“Oh Yeah” — Chris Brown ft. 2 Chainz and Snoop Dogg

Between getting into bar fights with Drake’s entourage and leaking a new song, Chris Brown has sure had a busy week. The young rap star just released a new single “Oh Yeah” as a promotional song for his upcoming album Fortune. And while fans might already recognize the single since Breezy released a solo version back in April, this new version enlists the help of his rap buddies 2 Chainz and Snoop Dogg. I listened to both versions and got sick of Brown’s autotuned rapping within the first 30 seconds, but this new version has some extra padding in the form of clear rhymes by the two big name rappers. I would advise you to check out both versions and make your judgments accordingly. Fortune hits shelves on July 3.

 ”Liquorice”  — Azaelia Banks

Azaelia Banks is a “Wild West Liquorice Bitch” (her words, not mine) in the video for her new single “Liquorice.” As usual, her song mashes genres together, this time laying her feisty raps over a retro house/ dance track. The video itself plays out all the stereotypes of a typical western – leather chaps, riding horses alone through a valley, cowgirl on cowgirl showdown, hot dogs, …wait what? Okay, so I lied. The video is anything but typical, and with styling by Nicola Formichetti (of Lady Gaga fame) and direction by fashion photographer Rankin, the video is a must-see.

“The Only Place” — Best Coast Read more…

Not too sure how reliable of a source US Magazine is sometimes, but they’re reporting star of The New Girl Zooey Deschanel is calling it quits with hubby Ben Gibbard after only 2 years of marriage. It’s kind of ironic her new show is about a young single woman trying to start over after a pretty nasty break-up.

This comes just one day after another gorgeous brunette, Kim Kardashian announces her split with Kris Humphries. Now, I’m sure Zooey and Ben had a real relationship, you know, one that wasn’t forced upon by executive producers, so the two must be in distraught right now.

Zooey and Ben got married in Seattle of ’09 and are now going through what sources call  a “mutual and amicable” divorce.

It’s a real shame to see real marriages like these cut short. When Zooey and Ben first started dating, everyone expected them to last forever because they’re both quirky, have great taste in music (he leads Death Cab For Cutie, she fronts She and Him) and are great conversationalists, among many other reasons. They were a pretty private couple, so I don’t expect them to hold press conferences or write tell-all books — coughcough Kim Kardashian coughcough — about this heartbreaking ordeal.

Remember, when one marriage fails, a drunken rebound is just around the corner. And we’ll be there to report all about it.

The first single from Death Cab for Cutie’s upcoming ‘Codes and Keys’ album has been released.

‘You Are A Tourist’ is a light-hearted, upbeat sound that scraps the old reliance on acoustic guitar riffs that fans may be used to. Over a Cure-esque bass line and a guitar delay that brings to mind new-wave like Joy Division or New Order, Ben Gibbard warns “If there’s a burning in your heart, don’t be alarmed”.

The harmonies familiarize more with Gibbard’s side-project The Postal Service as he repeats: “This fire grows higher”.

Unlike songs from their 2008 album Narrow Stairs, the melancholy lyrics are backed by a hopeful chord arrangement. It definitely makes for a great morning song.

Over the marching of drums and orgasm of keyboards, Gibbard comforts the listener: “If you feel like a tourist in the city you’re born in, it’s time to go / and if find your destination, there’s so many different places to call home.”

Spin reported that the band will be kicking off a short North American trek May 18 in Toronto, wrapping it up about three weeks later. The Lonely Forest will open most of the tour, and Death Cab will play a few dates with Bright Eyes as well.

For those not able to make it to any of the shows, the Death Cab live experience will be released on a new live DVD: Live at the Mt. Baker Theatre that will be released on the same day as their new album. It will showcase performances from two shows that the band played in Bellingham, Washington back in April 2009. And yes, it was their old stomping grounds.

Check out ‘You Are a Tourist’ here. You can hear the rest of the album when ‘Codes & Keys’ is released May 31st.

The tracklisting for ‘Codes and Key’s is:

‘Home Is A Fire’
‘Codes And Keys’
‘Some Boys’
‘Doors Unlocked And Open’
‘You Are A Tourist’
‘Unobstructed Views’
‘Monday Morning’
‘Portable Television’
‘Underneath The Sycamore’
‘St Peter’s Cathedral’
‘Stay Young, Go Dancing’

Canadian recording artist Feist may just be a workaholic.

Though her Grammy-nominated album “The Reminder” hit shelves just seven months ago, she’s already making day trips back to the studio when she has the time. “[My band and I] thought, day off? Let’s just do something fun,” she told Billboard.com. “Bowling? A hike? Instead, we rented a studio. I think that’s how we’re going to start using our time off.”

Other than just playing around with her musician pals, she also laid down a track for her upcoming collaboration with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie.

Feist also said she’s been inspired lately, writing new songs, but fans shouldn’t expect to hear them too soon. “I’m tiptoeing into some new terrain. There’s no necessity and no timeline. I’m not quite at the point where I think I should be thinking about another record. These songs, there’s nothing forcing them to come, yet here’s some ideas. It’s really a ways away though.”

Indie collaborators Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard are slowly putting together the pieces for their second album as The Postal Service.

“We’re crawling right now, and whether that crawl turns into a walk remains to be seen,” Gibbard, who also fronts Death Cab for Cutie, told MTV. “But we’ll know more towards the end of the year. I’ve just been touring so much and trying to find time to make it happen and make our schedules line up.”

The two recorded their debut album, 2003′s “Give Up,” by sending tracks back and forth through the mail, as Gibbard is based in Seattle and Tamborello lives in Los Angeles. The two are keeping with a modernized version of that long-distrance relationship for the new album.

“[Since] this time we know how to do YouSendIt.com, doing stuff online is a lot easier now. So we probably won’t be using the actual mail,” Tamborello told Pitchfork.

Only two songs have been recorded for the album so far, but Gibbard says that will change once the current Death Cab tour winds down.

“We’re going to do one more lap around the country and then go home and work on music,” he said. “At the end of the year is when this is all going to wrap up, and we can all get back to work.”