Jon Sheffield

I’m kicking myself that I’m just discovering Sheffield, who’s already four albums deep into his recording career. His is quiet, playful electronic music wrapped in small pop-size packages. Sheffield frequently samples his son, Gabriel, which gives his music a sweet, innocent texture. There’s a quality here that rings my holiday bells as well. When I hear these songs I see snow. And when I see snow, I’m inevitably carving deep tracks into the freshly fallen. Which begs the question, when’s the 3hive snowboarding excursion going down?

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Postal Service

Now that our beloved Postal Service appear destined to become a Harvard Business School case study, Sub Pop is scrambling to keep up with demand. Pending some new original material, that means releasing Give Up on vinyl with a bonus (if you don’t already own the CD singles, that is) 12-inch of B-side covers, like Iron & Wine’s tender rendition of “Such Great Heights,” and remixes, wherein dance music for bookworms gets transformed into, well, dance music. Included here is an example of the latter, and a couple for the uninitiated…what few of you are left.

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Kaskade

Ryan Raddon, aka Kaskade, got his start by sneaking his tracks into the stacks of demos at Om Records during his employment tenure there. Raddon, teaming up with a regular and rotating cast of collaborators, with an emphasis on live instrumentation, refuses to slump during his sophomore season. Here he offers up a couple off-menu items, a downtempo hip-hop cut and a spacey, chilled-out, four-on-the-floor track.

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Ice Cream Creatures

I originally misread this suggestion from Lauren as Ice Cream Castles, which naturally spurred my curiosity. No Morris Day here, as it turns out, but a batch of glitchy electronic ballads that could have come up through some kind of Ghostly farm league. They’re actually on a net label based in Austin where, interestingly enough, the musicians appear to “workshop” their songs with listeners through the label site’s comments area. Who knows, you might get a song named after you if you’re helpful enough…

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Kleptones

These “original” tracks feature some swell breaks ‘n’ beats ‘n’ what-not but, to be honest, the Kleptones aren’t nearly as interesting when abiding by copyright laws… This post is merely an excuse to plug their new mash-up-and-more theme album, A Night at the Hip Hopera. After giving the Flaming Lips a b-boy makeover with Yoshimi Battles the Hip Hop Robots, the audio kleptomaniacs are back at it with a similar tribute to Queen. To have a listen, head over to Waxy.org, where you’ll find the complete album for download as well as a collaborative dissection of the countless samples used therein.

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The Je Ne Sais Quoi

Every so often a band’s name alone grabs your attention, and even less often it actually makes good on its promise. One of those rare cases is The Je Ne Sais Quoi who, as it turns out, have that certain je ne sais quoi. If you were listening from another room, you might write them off as another vapid electro-clash happening. However, in more intimate settings, their tense, funky sound digs its fingernails into you and won’t let go. That said, “We Make Beginnings” wouldn’t be my first — or second, or third — choice for the single from their strong full-length debut. But no one asked me… (And if they had it would have been in Swedish, so I wouldn’t have understood anyway.)

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Fog

I’ve just about reached presidential campaign 2004 overload. Everyone’s got their two cents and now, more than ever, they’re eager to spout ’em off. I can’t listen to, or read, any contemporary works without having the subtext lunge at me. Regardless of the message lurking below the surface, this taste of Fog’s forthcoming album flip-flops with clicks and clacks while the beat is firm in its resolve.

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Zapan

Those guys at Fourthcity are such good fun we’ve just got to do another, namely the founder of Fourthcity, Zach Huntting, know to us as Zapan. This quote from Zapan, about Mister Afternoon, his collaberation with DJN, tells you all you need to know about him: “Our music is soothing, not unlike Christian radio or Kenny G, but with more of a drumnbass, booty hiphop-type flavor.”

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Caribou

Some 3hive history for you: Dan Snaith, a.k.a. Manitoba, was the inaugural posting to this site. Today Snaith announced that he was legally forced to change his nom de plume, hence Manitoba has been reincarnated as Caribou. I was hoping this announcement would coincide with a release date for his new album. No luck. Sounds like he’s only halfway finished. Sigh. Until then…

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Signer

Like a fuzzy popsicle on a hot August day at 7:13 pm; it’s hot out, but the popsicle is so cold it’s fuzzy. You might be seven or eight years old. Then you squish the popsicle against the roof of your mouth after you’ve sucked out the juice.

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