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

Portland, OR seems to be churning out quality indie bands like it’s going out of style, and Portugal. the Man stands apart from most. PTM has been showcasing their developing eclectic style since 2004. Their psychedelic influenced sound hints strongly towards the result of some serious drug experimentation early on, and I can’t say I’m too surprised. Their front man John Baldwin Gourley grew up in a technologically isolated log cabin in Alaska, where drug taking, music making, and dog sledding (in that order) were probably the extent of the activities to be involved in.

PTM is one of the few active bands that I’ve been following since they started putting out music, which really changes how you look at new releases. You have something to compare to. Something that you’ve attached yourself to in the past that makes you even more critical than someone who newly discovers them. Being a part of a band’s evolution of sound gives you a real special connection. Their experimental vibe on past albums has transformed from a “whoa, who spiked my lemonade with LSD” take on their first effort It’s Complicated Being A Wizard to a more rocky and developed jam band style in Church Mouth and The Satanic Satanist. Their whole journey has brought them to a middle ground of near perfection on their sixth studio album In the Mountain In the Cloud.

It didn’t take much longer than my first run through to realize how appropriately titled the album was. You’ll find yourself in the mountain as you listen to the rocky tracks like “So American” and “Got It All,” only to be hoisted up by “Senseless” and laid gently in the cloud with “All Your Light” and “Share With Me the Sun.” The closing song “Sleep Forever” is one of my favorites, but it is almost too suggestive towards an end of sorts. Let’s hope not! The album’s orchestral and gospel feel seam together in such a mastered way that I feel would surely secure this piece in the top albums of 2011.

They’re playing a free show in LA for everyone who supported their album which is SURE to be a ton of fun. Album release shows are the best! I know Witler is going to be making her way over there, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can get my work done and do the same. Check out the details on the show here and be sure to grab the album when you get the chance!

TRACKLIST

1. So American
2. Floating (Time Isn’t Working My Side)
3. Got It All (This Can’t Be Living Now)
4. Senseless
5. Head Is a Flame (Cool With It)
6. You Carried Us (Share With Me The Sun)
7. Everything You See (Kids Count Hallelujahs)
8. All Your Light (Times Like These)
9. Once Was One
10. Share With Me The Sun
11. Sleep Forever

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

It hasn’t been too long since Chronic Mncher had to move on to bigger and better things, but no evil comes without some good. Even though a major piece of C+A+D will be missed, a whole new life is born in the form of Alton Square. A DJ duo of Irvine’s own Godzilla Toboggan (Chronic Mncher) and Alan Artin. Together they’re throwing down some synthy house tracks that I’m pretty surprised to say I love. Not that I’d expect anything less…but it’s awesome when some of your homies get together to make something great. Their tracks range from dubstep to house to remixes and hip hop. All this experimenting will definitely find them a niche where I know they can thrive. I’m so pumped to see what else they put together in the future. In the meantime, here are some of their latest tracks that you can pick up from their soundcloud.

Empire of the Sun – Walking On A Dream (Alton Square Remix)

Alton Square – Del Playa

Alton Square – Kryptoknight

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

A European fusion of Sweden born David Andersson and Londoner Joe Attard, Punks Jump Up is a concoction of electronic, dance, punk and rock. They don’t really GAF about what genre they’re labeled as, as long as it gets people going and has a hell-of-a-lot of energy. I first found these guys through their remix of Miike Snow’s “Animal,” which I put on the second YOLO List, and though overly remixed, it’s still my favorite version. They get synth-crazy and I’m all about it. Lately they’ve been producing their own electronic tracks with the release of their Blockhead EP that features remixes from Hey Today! and Zombie Nation.

Their second major release was “Dance to Our Disco,” and it showcases the range of sound they were looking for. Reminds me of 80s punk jams and has mysterious guest vocals rumored to be from The Hives’ Howling Pelle. I was big on The Hives, so the track strikes all the right chords with me. Check out their video of the song and have your way with the tracks below.

Punks Jump Up – Dance To Our Disco
Punks Jump Up – Blockhead (Original Mix)
In Flagranti – Worse For Wear (Punks Jump Up Remix) YOLO42
Miike Snow – Animal (Punks Jump Up Remix) Delightful Choice!

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

With indie and alternative music being where it’s at, finding new music is as easy as watching a new episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (season 7 on the way!). And every once and awhile a commercial will surprise me with a quality tune I haven’t heard before. Let me start this off by saying that I’m pretty sure I’ve found a new love. Mette Lindberg, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour‘s frontwoman, is an adorable piece o’ meat and her sexy European accent brings only positive things. The Danish band consists of vocalist Lindberg and producer Lars Iverson. Their live act extends to a sextet that even has a badass horns section. They had their breakthrough in 2008 when they opened for Amy Winehouse and Apple featured “Around the Bend” in one of their iTouch commercials. Most recently, and how I found them, they were caught performing “The Golden Age” in a Heineken ad during NBA playoffs.

Commercial value aside, these guys have a lot to offer. Stringing similarites from acts like Dragonette and Lykke Li, this psychadelic pop band is a time machine ride from the 70s to today and back…and then through space. Their debut album Fruit was released in late 2009 and it’s a basket packed to the brim with a fresh selection of catchy goodness. They just put out The Golden Age EP mid April that featured three new tracks and an 80s cover. Real good stuff! I’d keep my eyes peeled for these guys.

Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Fantasy Friend Forever
The Golden Age
Around the Bend

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

This long-haired ginger and UK native is making his way up with an electronic style that thrives on diced up samples and extends through the music spectrum. Star Slinger has an awesome way of bring a handful of genres together with a funky flare that’s catchy as hell. Making beats through samples is coming up more and more as DJ’s are perfecting their skills and people are opening up to electronic. Star Slinger’s debut full length Volume 1 is a solid compilation of his range of beatsmithery. A talent worthy of its own word. He’s a got a knack for unique remixes too. Watch out for his EP “Bedroom Joints” that released this year. You can buy both for relatively cheap at his bandcamp.

-Skinny Genes

STAR SLINGER

Star Slinger – Dutchie Courage
Star Slinger – Mornin’
Deerhunter – Helicopter (Star Slinger Remix) Delightful Choice!
Star Slinger – Casanova’s Jump Off

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

Another YOLO list native, Kids at the Bar, makes their way back on your weekly melting pot of Grade A sounds. I first heard these guys back when Chronic Mncher told me about the remix album of Daft Punk’s Human After All, aptly named Remix After All. After shuffling through some mediocre-at-best renditions of the originals, I landed on “Technologic (Kids At the Bar Remix).” After a few seconds you start to wonder if these guys are here to fuck around, and at about one minute you realize in fact, that, no..they’re not. Their sound encompasses some of the grimiest raved-out synths you can come by, much like that of Bloody Beetroots. They’re fairly liberal when it comes to hard hitting bass, and it all comes together in the best way possible. KATB still manages to stay lighthearted with their own versions of over-remixed indie greats like Empire of the Sun and Passion Pit. These guys are fairly consistent with their remixes/edits, and when it clicks, the music takes over. The only things that are missing are a warehouse, about 2-300 people, fog lights, and lasers…I can only imagine how fun it would be to catch these guys live.

-Skinny Genes

KATB

Daft Punk – Technologic (Kids At the Bar Remix) Skinny Gene Favorite
Deadmau5 & Wolfgang Gartner – Animal Rights (Kids At the Bar Edit) Delightful Choice!
Crystal Vision – Pickled Beets (Kids At The Bar Remix) **YOLO33
Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream (Kids At The Bar Remix)
Passion Pit – Sleepyhead (Kids At the Bar Remix)

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

I know this is from a couple lists ago, but I’ve been dying to lay down my two cents on this mysteriously-eccentric supergroup’s eighth studio album. With a majority of their former albums hitting platinum album sales throughout the planet, and some even 3x platinum, Radiohead had some Shaquille O’neal sized shoes to fill with King of Limbs. Getting platinum album sales entails getting over a million sales in that country, a feat most artists can only dream of achieving. Although, none of that has ever kept Radiohead from consistently producing equally amazing and unique albums.

First off, the announcement of this album came out of butt-fuck nowhere, but couldn’t have been released at a more significant time. Arcade Fire had just won album of the year, and it was almost eerily coordinated that Radiohead would shower themselves with the indie spotlight. The album enters a new realm of sound that none of their former albums had dared to travel. They take a dream like approach and fill it with a bunch of electronic samples, while Thom Yorke’s voice catches us off guard a minute into the album on “Bloom.” An acid jazzy intro that seems perfect for a rainy car ride through the city. The album gets a more structured feel with “Morning Mr. Magpie” and “Lotus Flower,” both of which could have been singles in my opinion. The album weaves every track together much like a sine graph (uh oh math reference) and ends peacefully on “Separator.”

King of Limbs is a beautiful compilation of talent that captures Radiohead’s evolution of sound in a way that none of their previous albums ever could. The first run-through is intriguing, but the kind of intriguing that questions your initial opinion. It’s bound to grow on you with every listen. A sound you won’t hear anywhere else that only Radiohead could manage to pull off.

-Skinny Genes

King of Limbs

1. Bloom
2. Morning Mr Magpie
3. Little By Little
4. Feral
5. Lotus Flower
6. Codex
7. Give Up The Ghost
8. Separator