03 Oct 2011

STOP/PEACH

No Comments audio, video

Watch Twin Sister perform Stop at Union Square last week (via @jonahthought) and listen to a demo titled Peach that Udbhav posted on Twin Sister’s website back in July. Get “In Heaven” from Domino now.

Twin Sister: Peach (Demo)

03 Oct 2011

YOUNG PRISMS DEMOS

No Comments audio

Today my buddy Bryant alerted me that GNAR Tapes is putting out a Young Prisms cassette featuring a bunch of their demos. Young Prisms’ LP Friends For Now is one of my favorite and most played LPs, and was spun a lot during late nights while studying last year.

02 Oct 2011

FRONTIER SCHOOL

No Comments audio, video

The music of Julian Lynch is set to this beautiful short film documenting the iconic Califronian boarding school, The Thacher School. Directed by Lisa Eisner, it’s a really beautiful spectacle of the American West.

From NOWNESS: “If you were ever to go back to school,” says Eisner, “Thacher would be the greatest school in the world. It would just change your life completely.”

Thacher: Frontier Schoolingfrom Lisa Eisner on Nowness.com.

Julian Lynch: Terra

02 Oct 2011

NEWTOWN RADIO SESSIONS

No Comments audio

Newtown Radio uploaded a bunch of really cool sessions this morning, below are some of my favorites from that upload. I wish I knew who is responsible for the song Come On Over, which I have grown especially fond of. Turns out Come On Over is by Veronica Falls (thanks Kevin).

Expensive Looks – Newtown Radio Studio Session by NewtownRadio

Boyfriend – Newtown Radio Studio Session by NewtownRadio

Ex Cops – Newtown Radio Studio Session by NewtownRadio

Come On Over by NewtownRadio

Trip – Vacationer by NewtownRadio

Widowspeak – Newtown Radio Studio Session by NewtownRadio

Speculator – Newtown Radio Studio Session by NewtownRadio

01 Oct 2011

MERLIN MONROE

1 Comment audio

MJ MJ Records put this double cassette compilation together and I stumbled upon this dreamy blues track by Merlin Monroe (Ben Larson’s music project). The Cloud Nothings track and the Orchard Thief tracks are also growing on me – you can send them a message if you want a copy of the tape.

01 Oct 2011

THE INDUSTRIAL EDGES OF NEW YORK CITY

1 Comment photo

I stumbled upon the photo essays of Nathan Kensinger while reading one of my favorite NYC surf blogs and while looking through his photos I couldn’t help but connect the darkness of NYC’s industrial decay with some Anenon and Non-Projects related tracks I have been listening to lately.

Commons by anenon

Grey by anenon

White Winter Lights (Lullaby for Laura) by anenon

that which once was will never be again by ROM-DOS

01 Oct 2011

THE BEACH

No Comments audio, video

Don’t really know much about Magic Eye other than that they’re from Edinburgh, U.K. and make some dreamy lo-fi pop music. Flamin’ Teenage reminds me a lot of that scene from “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio, when he falls in love with that girl and then makes out with her underwater with the phytoplankton swimming around them while ambient club music was playing. How 90′s.

Unfortunately the island where “The Beach” was filmed is no longer there, it was destroyed by the 2004 Indian Earthquake and Tsunami. My professor for linear wave theory showed us a simulation he created showing the island’s destruction. I guess that’s what this song is about for me – all good things must come to an end at some point in time, but you cherish them while they last – just like Leo did when he made out with that hot french girl.

Flamin’ Teenage by MAGIC EYE

01 Oct 2011

HAMILTON ROAD

No Comments video

This Ducktails video for Hamilton Road premiered over at Pitchfork and features Alex Craig, Katy Goodman, Martin Courtney, and Evan Brody (So that’s faces from Big Troubles, Vivian Girls/La Sera, Real Estate, and Family Portrait). The whole video is created upon the concept of the intro of a 60s or 70s TV show, such as the Brady Bunch – it’s a concept I really like and it’s super cool to see all these familiar faces from different bands in one video.

In reference to the whole buzz band concept prominent here – Insound is selling that rare Ducktails Killin The Vibe 12″ he put together with Panda Bear so you might want to cop that there. Artwork done by Lauren Pakradooni.

28 Sep 2011

JAMES BLAKE AND DUBSTEP

2 Comments Uncategorized

Liz Pelly recently interviewed James Blake for The Boston Phoenix, and James stated something that I can completely agree with:

“I think the dubstep that has come over to the US, and certain producers– who I can’t even be bothered naming– have definitely hit upon a sort of frat-boy market where there’s this macho-ism being reflected in the sounds and the way the music makes you feel. And to me, that is a million miles away from where dubstep started. It’s a million miles away from the ethos of it. It’s been influenced so much by electro and rave, into who can make the dirtiest, filthiest bass sound, almost like a pissing competition, and that’s not really necessary. And I just think that largely that is not going to appeal to women. I find that whole side of things to be pretty frustrating, because that is a direct misrepresentation of the sound as far as I’m concerned.”

For those of you that know me, you know I love to dance. I went to dubstep night at one of the local clubs in my city to see what the deal was with the recent popularity of this genre (music with focus on the bass is something that has always been pretty popular in the UK) and to be honest, I was pretty disgusted with what I experienced that night. When my friends and I left, we determined that it was a place ravers would go when they couldn’t find a good warehouse to rave in. The music was fairly disinteresting and is a lot what like James Blake stated to be, “…who can make the dirtiest, filthiest bass sound, almost like a pissing competition…”. What I experienced wasn’t really dancing, it was more like stopping on the ground in a somewhat coordinated fashion. The worst part of this night was – there were barely any women whatsoever there to dance with, and I can’t blame them for not attending. Below is a short clip of what I experienced that night, a video that shows James Blake’s description of “a pissing competition” coming to life:

It’s a shame, really – that a fickle trend can seemingly ruin the integrity of a genre.

27 Sep 2011

WE FOUND LOVE IN A HOPELESS PLACE

No Comments audio

This new Rihanna track is seriously great, the instrumentals are interesting because they remind me of 90s house/dance instrumentals and they are done well. Nothing bothers me more than listening to a pop song with really lame snare hits in the background.

Rihanna: We Found Love

Right after you listen to this song, I suggest playing Data Dream by Laserdisc Visions, an escape into sega genesis. You can get Laserdisc Visions’ tape from Beer On The Rug (via RQ)

Laserdisc Visions: Data Dream