DJ Miles

Southern California’s number of DJ’s took a massive spike in recent years as people finally found the beauty of the art and began contributing to the movement. Before that beauty was found in the masses, nearly 8 years to be precise, Miles Beard AKA DJ Miles was perfecting his turntable skills in the depths of his Los Angeles bedroom. While everyone else was learning how to beat match, Miles was extending his reach to Las Vegas, Chicago, and Israel. Getting rightfully earned gigs for his mashup expertise. This mashup in particular takes one of my favorite Dragonette tracks and throws it together with an unreleased Breakbot beat to lay the funk on the floor. All the while, T-Pain makes his way in this melting pot to bang it out in the clubs anywhere in the world. Keep an eye out for this guy! He’s always throwing down around the LA/Hollywood club scene, more specifically Voyeur, Colony and Las Palmas.

-Skinny Genes

BONUS

Congorock Vs. Rye Rye & M.I.A. – Sunshine in Babylon (Miles ‘Cant Sleep’ Mashup)
Dragonette – I Get Around (Midnight Juggernaunts Mix)

12FV

So much huge shit is going down this month…I woke up this morning thinking I was still dreaming when it all hit me. Dada Life Thursday, The Twelves Saturday (+exclusive interview), Porter Robinson/Bart B More next Friday, and Nero on my 21st birthday. February could very well be one for the books, and I almost can’t believe it! If only we could move Valentine’s day to another month. Stupid commercial holidays, oi. Specifics on tickets and info is on the upcoming events page.

I added a link to my Last.fm if you’re ever curious as to what exactly I am listening to or have been listening to. For everyone who is serious about regularly finding new music specific to your taste, I highly recommend getting a Last.fm account. This isn’t the first time I’ve brought it up and definitely won’t be the last. When you register, it goes through your itunes and sees what you’ve listened to and how much you listened to it. It then recommends artists to you based on other people who listen to the same stuff you listen to. Life changing shit. My music life has never been the same! Give it a shot.

COACHELLA PEOPLE! My heart goes out to you guys who didn’t get tickets, but it’s definitely not all over. The reason Coachella sold out so quick in the first place is, because secondhand ticket salesmen stocked the fuck up. As the event gets closer and all those guys trying to sell their tickets, the prices will drop. Do NOT buy any tickets from Craigslist or anything just yet, because they don’t even come out ’til a few weeks before the event. I ended up buying a ticket from Craigslist for face value after it sold out last year from a kind soul who couldn’t go. If you want it bad enough, it will happen. Good luck!

-Skinny Genes

YOLO28

Dada Life – White Noise / Red Meat (192 kbps) (Electronic/House)
Fat Boy Slim – Rockafeller Skank (Riva Starr Snatch Remix) (Electronic/House)
Smith Westerns – Weekend (Indie/Rock)
12th Planet – Needed Change Ft. Skrillex (Dubstep)
Free the Robots – Sci-Fidelity (Trip Hop/Acid Jazz)
Cold War Kids – Out Of The Wilderness (Alternative Rock)
A Tribe Called Quest – Electric Relaxation (Hip Hop)
Nero – Welcome Reality (Original Mix) (Dubstep)
Little Dragon – Twice (Freddie Joachim Remix) (Indie/Chillout)

You want it all. Trust me: click here

Two years following the release of sophomoric slump album Loyalty to Loyalty, Long Beach quartet Cold War Kids have released their third album Mine is Yours. In dire need of a comeback from the previous flop, Cold War Kids has returned with an entirely new sound, a result of working with producer Jacquire King. King’s influence is evident as Mine is Yours fits right in with a shuffle playlist of Kings of Leon and Modest Mouse—the major difference being that you can actually sing along with CWK without looking/sounding like a complete idiot.

CWK have completely revamped their aesthetic, gleaning the original raw, rough edge sound that distinguished them and placed them in the same class as Spoon, The White Stripes and The Black Keys. Mine is Yours expands the band’s horizons with iridescent guitars and pummeling drums. Even the content is different, straying from the storytelling lyrics of earlier albums, turning to stokedonlife yet sometimes bruised lyrics that focus more on the love and hurt of relationships than alcoholism and hospitalization.

Mine is Yours requires a few runs through before you can really decide how you feel about it, simply because it deviates so much from the band’s previously established sound. Ultimately, the album is a success because though the band has masked much of what made it awesome in the first place, CWK did not lose its impact. The album is full-bodied as any with tracks like “Finally Begin, “Skip the Charades” and “Bulldozer” as potential singles.

The album’s namesake track is the kind of epically inspirational tune you’d picture in the turn of the third act of a romantic comedy (you know, when the main character charges down a busy street in Manhattan after his jilted lover, amidst honking taxis) but in a shockingly good way. Terrible analogy aside, the album is a testament of the band’s maturity. And though the sound may be quite different from anything CWK has put out thus far, this change should not be held against them. It’s polished and intentional without straying from the honesty that makes Cold War Kids, well, Cold War Kids.

-Witler

Tracklist

1. Mine is Yours
2. Louder Than Ever
3. Royal Blue
4. Finally Begin
5. Out of the Wilderness
6. Skip the Charades
7. Sensitive Kid
8.Bulldozer
9. Broken Open
10. Cold Toes On the Cold Floor
11. Flying Upside Down
12. Don’t Look Down On Me (Bonus Track)
13. Fashionable (Bonus Track)

Treasure Fingers

I get really excited every time someone that’s really prevalent in the game throws out another track. I’m talkin’ Duck Sauce, Skrillex, Jack Beats, Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP, The Twelves. All the guys that never disappoint and don’t tire of staying active. Treasure Fingers dropped this one on us last weekend, and I could have sworn I put it in the YOLO List, but I guess I just got ahead of myself. Needless to say, I didn’t want to wait until next week to put this out. The less time you’re bumping this track, the less fulfilling your life’s ultimately gonna be. It didn’t hit me at first, and it sounds different than what we’re used to getting from Mr. Fingers, but it still has that classic/revamped, house vibe. A little more attitude this time, though.

-Skinny Genes

Treasure Fingers

Señor Stereo – I Am The Beat (Treasure Fingers Remix)
Treasure Fingers – It’s Love (Original Mix)
Fred Falke, Burns – Y.S.L.M. (You Stopped Loving Me) (Treasure Fingers Remix)

1 word: Consistent

YOLO Mentions bring attention to special
songs featured in that week’s YOLO List. Get the latest list here!

Had to get a quick post out before my midterm. This week’s been stressful as fuck, but this isn’t a place for complaining. This is a place to get raped. Yes. Raped by the massive wave of good music that I’ve been stumbling on lately. This song “Feelings for You” in particular…the original and respective remixes. A vocal sample that trumps all that I’ve ever heard in any house song (except for the Moonchild remix of “Physical”). I love the vocal samples in house songs. Always uplifting. Always trying to share the pain, telling you you’re not alone. This song will have you singing with it at the top of your lungs. No homo, but seriously. This song is sure to be a house anthem for decades to come.

This throws me off though…Avicii and Sebastien Drums took this song and undoubtedly beefed it up to have a more big room, housy feel and titled it as (Original Mix) like it’s their song. Cassius created this groundbreaking original, and I don’t want anyone to think otherwise. These pioneers of house music shouldn’t have been left out of the title, but what do I know. Regardless, I’ll tell you what I know: this song jams…and this video is tight as hell:

-Skinny Genes

Feelings For You

Cassius – Feelings For You (160 kbps) :'(
Avicii & Sebastien Drums – My Feelings For You (UNoriginal Mix)
Cassius – Feelings For You (Les Rythmes Digitales Remix)

BONUS! [necessary]
Radio INK – Physical (Moonchild Remix)

NorCal Treat

It’s concerts like last night’s that make considering the 8 hour solo drive to San Francisco an option. Fortunately for me, Nero‘s management was nice enough to give me two photo passes to sold out Wobbleland, and a little luck with finding decently priced tickets on craigslist set me up with a solid team for an epic show. I’ll be loading up some HQ vids and pictures I got from the event to our facebook page within the next couple days. I was working on getting an interview with Nero, but I wasn’t able to get through to the international number their management gave me. I have faith for the future, though. Maybe before their San Diego show on my birthday in February…that’ll do it.

So if you haven’t heard, Coachella car and camp spots are all sold out. I can’t remember the last time that went down, but I got my hotel room booked and ready to go, and now it’s just a waiting game. Watch out for my playlists for the event! I’ll put down the best of the best, split up by day, to make you aware of the serious talent thats going to be at the Polo Fields, and there’s a lot.

-Skinny Genes

YOLO27

Death From Above 1979 – Little Girl (Punk/Electronic)
Death From Above 1979 – Blood On Our Hands (Justice Remix) (Punk/Electronic)
Animal Collective – Bluish (Experimental/Indie)
Avicii & Sebastien Drums – My Feelings For You (House)
Datsik, Excision – Swagga (Dubstep)
The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby (4Centers Remix) (Dubstep)
Mr. Oizo – Cut Dick (Electronic/Dance)
Mr. Oizo – Two Takes It (Electronic/Dance)
Cut Copy – Unforgettable Season (Alternative)
Beach House – Walk in the Park (iTunes Session) (Indie)

All in one? Doooo iiiiiit

Portland elctro-pop band Starfucker has a reputation of pushing the proverbial envelope with an explicit title, a knack for wearing women’s clothing on stage and annoyingly changing its name several times. Over the past three years the public has known them as PYRAMID, Pyramiddd and Strfkr. Finally settling on a title—officially Starfucker, but touring as STRFKR—the four-piece has released a pre-orderable/downloadable album, scheduled to officially release in March. While the band’s title might make your parents shake their heads, they get away with it by delivering music that is consistently and undeniably catchy. And with the early release of Reptilians critics can’t help but drop all charges. This is music. And it’s good.

Reptilians has you instantly hooked with its opener “Born,” a cheery acoustic jam with high pitched vocals akin to Passion Pit and more enjoyable than MGMT. Meanwhile, the record as a whole is solid and innovative enough to exceed the reputation of bands Starfucker has been compared to. The album is glossed to synthtastic perfection, suited for any basement dance party and the ideal soundtrack for a sunny day. “Julius” and “Bury Us Alive” are equally addictive, providing a firm skeleton for the album. By track 5, nostalgic pop jam “Death as a Fetish,” listeners are completely hooked. This album is likely to shake your speakers all year.

Reptilians rolls over smoothly with 12 consistently hooky tracks and two bonus tracks (do the math, that’s 14 total). It’s a feat nowadays for a band to put out a solid 6-track album, let alone 14. Reptilians succeeds in delivering beats that are both danceable and philosophically rich, with quotes from British philosopher Alan Watts interspersed in songs such as “Hungry Ghost” and “Quality Time.” This synth-strong, pop-heavy record is not one to be ignored, with songs you wouldn’t mind crawling into and floating around in for a little while, most notably “The White of Noon.” Starfucker/STRFKR is a Ping-Pong ball in mercury, now all we can do is sit back and watch it float swiftly to the top.

-Witler

Tracklist

1. Born
2. Julius
3. Bury Us Alive
4. Mystery Cloud
5. Death as a Fetish
6. Astoria
7. Reptilians
8. The White of Noon
9. Hungry Ghost
10. Mona Vegas
11. Millions
12. Quality Time
13. Slow Dance (Bonus Track)
14. Recess Time (Bonus Track)