[playlist] Hump Day Power Play (12-14-2011)

To help you over the hump.

Continuing with our weekly installment of the Hump Day Power Play, this week's playlist is a mix of new wave and surf-inspired rock. Hopefully this makes the mundane magnificent. Again, you need Spotify to listen to it. Hear it by simply clicking here. Playlist is below.

:: Hump Day Power Play (12-14-2011) ::

01 :: "Age Of Consent" - New Order

02 :: "Shelia" - Atlas Sound

03 :: "Transmission" - Joy Division

04 :: "Break My Body" - Pixies

05 :: "Neighbor Riffs" - Surfer Blood

06 :: "Honey Boney" - Girls

07 :: "King of the Beach" - Wavves

08 :: "Mind, Drips" - Neon Indian

09 :: "Taken For A Fool" - The Strokes

10 :: "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division

11 :: "Ceremony" - New Order

12 :: "I'm Not Ready" - Surfer Blood

[tour dates] Cults Announce Spring Dates

Drink up...

Cults, creators of one of my favorite albums of the year, has just released a whole slew of concert dates. The winter months will conclude a short US visit before the band travels to Australia, Singapore, and even Japan. But in March, Cults will blaze across the contiguous 48 states, spreading their ritualistic awesomeness to a city near you.

Cults tour dates:
12-31 :: West Hollywood, CA - The Standard *
01-13 :: Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
01-14 :: Washington, DC - Black Cat
01-19 :: New York, NY - Webster Hall
01-28 :: Brisbane, Australia - Fortitude Valley
01-30 :: Auckland, Australia - Silo Park
02-04 :: Melbourne, Australia - Footscray Community Arts Centre
02-05 :: Sydney, Australia - Sydney College of the Arts
02-10 :: Adelaide, Australia - Fowler’s Live & UNISA West Courtyards
02-11 :: Perth, Australia - Perth Cultural Centre
02-12 :: Fort Canning, Singapore - Laneway Festival
02-15 :: Tokyo, Japan - Unit
03-02 :: Hoboken, NJ- Maxwell’s
03-03 :: Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
03-04 :: Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
03-06 :: Atlanta, GA - The Earl
03-07 :: Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
03-09 :: Orlando, FL - The Plaza Live
03-10 :: Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
03-11 :: Houston, TX - Fitzgerald’s #
03-17 :: El Paso, TX - Lowbrow Palace
03-18 :: Tuscon, AZ - Club Congress
03-21 :: Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
03-23 :: Pamona, CA - The Glass House
03-24 :: Santa Barbara, CA - Velvet Jones
04-03 :: Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room
04-04 :: San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
04-05 :: San Francisco, CA - Slims
04-06 :: Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
04-07 :: Seattle, WA - Neptune
04-09 :: Vancouver, BC - Venue
04-11 :: Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
04-12 :: Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
04-13 :: Boulder, CO - Fox Theater
04-14 :: Lawrence, KS - The Granada Theater
04-16 :: Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
04-17 :: Madison, WI - Majestic Theater
04-18 :: Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
04-20 :: Chicago, IL - Metro
04-21 :: Bloomington, IN - Rhinos
04-22 :: Ferndale, MI - The Magic Bag
04-23 :: Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
04-25 :: Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
04-26 :: Montreal, QC - Corona Theatre
04-27 :: South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
04-29 :: Northhampton, MA - Pearl Street Nightclub

* with Jenny and Johnny
# with Of Montreal

[playlist] Hump Day Power Play (12-7-2011)

To help you over the hump.

So as many may know, I've joined the ranks of Corporate America, leaving behind the wonderful/terrible work schedule that accompanies graduate school. While the laboratory hours were long, schedule flexibility was amazingly redeeming.

With this recent move, however, I'm going to attempt to bring something new to Three Colours, as this change in scenery and lack of concert-going regularity have left me feeling inadequate in my posting frequency. Since I spend a large part of my day listening to Spotify Unlimited at my desk (lifesaver), I figured it'd be extremely easy to start sharing some of the playlists that I tend to make to get me through the work week. Hopefully, some of my readers are in the same boat as I, and they will think of these playlists as emergency "pick-me-ups", should the mundane be overwhelming.

I'll play around with the format of these playlists, but since today is a Wednesday, and I'm in dire need of some "motivation", I'll call this first one the "Hump Day Power Play". You need Spotify to listen to it, but I'll post the playlist below, too. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope I enjoy this format enough to keep it going. It could be fun!

So without further ado, I give you the inaugural Three Colours "Hump Day Power Play" (future name subject to change), which can be heard by simply clicking here at Spotify.

:: Hump Day Power Play (12-7-2011) ::

01 :: "Doncamatic" - Gorillaz (feat. Daley)

02 :: "In The Morning" - Junior Boys

03 :: "Midnight City" - M83

04 :: "Modegreen" - Yeasayer

05 :: "Burning" - The Whitest Boy Alive

06 :: "French Exit" - The Antlers

07 :: "The Mall & Misery" - Broken Bells

08 :: "Seven" - Fever Ray

09 :: "The Equalizer" - Junior Boys

10 :: "We Almost Lost Detroit" - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

11 :: "Empire Ants" - Gorillaz (feat. Little Dragon)

[new music] The West - Don’t Make a Sound

The West will rise again!

Formerly known as simply Bob and Anthony, this two part Seattle band, comprised of Anthony Darnell (of the local Satori Group) and Bob Husak (drummer for the Blakes), has added three more members to the line-up and changed their moniker to The West. Last year, Bob and Anthony released their first single "Underground", which made me an instant fan (heard here).

For those wanting more, you'll be happy to learn that The West has just released their first EP entitled Don't Make a Sound. The newly formed group is still crafting the melodic jams heard on "Underground", but there's a little more energy and synth injected into the upbeat sing-alongs, thanks to the addition of keyboardist Adrienne Clark, producer / guitarist Reed Griffin, and songwriter / electronic producer Arthur Ross. Hear it for yourself (the EP can be streamed below).

So go pick up a copy of the The West's 4-song EP Don't Make a Sound - it's the best 4 bucks you'll spend this week. And also check them out in Seattle at the Comet Tavern tomorrow night (9 PM, $7 at the door).

[new music] Plants and Animals - The End of That

P&A Announce New Record

“Let’s make a new record,” they say. “How do we do this? Let’s do it differently—let’s write a whole pile of songs and develop them big time before we go into the studio to record—let’s not do the fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants routine for a change—too crazy, too pressed. Let’s create in a cave, off the clock, take some time. Like normal people,” they say.

Plants and Animals have just announced the news and release date for their third LP, The End of That. Set to release via Secret City on February 28, 2012, P&A are already sharing the first single, a slow-rocker called "Lightshow" (listen below). New tour dates have also been posted, most notably, the band will be hitting up the Crocodile in Seattle, as well as Shuba's in Chicago! Additionally, the band will be touring with a bass player and playing live as a four piece for the first time. Should bring some added depth to their stage sound - always a plus.

Plants and Animals tour dates:
12-7-2011 :: The Rock Shop :: New York, NY
1-6-2012 :: Rialto Theatre :: Montreal, QC
1-12-2012 :: Schuba's :: Chicago, IL (Tomorrow Never Knows Fest)
3-8-2012 :: Ritual Nightclub :: Ottawa, ON**
3-9-2012 :: Le Cercle :: Quebec, QC**
3-10-2012 :: Le Cabaret du Mile End :: Montreal, QC
3-21-2012 :: Rickshaw Theatre :: Vancouver, BC*
3-22-2012 :: The Crocodile :: Seattle, WA*
3-24-2012 :: Mississippi Studios :: Portland, Oregon*
3-27-2012 :: Starlite Room :: Edmonton, AB*
3-28-2012 :: Republik :: Calgary, AB*
3-29-2012 :: Amigos Cantina :: Saskatoon, SK*
3-30-2012 :: West End Cultural Centre :: Winnipeg, MB*
3-31-2012 :: 7th Street Entry :: Minneapolis, MN*

* w/ Little Scream
** w/ TBA

ADVANCE PRE-SALE TICKETS for all shows are available here.

[mp3] Spoon - "Towner on the B-Side" (demo) December Bonus Track

New Bonus Track from Spoon

Spoon wasted little time between releasing bonus tracks, bringing us all some early holiday cheer in the month of December. This month's song is a demo version of the aMiniature (the "a" is silent) cover "Towner on the B-Side". During a recent move, lead singer Britt Daniel apparently stumbled upon an old cassette tape that was made in the pre-Sneaks years. Cool!

Even cooler, a long while back I did a little write-up about my thoughts on the connection between Spoon and aMiniature, and to my surprise, aMiniature's lead singer John Lee responded. Read his comments here.

December's demo version is of Telephono's "Towner on the B-Side". For the full list of Spoon bonus tracks, go here. Check out this month's bonus track below.

MP3: Spoon - "Towner on the B-Side" (demo) - aMiniature cover
(December '11 Bonus Track)

BUY :: aMiniature - Depth Five Rate Six

[new music] The Black Keys - El Camino

Hear the new Black Keys album today!

Get the album, entitled El Camino (cover art above) on December 6 via Nonesuch. It'll make for a great stocking-stuffer. Below, for the mere price of your email address, you can legally sample 5 tracks off The Black Keys' latest rocker. For the virtual pirates sailing the digital seas, an advance copy is floating around amongst the flotsam for all to sample. Based on the songs streamable below, this is going to be yet another great BK LP.

BUY :: The Black Keys - El Camino