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kids // my sincerest apologies (video)

Jonas Linngård and Maria Pettersson are the Swedish-duo KIDS, and with their laudable debut self-titled EP they are betting you’ll become a fan (Just like me). But really, becoming a fan is the easy part, simply because the music gets stuck in your ears like good gossip. After listening I’m sure you’ll be telling your friends, and they’ll tell their friends etc. ad nauseam. And call me odd or just a slave to beauty. But when watching the “My Sincerest Apologies” video and Maria P. sings the lyrics “The only place you’ve seen, well you, you ain’t seen nothing…” with just a bit of a wry grin on her Dakota Fanning look-a-like face. Well, it just makes me smile a bit too. Good looks aside, there are additional reasons for my glee. Check out the songs, “Exhale” and “Yours” and this dúo will be swiftly downloaded and swimming around your flat muy pronto. Don’t believe me, head over to kontrollrecordings.com and download the entire EP for free. Yup! It’s official Swedes are way cool. Peace. Continue reading “kids // my sincerest apologies (video)”

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james blake // wilhelms scream

If you know the music of James Blake, then you got the bruises on your heart to prove it. And if you know the music of James Blake, then you too have awakened hungover from the after effects of over consumption, the slight metallic taste of music on your tongue. Not need for bios and past accomplishments. No need to go on about how magical the music is, because all these things are evident to all who know the music of James Blake. Peace. Continue reading “james blake // wilhelms scream”

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Bear In Heaven // The Reflection Of You

Jon Philpot, Joe Stickney, and Adam Wills make up the Brooklyn-based trio Bear In Heaven, and indeed their irascible brand of Pop has marked out acreage in Shangri-La. Play their single “The Refection Of You” and reaffirm your belief in a better place (While your still living, that is), even if that place exists whilst your listing to Bear In Heaven. Check out their label RCRD LBL for free downloads. And, be on the lookout for their forthcoming LP I Love You, It’s Cool, due for release April 3rd. But if you can’t wait until the release date, these practical jokers (Emphasis on jokers) are streaming the whole album on their website bearinheaven.com. I warned you. Peace. Continue reading “Bear In Heaven // The Reflection Of You”

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Miike Snow // Black Tin Box (Ft. Lykke Li)

I’ve visited Miike Snow before. Well, at least their music. You know by now, or least understand my tastes (or maybe not) enough to know I cotton to bands that defy category. So, its no surprise that Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg and Andrew Wyatt, bka Miike Snow, end up upon these vaulted pages once again. And once again I’m singing their praises. The song “Black Tin Box” is a lot of things, but mostly it’s much like a lullaby of sorts with dreamy atmospherics and if a little sinister, story-like quality. I imagine the original story of Little Red-Cap by Die Gebrüder Grimm with “Black Tin Box” playing woefully in the background. The bands latest LP Happy To You is revealing itself to be a curio shoppe of sound and influence, much like the distinct phases of the year. On display is the lovely austerity of  winter, the lush vibrancy of spring, and of course too you have the hectic galloping frenzy of summer, and lastly the cooled tempers of Autumn. All of this woven into, thus far songs for, if not every possible human facet, then a good fistful of them. An album to track the movement of your heart-sun across the horizon of beauteous sound tapestry, how novel and fortuitous for the listener. Peace. Continue reading “Miike Snow // Black Tin Box (Ft. Lykke Li)”

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Capitol Cities // Breathe (Ft. Tupac Shakur)

Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian are L.A.-based electro-pop duo Capital Cities. And although these two have been at the music thing for a minute, not since Dangermouse and his groundbreaking Grey Album, have I been so blown away by such an imaginative sonic coupling. The duos cover/remix of  Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” featuring Tupac Shakur is a mash-up supreme. Also, you’re going to want to check out their incredible 2011 EP release Safe and Sound and of course I got it for you after the jump. And I know you’re gonna want your very own copy of the “Breathe” single, you can get it here. And if you’re going to make the most of the music, well you gotta get up and dance. Peace. Continue reading “Capitol Cities // Breathe (Ft. Tupac Shakur)”

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st. andrew // midnight girlfriend

I am kicking the vibe into a decidedly club direction until the wee hours of a new day. Question is, do you have the stamina to hang tough? I’ve delved into the deep dark recesses of my iPod and pulled up hellified tracks from the shadows. First up is St. Andrew and his wickedly sick track “Midnight Girlfriend.” This one is like hooking up jumper-cables to your central nervous system and sippin’ some Montrachet 1978 (my shout out do Dionysus & MzSOULcialite). So, hold on tight and let’s get this party started! Peace. Continue reading “st. andrew // midnight girlfriend”

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florian lunaire | a year’s worth of song | dramamine | video


 

florian lunaire | dramamine | video

 
His official press release, reads as such, “The most striking thing about Florian Lunaire, is how difficult it is to place him.” But for me, it’s easy: place him on your heart and pull the soft woolen afghan of his songs up close.

You will listen to these songs and you’ll notice a stark simplicity. As if perhaps the songs started off adorned with all manner of gaudy accouterments, but in the end everything unnecessary was shorn away. Leaving only raw glistening bones drying in the sun of our collective audience. I would like to imagine, things like the need to categorize songs is a dying practice. Wishful thinking for certain, but still I dream. Perhaps, that is the bane of the majority of the music industry: its constant pursuit to market and label the commodity of song. I’ll use a universal signifier here, by simply saying Florian Lunaire writes beautiful music and it is “good.” By proclaiming something is good cuts through all the bullshit. No need for further explanation, or having to defend your musical taste. Because already, by hearing or reading that something is good, sets the stage of positive expectation.  So, if you’re a fairly well-adjusted bloke or lass, then I suspect you’ll like the music on review. If you’re a lover of life, and not a warmonger or tyrant, then you’ll have heart enough to let your guard down and let the music in; and listen to the melody of this young singer-songwriter’s raging heart. Peace. Continue reading “florian lunaire | a year’s worth of song | dramamine | video”

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Jesse Boykins III & The Beauty Created // Way Of The Wayfarer (Video)

Some songs are a place and time filled radiantly with love and understanding. Right here, these songs exist exactly as we need them to be.

 
I am of the belief everything without exception contains a soul. Every living thing. Yes, the nonliving too, mountains and molecules alike. But more to the point. I especially am of the belief that even songs carry within them life-giving energies. These energies manifest in varying degrees of influence. For some, a song can encourage. Yet, for others the same exact song can caution. The songs of Jesse Boykins III are radiant and flush with an intimate feel-good vibe. Without a doubt these songs are living and breathing, and at times even kicking and screaming too.

The music of Mr. Boykins is much like meeting an old friend anew or akin to encountering someone you never met before, but for untold reasons ya’ll just click. These songs are much like the latter. Some say soul music is dead or dying. I disagree. Upon listening to “Way Of The Wayfarer,” you know as well as I do such proclamations are untrue to the point of lunacy. If you haven’t heard of Mr. Boykins it’s alright, better late to this sound party than never attending, right? Let’s just say you’re fashionably late. No matter, just enjoy what this young man is putting out into the universe and just chill. Peace. Continue reading “Jesse Boykins III & The Beauty Created // Way Of The Wayfarer (Video)”

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Close // Perfect Darkness

Nothing like a little mystery and ambiguity to further interest. At this juncture, attempting to  remain in the shadows using only the tag Close. This eclectic electronica-producer is about to release, like a once cloistered pure white dove, his deeply personal and beautifully bruised debut LP entitled, Getting Closer. Already some über-attentive media outlets are muttering comparisons and influences, ranging from Detroit techno, House music, and Brian Enoesque references. But, all those comparisons are both true and untrue, because Close is able to go outside his influences and delve into deeper space and meaning. Are you picking up what I’m putting down?

Via his website, Close will be offering glimpses of his music, which will be updated every 24-hours. Also, check out current remixes of such notables as Fink, Little Dragon and Scuba on SoundCloud. This artist will be one to watch in 2012 for damn sure. Peace. Continue reading “Close // Perfect Darkness”

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Pretty Lights // We Must Go On (Video)

For fans of Pretty Lights when you hear on the wire that mew material is afoot it’s like a birthday present for your ears, and they just can’t wait to unwrap the shiny new sounds inside. And with every new Pretty Lights track you’re a bit stupefied at the continuous breadth of Derek’s creativity and originality. Bro takes it higher every time. So it is with “We Must Go On” and its electric space-time continuum vibe, and sassy bass. A bass so primal and naked it’s akin to the reverberations of an exploding distant star light-years away: the lament of the end, but the joy of a beautiful beginning too. Like all of his work, it is an amalgamation of many presences both varied and new. As if all the corners of the world came together into a fluidity of plangent sound. In this case, a sound so enchanting it enthralls your soul, and you find yourself communing peacefully and dreamily with every sunrise and sunset, past, present and future. Peace. Continue reading “Pretty Lights // We Must Go On (Video)”