David Ramirez

Currently I'm sitting in bed at 830, wishing my Juno leftovers away watching movie trailers, as you do... and came across Between Notes which appears to be a Once inspired tangled love story between two musicians which mainly takes place on a park bench, as good romance does. As it turns out, the two main actors are infact artists, and I was pleasantly surprised on how quickly David Ramirez melted my alcohol stained heart.

The Sheepdogs

This Saskatoon rocktet just mozied its way through sxsw, creating quite the buzz trail. Not to mention, they are currently the only Canadian band to be in the top 8 for Rolling Stone's Do You Want To Be A Rock Star? competition, with prize including a cover, a place at Bonnaroo, a showcase on Jimmy Fallon and a record deal (which these days seems to be the least glamorous part of the prize) The contest is completely voter driven at this point, so make sure to show your support.

Their name is reminiscent of their sound which is heavily influenced by 70s southern classic rock (think Allman brothers) and reminds me of a day under the southern sun... yes, for some reason the deep south reminds me not only of fields, bbqs, jazz scales and straw hats, but also sheepdogs.

Of Note

Tribes - We Were Children
Camden's latest rock-tet. Disheveled hair, electric guitar, rock verses and a sing-along chorus. These cats are so UK underground that they dont even post their gig dates online, its all word of mouth via gig posters. The low down on the band via nme:

• Dan and Miguel met five years ago after Miguel caught Dan stealing his wallet at his own birthday party

• Jimmy was arrested for fraud at the age of 12 for selling stolen videos

• Johnny once got drunk with Juliette Lewis in Texas and woke up with the cosmos tattooed on his arm

Get their single free here:

Tribes: We Were Children by NYLONmag




Via Nylon's pics of the week:

Sound of Rum - 24 year old UK native, ex poetry student spitting mad rhymes.



Strange Talk - Aussie indie synth band, reminiscent of Two Door Cinema Club with a dance beat

Robyn

Robyn is pumping out the hits, as promised. I mean, another one for the pod and its still Body Talk PT I. Its safe to say its gonna a be a good Robyn year.

Robyn - Hang With Me official video from Robyn on Vimeo.

Example

Kickstart your weekend with this diddy flown to your ears directly from the UK.

Eminem ft. Rihanna

My 8Mile loving Eminem self circa 2002 can't get enough of this song. Its in my brain....you would actually make fun of me if you knew how much I've played it in the last couple of days. So much so, that I will probably only enjoy this song until the end of this week, but hey, might as well ride the wave and post while its hot. Tornados meeting volcanos, sincerity, and all.

Dine Alone: Summer Sampler

Your ipod need not be looking any further for a summer playlist. DineAlone has made it easy for you by throwing together a (free!) summer sampler playlist from all their amazing bands - Arkells, Hot Hot Heat, Tokio Police Club, Alexisonfire, City And Colour...to name a few. Download it here, and did I mention you can also create your own album art? Dope. Get your watermelon mojitos and get to summer lovin.

N.E.R.D.

I love me some nerds, especially when they come in an N.E.R.D. form. Beware, this song is about to take over the driving seat that is your ears and probably not give them back for awhile. Its like a whole lotta whoa, and then bam – Nelly Furtado is in the mix to make it that much hotter…and go:




Its so refreshing to see these two ghosts of my favorite songs pasts, back and collaborating. And lets just touch on the fact on the “look at you, look at me” lyric that makes me smile because its reminds me of famous Old Spice commercial.



My only quam is that – wow does the video ever remind me of Ke$ha’s Your Love Is My Drug video…from the desert stranded head-dressed ladies, to the cartoons that are mixed into the video. But you said it best, Pharrell, that beat is totally hypnotic, so I’ll forgive you. Now, don’t say I haven’t done anything for you… You’re welcome.

Ok Go

I always look forward to their latest video because they always have a little something extra re: the Rube Goldberg, their marching band through the woods & the walk-dance on the treadmills. Now get this - in their latest for End Love they dressed up in single colored track suits and played with the speed of time, and of course some glow sticks. No biggie.

Jeff Lieberman who directed the video (with Eric Gunther) had this to say: “The fastest we go is 172,800x, compressing 24 hours of real time into a blazing 1/2 second. The slowest is 1/32x speed, stretching a mere 1/2 second of real time into a whopping 16 seconds. This gives us a fastest to slowest ratio of 5.5 million. If you like averages, the average speed up factor of the band dancing is 270x. In total we shot 18 hours of the band dancing and 192 hours of LA skyline timelapse – over a million frames of video – and compressed it all down to 4 minutes and 30 seconds! Oh and don’t forget, it’s one continuous camera shot.”
“We also made a special friend in the process. Her name is Orange Bill and she’s a goose. You will agree that she clearly has a future in music videos.”

Check it:



I know these guys love their elaborate music videos, but I wonder what these guys are like live....

Robyn

Words can’t express how obsessed I am with Robyn. Yes, she’s still around from her “Show Me Love” days and rocking dance floors left right and center. This year she’s slated to realease three full albums – THREE in ONE year! That’s a whole lotta writing and a w hole lotta pressure. She’s definitely delivered on her first single, Dancing On My Own. It’s a heart broken dance beat that makes you want to tear while shimmying. How’s that for a new dance move?

Check it:

Robyn 'Dancing On My Own' (Official Video) from Robyn on Vimeo.

Drake

Oh silly drizzy, my lovin and my heart are both right here...

Drake goes back to his Degrassi days and pulls out the old acting hat from of his back pocket for his video that was released today.

Learnings for all yall from this video: beware who you pick up @ the club.

Find your love from jay Smoove on Vimeo.

Sleigh Bells

A two person band of glory, Sleigh Bells, is made up of Derek on guitars (who is also responsible for those catchy beats & songwriting) and Miss Alexis Krauss' voice. Last year CMJ named them one of the 'undeniable breakout groups of the year' and their tunes have totally infected my brain. Their first official single, 'Tell Em, , is part of their May 11th debut album, Treats, which is being released by none other than MIA's label NEET. They've been hitting the festival scene hard this year, with Coachella under their belt & Pitchfork festival coming up. Make sure to watch for their LP with the most open of ears.

In the mean time, you can also get to downloading 4 of their tracks now via Stereogum because believe me, you'll want on this train - its a dance-duo of amazingness.

Lissie

I love me a good cover that makes you hear a song in a completely new light. Here's the daily dose...



which lead me to totally falling in love with this Mississippi (is it weird everytime I spell 'mississippi' i say the crooked-letter chant out loud out of pure pleasure?) alt-rock beauty, Lissie, who is often compared to a new-wave Stevie Nicks. She's pretty fresh on the the scene, having just played SXSW, but her Gaga cover is the talk of the town. Here's her original single, In Sleep:

Check it:

Dionne Bromfield

Dionne Bromfield, hailing from the UK, broke into the music scene late last year at the ripe age of 13. She's had close (musical) guidance from her Godmother, who is none other than the bee-hive wearing, Blake lovin, soulful wonder that is Amy Winehouse, who gushes about Bromfield's talent, saying how much more talented she is than Amy ever was at 13.

Bromfield's album covers off Motown classics like Aint No Mountain High Enough, and this little diddy below, The Shirelle's Foolish Little Girl.

Have a listen.

M.I.A.

This is the most disturbing music video I've ever seen, bar none. I wasnt fully prepared as I sat quietly at my desk this Monday morning for what my eyes were about to see. My morning coffee-internet-surf has never made me feel so ill. Maya is always one for making a statement and to speak up against war, and this certainly does both of those things by exposing how stupid prejudice can be and by reminding us how violent war actually is. Can you stomach it? MIA

VV Brown

Lemme intro you to my ears’ bestie, VV Brown. She is all kinds of hip. Imagine, a doo-wop indie brit guitarist that doesn’t play chords. She took the strings off her guitar and uses it for the beats. To best explain her, I’d she she’s one part Remi Nicole, one part Wino, one part Duffy. She’s all kinds of gloriousness. Promise.

Johann Johannsson

I am loving on Iceland these days. Jonsi, J.M.’s Theres a Light (shot in Iceland) and now Johann Johannsson – an Icelandic composer, producer & musician. His most recent album was the score for the animated film, Varmints, entitled "And In the Endless Pause There Came The Sound of Bees", which is solely instrumental mixed with some electronics. Currently, it is only available in vinyl but will be available for cd purchase in April 2010. It'll be best consumed in a bubblebath, or right before bed. Check it here

MGMT

We've all heard Congratulations by now. I still can't wrap my head around my opinion on it so I'm going to leave it at that for now. Bah, maybe thats because I want to like it so much, but am just not biting yet...I sure hope not. A few more run-throughs and I'll have a better idea.

Listen Here

MGMT

MGMT's latest track 'Flash Delirium' from their upcoming 'Congratulations'. Can't WAIT for this album. Its going to be a good spring

DOWNLOAD

Ellie Goulding

As it so happens, I was looking up the embed for this girl, Ellie Goulding, that was recommended to me from a guy at work today (that I'm about to share with you because I'm in lurve) while listening to Temper Trap, Sweet Disposition....and anyhoo, I came across her covering the song @ the Live Lounge. Its like a collision of scrumptiousness all rolled into one giant pancake topped with whipped cream & strawberries with a root beer float on the side...