Two years after their last release, Water For Mars , Florida hip-hop group CYNE is back with another album for hip-hop heads all over. Wasteland, Vol. 1 is definitely not your typical hip-hop album. Running close to an hour long, the album is probably better classified as a beat tape, and an amazing one at that. And while Cise Star does indulge us with some great verses and storytelling, the focus is primarily on the productions of Speck and Enoch as they provide a soundtrack for the tale of Laserteeth Killmore ( [...]
Hip-hop fans have been waiting. Ever since the split of North Carolina hip-hop group Little Brother, many have eagerly anticipated the moment when Phonte would step back in the limelight, grab the mic and start to rhyme again. But the past few years have witnessed Phonte forging his path as a successful R&B crooner with Grammy-nominated act The Foreign Exchange, with all thoughts of rapping in the back of his mind, appearing once in a blue moon. So when it was mentioned that Phonte was set to finally release his debut solo album, anticipation hit the roof. And when it [...]
Real Estate has fallen into somewhat of a song-writing algorithm. I'm assuming their music making process works something like this: Lead Singer, Martin Courtney puts together a few chords and some lyrics. Matt Monandile (who has also achieved some praise for his exploratory guitar project, Ducktails ) adds a catchy and psychedelic guitar hook. Alex Bleeker follows the ideas with some bass, and a simple, rolling rhythm is added to finish it off. Almost every single song follows this premise...which makes it exceedingly frustrating to pin [...]
It has been a long time since we have heard anything come from the local folk group Bombadil , which is really quite a shame. Maybe that is why I was so excited for the release of All That The Rain Promises , a new album that follows their 2009 release of Tarpits and Canyonlands . Everything that you hoped would be present on a Bombadil album is apparent in this new release: strong emotional ballads, beautiful folk and pop melodies, and upbeat songs with deeper meanings all combine to create an album that one can become [...]
M83 does one heck of a job with their latest double disc album, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming , which was released on Oct. 18. Being their sixth studio album, and following behind such pivotal releases like Saturdays = Youth , M83 had a lot to live up to. Even though some have criticized the album for sounding different, I think it's a beautiful new direction for the band. Named after the Messier 83 galaxy, M83 continues delivering ambient tunes and goes back and forth between either solely instrumental or minimal lyrics with full-blown epic tracks on Hurry Up, [...]
"This in no way a return to basics; it is an example of how to successfully tackle the complex." If there was one thing Alan Palomo would have to answer to with his second album as Neon Indian , it would be the huge amount of hype and acclaim from his 2009 debut Psychic Chasms. The Texas-based musician, coming off of rave reviews and praise, also had the distinct problem of being grouped among a handful of musicians making similar, yet compelling music. All this combined did not necessarily make it [...]
I signed up to go to this show about a month in advance. Mandolin Orange is probably one of my favorite local bands, and I had recently started listening to Devil Makes Three . However, Sunday night concerts are usually a little rough to attend. While I may be dedicated to the 8-hour of sleep per night, the impending Monday morning did not stop Cat's Cradle from filling up at 9 p.m. to hear the melancholy folk of Mandolin Orange's Emily Frantz and Andrew Marlin, followed by Devil Makes Three. The talented duo played the [...]
A few months ago, the motley crue also known as ecstatic funk-poppers Reptar graced our tiny stage in Bulldog Alley for WGTB's Block Party , and they absolutely rocked it. Since then, the Athens band has been making big strides, including a recent contract signing with Vagrant Records. Pop bottles! In case you missed them then, or if you are jonesing for more, the cool dudes at All Things Go have teamed up with Neon Gold Records to put on a smorgasbord of good tunes this Thursday night, called All [...]
88.1 WKNC's Pick of the Week 7/7 Coming off of the success of his self-released debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago , Justin Vernon, lead singer of Bon Iver, had a lot to live up to. Where he could have relied solely on the success of his debut, Vernon decided to evolve out of the cold, isolated feelings of the debut, and move into a world of sound that is optimistic yet grounded in reality, and colorful in its production. The execution of tracks is quintessentially different. [...]
"idk why people are like dude this is so killer" Because it is killer, Garebear. It is killer. Kyle S
[Verity @ L'Amour Electronique photographed by Sarah Booker ] Têtes up! Our next soirée is this weekend Saturday 26 March 9pm - 3am at The West Hill , 67 Buckingham Place, Brighton, BN1 3PQ We will be spinning synthesized music, electro pop, French girls in the garage, French boys on acid, soft and hard electronica, arpeggiated disko, yé-yé, sounds from the Radiophonic Workshop, and so much more... Entry is FREE/GRATIS/£0 Come join le [...]
It's been a minute since we had a Disco Pick of The Week, but no worries, Garebear's back in the mix with "Ain't No Need" by Skye, a smooth cut originally released 1976 (revisited in 2008). Also, as per usual, you're more than welcome to drop by Smartbar tonight to cap off your weekend with disco sets by Kid Color, Adulture, Michael Serafini and this weeks special guest Mike Dearborn. Find more Dollar Disco details on Facebook . Skye - Ain't No Need [...]
Well we didn't expect that, but it's nice to get some recognition! Cue hordes of people in breton tops and berets descending on the West Hill at 9pm sharp. We should point out that smoking is not permitted inside the building. Also, we do play non-French electronic and synthesized music too! TONIGHT! Saturday 24 April 9pm - 3am at The West Hill, 67 Buckingham Place, Brighton, BN1 3PQ here is a map It is FREE to get in all night. love and electronics xxx
We're playing in San Diego tonight (Wednesday 10th) at AMSD! "San Diego: dialed in" also picked our gig as pick of the week! Read the whole thing here ! Get your tickets now! Here's a video of one of our new songs which we'll be performing: Don't forget to follow my Swedish Tour Blog on Cosmopolitan!
The XX are of one the biggest, if not the biggest, acts to emerge from the blog-o-sphere this year. Last year we had Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, and this year we have The XX. And while the three acts sound very different, the common thread between them, as I see it, is that they have all carved out their own very unique sound. For B.I. that sound was sort of an encompassing, straining, falsetto; for F.F. it was the big, choral harmonies; for the XX it almost seems like their trademark is the empty [...]
In a recent National Post article , Jonas Bonnetta explains that he stopped recording under his own name because he didn't want to get pigeon holed as just another dude with a guitar. So, the story goes, Bonnetta began recording under the moniker Evening Hymns -- something that suggests more of a collective effort... maybe it's the use of the plural... I'm not sure. On the album, Spirit Guides ( Out of This Spark ), Bonnetta certainly differentiates himself from the countless other guys w/ guitars that are [...]
With all that's been going on lately I haven't been listening to a whole lot of new stuff and rather than forcing a Pick of the Week -- picking something that I can't completely get behind -- I've opted to go with something from archives... If you're a regular around here you'll likely recall me discussing Ottawa's The Acorn at one point or another, but often I find that it takes me hearing a name 2/3/10 times before I actually get around to giving something a try. So, more than anything I was hoping with [...]
Yeah, a little late, I realize, but I've been sick so if you could all give me a break that'd be great... On the bright side, I've got a great album for ya'll (expect a little more slang this week). I certainly wasn't expecting The Ecstatic , the mighty Mos Def 's fourth album (fifth if you include Black Star w/ Talib Kweli ), to be any good. Why? Well, mostly because he hasn't released anything worth hearing in a decade. Yes, actually a decade -- this isn't me exaggerating to make a [...]
In part because I thought it'd be fun to have back to back picks of the week with the word 'Whale' in the title of the band name, and in part because I've been listening to Noah and the Whale's The First Days of Spring almost exclusively this week, I present to you... Noah and the Whale's The First Days of Spring ... Before seeing Noah and the Whale at Criminal Records a couple of weeks ago they weren't on my radar screen at all. I'm fairly confident they were/are [...]
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are a strange, strange, looking group. At times E.S. looks like a longer haired version of Aldous Snow (the rock star character from Forgetting Sarah Marshall ) and at other times he looks like a member of the McPoyle family ( It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ), so, not a group that is going to be appearing any CK ads anytime soon. But, we all know that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and so even if you don't want to invite E.S. and the M.Z.s out with [...]
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