Male Bonding’s music video for “Pirate Key” almost looks like an advertisement for Altered Zones. Don’t believe me?
How about now?
Archive for October, 2010
I used to be a huge anglophile. It’s where my love for Arctic Monkeys came from. So maybe deep down I still have a sweet spot for craft bands from the UK. My latest find is The Sequins.
The Sequins are a band from Coventry, England. Their most recent release was this year’s The Risky Woods EP. My first taste of their music was “Offside Beautiful”, a enchanting song of the EP. With clean crisp instrumentation and vocals that come off as mysteriously haunting. These guys have a unique sound that has left me hooked.
This is their newest EP, but they are far from a new band. They have already released one full length, and two other EP’s. I’m going to have to check those out as soon as possible.
For now, dig into “Offside Beautiful”:
[mp3]: The Sequins – Offside Beautiful
Be on the look out for the bands “Man Alive/On the Streets of Japan” single that will be available on November 8th.
Please let me know what you think in the comments.
I have been blessed with the privilege of premiering J Prawn’s remix of Hesta Prynn’s “Can We Go Wrong”. Just the other day I posted the original version of the song, and it got a pretty good reaction.
Now we have a juicy sweet remix that J Prawn did to make things interesting. J Prawn is the bassist for both Beck and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It’s a delightfully chill remix that will leaving you feeling ultra cool.
It gives an atmosphere of cool confidence, that was already in the original. So Ja Prawn took a cool song, and made it sound even cooler. Quite the feat, if you ask me. It makes sense that Beck would trust Ja Prawn with his bass duties.
Download this gem below:
[mp3]: Hesta Prynn – Can We Go Wrong (Ja Prawn Remix)
Head to her store to buy her EP, 7 inches, etc. For those of you in the west coast, check out her upcoming tourdates.
Good old Tapes ‘n Tapes are back with a new album. The Minneapolis, Minnesota band announced on their website that their new album is called Outside, and will be released on 1/11/11. It’s going to be released on the bands very own record label, Ibid Records.
The album was recorded in Minneapolis at the Terrarium, with mixing from Peter Katis. Check out the tracklisting below:
1. Badaboom
2. SWM
3. One in the World
4. Nightfall
5. Desert Plane
6. Outro
7. Freak Out
8. The Saddest of All Keys
9. Hidee Ho
10. People You Know
11. On and On
12. Mighty Long
Something tells me Tapes n’ Tapes are going to knock it out of the park with Outside.
I decided to rant about my frustrations found with the “disposable” nature of our music culture. Sorry that it’s so long:
I love music. I don’t know how it become such an essential part of my life. I can’t play any instrument. My parents never influenced me in any way. It just happened.
I love music so much I started a music blog in order to find a place where I could spill out all of my favorite songs and new discoveries. I expected my friends to maybe read it, but that was about it. I never expected people to read my site daily. I never expected to befriend other great bloggers and even great bands. However, all this has happened to me somehow, and I’m very fortunate.
I always have had a pretty large music collection. I have hundreds of CD stacked in my room making a mess out of my shelves. I also have an ever growing record collection. I get more music than I can even listen to now with the start of this blog. I was already bad enough when I bought albums. I would buy albums based on word of mouth or good reviews and often, they would just sit there. Truth be told, I never really had time to listen to everything that was out there. I still don’t. However, more & more music comes piling in. It doesn’t stop.
You don’t need to be a music blogger to notice this. There’s an absurd amount of new music constantly being pumped out of artists. It’s impossible to keep up. Even if you do somehow stay a float in the myriad of new releases, are you really spending time with records? I bring this to your attention because I’m afraid to say I don’t know if I am anymore.
I find myself drowning deeper and deeper with new albums, new songs, new artists, and hell…even WAYS of finding music. Each day it seems like there’s a hot new buzz band, or a new album from an artist that you could have sworn just released one months ago. Then you have that older band releasing their comeback album. Then you want to dive back and give The Beatles a listen.
My point is, holy shit there’s a lot of music. With blogging, I’m constantly finding myself looking for new music because I love the discovery. However, another part of my new-found job as a blogger is keeping up. New bands will never stop coming.
There have been a lot of good albums in 2010. Some we can even call great. However, upon reflection, I realized I wasn’t getting to know these records very well. I’m jumping from new release to new release like it’s nothing. I was thinking of how I used to spend weeks with an album like Illinois, and it would literally be the soundtrack of my cold winter nights falling in love for the first time. It was a part of me.
While there have been tons and tons of solid albums, I don’t know how many I have let into my life the same way, and it pains me. I love music, but I don’t know if I love how disposable it’s all come.
I think I need to slow down and get myself to focus on spending more time with albums, and less with the kiss kiss, bang bang, nature of this new music culture.
You’re probably lying if this is not a problem for you. If it isn’t then god bless. I just want to slow down sometimes and just divulge in a few albums and get to know them like I used to. There’s so much great music out there, but for some reason, it doesn’t seem the same.
Please leave comments with your thoughts & feelings on this.
Small Plates Records is the new record label run by the always fantastic music blogs, I Guess I’m Still Floating & YVYNYL. Both are fantastic blogs, and one can only imagine the great releases that will be on the way.
Their first release is already impressing me a great deal. It’s a 7″ featuring three songs from guards debut ep. You hopefully remember guards, as I liked them a great deal. The 7″ will feature ”Resolution of One” as the a-side, and the double b-side has “Crystal Truth” and “Long Time”.
The 7″ will be on limited to 500 copies on what they describe as “gorgeous multicolored vinyl”.
Pre-Order their first release right here. It’s due out on October 19th.
Gorillaz have delivered a surprise single out of no where. Even though they just dropped Plastic Beach a few months ago and are on a pretty big tour, they found time to record the new song “Doncamatic (All Played Out)”. It features guest vocals from new British R&B singer Daley. I’ve never heard of him before, but it doesn’t matter. She’s a perfect fit for this effortlessly chill song.
It’s due as an official single on November 22nd.
Stream it below, or download the mp3 at It’s A Rap Rogo.
While your at it, check out the storyboard video for “Rhinestone Eyes”:
Emay first hit my radar with Emay, Karen O, and the Kids, his fantastic re-interpretation of Karen O’s Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack. He just hit me up with a brand new single called “Douche Lincolns, “So Live”". In it, he uses a sample of Guided By Voices. There’s something calm and reassuring about Emay’s delivery. It’s different than a lot of the rap out there, and it’s more up my ally. It also came with the equally effective “Iron Pulse “Starboy”", the b-side of his single.
[mp3]: Emay – Douche Lincolns, “So Live”
[mp3]: Emay – Iron Pulse “Starboy”
I want to also throw in Emay’s “If You’re Breathing”. He released it back in August, but I never got around to posting it. It’s my way of making it up to him:
[mp3]: Emay – If You’re Breathing
So I gave you a lot of new Emay today. Hopefully you can find one song that you really enjoy. Be on the lookout for a new song that Emay did with Blackbird Blackbird called “Breaking”. It should be dropping on Friday.
The Morning Benders have been one of the busiest bands this year, and they don’t seem to have any plans of slowing down. They are included on Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute to Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, a compilation album of various artists covering songs from the famed Dylan album.
The Benders took on “Outlaw Blues” and delivered a brooding version of the song that sounds haunted and emotional. They’re on a real winning streak this year.
Grab the cover below with two options:
[mp3]: The Morning Benders – Outlaw Blues (Bob Dylan Cover)
Stream the original Bob Dylan version:
The cover album will be released on October 5th via Reimagine Music.
