Bloc Party Gets Intimate

So after releasing their attention-grabbing full length Silent Alarm over three years ago and more recently A Weekend in the City early last year, the British quartet Bloc Party led by vocalist Kele Okereke have finally released their follow-up album Intimacy this morning through their Web site.

At first listen, Intimacy comes off as being more "noisy" than their previous offerings, but still retains all the reasons that they blew up in the first place in 2005 after releasing Silent Alarm. Their songs are ridiculously catchy and Okereke's vocals are solid through the entire album. There aren't as melodic tracks on this album, but Bloc Party didn't stray off their formula enough to scare of their fanbase, but some might not get into Intimacy as much as they did AWitC.

Tracks like "Mercury" and "Trojan Horse" come off as almost pure electronic songs that sound more like Crystal Castles than a band like Arcade Fire. Through two and a half listens, I feel Bloc Party might have changed their style, but talent is talent and they still sound amazing.

Stereogum/RAC Remix Album Available for Download

Just stumbled upon this one and it has some goodies. I would go into more details about which tracks I like the most, but my Internet it currently hating on streaming music and the download is just wrapping up now.

RAC, or Remix Artist Collective, is a "artist agency strictly devoted to remixing." Simple enough. What you need to know is that they've done some killer remixes (I recommend Ra Ra Riot's "Manner To Act" for starters, but I'm biased towards them) and recently teamed up with Stereogum to put together RAC Vol. 1.

I'd go on, but really you can just start streaming below. If you like it, head on over to the Stereogum post and check out some more details, like the liner notes, torrent and individual track downloads. We'll link to the zip file below. Neat artwork too.



Download:
Stereogum Presents... RAC Vol. 1

Oh, and if you like this stuff, definitely check out more of RAC's remixes on their site (Tegan and Sara's "Back In Your Head," anyone?) And Stereogum's Memorial Day mixtape.

My New Favorite Band?

Pin Me Down is Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack and Milena Mepris. This band already wins because it has Lissack in it, but one listen will make you fall in love with Mepris too. Her voice is great and the two songs they have streaming on their MySpace will remind you if female vocals were put over Bloc Party b-sides. Not to say these tracks are only b-side worthy - just an analogy people. A bit more pop involved though, in case you're wondering.

Pitchfork reported that they are creating the tunes mostly via e-mail, which may remind you of another band. Either way, let's hope this continues and we can get a full-length later this year or early next.

If you cannot wait that long their song "Cryptic" will be on a Kitsune compilation. I actually looked at his February 4 release not too long ago, but didn't pay any attention to Pin Me Down. Other notable artists on the compilation are M.I.A., Fischerspooner and The Teenagers.

Bloc Party on Conan Tonight

Bloc Party will be performing a new song called "Flux" tonight on Conan O'Brien, which airs at 12:30 a.m. EST. The song will be released as a single on November 12 and it can be pre-ordered here. No news yet on if it is part of a full-length or EP down the line.

The band's last release, A Weekend in the City, came out in February of this year. Four songs from that album are currently available on their MySpace. It was one of the better releases of this year, so if you haven't heard it yet I would give those songs a listen and pick up the album when you get a chance.

Here's hoping "Flux" is awesome.

Edit: It is awesome. Here's proof--Bloc Party at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 3.