Taylor Swift — Shake It Off

I’m as surprised as you are to see a Taylor Swift video here on the Bacon Review. A good friend of mine cajoled me into watching this new video from Taylor yesterday, and, by the magic of pop music, the song and video were still on my mind this morning.

“Shake It Off” is the first single from Swift’s new album, 1989, which comes out October 27. There’s nothing particularly spectacular about this song or this video. It’s perfectly simple and simply perfect; watch and you’ll agree. And then you’ll watch again.

Happy Friday, ya’ll.

Jungle — Time

This week has been less than stellar, and this video from English modern electronic soul band Jungle was perfect for lifting me out of the funk. I tried to figure out who the dancers in the video are, to no avail. They’re fun, regardless.

Jungle is also the name of the band’s debut album, and it was released last month. I’m only now starting to listen to it, but it’s making me bounce in my seat, so that’s something, espicially today of all days.

Jamie T — Don’t You Find

I was unfamiliar with Jamie T, an English singer/songwriter, until seeing this video last week. And I still know very little about him. This infectious song, “Don’t You Find,” is from his forthcoming third album, Carry On The Grudge, which is out October 6.

The video and song above have seeped into my subconscious. I hear this song, even though it’s not actively playing in my ears, and the woman’s heroin-chic downtrodden dancing is eerily effective. The song itself feels formulaic enough that I might just hate it in six months. But for now, I’m going to keep hitting play. Over and over and over and over again.

Spoon — Knock Knock Knock (live)

The new album from Spoon is going to be on every end-of-year top 10 list. The band’s eighth full-length in the last 18 years, it’s one of their best. “Knock Knock Knock,” shown above, is my favorite song from the album. Watch as they perform the song in a fantastic set live at the KEXP studios from last week.

Paolo Nutini — Iron Sky

This new video, by Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini is fantastic. The song feels very similar to what I love about DJ Shadow, or U.N.K.L.E. It blends sampled storytelling, powerful horns, piano, drums, and Nutini’s voice, raspy and intense. The drug-addicted visuals push it all over the top, a masterpiece of the artform.

“Iron Sky” is from Nutini’s third full-length, Caustic Love, which came out back in April. I haven’t yet heard it, but now I want to do nothing else until I’ve heard every minute of it.

FKA Twigs — Two Weeks

So I finally got around to listening to what a few of you have been yelling about in my general direction these past few weeks, and all I can say is “WOW.” FKA Twigs, the chosen moniker of Tahliah Barnett, at first blush appears to be exactly where trip hop should be headed.

She has two EPs released currently, aptly titled EP1 and EP2, and her debut album, LP1, will take the world by storm on August 12. For now, check out the stuff she’s released to date and watch the above video. Get prepared. You’re going to need it.

The New Pornographers — War on the East Coast

A super-group built over time. That is what The New Porngraphers are. Even though the Pornos formed after each of the band’s most prominent members (Neko Case, Dan Bejar, and de facto band leader AC Newman) had released records under solo or alternative bands, their first joint album, 2000’s Mass Romantic, has been recognized as one of the most influential indie-rock albums of the past two decades.

Fun fact about the amazing video above: even though AC is lip syncing throughout, it’s actually Dan’s voice we hear singing. I am not as drawn to the songs in the New Pornographers’ repertoir that don’t feature Neko’s powerful vocals, but this song, “War on the East Coast,” is an instant classic.

Bejar, with his band Destroyer, has made quite a name for himself. And Neko’s last solo record was my fifth favorite album last year. But when those two combine to sing and play Newman’s lyrics and power chords, magic happens. Brill Bruisers, the supergroup’s sixth record, comes out August 26th. I will be the first in line to pick it up.

Jenny Lewis — Just One of the Guys

And now for some more fun. Jenny Lewis has been doing her own thing for quite a while (since Rilo Kiley broke up for good in 2011, with their last recorded work coming out all the way back in 2007). Lewis’s third solo album, The Voyager, comes out July 29, 2014. The video above, for the first song released from the album, “Just One of the Guys,” is a fantastic send-up of gender and parenthood roles in the music business and beyond.

Helping Lewis convey this fact are Anne Hathaway, Kristen Stewart, Brie Larson and drummer Tennessee Thomas, sometimes dressed in drag. Listen to the words of this one. Joking nature aside, there are some very poignant things being said within. I can’t wait for more.

Weird Al Yankovic — Word Crimes

I’ll make this short, because everybody has already heard about this elsewhere. “Weird Al” Yankovic is back, and he’s as good as he ever was at what he does. Before OK Go, there was Weird Al, master of the viral. The 2014 version of Weird Al is no different. Beginning yesterday, and running for the next eight days, Al is releasing a new music video from his 14th album, Mandatory Fun, which came out today.

Yesterday’s video was for a parody of Pharrell Williams’s “Happy,” titled “Tacky,” and features many very funny comedians (Kristen Schaal, Jack Black, Margaret Cho and others) lip syncing and dancing to the wonderfully silly song. The video above, for a parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” is great for someone like me, with a real affinity for all things grammarian. I’m looking forward to seeing what videos come out over the next 6 days. These first two have been a real joy to watch.

Vinyl Jacket — Safari

Sometimes an encounter with a band feels entirely random. Take Vinyl Jacket, for instance. I was quietly enjoying the new We Were Promised Jetpacks single “Safety In Numbers,” and, as SoundCloud does, it continues unabated into something else once the song you’re listening to ends. Thank you, SoundCloud, for pointing me to Vinyl Jacket. The song above, “Safari,” is about as catchy a tune as you can ask for.

Sounding seemingly like a mix of Yeasayer and Vampire Weekend, Vinyl Jacket is four guys from small town England playing songs that sound as if they originate from a sunny equatorial country. They only have seven songs released to date (three recorded in 2013 and released in the UK in April of this year, and four more released as two separate singles, also in the UK, from 2011). No word on when a full-length album will come out, or if they’ll be properly distributed here in the states, but I’m clamoring for more.

I hope they can expand their sound to cover more ground, but I’m dubious that’s possible. Perhaps they’re only one-hit-wonder material. Fingers crossed that that’s not the case.

20syl — Kodama

Until this morning, I knew nothing of 20syl. It’s now an hour into the day, and I still know very little about him. But I’ve watched the above video three times, and it’s continuing to play in the background as I type this.

I’m trying to put the pieces together. It appears that 20syl is a French DJ/producer (based on his Facebook posts being in French. Maybe he’s Canadian.) According to the notes on the video, he has an EP, Motifs, available digitally for download. And based on this song and video, I’m definitely going to check it out.

Happy Summer, y’all.

Lykke Li — Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone

This morning, as I listened to the sounds of KEXP quietly emanating from my alarm clock, the above song came on, completely enveloping me. It may have been my sleep deprived state (having a 6 year old climb into your bed at 4:30am and toss and turn for the next 1.5 hours can do that), but I now can’t shake the song: the viscosity of utter sadness that is emoted by Lykke Li’s voice; the raw sound of depression and pain, personified.

Li, from Sweden, has been building a fierce following since 2008. “Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone” is from her stellar third album, I Never Learn, which came out May 2 of this year. She comes to the Paramount on September 17, 2014. Bring tissues.

OK Go — The Writing’s on the Wall

New OK Go video. The viral masters have done it again. I want to have the kind of fun they seem to have, all the time.

Spoon — Rent I Pay

Exciting news, kids. Spoon, those indie-rock darlings from Austin, Texas, have a new album coming out, titled They Want My Soul. This will be their eighth full-length album, and their first since 2010’s Transference.

The first single is above. Classic Spoon, and I hope the rest of the album is this raw. The overproduction of their last couple albums have rubbed me wrong.

FIDLAR — Cocaine

NSFW — this video is probably the most NSFW video I’ve posted on here. The song isn’t perfect, by LA punk band FIDLAR, whose debut album came out last year. But the video features one of my favorites, Nick Offerman (of Offerman’s Workshop), in a complete show of vulgarity.

And I loved it.

DJ Snake & Lil Jon — Turn Down for What

I’d hoped this video / meme would go away quietly, but it just keeps spreading. So I’m posting it out of necessity more than anything else. That said, it’s a super fun and slightly NSFW accompaniment for a rather obnoxious song by DJ Snake (a producer from France) and Lil Jon (a rapper and many other things, with surprising longevity).

Turns out, that’s a perfect combination.

Plaid — Wallet

It’s been a long time since I’ve actively listened to Plaid, but whenever I stumble upon them I end up asking myself why that is. Finding this video is no different. The band makes beautiful electronic rhythms that would enliven almost anything you could be doing with your day. The song/video above, for their song “Wallet,” is off of the band’s tenth release, which came out May 19.

Flume and Chet Faker — Drop the Game

Here’s an awesome collaboration between two people I wasn’t familiar with until I saw this video. Australians Flume (electronic producer, DJ, and apparent master of the remix — check out this one; Lorde has never sounded so good) and Chet Faker (electronic musician cut in the James Blake mold) have created a song that makes you wish you could move like the dancer in the video above. At a minimum, your head is bobbing up and down slowly while listening to the song in the background as you read this.

The song is from a collaborative 3-song EP that came out last year from the two musicians, called Lockjaw. This isn’t the first time they’ve worked together; Faker appeared on Flume’s 2012 self-titled debut album. Faker’s first full-length album, Built on Glass, came out in April of this year. If you like slower trip-hop grooves, or what might be more appropriately termed “post-dubstep” (groan), then you’ll love it.

This song has been in constant rotation in my ears now for nearly 24 hours straight. Thanks to @AMatthiesen for pointing me in this direction.

The Knife — Without You My Life Would Be Boring (Shaken-Up Version)

Here’s a bit of good news: On June 20 The Knife, Sweden’s craziest brother/sister duo, are releasing an album full of remixes from 2013’s Shaking the Habitual, called Shaken-Up Versions. Habitual was #29 on last year’s Bacon Calendar. I only liked that album so-so, which is why it was at #29. But if the above video is any indication of what to expect on the remix album, then I’m excited.

Kishi Bashi — Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!

Production value is everything when it comes to Kishi Bashi. And this video demonstrates this beautifully. His new album, Lighght (pronounced “Light,” apparently), comes out May 13, and he’ll be playing the Showbox a week later, on May 20. His live show is every bit as lush as his recorded work, and he is the master of the digital sequencer. It’s impossible to describe how amazing it is to watch someone sing multiple harmonies with themself on stage, live. Go, and marvel at the results.