(Shout-out to my friend @mallorystarr for lending me this week's image for FVM.)
Keeping it short & sweet with the selection this week for now, but there's no telling of what gems will be released in the next couple of days - so as always, watch this space. I have to admit, I'm extra excited to hear from Tei Shi again - this time with "Bassically" a song that's sparked the internet's airwaves ever so perfectly. (I highly recommend listening to "Nevermind The End" over on her SoundCloud, that song gives me butterflies every time I listen to it.) ALSO, we've been exposed to the first taste of Oh Land's forthcoming album with the title track "Head Up High." Definitely a fan.
If the name Crooked Colours rings a bell, it could have been when LYED featured them as a Friday Fascination back in May? Heard "Capricious" for the first time on Saturday night and instantly added it to this week's FVM. P.S. Hope you're as excited about "FROOT" as I am, there's no telling what Marina Diamandis has up her sleeve for album #3.
PSSTT. Hey Santa Barbara, Happy New Noise Week! Hoping to absorb as much music as possible on Wednesday & Thursday starting with one of my favorite bands ever, Polica at SOHo! I was fortunate enough to catch this four-piece in Philadelphia two years ago at Union Transfer, with the talented Gardens & Villa as the opening band (as if I couldn't have been anymore homesick.) Needless to say it was one of the best nights I experienced while living in Philly - because seeing Polica live is unlike anything else. Do yourself a favor and grab a ticket now before it sells out, seriously!
This week's edition of FVM kicks off with POLICA's latest from their forthcoming 10". If you haven't purchased their sophomore release Shulamith, hang tight because they're about to release a deluxe version of the album that will come with new material as well. LA duo Street Joy released a catchy little number "Moon" that's perfect to start the morning off with. "Your Love Is Killing Me" by Sharon Van Etten is one of my favorites from her forthcoming album Are We There? If you're a fan of honest music revolving around heartbreak and emotion, SVE is your gal. Last, but not least - Indie outfit Run Tiger Run is a recent find and I am hooked on their sound (time for you guys to make a visit overseas please.) This might be my favorite playlist yet.
Heading to Sasquatch this weekend and haven't made up your mind on who to see? Watch this space today, because Ethan from The Source Weekly created a plan & three playlists that's worth checking out. (I recommend it even if you can't make it to the Gorge.)
#FVM28 on a TUESDAY?! I know, I know (face falls immediately into palm) but maybe someday someone will grant my ongoing wish of making sure that there are more hours in the day.
Until then, dive into this week's playlist of fresh tunes from the past couple of days. Logging into SoundCloud this morning only to notice that Nero released their first proper track in quite some time was a sweet surprise to say the least.
I decided to wrap the playlist up with Seattle four-piece Tacocat because I can't get enough of their recent full-length NVM. (Give it a listen on Spotify here.) Catching them at Hardly Art's showcase at SXSW this year was a real treat, and you can watch their KEXP session by clicking here, which I highly advise you to do.
P.S. The magnificent Poliça from Minnesota will be releasing a deluxe edition of their sophomore album Shulamith which happened to be LYED's #1 album of 2013. Peep the link below thanks to Stereogum to hear more about the release as well as hear a new track "Raw Exit."
It wasn't until recently (aka today) that I found out about Spotify's "Year in Review." I was curious to find out what mine entailed when a good friend told me about hers. If you're an avid Spotify user like yours truly, you can visit spotify.com/2013 and once your logged-in Spotify will generate a "year in review for you." This is after they share multiple facts about their year, which varies on the country you live in.
I will admit it was no surprise when HAIM appeared as the "Top Artist" on my personal Spotify stream. Despite what everyone says, these girls dominate when it comes to delivering material that's genuine & appealing. "Forever" was originally released last year as apart of HAIM's debut EP, and you can find it also on this year's stellar full-length Days Are Gone. The Top 10 tracks are definitely apart of a playlist I curated just for my morning commute, it does the trick if you are in need of a musical pick-me-up. You will find a handful of them on my list of Top Songs of 2013 featured below.
I definitely scratched my head over this, a lot.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Even if I made a Top 300 list, I think I would still find myself in a predicament. Anyways, moving on...
"Winter" by Daughter is without a doubt my song of the year, and is a breathtaking introduction to their debut release If You Leave.
What better way to introduce my top songs by featuring it at number 1, so If you haven't already - grab a pair of headphones and let the music take over for the next two solid hours. Feel free to let me know what you thought about the list by leaving a comment below - it's always nice to hear from you guys. :)
So, was Hummingbird actually my top album of 2013 as Spotify mentioned?
Stay tuned for the *Albums Edition* of Sweet Treats of 2013. You might be surprised with what's in store. If these 30 songs didn't do the trick, have no fear! You can check out a compilation I made starting from January 1st by clicking here!
Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past couple of days, you're probably more than aware that the weather (in most places) is a little on the gloomy/chilly/not sunny side. For me personally, I love it. I experienced quite a bit of the "gloom doom" while living in Philadelphia last fall, and sporadically in (Fort Worth) Texas except the humidity level was beyond tolerable. I will admit this weather makes it hard to be productive, and clearly not a "beach day" - so, as I'm writing this underneath layers and layers of blankets - here's what I've been listening to. It's music from bands that I love and pairs perfectly with a cloudy and/or chilly day. Hope y'all enjoy & feel free to share with your friends, family, cats, etc. It's that good.
Monday never fails to ignite those manic and stressful emotions, but don't worry - I hopefully have the perfect remedy. The tracks that I've selected below will hopefully tone down your manic day (as they have for me). Make sure to keep an eye out for LYED'S FACEBOOK PAGE, because I tend to post updates on there first.
I am almost 100% sure this is the live version of the track from her recent performance at the iTunes Festival, but it sounds SO GOOD I just had to post it. Earlier today I posted another track from Ellie's forthcoming album titled Halcyon and the full-length will be released A WEEK FROM TOMORROW! To listen to that specific track that I posted - you can go to the FB page for LYED HERE! I am so stinkin' excited for this album. I've been a huge fan of Ellie since she started to pop up in the US, which were through remixes of her hit single "Starry Eyed". Last year I caught three of her live performances (two at festivals, and once at the UCSB hub for FREE thanks to her manager Jamie)! She is such an amazing individual and regardless of what press says about Ellie now that she's in a relationship with Skrillex, you should still respect her for the woman that she has become! I couldn't be happier for Ellie, and I have a good feeling that this album will be one for the books. :)
"ALL" was released as a single about a week ago, and this music video shortly followed. No lie, I was hooked on this track from the very first couple of seconds. This is the type of sound you can get lost in for awhile, and I definitely found myself clicking on the play button after every 4 minutes & 2 seconds had past. Blackbird Blackbird's follow-up release Boracay Planet comes out on October 16th via Lavish Habits.
Flock of Dimes is the side project of Jenn Wasner from Wye Oak. At first I was a bit turned off by the sound of Flock of Dimes because I was used to hearing Wasner's voice paired with dramatic guitar riffs and explosive drum solos. After a few listens everything started to click and I found myself attracted to this Robyn-esque version of Jenn Wasner. This particular track will be released as a single on November 20th via FrenchKiss. Expect to hear the B-side track on the next edition of "B-Sides- The Better Side?" Check out the SoundCloud account for Flock of Dimes where you'll find a handful of other tracks like this one!
The beginning of this track immediately reminded me of Geographer, but gradually takes a different route. This track is a remix of a song off St. Lucia's self-titled debut EP. If you're curious to hear the original then click HERE! I am a big fan of the original but I like the direction that this remix takes.
This isn't necessarily fresh but I just found it the other day & wanted to share it with all of you. I'm not too familiar with Ghost Loft, but that hasn't stopped me from researching them and listening to the tracks on their SoundCloud account. I truly appreciate a track as simple as this, but at the same time it makes me feel like I'm on a good one (if that makes any sense). If Ghost Loft is news to you, then I am very excited! This is definitely something you would find in YouTube Narnia, and if you're not familiar with that - then it's time you do some research! I've posted a couple entries regarding that you can find on this lovely little blog of mine, but have no fear....a new one is on it's way this month. :) Hopefully you enjoy this track from Ghost Loft and check out their SoundCloud account like I did! :)
This is the first track off Lonerism, the follow-up to Tame Impala's 2010 debut Innerspeaker. As of today, Lonerism was is streaming on NPR & i'm currently listening to it as I type this. I'm only a couple songs into the album and already melting into my bed from this psychedelic/feel-good wave that is taking over my computer speakers. Tame Impala is definitely a band that you HAVE to see live. They're definitely one of those bands that have progressed into becoming one of the best live bands today. I was fortunate enough to catch Tame Impala at this year's Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco, and am looking forward to their Philly show in November! Lonerism will be released in the US on October 9th (a week from tomorrow). Although this album has leaked, I am still purchasing a hardcopy it & you should too. Support real music.
Well I'm not going to lie - I cried the first time I watched this video. It's such a powerful video when you truly devote all of your attention to it. It's a rather emotional song alone just by understanding the lyrics, but this video literally sparked the waterworks for me. Polica is currently on tour with Santa Barbara favorites Gardens & Villa (who always put on a great show), and I am definitely making it to their show this Wednesday regardless of how exhausted I feel. Their show is at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, which is a popular venue that I'm quite unfamiliar with (but have heard several great things about it). Also, this is another track that isn't as "fresh" but deserves the attention from your eyes and ears if you haven't checked it out already. Definitely check out POLIÇA on Spotify if you happen to have it or check out the SoundCloud account where you can access not only original tracks from Polica but remixes as well!
This post should've beenyesterday for FRESHVIBESMONDAY, but this Senior Portfolio is kicking my butt. I'm currently at LAX waiting to fly home for a week so I decided this is the appropriate time to not only entertain myself with listening to good music, but also to share it with you guys! P.S. if you've been debating on going to FYF Fest, which is September 1st & 2nd.... I'll be giving away a two-day GA pass for it within the next week or so! Go to the FB page for LYED to find out more information, and if you haven't already please "like" LYED! The more likes - the more willing this music nerd is with posting on here. :)
P.S. don't forget to show some love to LYED & pass it on to your friends.
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Bloc Party - "KETTLING"
WOO HOO HAPPY FOUR RELEASE DAY! I'm still on Cloud 9 from Bloc Party's set at Outside Lands; if you were able to catch it I'm sure you could relate. This is one of my favorite tracks from their new album that was released today in the US. Bloc Party is one of those rare bands that can successfully deliver both a heavy & relatively light side of rock in their music, and that is what I like about them. As I've read in a lot of reviews for this album, I'm not the only one who's happy that they're back. Four years TOO LONG if you ask me.
This track is addicting, and I'm so stoked for my friend Ryan Marks who's 1/2 of LOUDPVCK. I can definitely see why people go crazy over this type of music in the club scene. If this track gets me hyped via YouTube, I can only imagine hearing it live. Top names in the undergroundtrap game have been dropping their tracks recently, and I'm not surprised by it one bit. I'm hoping to get a post on them in the near future, as they just announced they will be remixing an Adventure Club track. You know that shit will be golden regardless.
This is off their forthcoming album Infinity Overload & the US release date for it is August 28th! I haven't had a chance to listen to all of the tracks that weren't recently leaked besides the tracks I've covered in previous blog posts.
One thing I've learned about artists/bands when releasing new albums is to not have this giant expectation that the new album will sound exactly like the last album or your most favorite album by them that you listen to on a daily basis. There's a huge chance you will be disappointed and automatically have a bad impression of the album. TAKE EVERY ALBUM AS THEY ARE. Unless you've listened to the album from beginning to end, it's unfair to voice your opinion on an album. There's a lot of talk about this album from Minus The Bear, and I think each of us will be our own judge once we take a listen for ourselves.
The followup to Odd Blood will be released tomorrow (among other amazing albums) in the US! The new album is called Fragrant World, and I've been a fan since the first track "Henrietta" was released a few months ago.
Yeasayer never comes up short with dance-y indie tracks that have a exotic twist to them. I'm sure I just described a genre that had a name for it, but oh well.
This track is off their debut album Give You The Ghost, but this music video was released about a week ago. Her voice is unique in a way that bounces off an auto-tune style but is so mesmerizing. What attracted me to this track is literally how sleek yet groovy it is. I've definitely stepped up on my listening game for this band, and I advise you to do the same if your ears are diggin' this track.
If you've got some time to kill, listen to this 9 minute track from Four Tet that was released just last week! There's not much to say about this track unless you listen for yourself, and then you'll understand what I'm talking about. This is the type of music you'll want to surround yourself when you're looking to get lost for a bit.
I'm a bit late on this band to be honest. This band isn't to be confused with Cloud Nothing; a band that takes a more drastic route on their sound. This track is off Wild Nothing's forthcoming album also titled Nocturne that will be released on August 28th off Captured Tracks. You can stream the entire album here if you're interested. Just my opinion, but Wild Nothing reminds me of a combination of Real Estate & Cut Copy. Two bands that I definitely incorporate into my playlists.
