Isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for, people: a new track from The National!? Man, just when you thought the buzz behind this band would dissipate, they go and hand out a power track like “Bloodbuzz Ohio”. And it leaves people like you and me pining for that deep voice and off-beat percussive drum slap. Oh those piano notes and building guitars — now that’s the stuff! “Bloodbuzz Ohio” has the potential to match the favorites from past albums by The National; yes, we’re talking about you, “Fake Empire” and “Mr. November”. The song is off the band’s new LP, High Violet, which hits soon via 4AD.

Below you’ll find a sample of the song at 192kbps. For a high quality 320kbps version, visit the High Violet website.

Download: “Bloodbuzz Ohio” by The National

“Modern Drift” is a lot moodier than a lot of what you’ll hear on earlier Efterklang, but the orchestral and pop sensibilities found on those earlier releases, Parades and Tripper, remain steadfast. Efterklang is still very much in the business of creating some of the best experimental pop around. A consistent piano backing sets the stage, accompanied by monumental percussion and deep horns. Perhaps most surprising is the lack of multiple vocalists, which was instrumental in the greatness of songs like “Caravan” and “Cutting Ice To Snow”. Still, “Modern Drift” is a very worthy and viable first single off Efterklang’s new LP, Magic Chairs.

Magic Chairs is out now on 4AD.

Download: “Modern Drift” by Efterklang

Giveaway Details
We’ve teamed up with 4AD and Efterklang to offer you a sweet giveaway package. The loot: a test pressing and CD version of Efterklang’s new album Magic Chairs. The details? Follow @fensepost on Twitter and tweet this post with an RT @fensepost. We’ll mention it once or twice this week, so RT any or all of those tweets. We’ll make a selection over the weekend (20th or 21st).

SXSW Details
Yes, the band is out at SXSW. And while I sit comfortably in my living room wishing I had sore feet from hours of standing and a belly full of Shiner Bock, I’m only a slight bit jealous of all y’all who are in Austin this week. Make sure to catch Efterklang as they hit the town:

03/18: Buffalo Billiards (201 E. 6th St.) 11PM
03/19: Danish Day Party/The Music Gym (815 E. 6th St.) 2PM
03/19: End of an Ear in-store (2209 S. 1st St.) 5PM
03/20: SUP Party/Doc’s Motorworks (1123 S. Congress Ave.) 6PM

St. Vincent, Brooklyn’s sweetheart Annie Clark, has a style that can suit anyone’s fancy. And Actor is a powerful example of an astonishing effort from Clark to develop down right delightful tunes. It’s the warm coffee in the morning. As well as the ecstasy for an exciting night. If “Laughing With A Mouth of Blood” doesn’t make you feel like break-dancing at your closest Starbucks, there is something seriously wrong with you. “Marrow” should be that sort of cut that leaves you feeling less whole when it is all sang and done. And how can you not feel like taking a candle-lit bath filled with cheap wine when you hear “The Bed”?

If none of these scenarios apply, go ahead and get yourself checked.

With Annie’s recent addition to the peculiar indie rock riddle soundtrack to Twilight Saga: New Moon, she has not gone unnoticed as of recent times. Though she’s been dazzling audiences for some time, things really seem to be moving along a destiny inspired path. What Juno did for Kimya Dawson a few years ago is coming back in full force. No matter how the premise of said films strikes you, with this artist in tow, it proves to at least sound good. St. Vincent will certainly act as a major influence in the astonishing and sometimes far to predicable world of indie rock.

St. Vincent: The Strangers [mp3]

4AD [CD, 2009]

1. The Strangers
2. Save Me From What I Want
3. The Neighbors
4. Actor Out Of Work
5. Black Rainbow
6. Laughing With A Mouthful Of Blood
7. Marrow
8. The Bed
9. The Party
10. Just The Same But Brand New
11. The Sequel

It is no secret that I have what some would clinically deem an unhealthy fascination with that we call the moustache. I’ve sported one for several years now; it’s red. Well the latest video from Camera Obscura finds the band’s mastermind, Traceyann Campbell, doing the same. Yeah, it’s fake (of course), but that doesn’t matter. Like all Camera Obscura videos, this one features a unique little storyline both fun and creative.

“The Sweetest Thing” is off Camera Obscura’s latest, My Maudlin Career, their first release on 4AD and follow up to 2006′s Let’s Get Out Of This Country. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you’re in store for greatness. This is the (to my knowledge) third single from the release, following the exceptional tracks “My Maudlin Career” and “French Navy”.

It’s mid-Summer 2009 and we are finally treated with the creative meeting of two of the more eclectic and eccentric minds in independent music — Bradford Cox (Atlas Sound, Deerhunter) and Noah Lennox (Panda Bear, Animal Collective). Atlas Sound‘s “Walkabout” is the result, and it features Lennox’s pop-riddled vocals draped by the experimental sounds signature to Atlas Sound. The combination is brilliant; genius minds like these really should collaborate more often.

“Walkabout” is the first single off Atlas Sound’s new record, Logos, out this October on 4AD.

Atlas Sound: Walkabout (w/ Noah Lennox)

Written by Fense

If Stereolab (MySpace) were a person, they’d have recently graduated from high school. That’s how long Stereolab has been around. Eighteen years. That means they formed in 1990. That means I was 10 at the time. Come November they will prepare to enter their fourth U.S. presidency. Their longevity outlives most independent labels and most independent bands; hell, they formed during the Cold War!

So what new can you really say about a group like Stereolab? You have to be pretty well-versed in their back catalog to critique anything new and I am certainly not that. What I can say is that Chemical Chords stands up nicely to their other more recent works in 2006’s Fab Four Suture compilation and their last true full-length, 2004’s Margerine Eclipse. In fact, it tops those two records by a long shot.

And that’s saying a lot. Fab Four Suture was a phenomenal compilation of great singles (and their respective B-sides). For one only really “well-versed” in their more recent work—say, their “teenage” years—I can at least say those of you who have enjoyed these years will likely enjoy Chemical Chords. It’s filled with similar vibes and similar sounds, easily recognizable as a more recent Stereolab.

You’ll enjoy “One Finger Symphony” and will appreciate the instrumental first half and the second half, sung in French. You’ll enjoy the bouncy, vibrant “Silver Sands” and “Three Women”, which are the true standout tracks on Chemical Chords. In fact, you’ll likely enjoy the whole damn thing. I sure did.

Stereolab: Three Women [mp3]

4AD [12" LP, 2008]

1. Neon Beanbag
2. Three Women
3. One Finger Symphony
4. Chemical Chords
5. The Ecstatic Statie
6. Valley Hi!
7. Silver Sands
8. Pop Molecule [Molecular Pop1]
9. Self Portrait with “Electric Brain”
10. Nous Vous Demandons Pardon
11. Cellulose Sunshine
12. Fractal Dream Of A Thing
13. Daisy Click Clack
14. Vortical Phonotheque