A unique vision of vivid dreams by Chinese artist Zhou Fan. Akira meets Hello Kitty.

Zhou Fan

New 7″ single by The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart coming out on June 8th on Slumberland Records. Also check out their new video for Higher Than The Stars.

Myspace
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

In the midst of allegations of being a communist sympathizer, I’m reminded about this interesting article on Pitchfork about how some musicians in Sweden, the UK and Canada have benefited from government support.

The first time the Knife got money from the Swedish Arts Council was in 2001, for their self-titled debut album. The electro-pop duo received 45,000 Swedish kronor (SEK), or about $6,327– “pretty standard for albums back then,” says lead singer Karin Dreijer Andersson. Statens Kulturråd, as the arts council is known, awarded funding for the Knife in 2006, too. That time, Andersson (who also records as Fever Ray) and brother Olof Dreijer received 80,000 SEK, or $11,248, through label Rabid as tour support for their first– and, so far, only– U.S. shows. “We have a long history of social democratic culture in Sweden, which I think has made this possible,” Andersson explains.

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DJ Delve (Chris Kam) is sharing a live mix from SHAKE+POP. Also, check out his new weekly at Manifest on Wednesdays.

Download it here.

In all my years DJing, I have next to no recorded mixes (you can’t bottle magic), but last month at “SHAKE+POP” DJ SSSolution did me a favor and hit the record button and this is what came from it.

Follow him on Twitter.

LP4 Ratatat’s newest album comes out on June 8th 2010. Here’s the video of their first single, Party With Children. Yes, I stared at the parakeet the whole time. No act, it’s cute.

Ratatat
Myspace

Probably my favorite LCD Soundsystem album out of the three. – It’s fun, carefree and will make you want to boogie! This is Happening officially comes out on May 17th 2010.

James Murphy was quoted at a NY gig on his knees onstage saying: “If you got a copy of the record early and you feel like sharing it with the rest of the world, then please don’t … We spent two years making this record and we want to put it out when we want to put it out. I don’t care about money – after it comes out, give it to whoever you want for free but until then, keep it to yourself.“

Check out these two videos. The first is a short documentary of from lcdsoundsystem.com and the second is the official video for their single, Drunk Girls.

DFA Records
LCD Soundsystem

Local native’s debut album, Gorilla Manor was named after a house they grew up in Orange County where most of the album was written. They released Gorilla Manor in the UK in 2009 and then released in the US in February 2010.

The band started to attract the attention of the music press after playing nine shows at the 2009 SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, where initial reviews drew favorable comparisons to Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend, as well as a “sort of a West Coast Grizzly Bear.

The Local Natives
Myspace

Interesting .. ex teen pop singer meets spandex and a hardcore boy. Sleigh bells sounds like old school YYYs but more electronic.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, the duo is composed of Derek E. Miller (songwriter, guitarist, producer) and Alexis Krauss (vocals). The duo met and formed in 2008, when Miller was waiting tables on Alexis and her mother in a diner. Miller mentioned he was looking for a female vocalist to work with on a musical project, for which Alexis’ mother immediately volunteered her. Miller was formerly the guitarist for the post-hardcore band Poison the Well and Krauss was a member of the teen pop group Rubyblue as a teenager.

The duo have released several tracks online, which have gained attention from the New York Times, Pitchfork Media, ABC’s Amplified, and other sources. Pitchfork named their song “Crown on the Ground” the 57th best track of 2009. They performed at the 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and will play the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Myspace

I was immediately drawn to Band of Horses’ third album, Infinite Arms. Here they are performing the new songs live at Botanique, Brussels. Perhaps, well be lucky enough to see them again live in Honolulu. Infinite Arms officially comes out on May 18th 2010.

Band of Horses
Myspace