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McGuire+TeenDaze+Toujours+Superpitcher

Posted by Jakub



Emeralds head man Mark McGuire *insert baseball reference here* is on the right track to grabbing up a Best Of 2010 song on my end of the year list. Not only is this song a bubbly lush piece of work but there’s dynamics, it blooms when the distorted guitars hit, I want more.

I have no info on this collab besides posting plenty of Teen Daze on the blog. Part of me hesitates to say this but stripped down there is some Selected Ambient Works or early Ninja Tunes love on the instrumental that makes me smile.

This pulsating haze from Toujours grabbed my ear, very airy and DIY sounding, i’m not too fond of the vox it not gonna kill me listening to it.

The new Superpitcher LP is sublime, i’m posting Moon Fever, its kind of the lone wolf of the bunch but the mood is right, should of debuted on Pop Ambient.

Emeralds + Gold Panda + Ducktails + Salem

Posted by Jakub



Lately it doesn’t get any better than the feeling I get after hearing Shades by Emeralds, it’s dizzying like my vertigo i’ve been having. Anyone else have vertigo? anyways, listen to how this track grows, its like watching thousands of ferns growing infront of you in time lapse film. iTunes

Vanilla Minus is off Gold Panda’s new LP, its classic Superpitcher in my eyes, beautiful loops and an explosive vibe. iTunes

If you read the blog you know I love what Ducktails is doing, he makes music that I couldn’t even dream up making, he has a new self titled LP out, pick it up if you get a chance. iTunes

Salem is uncanny, mashing together a haunted ghetto rap with stomach churning heroine induced electronics, its an addictive listen. Preorder LP

Frank+AliceCohen+Diakari+BrokenRecords

Posted by Jakub



I was just digging in deeper into the Wierd Records[its not spelled Weird, I triple checked] catalog and this song by Frank grabbed me over and over, the guitar line reminds me of some huge 80s hit, is it Dire Straits? no, I don’t know what it is but its buggin’ me, either way its pretty poppy for a cold wave label and thats what makes me keep going back to them.

I wanted to include Alice Cohen in my playlist I did for Olde English Spelling Bee but somehow she slipped thru the cracks, what a great spacey track, the magic here is that she made it so short, it makes you want to play it over and over, smart and talented this Alice girl is.

I’m not going to pretend I know world music, its something I wanted to get into but its a slippery slope, I could end up listening to alot of stuff I don’t want to hear for hours and be disappointed and hate that I spent the time but this song by Diakari Dia Diakite dit Dia almost puts me in a daze. The rhythm keeps me wanting more while his intensity keeps me interested on what the song is about and i’m going to quote Anchorman to end this post: Ron Burgundy: “I’m sorry, I was trying to impress you. I don’t know what it means. I’ll be honest, I don’t think anyone knows what it means anymore. Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago.”

So maybe some of you want to know what the label 4AD is up to, well the last mailer I got this song by Broken Records, i’m on the fence about it, is it too alternative radio rock for the label? part of it grabs me but a good portion of the song pushes me away and worries about 4AD’s future BUT I trust them so I keep checking back.

The Rorschach Suite

Posted by Jakub



In 2005, I started putting together a compilation of my friends music, my roommate at the time was Danny [The Reflecting Skin aka PhilistineDSGN] who did the cover art and also did a song with me under the name The Hexx which is still to this day the only song i’ve ever put out officially. I met a few others via the internet like Mux Mool, Wisp, Dafluke, and Ghosthunt on myspace or WATMM (an Aphex Twin/BoC forum) and the rest are mostly guys from Ann Arbor, MI my hometown. The compilation came out for under $10 and had 20 songs on it and still to this day its that much, sometimes we drop it down to $5. I remember when it went up on digital retailers, since iTunes doesn’t tell you what will be featured its always a surprise on Tuesday mornings for record labels, its nice that you can’t buy your way into a banner on the iTunes page. When I saw it up it was back when iTunes had 3 big banners up horizontally at the top and The Rorschach Suite at the time was just all fresh faces 95% all new names and we were sitting inbetween Junior Boys and Imogean Heap, it felt like a David and Goliath story. I hope you enjoyed this preview I grabbed a few tracks of some fan favorites.

Dilla+Star Slinger+Osborne+Sam Prekop

Posted by Jakub



If you don’t want a song stuck in your head than don’t check out this song that J. Dilla produced for Steve Spacek, i’ve been humming it since the middle of last week everywhere I go, in alleys and by the river or in my bedroom, “let the dollar circulateeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I ran into one of the friendly guys from Small Black a few weeks ago in Greenpoint, he was walking home after just finishing recording their new album, I promise to have more up but here’s a taste with a remix by Star Slinger of their recent single.

Osborne gives Hot Chip a taste of Yacht Rock meets aaaaa….. refreshing slower dance medley? hmmm I can’ put my finger on it, whatever it is I love it and you will too if you have a beating heart.

I want more Sam Prekop, this is just not enough, what a great teaser, quick everyone into their bubble were gonna race to find a new color for the rainbow.

The art above was picked from Amobea84’s flickr

DasDing+XenoOaklander+Automelodi+Klaus

Posted by Jakub



Minimal Wave has its own passionate community, one that has a forum with involved fans, pretty much the perfect label culture you’d like to see. I picked up this Das Ding vinyl over the weekend after passing by it too many times at the record stores. Its a great LP all the way thru with minimal synths with a hazy goth/punk attitude, makes me want to dive back into more of these records that I use to love so much.

One of the best minimal synths bands i’ve ever seen live was Xeno and Oaklander, a seriously cared for project put out by Wierd Records, what I love about them is that when you see them on stage you have a feeling that they live this music, its not an act, those two don’t step out of their dark mood much or I could be wrong but the dedication shows.

Automelodi is a bit more french dark pop compared to the last 2 songs in my opinion, almost touches on a 80’s hit, great youthful lead synth work.

Lets space it out with Klaus Schulze to add some diversity.

Games + Sunny Day + Tamaryn + Etherea

Posted by Jakub



The other day I went to see Oneohtrix Point Never and Gatekeeper perform at Glasslands, it was some sort of label showcase i’m guessing. I picked up this Games 7 inch, super dreamy vox with chimes and flute under fatty compression, its like the background music for a daydream scene on Blossom.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow has done it, they nailed their sound but on a ethereal level, maximum lushness, the girls sound great plus the they make every second count, can’t for this EP.

Oh Mexican Summer, how great of a label you are. Seeing Weekend play last week and now having Tamaryn put me in an almost drugged up state, I want to thank you.

If you wanted Pogo to ever edit a Washed Out track it would probably sound something like this ETHEREA song, adoring this whole EP!