DOWNLOAD: Nite Jewel - Suburbia
Eyes shut, mind levered ajar, Ramona's from LA and her music engulfs the imagination like daydream collateral; loneliness and boredom conspiring to turn underage bedrooms into observatories with telescopes aimed the way of young adulthood, learning the flail and seed of glittering beings, deep-house, disco chutzpah. Recently picked up by Mike Simonetti's esteemable Italians Do It Better record house, Nite Jewel fits well among more seasoned label-mates Chromatics and Invisible Conga People; hers an Italo-glide built from both - the former's low-slung glamour, the latter's Cluster love - but mostly from images formed the warmer side of late-night bedroom windows, kohl-eyes staring in wonder at the sparkling edges of big-city skylines far from the order of "Suburbia".
Sounds Like: John Maus, Geneva Jacuzzi, Debbie Deb
DOWNLOAD: Wavves - Beach Demon + Weed Demon + Wavves
Wavves is the name given the lo-fi grunge pop adventures of Nathan Williams, that handsome albeit concerned gentleman sitting on his bed. A Seinfeld-loving, skateboard-obsessed San Diegan, Mr. Williams handcuffs the muddied guitar blues of early 90s jamhounds like Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth to the honeycombed harmonies of 60s girl groups like the uh, Ronettes. In addition to both sides of his forthcoming Beach Demon Weed Demon seven-inch (the weedy B-side smacks sweetly of the Pumpkins' "Soma"), I'm super excited to also share "Wavves," Williams' saltwatered manifesto. Three songs! Infinite possibilities!
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Cars and Trains - Sometimes Falter, Sometimes Sway (Meanest Man Contest Remix)
You know when Beck went through that funked-out post-hip hop jazz phase around the time of Odelay- even recruiting jazz guitarist Charlie Haden to record with him? The Meanest Man Contest remix of this electronic track by Cars and Trains track sounds similarly inspired - like an almost rusted, backyard jazz party that you have to keep lo-fi so the neighbors won't yell at you. The beat has got a delayed Afrika Bambaataa groove while various guitars, whistles, chimes, and guitar cymbals ebb and flow like they're 10-leagues-under-the-sea.
Sounds Like: Beck, Cars and Trains, DJ Shadow, Bookashade
Download: Meanest Man Contest - We Wouldn't Want It Any Other Way (Débruit remix)
EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD: Gentle Friendly - Ride Around Shining
London duo Gentle Friendly’s DiY pop has needed to be lo-fi so long you fear discomfort in slicker sonic surrounds, fascination with Sizzurp-quaffing Lil' Wayne or not. Still, there’s something oddly poignant and ceremonial about "Ride Around Shining", which starts off sounding like Yoni Wolf’s Why? and ends up loitering somewhere between Crystal Castles’ most cherished moments and the woozy drift of Arch M, David Morris’ warped vocal brilliant light rippling out across a melange of toy keyboards and misfiring lasers. More resolved is "Ride Symbols", which we posted at RCRD LBL back in spring. It’s one of four tracks that will appear on Gentle Friendly’s awesome debut 7”, out on Monday (24 Nov) through No Pain In Pop.
Sounds Like: Baby Venom, Joe Meek, Dan Deacon
Exclusive Download: Gentle Friendly - Ride Around Shining
Download: Koushik - Bright And Shining
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These days we just can't get enough of the Ontario-based super star mixer/vocalist Koushik. "Bright and Shining" is festive 70s disco, with cloudy Beatles vocals, heavy cymbals, and a creative double drum cycle that's almost got a go-go beat. "Lying in the Sun" is perfect for doing just that, with shimmering lo-fi beat and day-dreamy lyrics. Though admittedly a CD for summer, Koushik can brighten up any day.
Sounds Like: Four Tet, RJD2, DJ Shadow
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Roses Kings Castles - Entroubled
Most people know (or don’t know) Adam Ficek as the guy who keeps Pete Doherty’s band Babyshambles on beat; a thick-skinned drummer who makes sure songs like “Fuck Forever” don’t fall apart at the seams. This is, as you can imagine, no small feat. On the last Babyshambles arena tour, Ficek took his down time away from the insanity to map out some soft pop tunes of his own, eventually laying them to tape in a friend’s bedroom over two weeks when, as he puts it, “things in Shambles camp were halted due to incarcerations and other hiccups.” (What else is new.) The resulting album under the Roses Kings Castles moniker came out last week in England, led by a weightless lo-fi carousel joint called “Entroubled,” which we’re offering exclusively below. We've been playing the whole album for awhile now and, you know what, we're getting some goddamn ICE CREAM.
Sounds like: Babyshambles, Love Is All, Guided By Voices
STREAM: Starf*cker - Burnin' Up
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Starf*cker: Definition
#1: A person or persons who uses popularity and celebrity acquaintances to get further in business or social situations, sometimes without even having sex. (Thanks Urban Dictionary; Jamie Burke, we're looking at you).
#2: An individual who enhances his/her self worth by sexual contact with the perceived power figure in any given situation. (As Monica Lewinksy said herself, "I'm well-known for something that isn't great to be well-known for.")
#3: A Portland Oregon-based band that has the balls to take a well-known kareoke favorite, written by the biggest sex symbol in the world, (Madonna folks, it's Madonna) and turn it into dripping-basement White Williams-esque lo-fi grind, complete with gritty keyboard, synths, computer gadget whispers and slurring effeminate male vocals. A band unafraid to make sweet happy-go-lucky humorous pop unfettered by any petty, negative 'top 40' connotations. See: German Love and Rawnald.
Sounds Like: White Williams, Deer Hunter, Atlas Sound
Stream: Starf*cker - Burnin Up (Madonna Cover)
Download: Starf*cker - German Love
Download: Starf*cker - Rawnald
Starf*ckers @ Bad Man Recording Company
DOWNLOAD: That Ghost - I Crossed Out The Options
Santa Rosa, CA is about fifty-five miles north of San Francisco off the 101 highway, the largest city in California’s wine country and home at times to ultimo artistes like the late Charles Shultz and Tom Waits. That Ghost is Ryan Schmale, an eighteen year old Santa Rosa resident who makes fuzzy pop music that sounds like Guided By Voices dealing with the pressures of high school (which, I guess, is kind of what it is). According to dude’s MySpace, he’s already chalked up five out of print releases since December of 2006, including three full-lengths and two EPs (holler prodigies), but just finally released his first proper seven-inch on Brooklyn startup Two Syllable last week. We’ve got the A-Side for download—“I Crossed Out The Options”, a swift three-chord pop song sticky with over-trebled guitars and Schmale doing his best Jonathan Richman by mumbling lines about calling and walking down halls and wasting time and stuff like that. This, however, will not waste your time, unless you consider sitting around drinking Dr. Pepper and eating goldfish while listening to records a waste of time, which would be pretty lame.
Sounds like: Guided By Voices, The Strokes, Deerhunter
FEATURED: Jason Reitman at the SEEN RCRD LBL blog
Now that the hype has settled down, we think we can all agree that in retrospect, Juno was pretty awesome. OK, it might not be the Heathers that Diablo Cody had hoped for, but it’s a solid movie, with one of its biggest components being the soundtrack (which, somewhat randomly, landed a reunited Moldy Peaches on The View). Juno’s director, Jason Reitman, recently created a playlist of inspiring tunes for West coast radio station KCRW, and of course, where music and media cross paths, there’s always the SEEN RCRD LBL blog to report on the results. Check out their commentary on the playlist below.
DOWNLOAD: Richard Swift - Phone Coffins
Since we’re hooked on Richard Swift & his crazy eclectic music range- we thought we’d hook you up with two more tracks –both wildly divergent. “Phone Coffins” is a sassy blues track from “Richard Swift as Onasis,” channeling Beck & at times The Doors. Like “Knee- High Boogie Blues” before it, it’s got a playful edge. Then on a totally different plane is “Shooting A Rhino Between The Shoulders.” Part of Swift’s Instruments of Science and Technology, Swift carves a haunting, bare atmospheric plane- out of pulsing heart-beats, the mild clinking of computer keys, and subtle, psychedelic wheels of sound. It’s what I would play if I was shooting a rhino……on mars.
p.s. we included the two other downloads from last week below for your enjoyment....
SOUNDS LIKE: Beck, The Doors, Tangerine Dream
Download: Richard Swift – Phone Coffins
Download: Richard Swift – Shooting A Rhino Between The Shoulders
Download: Richard Swift - Kisses From The Misses
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