1
Violet Hill by Coldplay, from the forthcoming Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (single available at iTunes)
To view this video you need to upgrade your Flash Player
Download
Flash Player from the Adobe website.
With 40 seconds of immaterial ambient noise leading into a plodding piano and blandly jagged guitar riff, this soppy seventies revisit comes on like a rush of Supertramp to the head. Until yesterday it was free to download, and worth every penny to do so.
SK Final by Ndidi Onukwulu, from the forthcoming Contradictor (Jericho Beach, streaming at www.myspace.com/ndidionukwulu)
To view this video you need to upgrade your Flash Player
Download
Flash Player from the Adobe website.
"I'm not going to hurt over you again." On a classy, sassy, brassy ballroom dance number, Canada's soon-to-break bluesy singing star puts her foot down, and then shakes it up a bit.
Lucky Man by Sun Kil Moon, from April (Caldo Verde)
To view this video you need to upgrade your Flash Player
Download
Flash Player from the Adobe website.
Against a trickling acoustic guitar, Mark Kezelek poetically recounts his lost young mornings — life's hazy signposts. Fire up the Cerwin Vegas: This is soft music meant to be heard loud.
Round the Hairpin by the Long Blondes, from Couples (Rough Trade)
To view this video you need to upgrade your Flash Player
Download
Flash Player from the Adobe website.
Buzzy, abruptly drummed art-rock. Whispery she-vocals and eerie synths will make your hair — long, blond or otherwise — stand on end.
In Pictures:
