[Watch] Electric Youth - "Runaway" (Official Video)

Appropriately timed with their latest album, Innerworld, dropping today, fall in love with Toronto-based synth duo Electric Youth's video for their single, "Runaway". I'll admit, I had a moment where I felt like a worried mother watching this couple making out while riding around on a moped, but it really fits nicely with the songs subject matter, so I'll allow it. I love how this video celebrates imperfections in love, humans, etc. in a really beautiful way. Also Beirut (where the video was shot) looks like a place I wil have to visit one day. 

If you haven't purchased/streamed/whatever Innerworld yet, you should probably get on that...now. 

The duo will be hitting the road in North American starting in November so you have plenty of time to memorize the album and perfect your dance moves. 

Electric Youth North American Fall Tour:
11/03 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy
11/04 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
11/06 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
11/07 - Victoria, BC @ Victoria Event Centre
11/08 - Vancouver, BC @ Imperial
11/12 - New York, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/13 - Washington D.C. @ Black Cat
11/14 - Philadelphia, PA @ District N9NE
11/15 - Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
11/18 - Toronto, ON @ Hoxton

[Listen] Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr - "James Dean"

Earlier today Detroit duo Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr unveiled a new track titled "James Dean". From the looks of their recent tweets, the song is merely a one off and not a kickoff single for a new album. A bit of a bummer in that regards, but this song will more than hold you over if you've been itching for new music from them. 

Have a listen to "James Dean" below. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr On Tour

10/17 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA *
10/18 - Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, B.C. *
10/19 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR *
10/22 - The FIllmore - San Francisco, CA *
10/23 - Belly Up Tavern - Solana Beach, CA *
10/24 - The Regent Theatre - Los Angeles, CA *
10/25 - Orpheum Theater - Flagstaff, AZ *
10/27 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT *
10/28 - Fox Theatre - Boulder, CO *
11/7 - Scoot Inn - Austin, TX † 
11/8 - Trees - Dallas, TX † 
11/9 - Fitzgerald's Upstairs - Houston, TX † 
11/11 - Terminal West @ King Plow Arts Center - Atlanta, GA † 
11/13 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY † 
11/14 - 9:30 Club - Washington, DC † 
11/15 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY † 
11/16 - The Sinclair - Cambridge, MA † 
11/19 - The A&R Music Bar - Columbus, OH † 
11/20 - 20th Century Theatre - Cincinnati, OH † 
11/21 - Metro - Chicago, IL † 
11/22 - The Crofoot Ballroom - Detroit, MI
11/23 - The Crofoot Ballroom - Detroit, MI

Support from:
* Miniature Tigars & Madi Diaz
† Mini Mansions

[Download] Too Many Ts - "Butter Rug"

This might be a bold statement, but these days when it comes to hip hop (specifically anything of the underground/indie persuasion) I really think UK > US. #SorryNotSorry. Need convincing? Please consider exhibit A: the lastest track from London hip-hop duo Too Many Ts, "Butter Rug". The song features Abdominal, Jester Jacobs, Kathika Rabbit, Lazy Habits & Parallax and was produced by Uncle Bad Touch. I think the main reason I'm drawn to this track is because it's very nostalgic of the glory days of hip-hop. Loving the old school vibe it gives off. 

In less than two weeks you'll be able to hear more from the gruesome twosome in the form of their forthcoming EP, Running Wild, which will be available as a free download on October 9th over on their website. 

The duo will be hitting the road to promote their release (as they should) starting on October 1st in Machester and ending in London on November 14th at Birthdays. They're also playing a show in London on the day their EP drops. Info for that show in the flyer below. 

[Contest] Win A Pair Of Tickets To See Monarchy in Los Angeles or San Francisco!

The SKOA family has been long time supporters of electro-duo Monarchy pretty much since the site began. From the moment we heard their 2010 self-titled debut we knew we had found something remarkable and have been obsessing over every last scintillating synthy screech ever since. We're happy to report that to celebrate the recent release of their latest EP, Almost Human, the duo have set their sights on the states to grace us with their presence and we want to make sure you have absolutely no excuse to not check them out! (Unless you're in NYC like Kibbe and Sprout are, but we digress.)

ANYWAY

If you live in the Los Angeles or San Francisco area and love Monarchy, keep reading! 

We have two pairs of tickets to give away to see Monarchy LIVE in Los Angeles or San Francisco! To enter for a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post with your favorite Monarchy song! Have your entry in no later than Thursday, September 18th, 2014 at 2pm PDT.

Winners will be able to choose from one of three two (the one on 9/21 is free!) shows: 

9/18/14 - Echoplex - Los Angeles, CA

9/19/14 - Popscene Club at Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco, CA 

9/21/14 - Folsom Street - San Francisco, CA 

While you anxiously await to see if you've won tickets to either of the shows, you can make sure you have all the lyrics to their Almost Human EP memorized by having a listen below.

Good luck! 

[Listen] Mapaga - Realia EP (Full EP Stream)

I hate how easy it is to lose track of an artist you were really excited about unless you like, put a weekly reminder in your calendar to go stalk their website, etc. James Yuill is one of those people that unfortunately fell off my radar after the release of his album Turning Water Into Air back in 2007. (Sheezus that's a long time ago!) Anyway, from a quick skim around the internet it appears I have a bit of catching up to do in order to be fully back up to speed on the London folktronica mastermind. Fortuantely, I get to live in the now with the release of his side project Mapaga's EP Realia, which dropped earlier today. Being the wonderful chap that he is, James has offered a stream of the full EP so you can try before you buy. While his solo work (or at least what I have heard in the past) accurately fits within the "folktronica" genre that has been brilliantly applied to him, this is much darker, glitchier stuff than I've heard from him before. Lots of basstastic wobbly awesomeness and all of that. Really glad to see that he's developed so much further than when I first laid ears on him. 

Have a listen to Mapaga's Realia EP below. Once you've found you can't live without it, be a love and go grab it on iTunes, mkay? Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I have some catching up to do. 

[Night Out] Wrabel @ Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 2) 9/10/2014

Personal update: I'm trying to get back into the groove of going to at least two shows a week. I'm also I really exhausted from all the emails we get about bands I've never heard of and will most likely will never hear of because they're just "okay". To combat this, I've mostly been ignoring the majority of the emails that I get and just digging around the internet to find things on my own. Back in the day, I used to wander around record stores looking at album artwork and taking chances on art that I felt the most connected to and either give them a listen if they were at the listening bar or just straight up buy the album and take a chance. I found a lot of great music this way (VHS or Beta, Josh Rouse, Junior Jack, etc.). 

I started doing this again fairly recently on Rdio and Spotify for every New Music Tuesday. I just scroll around and look for things that are interesting and give them a try. It's less sexy than the thrill of buying an album and being like, "God I hope this is good," but whatever. This is how I stumbled across Wrabel (pronounnced RAY-bell, at first I thought it was rabble, lol) about a month ago. Purely judging a book by its cover, his EP, Sideways, felt familiar. I think it's because he looks like an American version of Mr. Hudson to me. Familiarity has continued to be an ongoing theme for me with Wrabel. His voice, subject matter, etc. all sounds and feels very familiar. Kind of like I've always known him. Obviously since you are reading this post he clearly was able to tick all the boxes I require to decide to keep tabs on him. 

After adding him to my extensive Twitter list to keep an eye on him, I noticed he was playing a show at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2. We should get one thing clear: I love Bowery Ballroom more than anything in this world, but there's something about Rockwood Music Hall (both original and stage 2) that holds a special place in my heart. A chance to experience any artist at Rockwood is a thing you should always do, so I decided to venture solo to see how an intimate performance from this newcomer would pan out. 

First things first, this guy's voice is nothing short of solid. Dude has a very strong set of pipes that probably need little to no pitch correction in the studio or anything like that, so much respect in that sense. I soaked in every last second of him pounding away on the piano and serenading a disappointly semi-empty room sipping some white wine, a true "This Is Why I Love Rockwood" kind of moment. It must have been a weird juxtaposition for him though considering he casually mentioned at one point between songs that the night prior he performed "10 Feet Tall" alongside Afrojack at Fashion Rocks over at the Barclays Center, but he never made it feel that way in terms of his performance. Between songs he was very friendly and laid back. At one point he even joked, "My mom keeps telling me to write happy songs and I was like, 'I wrote one!'" It's refreshing for me to know that although he was fairly recently signed to Island that it hasn't gone to his head. It's a shame that that's an exception and not the standard. 

Wrabel performing at Fashion Rocks at Barclays Center, September 8, 2014. Source: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images North America 

As I headed home last night, I put on Sideways to refresh myself on the recorded version of what I had just heard. I started feeling the parallel with him and Mr. Hudson again like the day that I first stumbled across him. Remember before his Kayne moment with Straight No Chaser when he was Mr. Hudson and The Library and had a sound of his own that he could really dig into (a la A Tale Of Two Cities)? I worry that the direction in terms of sound that they're nudging him into is going to get him lost into the Flavor of the Week pile. It's both a blessing and a curse that his voice has moments of Chris Martin, Sam Smith, and Landon Pigg, with hints of Mat Kearney peppered throughout. It's my hope for him that Island didn't just go, "Oh crap, we need a Sam Smith! Ooo! This guy seems nice. *SIGNS*" I don't mind the synthy bits in "Sideways". I get that bassy EDM + pretty vocals on top = Ca$h Money Hoe$ right now. I guess my hope is that as he assumingly starts working on his debut full length that he doesn't allow himself to get overwhelmed by people trying to tell him to be trendy for the sake of moving units this moment. Or that if he does that he knows exactly what he's doing and plans to be in the spotlight for 4 seconds and then when he has a pile of money he just runs off and does whatever the heck he wants. 

Fact of the matter is, Wrabel is a voice your ears need to hear and I think if he plays his cards right that he will be staying around with us for awhile. 

Wrabel is on the internet in various places like Facebook, Twitter, and Soundcloud. Follow/like/add as you will. His debut EPSideways is available for purchase on iTunes if you're into that as well. 

Against Me! Frontwoman Laura Jane Grace To Debut AOL Original Series "True Trans With Laura Jane Grace"

photo credit: Leslie LyonsAgainst Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace continues to make significant strides within the transgender community. Today AOL announced that they will be airing a 10-episode series called "True Trans With Laura Jane Grace". The first episode doesn't air until October 10th, but you can check out a preview of what's to come in the trailer below. Per the press release, "The series explores poignant moments from Laura's life that include identifying as transgender, the decision to come out publicly and the overall transition experience....Each episode will follow Laura and other powerful individuals who are part of the transgender community as they share stories about the harsh realities of growing up anxious about their own identities."

I love Against Me! I LOVE Transgender Dysphora Blues. I love Laura Jane Grace. I love people of all shapes, sizes, genders, ethnicities, religions, etc. This isn't just some kind of awesome, this is all kinds of awesome. Mad props to her for doing this. Watching this trailer just made me want to hug all of them. I will be looking forward to hearing theses stories. 

[SKOA Presents] Bands & Brews: Interpol / Good Beer

Bands & Brews pairs our favorite bands to their "hoppy" soul mates and dishes out the coordinates of our favorite beer joints right here in NYC.

The first stop for Bands & Brews was the cozy beer shop, Good Beer, located in the East Village. Good Beer provided the ideal space to kick off Bands & Brews besetting us on all sides with shelves of interesting labeled bottles and decorated cans. The busy atmosphere and sea of friendly faces was the perfect backdrop for discussing two things we love: music and beer. I sat down with beer slinger Matt Cincotta anxious to find the quintessential bottle of suds worthy of a band I'll always be over the moon about, Interpol. Their new album El Pintor releases on September 9th here in the United States. El Pintor's teaser track "All the Rage Back Home" effortlessly transports us back to the blanket of seduction that was the band's 2002 debut, Turn on the Brights Lights. Enticing lyrics and the come-hither chords of these two albums envelop us in Interpol's infectious warmth and take us down that libidinous labyrinth.

Whether I was swooning over songs of old like "PDA", "Hands Away", and "Leif Erikson" or excited over new songs like "Breaker 1" (my favorite from El Pintor) and "Same Town, New Story", it was evident that words like "dark,warm, and heavy" would soon invade our taste buds with the brew we chose. After much discussion and many burps later, Matt and I chose to cool off from this masterful debate of musical darkness and abandon with a "Dark, Rich, and Sexy" brew called Porter (Founders Brewing). It's a smooth dark ale at 6.5% alcohol and for you beer nerds 45 IBUs (just enough bitter for the lusty soul). Cheers to Interpol for always making sexy happen. And yes, Stella (Artois) we still love you...

El Pintor is out September 9th. Pre-order it here. Enjoy, "All The Rage Back Home" below.

Click here for tour dates.