VIDEOS

Impressionistic lovers, Caribbean parakeets, epic panoramas of a blindingly beautiful sunset, sublimely orchestrated pop music. Yep, it’s new work from Jónsi Birgisson, the ever-precious songbird who fronts Sigur Rós. He is striking out on his own for the first time, and “Go Do” is a track from his solo record, Go (XL), which was produced by Birgisson, his partner Alex Somers and Peter Katis (National, Interpol). The imagery of birds taking flight matches the song’s ceremonious aesthetic perfectly, as Nico Muhly’s orchestration lifts Birgisson’s ebullient vocal melody above scattered percussive and rhythmic flourishes with an elegance few could pull off. Go arrives April 6, the same night Jónsi kicks off his solo tour in Vancouver.

Wanna see the members of Frightened Rabbit in their underwear? Then check out this alternate video for “Nothing Like You,” off the band’s third album Winter Of Mixed Drinks (Fat Cat), out tomorrow. The Scottish quintet spends a lot of time in its skivvies in this kooky low-budget film, which ends in some sort of basement dance party. Frightened Rabbit has a bunch of dates across Europe and North America this spring. Make sure you bring your “tumor” shirt!

RX Bandits‘ video for “Hope Is A Butterfly, No Net Its Captor,” off 2009 release Mandala (Sargent House), is the closest thing to the Beastie Boys’ classic “Sabotage” except for the grocery-bag masks and lack of handlebar mustaches. Witness the chaos and help the Bandits figure out their silly color-coded mystery while mugging old ladies and young children with fake weapons.

Iceland’s Seabear decided to make its new video for “I’ll Build You A Fire” a family affair, allowing Mani Sigfusson (brother of band member Sindri Mar Sigfusson) to direct. Good thing, too: Dreamy imagery and explosions of color go perfectly with the song’s lush folk sound. The video was released in anticipation of the septet’s debut North American tour. The performances will commence at SXSW; sophomore album We Built A Fire is out tomorrow via Morr Music.

Jagjaguwar recently signed Brooklyn quartet Small Black and will release a remixed, remastered and expanded version of the band’s self-titled EP on April 27, complete with two new songs. Small Black just returned from working on its first full-length (tentatively set for release later this year) and will hit the road this spring for its first tour, with Washed Out and Pictureplane. This video for “Despicable Dogs” features frontman Josh Kolenik’s uncle Matt doing warm-weather things like hanging out on the beach, waxing his surfboard and washing his retro VW bus. Is it summer yet?

Thanks to Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide for guest editing our website all week. Be sure to check out the band’s latest, The Meat Of Life. Here’s the video premiere for the album’s first single, “Walmart Parking Lot.”

It’s time for the return of the pedal-steel guitar. Red Sparowes are gearing up for a March tour and April release of their third LP, The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer (Sargent House). As the Pink Floyd-meets-Isis teaser video hints, the eight-track disc is still primarily ambient instrumental.

“G.I.R.L.F.R.I.E.N (You Know I’ve Got A)” is Everybody Was In The French Resistance … Now’s response to that insufferable Avril Lavigne song. The band with the long-winded name is a project of Art Brut’s Eddie Argos and the Blood Arm’s Dyan Valdes. Argos has his fortune told through tarot cards and palm readings in the video for the song, which is the first single off Fixin’ The Charts Volume 1, out now on Cooking Vinyl. The album features 11 other tracks that all satirize well-known pop hits, from Sinatra to Kanye.

It is a shame that most people only know Big Business as “those other two guys in the Melvins.” 2009’s Mind The Drift Bizarre is a collection of batterfanged riffs, bizarre pop hooks and some of the most innovative drumming in recent years. Half a year after the album’s release, the band felt it was a good time to release a video as a way to “re-light a fire under [the] record’s ass.” Check out the video for “The Drift” below.

Wanna relive the oftentimes awkward days of grade-school plays and talent shows? Then take a trip down memory lane with the video for Snowglobe’s “Teenage Queen,” which premieres exclusively on magnetmagazine.com. The video is part of a movie the Memphis band is filming, and new album Little More Lived In (Makeshift) is the soundtrack. It’s out on April 27, and one new music video will be released per month leading up to the release of the film.

Local Natives stray from the animal-based moniker of many of their musical comparisons (Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Deptartment Of Eagles, etc.), but they still stick to a similar earthy pop sound. Hand claps aplenty and light, reverberating drums back up a chipper pop-rock diddy singing out for a lost flame. The video for “Airplanes,” off the upcoming Gorilla Manor EP (Frenchkiss), eerily mixes family portraits morphing into skulls with a tour of a beautifully dilapidated house from days past. It leaves you feeling optimistic in that way that spring is around the corner or that things are just going to get better, somehow.

Alkaline Trio will issue its seventh studio album, This Addiction, on February 23. It will be the first joint release on the band’s imprint label, Heart & Skull, and parent label, Epitaph. Check out the video for the album’s title track, in which the band performs in the fields of Ventura County, Calif., while two groups of school children prepare for battle.

Thanks to Juliana Hatfield for guest editing our website all week. Be sure to check out her new album, Peace & Love, which is out on Tuesday. Here’s the video of Hatfield’s book reading and Q&A session from her Jan. 14, 2009, appearance at Northeastern University, promoting When I Grow Up: A Memoir. Read our exclusive excerpt from the 2008 book.

San Francisco-based Seth Augustus is releasing his debut, To The Pouring Rain (Porto Franco), on Tuesday. Though it’s only his first album, Augustus has been making music since the ’80s, collaborating with the likes of Jolie Holland, Helios Creed and Paul Pena. We are proud to premiere the video for “Trickeries Of The Great Emptiness,” a gorgeous album track that recalls MAGNET hero Tom Waits. Download an mp3 of the song.

Calgary’s the Unravelling states that with its 13 Arcane Hymns debut, it wants to be “cathartic and inspiring.” Well, even if you don’t emotionally purge yourself with the actual LP, you can get a good dose off the duo’s video for album track “Fire Breather,” a montage of news clips concerning the intensive struggle of the Tibetan people. The graphic nature of the video requires a warning label for those not expecting a terrifying history lesson, as the Unravelling definitely gets its graphic message across. From the infamous burning-monk photo of Thích Quảng Đức in the ’60s to current street riots, the video is a highlight reel of fiery moments in Tibetan history. Those not in favor of actually viewing the terrors, fear not: The song still passes along the same politically charged messages.

This video doesn’t have much in the way of budget, but it sure has a lot of Xs. At least four, in fact, fitting for the title of the British Columbia band’s latest, XXXX, out tomorrow on Paper Bag Records. You Say Party! We Say Die! brings its Karen O-meets-Joy Division (on the dance floor) aesthetic to new heights with the chiller “Dark Days,” a melancholy little number full of loss, longing and an absolutely killer beat. You Say Party? We Say Fantastic.

Check out the video for “Violet Eyes” by My Gold Mask. The jerky, unfocused, black-and-white film goes nicely with the Chicago duo’s ominous brand of rock ‘n’ roll, which concentrates heavily on drummer Gretta Rochelle’s smoky, tribal howl and Jack Armondo’s guttery electric guitar. The song is off the five-song A Thousand Voices EP, the follow-up to My Gold Mask’s 2009 self-titled debut.

The members of L.A.’s Fol Chen shroud themselves in mystery, hiding their faces onstage and on the cover of debut album Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made (Asthmatic Kitty). But the band isn’t shy about doing awesome things, like covering Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones” and Pink Floyd “In The Flesh,” touring with Liars in the spring and shooting weird music videos, like this one for “The Longer U Wait.” Check it out.