Final Fantasy
Heartland
(Domino)
Releasing: 12 January

Owen Pallett’s first album since He Poos Clouds in 2006 is a concept album about a farmer named Lewis, who, if you’ll notice the track list, takes off his shirt at some point. Pallett has been jumping around the world to record Heartland, spending time in Reykjavik to lay down some tracks and Prague to record the Czech Symphony. He still has a couple dates left on his U.S. tour with the Mountain Goats (dates after the jump), and recently stopped by IFC’s Dinner With the Band to perform “Keep the Dog Quiet” and eat some lamb.

SONG LIST
01 Midnight Directives
02 Keep The Dog Quiet
03 Mount Alpentine
04 Red Sun No. 5
05 Lewis Takes Action
06 The Great Elsewhere
07 Oh Heartland, Up Yours!
08 Lewis Takes Off His Shirt
09 Flare Gun
10 E Is For Estranged
11 Tryst With Mephistopheles
12 What Do You Think Will Happen Now?

—Tyler Gould

 Amazon

 Lala

The San Miguel Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain has already booked an enticing lineup. Taking place in May 2010, the festival will be celebrating its 10th year with confirmed headliners the Pixies and Pavement. In recent days the bill has grown, boasting acts Wilco, Panda Bear, and the New Pornographers. Other announced bands and streaming music after the jump.

—Allison Taich

To hear Sarah Assbring say it, Lou Reed’s “Heavenly Arms” had a massive impact on her ability to even begin to write the new album:

“I knew from the beginning I was going to do an album of love songs but as I was far from in an amorous state of mind at the time I realized, I couldn’t write anything that would be pretending I still believed in love. I wanted to though. Desperately. And upon reading the lyrics to “Heavenly Arms” I realized he’d find the way to express this dark and desperate fight for love to survive against all odds. “

El Perro Del Mar is touring in support of her latest album, Love is Not Pop, out now in the U.S. on the Control Group.

El Perro Del Mar
Change of Heart [MP3]
     

—Tyler Gould

80kidz, Japanese DJs who’ve created remixes for acts like Simian Mobile Disco, Phenomenal Handclap Band, and Dan Black, now have bestowed their mash-up genius on Metric’s hit, “Help I’m Alive”, making it a bouncy synth jam. Metric has also released an acoustic EP, entitled Plug In, Plug Out available on Amazon. Take a gander at Plug In, Plug Out‘s tracklist as well as the band’s upcoming North American tour dates after the jump.

Metric
Help I’m Alive (80kidz Remix) [MP3]
     

—Eleanore Catolico

Hailing from Bordeaux, France, punk rock tandem Caroline Martial and Orion Bouvier make up the tantalizing Kap Bambino. Drawing upon the likes of Suicide and Nirvana, Kap Bambino fleshes out unruly noise rock for the masses. Revel in Kap Bambino’s “Batcaves”, which Martial helpfully describes as “a call to all the bats out there”, as well as a list of their North American tour dates. The band’s new EP, Batcaves, is set for a digital release on November 16th, and their full length album Blacklist is due 2010.

Kap Bambino
Batcaves (Jackson Remix) [MP3]
     

—Eleanore Catolico

El Perro Del Mar has released a new video for the song “Change of Heart” from their current album, Love is Not Pop. The video features two men in gold paint demonstrating their acrobatic ability in the style of Cirque du Soleil. When you realize that this video was shot in one single take, it is amazing to watch.

—Ashley Cooper