Dent May

Music sounds better in the summer.  Or maybe I feel better in the summer.  Regardless, there’s something that get’s me smiling like a nutcase when I hear a bright and shimmering song while its this hot out.  It’s just the satisfying sound of cool.

Dent May‘s album Do Things is out now on Animal Collective’s Paw Tracks imprint.  Strung together on this album are indie-rock songs with drum machine rhythms and reverb filled vocals and guitars.  The way I hear it, it sounds a great deal like a band discovered unreleased Beach Boys songs, and decided to cover them in their own style. This is a very good thing.  Every bit of this album makes me smile.  The lead singer, strangely named Dent May, has a delightful falsetto that he exploits perfectly.  Also, he does a wonderful deep vibrato on some of his sustained noises that pleases the ear much in the way that chocolate pleases the tongue.

The standout tracks on this album for me are “Rent Money”, “Do Things”, and “Wedding Day”.

Check them out below.

“Rent Money”

“Do Things”

“Wedding Day”

or stream it on Spotify here

Thanks and enjoy and Thanks

Songs with Friends – Music 4 Penguins

Music For Penguins is a mix that I made quite a while ago, and then lost track of for some insignificant reason or another.  However, because of a recent increase in productivity and free-time, I’m going to upload it.  The songs are not all current, but they are all songs, I assure you of this.  This mix is made for walking, socializing, caring, swimming, and most importantly sharing.  I feel that penguins embody these Ideas quite readily, and hence, Music 4 Penguins.  The mix begins whisper soft, (quite literally) and crescendo’s in the middle portion and then fades off with an easy-going finale.  This is one of the more varied mixtapes I’ve made in terms of time period of the release of these songs.  However, they all fit into a certain portion of my brain set aside for pleasant and nice songs.  The subject matter is not always positive, but the execution is typically smooth.  If you’re looking for music to listen to while you spring clean, or go for a hike, or sail through some daydreams, this is all you need.

Tracklist after the Jump

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Brain Salad – April 2012

Brain Salad – April 2012

“If I were more nocturnal, I would surely miss seeing my shadow.  This peculiar dark spot that diligently follows my earthly shell, reminds me of the momentary changes I can make to this physical world.  Similarly, it is a constant reminder of the great ball of fire that we rely on to survive on this planet.  Lying on my back towards the sun, I am often stricken with guilt that people of the current era do not pay respect to the sun as much as the people of old.  With spring fully upon us, the days are getting longer, and our mid-day shadows are becoming much shorter.  This provides an excellent opportunity to explore the wonders of your individual world.  So the next time you’re feeling the urge to re-watch old episodes of your program of choice, drop your headphones onto that powerful cranium, and romp around for an hour or so.  If you truly regret it, then you may be having an uncommon case of springtime seasonal depression, and just might be beyond help.”

- Robert “Bobby” Frost

This month’s Brain Salad comes with its fair share of sunny and bright tunes, most notably, two tracks off the debut release from Vacationer with “No Rules” and “Good as New”.  Both tracks are extremely catchy and have everything that I look for in a good synth pop song.  Make sure to check out their album,Gone, on their Bandcamp, it’s too legit to be illegitimate.  Topping of the mix, is two folky songs, one from an artists I’ve been following for a while, Of Monsters and Men, and a brand new discovery to me, an excellent folk group out of Houston that goes by the name of Buxton.  Next, the fun, bounding track from Imperial Teen, has been my international walking anthem for the past few weeks.  Delicate Steve teases us with a track his latest album, Positive Force, coming on May 15.  I brought in another track off Conner Youngblood‘s free EP Sketches Pt. 1, simply because he’s making some extremely creative music and I firmly believe that more people should be aware of it.  Nite Jewel‘s album One Second of Love, caught me completely off guard and I’m simply infatuated with the track “She’s always Watching you”off that one.  The mix ends with some peppy, and almost-annoying tunes, from Tanlines and the always reliable Remix Artist Collective.  The last track on this is a unique banger from french hip-hop/edm producers Chill Bump.  Watch out for them if you dig this track because they’re quite on point.

As always, take care, please share, and Thank you x2.  xx

Tracklist and link After the Jumpoff

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Brain Salad – March

Brain Salad – March 2012

Despite being relatively absent from the blogosphere for the past few months, I have been listening to a fair bit of music.  So here I am picking it back up with a brand new Brain Salad release.  March’s mix continues the trend of eclectic compilations with everything from Shigeto’s exciting glitchy remix of Sufjan Steven’s “Futile Devices”, to the light folky soul tune in Michael Kiwanuka’s “I’m Getting Ready”.  Highlights from this month’s include a quality track titled “Lonesome” from another quality release from Dr. Dog off Be the Void.  The new track from one of my personal favorites Yellow Ostrich, “Shakedown” is a driving rock tune that starts off strong and ends with a crescendo that is as fulfilling as it is hectic.  Blood Orange has been ringing its smooth R&B Rock through my head for the past few months, so I figured I’d share “Forget it” with all y’all.  By the way, Blood Orange is the project of one Lightspeed Champion, who I found out about through Emmy The Great, won me over with his excellent name and even better music, so check him out, please.  Pepper Rabbit comes through with a nice catchy tune that is just plain nice.  Michael Kiwanuka and Ben Howard wins the best folk tunes so far this year.  Polica and Rhye and Grimes all came out of nowhere this year with some awesome female dance/electronic tunes.  Conner Youngblood continues to crank out tunes that I can’t help but love, and even better, “Will You Be There”, came on a free EP called Sketches Pt.1.  Last of all comes A$AP Rocky’s “Peso” which if you aren’t already aware of, fix it, because A$AP Rocky is doin his own thang like none other, and gettin paid for it.  As always, thanks and enjoy and thanks.

Tracklist after the Jump.

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Delicate Steve

Delicate Steve just might be an enigma wrapped in a mystery enshrouded within the cloaks of secrecy that protect the deepest meanings of existence.  Similarly, Delicate Steve is a instrumental rock group that’s been exploring the origins of music by way of NYC, creating waves of sensation in the ears of many and confusion in the heads of all that are perplexed by what they have encountered.  Having been paired by nothing less than fate with the wonderfully talented Yellow Ostrich, the most Delicate of Steves recently, were on tour supporting Ra Ra Riot.

Delicate Steve’s story is one that’s been flooded with what our ancestor’s called “Tall Tales”.  In a bit of a publicity stunt, a publicist for the band sought out acclaimed music writer Chuck Klosterman to write a press release, without really knowing what the band was about.  Chuck did just what he knew he had to do, write a such a ludicrous fabrication that it could easily be taken for the truth by someone who has little time to let it sink in, or at the very least check some facts.  So it became a parody of music journalism, and the sad reality of what a press release is, which is merely a cheat sheet for journalists to shirk their duties of investigating and reporting the facts.  So by feeding the hungry eyes of bloggers and music journalists with false facts and outrageous (and imaginary) descriptions, Klosterman managed to “Pull a quick one”.  This trickery did not go unappreciated by those who recognized, most notably NPR, who’s Ann Powers wrote an excellent article about this situation and the portrait it paints of the music journalism scene.

So the way I will choose to describe the wizardry that Steve Marion, the mastermind behind the luscious compositions that make up the debut album Wondervisions, is with this:

In the hot summer sun, some time ago, I spent a handful of moments to stop and observe/ponder the remains of a squirrel.  His time must’ve came, in one panicked moment, a day or two before.  The rot had started.  Definitely.  The flies, seemed to gain vigor from the promise of something to occupy their seconds of flight for many minutes to come.  As I took it all in, I thought I heard something.  I know I heard something.  In the distance, but obviously within earshot, was the soft singing of tree birds, with the accompaniment of the breeze.  What seemed like a celebration cantata was occurring just a stones-throw from this location of sudden or slow lonely demise.  My feelings were mixed.  No not mixed like blended, but more like alternating, or see-sawing.  I couldn’t help but to be saddened by the fate of the adorable rodent.  I couldn’t help to be delighted by the performances of the natural choir perched above.  So I decided to try my best to combine these emotions that I had always felt separately before.  And quite naturally, I found myself at a funeral.  Celebrating the life of the critter.  Rejoicing for the all the smiles that he had caused as he scrambled around a trunk trying to catch a fellow nut-stasher.  Accepting the fate that world has brought to this thing.  And really, really, really enjoying the music.

“The Ballad of the Speck and the Pebble”

“Butterfly”

“Sugar Splash”

Check out these videos, if you so desire.

“Butterfly”  Music Video

“Wondervisions” Official Video

“Sugar Splash”  Live video

Songs with Friends – Music 4 Bears – A New Mix From the Brain Forest

**Music 4 Bears**

Lately I’ve been tryin to catch up with some of the mixes that I promised people I would personally craft for them.  And instead of making mixes and only letting a sole person enjoy their loveliness, I decided to share them with the world.  So here is the Music 4 Bears Mix.  I made this for a friend who requested that I make a mix that wasn’t “all folky and sad”.  So I set out to bring together a set of songs that were the types of songs that bears could enjoy.  Now I’m talking about friendly happy Coca-Cola bears not the blood thirsty Black bears that terrorize the people of the woods.  So these songs are for all bears that are good.  Theodore Roosevelt Bears, Poo Bears, Bears that Care, Bears from Chicago, and et cetera Bears.

The first segment of the mix is the campy, festive, SmileAndClapYourHands type of songs that you might hear in a commercial for summer clothes or hair conditioner.  It starts with “Up Up Up” By Givers off their amazing album, In Light.  I have been a huge fan of this song and it was multiplied tenfold when I found THIS VIDEO.  Next is “You, Me, & The Bourgeoisie”  by the Submarines who snuck up on me and surprised me with their intelligent pop music.  It get’s folky for a moment with “Live in a Van” by Burlap to Cashmere, which I imagine the baby bear from Goldilocks singing as his life isn’t as glorious it was in the heyday of the Goldilocks story.  Then comes an amazing roots blues rock song from the ridiculously talented Alabama Shakes titled, “Hold On”.  These guys have a bright future, I caught them at a free show in Cincinnati and have been preaching about them ever since.  Next comes “Colours” by the excellent Grouplove, which was featured in remix form on Brain Salad – November.  The song “Lighthouse” by the Art Pop band NewVillager, comes off their self-titled album that I have been completely obsessed with as of late.  They posses a unique grasp on making extremely interesting pop songs that have been stuck in my head for quite a long time.  This vimeo video and a video game commercial brought “Sail” by AWOLNATION to my attention, and it stuck there because of its intensity and catchy melody.  Yacht brings up the conclusion of the mix with a fun little number “Psychic City” which I didn’t love until I heard it for the third time.  ”We Bros” from the up-and-coming band Wu Lyf, which is covered in reverb and distortion, and drags you away into some dreamy soundscape that somehow holds a rhythm.

Well I all the bears fully enjoy this mix, and all the rest of you mammals tolerate and recognize it for what it is.  And please explore these artist further if you like their song on this mix.  Most of the artists have excellent album out now.

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Brain Salad – November

Brain Salad – November

**Click to Download**

“Whenever the first leaves would fall, back when I was a child, I would began to count down the moments until there were enough to gather.  The amount wasn’t anything specific, more like an estimation of how big the pile would have to be to break my fall.  Just beyond the worn away patch of dirt in the lawn, I would corral the leaves.  Always careful to try and filter out any twigs or other debris that could later become dangerous.  The old rope swing stayed up year round, but some seasons were favorable.  You never knew for sure if it was a good cushion until you tried it.  So once I felt I had an adequate collection I would back up as far as I could go.  Running and leaping with a mighty push, I would launch into the brisk air.”

-Danny Glover

**Tracklist**

1. Pillow Talk – Wild Child
2. One Thing – Peter and Kerry
3. The Ballad of Speck and Pebble – Delicate Steve
4. Up Up Up – Givers
5. Settle Down – Kimbra
6. Australia – Conner Youngblood
7. Time Spent in Los Angeles – Dawes
8. Cannons – Youth Lagoon
9. Money – The Drums
10. Champagne Coast – Blood Orange
11. Death by Accident – Halloween, Alaska
12. Call it Off – Washed Out
13. DIY – Keep Shelly in Athens
14. Colours (Remix) – DJ21azy
15. Ohio – Justice

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins

Sometimes music comes along that just has too much flavor for me to share it with anyone right away.  I get nervous that I’m enjoying these sounds just because of how unique it is, instead of it simply just being good music.  Its almost that I feel like I might be getting tricked by a facade of production tricks or gypsy magic that makes me THINK that the music is good, as opposed to knowing for sure.  Upon first listen of Diamond Mine from King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, I was enamored by the richness of the backing tracks (Jon Hopkins) and the vocals (King Creosote).  First off, I’m a sucka for vocalists with blatant accents, and King Creosotes Scottish* drawl plays right into that weakness.  The first track that caught my attention was “John Taylor’s Month Away” which is a slowly building track that swells up to large wide sounds and eventually fades into a soundscape beautifully orchestrated by Jon Hopkins.  This album was reported as a project that was “a culmination of about seven weeks of work spread over seven years of recording and collaboration” which really shows in the final project.  I feel like this started as a dream between the two of them to work with a musician that they respected and because they both had a unique vision for the project, it ended up being such a masterpiece.  The standout track on Diamond Mine for me would definitely be “Bubble”, which features Hopkins knack for minimalist percussion and other droning chords that create such a lovely backdrop for the harmonizations of the the vocals.  The final product is quite the enchanting adventure, and they managed to capture that with an AMAZING music video.  Check out the video and other quality tracks below.

“Bubble”

“John Taylor’s Month Away”

“Bats in the Attic (unravelled)”

Check out their concert from the Tiny Desk Series from NPR to see how it all happens.

Thanks and enjoy and thanks. xx

Brain Salad – October

Brain Salad – October

**CLICK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD**

http://www.mediafire.com/?3b4aewrqgowyjx8

Last night I had a dream that my friends and I were being pulled around a lake (in which one end was a shallow indoor pool) by a rope that had some sort of strange throttle mechanism on it.  Hanging on to this rope, my friends and I zipped around the lake just enjoying the ride.  All of this was fine and grand until we were pulled back into the pool area and we discovered something written on the floor of the pool.  I remember getting just close enough to read it, feeling scared because of the way that my friend had shouted about it, and then I woke up.

Enjoy this months Brain Salad.

**Tracklist**

1. The Bad in Each Other – Feist
2. Love & Light – Sandro Perri
3. Virus – Bjork
4. Cruel – St. Vincent
5. On Your Side – Icarus Himself
6. Carried Away – The Kooks
7. Honey Bunny – Girls
8. Post War Blues – Dan Mangam
9. My KZ Ur BF – Everything Everything
10. Murder Room – Pepper Rabbit
11. Lemonade – Braids
12. Fading Colors (Bloomington) – Canon Blue
13. Bonfire – Childish Gambino
14. Kelly (Schlomo Remix) – When Saints Go Machine
15. Family Affair – Hugo Frederick

James Blake – Enough Thunder **First Listen**

James Blake has been blowing me away since I first heard “Wilhelm Scream” early last year.  Since then he’s been amazing me with his amalgamation of minimalist, post-dubstep, and r&b stylings.  His sorrowful falsetto is the perfect counterpart to his distinct glitchy reverbed percussion that he uses on the majority of his tracks.  He is easily one the best new artists (nominated for 2011 Mercury Prize a.k.a. the Grammys of The UK but better because its not in America) and continues to impress the blogosphere with his excellent productions and mixes.  I’m really into the whole post-dubstep movement and the new bass music sounds that are coming out of the UK right now (see: PostDubstep Tumblr) and James Blake is one of the defining artists in this movement and alot of what we are seeing are reflections of his sound.  It is a wonderful place we live in where artists can be immediately influential in the music world.

I’ve been wanting to post about James Blake for a grip now, and the fact that he’s preparing his new album is a damn good reason to continue building the hype about this guy.  He’s collaborated with one of my favorite voices/songwriters in the whole world, Bon Iver‘s Justin Vernon, for a track on the upcoming album.  This track “Fall Creek Boys Choir” is just a clue as to what this new album will be like, and its a huge tease.  The full track list has been released and the album is to be called Enough Thunder.  (Get the deets HERE)This song really illustrates the innovation that James Blake exudes and I sincerely hope that he continues to create new sounds and produce music of the high quality that he has in the past.

If you have never heard James Blake, please check him out.  He’s creating extremely intelligent music with a flavor that he’s made all his own, and not surprisingly he’s the best at what he does.

Wilhem’s Scream

Unluck

Limit to Your Love (Feist Cover)

Fall Creek Boys Choir

A Millie (Harmonimix Remix) *Harmonimix is James Blake’s remix/Dj moniker*

VIDEOS

**First Listen**  James Blake – Enough Thunder 320kbps

1. Once We All Agree

2. We Might Feel Unsound

3.  Fall Creek Boys Choir

4.  A Case of You

5. Not Long Now

6.  Enough Thunder

Thanks and Enjoy and Thanks