I'm not sure that 'song of the WEEK' does this justice. This could be a lifetime musical highlight for me.

Matt performed this track live on Triple J radio yesterday and it overloaded the text line of the international radio station with people saying things like 'I've had to pull over on the side of the road because I started crying', 'it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard', 'this song has restored my faith in music'. 

I don't think for one minute that any of those comments are simple hyperbole. I too was driving when Matt played this, and the butterflies it gave me were akin to those I only get when I hear something truly special. For me personally, it was a reminder that the purpose of listening to new music is to find an artist like this.

What really gave this track the edge was the timid nature of Matt recounting the heartbreaking story that inspired the song. Matt admits that he doesn't make a habit of discussing the orgins of this track (as becomes apparent in the video below) as he doesn't feel that it's right to capitalise on an event which has upset him so much. However he did open up to breakfast show hosts Tom & Alex (the clip of which you can listen to below) claiming that the song is about a fight between him and his closest friend, and how much he regrets everything that he did, and what's worse - this argument remains unresolved and his friend probably has no idea that this song is for him. And so the track is aptly titled 'Brother'... 

I think fans of artists such as 'Mumford & Sons' or 'Black Keys' will fall in love with Matt. Fans of Mumford & Sons especially so because Ben Lovett from that band, who runs the UK indie label 'Communion', signed Matt whilst he was based in London working in coffee shops. The track also has that crescendo finish which many people will associate with Mumford's biggest hits.

You'll get much more of a feel for what this track is about by playing this short clip from Triple J radio;

And without further ado I provide you with the track which Triple J have podcasted, for your listening pleasure;

And if you fancy listening to Matt's cover of the Black Keys track 'Lonely Boy' you can get it here;

And if you'd like to find out more about Matt, download some of his tracks for free and purchase his EP 'into the flame' which has now gone gold in Australia, visit his site here.  

And just for luck, here's an audio clip of the track 'Brothers' with full instrumentation which you can expect on the EP... Enjoy this. Tree Boy xoxoxox

We're taking the liberty of giving you all something to unwind with. Relax & enjoy. Tree Boy xoxoxoxo

Real Estate - It's Real

Hailing from New Jersey, this 5-piece were picked up a few years back by Pitchfork media. This track is fit-for-all, it's a must-download! Fans of Fleet Foxes or Local Natives ought to like this especially.

Is it wrong to put Alex Winston tracks up time and time again so we can re-use this same picture? I don't think so, and I'm sure you'll agree after downloading this lovely number...

Mansions on the Moon - Leaves Fall

I love this. You might not want to play this if you're already upset, but it's a perfect track to lament with, reminisce to, maybe even cheer you up, who knows - But I'm sure you'll find a use for this, and use it over and over again. Great track.

The Decemberists - January Hymn

From one of the defining albums of 2011 'the King is Dead', the Decemberists deliver a track here which is perfect for this time of year in every sense. You may detect hints of an old acoustic Greenday track with this, and it may just provide that little bit of escapism you need as you settle into to 2012.   

Miike Snow - Devil's Work

Miike Snow are a team fave here at ikas.com, we cannot wait for their second album 'Happy to You!!!' to drop this March 26 on the guys own record label INGRID founded with fellow Swedes Lykke Li, Dungen & Peter Bjorn and John. This track is a radio rip that should feature on the LP but the band are keeping cards close to their chest stating that 'there will be no information on track listings, singles, or anything involving the Devil's Work'. If the tracks are half as good as this, and any of the tracks on the guys debut self-titled EP, we will be loving it!

In case you've had a tough weekend, we've got a rehab post for you... a few tracks to chill out with, have a snooze to, reflect with; enjoy; 

I Aeronaut - Backyard of Butterflies

A dreamy Royksopp-esque number from the very shy 'I, aeronaut'. He's released his first full-length this year and you can listen to the entire album  'of waves and wings' right here. Here's a few words from his bandcamp page;

"as a daydreamer, and rather shy boy, this is the only form of communication I can bare to express. It would mean the world to me if anyone would be so kind as to take a listen. I'd appreciate it more than anything. Thank you."

Oliver Tank - Last Night I heard everything in Slow Motion

As always the 'Musigh' blog comes up trumps with all things chilled, this track was a great spot. Oliver is one of Australia's own and you can check out and download a handful of his tracks right here at the Triple J unearthed website. As Triple J point out, fans of James Blake are sure to take to this.    

LIPS Songs - Everything to me

LIPS is a New Zealander now living in New York, this one has been gracing my sleep playlist for a few weeks now. If you like what you hear, check out this young lady's Soundcloud.

Cosomonaut Greckho - Nothing 2 (arioso)

I'm not shy to admit my ignorance of, nor penchant for classical music. It just takes someone like Cosmonaut to get classical music it in the playlist! What might come as more of a shock is that Cosmonaut is a 20 year old Russian based in Saratov producing music like this after rising to fame with remixes for the likes of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Shinichi Osawa. A fitting end to this post, I defy you not to be chilled out after listening to these five tracks in a row... Don't forget; 'right click' on download file --> 'save as' --> relax! Tree Boy xoxoxoxoxo   

There are no words poignant enough to kick this off again after such a break, but just know that I'm writing this with the cheekiest of grins on my face! It's good to be back...

As most of you reading this will know, I disappear during exams. And because of that the site went down and a lot of the vizzles excellent work got caught up in cyber space - but do check out his posts below; as always, a top read.

Enough of the excuses from me... I'm gathering up tracks and you can expect nothing but the best of those right here, for a long time to come. Firstly, I thought I might fill you in on some of the music that accompanied me through the last few months. As you can imagine - with nothing new being downloaded, the play counts got very high, and none higher than on this one-hour mix from Jamie XX.

You might remember previous 'songs of the week' we've featured from Jamie including his re-imagining's of Florence and the Machine's 'You got the love' and Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep'. The Florence classic makes an appearance towards the end of this mix with a clever little accapella thrown in.

And that track's certainly not the highlight of the mix... and that's saying something. In what I would call the best opening track I know of; Jamie XX has dug out an unreleased recording from none other than our favourite band 'the Streets', it's a monster track from back in the day's of 'Has it Come to This' and embodies that side of Mike Skinner that we always knew was there but heard very little about. The self-doubt, the vulnerability, it churns your stomach to hear what Mike's saying but in a way that keeps you reaching for rewind. It blew me away. Like I say, we all know that side of Mike was there but hearing him say it so early in his career is a something I wasn't prepared for. And ironically, Skinner commented years ago that he didn't release the track because it wasn't worth wasting time releasing it - he thinks it's rubbish, I love it - you'll have to be the judge!

And from this the mix moves into remixes of Jamie's fraternity 'the XX'; the track 'Crystallised' gets an old skool garage makeover and then we drift into downtempo, techno and dubstep of the more mellow variety. Stay strong, it almost lost me at first as well; but the thing I kept reminding myself of is that Jamie, aged little over 20, selects tracks and produces originals and remixes with a maturity that's just unparalleled at the minute. Also worth remembering is that Jamie hails from the same school that gave us Hot Chip, Four Tet, and Burial - all renowned for producing music  very similar to that in this tracklist.

Don't expect to fall for this from the moment you press play, but do prepare yourself for a relationship with this mix. You will fall in love and grow old together. Lovely to be back! Tree Boy xoxoxoxo

You can download the full mix by clicking here. Sorry you can't download straight from iknowasong.com as per usual; the file size is 1mb too big! I won't let it happen again I promise. It's worth following the download instructions at megaupload.com for this. And just in case you forgot how good Jamie XX was, this track has over 5 million hits on youtube;

Yes that's right, quite possibly my favourite band release details of their sophomore album, 'Portamento' dropping in the UK September 12th!  

I caught these guys a couple of months ago and they played a few tracks from the upcoming album. Being the conscientious guy I am I wrote a short review for you all, being the idiot I am I broke the device I wrote this all down on and have never recovered my notes - needless to say, the review was glowing. And this upcoming track in particular, 'money', blew the place up and is why I will be queueing for the first copy of 'Portamento'; listen by clicking here.

The tracklist will be as follows;

1. Book Of Revelation
2. Days
3. What You Were
4. Money
5. Hard To Love
6. I Don’t Know How To Love
7. Searching For Heaven
8. Please Don’t Leave
9. If He Likes It Let Him Do It
10. I Need A Doctor
11. In The Cold
12. How It Ended

I cannot wait! Remember - September 12th! Ooh, and don't forget - lead singer Jonathan Pierce is one of the best dancers to grace the Earth... Check them out for some first album nostalgia below;

Patrick Stump is best-known as the main creative force behind ’00s pop-punk standard-bearers Fall Out Boy, but the R&B and hip-hop influences that have long been part of his music come to the foreground on his upcoming album, Soul Punk. “This City” is the record’s first single, and Stump tells the A.V. Club that the song's poppy slickness is representative of the album. “I'm kind of pop but a little left of center,” Stump said. “It sounds kind of like it makes sense on the radio but at the same time doesn't at all. It's very me.”

“This City” prominently features fellow Chicagoan Lupe Fiasco, and Stump said his relationship with the rapper goes back several years. “Before Food & Liquor came out he and I were talking about working on something together. I ended up producing the song ‘Little Weapon,’ for his The Cool record,” he said. “I actually wrote the hook for ‘This City’ with him in mind before I decided to use it for Soul Punk, so when the label asked me if I'd be interested in doing a remix with an MC he was the only real way I'd say yes.”

Check out the premiere of Patrick Stump’s “This City”:

I am sick with excitement. For many this will be the biggest album release of the year, from one of the best live acts there is, from one of the biggest and best bands to emerge in years.  

Teaming up with producer Paul Epworth (whose produced the likes of Bloc Party, Florence & the Machine and Plan B) the album 'Pala', is due to drop in the UK on 16th May. Many of us are already going mental for the single 'live those days tonight'... So how about we have a listen to a bit more??! 

How? Well... The iknowasong.com team have sorted it - we have a stream, and that stream is 'Pala', an absolute schooling in indie-dance by Friendly Fires. I'm underselling this completely but seriously this is BIG news!

These aren't full quality samples because as we're all aware the album isn't released yet - but if you're feeling this you'll LOVE the album in its highest quality so head to HMV, itunes, amazon, etc on May 16th and buy it - OR just to make things easier, you can click here and buy it from the Band's website!
 
And you MUST head to the website where you can find amongst other things, Friendly Fires' upcoming tour dates... and I assure you, seeing Friendly Fires live is a life changer! I have to go now, I need to hear this again and again. Press Play & Enjoy. Tree Boy xoxoxox

Live those Days Tonight

Pull Me Back to Earth (one of my personal highlights!)

AND... If we get some Friendly Fire love for these tracks, you'll get to hear the remainder of the album which includes the mammouth tracks; 'Running Away', 'Show me Lights' & 'True Love'. I can't believe they've followed up such an amazing debut album with something this good! 

I can put up feature after feature for you but we're a close knit band of people and if I know any of you at all I know you want to hear what's doing the rounds for iknowasong.com at the minute. I might have some bad news for you though...

This week I've gone a bit weird, I'm in a transition. I'm getting all deep, stripping back to the bare essentials as it were, finding pleasure in the simple things, no frills music. These tracks have overtaken my headphones, I know they won't be everyone's (if anyone's) cup of tea but if you're a fan of the likes of massive attack, high contrast, hot chip, mount kimbie etc. then you may get on with at least one of these tracks... download + listen = enjoy.

Alunageorge - Analyser

Simple, effective, addictive. The Guardian liken these guys to Sweet Female attitude and other publications are calling alunageorge the future of pop. I could live with that - get more free MP3's from their website.

Aether - Orfeu Negro

Aether are my band of the hour, a Boston outfit remixing everyone from Lykke Li to James Brown. A sombre ed banger record feel to this.

Aether - makeshift sanctuary

This should be the American Beauty soundtrack. Massive attack fans will enjoy this lots.

Cassius - I <3 u so (Zdar's skreamix)

Zdar touching up Skream's old skool drum n bass take on the house hero cassius' new track. This is pure Moby to start off with then we get ravey. love it.

First Rate People - Funny Games

I haven't been lucky with the indie scene lately, not a lot of gems surfacing, but this track gives me hope that they are out there. This is more indie electronica but I think we can all appreciate the catchiness of these lyrics.

Gavintoo - Over the Rainbow (remix) 

Yes. As in Wizard of Oz. I don't know what you'd call this - 'classical house' maybe? This is the track I'm waking up to every day lately, as soon as those all to familiar piano keys drop you'll all be doing your Dorothy impressions I guarantee...

Clare Maguire - The Last Dance (Chase and Status Remix)

This is huge news, a chase and status track that isn't shit. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Maybe they've had enough of copying pendulum so now they're copying magnetic man instead. Clever work Chase & Status, no one will ever notice. Love you loads, mashed. Tree Boy xoxox

If you're anything like me (honest & truthful) you treated the XX with caution when they first wandered on to your radar. A lot of hype for something that seemed very simple and same-y you may recall thinking. Indeed, if this is one of your first few encounters with the XX's beat maestro then you might feel the same, but if you keep dropping this into your playlists, pretty soon you'll struggle to listen to anything else. 

If you really find yourself struggling, just close your eyes and think of him as Mark Ronson in reverse. He takes pop songs, changes their genre, but ends up making them better. I jest but the concept still stands, he's taking a popular track and challenging people with not oft-heard genres, there's not another human being making music of this quaity and type at the moment.  Let me know what you think of the track by clicking 'comment' or 'like', let me know what your song of the week is as well. Don't be a stranger.  Tree Boy xoxox

P.S. If you want to find out more about Jamie XX check out my post a few weeks back featuring his Eliza Doolittle remix. If you haven't heard it you will lurve it!