We're back! The two-month hiatus is over and we can finally enjoy some new music. On this issue of the Radar, we are surrounded by the number two. We talk about sophomore albums, alt pop duos, and two-weekend festivals.
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Foster The People is done with their second album and gives us a taste of it with their newest single, Coming Of Age. The album, entitled Supermodel, will be out on March 18. In the meantime, you can watch the music video they did with BRTHR for Coming Of Age (Watch). You can always expect a great music video from Foster The People and this new one doesn't disappoint. In an interview, Mark Foster said, "aesthetically, we had talked about on this record working with film more, and working with kind of more classic photography." (Watch)
BRTHR is composed of the newcomer directors, Alex Lee and Kyle Wightman. They are the minds behind MS MR's Think Of You video and the most recent one as Miley Cyrus' cat visual from her performance at the AMA 2013 (Watch).
Here, Mark Foster talks more about the song:
“Coming of Age was the last song we wrote for the record, we wrote it in the studio while we were recording. It kind of came out of nowhere, which songs do sometimes. It’s kind of funny, it’s the last song we wrote and recorded and it is the first song everybody is going to hear.
Lyrically, it is almost a confession. It is about a moment of clarity, having a moment of clarity and I think for me this year, being home, was that quiet after the storm of touring for two years and my life drastically changing.
It was kind of the first breath I had to really look around and see that there were some things that happened during that period with my friends and with my loved ones, with the people that are close to me and with myself as well. It is the first time that I got a clear look on those things and that’s kind of what the song is about. It’s about growing up.”
Read More.
Thumpers is Marcus Pepperell (vocal, guitar, keys) and John Hamson Jr. (drums, vocals, bass), an alt pop London-based duo. They've just released their debut album, Galore, this February 11 in USA, Canada, and Mexico. March 21 on Australia and New Zealand and May 21 on UK. You can listen to their whole album over at NPR. (Listen) Their music has been described as ethereal and joyous and I can definitely hear that in their songs. It also has this celebratory vibe to it as well as uplifting and danceable beats.
"Lyrically, the record we've made deals with firsts, youth, growing up, hometowns – and all that goes with that like your family and leaving that place," explains Hamson, who has known Pepperell since they were 11.
Watch this stripped back version of Marvel they did in St. Pancras Statio in London. (Watch) Similar artists are Walk The Moon and Dog Is Dead.
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Four Tet and Jamie xx collaborated on a new song called Seesaw. The material was debuted on Sydney's radio station FRi 94.5. (Listen)
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Annie Clark, who goes by the moniker, St. Vincent has just released her music video for Digital Witness. (Watch) The new album will be out on February 24.
A month ago, she visited the NPR offices and talked to Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton about her forthcoming album. She talked about running around the dessert naked, near-future cult leaders, and birth in reverse. This half hour conversation is an interesting listen and I highly recommend that you listen to it. (Listen)
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Vampire Weekend covers Andrea Bocelli's Con Te Partiro for Sweetheart 2014, which is out now, just in time for Valentine's day. "'Con te Partirò' is one of the greatest love songs of all time," Koenig tells Rolling Stone. "Its beauty transcends language. Thank you, Mr. Bocelli, for introducing us to this majestic gem." The album also includes contributions from Beck, Ben Harper, Fiona Apple, Sharon Jones, and more.
The Dubs also won the Grammys for Best Alternative Album.
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In this week's news regarding covers, we have two amazing artists taking their own spin on James Blake's songs. Ellie Goulding covers Life Round Here with Angel Haze. (Listen) Also, Lorde does her own cover of Retrograde for Australia's Triple J. (Listen)
After Lorde's big Grammys win, she bought a full-page ad in the New Zealand Herald to send her handwritten thank-you letter for her entire country to see. (Read)
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Anamanaguchi Remixes Prom Night (feat. Bianca Raquel) for a 2k14 version. (Listen)
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Sasquatch! Music Festival expands to two weekends with two different line-ups. The festival falls on the Memorial Day weekend and Fourth of July weekend. Consequence of Sound, Adam Young and Michael Roffman, talks to festival founder, Adam Zacks, about this recent change.
"We chose to add the second weekend because demand for tickets had reached a critical mass and we had hit maximum capacity at the Gorge. We did take a look at several different ideas, including back to back weekends. The choice not to do that was about differentiating ourselves. The idea of giving attendees who wanted to attend both weekends a six-week break in between felt right. The July weekend should have a very different climate, so the atmosphere will be different and it won’t feel like deja vu. It was also appealing to land on another holiday weekend that could be easily remembered."
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