Sounds Vol. 1 || Galapagos

The sweet bumping sounds of Galapagos have been a new regular part my daily tunes in my past few weeks of blogging absence. The name and the cover probably should give you a rough idea of what your in for on this one. Sounds Vol. 1 is a collection of upbeat sample heavy island dreamt glitch-hop bliss that showcases some pretty dope skills at mixing up some catchy and easy going vibes. You can find more sounds here and this release here. Look forward to hearing more new awesome jams from Galapagos coming sometime this spring/summer via cassette release through the recently established Chill Mega Chill label.

The Kingdom || Bank Heist

Bank Heist is the side project of Matthew Joel, who currently plays guitar for the Teen Dazes live band. Recently he has brought to earth the sounds of The Kingdom, and it is one hundred percent pure electronica gold. Bank Heist picks you up in a big bright colorful space ship and proceeds to take you on an epic dance driven cosmitronic space journey.  Bumping bass and drum tracks rock the ship through out the entirety of the ride while a magnitude of roaring synths tear open paths in space. Genuine musicians craftsmanship can be heard in every inch of the structure holding this musical spaceship together. After the momentous journey you finally reach your destination, The Kingdom, the last track, here your beamed you down slowly and laid to rest onto some sort of beautiful dream world of bliss and enlightenment. This amazing space journey is the first digital LP to be released under Crash Symbols and can be transmitted to your home via bandcamp.

red indians || mascara snake

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I've had a long day today, been trying to catch up on a load of things and tie up some loose ends on my music project. In the midst of getting ready to call it a day just a bit ago, I happened to come across this ensorcelling no-fi soundtrack in my email. This kinda short but really amazing album has completely captured my attention and eased my soul a bit. It pulls you in with easy going and inviting rhythmic beats and melodies and wraps you up in layers of warm glowing noise. Entrancing string work delivers the emotion the majority of the time and it does it well, expressing a variety of moods from track to track. This is something I could get into all the time, and more then likely I will. You can help your self do the same by heading over to bandcamp and by following this talented artist on his blog.

all the girls i know all of them || Hips Like Cinderella

 I have been bumping these tight jams on the regular since I was fortunate enough to come across this noisy surfgaze masterpiece on Get Off The Coast a while back.  In the post Jheri described exactly what your getting out of this album in perfect words:

 "Imagine stirring Dead Gaze and Weed Diamond into a thick black cauldron and then letting it simmer for a few days. Hips Like Cinderella is what you'd get, pouring over the side with it's foamy outtake and flooding you with every memory you wish you had"


The vocals are well mixed and the vibes are huge. The whole experience conjures up a great balance of taking it easy and sprinting through you mind, and has a very good natural feel and flow when listened trough from beginning to end. You can catch this album on bandcamp and more from Chaz Bell himself on his blogspot.

Under God's Heaven // Creep *Radio Head Cover || Heinali and Matt Finney

 

You know that feeling you get when you see a great movie that your really digging and it gets to that point in the film where the awesome character recites the most sad/ real/ on point monologue, with the brilliant soundtrack that couldn't be more suitable, and you become completely captivated and lost in the movie its almost surreal.  That feeling of power of word and musical delivery to accompany the emotion of the speaker is demonstrated perfectly in the sounds of Heinali and Matt Finney, Matt Finney provides the dark and real vocals through spoken word in tones equally as omniscient and aware as the thoughts of the poems speaker. Heinali  shapes a world of sound that feeds off the emotion created in Matt's monologues, through droney heavy distorted guitar, momentous drum tracks, drowning like samples, entrancing ambient synths, and an overall well produced nightmare soundtrack meets shoegaze type elements . Under God's Heaven is a great track to start with and get you comfortable with how deep these ideas run, when watched with the music video produced for it you get an experience that tops even some of the most dramatic moments in film. Their more recent cover of Radiohead's Creep is really where you can catch their talent bringing the lyrics of the song into the more depressing introspective manner it feels so right in. All of its a amazing work, specially considering Matt lives here in the United States and Heinali happens to be in Ukraine, quite a collaboration. You can catch more of their work on their myspace and bandcamp.

Walkabout || Ra Cailum

With no hesitation Ra Cailum took all the things I dig about pop and nostalgia and stirs them into a melting pot of rich chillwave, and served me that delicious soup of soul my mind craves. Included in the ingredients of this soup besides sweet emotion is fresh analog drum sampling, creative bedroom synth work delivered in the moment, and distant but present voice of our musical chef. Walkabout is the full course meal with that soup as the starter.  The whole LP finds that great combination of ambiance, glee, pop, and daze, and culminates into something more then satisfying. This five star meal can be found here for your hearing consumption and recommended with a tip of preordering this tape from Wonder Beard Tapes.

Fall In Chicago:



Evergreens (Pt. II):



September:



And More.

Since Forever || Blastoids

Total immersion for me here, everything about this album feels vast and extravagant, capturing a perfect balance of all the spacey feelings and electronic noise that I have grown to love about Blastoids. The intro orchestrates a big booming soundtrack of the what the band usually dishes out, grand slam drumming, laser like synths, and big vibes. The rest of the album feels less sporadic then their earlier releases and feels like a more dreamy experience, but still retaining all the awesome spacey sounds, ambiance, catchy odd vocal work, and epic drum work your heart can desire. This new atmosphere feels just as well crafted and creative as ever, and creates a new fun and deep sound to lose your thoughts in. Do your self a favor and visit their bandcamp page and give the whole album a listen.

 

Visually on par with the vibes Blastoids brings, this fresh and well done video paired with the release of their album is pure magic:

Self-Titled EP || Naminé

So I was checking out Life: Aquatic a few days ago and caught wind of this Melbourne based bedroom producer. Naminés first self titled ep melts pure dreampop bliss into beautiful oceanic sound schemes resulting in a fluid and harmonious soundtrack. Making great use of effects, layering, and filters to submerse you into calm seas of ear pleasure, and appropriate sampling and fine vocal work complement the music flow the whole album through. Soon to be on Life Aquatic Records first release, Naminé is a great project and hopefully has an awesome year ahead. You can find a digital download of his EP here and pre-order the limited release 7" here.

My Bedroom Floor || Teen Daze

Right before the beginning of this new year, Teen Daze revealed a collection of tracks originally written earlier last year and now released for our listening pleasure as a wonderful gift to the new year. After a brief well spirited intro, Teen Daze unleashes an array of well produced dance galore, sporting upbeat drum tracks and awesome synth work that will keep your blood pumping the majority of the album. Barely losing momentum from the begging, My Bedroom Floor never loses sight of its creators goal of "inspiring joy and excitement". Lighten up your next party or drive night and acquire this retro-fitted dance album on his bandcamp page.

City of Ash EP || Pariah Carey

Earlier this week I was pleased to hear my boy Jheri Evans's new EP, his project Pariah Carey creates a multitude of original swamped out electronic thrill rides, and City of Ash is no exception. Creeping down a darker and more ominous track this time around, the first half of the EP warms you up to the ritualistic drum style and trepidatious digital soundscapes that exist in the world of Pariah Carey. From there on emerges a more dreary and ambient world that feels like a mind altering spirit walk through a deep jungle underworld, complete with tribal drums and eerie atmosphere. Sound interesting, give the whole soundtrack a listen on his bandcamp page, where you can also find more of his creative works.

2010 || Top Ten Favorite Releases

 

So the end of the year finally draws near and after a good year of some fairly rad music and plenty of new favorites, the time has come for me to present to you my favorite releases of this year.  I loved all these albums each in their own ways, all great work, but lists work out better in numerical order and ten is a good number to work with, so with out further ado:

Bit Dream \\ Ohkay || bit1

 Sometimes you'll feel like your sitting out at a some kind of dreamy digital jazz cafe, other times you'll find your self in a well orchestrated foggy hail storm of cyber noise. Bit1 covers a wide range of very vintage style digital with diverse soundscapes that always feel cleverly constructed with all sorts of crafty beats and neat sounds. Glitchy, ambient, and smooth Bit1 is a great project and has a few eps out that are a well done and original from each one to the next,  find fresh regularly updated bitcrush sounds on his soundcloud and find more of bit1 here.



Ohkay by bit1

להיות \\ ปราณี || being ッ

To my great satisfaction, I recently received a few tracks from a creative mixer by the name of being ッ.  Spinning up a clever mix of a sorts of chillwave tracks laid out with amazing flow and elegance to create some bright, creative, and fun soundscapes. Serving up a more then satisfying set, being ッ only has up a few tracks but is definitely some one you don't want to miss.

להיות by being ッ

ปราณี by being ッ

Fishing With My Dad * More Bikini Babes || Angel Guarisma

Sorry for the delay everyone, had a busy past few days, but without further wait, I present to you Cammy's first post on our blog. Hope you enjoy his post and the video he wrote about. -Al

My buddy Angel Guarisma just did a beautiful video to accompany more Bikini Babes "Fishing with my dad" that is truly a picturesque visual experience. I'll be honest, it had me choked up for a minute. The smooth dreamy sound blends perfectly with the nostalgic old camping visuals, shit'll break your heart. Great ass work from some amazing artists and a great friend.

Edit: Cammy also will be working on a new project with Angel called  W E ▲ K || D ▲ Z E. They got a rad Christmas video coming up as their first project together, and I'm looking forward to their work. -Al

Motion Life \\ Pastel Streets* Ft. Notorious B.I.G. || Joy!

Glitchy, fast paced when your in the grove, and slow when it feels like it should be. Fun poppy dance parts, bass dense, elegant synth bridges and amazing samples sprinkle this clever French electro-trippop project. Joy! accomplishes something creative and fresh and is a new personal favorite, you can find some more of them here.
Joy - Pastel Streets (ft. Notorious B.I.G.) by Joy!
Joy - Motion Life by Joy!

Announcing || cameo*vimeo

Starting this Monday I will be starting a new weekly vimeo series written by my buddy Cammy Shields, this section will be a weekly post on his favorite vimeo (and occasionally youtube)  finds of the week, I've been digging his taste and hope you readers out there will too. He will also be posting on our twitter account, and running our vimeo page. You can find the cameovimeo page here.

The Raven *Neosonic Remix || Neosonix

Neosonix brings tight beats, nostalgic melodies, and a great minimum jazzy sound to the table. Like a funky ride in a hip elevator, this DC project is a great trip hop minimalist experience and a great chill out time soundtrack, check out some Neosonix's funky groves here.

The Raven (Neosonic Remix) by Neosonix

Burn To Quick *Tight Mix || Bed Fellows

Bringing back the good vibes of an old dreampop sound, Bed Fellows mixes up a very pleasant new wave style vocal style with a vintage garage electronic dance soundtrack, wonderfully decorated with sweet synth fx, and rhythmicaly structured to please. These guys overall provide a great sound that's way to easy to lose your self in. With only a hand full  of tracks available now, the group is planning on releasing more tracks this month and is looking forward to an EP in late February. I'm personally looking forward to hearing more from Bed Fellows in the future, you can find these guys on their soundcloud.
Burn Too Quick (Tight Mix) by BedfellowsUSA

Beach Dreams || Teen Daze

Sailing over old washed out summer memories with bright harmonies, great rifts and melodies carrying your thoughts somewhere warm and pleasant, and guided by the rhythm of summer love, After the cruise down memory lane, Beach Dreams gently takes you over the surf and gently washes you back up to shore. Teen Dazes newest EP is a great venture that left me feeling completely content and warm, so go on tonight and catch some Beach Dreams here.

Dance To This || Tim Gunter

Dance To This mix and matches some of raps best, old and new, over fresh creative dance beats that with little effort will have you bouncing your head at least if your not out of your seat dancing. A tight mixtape that clearly justifies the albums title with an electro-hiphop atmosphere that could turn any party into a happening dance fest. Check out the North Carolina native on his bandcamp and get your dance on.

 Tim Gunter || Little Secret Fireman ft. Passion Pit and Lil Wayne.

Apology \\ Crazy Eyes * Anoraak (SCE remix) || Space Crafters

An epic journey in dance music, tight beats, lush synths, Space Crafters a dynamic duo from France will have you jamming out in all sorts of ways. Their no one specific influence also shines through on many of their tracks, ranging from 8 bit dance tracks to beautiful spacey soundscape goodness, all completed with great production value resulting in overall wonderful experience. Head over to their soundcloud and give 'em a listen.
Apology by Spacecrafters

Anoraak - Crazy Eyes (SCE remix) by Spacecrafters

Bicycle Swag *Memory Tapes x Soulja Boy || Mover Shaker

Mover Shaker mashes up Memory Tapes "Bicycle" and Soulja Boys "Pretty Boy Swag" into pure swag bliss. Souja Boy's vocals match up seamlessly with the sanguine heavenly dance beat of "Bicycle" creating a bright atmosphere, even equipped with a great pair of hater blockers.


Mover Shaker - Bicycle Swag (Memory Tapes x Soulja Boy) by downloadmovershaker


Mover Shaker is on point in mashup town and has a load more of good tracks that are well worth a listen, check them out here.