Today's Hotness: Sun Airway, Antiques

>> Contemporary dream pop giants Sun Airway disclosed today that Dead Oceans will issue in July a new 7" single from the Philly-based act. The single features the songs "Wild Palms" and "Symphony In White, No. 2;" both will be available at the usual digital storefronts this coming Tuesday. In a twist that we love, the songs will not debut at a blog, but on TERRESTRIAL RADIO SUCKAH! Philadelphia's WXPN gets the honor, and the songs will be played on Dave P's Making Time radio show Friday from 7-9PM, which yes, of course, you can stream right here. Dig it. Sun Airway recently wrapped a short tour supporting Asobi Seksu, and plays a special multimedia event Friday night in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church. Tickets and more information is posted right here.

>> While it isn't flawless, there is enough loose jangle and stray slack on Antiques' forthcoming, enigmatically titled JWNS that we keep listening. Lo-fi is the order of the day, but fortunately Antiques has the songs to back it up. Album opener "Turn Me Loose" (not a Loverboy cover), "Letter #2" and "Making Friends" carry the pleasant stale-beer smell of Bob Pollard sketches. The latter song we like in particular because of the vocal production; there is an interesting breathiness and reverb and layering going on. And when the big guitar chords (underpinned by some organ? Or are we just hearing things now?) kick in, "Making Friends" reveals itself to be an anthemic mid-tempo sparkler. For something a little more peppy, fractured and emo, we direct your attention to the big, diaphanous strummer "ETC." Antiques is based in at least three cities presently, which we expect makes it difficult for the band members to stop by to borrow a pack of Ernie Balls or smokes or whatnot. Despite that distance, JWNS -- which is slated for release June 28 -- will be Antiques' fourth full length (the band began life as an outfit called Sparrowhawk in 2003, apparently). The band's Tumblr jokes that tour dates are "coming never," but there also appears to be a live shot from Charlie's Kitchen in Cambridge, so maybe if you all wish very hard... In the meantime, check out the embed of "Making Friends" below.

Today's Hotness: The Futureheads, Fields, Asobi Seksu

>> You know what totally smokes? The forthcoming Futureheads single "I Wouldn't Be Like This If You Were Here." The high-octane slammer hearkens back to the Sunderland-situated quartet's amazing 2004 full-length debut. The single will be issued Dec. 8, but you can already hear a crappy-sounding stream of the track at the band's MySpace dojo here. The Futureheads embark on a three-week tour of the U.K. and Ireland with clicky clicky faves Johnny Foreigner at the end of the month. We weren't all that certain of the pairing, but now that we've streamed "I Wouldn't Be Like This If You Were Here" a few times and hear The Futureheads are back with their A game it is starting to make sense. Full tour dates are listed at the aforementioned MySpace page. The Futureheads released its third set This Is Not The World on its own Nul Recordings label in May; we reviewed the band's July 2006 Boston gig here. We just remembered something Johnny Foreigner and The Futureheads have in common: both acts have been remixed by Dolby Anol. Here's the remix of "Radio Heart."

The Futureheads -- "Radio Heart (Dolby Anol Remix)"
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[buy Futureheads records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> London-based indie rock foursome Fields Tuesday cited label negotiations as the precipitating factor behind the cancellation of a planned strand of November tour dates. The cancellation isn't quite as interesting as the fact that Fields, which was apparently the subject of a bidding war in the U.K. in 2006 after playing only a small number of shows, is -- according to a MySpace blog from fronter Nick Peill -- "in talks with a new record label." The band's full-length debut Everything Last Winter was issued by Warners in the UK; in our opinion it did not live up to the promise of the mysterious, stellar preceding EP 7 From The Village. As we reported here in October, Fields had intended to issue its sophomore set Hollow Mountains in March 2009 (after previously hoping it could be out by the end of this year). However, the aforementioned label negotiations could push back the release of the long-anticipated set. Strangely, a second MySpace blog posted Tuesday made it sound as if a new label deal was already in place, and that it was the new label's decision to scotch the dates. "We have been trying to get the label to organise some shows for us for months now and the decision to pull this tour was not that of the band." Drama!

>> News circulated Tuesday that Asobi Seksu's forthcoming third full-length us titled Hush. We had reported here in September that the New York-based dream pop duo would issue the new set in early 2009, and Asobi Seksu now says the release will be in March, which we expect is timed perfectly with the annual South By Southwest confab. As we had also reported previously, Hush will be preceded by the single "Me & Mary" b/w "Breathe Into Glass" Nov. 18. For you vinyl-ophiles, the band's supremely great sophomore set Citrus will finally be issued on vinyl Nov. 25 by Friendly Fire. More details and the Hush track listing can be found in this Pitchfork item.

>> Pun Canoes here points to this recent post on The Lemonheads' blog, in which band leader Evan Dando explains the delay of the planned covers album Varshons, which was to have streeted in September. The set will apparently now be released in March, Mr. Dando says.

Today's Hotness: Stricken City, Asobi Seksu, GAS

>> Stricken City's forthcoming second single "Lost Art" reminds us of a charming blend of Haircut 100's new wave pop and Kiss Me Deadly's dancable indie tunes. The track has a bouncy rhythm, plucky bass rides high in the mix and singer Rebekah Raa's clear, bright voice recalls that of Bow Wow Wow fronter Annabella Lwin. Blue Flowers Records will issue the London-based quartet's single -- which will be backed with a new version of the track "The Traveler" -- in the U.K. Nov. 17. Stricken City's debut single "Tak O Tak" b/w "Bardou" was issued by the label Adventures Close To Home Recordings July 28 and the pressing of 500 copies has already sold out (which makes you wonder why ACTH isn't releasing the second single, right?). The A-side of that single boasted a pulse similar to "Lost Art," and we think you'll agree after listening to the latter cut that the band is on to something good. Stricken City plays London tonight and plans to announce a strand of UK tour dates in the near future.

Stricken City -- "Lost Art" -- "Lost Art" b/w "The Traveler"
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[pre-order "Lost Art" b/w "The Traveler" right here]

>> Speaking of forthcoming singles, New York-based dream pop heroes Asobi Seksu will issue "Me & Mary" b/w "Breathe Into Glass" Nov. 18 on Polyvinyl. The A-side will appear on a forthcoming full length that Polyvinyl plans to release in early 2009; the b-side is a non-album track. Like the duo's fabulous 2006 sophomore set Citrus, the as-yet-untitled new full-length collection was produced by Chris Zane. The forthcoming single will be available as a vinyl 7" and via the usual digital music storefronts. Finally, Asobi Seksu commence a two-week tour of North American Oct. 17; the tour's second stop will be the following night at T.T. The Bear's in Cambridge, Mass. Check out the entire slate of dates at the band's MySpace drive-thru right here.

>> Only one email today was able to tear us away from our obsessive consumption of news concerning the U.S. political campaigns and economy, and it was in German. Fortunately, with a little help from Babelfish, we think we are able to tell you that electronic music luminary and Kompakt co-founder Wolfgang Voigt will perform for the first time under his GAS moniker in Leipzig, Germany Sept. 28. Cologne-based Voigt has a number of different aliases, but has apparently never performed any of its music live. Unless we are misunderstanding our translation. Readers may recall that one of the nicer surprises earlier in the year (before the world went crazy) was the five-disc GAS box set; more recently Voigt issued a collection of photographs in a book titled "Wolfgang Voight -- Gas." We were turned on to GAS sometime before that via Kompakt's absolutely delightful Pop Ambient series of blissed out ambient electronic music. We're posting one of our favorite cuts below.

GAS -- "Pop" -- Pop Ambient 2005
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[buy GAS and Kompakt music from EMusic right here]

CC200: Human Television's "Look At Who You're Talking To"

[Update Forthcoming] The second installment of the Clicky Clicky 200 [first post here] jumps ahead 112 spots to 86, where we find Human Television's "Look At Who You're Talking To," the title-ballad to the Brooklyn-based (by way of Gainesville and Philly) quintet's 2006 set. It's about a relationship-ending confrontation. This is sad. And it does a neat job closing out the album by repurposing much of the lyrics from the delightfully upbeat preceding track "In Front Of The House" [video here].

"Look At Who You're Talking To" also has pretty amazing string arrangements, and such strong arrangements aren't something we'd typically assume an indie kid could pull off. The liner notes to the record state that they were the work of a fellow named John Fields. That's a fairly un-Googlable name, but a search turns up hits for a Fields who also worked on records from Clay Aiken, those ubiquitous teen commerce-tainment robots Jonas Brothers and Mandy Moore. So perhaps the guy is a big deal? He can certainly arrange some string. Such arrangement may also have been influenced by Look At Who You're Talking To producer Chris Zane. His is a name with which we're distinctly more familiar. You've heard Mr. Zane's work on records from Asobi Seksu, Les Savy Fav and Tokyo Police Club. One day perhaps we'll be able to track down info about how "Look At Who You're Talking To" was put together production-wise. In the meantime, just sit back and enjoy the poignant track. It is unclear from Human Television's MySpace casa whether the band has plans to release another record, and it lists no upcoming performances. Hopefully, the act will spring new music upon us soon.

Human Television -- "Look At Who You're Talking To" -- Look At Who You're Talking To
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[buy Human Television records from Newbury Comics right here]

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