Category: Hype-worthy
Watch Nostalgic NEW Music Video: HAERTS – Wings
HAERTS, the hype-worthy Brooklyn-based group with a unique blend of pop, folk, and beauty has made some seriously impressive waves for a band with just one jam. The group consists of Nini Fabi, Ben Gebert, Garrett Ienner, Derek McWilliams, and Jonathan Schmidt – All who hail from the likes of Germany, England and the US. The collaboration makes for a timeless sound and HAERTS‘s first single, “Wings,” is proof of just that. “Wings” was such a strong debut for the group, it even landed them a slot at PORTALS‘s Hype Hotel SXSW showcase this year.
Now, the band has a nostalgia-inducing video to accompany “Wings” which premiered on Gorilla vs. Bear today. The video was directed by Emily Kai Bock, who’s certainly making the rounds, as she just produced Majical Cloudz‘ latest video release for “Childhood’s End.” The video for “Wings” takes place in Nashville, Tennessee, and if you grew up in suburbia, specifically somewhere “unglamorous,” it’ll spark the remnants and simplicities of childhood. Bock’s work for HAERTS is playful, moving and quite beautiful, especially when things take flight. Enjoy:
Listen to NEW Technicolor Pop Rockers: Thee Rain Cats
I’m convinced that great things, especially garage/rock/pop ‘n’ roll, begin with “thee” and Thee Rain Cats fall perfectly into that theory. Caleb Palomo, Miguel Gomez, Nelson Rodriguez and Patrick Palomo who make up Thee Rain Cats are a bunch of OC boys currently residing on the outskirts of Disneyland. They’ve joined the Burger Records family, like to produce insanely addictive dreamy pop “technicolor rock” gems like “Kenyah” and have just released a 7-track EP (on cassette).
Thee Rain Cats are well on their way to indie rocker stardom, as they’ve already shared the stage with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Growlers, Sam Flax, The Fresh & Onlys, Colleen Green and more.
Stream Thee Rain Cats’ EP on SoundCloud, get the cassette via Burger Records, and find ’em on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram. Rock on boys!
Thee Rain Cats – Kenyah
Thee Rain Cats – OJ Krush
Hype-Worthy! Meet: Jackson Scott – That (anything but) Awful Sound
Want something to be thoroughly addicted to? Meet: Jackson Scott. He’s a “scrappy indie-pop” 4-track recording, guitar jammin’ singer/songwriter hailing from Asheville, North Carolina. He reminds me of a child-like Elliott Smith meets Mac DeMarco meets Atlas Sound – An amazing trifecta of sound all rolled into one. I also get a hint of Daniel Johnston… maybe it’s the basement home recording and creepy kid piano tones.
When looking for info about Jackson Scott, there’s not much to go off of except a simple Tumblr, containing all of one photo, and a SoundCloud page donning three tracks: “Evie,” “That Awful Sound,” and “Sandy.” According to this post and convo Scott had with PORTALS, we at least know he’s a (kind of ) a college student: “I haven’t been going to college since last spring because my parents wanted me to take a year off and work and get in state residence in NC, but I’ve basically been spending my college funds on avoiding getting a job, thinking about music, writing songs and other things…” Either way, he’s also apparently already made it into Pitchfork’s “best new music” section within a flash – Impressive, but it’s easy to hear why:
Jackson Scott – That Awful Sound
NEW Hype-Worthy Roundup: James Blake + G3NESIS + CHVRCHES + Lorde + Azekel + iamforest + Coma
James Blake
Yeeehaaw! It’s officially official: coco stereo‘s goin’ to SXSW! In a series of amazing (and in some cases, extremely lucky) events, everything seemed to come together oh so perfectly and I will be in Austin, Texas for the Interactive + Film and Music festivals. So now that universe has aligned in my favor, I present to you a plethora of new jams from hype-worthy bands:
James Blake, the 24-year-old London-based, “post-dubstep” electro producer has been blowing the blogosphere away this week with his return. Blake recently released an amazingly smooth, crooning, falsetto-hinged and emotionally driven new track, “Retrograde,” which debuted on BBC Radio 1. His sophomore album, Overgrown, is due out April 8th. Listen and watch the video for “Retrograde,” James Blake‘s dynamic return to the music realm:
G3NESIS is a brand spankin’ new and thoroughly addicting female rap/hip-hop group consisting of Kelin Kaardal and Genesis Mohanraj (formerly of Juice). The Vancouver-based duo don just a handful of tracks, “Yes Daddy” being their newest and strongest of the lot, and I’m already eager to hear more.
G3NESIS – Yes Daddy
It’s no secret that people have gone ape-shit crazy for the UK hailing electro-pop trio, CHVRCHES, since their conception merely 6 months ago. The group only dons (now) three songs, their latest track, “Recover” found below, yet their fairytale story of Indie stardom is still going strong and they’re headed to the US. They’ll also be playing with MØ in LA at The Echo, for a spectacular combination of electro-pop hype-mania. Be sure to look for them at SXSW and listen to their catchy new synth-tastic release “Recover.”
CHVRCHES – Recover
Lorde is an up-and-coming New Zealand native singer-song writer with an apparent talent and knack for creating catchy pop-tracks that’ll appeal to just about anyone. She’s released a strong debut EP, The Love Club, which you can stream in completion on SoundCloud. Listen to “The Love Club” and “Royals,” two tracks I just can’t seem to get enough of:
Lorde – The Love Club
Lorde – Royals
iamforest is moniker of Vancouver-based chillwave producer Luke Hartle. His latest beauty of a single and release, “Structures” is full of ambient bliss, yet still maintains a strongly defined beat. Find iamforest on SoundCloud, and/or listen + download his tracks on bandcamp.
iamforest – Structures
Azekel is an East Londoner and alternative R&B producer who may be giving Frank Ocean a run for his money. Have a listen to Azekel’s debut single, “That Feeling,” which officially releases, February 25th.
Azekel – That Feeling
Coma is the alias of pop-infused electro synth masters, Marius Bubat and Georg Conrad. They’ll be releasing a new album, Technicolor, due out in April via Kompakt, and “Hoooooray” is their first single from their debut LP.
Fresh Track Roundup! Foxygen + Blood Diamonds + MØ + Doldrums + Widowspeak + Brothers in Law + Flight Facilities
Foxygen
The days are cold (at least in San Francisco), and the new music flow is kinda slow. But (!) despite these hurry-up-and-wait times where new music production seems to be on a fierce hold, I present to you a fresh track roundup! Let’s get on with it:
Foxygen is on just about everyone’s radar. They’ve been deemed a “band to watch in 2013” by many, and all ears are open. The singer/songwriter LA-based duo consists of Sam France and Jonathan Rado. They’re young, yet create the essence of a Velvet Underground/Bob Dylan/Kinks persona.
Foxygen‘s latest release, “No Destruction” will be found on Their forthcoming album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, out January 22nd via Jagjaguwar.
Best line of the song: “There’s no need to be an asshole, you’re not in Brooklyn anymore.” Enjoy:
Foxygen – No Destruction
Mike Tucker, the blonde, giant (almost 7 foot-tall) producer also known as Blood Diamonds (and one of Grimes’ many BFFs) has collaborated w/ex-A$AP member, Dominic Lord. The result? Some seriously funky hip-hop. Have a listen to “Barcode” now:
Blood Diamonds – Barcode ft. Dominic Lord
*This track’s apparently been put on ‘Private’ now – Don’t you just love that? Listen to it on SoundCloud then.
MØ
Karen Marie Ørsted aka MØ, the Copenhagen-hailing electro-pop princess who’s made serious waves amongst the blogosphere with just a couple of tracks, has graced us with, “Glass,” yet another gem. Some are calling her the ‘Scandinavian Grimes’ though I think the two have sounds, and personalities entirely of their own, both of which are still entirely addicting. Have a listen to MØ‘s third song to date:
MØ – Glass
I can hardly contain my excitement for Doldrums‘ upcoming album, “Lesser Evil” (out 2/25 on Souterrain Transmissions/Europe, and 2/26 on Arbutus Records/North America). Airick Woodhead is the Canadian mastermind behind Doldrums, and he’s stead-fast to producing some of the freshest, most interesting experimental/electro music out there. “Anomaly” is Doldrums‘ latest release from his highly anticipated forthcoming album:
Doldrums – Anomaly
Brothers in Law is a new lo-fi, shoegaze, indie-pop outfit out of none other than Pesaro, Italy. According to The 405, Brothers in Law have recently gone from duo to trio and will soon release their second EP, Gray Days, on 7″ vinyl, limited edition, via We Were Never Being Boring, CF-records and MattaLab. “Holy Weekend” can be found on Gray Days due out February 16th. Stream below:
Brothers in Law – Holy Weekend
I stumbled upon Widowspeak via Captured Tracks, and boy, I’m glad I did. The “western-tinged” indie-pop/rock n’ roll group composed of Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas transcends you into a dreamy bliss. Their second LP, “Almanac,” is due out January 22nd, (but you can stream the entire album on SoundCloud right now).
Windowspeak – Thick as Thieves
Flight Facilities is a funky electro pop production based out of Australia. Remember their 2011 jam, “Crave You” featuring Giselle? Regardless, the duo has recently released, “Clair De Lune,” a breathtakingly beautiful track featuring Christine Hoberg, with haunting video to match:
Flight Facilities – Clair De Lune (ft. Christine Hoberg)
New Hype-Worthy Electro-Pop Mystery Lad: Josef Salvat
There’s not much to go off of when searching for Josef Salvat, but I can tell you his smooth and addicting debut release, “This Life” (via Purple PR) is incredible… which is apparent, as it quickly shot to the top of music blog charts.
According to Disco Naivete, who introduced the blogosphere to this new electro pop-lad, Salvat hails from London. Though from what I gather, he’s Spanish, also lived in Australia, studied law, and ….that’s really all anyone’s got!
You can find Josef Salvat on Twitter and/or Facebook though. Until we hear more goodness from the mystery man, make sure to stream “This Life” on repeat:
Josef Salvat – This Life
New Hype-Worthy Artist: Twigs
Twigs (update: now FKA Twigs) is a new, semi-mysterious UK-based electro-pop artist that everyone is losing their shit over (and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible). The sultry songstress has swiftly joined the ranks of MØ, Kate Boy and Empress Of by stirring up major hype amongst the blogosphere, and it’s easy to see why. Twigs’ sullen vocals and glitchy synth make for a unique, dark electro-pop sound that leaves you aching for more. The possible model and dancer’s rapid fire fame has landed her on the cover of i-D’s “The Just Kids” issue and The Fader called Twigs a “grown up Grimes.”
Twigs released a self-titled EP on Bandcamp earlier this month and dons a series of interesting and slightly eerie videos directed by Grace Ladoja. Find Twigs on Tumblr, Bandcamp, YouTube and Instagram if you please.
Twigs – Ache
Twigs – Breathe
Has anyone noticed that the woman featured in this video has zero hips!?
Introducing New Dream-Pop Duo: GEMS
A little more than a week ago, the loveliest, dreamiest sounds landed in my inbox. Within that one week, new Washington D.C. duo, GEMS, has charmed, endeared and won over the hearts and ears of the music blogosphere. Gaining serious traction with just two beautiful and haunting tracks, “All I Ever,” and “Void Moon,” GEMS (Lindsay Pitts and Clifford John), spent October in an empty North Carolina beach house recoding their beginnings.
“There was something about being near the ocean this past October (in a gray, deserted beach town) that offered some sort of clarity of reflection in a particularly dark time in my life,” says Pitts.
“Our lives and our relationship and our music are totally wrapped up in this weird and powerful and sometimes very confusing way.”
Keep your eyes and hears open for more to come from GEMS. Until then, stream them on SoundCloud or Bandcamp, and give them a follow on Facebook.
GEMS – All I Ever
GEMS – Void Moon
Fresh & Addictive – Introducing: Nautic
I discovered Nautic maybe a week ago, and have been listening to their two tracks, “Fixxx,” and “Fresh Eyes” so obsessively, I figured it was time to actually write about them.
Story goes, Nautic is a brand new collaboration consisting of UK trio Bullion, Laura Groves, and Tic (of Young Turks). The result is an unbelievably unique, psychedelic and beautiful sound. Nautic is full of 80s nostalgia drenched in synth, strings and soaring vocals. I haven’t heard anything this fresh in a while, (which in music blog world, means about 3 weeks), and I’m dying to hear more. So far, the trio sports just two tracks and a Bandcamp page via Deek Recordings.
Have a listen to Nautic‘s fresh and highly addictive tracks, “Fixxx” and “Fresh Eyes” now:
Nautic – Fixxx
Nautic – Fresh Eyes
Meet NEW Hype-Worthy Swedish Electro-Pop Group: Kate Boy
The Swedes are insanely talented music producing masters and they’re especially synonymous with eclectic electro. From The Knife, to iamamiwhoami, jj, Little Dragon, Niki & The Dove, The Sound of Arrows, even Robyn (and don’t you even try to forget) Ace of Base, addictive electro-pop music is a Swedish forte.
This month, we get to add yet another talented Swedish act to the electro-pop pool: Kate Boy. With just one strong song, “Northern Lights,” Kate Boy thrusts us into nostalgia for The Knife, and in doing so, has quickly topped music blog charts. If the mysterious (supposed 3 parts Swedish, 1 part Aussie) group continues to produce synth superbness, they’re steadfast to becoming electro super stars.
With a bouncing, dark, ambient beat, metallic synth and righteous vocals, listen to Kate Boy‘s debut track, “Northern Lights” and stay tuned:
Kate Boy – Northern Lights
coco stereo 