Orange Alert's Music Minute

Ann Arbors's Wild Years recently released a new ep called Where'd You Go?, and they are selling them for $3 each on their myspace page. The three song contained on the ep are dark melodic folk tunes that remind me of Page France or perhaps Bowerbirds. They are songs that will make you wish you could do as the cover depicts and lay in a field of grass. When you visit their site you can also find their first ep, A Million Songs, available for free download.



One of the hottest albums right now is the latest from Animal Collective so it is only fitting that the boys from Mexicans With Guns take a stab at it. The song chose to mess with in "My Girl" and they take it too the streets of San Antonio and completely tear it up!

Listen to: Animal Collective - My Girl (Mexicans with Guns Remix) (mp3)




On February 3, 1959 a plane carrying Buddy Holly, J.P. "Big Bopper"Richardson and Ritchie Valens crashed changing the history of rock n' roll. To celebrate and commemorate the way Buddy Holly changed rock n' roll, The Poison Control Center were asked by the Des Moines Register were asked to cover a couple Buddy Holly tunes.

Listen to: Well All Right (mp3)



With a mixture of circus freak instrumentation, booming bass and a mixed bag of samples, Bizzart is an exciting young musician. With his first release for Joyful Noise, "Future Stars And Small Wonders", Arthur Arellanes III (A.K.A Bizzart) combines his spiritual past with his love for beat construction and sound art. "Future Stars..." hits stores on Feb 10, 2009.

Listen to: Android Hearts (mp3)



I am still blown away every time I receive a new update on the colossal rise of Plushgun. Pins & Panzers is their debut full-length album for Tommy Boy Records due on Feb. 17th. Pins & Panzers features cover art by Patrick Smith (http://www.blendfilms.com/), and is the third Plushgun release to feature original credited work by an innovative Brooklyn artist; the other two were done by Yoko Furusho (single for “Dancing in a Minefield,”(http://yokofurusho.com/) and Beth Newell (http://www.bethnewell.net/) who did the self-titled EP art. He has three record release parties in the next few weeks and here are the details.

Plushgun Fanatics 2009 Revelers Agenda:

1/26 New York, NY @ Union Hall w/Kiss Kiss & The Gay Blades
2/18 New York, NY @ Fontana’s – Record Release Party
2/19 Boston, MA @ Harper’s Ferry – Record Release Party



Husband and wife duos have a certain stigma attached to them, but when the husbands name is Frank Black the possibilities seem a little brighter. Tuesday, April 14th, sees the release of 'Petits Fours', the debut album from Grand Duchy, aka Violet Clark and Frank Black (aka Black Francis). Featuring 9 tracks,'Petits Fours' is the joint venture between Clark and Francis, rather than a solo Francis project, and contains driving baselines, a healthy dose of synths and some excellent vocals from Clark,alongside Francis’s trademark guitar squalls.

Petits Fours (Cooking Vinyl Records)
1. Come On Over To My House
2. Lovesick
3. Fort Wayne
4. Seeing Stars
5. Black Suit
6. The Long Song
7. Break The Angels
8. Ermesinde
9. Volcano!



Reigns has always been a mysterious band from the UK, but I was excited to receive word this week about their latest album, their first on Monotreme Records, The House On The Causeway. A blend of hazy and dark atmospherics, they have recorded a nightmare in an abandoned old house. They tell the stories that they found hidden in walls and behind closet doors. The album will be released on March 17th, but we now have an ominous preview of what we can expect.

Listen to: Everything Beyond These Walls Has Been Razed (mp3)



A band that I thought might have been permanently gone has just announced it's return. Suburban Kids with Biblical Names have finished their first new release in over three years time. The glorious return comes in the shape of a four track EP named "#4" that will be released on February 4.

Listen to: 1999 (mp3)


Cadence Weapon is back and he continues to firmly establish his legacy as a pioneer in a passionate crusade to push the rap and electronic music envelope. Separation Anxiety is a new collection of exclusive tracks, remixes, and collaborations available only at his website for whatever price you deem worthy.

The 20 tracks brought together in a 70-minute collection include the Mixmag exclusive Hervé/A-Trak/Cadence Weapon collaboration “Roll With The Winners” and remixes of label-mates The Cansecos and Roots Manuva, and arguably the show-stopper; a remix of Kid Sister's "Damn Girl".

Annuals are on tour again and have teamed up with museum across the country for the "Such Fun" Tour with What Laura Says and Jessica Lee Mayfield. You can check out their tour date and museums involved here, but in the meantime enjoy redesigning their cover art.

Listen to: Confessor (mp3)