Audio Absinthe

I have a couple of friends whose musical tastes and opinions I really respect.  The one who showed me Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” expects it will explode on the blogosphere becoming a hit and there’s good reason to believe him, it’s just starting to happen now.  BlackBookMag.com compares their sound to MGMT and Peter, Bjorn, and John, predicting the song to become one of the big hits of this summer.  Indie radio stations can be, at times, predictable and if you keep track on Hype Machine and Elbo.ws alone, you’ll have a pretty good collection of these kind of blogosphere hits. The song has been selected as a favorite by over 2,500 different people and the song’s only been around for a week.  Check out Foster The People’s official website and you might find all of the songs just as refreshing and enjoyable as “Pumped Up Kicks.”  If there was a fantasy music league, I think these guys would be a good bet.

MP3: Foster The People – “Pumped Up Kicks”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Radio Dept. is an indie-pop rock band from Sweden.  Their upcoming album, Clinging To A Scheme, is scheduled for release in April of this year and will be their 3^rd full length release to date.  The single off of the album is called “David” but it’s another track, “Heaven’s On Fire,” that has become one of the most blogged about songs of 2010.

MP3: The Radio Dept. – “Heaven’s On Fire”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Clinging To A Scheme (Labrador, April 2010)

Fyfe Dangerfield is the front man of Guillemots. His debut solo album is called Fly Yellow Moon and it was released on January 18th in the UK. I’ve only heard two of the tracks off the album. “She Needs Me” perfectly embodies all of the soft, pop qualities that were already bothering me with “When You Walk In The Room” which is otherwise fun and avoidably catchy.  I’m suspicious that the album’s overall sound is closer to “She Needs Me” which I didn’t really enjoy.  There’s something about “When You Walk In The Room” that I do like a lot but I can’t really put my finger on it.  Since those are the only two songs I’ve heard from the album, I guess I’ll have to wait until it’s released in the US to really check it all out.

MP3: Fyfe Dangerfield – “When You Walk In The Room”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Fly Yellow Moon (Polydor Records, January 2010 (UK))

Danger Mouse and James Mercer of The Shins teamed up to create Broken Bells. Danger Mouse was a big fan of The Shins and the duo first met on the Dark Night of the Soul collaboration album.  Their self-titled debut will officially be made available in March of 2010 but the album has been leaked online and it’s very impressive to say the least.  The single and first track officially released is called “The High Road” which will also be the first track off the forthcoming album.  Right off the bat, you can tell you’re listening to quality, experimental indie-pop music.  Warm, electronic sounds are set to a melodic and beautiful layering of guitars and strings over 60’s pop style drums.  The songs have cool and smooth, steady builds that result in an album that leaves you feeling like you’re on a real musical journey.  Similar to the beginning of “The High Road,” the end of “Your Head Is On Fire” sounds like it could have been a Zero 7 track.  The end of “Sailing to Nowhere” sounds like a film score and made me wonder when Danger Mouse might start scoring movies since he’s clearly capable.  The album as a whole is truly artistic and a great piece of work.  Nearly every song is capable of being someone else’s favorite track.  Check out the songs below and the official website at BrokenBells.com.

Broken Bells – “The High Road” (removed by request)

Broken Bells (March 2010)

Back in March, DJ D Sharp put together a mix tape for Lateef the Truth Speaker but it wasn’t released on any major online distributor like Amazon or CD Universe until November (it’s not available on iTunes).  Truth Is Love is a collection of songs featuring Lateef taken from albums released in the last 10-15 years but it’s comprised mostly of Lateef’s more recent tracks.  Overall, I was a little disappointed with this mix tape.  Back in the 90’s, Lateef was at the top of my list of rappers because of projects like Latyrx and the Solesides collective which turned into the Quannum.  Lateef was an incredible emcee with a distinctive delivery unmatched in style and creativity.  Unfortunately, most of his new stuff is just not that great anymore. Some of his old school fans are much more critical than I am but I can definitely understand where they’re coming from.  Except for a couple of tracks, including “Lady Don’t Tek No” hidden at the end of “That Old Pair of Jeans”, Truth Is Love doesn’t have too much to offer.

MP3: Lateef and Fatboy Slim – “That Old Pair of Jeans”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Truth Is Love (November 2009)

AIR’s new album, Love 2, will be released in just a couple of days.  The French duo wrote, performed, and produced the album and are joined by drummer Joey Waronker (Beck, REM, Thom Yorke’s new band) for 9 of the 12 tracks.  The ethereal guitar pop wins me over for several songs but not throughout the entire album.  ”Love” and “African Velvet” are two that stand out for me, along with “So Light Is Her Footfall” which has a fuzzy, psychedelic feel.  All of the songs on the album have that warm, ambient pop sound AIR is well known for, but some of the tracks are just too soft for me.  ”Heaven’s Light” and “Sing Sang Sung” are two examples; they are great electronic pop tracks but a little too sweet sounding for my taste.  Love 2 has lot of fun, cool parts that I enjoy but for the most part, it stays too clean and too light for me to really love it.

MP3: AIR – “So Light Is Her Footfall” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: AIR – “African Velvet” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Love 2 (October 2009)

Everyone in LA knows Dr Hollywood whether they know it yet or not.  If you’ve been to the Staples Center or Dodger Stadium, if you listen to Power 106 and KIIS FM or watch ESPN and KTLA you’ve probably heard “We Run LA” which has become a modern anthem for everything Los Angeles.  Their sound bridges the gap between hip hop, electronic, dance and pop music which is probably why it’s so popular in clubs and bars.  The band’s own bio says it best, “There’s broken glass on the floor, smoke in the air, and panties on the lampshade; someone must be listening to Dr. Hollywood…”

Louie Rubio and Lex Larson, two Los Angeles natives, met in high school and eventually formed Dr Hollywood to produce and write for local talent.  Add grammy-winner Richard “Segal” Huredia (Britney Spears, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Hannah Montana) to the equation and you get Dr Hollywood’s brand of dance-rock, hip hop, and 80’s style synth-pop songs that DJ’s love to call their favorite.  Hip Hop artists such as B Real, Too Short, and Obie Trice others have collaborated with the Dr for the band’s upcoming debut full length, Halfway To Paradise: Departures.  They recently recorded a music video for their most popular track and changed the title and chorus to “We Run the Club” which will presumably have the same success as the original but on a much larger scale, even a worldwide scale.  Soon it could be “We Run Las Vegas,” “We Run Ibiza,” We Run Tokyo,” and it all started with LA.

MP3: Dr. Hollywood – “We Run The Club” (Download)
MP3: Dr. Hollywood – “Smashing Bottles” (Download)
MP3: Dr. Hollywood – “Take Off featuring B Real” (Download)
MP3: Dr. Hollywood – “1969 featuring Dirt Nasty and Too Short” (Download)

Le Tane put out an awesome summer mix called “The Thrill Of It” and I must say, it is pretty thrilling.  It’s an hour long set of hand picked electronic synth-rock and hipster pop, 80’s style dance tracks for the summer of 2009.  It really is great, check it out on his blog at KenyaDig.com.  I linked MP3’s for some of the tracks on the mix below.

“If you like what you hear and interested in having me provide some sweaty jungle love at your kids’ birthday party, please email me at latane.hughes@gmail.com. ive done it before, and will do it again, but this time with music.” – Le Tane

Download the whole mix here:
Le Tane – The Thrill Of It

Tracklist:
stay dont stop til wet hot american summer intro
vega – no reason (mj/muscles edit)
MP3: bag raiders – fun punch
futurecop! – n.a.s.a. (discoballistic remix)
MP3: chromeo – tenderoni
MP3: classixx – ill get you (royal rumble edit)
MP3: kennedy – karate
MP3: lifelike – so electric
cut copy – lights and music (neomccarthyism edit)
MP3: van she – strangers (yuksek remix)
MP3: chemical brothers – star guitar
little boots – new in town (fred falke remix)
bag raiders vs. ting tings – nil by my name (le tane rjncjn spiced blend)
fleetwood mac – you make lovin’ fun (trailmix edit)
grafton primary – i can cook (miami horror radio edit)
midnight juggernauts – shadows (knightlife remix)
panthers – goblin city (holy ghost! remix)
MP3: breakbot – penelope pitstop
yelle – je teu voir
black kids – i’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance (twelves remix)
gunstar – dream machine
miami horror – don’t be on with her
autokratz – always more (yuksek remix)
futurecop! vs. ciara – fast forward 1-2 step
empire of the sun – walking on a dream (treasure fingers remix)
cut copy – so haunted (knightlife sun soaked reprise)
felix da housecat – ready 2 wear
friendly fires – jump in the pool (thin white duke remix)
michael jackson – p.y.t. (back to the future fade)

IMissYouMJ.com is an online charity project where you can you can buy a photo plot on a giant Michael Jackson photo mosaic. After all of the photo plots are sold, a large poster will be sent to all of the people who participate. You can upload whatever photo you want for $25 and the money goes to the Rock For Kids organization which provides free music lessons for children in need. Rock For Kids is “is a non-profit organization that provides support, hope, inspiration and assistance to underserved children and teens.” -RockForKids.org. Go to ImissyouMJ.com and check out the top left corner of Michael’s glove on the photo mosaic, that’s mine.

MP3: Michael Jackson – “Rock With You“

RockForKids.org

It took me a while but I finally got around to posting them all.  In no particular order, here are my favorites from 2009, so far…

Phoenix
MP3: “1901”
MP3: “Lisztomania”

Dan Auerbach
MP3: “When The Night Comes”

Grizzly Bear
MP3: “Two Weeks”

Wilco
MP3: “Solitaire”
MP3: “One Wing”
MP3: “I’ll Fight”

Quantic and His Combo Barbaro
Amazon: “The Dreaming Mind”

Andrew Bird
MP3: “Oh No”

Franz Ferdinand
MP3: “No You Girls”

Doves
MP3: “Jetstream”
MP3: “Kingdom of Rust”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
MP3: “Hysteric”

Black Crowes
MP3: “I Ain’t Hiding”

White Rabbits
MP3: “Percussion Gun”

K’naan
MP3: “Take A Minute”

Manchester Orchestra
MP3: “I’ve Got Friends”

Mocky
MP3: “Birds Of A Feather”

Kutiman
http://thru-you.com/

Black Moth Super Rainbow
MP3: “Born On A Day The Sun Didn’t Rise”
MP3: “Twin Of Myself”
MP3: “Fields Are Breathing”

Animal Collective
MP3: “My Girls”

Matt and Kim
MP3: “Daylight”

Silversun Pickups
MP3: “Panic Switch”

Curumin
MP3: “Compacto”
MP3: “Salto No Vacuo Con Joelhada”

Emiliani Torrini
MP3: “Me and Armini”

Zion I
MP3: “Coastin”

Junior Boys
MP3: “Parallel Lines”

General Elektriks

MP3: “You Don’t Listen”

St Vincent
MP3: “Strangers”

Coconut Records
MP3: “Any Fun”

Matisyahu
“One Day”

Method Man and Redman
MP3: “A Yo”

Tosca
MP3 Link: “Joe Si Ha”
MP3: “Fondue”

The BPA
MP3: “Toe Jam”
MP3: “He’s Frank”

Bishop Allen
MP3: “The Ancient Commonsense of Things”

—-

Newer acts:

Band of Skulls
MP3 Link: “Death By Diamonds and Pearls”
MP3: “I Know What I Am”

Empire of the Sun
MP3: “Walking On A Dream”

One eskimO
Link to listen: “Given Up”
MP3: “Givin Up (Don Diablo remix)”

Nickel Eye
MP3: “Brandy of the Damned featuring Wale (Mark Ronson remix)”
MySpace link to listen: “Bonnie and Clyde”

Mayer Hawthorne
MP3: “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out”

Zee Avi
MP3: “Bitter Heart”
MP3: “The Story”

Passion Pit
MP3: “Moth’s Wings”
MP3 link: “The Reeling”
MP3: “Little Secrets”

Fight From Above
MP3: “Between The Curves”

Vosotros Presents: The Years
MP3 link: “Lose My Number”
MP3 link: “Heartbreaker”

Daniel Merriweather
MP3: “Change” featuring Wale

The Big Pink
MP3: “Velvet”

The Temper Trap
MP3: Sweet Disposition

Thenewno2
MP3 link: “Yomp”
MP3 link: “Give You Love”
MP3: “Crazy Tuesday”

Asa
MP3: “Jailer”
MP3: “Subway”

The Very Best
MP3: “Warm Heart of Africa”

St Motel
MP3: “Dear Dictator”

Danny Chaimson
MySpace link to listen: “This Is Life”

Hey Champ
MP3: “Cold Dust Girl”

Jaydiohead by Minty Fresh Productions
MP3: “Wrong Prayer”

Asher Roth feat. Busta Rhymes and New Kingdom
MP3: “Lion’s Roar” produced by Oren Yoel

—-

Mixtapes:

Wale & 9th Wonder - Back To The Feature

TiRon – Ketchup
Miguel featuring TiRon – “Go”