I’ll admit when I heard the band name I wasn’t expecting this kind of music. But I gave it a shot and was pleasantly surprised. They’re a group out of New York and they’ve got that feel-good folk/rock sound. It’s got elements of Bombay Bicycle Club. Some really beautiful moments on there. Honestly I don’t know much more about them but you can stream their EP below and find them on facebook here.

The Young EP by STONE COLD FOX

One of my favorite bands out of Minneapolis – Zoo Animal, recently shot a North Shore Session. Holly Newsom has a uniquely textured voice – it’s got soul and it’s got heart. Watching her skate around, nearly trip up and glide along without losing her gaze directly into the camera, is totally mesmerizing. It feels so personal. If you haven’t heard their EP it’s streaming up on Soundcloud here.

I recently got an email about Bryan John Appleby, a Seattle-based folk artist currently out with Deep Sea Diver. His latest album Fire on the Vine was featured as Bandcamp’s “Album of the Week” and I can see why. Bryan John Appleby’s voice is strikingly similar to another favorite folk artist and friend of mine, Joel P. West. With the sweeping strings, it also sounds a little like Bowerbirds or Fionn Regan. Similar to those artists, Appleby has the ability to be both introspective and expansive at the same time.  More direct and personal lyrics accompanied with weighty percussion, keys, guitar and strings make it so. The vocals are never muddied or overwhelmed by the instrumentation – they remain the focal point, assuring listeners that storytelling is the objective. Appleby will take you somewhere, and it might be inside of yourself. It’s an exploration undefined by any sort of destination.

This is the kind of record you’re going to want to listen to, cross legged in your living room – preferrably a few feet away from Appleby himself. And once I saw the artwork, I immediately thought – this is a worthy candidate for one my favorite Tumblr’s, “Things Organized Neatly” and not surprisingly, it was totally up there. Check it out at the jump. Continue Reading »

PressPausePlay from House of Radon on Vimeo.

This is one of those times where I wish I wasn’t always so hyperbolic about everything. Allow me to just say, no really, I’m serious about this one. My friend Andrea sent over this film called PressPausePlay, at first I was just going to skim through it and then I found myself dropping everything and watching it in it’s entirety. If you have a couple hours to spare this weekend, I suggest you do the same. It’s not a novel idea anymore to debate and discuss the state of music and art in the digital age – but I’ve never seen it done so thoroughly and from so many different perspectives.

It got me really excited to be apart of this. To get to witness and take part in this evolution in my lifetime. Sometimes I get so caught up in the day-to-day that I don’t get to see what’s actually unfolding before me. This film does an excellent job investigating the democratization of art, the transforming art economy, and technology’s extraordinary role in changing the game. There are competing viewpoints, but I have always been one to champion the freedom that technology allows for anyone to express themselves creatively. I totally understand Moby’s “grey goop” theory of a cultural landscape reduced to accepting mediocrity, and have felt the weight of sifting through endless piles of emails from people who decided to record an album on their laptop one day, wedged between major label artists. But I love that the playing field has been leveled. I love independent artists. That’s why I do this.

The most human representation of this is the story of Olafur Arnalds, a modern composer/musician/producer that gets to perform one of his pieces with a classically trained orchestra. The collision of both worlds is fascinating, and the final piece at the end is a gorgeous connection between new/old artforms. The film features interviews with Moby (totally on point), Sean Parker, Seth Godin, Lykke Li, Robyn, Lena Dunham and more.

If you have some time, I highly suggest checking this film out.
Ólafur Arnalds – Poland by erasedtapes

Tasseomancy put together a mix for FWBA and that’s exciting for a lot of reasons. Mainly, because they are the first ladies to contribute to the series, and because their mix is fantastic. I’ve been listening to it all morning. I really want to keep the series going this year, it gives me the opportunity to put all these National Geographic scans to good use!

The ladies included tracks from Carly Simon and Kate Bush among others – it seemed to reflect their aesthetic perfectly: otherworldy, synth pop beats, and earthy folk harmonies. If you haven’t yet – pick up their album Ulalume on vinyl and purchase a candle set while you’re at it. Grab the mix at the link below.

Tracklist

01. Mrs. Jumbo – Baby of Mine
02. Lesley Duncan – Love Song
03. Moondog – Bird’s Lament
04. Robbie Basho – Blue Crystal Fire 05. Forest – Graveyard
06. Kate Bush – Suspended in Gaffa
07. Klaus Nomi – Lightning Strikes
08. Carly Simon – Why
09. Antena – Achilles
10. Selda Bagcan – Yaz Gazeteci Yaz
11. Enya – Storms in Africa
12. Philip Glass & Uakti – Metamorphosis
13. Popol Vuh – Kyrie

Download link:

TASSEO MIX

My friend Derrick is quickly becoming my definitive guide to good music/sweet stuff online. He’s like my human Pitchfork. Another great video from Ms Sharon Van Etten for i-D online. So I’m wondering why they call it i-N? Anyway, this song is fantastic, can’t wait for Tramp, is it February 7th yet?

Air Drops is an electronic producer whose EP has been floating around for some time. I finally got around to listening it, and it’s amazing. There’s not too much information on him out there- except that he’s from Lancaster. His EP is a worthy grab- and it’s a dollar. Listen to Champion’s Chariot and you’ll know what I mean.

I got an email from Day Joy – a band from Orlando that explained to me that they’d been featured by a lot of PORTALS contributors, so I was pretty psyched to check them out. One of the members of Day Joy also plays in that awesome band Saskatchewan. Members Peter and Michael formed the project simply by writing songs on their porch, and recording in the living room. The result is fantastic – layered, lush vocals and music that sonically aligns closest with bands like Beach House. You can download their EP here for free.

Day Joy – New Ordinary

update- unreleased track “bone and bloodied”
Bone and bloodied by dayjoymusic

I used to love the Minneapolis pop act One For the Team, so naturally I’ve been digging these new tracks from Ian Anderson of one of the best blogs out there: Minneapolis Fucking Rocks and Afternoon Records. His latest project Dream Brother gleans from that catchy twinkly-pop sound of One for the Team, but with vocals that sound a  little more like Pepper Rabbit. He has released two tracks featuring John Vanderslice and Paul Sprangers (Free Energy). You can definitely hear that feel-good beach sound from Haunted Heart, thanks to Sprangers eternal summer vibes, whereas Pretty Eyes is more jangly rock & roll/handclaps. Although there is a decent amount of sunshine, mentioned. Listen to Pretty Eyes below and grab both tracks right over here. 

Dream Brother – Pretty Eyes (ft. John Vanderslice)

I occassionally post about music and music-related stuff over at Booooooom, and the other day I wrote about the magnificent Diane Cluck and her Song a Week Project. She has until January 30th to reach her goal. Read my piece right over here and listen to the track below.