I love Crystal Stilts. Fell in love with them after hearing “Crystal Stilts” and “Prismatic Room” from their debut Alight of Night and the single “Love is a Wave”. Now they’re back with some new music, two new jams to be specific.

Crystal Stilts “Shake the Shackles”

Crystal Stilts “Magnetic Moon”

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Crystal Stilts “Love is a Wave”

Crystal Stilts “Crystal Stilts”

Forget the second coming
I need you in the here and now
Instead of dreamin’ up a way
To spread your name across the world somehow

When you told me you were leavin’
I wasn’t thirsty for revenge
No I wasn’t disappointed much at all
‘Cause you’ll be back again…

I have a tendency to be a bit judgmental, while also creating and holding onto silly resentments. And, with a close friend of mine having played with the guys in the West Palm Beach band Surfer Blood in different bands (there’s more to it than that), I kind of held onto my resentment for them for quite a while… and then my iTunes random happened upon “Floating Vibes” and, just like that, I got over my resentment.

What can I say, it’s catchy as hell.

And, now that they’ve signed with Warner, they’ll be dressing up in rags with their wallets full…

Surfer Blood “Floating Vibes”

In addition to having recently released an excellent third album, Arcade Fire also has allowed fans a personal video experience using Google Maps/Street View for the latest single from The Suburbs “We Used To Wait.” You can give it a whirl yourself, here.

Also of note, I happened upon a version of “We Used To Wait” by The Drums… it’s live cover but interesting and a few remixes and couple live versions of “We Used To Wait” and “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”. Additionally, I’m posting “Cold Wind” from the Six Feet Under final season soundtrack, just because it’s awesome, and another track from that compilation, Interpol’s “Direction” just because it, too, is awesome…

The Drums “We Used To Wait”

Arcade Fire “We Used To Wait”

Arcade Fire “We Used To Wait (live in Boston 8/1/2010)”

Arcade Fire “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”

Arcade Fire “Sprawl II (live in Boston 8/1/2010)”

Arcade Fire “Sprawl II (Thunderlust remix)”

Arcade Fire “Sprawl II (Tommie Sunshine’s Quaalude Edit)”

Arcade Fire “Sprawl 3.0 (Rotiv remix)”

Arcade Fire “Cold Wind (from Six Feet Under sndtrk)”

Interpol “Direction (from Six Feet Under sndtrk)”

I’m a lovely man. One of the lovely things I do is pick up a lunatic from an asylum on Tuesdays at noon and take him to a bookstore and then to grab tacos. He likes to ramble endlessly to me about philosophical things which usually go way over my head but bring about the response “very, very interesting” anyway. One of the things he mentioned which did not go over my head was that life didn’t get any better than driving around with a wonderful man wearing a fedora (me!) and listening to the new Arcade Fire album; in fact, it actually made my day. Another thing he said was that all he usually ever listened to – and this is why I should give him my copy of The Suburbs (I did…) – was Joy Division and The Mars Volta, and sometimes Bjork, for the sake of adding the sacred feminine to the equation. We talked of Joy Division. We spoke of Control. And we mentioned favorite songs: his being “Colony” and mine being “Digital”. Enjoy. And enjoy the band performing in Paris the year I was born (link below).

Joy Division “Digital”

The Mars Volta “Inertiatic ESP”

Bjork “Hyper-Ballad”

Joy Division Live in Paris (12/18/1979)

I’ve been listening to these two super Sun Airway tracks quite a bit the last week or so – oh hello, yes, I decided to update my blog for the first in a month – and wanted to share them. In other awesome news, I met the most amazing woman in the world (I think) and she likes music, which isn’t one and the same but close, and definitely cause for endless smiling.

Sun Airway “Put the Days Away”

Sun Airway “Waiting On You”

Arcade Fire’s new album The Suburbs is the best record I’ve heard in a while… enjoy.

Arcade Fire “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”

Arcade Fire “Rococo”

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream” – Edgar Allen Poe

Some friends and I were saying we just wanted to ‘survive’ long enough to see this movie and we survived and we were right to think this way, Inception is amazing…

The Walkmen “Thinking Of A Dream”

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes “4o Day Dream”

Television “The Dream’s Dream”

Apples in Stereo “Dream About the Future”

Free Energy “Dream City”

Crowded House “Don’t Dream It’s Over”

Local Natives “Cubism Dream”

Robyn Hitchcock “I Often Dream of Trains”

Black Tambourine “Dream Baby Dream”

There’s something really awesome going on right now called Levi’s Pioneer Sessions. Head here to register and download these tracks plus many more from 13 artists in total, including also Nas, The Shins, and John Legend & The Roots.

I’m proud to say Levi’s Capital E are the only brand of denim I wear…

Ryan Bingham “That’s How Strong My Love Is”

Pioneer (in lieu): Rolling Stones “That’s How Strong My Love Is”

The Kills “Pale Blue Eyes”

Pioneer: Velvet Underground “Pale Blue Eyes”

Passion Pit “Tonight, Tonight”

Pioneer: Smashing Pumpkins “Tonight, Tonight”

Fabulous Diamonds are a duo consisting of Nisa Venerosa & Jarrod Zlatic, and they’re from Australia; this is all I really know about them beyond that I like this jam.

Fabulous Diamonds “Track 4″

Women have a new record title Public Strain due out 9/18 and here is the first single, “Eyesore”. I love their sound.

Women “Eyesore”

And “Black Rice” from their first record:

Women “Black Rice”