Little did I know I’d be here with a new mix for you today from none other than The Twelves. These guys are my idols, as far as music production and DJing goes at least. They have such a keen ear to what tears apart the dance floor, and it’s a kind of universal sound that anyone can get down to. This mix was done live in Barcelona’s Razzmatazz early November. They somehow snuck under the radar and +Jangbar missed them even though he’s there. SUCKS! The Twelves are awesome live. One of my favorite mixes ever, if not THE favorite, is their essential mix they did a couple years back. If you haven’t done so yet, I highly suggest you download it now.

Click here to check our interview with them!

They haven’t made it downloadable, nor have they included a tracklist. Busty. I’m almost half way through though and it’s very fresh! Lots of new funky tracks since they’ve been in hibernation. T.E.E.D., of Montreal, etc. And of course they’ve got their classic remixes. It’s a must listen.

Bonus Twelves

Fever Ray – Seven (The Twelves Remix) Delightful Choice!
Radiohead – Reckoner (The Twelves Remix)
Daft Punk – Aerodynamic (The Twelves Remix)

I wrote about New Orleans-based indie-rock duo Generationals earlier this year when their sophomore album Actor-Caster was released. I know it’s strange to move backwards and write about a debut after you’ve written about the follow-up but I’m gonna do it anyway. It’s an album you’ve got to know about.

Released in 2009, Con Law swims through several pools of influence but each song echoes against the same distant wall of memory. At times it tinkers with electro-synth and Beach pop. The vocal echoes give it a lo-fi edge without really nudging it into that genre. It occupies every space of sound possible with leaping percussion and shimmering guitars. Ultimately it’s a charming album that could win you over any time of the year. It’s the kind of stuff you wanna get up and dance to.

Tracklist

1. Nobody Could Change Your Mind
2. Angry Charlie
3. Faces In The Dark
4. When They Fight, They Fight
5. Our Time 2 Shine
6. Wildlife Sculpture
7. Bobby Beale
8. Exterior Street Day
9. It Keeps You Up
10. These Habits

Free Candy

I Promise

French duo AIR are set to release their seventh studio album titled Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon) in 2012! Pretty excited since, although I enjoyed their most recent album Love 2, I’m pretty sure it’s time to venture into a new sound. Which they seem to be on the same page about, considering they got Victoria Legrand of Beach House to get her beautifully deep voice in on AIR’s intergalactic production. It’s cool that both of their sounds are distinct. The pianos scream Beach House and then AIR goes on and throws in those space noises that they usually use. You’ll know what I’m talking about. The album is set to release February 6th, 2012…the year of ze end of ze world! Or the year of nothing happening and everyone shutting the f*ck up about it. Anyway here’s what Nicolas Godin said of the album:

“Projects like this refresh our brain. Making your own albums all the time is too narrow-minded. At some point you write the same song. So you need new blood all the time. We are like vampires.”

For sure bro. Awesome track! You can pick up the low quality version I found online below.

AIR – Seven Stars ft. Victoria Legrand

Allow me to introduce you to indie-pop outfit French Cassettes. I’m willing to bet these California Bay-based youngsters are about to explode in a big way. They really embrace the fun of making music, with a sound that emulates classic rock with a more contemporary edge. In just a few years, they’ve come a long way from playing Strokes covers on acoustic guitars in high school–they’ve got their own experimental edge going on, working with what they’ve got. They’re one of those budding bands that just seems destined to go far.

Click here to buy their EP “Summer Darling.” It’s worth every cent.

Radley
Mouth Drum
Secrets Make Sounds

Portland-based outfit Blind Pilot isn’t groundbreakingly experimental for an indie band. Their music is not edgy enough to piss off your parents or annoy your friends. It is stirringly sentimental, with swaying folk-pop melodies that softly hypnotize you.

They first appeared on the scene in 2008 with their self-released debut 3 Rounds and a Sound. It was an album for every day, any time of the year. It’s the kind of album you want to turn on when you’re driving home at night. Their follow-up album We Are the Tide was released earlier this year and is a gentle continuation, though slightly poppy-er than their debut.

Like its predecessor, the album is sweetly nostalgic like strolling down a dimly remembered street from your childhood, while still expressing what lies unsaid in the back of your head. Frontman Israel Nebeker is kinda brilliant that way. His lyrics draw you in as much as any other component of the music. It’s actually probably the band’s strongest aspect. His lyrics are not for one moment contrived but rather organic and honest. There isn’t one particular song that stands out in the album because the album as a whole is strong; it’s one of those albums that will take a while to wear out.

Tracklist

1. Half Moon
2. Always
3. Keep You Right
4. We Are the Tide
5. The Colored Night
6. I Know
7. White Apple
8. Just One
9. Get It Out
10. New York

The solo debut of Miles Kane is a murky flashback to the 1960s Brit-rock music scene. It’s an impressive breakout for an artist tightly associated with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, largely for their bromance baby The Last Shadow Puppets. There’s an elegant mystique about Colour of the Trap, enshrouded in booming drums and smoky-rock riffs. It’s massively epic, the kind of album that gets your heart racing for no apparent reason, especially considering that most of the songs are about romantic endeavors. Lyrics aside, it would make an apt soundtrack for a Bond film with stabbing guitars drowning in foreboding orchestrals. Even when it slows down to finger-picked acoustics and breathy vocals, there’s something spell-binding about it. Kane has reassembled a sound lodged in the gloomy crevices of the past and made it uniquely his own. Though the album is hardly without flaw, it is defining. It certainly does enough to sever him from the hip of his buddy Alex Turner and grant him forgiveness from his previous, lesser known associations. Kane is one of those artists that develops in increments; he’s only getting better. Personally, I think it’s only a matter of time before he’s considered one of the coolest dudes on the Brit-rock stage.

Tracklist

1. Come Closer
2. Rearrange
3. My Fantasy
4. Counting Down the Days
5. Better Left Invisible
6. Quicksand
7. Inhaler
8. Kingcrawler
9. Take the Night From ME
10. Telepathy
11. Happenstance
12. Colour of the Trap

If you have a weakness for folk-injected indie-pop concoctions I suggest you check out Virginia Beach natives We Are Trees. They sport the same sort of shimmering buzz-drenched pop sensibility as many lo-fi artists but it’s cleaner. Crisper. It’s cleared out the mud and snare that causes sounds to pool together in a 1960s evocative manner (which I happen to love but this is different). They’ve released two EP’s thus far, aptly titled “Boyfriend” and “Girlfriend” because their subject matter delves into the realms of juvenile relationships. It’s nothing sonically transcendent or thematically profound. It’s just pure, simple, delightful fun. There’s something innocently experimental about them. Each song is versatile, airy and fresh, choosing from a broad range of influence. They aren’t pretentious but humbly understated. This is indie music in its most approachable form.

Sunrise Sunset

Colorado

You

I Don’t Believe In Love

When I’m With You (Best Coast Cover)