Salem: Advanced Trance

Salem just dropped this video (above) for their newest song, a cover of Alice Deejay's still-rad trance track "Better off Alone" that features paparazzi footage of supermodel Giselle Bundchen to stroboscopic effect. The song is typical Salem, which is to say pretty amazing. Wailing keyboards and drones, screwed-southern beats and and spaced out vocals comprise a sound that has many imitators but that no one else can really touch. They innovated what unfortunately has come to be called "witch-house" with their EP's and killer album King Night. The term was inappropriately applied to a lot of bands (see Balam Acab) and became a pretty big thing in the blogosphere last year. But now that some of the hype is dying down it is pretty apparent that Salem has something unique and that they create great music full of menace and beauty. This song is from a new EP, I'm Still in the Night, which is being released on the 22nd of this month. You can pre-order it here

Here's a Salem sick edit of Alice Deejay's original from a live performance that screws the it down into an almost reggaeton rhythm. It gives you an idea of the starting point for the cover they eventually made above.
Salem - Better off Alone (edit) mp3

In case you missed it, Salem also released this video on Halloween. It showcases a different, softer drone-based side to their sound that is less talked about but present in a lot of songs. Also, the video was filmed by the band and has some beautiful footage of the plains, themselves, and one very dead deer.