Archive for 'My Current Obsession'

Clams Casino is currently my favorite beat/instrumental producer.  The guy makes dark downtempo ethereal beats in an incredibly unique way to anything else I’ve heard.  His sampling techniques are completely original, often slowing and pitching down small vocal parts, and playing them like instruments.  He somehow knows just where to place every drop.  He has a better ear for harmony and melody than most, which is especially rare in hip hop producers.  He’s been making beats for the likes of A$AP Rocky and Lil B, but for me it’s the beats and not the MCing that I love about this songs.  His first mixtape made my Favorite Albums of 2011 list, and his new mixtape which he just released is sure to be on my end of year list this year.  Best part is, you can download it for free.  Go do it now.

MP3: Clams Casino – Wassup [A$AP Rocky] 

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MP3: Clams Casino – Swervin’ (remix) [XV] 

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http://www66.zippyshare.com/v/31920231/file.html

Follow @clammyclams on Twitter

I have a lot to write about.  Today I just bought – yes bought – two great albums: the Alabama Shakes debut, and Bear In Heaven’s third LP, I Love You, It’s Cool.  While I was initially more excited to grab Alabama Shakes, after listening to both records, I became completely consumed by this Bear In Heaven record.  I keep playing it over and over again.  Always a good sign.   Based upon the so-so reviews I’ve read so far, apparently this album is hitting more chords with me than most critics – I’m OK with that.  If you are a regular to this blog, I’m guessing you will be OK with that too.

Their previous album Beast Rest Forth Mouth was a critic favorite, it never really jumped out a me as much I don’t think.  I did really love the track Lovesick Teenagers.   Their new album I Love You, It’s Cool, is a much bolder, more confident album.  For lack of better label I’ll lazily slap the synth-pop tag on this album.  I’m noticing a common thread between a lot of the synth-pop releases to come out this year so far.  They seem to be a little richer, deeper layers, which stronger pulsing bass lines that tend to allow the vocals to float on top and kind of get tugged along by the melody.  This leads to a very powerful sound.  Works really well with the  laid back Sade type delivery of lead singer Jon Philpot.

Since watching the movie Drive turned up as loud as my home theater system would go without shaking the pictures hung on my wall loose, I know keep hearing more and more albums which would have played nicely as soundtrack to that movie.  That really was a fine piece of movie making – one of the most stylistic movies I’ve ever experienced.  This album kind of has that feel if that makes any sense.

Listen:Bear In Heaven – The Reflection Of You

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Download: I Love You, It’s Cool

One of my absolute favorites, J. Tillman, has announced he is leaving the band Fleet Foxes.  While on one hand, this could have potentially really bummed me out, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  I’ve always loved his solo work – quiet, beautiful acoustic songs.  He has a new project Father John Misty, who will be releasing their LP on May 1 2012.

I had the pleasure of sharing a beer with Josh after his set at Middle East last year (amazingly he wasn’t drinking for free at his own freaking show).  I mentioned we were using one of his songs in our wedding, which he genuinely seemed happy to hear.

From what I’ve heard so far it’s surely going to be one of my favorites for the year.  Completely new direction.  I couldn’t have described it better than others already did – a mix between Harry Nilsson and Michael Nesmith & the First National Band.

Check out his blog at http://fatherjohnmisty.tumblr.com/ 0r go over to Sub Pop and give him your email address to download the following

Father John Misty – Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings  

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Came across this new track from School of Seven Bells the other day.  It looks to be the first single from their forthcoming LP Ghostory, which is set to be released Feb 28 2012 (I refuse to use the term “drops”).

Just the right mix of 80s pop/new wave and shimmery synths – think Cocteau Twins meets Inxs.  Looking forward to the full album if this single is at all reflective of their work.  I had their album Alpinisms from a few years back which had some promising tracks.

Listen: School Of Seven Bells – The Night 

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School Of Seven Bells official site

New Music – The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

It’s beyond pitiful and shameless that I’m only now posting for the first time in 2011. I’m not even going to attempt any excuses. I will soon be posting my “Best Albums of 2010″ post, that has been sitting about 90% complete in my draft posts box for 6 months now.  Here are some of the albums I have been digging lately, no fancy write-ups but wanted to get them out there anyway.

The Antlers – Burst Apart

Burst Apart is a much easier listen than their last album, still some dark content but not nearly as dark as their last album, Hospice – if the title didn’t give away the nature of that album the songs sure did.

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Download Burst Apart here

Middle Brother – Middle Brother

Great “super group” collaboration from the leads of Deer Tick, Delta Spirit, and Dawes.  They all take turns penning and singing lead on a great bunch of what I could only describe as dive bar folk country rock.  What a horrible description, but the music speaks for itself.  Think Neil Young mixed with the un-poppy country side of Ryan Adams, Wilco and maybe a little Exile On Main St.

Every track on here is great, and this is quickly becoming one of my most played albums.  Thanks to my friend Charlie for pointing it out to me.  I like Delta Spirit and Deer Tick, but I really like this collaboration.  There isn’t a bad time of day or mood for this album, but it goes especially well with a glass of whiskey and friendly bar.

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Download Middle Brother here

Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

Speaking of one of my most played albums, I’m bordering or near obsessive repetitive listening to the new Fleet Foxes record.   I like their EP and first LP, but after a while the tracks back to back started to all meld into one for me.  Not true with their second LP, Helplessness Blues.  I love every track on this record, the lyrics are spectacular (especially the opening track), a theme I can kind of relate to and I’m sure we all have our bouts of “Oh man what I used to be, oh man oh my, oh me”.  Maybe I’m so enamored with the lyricism in this album because in many of the themes, they really align with my own crazy thoughts rattling around my brain.  I occasionally have a fleeting thought that I’m not doing enough with my time walking the Earth, that combined with the fact that I’m now in my thirties and by this time in my parent’s (and some friends lives) they were well on their way to raising kids etc.  I know times have changed somewhat, but can’t help feeling like a procrastinator some times.

Excellent song writing all around on this album, poppy hooks, excellent harmonies, and you gotta love the unmistakable vocal delivery from Robin Pecknold.

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Download Helplessness Blues here

The Paints Of Being Pure At Heart – Belong

If The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart set out on this album to break free of the comparisons to 80s shoegazer new wave pop like The Cure, they failed miserablly.  I’m guessing that was not the attention though.  They did set out on the first two tracks by adding a fuzz pedal to the shimmery guitars, but that quickly fades back into the bells synths and hooky riffs they have mastered so well.  It’s almost unfair how good this band is at writing pop hooks, as an aspiring musicision you almost have to hate them for making it seem so easy.

One of the downfalls of having such shimmery, poppy tracks is focus tends to shift towards the sound and hooks away from the lyrics, kind of the exact opposite effect of the Fleet Foxes record where I hang on every line.

Needless to say this another excellent album, I will say I am guilty of losing a bit of my attention span towards the end of a few album listens, but taking any of theses tracks one at time and really listening to them, they are all really great.  I think they are all so well done that you almost look for that “not so good” track to help create a little parity between great pop 80s new wave goodness.  I ranked their last LP top of my best album lists in 2009, and this follow-up LP is actually better.

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Download Belong here

TV On The Radio – Nine Types Of Light

It took me far too long to realize what really makes TVOTR so freaking great – it’s the rhythm section.  Spectacular.  I have historically had a love/hate relationship with TVOTR, but the first half of 2011 theme for albums I’ve been listening to seems to be focusing on tight, “accessible” albums.  Nine Types Of Light is by far my personal favorite of all their releases, it just feels like a tighter record to me, and probably most would consider this to be their most “radio friendly” album.  I don’t mean that in a Top 20 radio type of insult, I mean it’s not a challenging record that takes effort to fall in love with.  There are still some great diverse threads and elements to these songs, that will reward even the most pop challenged “Super-Indie” fans.  Great album, and possibly my favorite so far in 2011.  I really struggled to pick only one song to share from this album.  Please go out and buy this album and give it a chance, you will be happy you did.

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Download Nine Types Of Light here

Radiohead – The King Of Limbs

I don’t think anyone needs a primer on what Radiohead is about.  With every new release, they continue to re-invent themselves once again, but always with little elements that hearken back to previous work, and always built on the solid framework that this set of amazing musicians first starting building their songs around.  I had a gloroius long write-up drafted about this album when it was first released, but I’ve come to the realization that the most effective way to get my thoughts actually posted and readable are to just do these short sweet recaps.

It’s no secret that frontman Thom Yorke is a big fan of electronic music including dubstep, recent collaborations with the likes of Flying Lotus and others, didn’t tee me up for too much of a surprise when I first heard this album.  There are definite elements of these genres in The King Of Limbs, but in classic Radiohead fashion, these songs sound instantly new and different, but simultaneiously instantly familiar.  I’ve listened to this album more than any other in 2011 (to be fair it was an early year release).   I use the iTunes 5 star ranking system religiously to help me create smart playlists and navigate through my vast music collection.  I rarely hand out five star rankings on songs, this album has three (if you are curious, they are “Give Up The Ghost”, “Lotus Flower”, and “Separator”).  ”Separator” is easily one of my favorite Radiohead songs of all time.  Kind of has a “House of Cards” feel to it.

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Download The King of Limbs here

Kind of cheating to call Toro Y Moi my current obsession, I’ve been listening to this music for almost a year now, but I think it’s time I dedicated a full post to his new release, Causers of This.  Toro Y Moi is Chaz Bundick, It’s not easy to describe this sound.  As previously mentioned, it’s being called Chill Wave by some, and dare I say Koko himself may even call it smooth?  Joined by fellow chill wave artists like Washed Out, Memory Tapes , Neon Indian, and Small Black, Toro Y Moi is changing the way I think about current music.  It’s fresh, and it’s not like anything else out there.   Stay with me on this next formula, it may sound completely ridiculous.  I’ve always had a soft spot for the production on Michael Jackson’s Human Nature, which was actually written by one of the guys from Toto.  He submitted it by accident on a demo tape to Quincy Jones and Q ended up using it instead of the song he had intended him to listen to. But I digress.  Picture mixing production elements from Human Nature with something of off Purple Rain, add a level of Italian Disco Pop, and then dip it in a haze coating that just leaves you feeling good when you put this record on.  If you haven’t had a chance to check out Toro Y Moi’s LP, I would strongly recommend it.

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Toro Y Moi on Myspace

Download Causers of This here

Bonus: Amazingly, Toro Y Moi actually did a cover of Human Nature, maybe I was on to something with my insane comparison after all.

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I might be the only one on earth that doesn’t care about MGMT’s new single, I think I overdosed on them two years ago.  It’s like whatever alcohol causes your first time getting sick, you’ll never touch the stuff again.  For me it was peppermint schnapps.  It was the only thing we could confidently steal from my parent’s liquor cabinet and not get caught.  Don’t mix it with chocolate milk whatever you do!

There are however, much more exciting things going on in music.  This version of My Current Obsession covers some of the just came out/ about to come out music that’s got me excited.  I’m not telling you anything you haven’t already heard on Hype Machine, but I’m telling you anyway.  There’s even some “like new” music or “certified pre-owned” music, in the form of a freakin Hall and Oates tribute album!

Say what you will about Hall & Oates, but I’ll be damned if they weren’t pretty stache-tastic in their day. Exhibit A:

Indie pop group Bird & The Bee has released a Hall & Oates tribute album.  I’m really liking some of their updated takes on these classics, they still retain their Hall and Oatesy feel but are add some new flavor.  Here are two of samples, if you think these are good you should hear Maneater and Sara Smile!

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(Hall and Oates Cover)

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(Hall and Oates Cover)

Download Interpreting The Masters Volume 1, a Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates here

The Bird and The Bee’s  website

My favorite “chill wave” artist Neon Indian aka Alan Palomo has a new track out, called Sleep Paralysist.  I can’t believe Chill Wave is now an official genre, I heard there was a whole write up in the Wall Street Journal last month featuring Toro Y Moi etc.  Digging through old posts on The Giant Panther it was clear I was searching for a term to call these guys, I guess I have it now.  I like the direction his sound is going in, takes everything I love about Neon Indian, and everything I love about his other project Vega, and meets somewhere in the middle.  The song was released for Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound.  I didn’t realize they had a music label.  I can remember being obsessed with Mountain Dew when I was a kid, it was like liquid crack.  Between Mountain Dew and Jolt Cola, I don’t think I slept for two years in middle school.  Fitting given some of the lyrics to this tune.

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Green Label Sound
Neon Indian on MySpace

In probably the most important news as far as The Giant Panther is concerned, Broken Social Scene finally has a new LP coming out, titled Forgiveness Rock Record, which can be exclusively pre-ordered from label Arts and Crafts here set for May 4 release.

The solo efforts put out by BSS solo members have tided me over for the most part, but there is nothing like the sound when this entire crew comes together, on record and especially on stage.  You can hear it in the three singles they have released.  Head over to Arts and Crafts to check them all out.  Bands like Arcade Fire drew me in to indie rock in the 2000s, but Broken Social Scene has been and will remain the single most important band to me in this genre.

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Band of Horses has a new LP coming out on May 18, titled Infinite Arms.  Another TGP staple, their first two albums are still some of my favorites.  Head on over to their website to check out the first single.   Here’s the tracklisting:

1)     Factory
2)     Compliments
3)     Laredo
4)     Blue Beard
5)     On My Way Back Home
6)     Infinite Arms
7)     Dilly
8)     Evening Kitchen
9)     Older
10)  For Annabelle
11)  NW Apt.
12)  Neighbor

The National have a new album coming out “High Violet” on May 11.  May is shaping up to be a killer month for new music.  They have released the first single from the album “Bloodbuzz Ohio”.  Most people know the National as owners of the coveted ” The Giant Panther’s #1 Album of 2007″, others may have come across them elsewhere.  Either way really looking forward to this release.

Gets me thinking, remember the days when you used to pay money to buy singles?  These days most bands are more than happy to just give the damn single away in exchange for your email address.  It’s amazing how markets shift over time.

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The National’s website

PS:  all this Hall and Oates talk reminds me of one of my favorite shows of all time, it was a web series called “Yacht Rock”, the term they use to describe all that “smooth” music from the 70s and 80s in the form of Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, and of course, Hall and Oates.  If you’ve never watched them you should dig them up online for a good laugh, here’s a clip of one of the best Hall and Oates moments.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMTI8vg7A5U

This album rocks my world.  Absolutely killer.  To be honest, in the past I never understood what all they hype was about with Beach House.  Most of my favorite fellow bloggers have been huge fans since the beginning of Beach House a few albums back.  I always found the songs interesting in concept, but after a few songs they all started to blend into the background.  This has all changed with their new LP Teen Dream.  Let me go on record early as saying this will most likely be my favorite album of 2010.  I’m only doing this preemptive strike because I know it will be on most end of year lists as the best, and I don’t want to be called “unoriginal”.  In early 2011 I will be able to point back to this post and say, I was among the first 50,000 bloggers to “call it first.”

Beach House formed in 2004 in Baltimore, and is a duo made up of French-born Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, who hails from Baltimore.  They were introduced at a friend’s party or something, I’m probably getting this wrong I heard it on an interview (they are much better at making music than as interviewees, but then again, most musicians are.  See my old David Byrne clip from Letterman or check out the infamous Sigur Ros interview for good examples of interviews gone wrong.

Hard to describe this music.  Closest I could come would a modernized version of Fleetwood Mac.  Don’t get all worked up if you think this makes no sense.  I’m not trying to make a direct comparison, or make your precious indie nuggets less “cool” or too popular.  I just mean to say it gives me the same type of feeling when I listen to the records.  Lush, layered harmonies, amazing voice (mix Dusty Springfield with Stevie Nicks and Nico).  I had a really tough time chosing which songs to share from this album, they are all four and five star tracks, every single one of them.  If you by one album this spring make it this one.

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Buy or download Teen Dream from Amazon here.

Beach House on Myspace

Why, as a music blogger, do I feel like I’m always the last to know about great new music?  That’s a conversation for another day.  Just finished my fourth listen through the new Zola Jesus EP, it’s spectacular.  Any fans of Jesus & Mary Chain, Joy Division, etc will dig this.  Call it dark-fi, goth pop, whatever you want.  Zola Jesus (Nika Danilova) combines a punch you in the jaw powerful voice, and songs that build energy from the dark to make the perfect soundtrack to a late night drive.

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Buy or download Stridulum from Amazon here.

Zola Jesus on Myspace

I stumbled across a band called Here We Go Magic, which turned out to be a stream-of-consciousness project of Brooklyn based artist Luke Temple. I was immediately drawn to this music before even listening to the album due to the lengths at which Luke goes to describe his recording process, pointing out that this was a project based on loop based feels, but without actually looping most of the layers. I also love that he requests “headphones please” on his myspace. A production style after my own heart.

Plus anybody that records an album with an SM-57 and a 4 track recorder must be doing something right. What else to you need really? In an era where looping, layering, and every filter/effect known to man is one click away, it’s nice to see someone taking a stab at doing things the old fashioned way.

Now on to the music itself. Truly something different than anything else out there, which is not an easy thing to pull off in this day and age. Definitely a loop feel (though not looped), almost in the Paul Simon Graceland album sense with the beats and layers. Interesting syncopation and melodies, and a very addictive album to listen to. Great voice to top it all off, also somewhat along the lines of Paul Simon, but it’s worth stressing, the song crafting and end result is like nothing else.

The albums tends to veer in a different direction near the end, but overall an excellent front to back. I’m always drawn to songs that don’t follow the traditional mold – vocals coming in when you don’t expect them to, song lyrics that seem to start off mid-conversation and instrumentation and vocals each with their own timing. You really need to check Here We Go Magic out, I expect big things from them in the years to come, especially with a focused effort on an new LP hopefully in 2009.

MP3: Here We Go Magic – Tunnelvision Alt Link

Here We Go Magic Website
Buy Here We Go Magic