News: The Strokes announce new album, slated for March

The Strokes are set to follow-up their 2011 album, Angles. Set to release on March 26th, Comedown Machine will be their fifth full-length. The official single, 'All The Time', will come out on February 19th, but until then you can get a taste of the album with the track, 'One Way Trigger'. Hit the jump to check it out.

Shuffled #48: 2012 in Review

Every other Wednesday either Matt or Alex C-Y share their love of music in an assortment of ways. Shuffled is a podcast whose format is as varied as their tastes in music, so hopefully you won't ever be bored and everyone can find something to enjoy.

"A big year in music" doesn't even begin to describe 2012. Whatever genre you find pleasing, nearly every facet of the music scene had something new to it. Like pop music? There was Kishi Bashi who road a summer pop wave off of SXSW and into Windows 8's heart, or were you more in mind of the Cult of Gangam Style? Did Killer Mike's political rap make your blood boil, or did you prefer the ghastly beats of The Gasslamp Killer?

There was so much to cover that I had to enlist the help of of Shuffled's other host, Alex Cronk-Young. This is by far the longest edition of the show in it's two years of running, and we don't plan on slowing down in 2013!!!*

*Ed. Note:  On schedule updates are another matter entirely.

Rumor: Daft Punk working on new album for 2013

While nothing concrete can be found at the moment, a few rumblings in the music community have said that Daft Punk will leave EMI and sign to Columbia soon. Somewhere in all of this, it has also been hinted that the band is working on a new album set for a 2013 release. None of this has been confirmed by either the band or the two record labels.

If the last rumor does turn out to be true, it will be the fourth studio release form the French electronic duo since their 2005 album, Human After All. While only having four studio releases under their belts might seem a little light, the band has put out quite a number of remix and compilation albums in the past (not to mention the best aspect of Tron Legacy). More information to follow if any of the parties involved make an official statement.

Source - Reddit, Zik-Zag

News: The Mars Volta break-up

Lead singer of The Mars Volta, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, has announced via Twitter that the band is no more. This is especially sad news for us here at Cerebral Pop as this site might never have existed if it wasn't for TMV. I met several of the other contributors (Josh, Luis, and Kyle) on a street team for the band. When that shut down we stayed in touch on our own forum, and as people slowly stopped visiting that we decided to make a blog together, which became Cerebral Pop.

I'd sort of grown away from Mars Volta in the last handful of years. Their two most recent albums never sunk into me like Deloused in the Comatorium, Frances the Mute, and The Bedlam in Goliath did. Still, I'd list them as one of my favorite bands to this day.

Hit the jump to listen to some of, what I consider to be, the best TMV songs. For old times sake.

Unoriginal Soundtracks #56: Alan Wake's American Nightmare

Every other Wednesday, I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for relevant terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and uncover hidden gems. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

American Nightmare moved Alan Wake from Bright Falls to the desert, but kept him in that eerie shadow-America. Its thrice-repeated structure inspires three podcasts full of rock, blues, and folk.

News: Short Film based on Flying Lotus's album wins Sundance Jury Award

Yesterday the Sundance Film Festival announced the winners today for the Short Film category. Among the recipients was Kahlil Joseph's short film featuring music from 2012's Until the Quiet Comes by Flying Lotus. Of the 65 films nominated, the music video short was awarded the Special Jury Award.

The film explores and interprets themes of life and death of those living in the West Coast hood. The awards ceremony will be held on January, 26 at 7:00 p.m. MT. The event will be hosted by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which can be streamed by going to www.sundance.org/festival. Congratulations to director Kahlil Joseph, Flying Lotus, and their crews on the award. You can watch the short film in its entirety after the jump, which if you haven't done yet, I highly recommend you do so.

Listen: Stream Tomahawk's entire new album Oddfellows

Tomahawk, the metal supergroup(?) formed from Mike Patton's (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Fantomas) twisted nightmares is about to release their fourth full-length, titled 'Oddfellows'. The album follows 2007's strange 'Anonymous', which was a collection of arrangements of long-passed down Native American chants and songs.

'Oddfellows' is a more traditional sequel to their debut, self-titled release, or 2003's 'Mit Gas' -- well, as "traditional" as the band can actually be. It's due out in a week, but Spin is streaming it for you right now. They've also got an interview with the band up, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Hit the jump for the album's namesake single, or click here to hit up Spin's stream/interview.

News: The Postal Service making a return...of some kind [UPDATED]

[UPDATE: Billboard has confirmed the reunion will include three Coachella performances, a selection of currently unannounced other tour dates, and a deluxe reissue of their 2003 release, Give Up.]

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie appears to be resurrecting his short-lived side project, The Postal Service. Not much is known about the extent of the band's return, other than something will be happening this year, as evidenced by the logo now adorning their website (pictured above).

Obviously, fans are hoping this means a new album, though, it could very well be a tour (or, as Spin speculates, a Coachella appearance). February 18th will mark a decade since the release of their first -- and only -- release, so I'm hoping they're planning more than just a Coachella performance. I think most fans will take whatever they can get, though, as many had given up on any sort of reunion at this point.

Source: Reddit, /r/Music

Unoriginal Soundtracks #55: Audiosurf

Every other Wednesday, I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for relevant terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and uncover hidden gems. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

This is a podcast about a game about music using music about music. This episode about Audiosurf is full of sweet soul music, boogie music, and good music in general.