Brooklyn rockers The Dig have given up a sneak peak of their upcoming sophomore album, Midnight Flowers, in the form of the deep and brooding “Red Rose In The Cold Winter Ground”. There’s piles of echo on top of the guitar and vocals at the start of the track, creating a cavernous, isolated feeling. A metronome-steady rimshot keeps a tick-tock pace as seconds slide steadily by, emphasizing the loneliness as the lyrics continue on about wandering in barren desolation. A second guitar chimes in, a splash of color against the grey, a sign of hope in the wilderness, offset by a deep, methodical kick drum. Rapid-fire snares flash onto the scene as tension builds and then fades into an extended outro.

The album will be officially available for purchase on May 29th, but the band will be playing an album release show at The Dunes in DC on May 19th.

STREAM: The Dig – Red Rose In The Cold Winter Ground

The last time we checked in with Swedish electro-pop outfit Wild At Heart, they were going the overtly sexual route on their debut track, “Get Related,” way back in late 2010.  The duo, formerly dba Cleast Eatwood, just recently delivered their newest track, “Darling,” produced by fellow Swedes (and ATG darlings) The Sound of Arrows. The track is the ideal mixture of both artists; airy vocals and crystalline synths that sound simultaneously minimalist and thickly layered. The band’s grasp on pop music composition is staggering, and only furthers Sweden’s legitimacy as kings of the electro-pop realm.

STREAM: Wild At Heart – “Darling”

What do people mean when they call things “futuristic” these days? It always sounds ironically outdated to me, like a nerdy 80s misfit dreaming of the hovercar he’ll buy when he makes his first million by age thirty. That’ll show those oafs who beat him up after gym class! Anyway, Vancouver native Teen Daze calls his upcoming debut album All Of Us, Together “futuristic music with a heart,” and in the same way, I was skeptical about whether we can still get away with calling choppy voices over smooth synthesizers “futuristic.” But the remarkable thing about “Brooklyn Sunburn” is the artist’s ability to give us more or less the same sound for six minutes without it ever getting boring. How often have you wanted to take one perfect moment and stretch it out indefinitely, somehow without ruining the requisite evanescence that makes it so compelling? Sounds like some crazy futuristic space-time voodoo to me. Sounds a bit like this song, actually.

MP3: Teen Daze – “Brooklyn Sunburn”

The last time we saw CSLSX, they had crept their way onto 2010′s ATG Goodbye Summer Mixtape with their infectious “Futuretapes,” though in reality that track had been dominating our iTunes long before then. Recently, the Philly-based group have recruited Mountain Man to join along for their newest track. “Aeromancer” is a fuzzy electropop track that defies convention, transitioning from moody 80′s dreampop to ambient and abstract territory with ease–like Animal Collective with Paula Abdul’s drum kits. Sign me up for more please.

STREAM: CSLSX – “Aeromancer (Ft. Mountain Man)”

The Weeknd is back with mixtape #3, Echoes Of Silence. The group, fronted by Abel Tesfaye, said they’d be dropping something this Fall. Well, technically it’s still Fall for another couple hours. Coachella line-up should be coming out soon and I am putting my money on The Weeknd in a sunset slot in the Outdoor Theater. You can download the 9 track Echoes Of Silence in it’s entirety via The Weeknd’s website for free. A few choice tracks below including “The Fall” – produced by Clams Casino.

MP3: The Weeknd – “Same Old Song”
MP3: The Weeknd – “Echoes Of Silence”
MP3: The Weeknd – “The Fall”
MP3: The Weeknd – “Initiation”

Kieran Hebden is back with his contribution to We Are The Works in Progress, a compilation album put together by Blonde Redhead frontwoman Kazu Makino to raise money for tsunami relief efforts in Japan. Hebden, the man behind Four Tet, has been called many things, but boring is not one of them. He seemingly avoids being pigeonholed into a specific electronic sound, as if every one of his albums represents a new direction. He eschews the ordinary, opting to become more and more abstract with every release. Hebden seems to have found the right sound on “Moma,” a five minute journey through pulsating melodies that is best described pharmaceutically as a mix between Xanax and Adderrol in that it is both numbing and intensely focused. The strands of sound that comprise “Moma” are layered so thick that it might need a few listens to slice through, so get to it.

STREAM: Four Tet – “Moma”

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from our buddies ANR. If the Huffington Post is to be trusted, the guys have been busy scoring an operatic version of 2 Live Crew’s “Pop That Coochie” for the Sundance-bound short film “Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke”. While we’re praying that is accurate and we have a trace of video evidence – we have bona fide proof that they’ve been busy with this recently recorded Neon Gold TV session. The session features two tracks. The first is their single “It’s Around You” in traditional ANR rampage fashion. The second, and more surprising song, is a sultry cover of “Millionaire” by Kelis featuring Andre 3000. Get fuzzy with it and melt into your mulled wine.

ANR will be DJing the ATG + BYT New Years Eve extravaganza along with Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Geologist), JD Samson from Le Tigre / MEN, Lightwaves and many more. It will sell out. Grab your tickets HERE.

MP3: ANR – “Millionaire (Kelis Cover)”

School of Seven Bells are back with a new album, Ghostory, which is set to drop on Vagrant/Ghostly International in late February. “The Night” is the blip-filled, expertly layered first single–a perfect remedy for the inevitable winter doldrums. The trio’s progression from last year’s Disconnect from Desire to this is remarkable, and if the rest of Ghostory is like “The Night,” we could be in for one of 2012′s brightest offerings.

MP3: School of Seven Bells – “The Night”

Memory Tapes is one of the less talked about chill-wave surfers, but arguably the prototype. In all likelihood, Dayve Hawk would rather not be mentioned in the same sentence with chill-wave … well, too late. However, his music does deserve to stand alone, and his latest effort, Player Piano, out this past summer on Carpark Records, is further proof. More like Toro y Moi than Neon Indian, Memory Tapes works with a sparser, dreamier landscape of sounds. And “Offers” is another phenomenal example of this: his laid-back psychedelic pop sensibilities twirling around and around until you (the listener) find yourself staring at a big bubbly cloud of cotton candy funk, just waiting to be lapped up. Trust me, I don’t make this stuff up.

STREAM: Memory Tapes – “Offers”

It’s only a matter of time before Gotye takes over, and I mean that in a Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, Animal Collective, kind of way. The ARIA (Grammy equivalent) award winning artist was lightyears ahead of the curve at last week’s CMJ, delivering a sound seldom heard at the annual “music marathon”.  His astonishing set at Neon Gold’s New Shapes party (a night that covered the majority of my “MUST SEE” CMJ list) straight-up crushed any of the evening’s earlier performances, including what may have been a career-best from Walk The Moon minutes before. There’s no question that Wally De Backer (Gotye) has full control over his meticulously crafted set and is ready for the big stage here in the U.S. Catch a few choice remixes below and some additional photos courtesy of Loren Wohl after the jump.

MP3: Goyte – “Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) (RUFUS Remix)”
MP3: Gotye – “Learnalilgivinanlovin’ (Passion Pit Remix)”

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