Thao!

I've been looking forward to this one for a long time.

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Know Better, Learn Faster.

I loved Thao's last record, We Brave Bee Stings And All, which jumped around like it was up too early on Saturday morning. I wondered what would come next: more of the same? A collection of somber ballads? A funk record?

Lucky for us, it's all of the above. I hate the cliché of a band or artist "growing up", but that's kind of what happened here. Thao Nguyen must have realized, as much as lots of us would love to hear her great breakout track "Bag Of Hammers" on every record, that sticking to that formula would eventually tire everyone out. Her new album Know Better Learn Faster is instead a big step forward, with moments of calm among bouts of emotional confusion. It's very, very good.

The record comes out on Kill Rock Stars on October 13. Pre-order and get excited.

The Radiohead contest is over!

Aw man, look at those guys. Someone must have told a Radiohead joke!

Or maybe they're laughing because you're about to take free music from them, and they didn't even announce it mysteriously a few days ago. Music For Robots has a set of the recent Radiohead reissues - Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail To The Thief - each containing the original album, a CD of radio sessions and live performances, and a DVD of TV performances and music videos. They are called Special Deluxe versions. That's right, they are special and deluxe.

To win all three, answer this question:

What is the name of the artist who designed many Radiohead album covers, including Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail To The Thief? (Note: the artist goes by a pen name; we will accept either the birth name or pen name.)

E-mail your answer (with subject line "Radiohead") to david [at] music.for-robots.com by 4 PM EST today (9/28). I’ll randomly pick one correct answer. It could be yours!

* Update: We have a winner! Congratulations, Peter W! Nice job, everyone. We got tons of responses, and each one was correct. But only Peter was lucky.
The answer: Stanley Donwood, née Dan Rickwood.

Oh La La in Los Angeles

The Shoes - People Movin'.

Jamaica - Cross the Fader.

Last week I had the absolute pleasure to attend an event at the French Consulate in Beverly Hills. We all know what a consulate is, right? Right. So it turns out they're throwing a festival here in Los Angeles to promote some French music and generally have a good time.

So next week at the Henry Fonda in Hollywood they're throwing three nights of bands, each night having a slightly different theme. The first night is more of a pop night, headlined by longtime favorite Sebastian Tellier, with Gonzalez and Cocoon rounding out the night. Cocoon are a great little folk pop duo and should work nicely with Tellier's quirky, sexual jams.

The next night is a classic with Nouvelle Vague and their side project Hollywood Mon Amour (who generally cover songs from '80s movies). Opening up is the boy-girl duo The Do, who I haven't seen yet but apparently are amazing.

Finally, on Saturday night there's going to be three relatively new faces of French Touch, with Brodinsky, the Shoes, and Jamaica. You're going to hear the most noise about Jamaica, since they've worked with Para One and Xavier de Rosnay is producing their record. I've been following the Shoes for a while, and I like their soulful stuff.

Anyway, it should be a fun party, and you can learn all about it here.

The Walls Are Gold

Le Loup - Beach Town.

Driving home last night from Santa Monica, with the slightest of chills in the air and a whole bunch of promise on the horizon, I took a gamble and put in the new record from Le Loup. I know this mp3 has been knocking around for awhile but the full length only came in the mail yesterday. Lucky for me, it was exactly the type of music that my drive needed, at exactly the right time.

Soaking up the current sound of indie music, Le Loup skirts dangerously close to being just another rip off, but boldly create their own dramatic atmosphere. Each song takes its time and throws the usual dynamics of verse / chorus / verse to the wind, taking wild choices and changing with the natural mood and rhythm of the room. The closing track, A Celebration, melds all of this together in one of the most epically joyous and beautiful things I've yet heard this year.

I highly recommend picking up their new album, Family, from our friends over at Hardly Art.

Exclamation point!

TGIF, robots, am I right? It's Miller time. High fives all around.

Darlings - If This Is Love.

God only knows why I started thinking about this (a long commute makes you do the damndest things), but the other day, I began wondering what punctuation marks different bands would represent. The Clash, who questioned authority while making flat-out rock songs, would be "?!". R.E.M., who like emphasis but take a while to get there? "...!". The Beatles, who had a ridiculous amount of confidence even when producing crap like "Revolution 9"? A period. As in, take it or leave it, suckers. (Insert Chik Chik Chik and Interrobang jokes here.)

Darlings are from New York, and they are an exclamation point. These are short, fuzzy little rock songs in the Ramones mold, from a parallel universe in which the Strokes released the Darlings record instead of First Impressions Of Earth. "If This Is Love" is the last track from Darlings' new album Yeah I Know, and it's a good time, pure and simple.

You can get Yeah I Know from the good folks at Insound, who say you get the "CD+Zine" for 10.99. A zine!

Couldn't I?

Parts making up a whole.

tUnE-yArDs - Sunlight.

That's obviously what music is - hell, that's what everything is, but thinking about it at length is freaking me out - but I'm liking these recent bands who have exaggerated the difference between the sum and the parts. I'm thinking of Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors, bands who take their time showing you some parts before they put them all together on a crazy canvas. They've taken a lead from Talking Heads, and I'm loving it.

I really like this song. I first heard it while walking in the sunshine (synergy!) in Cambridge, and I had no idea what to expect. It all came together, of course, and it made for perfect summer walking music.

This song is from the tUnE-yArDs record BiRd-BrAiNs, out yesterday in a limited-edition hand-printed sleeve, and out for reals in November. Both editions are brought to you by our friends at 4AD.

Down the hole

I saw Miniature Tigers back in April, and it was funny.

Miniature Tigers - Tell It To The Volcano.

What was so funny about it? I'm not sure. I knew nothing about them, and they were openers for Bishop Allen, the band I came to see. But then these scruffy, dissheveled guys came out (one of whom had a guitar sporting the Dharma Initiative logo) and proceeded to play indie pop music that was both loud and innocent, chaotic and ordered. I think it was just unexpected.

Miniature Tigers songs, including "Tell It To The Volcano", have an old-fashioned quality to them, with melodies that sound like Isaac Brock on Tin Pan Alley. (Did I just write that? Really?) The melodies snake around chromatically, but they always end up where you expect them to, satisfyingly so. It's really all very charming.

Their album Tell It To The Volcano is really something, and I recommend you get yourself a copy.

No, seriously: Free Energy

That shitty photo over there is one I took of Free Energy guitarist Scott Wells at the Paradise in Boston last night. It doesn't adequately convey the awesomeness.

Mark extolled the virtues of Free Energy back in May, when their track "Dream City" came out. They have a 7" out soon on DFA, which will be followed by a full LP, Stuck On Nothing, tentatively scheduled for January 12. The thing was produced by James "LCD Soundsystem" Murphy himself.

A friend of mine once described Weezer's guitar sound as "triumphant", and that's stuck with me. It perfectly encapsulates a certain kind of joy in rock music, that "I can't believe we get to do this for a living" outlook that helps these people endure endless van drives and dirty motel rooms. Free Energy, who played for a small but receptive crowd last night, have triumphalism in their bloodstream. I can't believe more people don't know about this band, but I have a feeling that is going to change very soon.

Free Energy - Free Energy.

This is music for hard times, designed to convince us otherwise. Free Energy shares some alumni from the late, great band Hockey Night, and there are some common elements - chunky power chords, Malkmus-like vocals, a strong belief in the three-chord structure. There's nothing to dislike here, unless you're not a fan of driving around with open windows on a summer night, or sipping cold beer in the sunshine. When Stuck On Nothing comes out, you will not resist.

In the meantime, see the band on tour throughout August and September.

I'm telling you: joy.

Much more that I can do

This one is a party in a box, a jar of salsa ready for you to enjoy.

Jack Peñate - Tonight's Today.

Could I be overstating the case? Sure, it's possible. And I suppose this isn't the most party-like track on Jack Peñate's new record Everything Is New, out in August on XL. Jack Peñate is a 24-year-old London kid, a clubgoer with a knack for blue-eyed soul. This is what Badly Drawn Boy would be doing if he kept his focus, it's what Of Montreal would be up to if they had mainstream ambitions. It's a fascinating listen, a summer record for those who aren't entirely ready to embrace complete sunshine.

You can buy Everything Is New on August 18 from all the usual places. Highly recommended.

All The Adventures of the World

The Crayon Fields - All The Pleasures of the World.

You might remember Geoff O'Connor from his work with Sly Hats. Or maybe you remember last year's single, Mirrorball, which was in maximum rotation over here. I don't think the Crayon Fields have quite broken out of their home of Australia (and I'm honestly not sure they're trying to), but their quiet, indie lounge is a welcome sound on this contemplative Los Angeles morning.

The new single, which is about to be released as a 7", is a sharp distillation of O'Connor's previous experiments. It can soundtrack the more sophisticated moments of your day, and that's a good thing. The single will be available from our new friends at Chapter Music.