "Brian Eno"

Congratulations

Cults, "Walk at Night"

Cults

Purity Ring, "Ungirthed"

Shrines

.

Dum Dum Girls, "Lord Knows"

End of Daze

Acid House Kings, "(I'm in) a Chorus Line"

Music Sounds Better With You

Hospitality, "Friends of Friends"

Hospitality

Hunx and His Punx, "Too Young to Be in Love"

Too Young to Be in Love

Mazarin, "I'll See You in the Evening"

We're Already There

.

Backwords, "Hey Kid!"

By the Neck

Monsters of Folk, "The Right Place"

Monsters of Folk

The Babies, "Breakin' the Law"

The Babies

Vivian Girls, "Where Do You Run To"

Vivian Girls

Fergus & Geronimo, "Baby Don't You Cry"

Unlearn

.

Bombay Bicycle Club, "Shuffle"

A Different Kind of Fix

Tune in again next week for more hot summer jamz.

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Music Video Mondays: The Bastards of Fate + Reptile Youth

It's no secret that I'm a sucker for the wonderfully weird -- and this new vid from Roanoke rogues The Bastards of Fate does a good job of capturing the creative AND the crazy:

"Digging Up the Dinosaurs" appears on the record Who's a Fuzzy Buddy, out now.

And because summer is all about warm weather and girls in short-shorts, here's Danish band Reptile Youth's new vid for "Shooting Up Sunshine":

"Shooting Up Sunshine" appears on the record Reptile Youth, out October 23.

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Best New Music: Work Drugs

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Philly "smooth-wave" band Work Drugs -- and their new record, Absolute Bearing, combines everything I < 3 about past releases into one, glorious, sweat-soaked celebration.

a glorious, sweat-soaked,celebration?

From hazy grooves peppered with images of fast cars and dance floor ragers -- to swirling beats as sexy as the moments they describe -- Absolute Bearing is essential listening this August, as the summer slowly slips away, and we cling to moments of debauchery desperately. Check out my full review over at Phrequency.com, then get ready to chill out to Work Drugs.

Previously on UE: Local Radar: Work Drugs

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Cool / Lame: Tom Waits + Radiohead

Cool: Tom Waits. 
Yes, he sounds a little like Cookie Monster...but everyone knows Cookie Monster was the second best character on Sesame Street (after Ernie)

Lame: Radiohead. 
Yes, OK Computer was all kinds of brilliant. But it dropped 15 years ago + we all got tired of hearing "Karma Police" 234987987987 times in college. (Does anyone even own The King of Limbs?) Thom Yorke will always have great hair though.

This is what you get...when you mess with Radiohead (i.e., Thom Yorke

looking very disappointed in you.)

See more Cool / Lame here.

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Song of the Moment: The Peach Kings, "Fisherman"

Kinda obsessed with this new tune from LA duo The Peach Kings, which is sexy, sultry, moody, and groovy:

"Fisherman" appears on the Handsome Moves EP, out September 6.


UPDATE!!! (8/8/12): Download the single for free right here. And check out the updated vid above.


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XPN2 Playlist, 8/6/12

The newly-coined Underwater Explosions Radio!

6:00

Deep Time, "Clouds"

Deep Time

Robbers on High Street, "Face in the Fog"

Hey There Golden Hair

.

Light Heat, "And the Birds"

And the Birds (Single)

Princeton, "Florida"

Remembrance of Things to Come

Savoir Adore, "MERP"

In the Wooded Forest

Dent May, "Don't Wait Too Long"

Do Things

Suckers, "Turn on the Sunshine"

Candy Salad

.

The Very Best, feat. Xuman, "Mghetto"

MTMTMK

Django Django, "Zumm Zumm"

Django Django

Animal Collective, "Gotham"

Honeycomb / Gotham (7")

Xylos, "X-Ray"

Xylos

Allo Darlin', "Capricornia"

Europe

.

The New Pornographers, "Think About Me"

Just Tell Me That You Want Me -- A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac

Ugly Winner, "Senses Safe"

Inside Your Wave

The Fresh & Onlys, "Long Slow Dance"

Long Slow Dance

Turbo Fruits, "Harley Dollar Bill$"

Butter

Blonde Summer, "Slow Days Fast Company"

Slow Daze

.

The Peach Kings, "Fisherman"

Handsome Moves

Gemini Club, "Sparklers"

Here We Sit

Summer Heart, "A Million Times"

About a Feeling

 Summer Heart, looking exactly how I imagine an artist named 

"Summer Heart" should look

7:00

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, "Yellow Missing Signs"

Tape Club

Seapony, "Prove It to Me"

Falling

.

Tennis, "Robin"

Young and Old

Belle & Sebastian, "Roy Walker"

Dear Catastrophe Waitress

David Bowie, "Suffragette City"

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust

The Really Cooks, "Mr. Badman"

Dr. Lemonade Stand

Terry Malts, "Nauseous"

Killing Time

.

Fergus & Geronimo, "No Parties"

Funky Is the State of Affairs

King Tuff, "Keep on Movin'"

King Tuff

The Vaccines, "Blow Your Mind"

No Hope (7")

Harlem, "Three Legged Dog"

Hippies

Black Lips, "Time"

Arabia Mountain

.

The Exploding Hearts, "I'm a Pretender"

Guitar Romantic

Tune in again next week for more sweet jamz.

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Music Video Mondays: Deep Time

Digging the vintage sounds (and vibes) of Austin duo Deep Time -- and this video for "Clouds" epitomizes their dark, dusted mystique.

"Clouds" appears on the record Deep Time, out now.

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Cool / Lame: Yeasayer + Bloc Party

Cool/lame is a new recurring feature on UE where I detail things that are cool / lame.

Cool: Yeasayer scavenger hunt. Yeasayer weirdness.

Lame: Bloc Party. Maybe in 2005.

More like "Mock Party." (Even Kele Okereke is ashamed!)

Stay tuned for more cool / lame soon.

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