Daily Bowie - TVC 15

Please enjoy "TVC 15" from the "Station to Station" LP as today's Daily Bowie.  I know i will.

Chelsea Wolfe - Hypnos

Having assuredly become one of my favorite artists over the last few years, any release from dark folk goth metal chanteuse Chelsea Wolfe is cause for celebration.  In April, she'll be releasing a 7" of unused tracks off of last year's "Abyss" LP on Sargent House.  Listen to the haunting "Hypnos" below.

Daily Bowie - Sorrow

Today's (tonight's) offering comes from Bowie's 1973 covers album "Pinups," the star man's take on "Sorrow," originally recorded by The McCoys a decade prior, your Daily Bowie.

Anika covers Nena

I first heard Bristol by way of Berlin artist Anika a few years ago, her mix of post-punk, dub, krautrock, and noise being the perfect sounds for a dark evening.  Being a chanteuse of sorts for Portishead's Geoff Barrow, there's an almost Nico feel to everything she does...and that's a wonderful and delightful thing.  She had kind of dropped off my radar, her last LP coming out in 2010, but here she resurfaces, covering Nena's "99 Red Balloons" of all things.  Cool and detached, Anika's take on the song, featuring an assist from the Invada Allstars (whom i'm assuming is just Barrow), feels like the cold war revisited, tensions rising behind an invisible iron curtain.  Listen below, download it here, and be on the lookout for music from Anika's new band, Exploded View.

Jozef Van Wissem and Zola Jesus

Experimental artist and lutenist Jozef Van Wissem has a new album out, and it's a haunting piece of gothic Americana.  I first heard the man's work a couple of year's ago on his excellent soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's "Only Lovers Left Alive" (a great film too by the way), and his eerie, yet familiar work continues here.  Featuring Zola Jesus on vocals, "Ruins" is a beautiful piece of dark folk and could very easily soundtrack your more dour moments, your uneasy introspection.  Listen below and get "When Shall This Bright Day Begin" here digitally now, or get the LP later in March on Consouling Sounds.

Daily Bowie - Space Oddity (original video version)

Today's Daily Bowie comes from 1969, the original video version for "Space Oddity."  It's quite a bit different from the studio version, but it certainly has its charms in its quirkiness.  Watch the video below.

Daily Bowie - Heathen (The Rays)

I don't know why i seem to have such a connection to Bowie's 2002 album "Heathen."  Something about it speaks to me, and i don't think i'll ever really be able to decipher why.  But that's okay.  Sometimes we just love what we love, and there's no real reasoning behind it.  Today's Daily Bowie comes from that album, and is the closing track.  Take a listen to synthy and wistful "Heathen (The Rays)" below.

Prince Rama

I know numerous people, friends and acquaintances both, who cannot stand or even hate the band Prince Rama.  I don't get it.  Sure, the theatrics can be a little bit silly, all neon costumes, pomp, and pretentiousness, but it's just for fun.  And is it really that much more ridiculous than wearing makeup or spandex or dresses or corpse paint or anything else?  No.  No, it's not.  Taking cues from 80's pop, world music, techno, and just a whole lot weird, the Larson sisters craft bright, glowing dance anthems for the art school kids, the drama geeks, and the eternally socially awkward.  New album "Xtreme" (sigh...) is due next week on Carpark.  Listen to "Your Life in the End" below.

Daily Bowie - Warszawa

I am eternally a devotee of Bowie's Berlin era.  Those three albums so fall in line with so much of what i listen to and enjoy.  What that says about me...who can really say?  I guess i just like my art a little icy.  Anyway, today's Daily Bowie, "Warszawa," an almost instrumental track from 1977's "Low," is an icy and beautiful wonder, a strange and exotic opus that can put me in an indescribable state of mind.  Right now, we'll call it sleep deprivation.  Enjoy.

Daily Bowie - Five Years

One of the best songs about the end of the world ever recorded, "Five Years" is your Daily Bowie.  I could listen to this song everyday.

John Congleton and The Nighty Nite - Your Temporary Custodian

Here's another track from the upcoming "Until the Horror Goes" LP from former Paper Chase front man John Congleton and The Nighty Nite.  "Your Temporary Custodian" is just as menacing as Congleton is known for, but maintains a real pop undercurrent to woo you close enough to get its claws into you.  Listen below and get the album in April on Fat Possum.

Nothing

Hey, it looks like we've got some new music from Philly shoegaze band Nothing in our near future.  "Tired of Tomorrow" is due in May on Relapse, but you can listen to first taste "Vertigo Flowers" below.  It sure is shoegazey.

Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadler has always walked a pretty even path, culling sounds from folk and goth music and creating something dark, haunting, and beautiful.  "Janie in Love," taken from her upcoming album "Strangers" is all of those things and sounds enormous.  Give me more music like this please.  Listen below and grab the record in May on the always dependable Sacred Bones.

Odd Nosdam remixed by Boards of Canada

Experimental hip-hop/electronic/ambient artist Odd Nosdam's new record "Sisters" hasn't even come out yet (get it Friday from Leaving Records), and its title track is already getting the remix treatment from Boards of Canada.  It's gorgeous.  Listen below.

Minor Victories

June sees the debut of another supergroup of sorts, Minor Victories, featuring members of Editors, Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, and Rachel Goswell of Slowdive/Mojave 3 fame.  Check out the synthy, dreamy, though kind of foreboding video for first single "A Hundred Ropes" below and be sure to grab the self-titled record from Fat Possum this summer.

Daily Bowie - I Can't Give Everything Away

Today's Daily Bowie comes from last month's "Blackstar," the final track from Bowie's final album.  "I Can't Give Everything Away" is a dying man's final breaths, final regrets, final thoughts.  It's a beautiful way to end and album and a career.  I wish we'd had more time.  Listen below.

A Giant Dog

Last year, raucous, energetic Austin rock n' roll band A Giant Dog scored a record deal with Merge, and the quintet's newest album "Pile" is due in may from the label.  In the meanwhile, we get our first taste of the new record with the single and video for "Sex & Drugs."  It's jerky, shakable, and highly infectious.  Listen and watch below.

PJ Harvey - The Wheel

How i managed to forget that we have a new PJ Harvey album coming our way is beyond me, but April brings the release of "The Hope Six Demolition Project," and i'm stoked.  Watch the video for the first fantastic single "The Wheel" below and get the record from Island.

Daily Bowie - Life on Mars?

I've mentioned before that Bowie managed to hit pure, unadulterated pop perfection on two of his songs back when i was writing about how amazing "Heroes" is.  This is the other one.  "Life on Mars?" comes from 1971's "Hunky Dory," and remained a staple in Bowie's repertoire for the remainder of his life.  I will never, ever get tired of hearing it.  Listen below.

Daily Bowie (Cover Week) - Across the Universe by David Bowie

It's been a long night...sick kids...a trip to the emergency room for our two-week-old...and all of the stress that that entails.  And now it's almost 3AM, and i'm as wired as can be and surfing the web and posting about music (as usual).  Anyway, that's where my mind is at right now, and i figured i'd go ahead and end this Daily Bowie Cover Week with an actual cover performed by Bowie himself.  So, here's Bowie's take on The Beatles' classic "Across the Universe" from 1975's "Young Americans."  Good night everybody.  Here's hoping i get some sleep soon.

Lush - Out of Control

Holy cow!  Dreamy, old school shoegaze band Lush just released their first song in 20 years...and it's really damn good.  "Out of Control" is sweeping and majestic, a beautiful nugget of reverby pop.  Watch the video for the jam below and get the upcoming "Blind Spot" EP from the band's own Edamame label in April.

Daily Bowie (Cover Week) - The Bewlay Brothers by Replicants

One of my favorite albums from  high school, Replicants was a sort of supergroup consisting of members of Failure, Lusk, and Tool.  On their sole album, the group play covers of bands such as Pink Floyd, T. Rex, The Cars, Missing Persons, and more.  One of the highlights, on an album full of them i might add, is the group's weird and spaced-out rendition of Bowie's "The Bewlay Brothers," and is one of the very few instances where i like the cover better than Bowie's original.  Listen below.

Tim Hecker - Castrati Stack

Choral vocals layered upon each other with otherworldly effects creating a sonic atmosphere akin to being lost with some enormous palace or the deeper recesses of the earth.  Such is the newest track, "Castrati Stack," from experimental drone artist Tim Hecker.  Listen and watch the video below and grab new album "Love Streams" from 4AD in April.

Daily Bowie (Cover Week) - Starman by Seu Jorge

Back in 2004, Brazilian actor and musician Seu Jorge recorded a bunch of acoustic Portuguese versions of classic Bowie songs for Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou."  They were amazing.  And an album, "The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions," soon followed.  Take a listen to Jorge's take on "Starman" below, your Daily Bowie.

Jim E-Stack and Jana Hunter cover Bjork

Having long been a fan of Jana Hunter, either in solo form or with her band Lower Dens, or way back in the day with the experimental Texas group Jracula, i'm stoked to see her offer up some vocals for a Bjork cover by San Francisco producer Jim E-Stack.  "Hyperballad" was always one of my favs from my favorite Bjork record, so it's good one to take on, especially with Hunter.  Listen below.

FEWS

Here's a little humming, throbbing post-punk to start your Friday with from London by way of Sweden band FEWS.  Listen to "The Zoo" below and be on the lookout for a future release from the band via Play It Again Sam.

John Carpenter - Lost Themes II

Last year, we got a very cool release from filmmaker John Carpenter, his first actual album called "Lost Themes."  Horror synths abounded, and it felt like the long lost cousin of the man's soundtrack compositions from his films.  It was awesome.  And the awesomeness is continuing with the upcoming "Lost Themes II," out in April on Sacred Bones.  Listen to "Distant Dream" below, and here's to me getting the chance to see the man live in June.  Hazaa!

Daily Bowie (Cover Week) - Ashes to Ashes by Warpaint

Back in 2010, LA band Warpaint supplied a haunting and dreamy cover of "Ashes to Ashes" for the Bowie tribute album, "We Were So Turned On."  Listen below.

Daily Bowie (Cover Week) - Station to Station by The Melvins

You really begin to realize just how influential David Bowie was when you see what a wide array of artists have covered him over the years.  On the 2013 album "Everybody Loves Sausages," original grunge metal punk purveyors The Melvins covered "Station to Station," and they were fairly faithful to the original, just Melvins-ing it up a little bit.  It rules!  Listen below.

You're Next

Adam Wingard's "You're Next" is easily one of my favorite horror flicks of the last five years, and it's soundtrack is now finally getting a proper release from Death Waltz/Mondo.  The score, composed by Mads Heldtberg takes its cues from old industrial and ambient releases to create moods of impending dread and frenetic tension.  Get it tomorrow and listen to "Run Motherfucker" below.

Daily Bowie (Cover Week) - The Man Who Sold the World by Midge Ure

Today's Bowie cover on a week full of them comes from former Ultravox frontman and Visage member, Midge Ure.  Ure's 1982 take on "The Man Who Sold the World" is a haunting piece of synthy new wave, and quite lovely.  Listen below.

The Skiffle Players

As it's unseasonably warm here in Austin these days, let's all lean back and listen to some breezy, folky Americana from The Skiffle Players, a supergroup of sorts featuring Cass McCombs and members of Beachwood Sparks.  Grab the debut album "Skifflin" from Spiritual Pajamas here and listen to "Til Stone Day Comes" below.

Sun Seeker

Like standing in a sun drenched meadow, cool breeze pressing against your skin, eyes squinted from the brightness, the debut from Nashville band Sun Seeker plays like an old classic crackling on AM radio.  It's like sifting through a beat up shoe box of old, faded photos, aging documents of suburban cowboys traversing through Laurel Canyon, a timeless homage to Americana.  Listen to "Georgia Dust" below and get the 7" from Third Man Records.

Daily Bowie (Cover Week) - Sound and Vision by Quasi

Changing it up just a little bit this week, as we'll be listening to some excellent cover versions of Bowie tunes from a wide array of artists all week long.  From the 1996 tribute album "Crash Course for the Ravers" comes Quasi's amazing rendition of "Sound and Vision."  The duo manages to be respectful to the source material, but also crafts a version that sounds like it could have been a Quasi song all along.  Listen below.

Daily Bowie - Heroes

I am a firm believer in perfect pop songs, the little nuggets of sound that come together so wholly and completely that they become transcendent, like the artists that created them were tapping into something on a level no mere mortal will ever truly comprehend.  Like gold lifted from the ether.  Like gently feeling the pulse of some collective cosmic consciousness.  Like harmonizing with the divine.  And while in my heart i am an atheist, the closest i ever come to believing in a god is when hearing these sonic revelations, these tastes of audio bliss.  An artist would be lucky to even grace the world with just one of these perfect pop compositions in a lifetime.  Bowie did it twice.  Let's listen to one of them for today's Daily Bowie.  From 1978, "Heroes."

Daily Bowie - Magic Dance

Today's Daily Bowie is really for my wife more than anything else.  I was never really all that into "Labyrinth," growing up or otherwise, but i can appreciate it.  It's fun.  And god knows how many prepubescent sexual awakenings it incited.  So, without further ado, "Magic Dance."

Daily Bowie - The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell

From 1999's "Hours" comes today's Daily Bowie, the chugging, churning "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell."  I always kind of felt that this song was a nod to the ever changing youth culture.  Glam kids became goth kids and so on.  Listen below.

Troller - Not Here

When you buy as many records online as i do, you end up, inadvertently or not, on a lot of different record label mailing lists.  And sure, they can clutter up my inbox, but i also got a lot of great announcements.  In this case, it's that Austin darkwave trio Troller have a new record out in April on Holodeck.  Hazaa!  I love this band, and i've been jonesing for new tunes from them for a number of years now.  Take a listen to and watch the video for "Not Here" below and pre-order the "Graphic" LP here.

Daily Bowie - Station to Station

"Station to Station" is kind of a hard phase of Bowie to really describe.  It's iciness predates the Berlin Trilogy, but there's also some notes of art-funk and R&B in the mix as well.  Basically it serves as the perfect segue between "Young Americans" and "Low."  Oh, and it introduced us to the Thin White Duke.  Listen to the album's epic title track below...your Daily Bowie.

Com Truise

Here's a new spacey, retro jam from producer Com Truise (who it seems like it's been a while since we last heard from).  "Diffraction" comes from the new "Silicon Tare" EP due in April on Ghostly.  Listen below.

Daily Bowie - Modern Love

Because i need a pick-me-up, and because i could dance to this song until the end of time, your Daily Bowie is "Modern Love," from 1983's "Let's Dance" LP.

Death Grips - Hot Head

Hey!  Some new Death Grips.  "Hot Head" is an aggressive electro-punk cacophony.  And while it's pretty much what we've come to expect from a group that constantly defies expectations, it's a crazy, noisy, head-slamming jam all the same.  Listen below.

Daily Bowie - The Bewlay Brothers

Okay, so here's the re-return of your Daily Bowie, the strange space folk of "The Bewlay Brothers," the closing track from 1971's "Hunky Dory."

Daily Bowie - Days

I've been out of rotation the last few days.  I got some kind of bug on Tuesday that totally laid me out until late Thursday afternoon, and then my second son was born early Friday morning.  He is a joy, but i'm riding on about 7 or 8 hours of sleep in the last 3 days.  At the moment, i'm enjoying a beer in my wife's hospital room, watching the Super Bowl, and listening to the little, sweet noises my sleeping son makes.  All of this is why "Days," from Bowie's 2003 album "Reality," is your Daily Bowie this evening.  It's a lovely, somewhat sentimental track that makes me think of my wife, and now my kids, every time i hear it.  Listen below.

Sorry to get so schmaltzy on you, but i'm just so exhausted.

Daily Bowie - Always Crashing in the Same Car

From 1977's "Low," today's Daily Bowie is "Always Crashing in the Same Car."  Listen below.

Ty Segall - Emotional Mugger video

Here's a twisted 14-minute video from Ty Segall featuring music from his new album "Emotional Mugger."  It's weird.  Watch below and grab the record from Drag City.

Daily Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans

Today's Daily Bowie is "I'm Afraid of Americans," the Trent Reznor-assisted jam from 1997's "Earthling."  I loved the video for this song back when i was a college freshman, and admittedly, it's still pretty cool.  Watch and listen below.

Johnny's an American...