[SKOA Premiere] Icebird - "Going and Going. And Going (Illvibe x RJD2 Remixes)"

Over a year and a half ago, SKoA's favorite producer RJD2 dropped hints regarding a group called Icebird he was forming with vocalist Aaron Livingston. For quite some time, there was no word as to what was going on regarding the project and whether or not they would be releasing anything. That is until three weeks ago when the duo announced the October 11th release date of Icebird's debut LP, titled The Abandoned Lullaby.

Since then, we've been given a fantastic taste of what the album will sound like with the first single "Going and Going. And Going." The track gives a good sense of how RJ and Livingston have crafted a truly awesome psychadelic, soulful sound, and today, SKoA is happy to premiere two official remixes of that exact song. The first comes from Sonny James of Illvibe Collective, which Aaron Livingston has contributed too, and the second comes from RJ himself.

You can listen to both remixes below, and look forward to the release of The Abandoned Lullaby on October 11th via RJ's own Electric Connections label.

Icebird - "Going and Going and Going (Illvibe x rjd2 Remixes)" by Some Kind of Awesome

[Listen] Mark Ronson x Daniel Merriweather - "A Little Bit Better"

A week from today, Arthur, the upcoming film starring comedian Russel Brand hits theatres. The movie's soundtrack is packed with tracks featuring big names, including two original tracks by Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, as well as four tracks by the ever popular Mark Ronson. Three out of Ronson's four tracks include vocals provided by his muse, Australian singer Daniel Merriweather. Below, you can listen to the premiere, courtesy of Vulture, of one of the Ronson-Merriweather tracks, titled "A Little Bit Better."

Daniel Merriweather - A Little Bit Better by WaterTowerMusic

[SKOA Presents] [Premiere] Heypenny - "Purple Street"

We told you to keep an eye out for Heypenny when we caught them during CMJ last year. We weren't kidding. 

We're honored to present to you, "Purple Street", from Heypenny's upcoming album A Jillion Kicks. True story: these guys are insanely dedicated to bringing forth the awesome. 

The album is now three years in the making. The band had originally crafted a record with multiple producers in two different studios and felt that they ultimately didn't capture the essence of the band, so they scrapped that record. Giving it another go, the band reached out to their fans via Kickstarter to fund the album and were able to re-track everything with close friend/musician/producer Charles Allison (who tracked Heypenny’s first full length Use These Spoons). Then with the help of talented mixing engineer Craig Alvin (Colourmusic, The Features, Hanson) the band was able to put the finishing touches on the record. 

A Jillion Kicks features guest performances from 15 other Nashville based musicians including Byron House (Nickel Creek, Robert Plant), Kevin Teal (Cerys Matthews), Natalie Prass, Mikky Ekko and many more.

Check out "Purple Street" below. If you're in love with the song as much as we are, you can go download it for free on their website. 

Heypenny -"Purple Street" by Some Kind of Awesome

A Jillion Kicks is due to drop on February 22nd, 2011. First string of tour dates after the jump!

Upcoming Tour Dates:

Feb. 16th @ The Bishop (Bloomington, IN) *

Feb. 17th @ The Melody Inn (Indianapolis, IN) *

Feb. 18th @ Cosmic Charlies (Lexington, KY) *

Feb. 19th @ The Duck Inn (Evansville, IN) *#

Feb. 20th @ Off Broadway (St. Louis, MO)

Feb. 25th @ JJ's Bohemia (Chattanooga, TN)

Feb. 26th @ Mercy Lounge (Nashville, TN)

Mar. 16-19 @ SXSW (Austin, TX)

Mar. 26th @ Caledonia Lounge (Athens, GA)

* = w/ Andy D

# = w/ The Features