In the current war on DSLRs,  popular camera manufacturer Sony has announced the first details about its newest camcorder the PMW F3K and YES it does have interchangable lens capabilities! With a PL lens mount and a super 35mm CMOS image sensor nearly as big as APS-C, and Sony’s excellent 35mb/s XDCAM long gop format bit rate,  you can bet this camera is going to produce some beautiful images. Only catch is the price, which is estimated around US$20,195 and that’s without lens! For that price, I think I’d rather just go with the new Panasonic AF-100, which should be released within December 2010 sometime.

For more info an an awesome slideshow of images, please check out Philip Bloom’s awesome post here.

After his 2007 breakout album Person Pitch, Panda Bear is back with some more heavy hitting melodies. Unlike Person Pitch, the new album Tomboy promises to be more guitar based than loop based.  Streaming below are the new singles from our favorite Animal Collective member.

Panda Bear – You Can Count On Me by jp917


Panda Bear – Alsatian Darn by jp917

Panda Bear – Tomboy by ListenBeforeYouBuy

Panda Bear – Slow Motion by ListenBeforeYouBuy

Honestly, I’m not much for Trance,  House, or anything close to “Club” music. However I do appreciate good electronica, which is a rare thing if you ask me. Only so often does an electronic artist decide to make an album that appeals to a larger audience i.e. Air, Boards of Canada, Caribou, Fever Ray, LCD Soundsystem, M83. On that note,  I recently just stumbled upon Röyksopp, a Norwegian Electronic duo who is most known for the 2009 album Junior, which features other known electronic artists like singer Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife, Fever Ray and Swedish singer Robyn.

Interestingly enough, my discovery of Röyksopp came while browsing Vimeo.com one afternoon. As a filmmaker, I am always combing the web for awesome inspiration and naturally came upon these guys’ videos, which are beautiful to say the least. Bands like Röyksopp are a rare breed these days. Typically bands are only lucky enough to have a hefty budget for one video at most and typically those music videos are sub par, rehashed, and ridden with clichés. It was a pleasant surprise to watch the new video for Röyksopp’s new single “The Drug”, an errily composed track. Röyksopp’s new album “Senior”, which the band describes as the “introverted, dwelling and sometimes graceful counterpart to last year’s Junior“,  is now streaming over at Hype Machine and can be listened to below.

Also, don’t forget to check out all of their other awesome videos over at their Youtube channel!

Senior by Röyksopp

What great news to start the day off! The profound, indie prodigy Stufjan Stevens returns with his first proper follow up in nearly 5 years! The new album is titled “The Age of Adz” and is apparently pronounced “odds”. Kinda confusing for most, but those familiar with Sufjan’s previous work should come to except some literary bewilderment for the guy who brought us songs like “They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead! Ahhh!” AND “The Black Hawk War, Or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, Or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience, But We’re Going to Have to Leave Now, Or…”

With crazy songs titles aside and his failed “50 States Project”, we all can agree that Sufjan Stevens is one tier about everyone else. He has brought us some of the last decade’s most enchanting music and has become a very promising composer on projects like “The BQE”. I think we are all going to be pleasantly surprised when times come to hearing “The Age of Adz” just as we were last week with the sudden release of the “All Delighted People” EP, which is now streaming here:

The Age of Adz:

01 Futile Devices
02 Too Much
03 Age of Adz
04 I Walked
05 Now That I’m Older
06 Get Real Get Right
07 Bad Communication
08 Vesuvius
09 All for Myself
10 I Want To Be Well
11 Impossible Soul

Finally! After 2007’s epic Neon Bible from Montreal’s most bellowed band, Arcade Fire slyly release two new singles from their untitled new album. Linked below are the songs “The Suburbs” and “Month of May” in their entirety. Judging from a first initial listen, it’s hard to tell what direction these French Canadians are going to take. Arcade Fire’s highly anticipated new album is slated for release in late summer 2010.

Broken Social Scene

Forgiveness Rock Record

Arts & Crafts; 2010

Despite the album’s playlist feel, Forgiveness Rock Record still sounds like classic Broken Social Scene. On the intro track “World Sick”, the song begins softly and soon begins to build into an eventual crescendo of powerful guitars. The other single “All to All” is a synth-drenched beauty where we are introduced to the newly added member Lisa Lobsinger, a proper so-called replacement for Leslie Feist. Fan’s of You Forgot it in People’s notoriously epic female track “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old” will really like this one.

Amongst the wide variety of songs, it is still clearly apparent that leader Kevin Drew remains at the helm of Broken Social Scene. You can’t help but love his youthful, relaxed approach at writing and recording music. Often times his lyrics are ill-mannered and the song’s themselves are unquestionably weird. “Ungrateful Little Father” almost seems like a B-side from his 2007 solo album Spirit If…, with its playful vibes and lazily-laid down vocal track it is kinda hard not start taping your toes.

One of Broken Social Scene’s greatest strengths is knowing when to harness their own power. Now having around six to ten consistent members, down from 15, the band still nonetheless knows how to exploit their size and thus deliver songs powerfully full and raw with emotion. Good examples of this would be “Chase Scene”, a song which literally makes you feel like your trying to escape someone or something. This genuine intensity is crafted with gang style vocals and a driving synthy bass line. On the other side, we are presented with “Romance to the Grave”, introduced with airy vocals and slippery guitars, this track builds into a surprisingly catchy tune with vocals lent by The Sea and Cake’s singer Sam Prekop.

Forgiveness Rock Record marks the band’s first record with producer John McEntire. And after giving Forgiveness Rock Record an ample amount of listens, it’s entirely clear that both parties have lent their talents accordingly and created an album lush with authenticity. Given the appropriate title, it seems as though Kevin Drew and Co. are pouring their hearts out and at the same time still rocking hard as ever.

I met Julian Harmon, the drummer of The Morning Benders, a couple years back through some good friends of mine. Shortly after I was turned onto their music and since listening to their first ST release I have been an avid listener.

In this new album, the Morning Benders have built upon their previous discography of catchy pop hooks and with the help of Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, have crafted a beautifully genuine sound. Being a major Grizzly Bear nerd, I was very excited to hear the creative ingenuity of Chris Taylor’s production shine through the melodies of lead signer Christopher Chu. Notably, production lends a heavy hand to Big Echo’s overall sound, which is densely layered and constructed meticulously without ever seeming “overproduced”.

“Excuses” opens up the album with a romance reminiscent of 1950’s Doo Wop. As Chu explains in the video below, the song is about “having sex for the first time” and all the awkward feelings associated with the experience.

“Promises”, the first single, is a little bit more driving and more familiar to fans of previous albums. The chorus is catchy and you can’t help but love the shimmering piano accents. Here’s the music video:

Overall, Big Echo is exactly the right direction The Morning Benders could have taken. In comparison to their previous work, which employed more generic production techniques, Big Echo offers a unique approach to pop music. Taking this more risky, experimental approach, The Morning Benders have not only perfected their sound, but have also allowed listeners to challenge preconceived notions of contemporary pop.

http://www.themorningbenders.com/

http://www.myspace.com/themorningbenders