January 13, 2013

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

January 4, 2013

Angel Haze vs. Azealia Banks – The Cat Fight Track Smackdown

Angel Haze

Azealia Banks and Angel Haze are in the midst of a full-blown bitch fight? Well, duh. Who didn’t anticipate this ticking time bomb of tension to explode at any given notice? The igniting factor? A passive aggressive tweet, of course.

As BrooklynVegan pointed out, “Azealia Banks tweeted, ‘Seriously, if you were not born and raised in NY…. DON’T CLAIM NY. YOU ARE NOT A NEW YORKER.’ Angel Haze apparently took this to be a direct shot at her and her track “New York” and a Twitter fight ensued.” To add fuel to the fire, Perez Hilton thrust himself into the tweet rage, and Banks called him a F****t. Woah.

Regardless of the (still continuing!) saga, we all get to enjoy the “bitch!” name calling fest in the form of a fresh track smackdown. How long will the cat fight ensue, and who will win this epic battle of rebuttals? You decide:

Azealia Banks – No Problems

December 31, 2012

Top 55 Songs of 2012

There have been endless “best song” lists that’ve already purged themselves (well before the year has actually ended) into the blogosphere – Some have been predictable, some ridiculous. It’s easy to criticize, scoff, laugh and/or roll your eyes at some choices made on “best of” lists. To be honest, it’s kind of fun to size up each list, that is until you attempt to compile one yourself. It’s really fucking hard y’all (!), not to mention ridiculously time-consuming.

I remember ridiculing NPR for releasing their ‘best songs’ list in alphabetical order, thinking “Come on, that’s the easy way out!” and here I am, releasing my top 55 tracks in alphabetical order via Spotify (which has its pros/cons). I totally get it now. Not everyone is going to be 100% happy with your choices, and people love to point out “obvious” exclusions, but in the end, it’s amazing knowing that 2012 produced so much incredible music that it is really difficult to pack just 25, 50, or even 100 songs into a list, to the point that you piss people off.

The way in which you present your list is also a dilemma. I finally chose to use Spotify so that I wouldn’t crash everyone’s computers with an endless list of SoundCloud players, however, there were some tracks or bands (Kate Boy, HAERTS) I had to eliminate from the list, simply because they weren’t on Spotfiy. Is that shitty? But for almost a month, I brood over my best tracks list and created, dissected, reconstructed, added, edited, and said ‘ah fuck it’ more times than I’d probably like to admit. At some point, you have to say “just publish it!” and that’s what I’m doing… at the actual end of the year. So finally, I present to you three hours of listening pleasure via coco stereo’s top 55 songs of 2012 (psst…the http link for Spotify by default only shows 30 tracks at a time, so see full music player below). Enjoy:

Frank Ocean

Mac DeMarco

Death Grips

alt-J – Breezeblocks
AlunaGeorge – Just A Touch
Animal Collective – Applesauce
Azealia Banks – 212
Black Moth Super Rainbow – Windshield Smasher
Blood Diamonds – Phone Sex (feat. Grimes)
Chet Faker – I’m Into You
CHVRCHES – The Mother We Share
Death Grips – I’ve Seen Footage
Diplo feat. Lazerdisk Party Sex – Set It Off (feat. Lazerdisk Party Sex)
Dirty Projectors – Gun Has No Trigger
Disclosure – Latch
Django Django – Default
Doldrums – She Is The Wave (Ft. Guy Dallas)
Dum Dum Girls – Lord Knows
Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen
Empress Of – Champagne
Flume – Sleepless (feat. Jezzabell Doran)
Frank Ocean – Lost
Graphics – There’s a Way Back
Grimes – Genesis
Haim – Send Me Down
Here We Go Magic – How Do I Know
Holobody – Prelude
How To Dress Well – & It Was U
Hundred Waters – Sonnet
Iamamiwhoami – Sever
The Irrepressibles – Arrow
Kendrick Lamar – The Recipe
Kindness – Cyan
Liars – Brats
Light Asylum – IPC
Lord Huron – Time To Run
Lower Dens – Brains
Mac Demarco – Rock and Roll Night Club
Major Lazer – Get Free
Miguel – Do You…
Mikky Ekko – Pull Me Down
Mykki Blanco – Wavvy
On An On – Ghosts
Perfume Genius – Hood
Phèdre – IN DECAY
Porcelain Raft – Unless You Speak From Your Heart
Pure Bathing Culture – Ivory Coast
Purity Ring – Obedear
Sam Flax – Fire Doesn’t Burn Itself
Sharon Van Etten – Give Out
Solange – Losing You
Tame Impala – Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
Tennis – My Better Self
Tomas Barfod – November Skies
Trust – Sulk
Wild Nothing – Nocturne
Yuna – Live Your Life
Zambri – You’ll Never Beat Dogs

December 19, 2012

Fresh Tracks Roundup! Sin Fang + Broke for Free + L’Orange + ON AN ON + Beliefs + Digits

Sin Fang

With all the year-end list churning goin’ on, there’s a whole lot of review, reflection and occasional discoveries. However, there’s also still a ton of phonomenal new music to be listened to – Some of which would very well make those “best of 2012” lists, ‘cus you know, the year isn’t actually over yet. So with that, I present to you a plethora of fresh new tracks so good you’d wished you’d waited on your year-end list release:

Sindri Már Sigfússon aka Sin Fang is an indie-pop act from the land of beautiful people i.e., Iceland. He apparently has an affinity for wearing beards made out of ‘stuff’ based off his upcoming and previous album images. “Young Boys” is a catchy number from Sing Fang‘s forthcoming LP, Flowers, due Jan. 2, 2013 (Feb. 19, U.S).

Sin Fang – Young Boys

Broke for Free is an alias of instrumental, electro glitch-hop artist and Oakland, California’s very finest, Tom Cascino. “Budding” is the lead track from Broke for Free‘s recently released EP, Gold Can Stay, and it’s a beaut of unique, melodic proportions.

Broke for Free – Budding

L’Orange is unique blend of hip hop, 20s sampling/nostalgia and Film Noir influences. He’s a poet and producer from North Carolina piquing the interest and ears of many with his eccentric blends. “Alone” is the debut singe from L’Orange‘s recently released LP, The Mad Writer featuring powerhouse LA-based rapper, Blu. Have a listen to the originality now:

L’Orange – Alone (feat. Blu)

Continue reading →

December 18, 2012

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!?

December 12, 2012

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

December 11, 2012

Fresh New Track: Helado Negro – Dance Ghost + Introducing: Ombre

Thank you Helado Negro for this fresh new track! “Dance Ghost” is the latest release by the folk aficionado turned ambient, experimental, electro artist, Roberto Carlos Lange (aka Helado Negro). It’s a sinfully synthy track with smooth, cooing, delicate vocals, enticing, blippy beats and is a beauty of a burner that can easily be set on repeat. “Dance Ghost” has been a savior from the year-end music slump, which is typically plagued with never ending year-end lists:

The single can be found on Helado Negro‘s forthcoming album, Invisible Life, due March, 3, 2013 via Asthmatic Kitty Records.

Oh, but we’re not done yet. Roberto Lange has been a busy man, as he’s also one half of the new and beautiful ambient dream-pop collaboration project, Ombre, with Julianna Barwick. Ombre released their first LP, Believe You Me, at the end of August, 2012 – A little late on the intro here, but might as well since we’re on the Roberto Lange train. Stream Ombre‘s album on Spotify or Bandcamp.

Now, have a listen to both Helado Negro and Ombre:

Helado Negro – Dance Ghost

Ombre – Cara Falsa

December 10, 2012

NEW Video: How to Dress Well – & it was u + Elite Gymnastics Cover – Here in Heaven pt. 3

The philosophical falsetto God and dreamboat, Tom Krell, aka How to Dress Well, just released a new video for his amazing track “& it was u” off this year’s beloved and emotionally charged LP, Total Loss. The video was written and directed by Luke Gilford, and produced by Urban Outfitters (Okay?) as part of their UO Music Video Series.

Tom Krell was also warmly welcomed back to San Francisco this past week with another stunning performance at the Rickshaw Stop. The venue was packed three-fold in comparison to Krell’s last visit in June, and his performance was even more powerful, emotionally charged, and profound. Krell didn’t cover Janet Jackson’s “Again,” a track that several people were surprisingly eager to hear, but I did catch snippets of Ghost Town DJ’s “My Boo”/ INOJ’s “I Want to Be Your Lady Baby” tucked into his Total Loss gems. Krell also belt out some of his coveted R.Kelly jams, a new and intimate track written for his brother (sang A cappella), and interestingly, a falsetto-ed version of Elite Gymnastics‘ “Here in Heaven pt. 3.” Tom Krell/How to Dress Well‘s performances are always a breath of fresh air ironically accompanied by a heavy heart – a necessary experience, enough to give you chills.

Watch How to Dress Well‘s new video for “& it was u” and enjoy his cover of “Here in Heaven pt. 3”

How to Dress Well – & it was u

How to Dress Well – Here in Heaven pt. 3 (Elite Gymnastics Cover)

December 5, 2012

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

December 3, 2012

New Track: Pale – Doing My Time

The ever-so mysterious, UK hailing, triangle loving, electro-pop group, Pale, has just released a second track, “Doing My Time” – A darker, slower burning and churning jam in comparison to their debut track, “Too Much.”