Perfume Genius

We’ve been listening to the new Perfume Genius album, Put Your Back N 2 It, for the last few days and it is stunning, even better than 2010′s heavily praised Learning. ‘Hood’ has already become something of a standout for us, so it’s great to see that Mike Hadreas has released a video for the song – and the first proper Perfume Genius video at that.

The video undercuts the lyrics of the song with a bit of humour – there’s Hadreas in a string vest and some make up alongside gay porn star Arpad Miklos. It’s short, sweet and you can watch it below.

Dot Rotten

Dot Rotten found himself on the BBC Sound Of 2012 the other week – while he didn’t make the top 5, it was still a fairly big achievement for a grime MC, even in a post-Dizzee and Wiley world. In interviews, he seems refreshingly unconcerned with what his underground peers are going to make of his move overground – and the sheer number of mixtapes he released between 2008 and last year is testament to the work he’s been putting in. He’s just released the video for new single ‘Are You Not Entertained’ and its neither a retreat to his roots nor a Tinie Tempah style crossover – plenty of grime MCs have got lost in the space between the underground and the mainstream, and it’ll be interesting to hear where Dot Rotten’s album lands between those two worlds.

Azari & III

Canadian house-revival four-piece Azari & III released on of our favourite albums this year outside of the UK – their self-titled debut has only been available over here on import or limited edition vinyl since earlier this year. The group are lining up a full release on Island Records on February 19, and a ‘Reckless With Your Love’ single will precede the album a week earlier.

‘Reckless With Your Love’ is one of the standouts from the album and now has a suitably camp/odd new video, which you can watch below.

Cass McCombs

Cass McCombs‘ second album of 2011 – Humor Risk – follows April’s WIT’S END on November 7th in the UK, and a day later elsewhere. In an era when our musicians and pop acts share so much of themselves with us, Cass McCombs’ good old-fashioned fondness  for the enigmatic (particularly in interviews) is actually kind of refreshing – it also allows you to focus on his music. You can do just that below – Humor Risk is now available to stream in its entirety. It’s a fuller, more musically-varied LP than the sparse and frail WIT’S END. Additionally, you can also take a look at the video for Humor Risk track ‘The Same Thing’ below.

Cass McCombs – Humor Risk by DominoRecordCo

Rihanna - Talk That Talk

You may have heard a thing or two about Rihanna‘s video for ‘We Found Love’ – a farmer in Northern Ireland didn’t take too kindly to her cavorting around in her pants on his land, as you may recall – and now you can view the finished clip. Click through below to view it. There’s drugs, poor cockney accents and topless frolicking – if this video’s anything to go by, she’s combining the trancey, carefree singles and “Ain’t sex good?” attitude of her previous album, Loud, with some of the “I’m very serious, let’s tackle issues” posturing and imagery of Rated R. Fair enough. Rihanna’s new album, Talk That Talk, is out in November.

Rihanna on WhoSay

Youth Lagoon

Twenty-two year old Trevor Powers, aka Youth Lagoon, is gearing up to release his debut album at the end of this month. Before that, however, we have the video for the beautiful track ‘Montana’. Directed by Tyler T Williams, it could stand up as a short film in its own right – it’s beautifully shot and as poignant as Powers’ song. Youth Lagoon will release his album, entitled The Year Of Hibernation, on Fat Possum Records on September 27th. Watch the video for ‘Montana’ below.

Youth Lagoon – Montana from Tyler T Williams on Vimeo.

Lana Del Rey - Video Games/Blue Jeans

With her retro-inspired songs, homemade videos and self-coined description of the “gangsta Nancy Sinatra”, Lana Del Rey has caught a lot of people’s attention since her track ‘Video Games’ emerged a while ago – numerous critics have tried to unravel her music industry past and just how she’s managed to attract so many plaudits with just one song. At the moment, it’s difficult to separate Lana Del Rey’s obvious vocal talent and own contradictions from the PR myths and occasionally quite sexist speculation that has arisen around her. You can judge for yourself as another track has emerged now – she’s just released a video for the B-side to ‘Video Games’, the smokey and evocative ‘Blue Jeans’. Listen below.

Nicola Roberts - Lucky Day

Nicola Roberts continues to tread her own pop path away from Girl’s Aloud with the release of her second solo single, ‘Lucky Day’, on September 18th. Her album, Cinderella’s Eyes, follows on September 26th. We’ve got the video for ‘Lucky Day’ below – it was shot in New York’s East Village, where the temperature was 120 degrees, which explains why she isn’t wearing any trousers.

Wild Beasts are all over the place at the moment, touring behind their widely praised third album Smother. They’ve found time to shoot the video for that album’s next single though – you can watch the performance clip for ‘Bed Of Nails’ below. Meanwhile, check out the band’s tourdates below – they’re being supported by Braids or Dutch Uncles, and they’ve added extra shows in Manchester and London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

Fri 5th Aug The Big Chill Festival
Sat 6th Aug London Victoria Park – Field Day Festival – MAIN STAGE HEADLINE
Fri 2nd September Dorset - End of the Road Festival
Thu 10 Nov Birmingham: HMV Library
Fri 11 Nov Oxford O2 Academy
Sat 12 Nov Leeds Constellations
Mon 14 Nov Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
Tue 15 Nov Aberdeen Lemon Tree
Wed 16 Nov Manchester Cathedral – SOLD OUT
Thur 17 Nov Manchester Cathedral – EXTRA DATE ADDED!
Sat 19 Nov Bristol Anson Rooms
Sun 20 Nov Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Mon 21 Nov Southampton University
Wed 23 Nov London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire – SOLD OUT
Thu 24 Nov London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire – EXTRA DATE ADDED!
Fri 25 Nov Cambridge Junction
Sat 26 Nov Brighton Concorde II – SOLD OUT

Over the last few weeks, all the abstract ideas surrounding Bjork‘s Biophilia project have started to become concrete (as much as music and apps can be ‘concrete’, that is). The first two apps – for ‘Crystalline’ and ‘Cosmogony’ – are already here, and both songs are also available for download ahead of Biophilia‘s release on September 27th. Now, we have the first video – it’s a clip for ‘Crystalline’, directed by Michel Gondry, who’s worked with Bjork before on videos for songs like ‘Joga’, ‘Army Of Me’, ‘Human Behaviour’ and ‘Declare Independence’. You can see the clip below, plus an introduction to the Biophilia app by none other than David Attenborough!