Sharing the sharing.
Here are 15 tracks that are sure to meet your fancy. Featuring hits from Monster Rally, The Chemical Brothers, Black Lips, The Hold Steady, Pixies, La Luz, Bill Callahan, First Base, The Limiñanas, The Velvet Underground, Epicycle, Troubadour Dali, The Undertones and Elvis Perkins In Dearland. Enjoy.
Ted Feighan is back with Return To Paradise, his best Monster Rally release yet. Check out opening track “Orchids” (below), it’s a killer mix of old vinyl crackle, hip hop beats and pure tropical bliss. This album is solid, and does just as it’s title suggests. Return To Paradise comes out on October 29. You can get it on vinyl from Gold Robot or digitally from Monster Rally’s Bandcamp page. I highly recommend it. Enjoy.
Monster Rally – Orchids from Return To Paradise (2013)
I’ve been a huge fan of San Diego’s TV Girl ever since I stumbled upon their self-titled EP on their Bandcamp page back in 2010. Their blend of electo-indie-tropical-surf-lo-fi pop music is very addictive, like eating potato chips, you can’t just listen to one song.
They are realeasing their new EP Lonely Women today. It’s so damn good. It’s been on repeat almost non-stop since they sent it to me. You can sample their coolness below on “She Smokes In Bed”. The driving beat of this song is sure to get your head bobbing up and down. You can buy the new EP digitally or on cassette at their Bandcamp page, I suggest that you do, it may become your favorite release of the summer. Enjoy!
TV Girl – She Smokes In Bed from Lonely Women EP (2013)
Daphni is the new project of Caribou’s Dan Snaith. JIALONG (JOW-long), his debut release as Daphni, is out now on Merge Records.
As Daphni, Dan set out to record a more spontaneous album, without the careful attention to detail that goes into a Caribou release. The results are just as Snaith intended, a loose, spontaneous album perfect for the dance floor. Enjoy.
Daphni – Ye Ye from JIALONG (2012)
Daphni – Pairs from JIALONG (2012)
I know sushi rolls aren’t really sushi. I get it. I respect it. On my block there’s a sushi place that flat out doesn’t serve rolls. They won’t have anything to do with desecrating the simple beauty of fish on rice. I also respect our western notion of wrapping up fish in a slathering of mayonnaise, deep frying it until it’s delicately golden, chopping it up and dousing it with Sriracha, or any combo of the three. My favorite sushi roll in the world is the Bungee Roll from a place called Sushi 21 on the Newport Beach peninsula. It begins with a slab of cream cheese, a stalk of asparagus, and a row of avocado rolled up in nori and rice. Spicy salmon is piled on top, then the roll is baked and topped with sweet eel sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. It’s at once hot, sweet, savory, and soft with a gentle snap of the asparagus. I wanna jump up on to the sushi bar and dance a jig of delight every time I take a bite, or every time I even think about taking a bite.
It should be more than obvious at this point what I started dreaming about as soon as I saw the words Hot Sushi Club hit my inbox. The added bonus is that this brand new band out of Karlsruhe, Germany is as tasty as the Bungee Roll itself. They’re a little bit Hot Chip, sweet like Phoenix, and completely danceable. They give off that same air of giddiness I enjoy when my belly’s full of Bungee. And they’re as generous as the kind sushi chef that hooks you up with a good salmon cheek or sweet shrimp. Their debut EP is available in full, free of charge. Enjoy!
Hot Sushi Club – EP (full download)
What do you get when you take a stack of old records and sample bits and pieces in order to create new music with a psychedelic, tropical, surf, hip hop vibe to it? The answer, my friends, is Monster Rally.
Monster Rally is the project of Ohio-resident Ted Feighan. His music has a warm, lo-fi, crackley, organic feel to it. It’s put together so nicely, it almost sounds like a full band recorded these songs directly to tape. Since 2010 Monster Rally has released quite a bit of music via his bandcamp page, and is set to release a new full length album, Beyond The Sea, on June 19. Below are just a few tastes of Monster Rally’s music for you downloading pleasure.
You can download all of Monster Rally’s releases at his bandcamp page, and preorder his new album here. Ted is also an artist, you can check out his stuff here.
Monster Rally – Jaguar from Beyond The Sea (2012)
Monster Rally – Lone Rd from Crystal Ball (2011)
Monster Rally – Siberian Girls from Deep Sea EP (2011)
Monster Rally – Maori Mai from EP (2010)
After the dissolution of his previous band, Jookabox, Indianapolis’ own DMA (aka David “Moose” Adamson) dashed off an album of self-described “crust funk” tracks that mostly defied listening. I say “mostly” because DREM BEB (as in “Dream Babe”) yielded “Riding Holiday”, an altered state take on the classic rock highway jam that wormed its way into my ear last summer with its hypnotic beat and headstrong chorus.
Now DMA is back with a follow-up called The Boardwalk which is far more gentle and refined in its approach. Waves of warped melodies wash over dubby pulses, beats, and clicks. Every so often DMA’s deadpan vocals wander through the soundscape, soaked in reverb, serving as yet another layer of instrumentation. Kind of like listening to Orbital after taking a handful of Sudafed.
DREM BEB was released as a limited-edition cassette and it appears that The Boardwalk is only available for streaming on Bandcamp. Not the most user-friendly distribution strategy, maybe it’s all part of the mystique.
Riding Holiday from DREM BEB (2011)
http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com
dmanaptown.bandcamp.com
For years music critics have loved to handicap grown-folk-music-performed-by-young-folk. It’s as though the younger a musician is, the more forgiving we should be of their songwriting (remember Ben Lee?). With that, I won’t even mention Jesse Futerman’s age because his deep, soulful music speaks for itself. The Toronto-based producer has been building a following through his SoundCloud mixes and finally pulled together an EP you can download for free here. I can’t tell if it’s the seasoned groove or the painfully short playing time of these tracks that leaves me yearning for more. Either way, I hope to hear from Jesse again soon.
Driva’man from Super Basement (2011)
jessefuterman.bandcamp.com
soundcloud.com/jessefuterman
www.juslikemusicrecords.com/
Attempting to review music while your wife and son are jamming to The Beatles Rockband is like making a suicide at a fountain dispenser–taking a hit from each flavor of soda you get a little taste of this, a little taste of that, but it’s all really just a blur. Not the ideal situation to be sure. I’m gonna go get my headphones….ah, that’s much better.
Kono Michi is a concert violinist with a beautiful voice and a knack for writing interesting songs. And excuse the blasphemy I’m about to embark on, but I find her voice warmer and more pleasant than that of Annie Clark’s (St. Vincent). If that’s even possible!
Violins open her track “My Monster,” then her vocals glide in, the strings drop out and a slow drumbeat thunders in. And like that you’re hooked. A deep male voice rolls in with the violin again, la-la-la-la-la-ing along, and the song kind of turns into a duet between Kono Michi and the monster on the cover. He sounds like a gentle fellow, and like she sings in the song, as long as they’re singing along, they’re getting along. Maybe a good relationship healer. Feeling sour towards your partner? Sing a song or two together!
If you’re not yet moved to give Kono Michi a try, then check out the video for “You are the First.” It’s a DIY stop-motion effort in which Kono Michi, a Brooklynite, traveled 6,000 miles across the country photographing herself jumping in the air so it looks as if she’s floating around. If that doesn’t mesmerize you for a few minutes, then you’re a sad, jaded soul and I feel for you…
My Monster [MP3]
You are the First [MP3]
The title to the album’s opener is antithetical to what’s happening around us economically. Not many people feel as if they’re living a charmed life these days. But the song’s about holding it together despite the mayhem that circles around us. “‘Charmed Life’ is about struggling to maintain sanity when it seems like the world around you is falling apart,” says Aaron Livingston, the vocal half of Icebird. Add RJD2’s production skills and beat-making abilities and you’ve got the makings of a musical opiate that’ll soothe the soul no matter what ails you.
The album, The Abandoned Lullaby, dropped last week and you can get a taste of another track via video below. And if you’re looking to add some charm to your life, RJD2 has offered up individual tracks to “The Charmed Life” for your remixing pleasure. If Icebird likes your remix best, they’ll set you up with some goodies. Details here.
