This has been making the rounds this week, and was suggested by friends so I finally gave it a listen. Never was a Fugazi or Wu-Tang fan, but this album is pretty cool. This makes me want to get out and go running for some reason.

Wugazi is described as “a labor of love by Cecil Otter & Swiss Andy. A year’s worth of cutting up every imaginable Fugazi record and trying out every Wu-Tang acapella they could get their hands on, resulted in Wugazi: 13 Chambers (a must listen for anyone who even looked at a skateboard in the 90’s).”

Another Chessboxin’ Argument is probably my favorite track so far, so here you go:

Download it here

Wugazi.com

I’ve been listening to the new Com Truise LP Galactic Melt quite a bit since it was released a few weeks ago and it hasn’t let me down yet when it comes to thinking I’ve taken a trip back to the eighties. I’m a huge fan of Truise’s (real name Seth Haley) Komputer Cast mixes, and Galactic Melt fits well alongside them when it comes to perfecting what he calls “mid-fi synth-wave, slow-motion funk.” Everything here sounds exactly like it could have been created two decades ago; from a synth perspective he just nails a digital warmth from beginning to end.

VHS Sex and Hyperlips are my two favorite tracks at the moment, both of which are available below. I don’t think the VHS Sex video is anything official by Com Truise, but it’s equally perfect and hilarious.

Com Truise Website

Purchase Galactic Melt on iTunes

Via Pitchfork.com I just found this link to a great three-song live performance by James Blake for NPR’s World Cafe. The only live song by Blake I’d heard – and the first song I heard by him – was The Wilhelm Scream, and even after that it was hard to tell exactly how the sometimes sparse arrangements would work live. The first live song performed here is the excellent cover of Feist’s Limit To Your Love shows the variety he can throw into a live tune; I’d be willing to bet the song could be performed differently every time it’s played and always be great.

James Blake Official Website

Listen to James Black live on NPR World Cafe

I guess Light Asylum’s EP In Tension has been out for far longer than I realized given that it only became available on iTunes this week. I could be wrong… who knows. What matters is that I loved the hell out of the track Dark Allies, and each of the three tracks that accompany it on this EP stand up really well to the dark vibe in that song. Dark Allies and Skull Fuct (YouTube audio below) better both be used in the some sci-fi-apocalyptic-end-of-world movie as long as 80s new wave fashion is involved along with cheap explosions and asymmetrical face paint.

LightAsylum.com

Buy Light Asylum – In Tension EP on iTunes

We’re about halfway through 2011 and there have already been some phenomenal albums this year, and Glasvegas’ new album Euphoria /// Heartbreak \\\ is easily one of my favorites. I was a huge fan of their first album and was lucky to see them from onstage at Lollapalooza a few years ago when we had VIP passes. This new album is a huge leap forward in a sense that the whole thing flows as if it’s one giant emotion of a song. I’ve not really read much of what it’s about, but there’s some heavy stuff going on here for singer James Allan. It’s gotten great reviews and the opening  track combination of Pain Pain, Never Again and The World Is Yours really sets the tone for the entire album.

The first video below is the office video from Glasvegas for the song Euphoria, Take My Hand. The second video is a stunning live version of opening track The World Is Yours, performed on Swedish TV show Nyhetsmorgon. Give the album version a listen; this version is almost completely stripped down to vocals and should make the hair on your neck stand up if you’re familiar with the regular version.

Glasvegas Website

Click here to buy Euphoria /// Heartbreak \\\ on iTunes.

This is a good-mood Friday song, and easily ranks in the top five best opening tracks on a rock album for me. I never checked out anything newer than Pinkerton; no offense to Weezer but the Blue Album and Pinkerton can’t be topped.