Category: Uncategorized

Pssst… New Purity Ring, Dirty Projectors & Twin Shadow Albums are FINALLY (legally) Here!

Twin Shadow

So, if you haven’t already illegally downloaded/streamed/and/or hit up a music blogger who actually gets paid, the new Purity Ring, Twin Shadow & Dirty Projectors albums have FINALLY and legally arrived.

I’ll admit, I have a homie who gave me the albums well in advance (to end my “suffering”), thus my ears have been delightfully well versed, but I figured I’d save this post for those who are morally good and wait and/or pay for things like this to be legitimately released.

Side note: Apologies for the centered Spotify audio players, I spent a ridiculous amount of time researching how to flush them left, I really did, and sadly, nothing fuckin’ worked.

Purity Ring is a beloved fav amongst synth-electro-pop lovers. Songs from the new album: Odebear, LoftiCries, BeliSpeak, Ungirthed and Fineshrine have been leaked/released/floating around the interwebz for quite a while, some even as far back as 2011, hence the album doesn’t seem entirely *new* if you’ve been an avid follower. BUT! it’s still an amazing listen nonetheless. (If you’re not a Spotify user, you can stream the entire album on NPR here.)

Purity Ring – Shrines (July “24,”2012)

Thank God Dirty Projectors has something new out. As amazing as the song is, there are only so many times you can continuously listen to Stillness is the Move (okay, I still do) before realizing it came out a LONG time ago (2009). Also, can you believe they have 7 full-length albums out now? Seven! If you aren’t familiar, Dirty Projectors is a six man/woman indie-rock band hailing from Brooklyn, of course! I listened to “Dance for You” an unhealthy amount of times in a row.

Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan (July 10, 2012)

George Lewis Jr. aka Twin Shadow is a one-man 80s new wave master. He produced his latest album Confess, by himself and apparently a motorcycle accident was the inspiration for its creation. I’ll be enjoying his stage presence at the Great American Music Hall on August 16th and so should you (unless you already have Charli XCX tickets for the same night, then it’s completely justified):

Twin Shadow – Confess (July 10, 2012)

Go Mental for: The Irrepressibles + Eyedress + New Moods + Autre Ne Vuet + Gatekeeper

I was riding the bus the other day to drop off my “unlawful rent increase petition” to the SF Rent Board, as my landlord is trying to raise our rent to “market value,” which happens to be a whopping 25% increase. WTF! Thanks San Francisco. So as I’m standing there on the bus holding onto a pole, I turn to see a 20 something year old bro, who also happens to be a midget, walk on and hoist himself into a seat. A mini bro! He was jamming out to some tunes, swinging little his legs back and forth with his arm casually laying across the top of his seat. Of course my staring problem kicks in and I have to tell myself to act civilized, but suddenly out of the corner of my eye I spy this thin, weathered looking guy in his 40s who I can already tell is beyond mental. He’s twitching, swallowing hard, blinking quickly and staring intently at mini midget bro. He starts to frantically wave his hands back and forth in large circular motions at the midget and yell, “HELLO!” “HELLO!” as if mini bro is blind and/or deaf. Mini bro takes his ear buds out and gives the mental guy a flat and surprisingly low, “YO.” The mental guy points at the midget and wavers, “You know… I want to ask you something…” At this point, the entire bus is dead silent, anxiously waiting in anticipation for what craziness he’s going to unleash. He points at the midget and sputters with utter concern, “Say, how many meals a day do you eat?” I immediately turn my head to conceal the burst of laughter and utter delight I’m ensuing. Mini bro looks at him blankly and replies, “Uh… I eat a lot,” then puts his ear buds back in. I step down, push through the doors at my stop and let out a loud burst of laughter. Of all things to ask a midget?

So in conclusion to this story, I give you 5 jams I’ve discovered recently that’re so fresh I think even the mini-est of bros and/ or mental maniacs would most def dig:

1) The Irrepressibles is a 10 piece performance orchestra lead by composer/artist Jamie McDermott. Arrow is a magnifying, melody-pop jam that’ll be featured on their upcoming album, Nude – released in October. The vocals, intrumentals + the video are intense, sensual, and totally electrifying.

The Irrepressibles – Arrow (video is prob NSFW)


2) Idris Vicuna aka Eyedress hails from the Philippines and honestly, I wish there was more about him on the interwebz. He does have a blog and a Twitter, so go follow him, then come back tell me more about him. Hah. This is his new shoegaze jam that I can’t get enough of:

Eyedress – Teen Spirits

Okay so I’ll admit, these next three songs aren’t really that new (2011, gasp!), but I’d only even heard of these bands (New Moods, Autre Ne Vuet and Gatekeeper) until the last couple of weeks, so if I haven’t heard of them, then maybe you haven’t fuckin’ heard of them either?…! Plus their catchy jams are so full of synth-electr0-goth-pop greatness, you’ll dig them like a mental guy and a midget should:

3) New Moods consists of Billy Jones from Other Passengers and Melati Malay from Young Magic. They only have two songs, but you can download both of them on bandcamp. Weeee!

New Moods – Playtime

4) There’s like, nothing written about Autre Ne Vuet except an old Pitchfork album review (reviewing older jams) stating that the one-man act behind the “vagina” looking Body EP cover wants to remain anonymous. I bet he’s a midget bro. Regardless, his jams are dancy fancy and “I really want it.”  The article says he “shares qualities and a scene with acts like How to Dress Well, Games, and, less directly, soul-aspiring indie bands from Bon Iver to Yeasayer.” Interesting. Now get down!

Autre Ne Vuet – Your Clothes

5) Someone tagged Gatekeeper as “skull disco” on last.fm. HAH. I can see that. I discovered this band because Claire aka Grimes had mentioned them in an interview. She said she saw them in Mexico and it was the best live show she’d ever been to, so of course I had uncover this greatness as well. They’re an electronic duo hailing from Chicago and/or NYC and this song was released on their 2011 EP titled, Giza. They’re dark, experimental, gothic-y and undeniably addicting:

Gatekeeper – Giza

Grimes + Charli XCX – An Electro-Pop Songstress Homage

Just yesterday, V Magazine released a stunning cover alongside interviews with three fabulous femme fetale “It” girls in indie, experimental & electro-pop music: Grimes, Charli XCX and Sky Ferreiera. Each of them were interviewed by Elton John, Genesis Breyer P-Orrifge, and Geri Halliwell – Are you fucking kidding me? Who came up w/this ridiculously amazing combination? You can read all three full-length interviews here. The cover soon inspired me to pay homage to Grimes & Charli XCX (sorry Sky) – two of my fav female musicians “on the verge” of total pop stardom.

Claire Boucher aka Grimes shouldn’t be news to you (apologies for assuming – if she is news to you – catch up on your shit! hah). Her latest side projects and/or collaboration(s) might be though. I swear, in every interview I watch of Claire, she seems to be involved in some sort of failed romance with an electro-bro obsessed w/K-pop, who most likely opened for her last show and/or is a fellow Canadian bff. Either way, Claire makes fresh music with these homies too, which is just fine for us because – in typical Grimes fashion – it’s always amazing:

Blood Diamonds feat. Grimes – Phone Sex


L$D – Don’t Smoke My Blunt Bitch feat. Kreayshawn, Tragik, Grimes & Blood Diamonds

This one’s trippy, industrial and really fucking catchy after the 3rd time. Apparently (and/or obviously?) the song was made in 10 mins, and Grimes produced the video in an hour. Best part: Grimes screeching into a red and black polka dot print phone. ENJOY:

Charli XCX, (Kiss Charli Kiss), the brit goth-pop songstress just recently released her new EP, You’re the One and this is her video premier (via Gorilla vs.Bear):

Charli XCX – You’re the One

This is my all-time favorite Charli XCX song AND video – also recently released on her new EP. The goth-pop jam explodes with synth-tastic-ness and it’ll stay in your head for days. No complaints!

Charli XCX – Nuclear Seasons

A Sweet ‘n’ Sour 4th of July Jam – MVSCLES

It’s 4th of July… and I have nothing to do, surprise! Considering that we burnt down our deck last year, maybe it’s better this way.

I got up early and headed to the de Young museum to view the visually stunning interactive Jean Paul Gaultier fashion exhibit (which I highly recommend). Afterwards, I strolled through Golden Gate park, walked to the inner Sunset and sat down for lunch where I then inhaled an ungodly amount of kimchi and rice cake – quint essential 4th of July cuisine. Feeling guilty, I decided to walk it off and headed to Cole Valley, through the Haight and wound up at the Pan Handle.

I sat down on a bench to figure out my next plan of action, when “Little John” approached me. He jumped off his skateboard, plopped himself next to me, cap bent upward, diamond earring glistening in the sun, flashed a wide grin and asked me for a favor. Reluctantly I told him that depended. Of course, because random people apparently approach me about this all the fucking time, he asked if he could borrow my phone. I feel like this is such a weird  thing to ask of a stranger. He handed me his dead phone and said, “Here, you can hold my phone if you want. I’m just tryin’ to find my friends in this park and I don’t wanna walk the whole thing.” I laughed and exclaimed, “This park really isn’t that big.” He smiled and said, “I promise I won’t steal your phone.” – This of course, is why asking a stranger to borrow your phone is weird because we’re both thinking about that possibility. So I smiled and handed him the phone. “Little John” yanked the headphones out to make his call (to “Big D”), and this song (that I’d been listening to on repeat during my entire walk-a-thon through the city), came blasting out:

MVSCLES – Sweet N Sour

I can’t find much about MVSCLES (because they’re new!…?) aside from the fact that they’re a duo hailing from Boston and this is their debut track. This jam is sickeningly addictive, full of synth-y greatness, bouncy beats and simple but smile-inducing lyrics like: “If I hadn’t met sour, I’d have never known sweet.” Here’s their bandcamp (for a download!) and their Twitter page if you feel like stalking.

After “Little John” finished his phone call via speaker phone, he jumped up, said, “Stop wasting all this beauty on a bench!” then told me to join him and his friends for BBQ, beer, fireworks and fun.. especially since I now knew where they were all sitting. I smiled, said I’d think about it, he jumped up on his skateboard and rode off.  I should’ve taken him up on his offer because now, this is what I’m doing instead. Hah… lucky you!

Happy 4th everyone!

These Jams Feel Right: Motion CNTRL + FIDLAR + Why? + jj

jj

I am REALLY terrible at judging when a band is actually going to go on stage. Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 8 pm, so I  get there by 8:30 pm and the starter band hasn’t even gone on stage. Sometimes I’m there JUST to see the starter band, so I add an hour to my initially planned time and I miss the whole fucking thing. So while I’m writing this, I’m probably missing the entire Lower Dens show, but let’s hope  I’m wrong, like always. … side note: I made it RIGHT on time and Lower Dens blew my mind and/or eardrums and made my pants vibrate – Rockin’ show.

Now on to the good stuff. I’m gonna share with you some great fucking jams I’ve come across within the last week, so let’s cut to the chase:

I heard this track and immediately played it 13 times in a row. The jam is catchy as hell with smooth vocals and a bouncy, poppin’ synth beat. It’s also available for FREE on band camp. Hell yes! The girl/guy duo hails from LA. BlahblahblahScience conducted an interview w/the two here for your reading enjoyment.

Motion CNTRL – It Feels Right

I stumbled upon this awesome map on Phoenix with the “50 Best New Bands in America” so of course I clicked on California and discovered FIDLAR (Fuck it, Dog Life’s a Risk). Now I’m not usually one for garage/surf/skate punk because it reminds me of hot, fit, tan surfer bros w/long bleached blonde hair making skate videos in empty pools and jamming out at house parties… cus… those are all terrible qualities? Anyway, these guys rock it and I dig their sound:

FIDLAR – No Waves

Why?  – Sod in the Seed

Why? is back and frontman Yoni Wolf has found his witty, quirky, poetic hip-hop grove once again. It’s about time. They’re releasing a 6-song EP August 16th w/the same title. Check it:

 

Speaking of (don’t call it a..) comebacks, jj – the Swedish indie new-wave pop duo has released a new song reminding me of the gloriousness that they produced with their epic 2009/2010 albums… (okay they released some stuff last year, but it wasn’t as mind blowing). The song is part of an EP they recently released called High Summer.

jj – High Summer

OMG New Jams – Purity Ring + Phèdre + Cat Power + Diplo

Purity Ring

Would this Purity Ring album come out already? I have a homie who’s already been ear deep in it, but of course he gets paid to write about rock jams and the such, hence he has his hands on it pre-release. The rest of us, however, have to sit impatiently, scouring the internetz for another leaked jam to feed our curious need to hear more of the majestic electro pop, crackle and snap that Purity Ring projects. The band consists of two Canadians, Megan James and Corin Roddick, both former members of GOBBLE GOBBLE, now Born Gold (another electro-tastic band). The album Shrines is set to release July 24th, 2012 – Hurry the eff up!

Their first debuted single from the album, Odebear already made its appearance on this blog, but just this week they’ve given us another gem to listen to on repeat. James’ poetic voice sweetly sings of enclosing/holding someone, literally inside her rib cage, and the steady electro beats make this song a fine shrine of its own to worship.

Purity Ring – FineShrine

What’s with Canadians being so amazingly fantastic at creating weird-o/magnifying/experimental/addictive electro pop? Keep it up. Phèdre‘s one of my all time fav bizarro-pop bands hailing from Canada and they’ve impressed me once again with Haberdash. And, get this… according to Gorilla Vs. Bear, they released this song in hopes to raise money, “with all proceeds going to benefit one of the label’s beloved Toronto institutions, UNLOVABLE, which was shut down over the weekend.” Enjoy:


Wow, when was the last time Cat Power came out with any jams and/or an album? Let me Google that for you. Hmm… I still don’t know, too long ago, but you guessed it (!) She has a new song and stuff. Apparently she has a new album, Sun, to be released September 4th. What a pleasantly unexpected surprised. Even better? This new jam rocks:

Cat Power – Ruin

So this last one, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to admit listening to, Hah, sorry Diplo. I can’t say I listen to his mixes much, plus I also developed this aversion towards him when he started “Follow Fat Girl Sunday” on Twitter, in which he asks fat girls to send a plead for his follow, or at least nudes. Afterwards, I thought, “That guy’s kind of a dick.” Regardless, this jam IS catchy as hell. It’s off his new EP, Express Yourself, all of which is available to stream on SoundCloud here, which is kind of a nice guy thing to do… Kind of.

Diplo – Set It Off feat. Lazerdisk Party Sex

How to Dress Well + Finally Boys – A Hilarious & Stunning Set Recap

I saw How to Dress Well last night at Rickshaw Stop by myself (until, however, to my luck, a last.fm homie actually introduced himself, for which I was delightfully grateful!). There’s something so unusual about going to a show solo. You willfully purchase the ticket knowing you’ll be in the midst of such a social scene, yet enduring detachment from it all. This oddity occurs purely because you know that show will be worth that undeniable loneliness you’ll feel while enjoy the sweet sounds you’re so looking forward to.

Tom Krell aka How to Dress Well stated on Twitter that he’d be going on at midnight. I should’ve taken his word for it, because I stood there at 10:30 pm in the middle of the mostly empty venue, beer in hand, looking around at the walls, dying for someone/anyone/anything to get on stage and give me an excuse to stop feeling so alone. Thirty mins later, laughs, fresh jams, entertainment and beauty ensued:

The starter band, Finally Boys, a fresh-faced electronic duo “representin’ the East Bay” was ironically hilarious and their sounds were super fresh. I was totally digging their entire set, not to mention their laugh-inducing interpretive dances and entertaining posse of bubble blowing, mullet donning, hyphy groupies and/or girlfriends. I kept looking around the room to exchange a mutual laugh, giggle and/or wide eye, yet everyone was blank faced and swaying. Regardless, they produced ridiculously sweet sounds and an entertaining set. I can only find three of their songs anywhere (find them here), and this one’s definitely a keeper:

Finally Boys – Lunar Lover:

 

Sure enough, How to Dress Well, the lo-fi, R&B artist came on at 11:50 pm. A violinist accompanied, and I’m guessing a keyboardist (I really don’t know, there were too many tall people to my left) and Tom asked everyone to squeeze in. Not only is Tom an insanely beautiful human with twinkling eyes and a charming demeanor, but his songs are enchanting and raw. His entire set was simple yet full of impact and his songs produced an entrancing quality to which you felt frozen in place, stung by the beauty he sweetly belted. My absolute favorite part of the set was when he swiftly came back for an encore, and swung the microphone over his shoulder to swoon the audience with the fragility of his pure voice. In that very moment, the entire audience fell silent, lapping up those last moments of delicate sounds.

After the lights went up, the dude next to me (who kept singing “shit, shit, shiiiiit” along to the songs) turned to his buddy and exclaimed, “I don’t think anyone gets just how much I felt during that.” You’re probably right bro, being that I think you were on drugs, but regardless, we were all certainly feeling something during that beauty of a set. This was part of How to Dress Well’s pre-album tour. His LP Total Loss is due in September. His latest dreamy jam, Ocean Floor for Everything has already made its presence on my blog, though it’s worth another go, as are his R. Kelly covers. Most certainly take up the chance to see How to Dress Well and/or Finally Boys – You won’t regret it, even if you’re alone.

 

 

Jams So Fresh, So Smooth (you’ll wanna gro0ve) – Onra, Yalls, THEESatisfaction

Oh hi. I’ve been working on a blog post for two days (still working on it!), but alas, it’s for work! When do I get to write about smooth, fresh, funky jams I’m just dying to expose, listen to and write about all day long for our listening and mind-blowing pleasure? Right fucking now. I took a break from blogging …to blog… (cue eye rolling), but no really, these jams are so damn worth taking a break from blogging to blog, that you’d wish you’d started your own blog (don’t do that) featuring all of the smoothness I’m about to unleash. Brace yo’ self:

1) Onra – L.O.V.E: Ready to (really) get dooooown? Onra, the funk-master, beat-making French producer (aka Arnaud Bernard) has released this beauty of jam (soon to be released on an EP June 12th). Someone commented on the Onra last.fm page, “Onra destroy my brain!” so you know this shit is gooood. Better than #bathsalts (I’m guessing).


  
2) Yalls – Settle Down: Wait, so this guy lives in Berkeley and his name is Dan? Regardless of the ‘normalcy,’ I stumbled upon this sweet, (oh so!) sweet and deliciously funkdafied jam ‘cus I’d  heard another song of his on another blog. I was amazed, thus tweeted about it and then ferociously looked up more of Dan in Berkeley aka Yalls’ jams because they’re fresh, and that’s how these things go. He also has a Tumblr, cute. Go look at it here.

3) THEESatisfaction – QueenS: Wow, wtf (!) this jam is so funky fresh and soulfully smooth, I feel like it’s transmitting dreamy subliminal messages into my brain: “Whatever you dooo, don’t funk with my groove.” THEE  (see what I did there?) last.fm bio of the duo, (Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White hailing from Seattle) describes their musical genre as “Funk-psychedelic, feminista sci-fi epics with the warmth and depth of Black Jazz and Sunday morning soul, frosted with icy raps.” Damn, I think I can handle that! Listen to their entire album (released March 2012), awE naturalE on Spotify here.

All right. Back to blogging about stuff I get paid to blog about (but I love you like I do).

Braaaaaains! Courtesy of Lower Dens

This just in: Everyone’s losing their f**king minds + an amazing song/album you need to hear.

There have been two cases of cannibalism in the news this week:

1) Rudy Eugene, the “Miami Zombie” who chewed and ate the face of some homeless bro on a causeway; all while nude and high on bath salts.

2) Alexander Kinyua, the Maryland college student who just murdered, then ate the heart and brain of his roomie.

I find this all very fitting being that my latest addiction from the recently released (May 1st) Lower Dens album, Nootropics, is the song Brains. (Psst. the entire album is on Spotify). Lower Dens frontwoman, Jana Hunter, does look slightly zombie-esque and/or deranged in this Brains video, all the the while dreamily singing, “Don’t be afraid” and smugly smiling to herself. Well played.

So whether you’re amused, horrified and/or disgusted by the seemingly approaching Zombie apocalypse, listen to this enchanting dream-pop, shoe-gaze, indie rock song, and you too will have brains on the… brain (just not in your mouth please!).

Lower Dens – Brains:

Six Enthralling Dance-y Jams

The blog went on a weeklong hiatus while I was prancing through sweat & rain in the lovely/steamy streets of NYC. Vacay is over, but that’s not gonna bring me down (I’ve been back a day, so just wait hah). Here are a handful of enthralling and unique dance-y jams I just haven’t been able to kick (which obviously isn’t a bad thang). They’ll keep anyone happy and occupied to keep the post-vacay blues, or whatever you’re complaining about today, away:

1) Kauf – When You’re Out

2) WhoMadeWho – Head On My Pillow

3) Craft Spells – Sun Trails
(Why is this song so mysterious to find online? Click to hear it in Spotify)

4) The Mynabirds – Body of Work

5) Here We Go Magic – How Do I Know?

6) Purity Ring – Odebear