It's been a looooong time since I last devoted a post to some of my favorite covers, so here they are (all 15 of them!) Some new, some old, and some that I'd never imagine to exist until now.
P.S. Less than a week until SXSW takes place in ATX, stay tuned for my list of artists/bands I'd want to see (if I were going to be there all week.)
To sum things up.. a lot has changed in the past couple of weeks! After 2 and a half months of living in Philadelphia, I made the decision to end my internship at Urban Outfitters Home Office a bit early & move to Fort Worth (Texas)! If you're a bit familiar with Fort Worth, I am now working at this lovely little location situated in the Cultural District!
Feels like I've been playing the catchup game a little too much lately, so I decided to not only add a few songs but also a small Spotify playlist below for your listening pleasure :)
This is for all of you who are just as much of a Foals fan as I am. A few weeks ago Foals stopped by "Later... With Jools Holland" to perform "My Number", a track off their forthcoming album titled Holy Fire. Earlier today Foals dropped the studio version of this track, and am still debating whether I liked the live or studio version better! Just in case you missed the news about "Inhaler" - the first track to be exposed from the upcoming album, check out the official video here! For those of you in the UK, Holy Fire will be released on February 11th & the US release date is February 12th! In my opinion, this is without a doubt one of the top albums to look forward to in 2013, as well as the upcoming albums for ON AN ON & Local Natives!
The xx - "RECONSIDER" (Jamie XX Remix) This is taken from Jamie's recent Boiler Room set, and when he dropped this - it definitely stood out to me. "Reconsider" was a bonus track off The XX's most recent album titled Coexist. I'm sure that last sentence didn't appear as something new to most of you, but if it did - don't worry! I was hoping that Jamie would include a couple snippets from Coexist, but I was a bit floored by the fact that he opened with a remix of "Reconsider". If you missed the live set on Boiler Room TV you can find & listen to the audio HERE! To sum it up, it's 42 minutes & 54 seconds of smooth vibes and relaxing beats that will make your night end on a good note.
The name Kavinsky (aka Vincent Belorgrey) shouldn't come off as "mysterious". If you've seen the movie "Drive" starring Ryan Gosling, then you might be familiar with this tune that's also by Kavinsky.
"NIGHTCALL" Hopefully by now things start to ring a bell ;). BACK TO PROTOVISION.. so it only makes sense to feature a dangerous yet classic car chase throughout the night in this video, because..well...what else do you imagine when you listen to Kavinsky? If you're one who loves a good night-time drive like I do, then you should without a doubt look into more of Kavinsky's material. You're welcome! ;)
Beach Fossils - "CARELESS" This is off the upcoming album Clash The Truth, due out February 19th! I actually found out about this electro-pop group from working at Urban last year, and have been getting into them ever since! It seemed like this band had been weaving in and out of the spotlight lately, but it's probably because the members in Beach Fossils are also involved in side projects such as DIIV (who just wrapped up a small tour supporting one of my favorite bands JAPANDROIDS) & Heavenly Beat! So with all of this in mind, I am a bit curious & excited to hear the new album!
YACHT - "SECOND SUMMER" The dance/indie duo recently celebrated their 10 year anniversary of being a band, believe system, and business! This track was released as well as an intriguing and colorful (to say the least) video to go with it directed by ADHD. It features the well-known YACHT "smiangle" coming to life and moving to the beat. Last week YACHT played a celebratory concert at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, and you can check out the pictures for yourself to see just how a party is thrown via L.A. RECORD. Hope you enjoyed this post! Feel free to check out the mini playlist I made of some stuff that I've been listening to lately, both new & old! I suggest you check out the latest material from Big Boi's album that feature one of my favorite duos - PHANTOGRAM!
It's a brand new day, a brand new month // HELLO AUGUST! I thought i'd feature about an hours worth of my favorite tracks from the month of July before I dig into the newer stuff. You're probably thinking, "wait I heard this song back in May or June". That might be the case, but the majority of these tracks were featured on albums that were officially released sometime in July. I know, I know, there I go again with the music nerdism.
P.S. Shout-out to Chad for making it way too easy for me to figure out how to attach playlists from Spotify onto this blog!
Oh yeah, "LYED" is 5 Likes away from 300 on Facebook! Click here if you feel like helping a blogger out!
SO MANY ERRANDS for a Monday. This perfectly explains how my day went so excuse how late this post is. I added a few more tracks than usual because I spent a little too much time indoors (it was 104 degrees outside up until 8PM yesterday). Hope you guys enjoy tonight's post! Tomorrow is a big day for album releases FYI, Passion Pit & Purity Ring's album will finally be up for grabs among others LEGALLY. WOOOOO!
Here's the first dose of the new Bat For Lashes material off her upcoming album The Haunted Man. This will be the first studio album since her 2009 release Two Suns. The US release date is October 23rd, and do not expect anything less than theatrical for what's to come.
This type of beautiful melody is easy on the ears to say the least. If you have a second, give their self-titled debut album a listen! Milo Greene just released a list of tour dates on their website, check them out here!
This track samples Ivan Gough's "In My Mind", and if you're digging on it then help yourself to the free download of this track --> HERE! What's awesome about Kill Paris is that most of the tracks on his SoundCloud account are available as a free download, and they're kind of amazing.
Those that are apart of RAC (Remix Artist Collective) know how to take a decent song, and transform it into something different. You can always count on some form of a groovy flow/tone if it's a RAC mix, and that's the truth.
If you're a fan of Active Child, then you'll probably find yourself drooling over this track. Active Child & HTDW actually collaborated on an amazing track called"Playing House" that I featured on LYED awhile back. There's only one person in How To Dress Well, and that's Tom Krell from Brooklyn. His voice give
How To Dress Well's Blogspot --> http://howtodresswell.blogspot.co.uk/
Just stumbled across this experimental rock band from London while I was on La Blogotheque's website the other day. Breton was featured as one of the more recent "Take Away Shows"with this song, and it wasn't long before I was hooked on their sound. Don't let the horrible review on Pitchfork for their debut album Other People's Problems change your mind about these guys. Give their album a chance, it's worth it.
This trio from Los Angeles will be the opening act for Charli XCX's LA show @ the Troubadour on August 17th! That night will be nothing but dark bubblegum jams, and I'm curious to see how it will turn out.
B-SIDES! According to the Urban Dictionary, "a B-side was originally known as the song on the flipside of a 12" or 7" vinyl single that backed the A-side, but wasn't the song promoted or received the radio play". Sometimes B-sides are eventually added to full length productions, and sometimes they're a throwaway album cut. B-sides generally have a rep for absolute crap quality, and made it easier to persuade radio stations/DJs to play the correct side. This isn't the case for the tracks I selected for today's post, these B-sides are more than worthy.
The B-Side to The Kills' second single "Future Starts Slow" which was released last year. I'm such a sucker for anything that this duo touches. If you ever have the time to look up more b-sides & unreleased tracks from The Kills THEN DO IT. Gems on gems on gems.
I'm not the biggest St. Vincent fan, but when I watched her set at last year's Treasure Island Music Festival-I was impressed with how amazing she sounded live. For this year's Record Store Day St. Vincent released a red vinyl 7" with "KROKODIL" as the A-side & "GROT" (the track above) as the B-side. I dig it.
Little Dragon can do no wrong, except for not including this track on their 2009 full-length Machine Dreams. The A-side "Feather" was included on the full-length, and is one of my favorites by them.
The B-side for "I Can Talk". Call me crazy, but this track should have been on their 2010 debut album Tourist History. Luckily they perform "Costume Party" live, and I will be seeing them in Philadelphia this September. :D
This is actually a Portishead cover, but this particular recording was used by The Civil Wars as the B-Side for their Billie Jean release on Record Store Day.
Nearly 2 years after releasing her debut album Lungs, Florence and the Machine released Lungs: The B-Sides, 11 tracks including two special covers & a few other gems. This is the opening track on the album, and the lyrics are probably some of my favorite from Flo overall.
Happy Monday fellow music lovers! Hope your weekend wasn't as lazy as mine due to receiving what feels like 1st degree burns on my chest & stomach (damn you Isla Vista sun). I took it as an opportunity to catch up on some decent movies that I haven't seen before (Spun, Empire Records, etc). I have to apologize that today's post is more of a playlist with minimal commentary. It's been a pretty hectic day; woke up this morning to an e-mail from the Urban Outfitters Home Office telling me that I had been offered a styling position for an internship that will take place this fall (September) in Philadelphia! AHHHHH so much work has been devoted to this dream of mine since I started working at UO, and to have it coming together is quite a blessing. P.S. If you happen to know anyone that lives in Philly, or know anything about Philly, hoooook a sister up with some information as I'm currently in the process of looking for housing. Thank you!
www.facebook.com/LetYourEarsDecide
www.twitter.com/emponce
P.S. Just realized that the Facebook page for LYED is at 61 likes, thank you so much for the support! :D
If Sea Wolf doesn't ring a bell for you, then if you can remember that ever-so-catchy song "You're a Wolf" from the film Zombieland. That's Sea Wolf! 'Old Friend' is the first single off Sea Wolf's upcoming album Old World Romance. If you happen to like this song, you might like The Tallest Man on Earth or Delta Spirit!
Swim Deep will always have a special place in my heart with their track "King City" that became a staple in my Itunes about 6 months ago. Swim Deep consists of a few "beach bums from Birmingham" that
Just like everybody else, I'm happy as hell to have a small taste of Coexist after waiting for quite some time. It's definitely not something that would measure to a track like "Islands", instead it's what the xx is highly capable of perfecting- simplicity. Along with releasing "Angels", The XX released the album cover, tracklist, and several more tour dates. I am thrilled to find out that they will be coming to Philadelphia while i'm there (October 29th). ALSO, every ticket purchased for their tour comes with a free download of the upcoming album that will be released on September 11th! Now that's what I call a bargain.
Here's a little something to mix things up. I first heard of Foreign Beggars when they were featured on a Skrillex track (Scatta). Since then they've been growing and continuing to make more music with zee Skrill.
I must admit, it was a bit of a pleasant surprise when I stumbled across this video earlier today. I guess I sorta fell out of the loop with Two Door Cinema Club, but I am thrilled to know that the follow-up to their debut album will be released on September 3rd! Their last & first album Tourist History is definitely one to check out. It's a pretty straight-forward album, and probably one of the first albums I was hooked on when I was introduced to rock music from Europe. Below is an extra song from TDCC's Japanese version of Tourist History, enjoy!
What's better than listening to your favorite band in the car or in the shower? SEEING THEM LIVE! This is definitely the case for me, (actually I can think of a select few that didn't impress me live but i'll save that for another post). Recently I've been stumbling across tour announcement after tour announcement, and I just can't keep it to myself what my eyes have seen! & tis the season for new music... as this season seems to continuously keep giving.
Twin Shadow recently announced a string of tour dates that will take place two weeks after the July 10th release of his sophomore LP album Confess on 4AD. Quite excited when I read that he will be performing at a local venue here in Santa Barbara (SoHo Restaurant & Music Club) on August 18th! For a list of tour dates and more information about Twin Shadow himself, click here!
This is their first track since falling off the face of the media world in 2009. If this is your first time listening to CocoRosie, you're in for one hell of a treat. CocoRosie was first formed in 2003 by sisters Bianca & Sierra Casady. What first comes to mind when I think of CocoRosie is indeed "freak-folk", a term several others have described this duo as. Bianca & Sierra each have their own individual singing style (Bianca's exotic mix of hip-hop/folk vocals while Sierra's hand-crafted sound stems from studying opera and is as dreamy as her kaleidoscope look). If their unique vocal collaboration doesn't grasp your ears, then you should know that this duo uses wind-up children's toys and a variety of gadgets that produce animal noises which definitely increases the freak in their sound. The single is officially out on June 5th with the b-side track "Tearz For Animals" on Touch & Go. They'll be coming to the golden state next month:
June 6 - The Regency Ballroom (San Francisco)
June 7 - Rio Theatre (Santa Cruz)
June 8 - Bellyup Tavern (Solana Beach)
June 9 - Luckman Fine Arts Complex (Los Angeles)
After an amazing first go-around for Bombay Bicycle Club, their upcoming US/Canada tour through the US & Canada has been extended to the west coast ! After catching BBC back in February (San Diego on the 14th & Los Angeles on the 15th), I wasn't sure that I would have the opportunity to catch them in California for awhile. They put on an amazing set both nights, and I highly recommend it if they're coming to your city. Here's Bombay Bicycle Club telling you why you should listen to them & their latest album A Different Kind of Fix in the time-span of 60 seconds.
This is an unreleased track by The Weeknd, and was the first track ever recorded (2006/2007). My, has he developed since then.
& if you haven't heard already, The Weeknd will be joining Florence + the Machine on tour later this year, along with The Maccabees and Blood Orange on select dates. Just the sound of those four names is a match-made in musical heaven for yours truly.
Today marks the release date of Neck of the Woods, the new full-length album from Silversun Pickups. It's almost uncalled for to hear a Silversun Pickups track that's less than 4 minutes long (an exception would be Broken Bottles, you bet I did my homework). I truly appreciate the longer length tracks, maybe it's because i've developed a high level of patience thanks to working in retail. With Silversun Pickups, it's a different story. Each track is like a spectral amusement ride, and in order to get the full satisfying effect-you need to listen to each track in it's entirety. Brian Aubert's raspy hiding-under-the-bleachers voice will always be one of a kind, and I love the way it brings me back to their last album Swoon with this first track "Skin Graph".
& with The XX recently announcing their summer tour through Europe which begins next week in London, one can only hope that this is a sign that the new album will be released before we imagined it to be. (I've listened to their first self-titled album so much that I can almost recite it backwards, yet I still get the butterflies when the tracks pop-up on shuffle.
& maybe a US tour? (fingers crossed). They released a demo titled "Open Eyes" last December, check it out below!
I already know what you're thinking, "what the f*ck is she talking about. Youtube Narnia? Has she lost it?" Okay, here's the deal. For someone who mumbles when sober, and speaks in analogies a little more than a 22 year-old should, I've found something that requires your full attention (well, okay 75% of it will do). I discovered this magical wave of sounds randomly one night at home (this is due to the fact that I had to wake up at 5am for work, and my hangovers these days are the equivalent to being in a body cast.)
It all started when I logged onto Youtube to watch videos of Purity Ring. Actually, it was this exact video^. With over 6 million views, I'm almost positive you've probably heard this track or have seen it pop up on your news feed. After reading nothing but great things from their Pitchfork set at SXSW, you should expect to see/hear more of this "future pop" duo...well, in the future. So back to my so-called mystical experience. I couldn't help but let my eyes wander to the sidebar where you will find a list of youtube videos that are generally of the same artist, genre, etc. What caught my eye was the fact that the videos happened to be of different artists & groups. Also, each of the visuals for the videos were pretty simple in appearance, but attractively executed so that I would immediately click on them regardless if I was familiar with the song or not..... and this is what I experienced: one click after the other, and the rest is as memorable as the after-party of your senior prom (one hell of a good blur).
1. Darius - "Maliblue"
2. Star Slinger - "They Like It Rough"
3. Teams vs. Star Slinger - "Say Please"
4. Blood Orange - "Champagne Coast"
5. Caribou - Odessa
6. Tycho - "A Walk"
7. Grimes - Vanessa
8. The XX - "Blood Red Moon"
So what's the significance in why I created this post? Well hopefully by now you've either A.) felt attracted to a song you haven't heard before, B.) recognized a song you already knew & fell in love with it even more, or C.) felt more relaxed then you did before reading this post. This is just a kernel of what I came across, so if you have the time...click on one of these links & let the exploration begin. Finally, don't take the video comments seriously... you don't have to be on drugs to enjoy the music.
Welp, I hope you enjoyed this brief exploration into "the Narnia of Youtube"... remember, it's more than necessary to let your mind wander for a period of time...or an entire night. Pamper those ears, enjoy xx.
I'd like to imagine the first track on an LP, EP, Mixtape, etc to be the catchiest (that is until you reach whatever their "hit" is). & I've stumbled across a few that have actually become some of my favorite tracks.
1. The XX - Intro
Album: Self-titled (2009)
This is the kind of song that you can put on repeat........for a few hours.
2. Sharon Van Etten - Warsaw
Album: Tramp (2012)
I had the pleasure of catching SVE at the Avalon earlier week and not only did she open with this addicting track but it's also the first track on her most recent album "Tramp". I recommend you to start from the very beginning with "Warsaw" when you first listen to the album. It's a pleasant ride into her deep dark thoughts that you'll immediately find yourself addicted and relating to.
3. The Shins - The Rifle's Spiral
Album: Port of Morrow (2012)
Fresh out of The Shins' oven is "Port of Morrow" (released March 20th). [You just don't exist. / Your mother must be so proud.] This opener is one of the more exhilarating tracks from The Shins, only to transition into the power of "Simple Song".
4. The Head & The Heart - Cats & Dogs
What really attracted me to this opener that you can find on their 2011 self-titled album is how well it transitions into the 2nd track "Coeur D'Alene", so I decided to post a video of them performing it live. The Head and the Heart is definitely one of those bands that you MUST see live in order to get the full feel of who they are. It's on my bucket list to catch them play at a house show as they've mentioned in the past as one of their favorite things to do.
5. Atmosphere - The Arrival
(I just went from different ends of the spectrum from the video above, but this is a perfect example of how spread out my taste in music is.) This is the perfect opening to the 2005 album "You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having". Slug knows best, mark my words....."I'm not really supposed to talk about this.....but....". Take a listen & you'll understand what I mean.
6. Austra - Darken Her Horse
Album: Feel It Break (2011)
I stumbled across Austra last summer when NYLON included their track "Lose It" in a free Summer playlist, and immediately fell in love. The voice that belongs to Katie Stelmanis will captivate you along with the dark synthesizing & electronic sounds that accompany her. I give a lot of credit to the other members of Austra with recently mentioning Maya from TRUST but also Dorian Wolf who was in Spiral Beach, and the Lightman sisters. I strongly dislike comparing artists/bands, but let's just say that I'd love to see Austra & Zola Jesus play on the same bill of a show. A girl can dream, right?
P.S. I'm a huge fan of watching the KEXP performances found on YouTube, and was stoked to see that Austra was featured back in November. Click on the link below to watch their performance of "Darken Her Horse" on KEXP.
