From my favorite Atmosphere album, When Life Gives you Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold. With their incorporation of live instrumentation, the picture book morphed into a trippy popup.
Feb 032013
Dec 162012
Mashup between Down Under by Men at Work, and Midnight City by M83. Gives both songs a completely different feel.
Dec 092012
Jun 112012
I’ve always been a sucker for Afro-rhythms. Check out Spoek Mathambo, a relatively recent South African artist to sign to Sub Pop: What ridiculous richness of textured rhythms!
Dec 312011
At the mentioning of Icelandic music, most music lovers will probably think either Björk or Sigur Rós. If their American album release in the spring goes well, Of Monsters and Men may potentially be added to this list. I first heard this on Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current, which is perhaps the best music radio station in the US. Their album is available in Iceland right now, but nowhere in the US. They recently signed with UMG, so expect a wide release and more albums in 2012.
Dec 262011
I’ve fallen prey to the unstoppable gentle onslaught of Christmas music. Since I’ve caught the bug, I might as well combine it with Dream Theater (and especially their keyboardist extraordinaire, Jordan Rudess). Dream Theater performing O Holy Night/Paradigm Shift live: And from my favorite Christmas album, Jordan Rudess’s 2002 Christmas Sky, White Christmas: and, The Christmas Song:
Nov 022011
It seems like Coldplay has tailored its recent album, Mylo Xyloto, even more to an arena setting than their last album, Viva la Vida. It’s an explosion of distorted glammy synths and I/IV/V chords and steady dance beats and Chris Martin reaching up octaves to belt out eminently sing-along-able choruses with a “oh’s” and “whoa’s.” And it’s great. But let’s just compare and contrast: Then (“Careful Where You Stand” from Parachutes B-Side, 2000): Now (“Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” from Mylo Xyloto, 2011): Huh.
Oct 242011
M83’s new album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming just dropped a few days ago, and like several of their previous albums, it is like a transporter into the dreams of childhood. This song, thought not my favorite from the album, is a nice synecdoche for the whole.
Aug 242011
I heard this song all over Peru, and initially wondered if Peruvians were generally big fans of Simon & Garfunkel. Then I remembered that the name of the song was El Condor Pasa, which was Spanish, and that the condor lived in the Andes, and was a prominent symbol of the Incans. It turns out that El Condor Pasa is was a Peruvian song from 1913, based on Andean folk songs.
Aug 152011
Here’s a throwback to the early 70s with my favorite song off of Santana’s Caravanserai. Such soulful guitar playing, against an incredible rhythm section mixing jazz and latin beats. The “backup” guitarist in this song is Neil Schon, who went on to found Journey after this album.