Caught in the blizzard of Miike Snow

I can not remember the last time that I have been this engrossed by a band. Not since I first discovered Bloc Party has a band captured my attention like this. What band has me by the ear? That would be Miike Snow. Never heard of them? I bet you have you just don't know it. Miike Snow is a group made up of two Swedes and one American. The group met in 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden and by May of 2009 they released their first album titled Miike Snow. Miike Snow puts out some of the best indie technopop music I can remember hearing. The music has some incredible beats making it next to impossible to not dance to. Even I do a little dancing in the dark. But the lyrics are very deep and filled with emotions making the songs just that much more complete. Aside from making great songs they also have remixed a number of songs including songs from Vampire Weekend, Drake, and Peter Bjorn & John. Their mash up Cult Logic Forever is well a mix of Drakes Forever with their Cult Logic is the song I can put of repeat and not get sick of it. On top of their remixes are some really great remixes of their songs by Peter Bjorn & John, Crookers, DJ Mehdi, Fake Blood and a bunch of others. The song most chosen to be remixed is their biggest hit Animal. It has been remixed over five times. Each is quite different and unique to the last but never straying to far from the original tune. Until there is a new Miike Snow album these remixes are going to have to feed my hunger for new Miike Snow. I hope you check out some Miike Snow for yourself at your earliest convenience. And if you find some new and awesome remixes or new stuff from them let me know about it! And as always I hope you enjoy the tunes...

Surfer Blood

I am so glad to be back this week and with a really great new band to share. Last week my cable was out so I could not get online to make a post or download tunes to find the band to share. So with out further delay I give you my band of the week Surfer Blood! This indie rock band is from West Palm Beach, Florida. Now those of you who know me know I am a Florida kid and always will be at heart so it is really nice to be able to support a band from back home. I came across Surfer Blood while listening to bands that played SXSW in 2009. The first song I heard was also their single Swim which came out last year. Their debut EP Astro Coast came out in January of this year. Surfer Blood has a sound you would expect of a group from a Florida beach town. I am not saying its a beachy sound but it is very mellow. Something like Minus The Bear meets Interpol. The dark side of mellow. All of the instruments blend together for a very smooth sound that rarely breaks stride in any song. The vocals keep the same pace but give the band their darker vibe. This band has a very bright future. Their album Astro Coast is a very complete and finished sounding collection for a first go. I look forward to hearing new things from them. Check them out and let me know what you think. I am always down to hear what you think and if you have any band you think I should check out. Enjoy the tunes!

Lets hit up a Two Door Cinema Club

This weeks band is called Two Door Cinema Club and they were recommended to me by my good friend Patrick. A fellow blogger I asked him after last weeks epic three band blog for help finding something new. Right away he thought of Two Door Cinema Club. Knowing Patrick like I do I was very confident that I would like them. I have to say that I was shocked when I listened to a few of their songs just how much I liked them. As it turns out Two Door Cinema Club is another band from the British Isles oh excuse me not the British Isles. They hail from Bangor, Northern Ireland. I think they would agree its not the same as being British. Signed to a small French label their first album(Tourist History) came out only March 1st of this year. The band has had somewhat of a quick rise to fame having only formed in 2007. It is immediately understandable when you hear their music just why they grew so fast. I went in not knowing what to expect only having one track recommended and was instantly hooked. The band plays a mix of indie rock and electro rock. Their sound is very original. Some tracks have heavy electronica sounds and other are pure indie rock. This bands seems to make music just for me because I have yet to find a song that I skip by. It is just up beat tempo and very well played instruments. I have only been listening to Two Door Cinema Club for a week and already I find myself singing along to the lyrics. They have a lot of feeling in some songs and are just really fun in others. It makes for some really good listening. You do not get burned out by always being heavy or bored with no substance. Overall I am just so excited I know about this band now and I hope that you give it a listen stat!! Thanks goes to Patrick

EPICNESS

I am really excited about the music I have been listening to this week. There are three bands that have really come to the front of the group. Washed Out, We Were Promised Jet Packs, and Los Campesinos!... It is kind of a lot of music but its all just really good so I have made a playlist with nothing but those bands on it. This week I have a job painting a house for a cousin of mine and its really good to have music to keep you going. With all the tediousness of painting edges and corners and making sure not to get paint on the carpets. It can really be a boring job. But with good music like this there is no risk of that! So where to being is the real question now.

How about with my favorite so far. Which would be Washed Out. So like most bands I post about I had never heard of Washed Out before this week. So when I checked them out I learned it is the music of one very talented guy from Georgia. Ernest Greene is his name and Washed Out is the name he performs under. His music is just outstanding. Right away I was really hooked by the simple beats and catchy synth effects. The voices are also very filtered to create an indie techorock sound that you cant help but get stuck on. Most songs are quite short but all are very different in their sounds which makes it very easy to listen to whole records. The song I am currently addicted to is called New Theory. I like the upbeat sound to most tracks, it to me is a welcomed change from the usually gloomy sound indie can get stuck in. While right now Washed Out is not a very mainstream artist he is getting critical praise. He performed at SXSW this year so I would look for Washed Out to be getting much bigger.

Second in this epic post is a band called We Were Promised Jetpacks. What a great name. I was immediately struck by that. So no matter what I was going to give them a listen. And thank God they are good. I would have been quite mad if such a good name was wasted on some wankers. So these guy are from Edinburgh, Scotland and you tell the minute you hear the singer Adam Thompson start up. A definite accent. So this is your quintessential indie rock band. Not in that they sounds like anyone else but in that they have a very emotional sound to them. With almost no synthetic sounds in any of their songs they are very much about big sounds. The drums seem to lead the music with the guitar battling for top spot. You will find your foot or fingers or whatever it is you tap but you will get into their songs. The track It's Thunder And It's Lightning is probably my favorite of theirs. The build up in this song is spectacular. By the time the song peaks your probably going to be playing an air instrument. I love a song with a huge build up.
So all that leave is Los Campesinos!. Another band from the British Isles. Los Campesinos! formed in Cardiff, Wales at Cardiff University. They are kind of a large band with seven members. While at times the songs can seem a bit overwhelming with everything going on more often they make it work and make some really great tracks. A perfect example is on the songs where they use both a female and male singer. They have a very upbeat sound about them. While no one instrument takes the lead you defiantly hear many sounds ranging form horns to violins to drums. The songs where they are at their best are the ones where all of the different instruments seem to just compliment all the others. On songs like You! Me! Dancing! this is very easy to understand and it is very easy to see why they are growing and playing to larger crowds all the time.

Well I hope you check out these bands and I hope you like them. If you have any suggestions for me I am ALWAYS looking for something new to listen to. Take it easy and happy listening.

Help I'm "LOST" in season 2

Well I have really slacked off this week. I found a bunch of new bands but I did not give any of them enough of a listen to write about it... Why might this be? One word. "Lost"... I started watching "Lost" in season 4 and watched parts of season 5 and so far all the episodes of season 6. It is quite addicting. Anyone who is a fan can attest to that. But in the last week or so I have started to watch the show from the start. Last week is was season 1 and this week it is season 2. I just finished up season 2 like 20 minutes ago. Damn you Michael!!! But anyway I will be giving all the new bands a listen this week and post something midweek. Oh and also I just got "Band of Brothers", I have never seen it before. Yes I am a man I just never got around to it so back off!! Soooo from what I hear there is another 15 hours of my life haha. But in case you are curious what bands I've come across here is a quick list. Los Campesinos!, Beach House, Washed Out, and We Were Promised Jetpacks. So far from what I have listened to I am really liking them all. Anyway I just thought an update would be good seeing as how I usually post on Sunday nights. Gotta get one in before Midnight or I owe my mate Patrick a beer haha just a little wager we have to keep us writing. Not that I need it. I am really getting into finding new tunes to talk about and share with the world. However many of you are actually out there reading this. But like I said there will be a post later this week. See-ya

So tired of all the naysayers... Lets find more YEASAYERS

Yeasayer... Can you think of a better name for a band? Other then my band on Rock Band called Rainy Sundays I sure can not. Yeasayer hail from Brooklyn, New York. When I first got their album I had no idea what to expect. I had never heard of them before. I first got their album Odd Blood in February. I actually their album around the same time that I got The XX album XX and the Chiodos album All's Well That Ends Well. At first I was hooked by The XX but I never really listened to the whole album. I would pick and choose songs I liked most. With Yeasayer though I really like every song. And as a result I find Yeasayer getting more and more plays. Yeasayer finds a way to mix a lot of different sounds to find a happy medium with them all. With a strong electronic sound going on they mix in some definite rock sounds and their own brand of psychedelic beats to create their completely new sound. Laid down on that new sound are some really catchy lyrics. I do not know how to tell you what the lyrics sound like. I can defiantly hear some 80's new wave vibes in his voice but there are also points where its really alt rock. I think the fact that all the songs on this album sound different helps with the replay ability. I would give you a top 5 favorite tracks from the album but seeing that its only a ten track album I will go with a top 3. First off is Ambling Alps, next is Madder Red, and rounding it out is Love Me Girl. I think these songs show the diversity of the album as well as the best the album has to offer. I hope that after reading you will check out Yeasayer. I gave it a spin and now I can not stop.

Second new band of the week

My music week has been amazing. I already told you about my new love of Broken Bells in the last post but now I want to talk about a band completely different from them. Now this band is considered a country/bluegrass band but I find that to be quite misleading. They do have country/bluegrass tones to their music but I would say that they have quite a bit of indie/alt influences. The band I am referring to is The Avett Brothers. A trio from rural North Carolina The Avett Brothers are exactly what I have been looking for in a world I did not know was missing something. I have never heard a bluegrass sound have so much energy behind it. The lyrics have a lot of emotion behind them and you can really hear that in the vocals. I have listened to bluegrass in the form of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". Funny thing is, that movie came out in 2000 the same year The Avett Brothers formed. And why not that was some really good music. In fact I would say that if the Soggy Bottom Boys,the fictional band from the film, were making music today it would sound an awful lot like The Avett Brothers. To make my point I only need to refer to their song November Blue. A song of missed love with a nice pace to the tempo. Any band can make a sappy sad slow song. It really takes skill to put lyrics with that kind of feeling to music that is almost upbeat. Just a fantastic song. I know that it draws on emotions in my own life. Who does not miss someone. I know I do. It is that kind of ability to connect with their listener that I think really sets them apart. As always I hope that I have introduced you to something new that you will enjoy. I sure do. Happy listening!

First new band of the week

So all week I have been finding out about bands that are new to me left and right. Some good and some well lets just say that are not my cup of tea. I think this week has a few stand outs for me though. One being Broken Bells. Which for those not in the know(which was be up until this week) they are a band made up of The Shins front man and guitarist James Mercer and producer and artist Danger Mouse aka Brian Burton. Now at first I did not know what to expect. I know and love The Shins. Danger Mouse has done work that I liked in the form of his work with Gorillaz, Beck, and Gnarls Barkley. But they seemed the odd couple. However when I gave their work together a listen all doubts went out the window. They had something really special going on. The beats Burton cooked up mixed with the indie roots of Mercer just worked. Their is no other way to say it. It is just the kind of music I am finding myself drawn to these days. The indie/hip hop mix when done right is a combination on the level of peanut butter and jelly. Both are awesome on their own but when they come together its just something awesome but in a completely different way. And Broken Bells is one of those to get it right. There is a perfect balance to the sharp vocals of Mercer and the new school beats created my Burton. The track I found myself playing the most was one called The Ghost Inside. Its one of those songs you find yourself nodding to the beat. Meanwhile the vocals are the contrast that keeps the song in balance and really stand out. The melody wraps everything up real nice and just makes the song wholly enjoyable. If that is the first song you hear from them you will soon be looking to get more of their work. Trust me cause it happened to me.

My top plays this week

So I am a huge fan of top 5 lists so I thought I would share my top 5 plays for this week. Why not a top 10? I am the kinda person who loves to have my music on shuffle. So this is a pretty diverse list. There is some rap, alt, rock, pop but no country ha ha sorry it is a rarity if I play any of that. So here is my top 5

1. Young Forever by Jay-Z (I do not know exactly what it is about this song maybe the combo of rap and 80 music. Maybe its just the fact that Jay-Z is a great rapper but either way I cant seem to stop playing this song anytime I turn on some tunes.)

2. All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem (To me this song is a journey. At over seven minutes you get just that. The build up that happens right from the start is just a taste of things to come. By the time the lyrics kick in you are hooked. It gives me the feeling of a song I want to hear when I am on my way home from the bars at four in the morning. I know that LCD Soundsystem are from NYC and you can feel it in this song. It makes me want to move there and just try to find out what secrets the city has entrusted them with.)

3. If I Fail by Cartel (I just like Cartel. Their songs tend to be kinda on the epic side or at least they try for that I think and more often the not they succeed. I am a sucker for epicness. This track off their first album is no different. It is one of those tracks that makes you think about your own relationships. I think when a song can make the leap from just a song to one that makes you think about your own life it really hits the mark.)

4. Drop The World by Lil Wayne feat. Eminem (As the lines between musical genres gets more and more blurred I find myself going off into different directions and finding a lot of things out there that I like. This track by Lil Wayne had a strong bass line but also has some synth and guitar. Add in the fact that Lil Wayne and Eminem sound like they are slamming you with their lyrics and you have one tough edgy yet very very catchy track.

5. Epic Last Song by Does It Offend You, Yeah? (The first time I ever heard this track I was blown away. I had been listening my way through the album and when I arrived at the last track I was expecting another hip electronic rock alt song. But what I discovered was probably the most aptly named track I have ever come across. Everything about this song draws me in. The vocals, drums and guitar are all spectacular. I can not get enough of the guitar mini solo that comes at around 2:40 in.

Well that is my top 5 songs for this week. I hope it has given you some look into how I think about music. I will be posting more later this week about where to find free tunes and any other thoughts I have. So enjoy if you decide to give them a spin.

Free tunes!

Here is the link to the 25 songs I was talking about in my last post from Urban Outfitters SXSW 2010 site. So now you can judge them for yourself.

the beginning

So I am just going to be honest. I have no idea what I am doing. I do not know what will become of this blog. I am just going to enjoy the journey. I feel I have a lot to say and I would enjoy sharing it with the world.

Right now I am sitting in my room listening to some new music I just downloaded. I am trying to figure out if I like it. It was a free music download from the Urban Outfitters website. They are promoting SXSW(South by Southwest). It was a group of 25 songs from various artists who are playing at the festival. I am about half way through so far. I would say the 11 songs I have listened to are pretty good. None have struck me enough to warrant a second play but at the same time I have not skipped past any songs mid play. I am really notorious for skipping songs for no reason other then I want to know whats on next. I really have an obsession with finding new music. I do not care if they are a band that only has one recorded track or if they are on top of the world. I do not discriminate. I really have become hooked on the UO blog newsletters because every Monday they have 5 free music downloads. I recommend everyone check it out immediately. There is a lot more on there then just free music. And if anyone reading knows of a place to check out new music or wants to just promote their band I would totally love to take a listen and offer my opinion. I can not say if anyone will read this but I hope if people do I can be a part of someone trying something new. Well I think this is a good place to end for the night. I will be back with more to share soon.