It's really hard to narrow down a list of Top Albums of 2012, especially when you have four contributors with different opinions. We gave the reins to Nathan.Lankford and Nicole Baumann on this one, since they write the majority of the album reviews, but we all have a little representation within this. Now, we do realize that our site has specialized tastes, so please realize that these are our OPINIONS . You're welcome to disagree, and, in fact, we encourage that process. Also, we're doing a Top 100 because so many records came out this year, it wouldn't be fair to narrow [...]
Rising actor/comedian T.J. Miller ( Cloverfield , She's Out of My League ) releases his comedy-rap mixtape, The Extended Play E.P. Illegal Art ReMixTape , this week via Illegal Art. The effort is a reworking of Miller's 41-track debut, The Extended Play E.P. , a comedic take on a stereotypical rap album featuring fellow jokesters Bo Burnham, Doug Benson, Pete Holmes, and more. This go around, Miller has tapped DJs/producers The Kleptones, Jesse Case, The Bran Flakes, and more to refurbish eight EP favorites. "This record is basically a joke, but it's also [...]
It's a simple one really. We send a band an A4 piece of paper full of questions (and instructions), they fill it in, we post it for you to have a look at. Some questions involve drawing, some involve words. Here are the questions/instructions involved: Name About You Draw your favourite food Top 5 albums of 2011? Draw Your Favourite Animal Draw Yourself [...]
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars When you receive a record in the mail, and notice that there's just one man behind the project, sometimes you jump to inclusions, expecting the output to merely be the work of a man and his laptop. Fortunately for everyone, this is not the case with Deepak Mantena and his project Junk Culture . Sure, the new record, Wild Quiet , definitely uses some electronic flourishes, but the accompanying music makes it a stand out among many of its [...]
Time for a little bit of aural time travel. Let's look back, reflect, and contemplate... what were we listening to one year ago ? Listen to the August 2011 Mix and find out. You can stream (and scrobble ) all the songs in this mix using the ex.fm player at the bottom of the page OR you can just download any or all of the tracks at your leisure and play them using a digital media player of your choice. Downloadables: [...]
One-time Girl Talk tourmate gets introspective, turns to confessional bedroom synth-pop on his full-length debut For his first full-length under the Junk Culture moniker (no relation to the OMD's 1984 album), Deepak Mantena builds on the loops-and-samples model that fueled '09's West Coast and '11's Summer Friends (and earned him a slot opening for Girl Talk), incorporating woozy singer/songwriter indie electronic pop. It's a tweak that seems to fit Mantena well - the synths and bleeps 'n' bloops are still there, but they're now in service of Mantena's increasingly mature...
Mississippi genre-mashers Junk Culture are offering the track 'Growing Pains' for free. Just head here to pick it up.
July roared in with explosions of colors and a less impressive batch of new album releases, and almost as quickly, exited with a lackluster finale of releases on Tuesday - although there are still some select singles worth noting, mostly by relatively unknown artists. For much of the U.S., the end of July 2012 is [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe
July roared in with explosions of colors and a less impressive batch of new album releases, and almost as quickly, exited with a lackluster finale of releases on Tuesday - although there are still some select singles worth noting, mostly by relatively unknown artists. For much of the U.S., the end of July 2012 is [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe
Deepak Mantena brings us a full-length musical installment as Junk Culture in the form of Wild Quiet . The album gets going quickly with Oregon setting the tone and enthusiasm for the whole record. This is truly a well-produced indie-pop gem, with lo-fi punk rock guitars mashed together with an array of samples and pounding drums. There are moments that give off an MGMT vibe, and Wild Quiet is certainly reminiscent of the first hearing of Oracular Spectacular . Admittedly it does occasionally lack the hooks that MGMT were parading back [...]
To celebrate today's crop of releases, here are new mp3s from Jesse Harris, Junk Culture, Ice Choir, Future Twins, Joshua Radin, Serengeti, Suburban Living and IlldotLogic. Also, vote for your favorite of today's releases!
No big names this week, unless ska (Reel Big Fish) or Irish folk rock (Gaelic Storm) grab your fancy. For the rest of us, artists such as Junk Culture and Ponderosa provide what we hope to be the best albums when you look back in a month or two. Ponderosa , another Atlanta group we've been digging (Manchester Orchestra being the other), come full steam with their second LP, Pool Party . The record off of New West Records steals pieces of everything you love about harmonizing rock - the crisp, shout-ready vocals, extended version-inspiring [...]
illegalart : name your price MP3s / $5 FLAC / $10 CD “I just turned 26 a few months ago and on my birthday, I looked in the mirror and discovered all these white hairs in my beard.” Deepak Mantena, who records under the name Junk Culture, laughs when remembering his tangible encounter with the aging process, but it’s the emotional spectrum of growing up, getting older and dying that permeates Wild Quiet , the musician’s debut LP. [...]
We wanted to post a picture of Junk Culture 's Wild Quiet this week, but we just can't seem to find it. These things happen. Don't fret though, there's more than that going on this week in the world of new music...if you can call it new. There are reissues from Cradle of Filth and Blackalicious and even a compilation from Elvis Presley (pictured). We didn't expect a new album from Reel Big Fish , but that's out this week too. Also, look out for Ice Choir , [...]
Junk Culture's Deepak Mantena sees white hairs in his beard, and then writes album about aging. 2012, Illegal Art 7.3 / 10.0 Junk Culture is the one man show of Deepak Mantena, who's made a career of sample-heavy songs, recalling such bedroom artists as Atlas Sound's Bradford Cox. On [...]
Known for his worldly, sample-based production talents as Illegal Art signee Junk Culture and labelmate Girl Talk's touring partner, Deepak Mantra decided to take up the singer-songwriter mantle for his third album and first proper full-length, Wild Quiet . Reportedly inspired by the gray hairs in his 26-year-old beard, the Oxford, MS-based artist suffused the record with meditations on the aging process and its ramifications. It's hard to teach an old DJ to write new tracks, however, and Mantra's attempts at traditional song structure leave something as substantial and unique as his earlier albums to be [...]
Deepak Mantena is Junk Culture . Born from an Indian family in Idaho in the mid-eighties, raised between Texas and the former, and put out to pasture at the University of Michigan; he grew up on the move. After completing a degree in Computer Science and scores of musical ventures, Junk Culture was born. Now, after endless hours of sampling, crafting and grafting we can hear his fourth release through label Illegal Art, Wild Quiet . Fuzzy guitars, accelerated drums and synthesisers smash through the doorframe like a horse after a warning shot; leading single [...]
"Growing Pains" is found on Junk Culture's upcoming LP, Wild Quiet , out July 31st on Illegal Art. http://illegal-art.net
Oxford, Mississippi's Deepak Mantena, aka Junk Culture , caught our attention a couple of months back with the track "Oregon" and now he has released a new video for the excellent "Growing Pains". Mantena uses relaxed vocals and draws from genre's of all types and eras, similar to a more aggressive Toro y Moi. The album Wild Quiet is out July 31st on Illegal Art . Check out the visual below. MP3 : Junk Culture - [...]
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men." -Willy Wonka Crystal Stilts – “Dark Eyes” Take a trip back to the 602s in this video from NYC's Cyrstal Stilts. Even though it was shot recently during a hometown show at the Knitting Factory, the psychedelic visuals make it seem like it could have come from Andy Warhol's Factory circa 1966. Dan Deacon – “True Thrush” This video is guaranteed to amuse anyone who ever loved playing the children's game telephone [...]
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