In the mood for some electro-pop? Check out the latest single from Canadian trio, Dragonette. Let It Go is posted below for your perusal. The single comes out digitally April 3. You can buy it and own it then. Yes, really, you can BUY music!

The single package will have various remixes which will, no doubt, be awesome. There will also be live shows, including stops at Coachella and the Juno Awards.

Rachel Platten is heading out on a 22 date tour beginning in May (one date is in April but let’s say that isn’t part of the tour….it just seems untidily before the rest of the dates). Platten has been out on tour this year opening for Matt Nathanson and Andy Grammer. If you caught any of those shows you now have a chance to catch her as a headliner.

Platten is a singer-songwriter whose work calls to mind everyone from Regina Spektor to Carol King. You will hear some straight forward pop songs from Platten but there are a lot of  “curveballs” in her work. Get out to see her if you get the chance. Dates below.

Tour
4/6 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues (w/Matt Nathanson)
5/11 - San Diego, CA - Anthology
5/12 - Los Angeles, CA - Hotel Cafe
5/13 - Bakersfield, CA - B-Ryders
5/16 - Fresno, CA - Fulton 55
5/18 - San Francisco, CA - Hotel Utah
5/19 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
5/21 - Seattle, WA - The Triple Door
5/23 - Boise, ID - The Venue
5/24 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby
5/25 - Denver, CO - Soiled Dove
5/26 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
5/27 - Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
5/29 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
5/31 - Madison, WI - Redamte Coffee House
6/1 - Evanston, IL - SPACE
6/2 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection - Lounge
6/3 - Cincinnati, OH - 20th Century Theater
6/6 - Louisville, KY - Headliners
6/7 - Columbus, OH - The Basement
6/8 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern
6/9 - Philadelphia, PA - The Fire
6/10 - Washington DC – Jammin’ Java

Silversun Pickups’ Neck of the Woods comes out May 8. The band’s latest effort is produced by Jacknife Lee who as worked with REM, U2, Weezer and Snow Patrol. Check out the first single, Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings), below.

You can also order the record on the Silversun Pickup website, www.silversunpickups.com.

They will also be on Jimmy Kimmel Live on the release date. Look for the band on tour this year and next.

Read Wade Millward’s interview with Keyboartist Joe Lester (from a year or so ago) HERE.

Nick Teehan released his debut EP, Sidewalk Friend, in 2010. He is about to follow that up with a full length, There is Not a Snake. The LP comes out April 20, 2012.  In my experience there usually IS a snake, however. Not to be contradictory.

Teehan says his influences range from Irving Berling to Rufus Wainright.

Teehan is also playing a show at Transac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto to debut the record on its release date. Show starts at 8 p.m. and the tickets cost $12.

If you are in the are make a point to check out the show.

Tired of the “usual suspect” Festivals? How about a new one, with a new angle? The H2O Music Festival takes place in Dallas, June 9th in the Cotton Bowl (there will be another event elsewhere latter in the summer too apparently). The event is bilingual, bicultural and features established and emerging artists. There will, as you might expect, be vendors, food, a family section, a gaming section and more

The line-up includes Snoop Dog, Juanes, Weezer, Paulina Rubio, Damian Marley, Gym Class Heroes and many more.

There will also be a free showcase of local artists in the early afternoon in the plaza of the Cotton Bowl.

Tickets are on sale now at H2OMusicFestival.com.

Fixers, out of Oxford in the U.K., will be releasing their first EP in the USA, Pop Meat/Your Corruptor on April 24, 2012. The group play a sort of psychedelic pop that uses harmonies and surf samples. The track, Another Lost Apache, is below for your perusal.

I started to DESCRIBE it. Why? You can just listen.

The band will also be playing some shows in the USA in April in NYC. Expect to hear more from the band in 2012.

Show

4/17 – Brooklyn, NY – Cameo Gallery
4/19 – New York, NY – Pianos
 

MGK have a new video out. Half Naed & Almost Famous is the title track of the artist’s digital EP. It came out on March 27. Bear with the video. There is a little shameless self promotion at the beginning.

The video was shot at SXSW. MGK is touring with Tech N9NE at the moment and you can check out dates at www.MGKLaceUp.com.

DZ Deathrays have a new record, their first full-length, on the way. Bloodstreams comes out May 8, 2012 in the USA. Check out the album video trailer below. They performed shows earlier in the year in the USA, including at SXSW and in Los Angeles. They will also be touring in the UK with Velociraptor (sorry UK folks…I wasn’t sent those dates).

Show dates are below. Should be an interesting tour, get out to see the Aussie duo if you can.

The Hudson Branch have released Periodic Table Of Elegance as a free mp3. You can listen and download below.

The track is off the soon to be released full length, World Kid, out April 24. The music was recorded with John McEntire (Broken Social Scene Tortoise) and produced by Neil Strauch (Iron & Wine, Andrew Bird)

The band is playing a show in their home, Chicago, opening for White Rabbits and will be setting up a record release show soon.

House of Wolves is the musical name of Rey Villalobos, a native of the City of Angels. He grew up learning classical piano and says his earliest and most important is Chopin. That is more comforting that if it were Billy Joel, in case you were wondering (both musically and with regard to his driving record).

Fold In The Wind is House of Wolves debut and you can hear a track, Follow Me, below. The band (for there is indeed a band) live in both California and Oregon and have been touring in the USA and Europe for the past several years.