The last few months have shown NAS coming under fire for the title of his forthcoming album that was tentatively titled N*gger. Pressure from those around him forced him to change the name of the album. So he’s going simply with “Untitled” as the album title.

But the controversy over the album seems to have just fueled the hype on the album. On July 15th, we’ll see if that controversy helped or hurt Mr. Nasir Jones’ reputation. Hearing one of the new tracks from the record, “America” does lead us to believe that rep will just continue to grow.

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MP3: Nas :: “America” feat. Chris Brown from CMJ.com

In the meantime, head over to www.nasindependenceday.com and listen to what he’s calling “The N*gger Tape”, a collecion of songs that address the ramifications of the word. Some of these songs made it to the new album, others did not. In addition to a bunch of guest musicians (Busta Rhymes, Mark Ronson, The Last Poets) there’s also snippets of Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s speeches for the track “Black President”.

Check out the album tracklisting and art after the jump. (more…)

It hasn’t been released yet but THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM’S new album The ‘59 Sound is already one of our top albums of the year. We will make it an official declaration on August 19th when SideOneDummy puts the album in stores.

The band posted their first single and title track, “The ‘59 Sound” up on their Myspace page. Go listen, now! It’s no surprise the song has tinges of live-ness to it, a nod to Springsteen’s Born In the USA perhaps?

STREAM: The Gaslight Anthem :: “The ‘59 Sound” from the forthcoming album The ‘59 Sound on Mypace
MP3: The Gaslight Anthem :: “Blue Jeans And White T-Shirts” from the album Senor And The Queen via Spin.com

The band is on doing a small stint on Warped Tour this summer before heading overseas. But they will be back in time for some record release shows set up. One at the Knitting Factory in NYC on August 16th and one at the Middle East in Boston the next day. If you can’t get out to see them then, swing by Vintage Vinyl on August 19th, or Looney Tunes on August 20th for in-store performances.

PRE-ORDER: The Gaslight Anthem :: The ‘59 Sound

The summer of reunions continues with some brand-spankin’ new music from THE VERVE! We caught them on their reunion tour a few months back and are definitely psyched to see Richard and co writing some new tunes again!

The band just released a new song for us to get all worked up to. Check out the stream of the song “Love Is Noise” over at their myspace page.

MP3: The Verve :: “Love Is Noise”

THE BRONX have been hard at work on (count ‘em) 2 new records guaranteed to slay. Break out the marracas and pinatas.

The band stated way back when they will be making a mariachi record under the moniker of “El Bronx”. They have already realeased some track titles like “Qualude Quesadilla” and “If You Build It, We Will Paint It”. If the songs are as good as the album titles, we’ll be in good shape.

The band recently build a new recording studio, The Big Game Lodge and recorded an new “Bronx” album as well. Both records are slated for a late summer release. So rather than sit around their studio and drink beer, they are hitting the road on Warped Tour.

Knowing full and well their fans will not be able to contain their need to hear new music, they put a new track up on their myspace page for you to stream and more importantly, download.

Time to break stuff…

MP3: The Bronx :: “Knifeman”

If you are feeling really ambitious, there’s video footage of them performing as “El Bronx” after the jump. (more…)

I was tipped to this new track from THE HOLD STEADY by Chris Walla. Okay it’s not like Chris and I are buddies or anything. He and his band Death Cab For Cutie happen to be guest posters today over at Stereogum. And it seem’s Chris is just excited about posting new THS music as I was to hear it.

I got to see THS a few weeks back in NYC and they are amazing. When their new album, Stay Positive hits the streets there will be a few people I know running for it.

Case in point, when talking to a friend online about the new song, he made two very declaritive statements that, “If the entire album is this good, I’m not going to be able to handle it.” and “They could very well be the best band making music right now.”

It’s tough to argue with such sound logic.

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STREAM: The Hold Steady :: “Sequestered In Memphis” on Myspace

Album art and Spring/Summer tour dates can be seen after the jump. (more…)

ROB DICKINSON, former frontman of highly influential British band CATHERINE WHEEL is set to re-release his debut solo album, Fresh Wine For The Horses. The album will be released as a two disc set on June 10th. The album will have one new song, “End Of The World”. The bonus disc will contain 6 acoustic versions of classic Catherine Wheel songs.

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MP3: Rob Dickinson :: “The End Of The World”

You can check out a tracklisting after the jump. (more…)

ALABAMA 3, have kicked around the music scene since the late 90’s. Their origins are clouded in mystery, it’s original members claimed to have met in rehab. This makes sense since their music has been dubed a sweet mixture of acid house country blues music or “chemical country”.

The band, known to many here in the states as “that band that did the theme song to the tv show, The Sopranos” is known for their amazing live shows with the band singing and preaching country jams with southern accents set to live rave-up music.

The band’s longtime label One Little Indian thought it would be fitting to celebrate their existance for the last decade by putting together a retrospective of the band called Hits And Exit Wounds. The retrospective gives a great overview of the band and shows they have more rounds in the chamber than a song that served as the theme for Jersey mobsters.

Check out their send-up of the man in black.
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MP3: Alabama 3 :: “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”
BUY: Alabama 3 :: Hits And Exit Wounds

A few weeks ago, we put out the bulletin that WHAT MADE MILWAUKEE FAMOUS was playing a free show in Las Vegas that was going to be simulcast on www.deeprockdrive.com.

During that live performance, the band ripped into a cover of Billy Joel’s song “You May Be Right”. You can give a listen to a cover of the best song ever to serve as the theme song to a 90’s sitcom based on the writings of Dave Barry ever.

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MP3: What Made Milwaukee Famous :: “You May Be Right”

MY MORNING JACKET’s upcoming album, Evil Urges, is on the horizon and you’re probably teeming with anticipation. Today, Jim James and Co. bring you one step closer. The band just released a new MP3 from the album, getting me closer to my goal of hearing the entire record. The song was sent out to the band’s fan list where they were given a code to download the track. Give it a listen and love the fact that it’s 80 degrees in Jersey today.

Visit this link and enter the code “urges101″ to get your own copy of the track. It’s only going to be live for a week.
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A statement from the band can be read after the jump. (more…)

A few days ago, MURDER BY DEATH was in town to headline the Bowery Ballroom. Earlier the same day, I put the band’s lead singer Adam Turla in my car and headed down the road to WSOU for an on-air interview with the radio station and it’s central Jersey audience.

About halfway through the interview, Adam busted out a steel guitar and performed an acousic version of the song “‘52 Ford”, from the band’s latest album Red Of Tooth And Claw. I snapped pictures and the folks at the station were nice enough to record Adam’s performance.

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MP3: Murder By Death :: “‘52 Ford” live on WSOU

You can see more pictures of the performance after the jump. (more…)

Liverpool’s LADYTRON return with their new LP Velocifero (due out in June via Nettwerk). The record is the first since the critically-acclaimed Witching Hour in 2004 and was produced by Ladytron with assistance from Vicarious Bliss (Ed Banger Records) and Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails).

Check out the first track from the record “Black Cat” right now. The song kicks off the album with an intense bass line and pounding drums, and features vocals in Mira Aroyo’s native Brazilian. And we’re totally digging it!

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MP3: Ladytron :: “Black Cat”

Syndicate office faves THE SWORD have unleashed their latest video on an unsuspecting world. The video for “Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians” is as awesome as its title is long. Using rotoscoping, video directors Mike Colao and Josh Litwhiler, created a video that mixes animation and live action movement.

As the label explains, “the video is set in a post-apocalyptic world, thousands of years after the end of human civilization. A new race is born – one that has no idea that man had once ruled.” We’ve often said that The Sword’s music makes us want to do shots of whiskey and get in a fight, and this is no exception. Check out the video on Stereogum.

MP3: The Sword :: “Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians”
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