Song Of The Week #52

Ooh. This is good. Thisisgoodthisisgoodthisisgood.

Something About Us – Dr Fresch

With all the hype surrounding Daft Punk’s new album coming out, people seem to be dropping the remixes left and right. But with this particular one I’m definitely not complaining.

I’m just loving the overall chill summer vibe of this tune. Already I can imagine myself getting home, kicking off my shoes, sitting down on my couch, grabbing some kind of ice cold beverage and sipping the night away – all the while having this playing on the speakers in the background.

Yeah, I think I’ll do just that.

Something about us is a cover of the Daft Punk song, which appeared on their second album Discovery.

Enjoy!

 - Jonathan

Song Of The Week #51

Quite recently I managed to catch a showing of The Great Gatsby in cinemas, and must say the soundtrack did not disappoint.

Together – The xx

Apparently Baz Luhrmann and his right-hand music man Anton Monsted have been massive fans of the xx for a while now.When Luhrmann and Monsted approached them regarding some musical contribution, they were completely fine with using a song out of the band’s (at the time) new album – and then they were pleasantly surprised to find the xx throw them this pretty tune out of nowhere.

As stated by Monsted, they were so happy with the tune it’s basically “peppered throughout the fabric of the underscore.”

Together is the tenth track on the soundtrack album to Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby.

Enjoy!

 - Jonathan

Song Of The Week #50

This one should be  familiar to anyone who follows AMC’s the Walking Dead.

Civilian – Wye Oak

More specifically, anyone who’s seen “Triggerfinger”, Episode 9, Season 2.

You can say what you want about a lot of TV series, but one undeniable fact is that most of the time they are a great source for music – just look at The O.C, How To Make It In America, Scrubs and Chuck. At any rate, series are no doubt one of my personal favourite ways of discovering music, next to google searches gone wrong and mistaken clicks on strange links.

Wye Oak are an indie folk rock duo from the US.

Civilian is the fifth track to their debut album of the same name.

Enjoy!

 - Jonathan

Song Of The Week #49

I had a hard time deciding which song to post, seeing as these guys have such a wide arsenal of kick-ass songs to choose from.

Monogamy –  I Heart Sharks

In the end I opted to go for the song that originally introduced me to them.

I Heart Sharks is a German/British indietronica three-piece consisting of vocalist Pierre Bee, guitarist Simon Wangemann and drummer Georg Steinmaier. After having released a couple of  singles and supported acts such as Cobra Starship and Friendly Fire, the electro-indie group released their debut Summers in October 0f 2011 to mostly positive reviews.

You don’t know it, but this is what you’re actually looking for when you go hunting down throbbing rhythms and stormy synth-lead tunes.

Monogomy is the second track on their album Summers.

Enjoy!

 - Jonathan

Song Of The Week #48

Today’s earworm:

Bizness – tUnE-yArDs

Tune-yards is the musical prowess of New England lo-fi songwriter Merrill Garbus. After releasing her 2009 debut BiRd-BrAiNs (recorded via handheld voice recorder) to a wide pallet of positive praise, Garbus managed to sign up to record label 4AD (to which the Pixies were signed) and afterwards launch her sophomore LP WhoKill in 2011.

Seeing as how the track showcases some severe African influence via robust and bold singing coupled with big thunder-drum booms and tribal beats, it probably doesn’t come off as a surprise that Garbus spent her college years in Kenya. To study pirates. Instead however, she chose to bless us with tUnE-yArDs – a group that’s as fun to listen to as it is to type out (yeah, not really, but what they do in quirky spelling they  make up for with fantastic music).

Bizness is the sixth track on WhoKill.

Enjoy!

 - Jonathan

Song Of The Week #47

So today I feel like snatching a song from another blog, because that’s how much I like it.

Purple Yellow Red and Blue – Portugal. The Man

Portugal. The Man enthusiasts rejoice – the alaskan psych-rock group has just dropped their second single from their upcoming Evil Friends album (set for release in June 4 of this year).

I’ve always enjoyed Portugal. The Man, and this track I’m glad to say doesn’t disappoint in heightening the PTM experience – Purple Yellow Red Blue is a pop-funk tune that just screams for attention with it’s infectious drum snap, falsetto cries and groovy bass lines.

A happy to thanks to The Sound Of Flying Kiwi for the  introduction, and be sure to check the blog out – great site, it’s pretty much blasphemy it doesn’t have more followers.

Purple Yellow Red Blue is the second single off Portugal. The Man’s upcoming album Evil Friends.

Enjoy!

 - Jonathan

Song Of The Week #46

So I was reviewing my stats from last year and apparently my most popular post is still my very first post –  Top Ten Covers. It turns out, covers are still a big subject on the internet and I thought, why not renew the topic again?

Midnight City – Trails And Ways

This is easily one of my favourite cover works. Seriously, ‘eargasmic’ is the appropriate word.

Trails & Ways are an Oakland-based four-piece that focuses on bassanova dream pop. The group gained widespread (and well-deserved) popularity due to their fantastic covers – having covered ‘Animal’ by Miike Snow, ‘Nunca’ by Ghost Beach and ‘Sure Things’ by Miguel, Trails and Ways practically took the blogosphere by storm, spreading on the indie charts like wildfire and impressing many.

Midnight City is a cover of the M83 song of the same name, and is found on Trails & Way’s ‘Sure Thing’ single.

Enjoy!

 - Jonathan

Song Of The Week #45

The following tune has just about been dominating my replay button for the past couple of weeks or so.

Milk – The Bronze Medal

I first came across these guys when they released this beautiful home session track (‘Go Easy’) and since then I’ve kinda been really hooked.

The Bronze Medal are a five-piece alternative band based in Bristol. While still relatively new, they have managed (and not surprisingly so) to be dubbed ”Masters of indie slow-build” by such high-placed people as The Times, and have even managed to grab the attention of the BBC.

Now I’ll admit, the song is somewhat depressing, but it’s definitely of the good variety. Sweet, soft and  tranquil melodies ebbing and flowing with the distant drums and gentle guitar harmonies, all of which lace over the poignant vocals of lead singer Robin Southewell – this my friends, is the stuff music is made of.

Enjoy!

 - Jonathan

Song Of The Week #44

Sweet, sweet nostalgia – I welcome you. Ladies n’ gents, presenting:

Curfews – Snowmine

Ever since the release of their debut ‘Laminate Pet Animal’ I’ve been pretty much in love with this group. For several reasons, really, but I think it’s their afrobeat soundscape and prominent tribal influences that just keep me coming back for more.

Snowmine (a reference to the snowy minefields that the lead singer and his grandfather used to trek through in the Korean War) is a psychedelic, atmospheric indie-pop quintet hailing from Brooklyn. As each band member had their roots in either the jazz or the classical scene, the band decided fairly early they didn’t want to become a ‘laptop band’ and thus chose to pursue the indie pop path. I for one, am happy they did.

Curfews is on Vol. 2, Episode 10 in the Shaking Through 2011 Series.

Enjoy!

- Jonathan

Song Of The Week #43

Prepare yourself for musical relaxation.

I Wanted You To Stay On The Other Side – Summer Heart

This is one of those songs I wouldn’t mind putting on repeat for an afternoon or two. On listening to this, I usually find myself thinking of the beach – the rush of waves, heat of summer days and the general overall chill atmosphere. ‘Bliss’ is, I believe, the appropriate word. This anonymous reviewer pretty much summed up Summer Heart when he said:

“Fall into a whirl of vision and harmony with Swede, David Alexander aka Summer Heart. He provides chill dream pop vibes with mellow vocals that still gives a scintillating increase of your heartbeat.”

What can I say, that’s really all there is to it.

I Wanted You To Stay On The Other Side is the third track to their 2012 album About A Feeling.

Enjoy!

 - Jonathan

Update: For those who didn’t notice, I’ve finally done something I should have done ages ago: embedded the player so we don’t need to deal with those pesky links. Cool.