Don’t hang me for not completely loving The National’s previous releases more than this new single that I prefer and has me excited for this new record. I can hear the super talent here and all the reason people love this band, i’m happy to be converted but I don’t know if I can handle a whole show yet.
Fur is on Waaga Records who really has their finger on the pulse of what I think will keep this instrumental indie in people’s face because of the undeniable catchy music coming from them. Fur has a great ear for synth choices for me personally which they touch on less lo-fi BoC meets that airy sound that was the backbone of IDM yet still has indie rock palette somehow here.
Via Tania recently released a EP that included good remixes from The Juan MacLean and Lemonade yet somehow I don’t think were as good as this original.
L.A. based influential heads Flying Lotus & House Shoes collab to make a respectable J Dilla like beat which is hard to do these days, i’ve had this playing pretty much every day since the sun has showed up here in Brooklyn.
Paige Maguire runs Flux-Rad which is a solid music blog if you need music from someone that has their finger on the pulse of what is going to be trending. I personally enjoy the zips of goodies that she curates and the art she picks for each mixtape that’s gathered. I selected a few that really caught my ear from a recent collection.
TRACKLIST Golden Ages – “Be Cool” Spirit Spine – “Flashes” The Ruby Suns – “Cranberry” (Radio Edit) Keepaway – “Yellow Wings” Pure Ecstasy – “Easy” Small Black – “Despicable Dogs” (Washed Out Remix) Lawrence Arabia – “The Undesirables” The Silent League – “When Stars Attack!!” Expensive Looks – “Living Scene” Memoryhouse – “Sleep Patterns” Seams – “Nightcycles” Holiday Shores – “Air-Glow” Dam Mantle – “Grey”
Many of you probably may have heard or have bought the new Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma LP that came out this Tuesday. Along with the launch Flying Lotus / Warp have developed an application for the PC and Mac called Fieldlines which you can download for free and try out:
“Cosmogramma Fieldlines is a free augmented reality application to celebrate the imminent release of the new Flying Lotus album ‘Cosmogramma’. It can be controlled with your webcam or mouse.
Cosmogramma Fieldlines was developed by Aaron Meyers with sound design by Flying Lotus and harp by Rebekah Raff. Based on the artwork by Leigh J. McCloskey.”
I’m so happy to hear that Recoiled is out on the LP, i’ve heard this songs ending sped up in his live sets and I always got wide eyed tried pulled out my hair it was that good each time.
Excuse the label promo “watermark” at the beginning, the song actually plays in full after that. Stereogum premiered the new School Of Seven Bells LP yesterday where you can grab the song for free. The band has taken a more upfront direction for these tracks, the tempo is more driving and its catchier more than ever. Imagine Stereolab at its best dropped into a finely widdled down dream pop song with big rock elements, definitely lovely.
Weed Diamond is a Colorado band that is keeping Garage Rock something that is always in front of us because it keeps getting better. I find the looping guitar and rawness of it something I want to hear over and over, sometimes some blog digging is really rewarding.
Seems like everyone is really loving Zola Jesus, I can hear and see why, 2010 is turning into a very unique year for darker material that has beautiful characters, Fever Ray now its your turn.
Grovesnor fills that void of what I thought Hot Chip and Jamie Lidell were going to do in their future but I don’t see this style coming from them. Grovesnor nails soft rock with soul, summer jam playlist night cap must have!
Sweden’s Labrador Records is on a tear, they just owned Europe with the recent drop of The Radio Dept. new album and now they introduce Pallers which might be on a softer less poppy tip yet still lush and dreamy.
I love a song that hones in on a sound that you love, a focused 8 bit melody usually gets me, maybe its my generation of video game systems, either way I should give Wax Stag more credit than that, beautiful track for Sega Genesis fantasy game lovers.
Don’t judge this song by its intro, i’m not so fond of it, give it a sec…..there it is now its good and dancefloor ready, definitely has hints of what grabbed me from some of the first DFA records.
This might be a departure from what I post most days but I can’t pretend that this isn’t some of the strongest song writing out of my generation and maybe even the generation before me. Mark Kozelek is a pure talent when it comes to setting a tone and feeling that most can’t control when they hear his songs. Deadly as this playlist might seem for some since a beautiful sunny weekend is in store for the east coast I just think it needed to be done.
I didn’t include my 2 favorite Mark Kozelek songs since i’ve already posted them which are Mistress and Duk Koo Kim, if you need more then the wait isn’t too long, Sun Kil Moon’s next LP Admiral Fell Promises is slated for 7/13.
A novel concept and beautiful exterior make Martin Skelly’s Playlist Player vinyl emulation system a certified object of desire. The device — which plays back digital files in an apparently Serrato-like manner — attempts to simulate the classic ritual of the vinyl LP.
“There are two parts to the design: the player, and the record box containing five different coloured covers. Once the playlists are chosen and synced to the player with a memory stick, the user customises the outside of the sleeve with artwork of their choice. It could be photos of a memorable night or person or typed and hand drawn tracklists. Once the record is placed on the player, the music begins and the outer ring of lights illuminates. As the playlists plays rings of light visible through the translucent record move towards the centre of the disc, like a needle tracking on a record. These lights represent time and not the number of tracks, meaning your music must be enjoyed from start to finish with no distractions like the temptation to skip tracks, fast forward or rewind.”
Seeing people designing experiences like this is always nice, but it does illuminate the rather unsettling fact that the album format is dying. People are consuming media in ever smaller chunks and the LP experience is no longer the norm. I think this is a huge loss and an unfortunate consequence of the on-demand nature of the internet.
Although I grew up listening to 8-track, vinyl, cassette tapes, and then CDs — all of which tended to be enjoyed in album format more often than not — I must admit that I jump around a lot when consuming MP3s. I have recently begun rebuilding my music collection in lossless FLAC though and this has encouraged me to listen to more music as whole albums. If Skelly’s Playlist Player supports FLAC or WAV it might make the experience that much more enjoyable.
So happy to be able to share this new project by Walls on Kompakt, the duo which is one part Allez Allez who have started a great mix series featuring Grovesnor(ex-drummer of Hot Chip) and Caribou(which I was going to share this week) have ventured into more guitar based material that gets me excited on how A+R will be going on at Kompakt from here on out. Walls is slow moving with hints of white noise that is completely in control, the release is highly recommended from start to finish.
Lately i’ve been trying to pick my brain because I feel like I never turn down a good Caribbean style song, you play dreamy synths that fit into a Balearic song with light guitar strumming? well then jump into my itunes! deep bongos, disco strings and chimes with water sounds are just bonuses like finding another M&M in my so called empty M&M wrapper. Korallreven is a perfect example of what I like, now trying to find a crowd that loves it in the USA is a whole different story.
When I hear this Shahs track and imagine the instrumental I automatically think it would be the perfect song to start out an episode of This American Life where a normal older man starts off his day by leaving his white picket fence home but starts walking by really weird things on the way to work. I picture the vocals sung by a drunk David Byrne which is a compliment to Shahs, its not a bad thing in my book.
Lead singer Andrew McKee is already doing another things besides The Young Friends, instead of the sunny bike ride sing alongs with friends he brings it into the gymnasium for a overnight lock-in dance party by the punch bowl jam.
