Portland’s Parenthetical Girls are a curious group of experimenteers. Their music swings from the more perverse branch on the indie-pop tree. To put it more tangibly, if you like music that makes you or others around you feel slightly uncomfortable, a la Xiu Xiu, chances are you will like Parenthetical Girls.

The first single from their upcoming third album, the aptly titled Entanglements, plays like a demented Burt Bacharach piece at a fucked up carnival, all madcapped and, well, tangled. Plus they turn a famous Carpenters lyric into something sexual.

Entanglements is due out 9/9 on TomLab.

Parenthtical Girls – A Song For Ellie Greenwich”

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If you love lo-fi, Nuggets-era rock and roll and bands with a good sense of humor, then Austin’s Harlem is your new favorite band, or at least one that you should be listening to.

“I’m On Drugs” from their debut full-length Free Drugs (the punks are back and they’re hippies?!) is a kick-ass, swing-your-shit-in-the-air anthem that features cool tempo shifts and incoherent vocals, except, of course, when they shout the song title.

As silly as it sounds, yes, you can BUY Free Drugs from Female Fantasy Records aka the band’s MySpace page.

Harlem – I’m on Drugs

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Last month the only successful Arab/Jew music duo known as Chromeo stopped by Philly fav Daryl Hall’s (of Hall and Oates) home studio to film a webisode of the Live From Daryl’s House.

The electro-funksters joined Hall and his band in some live sessions featuring classic D&H songs like “No Can Do” and “Family Man.” They also perform Chromeo’s own “Tenderoni,” which sounds incredible. As you may have guessed, the pair take full advantage of the situation by chit-chatting with the king of blue-eyed soul about music nerdiness and other good stuff.

You can watch the full webisode or watch it song by song here.

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In other Chromeo news, they have a new A-Ha-esque video for their awesome H&O-inspired tune “Mama’s Boy.” Take a look:

“Mama’s Boy” is from their newest album Fancy Footwork, which you can purchase now from Insound.

In October, genre-defying IDM pioneer and multi-instrumentalist Squarepusher, aka Tom Jenkinson will release his new album Just a Souvenir courtesy of Warp Records. Unfortunately, there isn’t much more info than that. Oh except for a sweet slice of guitar-and- drum-fuckery streaming from Warp’s MySpace page. OoOoOoOoO!

Well, today’s the day. Byrne and Eno’s first official album collaboration since 1981’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is available as a 320kbps DRM-free digital copy for $8.99 and $11.99 on CD. Then, similar to Radiohead’s In Rainbows, there is the $69.99 deluxe package, which features all kinds of limited edition and exclusive extras. But the best part? You can listen to the whole album on their site and ON THIS PAGE. My favorites so far are “Home,” “Life is Long”, “Wanted For Life” and “Strange Overtones.” Have a listen:

Head over to the Everything that Happens Will Happen Today microsite to get more info and to buy the album.

Back in May, we introduced you to Ladyhawke and, indeed, we still have “Paris is Burning” and “Back of The Van” in heavy rotation.

Now, Discobelle has brought an awesome new track, remixed by fellow Aussies The Canyons, to our attention. “Dusk Till Dawn” is a dirty, garage groove with a stomping rhythm and well-timed hand-claps. After a few seconds of listening, I’m sure you’ll agree with us, the girl is on a roll…

Ladyhawke’s self-titled debut drops on 9/22 in the UK. No release date has been set for the US.

Ladyhawke – Dusk Till Dawn (Canyons Garage Disco Mix)

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In 2006, Delaware’s The Spinto Band had a modest hit (which should’ve been a huge hit) with “Oh, Mandy” from their well-received album Nice and Nicely Done. The charming and offbeat track with its references to the WB and the Midwest was an infectious slice of jangly pop.

Now the crew is back with a new song and video for “Summer Grof.” The song is just as good as anything from the previous record (with the exception of…you guessed it) and the video is most likely the band’s way of telling us that all of their success has not entirely gone to their heads.

The song will be featured on the band’s upcoming album, Moonwink, due out on 10/7 on Park the Van.

The Spinto Band – Summer Grof

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We featured Norwegian singer/songwriter and pizza burner Ida Maria on the blog way back, but now she’s gotten super sexy and gone and done it…and by “it” I mean having a kick ass video for her new single “Better When You’re Naked.”

The song is not as good as “Oh My God,” but the video definitely makes up for that with its vivid and adventurous Pop-Art feel (bananas as phallic metaphors included.) As cool looking as it is, we can’t help feeling somewhat jipped, seeing that the title of the song is what it is and that Ida isn’t practicing what she preaches. Oh well, can’t have it all…

Watch a bigger version of the video in Quicktime here.

Pick up the new single and the debut album, Fortress Around My Heart, on Amazon.

Since the weather is SO nice in Philly today, why not venture over to Rittenhouse Sq. Park for a free concert featuring local heroes and Walrus favs Dr. Dog? Show starts at 7pm. Meet me by the fountain…

The band’s newest album, Fate, is available now from Park the Van and you can download their excellent track “The Old Days” here.

Composer, and Philly native, James Lavino has teamed up with Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah brothers Lee and Tyler Sargent to score a quirky film about bird watching called Woodpecker (based on the synopsis, it sounds like Best in Show meets The Twilight Zone).

Unusual collaborations call for, you guessed it, unusual music. Both “How to Look at a Bird” and “The Thing With Feathers” are a moody mix of dark Americana, folk, and Eno-esque ambiance that sound beautiful, poignant and disturbing all at once. If the film is as good as the music, I’ll definitely be checking it out.

You can download the full soundtrack from Amazon and stream it on James’ site (in the “film/tv section” of the Woodpecker page.)

The film is currently making its rounds in the underground festival circuit.

James Lavino (Ft Colin Greenwood and Sargent Brothers) – How To Look at a Bird

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James Lavino (Ft. Colin Greenwood and Sargent Brothers) – The Thing With Feathers

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Philly’s The War on Drugs are starting to make a name for themselves outside of the local scene with their awesome debut full-length Wagonwheel Blues.

Co-founder Kurt Vile and gang are perpetuating the grand tradition of noisy Americana. “Taking the Farm” is a classic rock inspired road song rinsed in reverb and distortion that plays like Sonic Youth fronted by Tom Petty. Perfect late-summer music.

Wagonwheel Blues is available now from Insound.

The War on Drugs – Taking the Farm

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In 1989 I was 10 years old, way into playing street hockey and listening to Bell Biv Devoe. Little did I know that Scottish duo Boards of Canada who were rockin b-boy stances, far away from a ‘beautiful place out in the country’and embarking on trek to revolutionize electronic music with their cinematic brand of downtempo psychedelia.

Taken from their rare ‘89 cassette only release Acid Memories,”Helter Skater” is one of the earliest examples of the duo’s genius. Old-school hip hop beats, so loopy and infectious you’ll feel like break-dancing, mixed with warm acid-soaked analog synths create a blue-print to a future 80’s electro revival that will never sound as beautiful.

Download the rest of Acid Memories here and read an in-depth article about their history here.

Boards of Canada – Helter Skater

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