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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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

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

Yellow Ostrich

Yellow Ostrich came to my attention while scouring the interwebz for material for the Brain Salad compilations.  I first came across “WHALE” which is a track that starts simply with just some looped vocals and percussion.  Lead singer and project mastermind Alex Schaff chimes in with his juvenile and playful voice that he decorates really really well with some light distortion.  This adds a really nice grainy, yellowish touch to the music.  For the most part, Schaff writes songs that form around looped vocals of some sort, typically densely harmonized as well.  His latest release, Mistress, comes after two EP’s – The Morgan Freeman EP, and Fade Cave EP.  All of these releases are good, and if you’re into movies and pop culture as much as you are into good music, I highly suggest checking out The Morgan Freeman EP.  It is exactly what you might assume it not to be: a collection of songs about or directly relating to Morgan Freeman.  Its incredibly entertaining and it really gives you a good idea about what Yellow Ostrich is all about.  Other highlights include “Hahahaohhoho” off The Mistress  and “Getting Lost/Staying Lost” from the Fade Cave EP.  I really really like what Yellow Ostrich has going on, and they’ll  be doing a string of dates with Ra Ra Riot, so that would just be an excellent show.  So try and catch them if they’re around.  They’re playing an excellent ACL Fest this weekend.  And I don’t want to talk about how I’m not there.  xx

“Whale”

“Hahahaohhoho”

“Get Lost/Staying Lost”

“Morgan Freeman’s Selected Filmography”

He also has a couple of wonderful covers that you will probably (hopefully) enjoy.

“King of Spain” – Tallest Man on Earth cover

“Don’t Haunt this Place” – The Rural Alberta Advantage cover

Thanks and enjoy and thanks.

Shabazz Palaces

Shabazz Palaces is a hip-hop group on Sub Pop Records (swag) and one of the most on point artists out there right now.  Their lyricists articulate delivery and hard-hitting instrumentals have had me vibin’ hard since I first gave him a listen.  His song’s typically deal with subject matter far removed from that of most rap and hip-hop acts of today, which is refreshing and extremely appealing.  The raw attitude of the lyrics is what hooked me initially, and as I kept listening, it was the songs as a whole that kept me coming back.  It’s hard to categorize Shabazz Palaces, and I think that that attests to their straightforward mentality.  They seem to do exactly what they want, and thats what keeps the music honest and pure.  Songs like “Chuch” and “Blastit” having driving rhythms that instantly create the urge to bob your head, these are the songs you want to blast with the windows down while passing a group of punk middle school hood rats.  If you catch my drift.  Their use of interesting electronic sounds on their instrumentals really defines their sound.  Their extremely creative with their rhythms and I can’t wait to see what these guys throw at us in the future.

For Fans of:  Wu-Tang, De la Soul, hip-hop

Chuch

32 leaves

An echo from the hosts that profess infinitum

Blastit (live from Daytrotter)

Swerve… The reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)

LIVE AT KEXP Seattle.

Thanks and Enjoy.  and thanks.

Brain Salad – May

In the words of Mark Wahlberg, “Brain Salad is my favorite meat.”  I couldn’t have said it better myself Marky.  This Brain Salad created itself in the midst of what was a very strange month, and I think it reflects that.  The mix of greens and veggies and dressing and crunchy squares of bread in this one really create quick a delicious dish.  There are parts of this mix that I’ve struggled not to share with you prematurely because iI was so dayum excited about them.  Sew much good music came out this month, and it was fun and time-consuming sorting through all of it.  But I’ve done it, and I’m confident I’ve done it well.  I Sincerely hope you agree. Continue reading »

Chiddy Bang

Chiddy Bang is a hip-hop duo comprised of “Chiddy” the rapper and Xaphoon Jones the producer.  They first came to my attention because of a freestyle that Chiddy did over the UK rapper Tinie Tempah’s song “Pass Out” instrumental.  Immediately I loved his flow and lyricism for creativity and its sheer originality.  Also it helped how articulate he was.  After picking up more of their material I was impressed with the collabs and the samples they used.  Passion Pit features on the song “Truth”, the always lovely Kate Nash’s (love her….) song “Skeleton” is sampled on the hard hitting “Breakfast”.  The list goes on, MGMT… Darwin Deez…Radiohead…Gorillaz… Sufjan Stevens… Not to mention I had a Xaphoon Jones remix on a Mansions on the Moon album that I loved.  Having been pretty burnt out on most of the Hip-hop I had been hearing, this was quite refreshing.  Bottom line, Chiddy Bang is on point with the genre I would consider Indie Hip-hop.  From lyrics to production to collabs, Chiddy Bang is doing it right.

For Fans of: Hoodie Allen, The Hood Internet, Childish Gambino

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Brain Salad – April

Brain Salad – April

April’s Brain Salad has a great deal of mixed greens, that starts with folk and ends with filth (Filth Collins that is). The first song Daydreaming by Middle Brother was stuck in my head worse than the first time I heard Blue (Da Ba Dee), which is purty dayum bad, its just a great folk track that I would like to never forget. Tv on the Radio’s new album is money, real good energy on that one, hard to pick of a favorite track. Summer was described by friend as being “almost too Chill… almost.”, agreed. Exposition by Man in Space is something that I had to include simply for its uniqueness, not sure I’ve heard anything similar, ‘cept maybe tune-yards. The RAC remix is one of a multitude of great releases by the Collective. Next comes Architecture in Helsinki, which I succinctly describe as Nu-MadonnaPrince/Indie/Dance-pop with an extra helping of sass. Mansion on the Moon are an old fave, and they’re workin on a new album so be on the lookout for that. Yeasayer’s “Phoenix Wind” showed up on their Record Store Day release, which was enjoyed greatly. OK. Next. Jesty Beatz is rumored (and hinted) to be workin on a new album, set to be released soon hopefully, and to spawn hype I’ve included possibly the greatest song ever made, “The Plot to Save the World/Genesis 16″. Multi-talented rapper Childish Gambino’s All of the Lights cover/remix goes on here for its ingenious flow and the mere fact that he name dropped Frank Ocean (google dat). Ken Griffey Jr. slept its way onto the mix just for sheer creativity. And Flux Pavillion win’s the Filthiest drop to date. I almost poo’d the first time, be wary. Well on that note, enjoy and share the glove. 

Tracklist after the Jump. Continue reading »

Brain Salad – March

Brain Salad – March

This Brain Salad is what has been ringin in my head all througout March.  Obviously the new Fleet Foxes and Iron and Wine were excellent.  Really diggin the Tune-yards crazy Lo-fi/electronic/folk/R&B experiment they’ve (she) released.  Hoodie Allen and Chiddy Bang have been on heavy rotation, expecially that NY is Killing Me track.  Can’t say enough good things about James Blake, he’s something new and different in the most wonderful way.  I keep listening to tracks from his self-titled album on repeat.  Not really any FilthyGrimyDirty dubstep on this mix, stragnely enough.  It’s been a WOMPWOMP dryspell as I’ve been exploring some more ambient and experimental electronic stuff.  Anyways, hope you enjoy, its been another great month of an excellent musical 2011 so far.  New Dangermouse on the horizon has got me itchin’ though…

tracklist after the jump. Continue reading »