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

I’ve been getting more and more into the hip-hop realm now that +Jangbar has me covered on the latest and greatest, and DJ Kue‘s spin on this chart topper takes it more up my alley..I feel kinda weird using that phrase but you know what I mean. Anyway, California’s own DJ Kue is getting a lot of rightfully deserved praise by DJs like Kissy Sell Out, Bloody Beetroots, Pete Tong and others. With a glitchy style that drops into nasty headbanging glory, he’s on par with Porter Robinson, Wolfgang Gartner, and Feed me. A style that’s pretty much just a combination of all the rising sub-genres of electronic. Artists are churning out more and more of these combo-bangers every week. Although this’ll make it harder for DJs to stand out, I can’t get enough. Keep em coming! Scope his soundcloud for more.

-Skinny Genes

DJ Kue

Wiz Khalifa – Black and Yellow (DJ Kue Remix)
Lady Gaga – Born This Way (DJ Kue Quick and Dirty Remix)
B.O.B. – Beast Mode (DJ Kue Remix)
Motorcycle – As The Rush Comes (DJ Kue Remix) Delightful Choice!

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

It’s time for some feel-good electro sweetness in the form of another remix extraordinaire that goes by This Guy I Know (TGIK). The first time he caught my attention was from his blast from the past remix of The Killers‘ “Smile Like You Mean It.” I don’t know about you guys, but I spent countless hours on their album Hot Fuss when I was a kid…to the point that it makes me sick to hear a song off of it now. TGIK brought this song back to life in a way I thought to be impossible. Brandon Flowers’ voice on top of powerfully harmonic synths and a simple drum beat that you can’t help but bob your head to. It even maintains the original emotions like it’s the first time you heard it. He has this power with almost every song he touches, and he even mashes up some really sick stuff. I’m really looking forward to hearing more from this guy. He’s got all of his remixes and mashups and sets for listening and downloading pleasure on his soundcloud, but I went ahead and put up some of my favorites.

-Skinny Genes

This Bro I Know

The Killers – Smile Like You Mean It (TGIK Broken Heart Remix) Delightful Choice!
Empire of the Sun – We Are the People (TGIK Remix)
Passion Pit – Sleepyhead (TGIK Remix)
Sweet Life Bitch (TGIK Mashup) Delightful Choice!

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

It all started with a YouTube video — no no no, wait…it all started with a tweet! Coachella turned into a hype machine and began teasing us just past the point of blue balls. After the tweet where they said the real lineup will leak before Goldenvoice presents it on their website, the hints started pouring out in the form of videos on Coachella.com.

The first of these videos was of Phantogram‘s “Mouthful of Diamonds.” Needless to say, I was hooked right when the heavy electronic beat dropped. Bobbing my head to the catchy intro, I was gifted with the following guitar riff from the indie gods. When I thought I was right where I needed to be, when all problems and complaints with the world were lost in the moment of the beginning of this song, Sarah Barthel had to come in with her angel like voice and bring everything together. After hearing this track, I was inclined to commence on a quest to try and find their whole album, Eyelid Movies, in the highest quality possible. After doing my routine album run through, I was devastated to find that no track got even close to the effect and emotion I gathered from “Mouthful of Diamonds,” so I just got rid of it. It may be a one hit wonder, but it’s definitely necessary for anyone who appreciates that oh-so-approachable XX (indie/electronic) style.

-Skinny Genes

Phantogram

Phantogram – Mouthful of Diamonds

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

It’s not often you come across a band with the same effect or level of straight epicness as Arcade Fire. Birthed out of Montreal, Arcade Fire is filled to the brim with seven members: two of whom are husband and wife (which lead the group) and the husband’s brother. A true family affair of talent and passion. The instruments they use consist of the guitar, drums, bass guitar, piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, glockenspiel, keyboard, French horn, accordion, harp, mandolin and hurdy-gurdy.

Damn, I gotta let that soak in for a minute…another thing is, they are all multi-instrumentalist. So they play whatever they want whenever they want, and sing! Their debut album Funeral definitely ranks among my favorite albums of all time. From beginning to finish it’s probably the most well put together piece in my collection. It has the “conceptual album” feel where you need to listen to the whole thing through to get the full effect, but each track is an individual masterpiece. I’m just hoping that they actually make it on the Coachella bill, because I feel like their live show would be more than just a concert. I feel like it would be a display where music meets theater, but not so much as a musical. I have to be a part of it one of these days.

-Skinny Genes

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
Arcade Fire – Wake Up
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Arcade Fire – Rococo

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

In the world of French/Disco House, the name Cassius is synonymous with that of Daft Punk and Stardust. They’ve been in the game since the late 80s and early 90s. A time where America wasn’t ready for such uplifting and soulful beats, where French House was making its way through the European borders and onward through the rest of the galaxy. Daft Punk in the cockpit and Cassius manning the lasers. My appreciation began when I saw them perform with Busy P, Justice, and DJ Mehdi at Coachella as the supergroup: Club 75. (Crazy good stuff. Highly recommend seeing them if they’re around.)

Later that year they released The Rawkers EP under Busy P’s Ed Banger Records. Overall I’d give that EP a 7, but with tracks like “I Love U So” you can see they haven’t lost it. OH! They’ve also helped produce tracks for Phoenix, Chromeo, and Cut Copy and if that doesn’t do it for ya then what are you doing here!

-Skinny Genes

Cassius

Cassius – I Love U So
Cassius – I Love U So (TROWA Remix)
Cassius – Sound of Violence (Charles I Remix)
Cassius – 99 (RESET! REMIX)
Cassius – Feelings For You (Les Rythmes Digitales Remix)

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

The transition to understanding and respecting folk music is an interesting one. When people answer the question “What type of music do you like?” nine times out of ten you’ll get the “Pretty much everything but country” answer. The thing about folk music is that it’s country music’s hot cousin you met Thanksgiving break that you want to get to know a little better. Assuming and hoping you’re not related to country music. Delta Spirit will make it that much easier for you. They put together a mixture of indie, rock and folk that shows you just how necessary it is for your soul. Delta Spirit has opened for the likes of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cold War Kids, and Dr. Dog which should give you a good idea of what these guys are about. (If you haven’t heard those bands they’ve been on previous YOLO lists and I highly recommend them.)

They picked up their lead singer Matthew Vasquez performing on the streets of San Diego, where they formed. The band would be a completely different story without him. The guy is the final recipe they needed to be complete, and together they put on a show that levels up to some of the best rock concerts I’ve been a part of. Their energy and passion flows through you as they play new songs and classics. Including “Gimme Some Motivation,” which was the first song they wrote. Their debut album Ode To Sunshine was one of the most anticipated debut albums of 2008 and scored among the most plays of all albums that I own. It’ll do the trick.

-Skinny Genes

Delightful Treats

Delta Spirit – Gimme Some Motivation
**Featured in YOLO21
Delta Spirit – Streetwalker
**Featured in YOLO21
Delta Spirit – Tomorrow Goes Away
**Delightful Choice!
Delta Spirit – Strange Vine
**My most played song, and by good reason.

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

The masked crusaders have been getting quite a lot of talk recently with TRON: Legacy dropping in less than a month. “Who are these guys? What’s their deal? They only have that one good song… “Harder, Stronger, Whatever” with Kanye, right?” Wrong. These guys paved the road for over a decade of electro producers before anyone even knew you could bring back da funk through some wires and a computer. Daft Punk, comprised of Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel De Homem Christo, have become gods in the industry, the epitome of “right.” Never questioned. They make monumental moves before anyone would even consider them options: LED hats, massive light up pyramid, filth, funk, you name it. The release of their Alive 2007 album, live recording of their tour that year, was their last say in the direction they wanted the genre to take. All the while, raising the bar to an almost unattainable level for a live performance. I HIGHLY recommend you check out the video of it titled “Alive 2007,” appropriately. Fingers still crossed for a 2011 tour.

**FUN FACT!

Before Daft Punk was Daft Punk, they were a Beach Boys tribute band called Darlin’. It was Thomas, Guy, and another dude you might have heard of named Laurent Brancowitz. In a review, an author called it “a bunch of daft punk.” Thomas and Guy took that alias and created Daft Punk in 1993, while Lauren peaced out and became the guitarist of Phoenix. Small fuckin’ world…err France, I guess. Check the vid:

-Skinny Genes

Delightful Treats

Daft Punk – High Life
**Featured on YOLO20
Daft Punk – Crescendolls
**Featured on YOLO20
Daft Punk – The Prime Time Of Your Life (Tits & Clits Remix)
**Featured on YOLO17
Daft Punk – Da Funk
**Probably my favorite track of theirs.

Special treat today..the music video for their single “Derezzed” off the TRON soundtrack: