Photography by Owen Richards

The buzz bandwagon hit NYC last week along with the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon — and this precocious London quartet did not disappoint. With the exception of guilefully covering Womack & Womack’s ’80s R&B hit “Teardrops”, the xx’s setlist stuck chiefly to their self-titled debut. The reverb-heavy interplay of guitars and harmonies between Romy Madley Croft’s smoldering siren’s call and Oliver Sim’s disaffected croon wonderfully recalled Interpol and Pixies at both bands’ most intimate moments. And while Sim’s bass proved too much to handle at times for the usually solid-sounding Mercury Lounge, the live drums added a greater gravitas to the basic digitized beats pervading the record’s gothic lullabies. All things considered, it was a stellar performance by these dark stars in waiting.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Buy this at Other Music or iTunes.

With her Cannes-award-winning turn in Lars von Trier’s sinister thriller Antichrist hitting theaters next week, Charlotte Gainsbourg has just released the title track of her new album IRM (due out in January 2010), capping off what promises to be a big month (and year) for the singer-thespian. Produced by Beck, the song sets Gainsbourg’s spoken-word vocals over mechanical whirs that evolve, in very Beck fashion, from a claustrophobic dream-haze into a mesmerizing dance-beat. Both the album title and industrial aesthetic hark back to Gainsbourg’s scary hospital experiences and numerous MRIs, amid her September 2007 surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage. Two years later, we’re glad to see she’s not only healthy once more but back to producing amazing work for both the eyes and ears.

The track, “IRM”, is available for download at charlottegainsbourg.com. As a bonus, check out this video featuring Beck and Gainsbourg discussing the song.

XL Recordings

The Ivy League’s favorite Afro-pop-inflected foursome has released the first song off their upcoming album Contra. The guys reportedly just submitted their sophomore record to their label XL, so the LP won’t see the streets until January 12, 2010. Nevertheless, the new song, “Horchata”, does offer an exciting preview of what’s to come. The track maintains the wistful swoon pervading VW’s 2008 self-titled debut, but, as the title might suggest, the delicious tropical rhythms explode into a sumptuous feast of harmonies and strings. Listen to the track for yourself (streamed below) and be sure to look out for the band’s mini-tour through California next month.
     As a bonus, check out PLANET’s past coverage of Vampire Weekend, before they came to dominate stages and pages everywhere.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Vampire Weekend – Horchata

Photography courtesy of Verve Forecast

Having recently topped iTunes’ singer-songwriter chart with their debut Taller Children, pianist Elizabeth Ziman and fellow Berklee alums drummer Danny Molad and guitarist Peter Lalish launched a nationwide tour last Thursday with a headlining set at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The set’s highlights included “Race You”, “Momma’s Boy”, and “Taller Children” (streamed below), all propelled by frenzied rhythms and jaunty pianos. At times, the trio was accompanied by accordion, violins, and synchronized handclaps (courtesy of an uproarious Brooklyn crowd). Released this summer, Taller Children was produced by Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis, who has also worked with Rilo Kiley. That’s a salient touchstone for the Catapult, as Ziman’s singing and songwriting often evoke the sweet swoon of Jenny Lewis — not to mention the jazzy warble of Feist and the caustic lyricism of Regina Spektor. On that account, it seems the aforementioned triumvirate of indie-pop chanteuses may soon have to make room for a new member to the club.

Elizabeth & the Catapult will be hitting a city near you through September and October.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Photography by Alex Marvar

Last Friday, we went to the sweltering, bricked confines of New York’s Mercury Lounge to check out the Antlers perform their recently released album Hospice. And while we cannot emphasize enough how magnetic and magnificent the trio’s headlining set sounded, we’ve already amply pronounced our affections here. On that account, we also wanted to pay our respects to the band playing right before the Antlers: Murder Mystery. The Brooklyn quartet infuses a bit of Americana into their catchy and carefree songs, which call to mind the old indie guard of Luna and Pavement. On tracks like “Lost” (streamed below), Jeremy Coleman’s baritone, the intricate interplay of keyboard and guitar, and the buoyant bass and drums rise and converge in a beguiling tension whose sunny disposition nevertheless serves the spirit of summer romance well in these waning days of the season.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Murder Mystery – Lost

IAMSOUND Records

With just an EP to her name, Anita Blay has immediately garnered comparisons to Santigold for both her work with Santi producer Radioclit and, moreover, a comparable skill for churning out eclectic and electric party starters set to buoyant synths, grinding bass, and penetrating hooks. Pulsing at the heart of these four songs, of course, is the 23-year-old’s sinister siren’s call of a voice. “Clean Apart” (streamed below) serves up Prince-esque flourishes of intergalactic funk while Blay subverts the usual narrative of adultery/break-up tracks with a snarling, empowered reprimand to her ex-to-be. Meanwhile the hypnotic beats and digitized chimes on “I’m Not Sorry” recall Madonna’s forays in Euro-dance, tinged with a barbed ferocity that seems certain to become thecocknbullkid’s hallmark.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

thecocknbullkid – Clean Apart

Frenchkiss Records

Peter Silberman possesses a voice that is all at once haunting, weary, and undeniably beautiful. At times, his singing evokes the fraught croon of Win Butler while at others he soars to the angelic heights of Antony Hegarty. Given the title of Silberman and company’s debut, Hospice indeed casts a shadow of death and doom over its ghostly refrains. But this is not to say the album is wholly bleak and hopeless; rather the effect manifests itself more organically. Through ten songs, we progress from twinkling lullabies of innocent youth to the aching grace of life’s final days. The album’s closer, “Epilogue”, fittingly strips away the dreamy instrumentals of an earlier track, “Bear”, to reveal a singular balladeer with a starkness that might just herald this year’s Bon Iver and Arcade Fire — all rolled into one.

The Antlers will celebrate the release of Hospice with an August 21 show at New York’s Mercury Lounge featuring fellow Brooklyn upstarts Murder Mystery in support.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Antlers – Bear

Park the Van

There is something almost overwhelming about Generationals’ debut record. A rush of pure energy wallops you with unabashed ecstasy that can barely be contained. From the sun-soaked vocal lines, static-tinged guitars, and warbling organs on “Angry Charlie” to the blasting horns and doo-wop harmonies on “When They Fight They Fight,” Con Law turns the ’60s and Motown revival (often ascribed to Mark Ronson’s productions) on its head with intricate whirls of synths that inject a New Wave nuance into the songs. Genre-bending and time-traveling aside, this New Orleans duo suffuses every chord of every song with a contagious ebullience — a summery glow even the most jaded would find hard not succumb to.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Generationals – Angry Charlie

Formed just a year ago, this quintet has enjoyed a quick rise up the ranks of the Brooklyn buzz-bin — an almost meteoric ascendance that belies the band’s tender sound. Xylos’ fractured dream-pop gently brings to mind Yeasayer (who guests on a couple tracks) and the Flaming Lips. In fact, on opener “In the Bedroom” founding member Eric Zeiler’s voice evokes the wistful croon of Wayne Coyne while he bittersweetly sings about failed romance over tropical synths and twirling guitars. Meanwhile, the swooning harmonies on “This House We Built” virtually demand a coed campfire sing-along under the stars — that is, if the textured rhythms, boy-girl vocals, and ethereal strings throughout this debut EP didn’t sound so magical in stereo.
     Xylos will take a break from recording their first full-length album (due by early 2010) to headline New York’s Mercury Lounge on July 28. The Bedrooms EP is currently being offered as a free download at Xylosmusic.net .

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Xylos – This House We Built

Ghostly International

With three albums’ worth of music in just five years, 22-year-old Randolph Chabot has been producing his home-recorded electro-pop at an astonishing clip. This week, after much anticipation, the prolific prodigy from Detroit has released his proper full-length debut, Moondagger — a swirling set of twelve songs whose titular implement reportedly refers to a space-age myth about seeking “ultimate power.” Sci-fi fantasies aside, Moondagger indeed seems to herald a powerful voice of tomorrow, a voice that likewise befits today’s age of ADD. On “Toxic Crusaders”, Chabot’s swooning vocals over jaunty guitars evoke the wide-eyed wistfulness of Vampire Weekend mixed with the hyperactive futurism of New Order. Meanwhile, “Parallelogram” (stream below) launches the M83 model of lush, spacey synths out of this stratosphere with a frenzied rush of propulsive rhythms.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Deastro – Parallelogram