The first video from David Byrne & St. Vincent's collaborative album Love This Giant. ", out September 10(UK)/11(US) and available for pre-order: http://bit.ly/RuaPCR
ELECTRO-POP
Default
Atoms for Peace; streaming at http://atomsforpeace.info/
Blippy and clacky, the new single from Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich – no Flea on this laptop-driven track – glides to the soulful falsetto of Yorke, whose "will is strong, but the flesh is weak."
FOLK-POP
Slow Cruel Hands of Time
Band of Horses, from the forthcoming Mirage Rock ( Columbia); streaming at http://soundcloud.com/bandofhorses/slow-cruel-hands-of-time
A mellow homecoming is the lyrical inspiration for a harmonic beauty that lopes along like a light Neil Young in the saddle of A Horse With No Name.
COUNTRY
Popular Flowers
Nick Ferrio & His Feelings, from the forthcoming self-titled album (Shuffling Feet); streaming at http://shufflingfeet.com
A dreamy, steel-guitar ode to the horticulture of Tennessee is about a fella who chases rainbows and a pluckable girl and/or flower called Iris. Lovely stuff.
SOUL
Oh Me Oh My
Erin Costello, from the forthcoming We Can Get Over; streaming at http://www.erincostelo.com/
Sweet jukebox music, with an appreciation for a Stand By Me beat. "Maybe if it all works out," the Haligonian soulstress sings, "we can get a two-bedroom house." Sadly, the domestic situation is doomed, and not because of mortgage issues.
VIDEO: POP
Who
David Byrne & St. Vincent, from Love This Giant (4AD); streaming on YouTube
When David Byrne comes across Anne (St. Vincent) Clark passed out on a country road, he naturally gets out of his car and begins to dance. Alas, while his moves revive her, they fail to inspire Clark, who reacts with some herky-jerky motions straight from the repertoire of Seinfeld's Elaine Benes.
Brad Wheeler