Snapped this image on my way to San Diego on Friday for CRSSD festival.
Not to take away from this week's playlist, but I had a great time at Day 1 of the 1st annual CRSSD Festival in San Diego this last weekend. Despite having to exist in a heatwave, I caught a handful of amazing acts and experienced both Giraffage & James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem) play in tents that were back-to-back at the same time. For a brief recap of highlights, visit the LYED Facebook page.
Anyways, back to the music.
This playlist is one for the books, but can we please still talk about Tame Impala's nearly 8 minute track that's borderline flawless. Man have I missed that band. Upon first listen, take advice from the song title and just let the track happen. Last night The Preatures uploaded their entire album to SoundCloud, and "Cruel" is one of my favorite tracks ever so I definitely made room for it. Young Wonder keeps getting better & better with every release, and "Enchanted" is one of their most promising tracks yet. As always, keep a lookout for additions that take place until Wednesday night. Hope you dig this playlist as much as I do!
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!
After announcing that the next album for Tame Impala will be released sometime in October of this year, TI was nice enough to release a track that will be featured on Lonerism. If you're into psychedelic rock, then this band from Australia is the one for you. They have a light yet eclectic sound, and it won't be long before you find yourself hypnotized by the sound of Kevin Parker's voice. Their 2010 debut album Innerspeaker is definitely worth checking out if you haven't already.
If you haven't already noticed, I can't get enough of this pop/electronic duo from Cork, Ireland. "Flesh" is another track off their recent self-titled EP that's available for a couple bucks on their
bandcamp account. Young Wonder is definitely worth checking out, otherwise I wouldn't blog about them so much. If you're a fan of Purity Ring or Modeselektor, then you will fall in love with Young Wonder. I recently discovered that they had a station on Pandora, and let's just say I "liked" almost every other song that appeared.
This is the second single off Swing Lo Magellan, the sixth studio album from the experimental rock band that will be released in the US tomorrow (Tuesday)! If there's one thing you should know about Dirty Projectors, don't be surprised if you're thrown off in a middle of a song. For example, "Dance For You" is like a cross-country road trip. It literally goes everywhere in terms of the melody, but manages to make it back to square one for the last 40-45 seconds of the track.
Not long ago Charli XCX released a free mixtape Heartbreaks and Earthquakes on her website. All you have to do is submit your e-mail address, and in return the download for the mixtape will be waiting for you in your inbox. The mixtape features a handful of new songs, that are for the most part: covers/remixes (the mixtape starts off with Charli XCX's energetic cover of Blood Orange's "Champagne Coast".) The track I chose to feature is an original track from Blood Diamonds aka Michael Diamond from Vancouver. It's sassy, and you're going to like it.
*Just a heads up that this is my favorite track of this post. "Jamaica" is the 2nd single off Idea of Happiness; the long awaited full-length from the Australian four-piece Van She. They're signed to Modular Recordings, which is the home to several other bands/artists such as Ladyhawke, The Presets, Chromeo, Cut Copy, Tame Impala, and moooore! The best description I could find for Van She was from the Modular website aka Modular People, stating that they "bridge the musical gap between boldly adventurous shoegaze and danceable glint disco".
Tomorrow is a big day for album releases in the US, and lucky enough Idea of Happiness will be one of them! WOOO.
No joke, this is the one track that I've heard about the most since talks of Gossamer appeared. The 2nd full length from Passion Pit will be released on July 24th, and "Constant Conversations" is the third track to be released from it. The most recent track to be released before CC is "I'll Be Alright", and it is legitimately a 180 of "Constant Conversations" in terms of how it sounds. This doesn't mean that the tone of the track is any different from the other, Gossamer is an album in which Michael Angelakos vilifies himself. In short, "Constant Conversations" is what I would call a delicate soul caught in a pool of the deadliest vices that are saying "whoa-oh-oooh".
AHHHHHH. :) Let's just say I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up when I found out that The Early November were reuniting after a 4 year break-up. Yes there were other projects to fill the void (I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business, Ace Enders and a Million Different People, and Joe joined Hellogoodbye until this year). I'm sure your reaction could relate to mine if you were raised on Drive-Thru Records (back when Drive-Thru Records had bands such as Senses Fail, Midtown, Homegrown, Something Corporate, etc). In Currents is the product of the reunion and is also the 3rd full length album from The Early November. TEN is now on Rise Records, AND THE ALBUM COMES OUT TOMORROW! I apologize for getting a little over-the-top but my #1 favorite song to this day is "Baby Blue" by them, and this particular clip from a Drive-Thru Records DVD of the guys goofing around to the song is the icing on the cake.
