Arcade Fire
The Suburbs
[Merge]
Release Date: 3 August 2010
Let’s briefly extend the benefit of the doubt and assume that, when Arcade Fire decided to name their third record The Suburbs, they were in on the joke. For decades, the suburbs have been synonymous with refuge: a lack of danger, the reassurance of repetition, and a consistent kowtowing [...]

In 2008, onetime Luna bandmates Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips wrote music to accompany 13 of Andy Warhol’s iconic four-minute-long screen tests for a Warhol Museum exhibition. Now compiled as a full album plus eight remixes, the songs — for personalities including actor Dennis Hopper, the Factory manager Billy Name and Edie Sedgwick’s husband Paul [...]

At New York’s Webster Hall last Friday night, there were few moments when the floor wasn’t shaking. The messianic, sorta-psychedelic folk collective Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros knows how to get a crowd moving — and swaying, singing, sometimes even crying. You’ve probably heard the song “Home,” the whistle-laden, syrupy-sweet love anthem from the [...]

As you may have noticed, we made quite a few revisions to our Browse feature today! Here’s a roundup of the changes -
- A fresh design, which makes album artwork larger and more prominent
- A fresh new Browse homepage that is easier to navigate
- Music Genre and Audiobooks homepages that place a greater emphasis on [...]

Truth be told, it’s amazing this album’s even out. As Menomena’s drummer/singer (Danny Seim, last heard fronting Lackthereof) admits in the band’s bio, “brutal disagreements, unrelenting grudges and failed marriages” threatened to tear the trio apart in the three-and-a-half years since Friend and Foe. The tension’s clear on every single cut — the group is [...]

Bethany’s cat, Snacks
We’ve got a modest haul today with some clear standouts and a few bona fide must-get sleepers. Let’s dive into this infinity pool of sound, shall we?
Best Coast, Crazy For You: One of the most anticipated full-lengths of the year (from an eMusic Selects alum!) doesn’t disappoint. Cali girl Bethany Cosentino and co. [...]

Hold still, dammit
Today’s New Arrivals herald the arrivals of Paul McCartney’s solo and Wings catalog in the UK and the EU. Joe already ran down these records when they hit the site in the US, but I would feel personally remiss if I didn’t pitch in my own enthusiastic/under-informed two cents. From the still-underrated, [...]

There’s something kind of weird about the Pinker Tones. But eccentricity is what makes this electro-pop group from Barcelona so fun. The band serves up another offering of charming chaos on their latest album, full of steadily percolating synth-driven music and provocative lyrics in both Spanish and English.
Download Pinker Tones, “Samplame”

Now that you’ve had a few days to enjoy the latest eMusic Selects releases, I thought we’d close out Selects week by letting you know when Strand of Oaks and Family Band will be coming to your town! Details after the jump.

Get Home from Johnny Woods on Vimeo.
Hopefully by this point, you’re already enjoying our two latest Selects albums, Miller Path by Family Band and Pope Killdragon by Strand of Oaks. Conveniently enough, one of our selects alumni, Hooray For Earth just completed a video for “Get Home” — which was my favorite song from their [...]

This past weekend, eMusic’s Access + Rewards program flew eMusic member John and his fiancee Foy to Chicago, with VIP passes to the Pitchfork Music Festival. Not only did they to enjoy thrilling sets by LCD Soundsystem and the reunited Pavement, but their VIP access allowed them skip the crowds and get up close [...]

As you may already know, this week is eMusic Selects week, and we’ve got two fantastic new releases joining the Selects roster: The Family Band, Miller Path and Strand of Oaks, Pope Killdragon. As if all that’s not enough, we’ve got a little something extra for you: Family Band has given us a ‘bonus track’: [...]

Today, we welcome two more excellent bands to the eMusic Selects roster: Strand of Oaks and Family Band. What’s striking this time is how similar in mood and tone the two records are — both are stark, imposing, a little unsettling and truly visionary. We couldn’t be more proud to be working with them.

It’s no [...]

(video by dephot)
History has played a clever trick on Stephen Malkmus. That much became apparent near the end of Pavement’s perfectly ragged and utterly winning set at the Pitchfork Music Festival, when he sang, “I was dressed for success/ but success it never comes,” and about 50,000 people sang it right along with him. Even [...]

SLX. Get Psyched.

eMusic subscriber Chris Wolf enjoys a private lesson with Andy McKee courtesy of eMusic’s A+R program
So as many of you may know, eMusic has a very cool Access + Rewards program where subscribers can enter in to win giveaways, concert tickets, and one-off, unique events. Recently, one lucky member and guest won free tickets to [...]

S L X

Remember, during the halcyon days of the video store, the “Staff Picks” shelf? The place where employees got to lobby for their favorite films, and the place where you could go for a reliable selection when you just weren’t sure what you wanted to watch? We’re taking that principle and running with it: Starting this [...]

Every Tuesday, the mix is fairly predictable: a number of long-anticipated new arrivals and a smattering of cool surprises. Today, however, we’ve got the reverse: there are a smattering of known quantities, and a whole barrage of under-the-radar stuff that sounds extremely promising. We’ll do the big stuff up here, the small stuff after the [...]

Big new titles today in the UK and EU! The most divisive MIA record ever, School of Seven Bells, the return of Martina Topley-Bird, mother-and-daughter folk from Eliza Carthy and her mom Norma Waterston, and tons more. Let’s start with:
MIA, /\/\ /\ Y /\ – MIA is the kind of pop figure who [...]