Need You Tonight - Beck & Annie Clark

whew, this is hot

Washed Out

Summer is arriving and who is better to prepare us for another great summer other than Washed Out. They sound exactly as they sound. Reminiscent of salt-stained clothes, sun-burnt skin, laying out in the park with your friends day drinking, walking around the city, and by late afternoon you are absolutely washed out laying on the bed, trying to figure what to do with the night.

Ernest Greene is the man behind Washed Out. He is from Perry, Georgia who came out with his first EP last year, "Life Is Leisure", which became an immediate hit. I remember last summer being the chill-wave/lo-fi movement with artists like Washed Out, Toro Y Moi, Blackbird Blackbird, Atlas Sound, Memory Tapes, Memory Cassette, Niva, Millionyoung, Teen Daze, and so on taking over people's playists. It was a magical time with music for me.

Washed Out will be coming out with his long-awaited LP this July, but to endure these next couple months you can enjoy his newly released single "Eyes Be Closed".

Eyes Be Closed - Washed Out by let them eat tiramisu


In case you haven't heard his EP (GOD FORBID!!!), I decided to pull a few of my favorite songs.








-Look at life through rose-colored glasses-

Tycho

 Imagine songs that would describe the surreal feeling of floating on waves, flying through clouds, or even just smoking a bowl on a beautiful night. Well to me, this is what Tycho's music reminds me of- complete bliss.
I am excited to say that I will be seeing Tycho this Thursday night at the Independent. My friend Rick introduced me to Tycho one night when he gave me his Bose headphones and told me to listen to this song "The Disconnect".
It was a whole different world! (for the life of me, PLEASE buy a pair. It really does change the quality and the experience of music. No joke!)
Tycho is Scott Hansen who currently lives in San Francisco. He is also a graphic designer (ISO50) who creates whimsical visuals to go with his ambient/downtempo music. I have never seen him before but have heard of nothing but amazing reviews of his live shows. If you are a fan of Boards of Canada, Flying Lotus, Four Tet, or Bonobo then you better take a good listening. Definitely check out his website and listen and look at some of his shit.

the song that made me fall head over heels...



Tycho live visuals test footage from ISO50 on Vimeo.


"The Disconnect"
"Circular Reeducation ft. Jianda"
"Past Is Prologue"
"Cloud Generator"

So I guess I will see there

Safari Disco Club

Oh I remember when I first time I heard Yelle... French pop songs that would just stick in your head all day and by the end of the week you could proudly say you know French.
Well it has been quite awhile since I've had one of these moments. But now it is all about this Safari Disco Club
I don't know how exactly to describe a Safari Disco Club to you but it basically looks like this...



She will be coming in May for a show at the Regency. I bought a ticket already but I sadly won't be in San Francisco at the time...

TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS

!!! JUST AS AWESOME AS THEIR NAME !!! but you can also call them TEED.

Not sure exactly why I love them so much. I think it is the guilty fact that it's part trashy electro, part bit-pop, part techno, and part vocals from a boy who calls himself "Orlando Dinosaur".

Oh and Mr. Dinosaur has awesome headdresses and awkward dance moves. I can't wait to see them play next month! The show will be on Saturday March 26th at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. TEED will also be playing at SXSW this year as well.

Check out their myspace for more info.

"The Garden"

"Household Goods"


Roundhouse Blackbox Sessions

Bear music

This week's music trend has been all about bears. Do not even know why but I discovered two bands this week that just so happen to have bear in the title. 

Bear Hands

Two weeks ago I went to go get a haircut (and I never get haircuts. I didn't get one for a year and a half!). Well the haircut ended terribly (I cried for hours) but I guess the one positive thing that came out of it was how the salon was playing Bear Hands the whole time, and that is how I discovered them. I seriously thought they were MGMT at first. As it turns out, they are under the same label as MGMT and have opened for them on several occasions.
Their album Burning Bush Supper Club is a must download. It is a quirky album filled with gritty melodic vocals, catchy beats, distorted heavy guitar lines, and abstract lyrics.

"Tablasaurus"
"Crime Pays"
"High Society"


*oh and this unofficial music video is fucking awesome




Bear In Heaven

I spent the day with my friend Tom to go get coffee and he started to play Bear in Heaven in his car. Ahh god bless his soul for introducing me. I am surprised I never discovered them before. I have been listening to their sophomore album, Beast Rest Forth Mouth, on repeat for the last few weeks. Recently I have become such a sucker for psychedelic progressive indie rock. Open your blinds to the rainy weather outside and blast some Bear In Heaven in your apartment.

"Lovesick Teenagers"
"Dust Cloud"
"You Do You"
"Ultimate Satisfaction"

Diamond Messages - music to obsess to

If you are a facebook friend of mine you probably have seen me post music videos from Diamond Messages over the last two weeks. Let me just say I fell in love... really I did.
Diamond Messages was originally a duo but the Smoke & Mirrors EP (came out last month) was done exclusively by Jason Craig. This EP has an emotional and deep quality to it due to the combination of ambient psychedelic music with hip hop rhythms. I probably listen to this EP on repeat for an hour each day. I just keep falling in love over and over and over and over again.
 My introduction to Diamond Messages was through their music video for the song "Liquid Dream". It is crazy how much this video matches with the song. Both the video and song take me back to my days when I was middle school when my innocence began to disintegrate. It is sad but very beautiful at the same time. The video consists of clips from a Swedish movie En kärlekshistoria aka A Swedish Love Story. I'm pissed as hell at Netflix because they don't even have this movie to rent! Really? I mean it is fucking Netflix, they are supposed to have every movie out there (except porn- bummer).






Smoke & Mirrors EP by Diamond Messages

I was trying to do some more research on Diamond Messages and I found this great review by Liam Dufferwiel on Spontaneous Rhythms.

Smoke and Mirrors

"The lead track Smoke and Mirrors opens with a mysterious ambiance before the drum progression and electronic hooks that are the heart of the track are introduced. The track drifts pleasantly along, like the soundtrack to a summer drive, before relaxingly drifting away without giving even the suggestion of a finale."

Liquid Summer

"Liquid summer brings reminders, like dreams, of times past when life was built on innocence and half truths. The passing moments when you didn’t realise that you were young and that ever so slowly that youth was in decline. The track treats the listen gently, letting them invest their own emotions and memories from the forgotten summers that the title evokes before slipping away without even the hint of warning that is so typically synonymous with youth. The subtle nuances of dread that linger throughout the track only adds to the over all feeling of loss that this track so perfectly captures."

Let's Make A Vow

"Let’s Make A Vow is a standard sample of measured electronica. Driven by the calculated bassline the track sets the mood of the track that has suggestions of the electric undertones of Leftfield, where the Faisal remix gives the track more of a club feel."

I also find this interview by Truants really interesting if you want to get to know more about Jason Craig and his creation of Smoke & Mirrors.