The Walrus is a Philadelphia-based music blog written by Michael. You may send me stuff through the send a tip page or email me. All mp3s should be sent as links. NO ATTACHMENTS, PLEASE. If I like your music, chances are I will write about it.
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mp3s on this site are for promotional purposes only. If you wish to have an mp3 removed please contact me.
it’s been a while since we last heard or seen any major output from either Appaloosa or Glass Candy, but now the paris/London duo and the Portland duo, respectively, have come together for an stellar remix collaboration, which sounds as electro-disco-tastic as the image above looks.
The remix will appear on the forthcoming, highly anticipated Italians Do It Better AFTER DARK 2 compilation, but you can get the limited edition 12″ on opaque ivory vinyl now on the Italians Do It Better mail order page.
Here is a sickly sweet tune from new band Raindeer that mixes Elephant 6 and Flaming Lips whimsy with production quality so shiny, you can see yourself in it…smiling.
A quirky favorite of Animal Collective’s Avey Tare, this one is a spacey, analogue pop gem written by Italian electronic composer Roberto Cacciapaglia and sung by Ann Steel.
One of the best bands to come out of New Zealand in a long time is finally offering up a full-length album this Fall. Surf City’s first single from the upcoming Kudos is a continuation of the catchy power-pop songwriting found on their EP.
Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, the debut album from one of Philly’s most promising new bands, Sun Airway, will hopefully see the light of day within the year. For now you can (and should) catch the live premiere of their blissful and layered electronic pop at Johnny Brendas in Philly this Thursday, or at Mercury Lounge in NYC on June 28th. Dig some mp3s from the album below:
NYC duo The Golden Filter will be bringing their Moroder-infused disco beats and lush vocals to Kung Fu Necktie this Saturday night and I do recommend that you catch them. Their performance at this year’s SXSW Urban Back lot party was one of the highlights for me at the fest. Dig an mp3 below:
I wasn’t crazy about the Crocodiles debut Summer of Hate, but this new shoegaze/pop single, with its cleaner production and tighter songwriting, is giving me a big reason to be excited about these guys.
Neu!, the 70s/’80s German duo made up of former Kraftwerk members Klaus Dinger (deceased) and Michael Rother, made proto-punk, proto-trance music for a mechanical, yet gritty utopia. Their 3 albums – Neu!, Neu! 2 and Neu! ‘75 gave birth to the hypnotic “motorik beat” (a simple, repetitive groove that Brian Eno once referred to as one of the most important rhythms of the 20th century.) and influenced countless numbers of indie and electronic musicians.
Their unreleased (officially anyway) 4th album Neu! ‘86, which was plagued by internal politics, is now seeing the light of day thanks to a new, comprehensive Neu! vinyl boxset. Have a listen to one of the album’s more stunning tracks on Pitchfork’s site:
More info about the Neu! Mega-Boxset can be found here. And if that’s not awesome enough, you can catch Rother and friends (Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, Benjamin Curtis of School of Seven Bells and Aaron Mullan of Tall Firs)performing Neu! songs live this summer on a very short tour that includes Philly on 8/8! Check out the dates (including Philly) after the jump.
I won’t try to use bullshit new genre terms to describe this one from Wild Nothing, the new project by Virginia’s Jack Tatum. Instead, I’ll just say that this is the kind of song you would want to hear as soon as the rain starts to fall.