What to listen to. Wherever.
- older
- newer
November 14 2012
STREAM: Angel Haze & Lunice - Gimme That
Posted by Carter Maness
Tags: hip-hop, rap, electronic
Well, this is vicious. After her first performance in London back in October, Angel Haze hit the studio with Luckyme producer Lunice and the result was this monster called "Gimme That." It's a true-blue electro rumbler with aggressive battle raps and production that splits the difference between a Southern trunk-killer and electronic experimentalism. The whole thing is courtesy of yours truly's "Songs From Scratch" sessions, so pay props where they're due.
DOWNLOAD: Ital Tek - Discontinuum (Alternative Version)
Posted by Carter Maness
Tags: electronic
On this alternative version of "Discontinuum," Ital Tek could be scoring a super depressing movie about relationships that's set on another planet. All cosmic pulsation and smeared sounds, the track boasts a pure intensity that will suck you into its sonic world and leave you cold and lonely (in the best way possible). His new album Nebula Dance is out now on Planet Mu.
VIDEO: Eddi Front - Gigantic
Posted by Carter Maness
Tags: videos, singer-songwriter, folk, chamber pop
Put an elegant woman on an expansive beach and throw some wind in her direction, and what do you get? The video for Eddi Front's elegiac "Gigantic" – a torch song based on reedy, reverberated vocals and a powerful piano part that's so dark it sounds like it was recorded in the middle of a black forest. Her debut EP is out now on Best Fit.
Serious Ciphers: Main Attrakionz
Posted by Chelsea Daniels
Tags: conversations with chelsea, interviews, rap, hip-hop
Back in 2011, some kid from New Jersey (read: Clams Casino) made all these strange, enormous, cathedral beats for a bunch of young, unsigned dudes who were rapping on the Internet. Bloggers responded the way you might expect to this indie-sample heavy, alien-sounding music made by affable stoners in somebody’s basement. They loved it. And suddenly the path of least resistance was towards a substantive record deal that had as much to do with appealing to college-educated laptop freaks and inexplicable cultural clout as it did with A&R reps.
Fast-forward to 2012: A$AP Rocky is going on tour with Rihanna, Lil B is probably about two years away from getting elected for local office and Bay Area duo Main Attrakionz have released their first studio album, which features help from radio-regulars like Gucci Mane and Harry Fraud.
Really, though, Main Attrakionz are emphatically unpretentious about themselves and their sound. Their whole entourage functions like a bro-fest accidentally transported to a stage mid-party. Before, after and during their set at the Young One’s CMJ showcase at 285 Kent in Brooklyn, the group passed around a Grey Goose bottle to a stage full of randos while shouting “we 21!” and ripping kindly into their Canadian friend, producer Ryan Hemsworth, for being too sober and sleeping on the floor earlier.
Bossalinis & Fooliyones sees the duo set that brash attitude to the tune of sophisticated celestial beats. It elevates their characteristic 'cloud rap' from the experimental whims of an of-the-moment Internet presence to something earnest and commercially viable.
Main Attrakionz’ MondreMAN took a break from kicking back post promotional NYC trip to talk to me about the evolution of the duo’s sound, guitars, Gucci Mane, coming up on the Internet and his favorite artists of the moment.
Read more…
November 13 2012
DOWNLOAD: Clinic - Miss You (Peaking Lights Remix)
Posted by Carter Maness
Tags: dance, electronic, dub
Clinic are veterans of the sterile hypnotic groove, but on this Peaking Lights remix of "Miss You" everything gets looser, dirtied-up and thoroughly tripped-out. Crackling bass forms the bed and soulful vocals run free over a dub vamp that becomes progressively watery as the mix submerges into itself. Free Reign, the new Clinic album, is out now on Domino.
DOWNLOAD: Widowspeak - Ballad Of The Golden Hour
Posted by Carter Maness
Tags: indie rock, indie pop, dream pop
Full-speed ahead for some back-to-back action from another one of the 2011 indie champions. Yep, it's Widowspeak time – the jangly, Mazzy Star-vibing Brooklyn group that released a fantastic self-titled debut two years ago and is now returning with a new one called Almanac via Captured Tracks. "Ballad Of The Golden Hour" is the strummy, dreamy first single and it features a bigger sense of dynamics and some key slide guitar action.
STREAM: Veronica Falls - Teenage
Posted by Carter Maness
Tags: rock, indie rock, indie pop
On their second time around the block, Veronica Falls sure hasn't cleaned-up their act at all. "Teenage" has none of the usual album-two signifiers: cleaner sound, a dash towards the pop world, potential to breakthrough and crush Adele. Nope, it's just super enjoyable, masterfully done mid-fi indie-pop that appropriately jangles, harmonizes and gets stuck in your ears for hours.
STREAM: John Talabot - Mai Mes
Posted by Carter Maness
Tags: dance, electronic
"Mai Mes" is tagged as an outtake from John Talabot's recent fin LP, but it's a glorious atmospheric world unto itself. The Spanish producer twists microscopic loops in every direction with a subtly funky, futuristic vamp underneath an expansive, cloudy glory. The result is an ultra-layered slice of beauty.
November 12 2012
MIX: Poolside - Seasons Change
Posted by Carter Maness
Tags: mixes
Would you trust a summer group to tell you what to listen to during the winter? I sure as hell wouldn't. Unless it's Poolside – the Los Angeles duo that seems to have enough chops in the taste department to chill you out no matter what the temperature outside is throwing your way. "It's a collection of melancholy tunes we put together while driving through the Northeastern States this past October," they write on the SoundCloud. And upon listening, I find this to be an accurate statement. Throw it on.
STREAM: Menahan Street Band - The Crossing
Posted by Carter Maness
Tags: soul, instrumental
Smooth, timeless, from another world or just plain mood music, Menahan Street Band has the soulful instrumental game lock. On "The Crossing," the Daptone Records band engages in some harp trickery, lovely snaking horns and a bouncy beat that should be primed for hip-hop sampling just like many of the gems on their 2008 debut Make The Road By Walking. This one is the title track from their new album, which is out now.