You can’t tickle yourself. It’s laughter born from torture. It is the sound of forced glee with an undercurrent of pain and vulnerability. We’re all tied to tickle machines, and it’s high time to acknowledge and redefine our relationship with the fingers.

Electric Tickle Machine would like you to know that their name is not a euphemism for a vibrator. They use is as a reference to the mobius strip of humanity, technology and our tabloid nation. So who are they? 3 downtown kids (shout out to the East Village!) united under the ETM monker in 2008 and have been building up reputation for sweaty live gigs ever since. They cast an infectious spell over audiences that tends to inspire general mayhem and random hookups. It’s like that fairy tale The Red Shoes except the Chuck Taylor version on Avenue A. We’re talking curfew-breaking music.

This exclusive mp3 they were kind enough to provide us with recalls Enrico Morricone scoring a Band of Horses duel, Charles Bronson stubbing out a cigarette in Death Wish combined with a dash of the crowd euphoria - the kind that was in the air when the barriers collapsed at the Black Lips Brooklyn Pool Party show last summer. Liberated bad ass martial law. You can’t help but give in.

Electric Tickle Machine: Honest Injun by SUPMAG

After 2 awesome years of sharpening their teeth on the DIY scene, ETM’s debut album Blew it Again drops June 29th on their own label Science Diction. We’re giving away a vinyl copy of the album and a pair of tickets to their Northside Festival gig at Shea Stadium on June 25th in Brooklyn. Just email abbey@supmag.com with ETM in the subject line. Be sure to include your fave Charles Bronson flick and whether you’re in the market for the concert tickets or vinyl in the message. EASY. US residents only please.

Pop music, it seems, tends to operate on a loose “rule of 20″: after a couple decades pass, the current generation of musicians tend to look back on their fathers’ record collections for inspiration. The early 2000s were all about a 80s post-punk revival, and now, in the second decade of the 21st century, we find ourselves buried under a pile of bands that espouse dream pop like its 1993 all over again.

Alba Lua is one such group. The Bordeaux-based trio represents a refreshing turn within France’s otherwise mutilated house music-focused scene―tranquil, elastic guitar strums replace face-melting distorted and compressed synths; soothing, airy female vocals stand in lieu of vocoder-filtered lyrics; and uplifting wall-of-sound bass gushes reside where spastic, warbley percussion riffs normally would.

At times, the band’s Ballad of Joseph Merrick EP sounds like an even gentler Spaceman 3 or more innocent and blissed-out rendering of Galaxie 500. The vocals add to the mystique of the trio: their childish timbre evokes memories of 90s Japanese artists like Kahimi Karie and could just as well be fronting a jazz combo playing through a bossa nova tune. This is the soundtrack for those lazy, overcast Sundays you spend sprawled out on your neighborhood green with a joint in one hand and a 40 ounce in the other.

Alba Lua’s Ballad of Joseph Merrick is set for release on June 28th via Satellite of Love Records. Right click the arrow on player to download the exclusive premiere of “Valley of Abra.”

Alba Lua: Valley of Abra by SUPMAG

How’s about a little Friday pick me up then? Fresh from blowing our little minds at Primavera Sound last week, Yeasayer have been remixed by new electro duo on the block, Clancy & Build, and we’ve been given the exclusive mp3 to download.

We’ve been dancing throughout the spring to the afrobeat joyness of “O.N.E.” and now it’s been chopped up and given a jolt of synths and electro stylings, making it even more perfect for the dancefloor.

And it’s a ‘SUP exclusive as it’s the first track that remixer/DJs Clancy & Build have produced together. Both producers have been blowing up the blogs with their previous ’80s-tinged remixes for the likes of Empire of the Sun, Phoenix, Delphic and Annie, and their first outing together is a match made in electronic heaven. As two heads are always better than one, non?

Yeasayer: O.N.E. (Clancy & Build Remix) by SUPMAG

We were first sucked in by Twin Sister’s intoxicating dreamscaped tracks this winter and… well let’s just say the buzz has grown into a roar and they are blowing up in a major way. Completely deserved of course! Come out to Glasslands tonight to celebrate the release of their album Color Your Life. These Long Island kids have been giving it away for free online (didn’t they listen to their mothers?) so this show is a celebration of hard copies courtesy of Infinite Best Recordings.

This is the newest installment in Tammy Hart and MyOpenBar.com’s Last Friday monthly concert series. Seeing as how MIA showed up to hop onstage with Sleigh Bells at last month’s showcase, this is one party you don’t want to miss. The band hits the road with Bear in Heaven in July, and be sure to keep an eye peeled on ‘SUP for more Twin Sister goodies. Happy first day of summer.

Twin Sister: Lady Daydream (Cassette Version) by SUPMAG

Here at ‘SUP, we’re big on any kind of “driving-with-the-top-down” music–the kind that makes you instinctively fist-pump and yell “SUMMER Of ‘98 WHOOOO WE’RE GONNA LIVE FOREVER YEAH!” However, we’d be remiss not to mention the “driving-with-the-window-cracked-(only a tiny bit because it’s freezing outside)-and-steering-with-your-knees-while-your-BFF-reaches-across-the-front-seat-ready-to-grab-the-wheel-because-you’re-busy-trying-to-smoke-a-bowl” category too. Takes you back, right?

Meet Jen Shag and John Shell, aka Shellshag. They’re based outta Brooklyn via San Francisco and put out awesome stuff like split 7-inches on their own label Starcleaner Records. They make music that is beautiful and broken and what we thought that Sonic Youth would sound like when we all grew up. It makes one simultaneously nostalgic for your teenage years and relieved that you’re nowhere frigging near them. In short, the perfect antidote to glo-fi, chillwave, and general malaise.

The band kicks off their Summer 2010 tour across North America this evening, with guest appearances by Signals, Jeremy Jay, Jeff the Brotherhood, Turbo Fruits, Bipolaroid and This Bike is a Pipe Bomb along the way. Shellshag’s third LP Rumors in Disguise is out now on Don Giovanni Records. Download this exclusive “Crashing Rockets” and go forth this Memorial Day weekend. For legal purposes, we ask that you refrain from steering with your knees. The rest is up to you.

“I’m just circling your atmosphere/Riding the skyway that keeps you here”

Shellshag Summer 2010 Tour:
Thursday 27th May, The Hanger, Athens, GA
Friday 28th May, Static Age Records, Asheville, NC
Saturday 29th May, Crabbfest, Athens, OH
Monday 31st May, Carabar, Columbus, OH
Tuesday 1st June, House Gone Wylie, Bloomington, IN
Wednesday 2nd June, Idafest!, Ida, TN
Saturday 5th June, Do Ya Hear We Fest! at Discoteca, Chattanooga, TN
Sunday 6th June, The End, Nashville, TN
Tuesday 8th June, Circle Bar, New Orleans, LA
Wednesday 9th June, El Ten Eleven, San Antonio, TX
Thursday 10th June, The Cavern, Dallas, TX
Friday 11th June, Beerland, Austin, TX
Saturday 12th June, Hideaway Lounge, El Paso, TX
Sunday 13th June, Trainyard, Las Cruces, NM
Monday 14th June, Sound Kontrol, Phoenix, AZ
Tuesday 15th June, Casbah, San Diego, CA
Wednesday 16th June, Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA
Thursday 17th June, The Uptown, Oakland CA
Friday 18th June, El Rio, San Francisco, CA
Saturday 19th June, East End, Portland, OR
Sunday 20th June, The Northern, Olympia, WA
Monday 21st June, Comet Tavern, Seattle, WA
Tuesday 22nd June, The Palace, Missoula, MT
Thursday 24th June, 7th St. Entry, Minneapolis, MN
Friday 25th June, Eagle’s Nest, Milwaukee, WI
Saturday 26th June, Schubas Tavern, Chicago, IL
Sunday 27th June, Now That’s Class, Cleveland, OH
Monday 28th June, Cafe Metropolis, Shavertown, PA

Everytime I see Seattle’s BOAT it feels like the first. They’re effing amazing, as is evident in the footage from NYC Popfest last weekend. Now I HATE describing bands by referencing others, but I think the easiest way to sum ‘em up is like… if Harvey Danger smashed into Titus Andronicus. BOAT for president. Get their 3rd album Setting the Paces here. There’s a new EP in the works too. That is all.

BOAT: Lately (I’ve Been On My Back) by punkphoto

We saw PiL last night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and it was absolutely mindblowing. Proper review on ‘SUP to come, but in the meantime here’s the setlist and a treat.

PiL May 19th 2010 Music Hall of Williamsburg Setlist
This Is Not a Love Song
Poptones
Memories
Annalisa
Length
Albatross
EW
Flowers of Romance
Psychopath
Warrior
USLS1
Death Disco
Disappointed
Sun
Bags
Chant
Religion
Public Image
Rise
Open Up

IDC: Freedom is Coming by punkphoto

Words by Cameron Cook via ‘SUP Magazine

This summer, among ice-cream doughnut sandwiches from Peter Pan Bakery and attending approximately two rooftop BBQ parties every afternoon, the ‘SUP staff are looking towards the cut-’n'-paste IDM of the UK’s Gold Panda to carry us thought the endless, balmy days.

Have you guys seen Robogeisha? The Seams remix of Gold Panda’s already-cult single “You” is basically the only thing on her built-in iPod Touch. It takes the glitchy Asian flair of the original and puts just enough ambient house behind it to make it somewhat of a dance track, though you can’t really dance because you’ve taken so many downers you feel like your body is encased in a velvety globe of melted honey. Mmm.

Ghostly International are releasing the You EP in the US on June 15th, right before Gold Panda is scheduled to go on a full American tour supporting HEALTH. It’s gonna be a wild one.

Gold Panda Tour Dates
06.08 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex*
06.09 San Francisco, CA @ Slims*
06.11 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios*
06.12 Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project*
06.15 Minneapolis , MN @ 7th Street Entry*
06.16 Kalamazoo, MI @ The Strutt*
06.17 Toronto, Ontario @ Sneaky Dees*
06.18 Montreal, Quebec @ La Sala Rossa*
06.19 Allston, MA @ Great Scott*
06.20 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg*
06.22 Philadelphia , PA @ First Unitarian Church*
06.23 Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor*
06.24 Atlanta, GA @ 529*
06.25 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks*
06.26 Austin, TX @ Red 7*

*w/ HEALTH, Indian Jewelry

Here at ‘SUP we have a strict policy to only feature rad music that we feel positive about. If you feel the need to add fiberglass dinosaurs, run ins with police, kinky band names and milestone celebrations to the mix, well then all the better. Thanks to Hot Club de Paris we’ll be having our celebratory cake and eating it too. HCDP’s upcoming 10-inch vinyl EP The Rise and Inevitable Fall of the High School Suicide Cluster Band will be Moshi Moshi Records’ 100th release.

To mark this accomplishment they’ve granted us an MP3 of their single “Free The Pterodactyl 3″. The rumored back-story to this track is set on abandoned fairgrounds and involves the kidnapping of the aforementioned dinosaur. Granted, this sounds an awful lot like a Scooby Doo subplot but it has undeniably inspired a hell of a song. Click arrow on right side of player to download.

Hot Club de Paris: Free The Pterodactyl 3 by SUPMAG

The EP drops on May 24th and until then the album can be streamed in full via the band’s Myspace.

Dear Alexis and Derek, I’m pretty sure that Will has Sleigh Bells on Google alert, so I’ll just post this in the open instead of cluttering up your inbox. I am so effing proud of you two and Treats is amazing. See you tonight.

PS- To my readers, yup this is just a stream. These are my friends and this is how they make a living, so please buy the album - you won’t regret it.

Sleigh Bells : A/B Machines by SUPMAG