So yesterday brought us the brand new album from The Raconteurs, Consolers of The Lonely. So far I’ve only heard the single, “Salute Your Solution,” which is pretty great! And guess what, they went and made a pretty neat video for it. Watch it below…

A particular blue-and-gold flag has been flapping on my musical map for the last few weeks now, and there are reasons why above and beyond home furnishings:

• The awesome bangin’-beat blog Palms Out Sounds recently posted about a hot club track from a new group called Maskinen. Watch the video for “Alla Som Inte Dansar” and you’ll see the visuals are straight-up Justice, the delivery right in the wheelhouse of Dan Le Sac v. Scroobius Pip. I recently played this on The Circuit, and it’s a great song with just one dirty little secret: the provocative translation of the chorus.
• S.O.S.: Abba drummer dead at 61.
• “Yours truly, Jens Lekman.“
• Some Y-Rock listeners picked up on a track introduced to them by Sat Bisla on our Passport Approved show: “Better When You’re Naked” by the Swedish group Ida Maria. (The lead singer of the same name is Norwegian by birth, but we’ll let her slide. This time.) Earnest stuff, I hear some Pretenders in there. Sadly, most of their material is still only available for purchase on the other side of the pond. Learn your exchange rates.
• I’m From Barcelona, 20+ members strong, visit Philly in late April for one of just two East Coast shows.

And let’s not forget some of Sweden’s more usual suspects: The Sounds, The Hives, The Cardigans, The Knife, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, The Field, Peter Bjorn & John, The Concretes, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Caesars (”Jerk it Out”), Army of Lovers, Hellacopters, Meshuggah, The Radio Dept., Sally Shapiro, Neneh and Eagle-Eye Cherry (by birth!), Robyn, The Shout Out Louds, Millencolin, Whale (”Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe”), Lo-Fi-Fnk, Mando Diao

It’s totally Modern Rock Madness time!

Yesterday’s competitions were fierce, and today’s are only looking to be even more so.  The Modern Rock Madness site has all the info you need to get your own bracket, vote for the currently battling bands, and keep up to date with the results!

Remember, you have the chance to win a Nintendo Wii by filling in a bracket as the tournament progresses and sending it in to us when it’s over.

Tune in all this week to hear how your favorite band will fare in this tournament of rock!

This year was my second time at SXSW in Austin, TX and I had a great time. Saw some excellent music, hung out with some cool folks…there will be a post on the regular XPN blog where all the XPN peeps who attended will post their favorite moments…here’s what I submitted, plus a bonus picture! 

1. R.E.M. at Stubbs - My favorite band playing some of my favorite songs. Nuff said? I hope you heard it played back on XPN last Thursday night…if not, it’s archived here.
2. Phantom Planet at La Zona Rosa - reminding me why I loved seeing them live so many times. Frontman Alex Greenwald is still a madman onstage.
3. Be Your Own Pet - Outside in a courtyard…hyperactive, spastic and after 3 songs, the generator ran out of gas, so the band goofed around and interacted with the crowd until they had power again, while Thurston Moore looked on from the sidelines.
4. Meeting Mick Jones of The Clash!!! It’s not every day you meet a Punk Rock legend…maybe I will splice the picture together with the one of Jim McGuinn & I with Paul Simonon from last year’s SXSW.
5. The Whigs rocking the XPN/Stereogum/Paste party. “Right Hand On My Heart” is just plain sick live.

Also, I met Whitney Matheson of USA Today’s indispensable Pop Candy blog and briefly chatted about (what else?) R.E.M. Here is a picture of a blogger and me, posted on a blog. How meta! 

It’s that time of year… well, really, those times of year.

Ireland.com presents the top 40 Irish albums. A couple of interesting artist legacies (Bell X1, Glen Hansard), a little bit of where-are-they-now (Therapy?), a little bit of who-dat (Microdisney). Beyond that, just a whole lotta usual suspects — Van, MBV, U2. With U2’s all-powerful stature, you might be surprised what album serves them best in this countdown.

Wikibin hosts a list of baseball players’ entrance music. And you thought sports entertainment was just limited to the WWE? Interesting finds: [1.] Too. Much. Nickelback. [2.] Julio Franco comes out to Christian pop and gospel, obviously as a measure of thanks for being able to play at the age of 73. [3.] A few players actually have come out to music made specifically for pro wrestlers, among them the Yankees’ Jason Giambi, the White Sox’ A.J. Pierzynski, and the Blue Jays’ Matt Stairs. [4.] Trade bait? Mark Sweeney is with San Francisco, his 8th NL team in 13 seasons, yet enters to the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” [5.] Players who pick from one catalog include Philadelphia’s Shane Victorino (Bob and other Marleys), Scott Spiezio of St. Louis (his own band Sandfrog), and Toronto’s Lyle Overbay (Pearl Jam). [6.] Biggest name player with the worst ear? Try Matt Holliday of Colorado: Creed, Scott Stapp solo, and Madonna. Yeesh. [7.] Some of the artists you wouldn’t expect to hear (but probably fit right in) include Daft Punk, The Police, System of a Down, Dire Straits and Duran Duran. You’ll shed a tear when you see which player gives Mike Patton side project Tomahawk a little love. Be warned that the list is a mish-mosh of players active and retired, and may be a trade or two behind some players.

Believe it….Trent Reznor has taken the Radiohead approach to release his latest project, Ghosts I-IV, on the interwebs…Ghosts I-IV is a 36-track all-instrumental collection (think of it as four 9-track EPs)…

There are a number of ways to get the tunes, and all can be found at the NIN Store…of course, all of NIN’s fans have been flooding the site, so it might be a bit sluggish until they work out the kinks…

BRASS - “Set & Drift”

New band, new style, new attitude, from former members of Allison Ranger, Motumbos Hospital, & North Star Infinite. This new band blends indie rock hooks and melodies with  a technical display of instrumentation that races from quiet melodies to a wonderful thundering explosion of math rock/prog. Sounds like early Incubus (think of the sound of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. ), meets Mars Volta, meets Faith No More, with harmonizing pop hooks over crunching riffs simelar to later day music of The Beatles and The Who. This is pretty awesome if I do say so myself, and I do, and that’s why you are reading this...

BEST TRACKS: #2 “The Optomist”, #1 “Autum Hex Signs”, #5 “Separate Bodies”, #7 ” Tall Ships”

JAKE’S RATING: 5 of 5

PAT CUSICK - “RHYMES WITH MUSIC”

This is impressive, this guitarist from Halifax, PA (yeah, I never heard of it either) wears his influences on his sleeve with a sound that is best discribed as Indie pop meets americana rock n roll. Sounds like Warren Zevon, Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Brian Setzer, that other guy named Elvis, and The Beatles.

BEST TRACKS: # 2 ” Drive Drive Drive”, #4 ” Amelia”, #7 ” Who Rigged My Radio”, # 6 ” Damn The Miles”, # 5 “Calling Out From My Heart”

JAKE’S RATING:  5 of 5

STONE LUCY - “SYNDICATED SUMMER”

Prog metal from Washington D.C.,  very heavy but melodic. Sounds like Tool , & Opeth.

BEST TRACKS: #1 “Manikin”, # 3 “Searching For The Missing”, #7″ Nothing In A Name”

JAKE’s RATING: 2 1/2 of 5

THE SILENCE - “FIND YOUR WAY HOME”

The Silence is anything but, they are a 3 peice alternative rock act from Philly with a familiar style sound. Their sound is a mix of altenative rock staples such as Our Lady Peace, and Smashing Pumpkins mixed with quirky fun pop rock simalar to the styles of Spacehog, Fastball, and The Wallflowers.

BEST TRACKS: #3 “Myralene”, # 6 “Alang Came A Sign”, # 10 “Breathe”

JAKE’S RATING” 3 1/2 of 5

THE THRIVES - “ALL ROCKETS”

Catchy indie pop with big guitar riffs from Harrisburg, PA. Sounds like Our Lady Peace, Oasis meets Jet.

BEST TRACKS: #5 “A Snack For The Angels”, #1 Fall Right Down”

JAKE’S RATING:  3 of 5

And Now here’s what was played this week on The Y-Rock Philly Local

The recent addition to our playlist of “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds got me thinking about the first place I ever heard them — a movie soundtrack — and led me to wondering about that format again for the first time in many years.

Films and film music like The Big Chill and Saturday Night Fever collected the voice[s] of a generation. It begs the question: what speaks to us masses of hipsters, goths, sk8rs, mods and whatnot? What might entertain Gen X and Gen Y as well as our siblings and offspring? What is The Big Chill of alternative, indie, and modern rock?

After the jump let’s survey some contenders, and feel free to comment and suggest:

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