An unexpected free release from a solid artist is always an occasion. Orlando of TEED even admitted it “feels good to just put a track out there without all the release build up,” and I’m gonna have to second that. If you’re not familiar with TEED, it’s not too late! His sound is reminiscent of a darker Calvin Harris but is unique and just as dancy in its own right. He also put out a mini video for the song that I enjoyed and you can too after the jump. After minimal discussion about this track with my friends, it is confirmed that this track is 65% chill, 35% mellow, and 100% awesome. Yup. This track is worthy of 200% of adjectives.
An unexpected free release from a solid artist is always an occasion. Orlando of TEED even admitted it “feels good to just put a track out there without all the release build up,” and I’m gonna have to second that. If you’re not familiar with TEED, it’s not too late! His sound is reminiscent of a darker Calvin Harris but is unique and just as dancy in its own right. He also put out a mini video for the song that I enjoyed and you can too after the jump. After minimal discussion about this track with my friends, it is confirmed that this track is 65% chill, 35% mellow, and 100% awesome. Yup. This track is worthy of 200% of adjectives.
New Jersey natives Real Estate’s sophomore album Days is a bike ride through the past, through the neatly manicured suburban lawns of your childhood. It’s achingly nostalgic, grappling for a something lost forever–the ease of youth. It’s a celebration of innocence and the simplicity of youth, captured in drowsy reverb and floating rhythms.
Spaciously gentle vocals deliver a sort of wisdom of time and facing reality. In their own understated way, they fondly capture the truths and pangs of growing up. It manages to be idyllic, yet realistic. “Around in the fields we grow/with love for everyone/Dreams we saw with eyes of hope/Until that dream was gone” frontman Martin Courtney sings in opening track “Easy.” The lyrics and melodies blend so perfectly to create a strong, ineffable sentiment. You’re left with an overwhelming calm.
The album transitions from one track to the next perfectly; each song connects with the next like a continued thought or a string of memories. Perhaps one of Real Estate’s best compositions to date, “Green Aisles” profoundly captures the essence of the album: “All those wasted miles/All those aimless drives/Through green aisles/Our careless lifestyle/It was not so unwise.” “Days” is a picturesque amble through the past. Everything about it is subtle and understated, but in its profound realizations it really is a brilliant album.
Tracklist
1. Easy
2.Green Aisles
3. It’s Real
4. Kinder Blumen
5. Out of Tune
6. Municipality
7. Wonder Years
8. Three Blocks
9. Younger Than Yesterday
10. All the Same
New Jersey natives Real Estate’s sophomore album Days is a bike ride through the past, through the neatly manicured suburban lawns of your childhood. It’s achingly nostalgic, grappling for a something lost forever–the ease of youth. It’s a celebration of innocence and the simplicity of youth, captured in drowsy reverb and floating rhythms.
Spaciously gentle vocals deliver a sort of wisdom of time and facing reality. In their own understated way, they fondly capture the truths and pangs of growing up. It manages to be idyllic, yet realistic. “Around in the fields we grow/with love for everyone/Dreams we saw with eyes of hope/Until that dream was gone” frontman Martin Courtney sings in opening track “Easy.” The lyrics and melodies blend so perfectly to create a strong, ineffable sentiment. You’re left with an overwhelming calm.
The album transitions from one track to the next perfectly; each song connects with the next like a continued thought or a string of memories. Perhaps one of Real Estate’s best compositions to date, “Green Aisles” profoundly captures the essence of the album: “All those wasted miles/All those aimless drives/Through green aisles/Our careless lifestyle/It was not so unwise.” “Days” is a picturesque amble through the past. Everything about it is subtle and understated, but in its profound realizations it really is a brilliant album.
Tracklist
1. Easy
2.Green Aisles
3. It’s Real
4. Kinder Blumen
5. Out of Tune
6. Municipality
7. Wonder Years
8. Three Blocks
9. Younger Than Yesterday
10. All the Same
Thanks to Dillon Francis for dropping this bomb on us today. Kinda makes me LOL thinking about the Death Cab fans who stumble on this remix, because it’s nowhere near as mellow as the others. Classic Dillon “Nu Jump Up” as he dubs it, with weebs and wubs sure to satisfy all his fans. Despite the amount of his remixes, this one manages to stay relatively unique. I’ve just begun to accept his ability to do this…as there’s no explanation how someone can be so consistently awesome. I’m not hatin’ though.
I can’t say I’m surprised Death Cab reached out to our favorite indie remixers RAC, so I won’t. These guys have that Midas touch when it comes to feel good indie choons. This one is no different. A light hearted dancy beat matched seamlessly with Gibbard’s voice has me itching to add this to my library. Another huge remix on RAC’s résumé. I really love this talented bunch. Kudos boys!
My preteen world collides with the pre-restofmylife world yet again! If you weren’t aware, Death Cab for Cutie has been unveiling a new remix every other week leading up to the release of their Codes and Keys album on November 22. Here’s an update on the outstanding ones that have been dropped since Cut Copy started the line.
Thanks to Dillon Francis for dropping this bomb on us today. Kinda makes me LOL thinking about the Death Cab fans who stumble on this remix, because it’s nowhere near as mellow as the others. Classic Dillon “Nu Jump Up” as he dubs it, with weebs and wubs sure to satisfy all his fans. Despite the amount of his remixes, this one manages to stay relatively unique. I’ve just begun to accept his ability to do this…as there’s no explanation how someone can be so consistently awesome. I’m not hatin’ though.
I can’t say I’m surprised Death Cab reached out to our favorite indie remixers RAC, so I won’t. These guys have that Midas touch when it comes to feel good indie choons. This one is no different. A light hearted dancy beat matched seamlessly with Gibbard’s voice has me itching to add this to my library. Another huge remix on RAC’s résumé. I really love this talented bunch. Kudos boys!
Bradford Cox has a keen ability to turn his personal tragedy into melodic gold. Best known as the frontman of indie-rock four-piece Deerhunter, Cox recently released his third solo EP as Atlas Sound. Classified as pop, “Parallax” really occupies a space of its own. It’s otherworldly and dreamy yet somehow manages to find footing in something very relatable. His genius lies in mastery of texture. Cox beautifully surges digitalism and classicism with submerged vocals but without hiding behind his sonic effects. There’s something more confident about “Parallax” than his previous stuff. As emotionally driven as his music is, it emanates a unique and personal positivity, leaving you feeling more energized than broken.
Tracklist
1. The Shakes
2. Amplifiers
3. Te Amo
4. Parallax
5. Modern Aquatic Nightsongs
6. Mona Lisa
7. Praying Man
8. Doldrums
9. Angel Is Broken
10. Terra Incognita
11. Flagstaff
12. Lightworks
Bradford Cox has a keen ability to turn his personal tragedy into melodic gold. Best known as the frontman of indie-rock four-piece Deerhunter, Cox recently released his third solo EP as Atlas Sound. Classified as pop, “Parallax” really occupies a space of its own. It’s otherworldly and dreamy yet somehow manages to find footing in something very relatable. His genius lies in mastery of texture. Cox beautifully surges digitalism and classicism with submerged vocals but without hiding behind his sonic effects. There’s something more confident about “Parallax” than his previous stuff. As emotionally driven as his music is, it emanates a unique and personal positivity, leaving you feeling more energized than broken.
Tracklist
1. The Shakes
2. Amplifiers
3. Te Amo
4. Parallax
5. Modern Aquatic Nightsongs
6. Mona Lisa
7. Praying Man
8. Doldrums
9. Angel Is Broken
10. Terra Incognita
11. Flagstaff
12. Lightworks
Manhattan duo Cults’ self-titled debut is all things brilliant and beautiful and awesome compacted into 11 distinct songs. It finds its catchiness in its old-timey-but-still-kinda-new-agey sound that reinvents itself 11 times over. It’s one of those albums that hooks your ears from the get go but gradually as you listen to it draws you in and almost brainwashes you. The lyrics and the vocals sweetly compliment each other amongst melodies that echo from a 1950’s bubblegum pop dream. They brilliantly incorporate subtle sample recordings of cult leaders speaking to their followers, but do so in such way that it doesn’t overwhelm the music but compliments it. The album is a slice of sunshine. It’s an escape. Buy it. Now. You’re missing out.
Manhattan duo Cults’ self-titled debut is all things brilliant and beautiful and awesome compacted into 11 distinct songs. It finds its catchiness in its old-timey-but-still-kinda-new-agey sound that reinvents itself 11 times over. It’s one of those albums that hooks your ears from the get go but gradually as you listen to it draws you in and almost brainwashes you. The lyrics and the vocals sweetly compliment each other amongst melodies that echo from a 1950’s bubblegum pop dream. They brilliantly incorporate subtle sample recordings of cult leaders speaking to their followers, but do so in such way that it doesn’t overwhelm the music but compliments it. The album is a slice of sunshine. It’s an escape. Buy it. Now. You’re missing out.
To plagiarize myself (yet again): I think it’s a real measure of someone’s skills not only as a musician but as an artist when they are able to take someone else’s work and make it their own, while still remaining reverent to the original piece. My iTunes library is stuffed with covers, simply because I like to see how artists remaster music that isn’t theirs.
I’ve been compiling playlists of covers, old and new, some from the depths of my iTunes and others as I stumble across them on the interwebs. Below is my third installment. Enjoy yo’self.
New Zealanders The Naked and Famous recently did this remix of fellow Kiwis UMO’s “Ffunny Frends.” I think it’s in the same vein as a cover. They amped up the pace and added a bit of an adrenaline kick to the original. It’s pretty well done.
To plagiarize myself (yet again): I think it’s a real measure of someone’s skills not only as a musician but as an artist when they are able to take someone else’s work and make it their own, while still remaining reverent to the original piece. My iTunes library is stuffed with covers, simply because I like to see how artists remaster music that isn’t theirs.
I’ve been compiling playlists of covers, old and new, some from the depths of my iTunes and others as I stumble across them on the interwebs. Below is my third installment. Enjoy yo’self.
New Zealanders The Naked and Famous recently did this remix of fellow Kiwis UMO’s “Ffunny Frends.” I think it’s in the same vein as a cover. They amped up the pace and added a bit of an adrenaline kick to the original. It’s pretty well done.
I’ve written about London-based indie-rock outfit Yuck quite a bit this year. Probably because–go figure–they’re one of my favorite breakout bands of 2011. They’re cool mostly because they’re doing their own thing without asking for anyone’s opinion. Their music has been repeatedly described as lo-fi, 1990’s-inspired rock but it really stands out in its own way; they’ve got great synergism. And the drummer has an awesome fro. Their videos are weird as hell but the music is great and that’s what matters. They recently released the b-sides of their self-titled debut. While these tracks are very typical Yuck (but not yucky in any way ha-ha-ha) it’s easy to see how they wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the album. If you haven’t listened to the full length album I’d highly recommend doing so. Once you’ve whet your taste buds to their sound, download the songs linked below.
