best of august

This is that time when I post all of my favorite songs and videos from the past month, so you guys aren't actually forced to read all my words and stuff everyday. August was a slow and kind of lazy month around here, but there were still a number of gems to be had:


victoria bergsman

As I mentioned a few times this month, I listened to a lot of The Tough Alliance in August. The Swedish duo somehow managed to take a lovely song by fellow Swede Victoria Bergsman's new Taken By Trees and make it even better. The best song of the month, hands down:

mp3:
The Tough Alliance vs. Taken By Trees Taken Too Young

************************************

This is an old one (1966) that we only recently discovered, and it's been in constant rotation ever since. The song was also masterfully utilized by Diplo in his better-than-the-original remix of Spank Rock's "Put That Pussy on Me." Also be sure to check out the "live" video here.

mp3:
The Seeds Can't Seem to Make You Mine

************************************

I probably post on Italians Do It Better label-mates Glass Candy and Chromatics waaay too much, but dude. As long as they keep releasing consistently amazing demos for free download on their respective myspace pages, I'll keep talking about them:

mp3:
Glass Candy Candy Castle
Chromatics Running Up That Hill

************************************



After countless spins over the last couple weeks, I'm still convinced Celebration's new, David Sitek-produced The Modern Tribe LP is a huge step forward for the band, and could end up as one of the best albums of 2007. So many outstanding songs, including "Heartbreak," "Hands Off My Gold," "Comets," and this, the record's first single:

mp3:
Celebration Evergreen

************************************

Plenty has been said about Caribou's brilliant new album, Andorra, and for good reason. If you've somehow managed to avoid blogs and Pitchforks and the internet all summer long, here is the best song from the Best New Music-endowed LP:

mp3:
Caribou Melody Day

************************************


RZA was so happy to see us

Also, if you missed them the first time around, make sure to check out our Cat Power and Wu Tang Polaroids™, as well as Animal Collective's new "Peacebone" video, their live video for post-Strawberry jam "Brother Sport," and Devendra's "Seahorse" promo video. See you guys next month.