It's been a long while since I've posted a Sunday Radio Dick feature, which usually required hours of prep work for me each week. I'm feeling a little energetic rolling into Sunday, so I'll throw down with an old school Radio Dick – our long-time readers know how these roll. For those new to the garden party, it's essentially a weekly roundup of some tracks that either 1) garnered plenty of newsworthy hype – warranted or not, or 2) were missed by me throughout the week. I consider this the arena to sort of lob tracks at you like tennis balls. Your job, dear reader, is to hit them back with commentary and/or discussion if you feel the need.
I'm not usually scouring the interwebs for remixes, but I caught two this week that kick ass. One comes from Royal Bangs, one of the best bands we saw during our NXNE coverage in Toronto. Flux Outside also happens to be one of the best records this year (double whammy). The band can be heard here remixing Warpaint's track, "Bees." Secondly, I'm posting (probably) one of the most incongruent pairings I've seen in a long while. Bjorn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn, and John remixed White Denim's "Drug" this week, and it's at least worth a spin just to see what Yttling does with it. No whistles, I promise. Last, NYC candy-pop outfit, The Postelles, released a completely free covers EP for the masses this week, which includes the Wreckless Eric cover (you'll also recognize this one if you're ever seen Stranger than Fiction), a Ramones cover, and a couple of others. My girlfriend absolutely adores The Postelles, and I'll at least concede that they've got pop chops galore. Check out the free EP HERE.
Warpaint – Bees (Royal Bangs Remix)
White Denim – Drug (Bjorn Remix)
The Postelles – Whole Wide World (Wreckless Eric Cover)
The Band in Heaven released some new material this week and I just never got around to posting it. The new track, "If You Only Knew" finds the band in similar territory to some of the work they've been lobbing out from their bandcamp site. Pick up a cassette with this track called "Seven Minutes in Heaven" via NorseKorea Tapes or snag the 7" by clicking on the order area on the right side of their page.
The Band in Heaven – If You Only Knew
Secretly Canadian is all set to release The War On Drugs anticipated LP, Slave Ambient on August 16th, and the world wide web is all aflutter over some new tracks being free and legal. "Baby Missles" and "Come to the City" are two tracks from the forthcoming record. I choose to post the latter, mainly because it is a dead ringer for Pink Floyd's "Take it Back." Seriously. Play them both back to back. Somebody has GOT to do a mashup of this. What good is the internet if it doesn't take care of these things?
The War on Drugs – Come to the City
The third of the mega-MP3-trifecta (M83, Girls) to hit the webs at the tail end of this week was St Vincent's first taste of Strange Mercy, "Surgeon." Folks that tweeted the name of the album were gifted with a link to download the track. I've always been on the fence with St. Vincent, but this track may see me turn the corner on the new album. Its rolling synths and largeness are impossible to dislike. Super complex synth noodling and guitar work weave their way through the track, as well. A shit ton going on with this song. The album is out officially on September 13th via 4AD. Head over to the website created for the album and sign up for email updates regarding the release.
Religious Girls, fairly quietly, dropped "OG" on the blogosphere this week, which will be on a September-released 12", Midnight Realms via Echolalic Records and Everbodies Stomached. The track begins with a few tons of synthesizer flourish swirling, before shouted vocals are infused. Rhythms intensify, slow down, and shift in and out of tribal percussion cadences. Consider this a sonic boom for your morning. Part video game noise pop, part gorgeous intensity. Superb.
