Vampire Weekend are back with a classic. In a genre all their own, Vampire Weekend hit all the notes with "Modern Vampires of the City." There are so many different sounds and influences each song feels like a new adventure and tale.
The album will be released on May 14 from XL...
The National are back in a major way with "Trouble Will Find Me" due out May 20th. Their sixth studio album was recorded in upstate New York at Clubhouse in Rhinebeck. The National are single handedly keeping rock relevant with their lush soundscapes and poignant lyrics.
Not to be missed... Here are two incredible singles to hold us over till May...
James Blake is making the most important music right now. Sonic landscapes that leave you wondering about life and the lyrics to move you. His new album Overgrown comes out April 8th and it's already become a classic.
You never know which direction an artist is gonna go in once they've established a unique sound and vision but collaborating with Brian Eno on Digital Lion takes us further down his distinct path. Until the official release, below are some tracks to vibe to on loop...
Rhye makes beautiful music. It's been a while since I've heard something special like this in the way it feels both familiar and new. Reminiscent of the music I grew up to like Sade, Bryan Ferry and The Blue Nile but modern. We love James Blake, The xx, Lana Del Rey, and now we have one more to add the mix.
This is the sound of new love...
There might just be something in that Toronto water. The music its artists are putting out is lush, cinematic, and unforgiving. Jeremy Rose is no exception to this. An early collaborator, producer, co-founder of The Weeknd (the story changes slightly depending on who you ask) his sound is undeniably unique.
Under the moniker Zodiac, his self-titled EP has been in heavy rotation in these parts. Reminiscent of the trip hop days when all I listened to was Portishead, Tricky, and Massive Attack; Zodiac brings us back and takes us forward at the same time. Look for this kid from Toronto to make a splash very soon when his EP is officially released September 24th on Vase.
For The Mixtape Club's third year anniversary they asked me to put a few more of my favorite songs together. It's hard to believe it's been three years since the last one. So much has changed and so much has stayed the same. Some of these songs are old and some are new. They're all Moments Found... I hope you enjoy it...
Angelo put me on back in the early part of the summer. He said lil homie is gonna crush. As a real fan of hip-hop, it's good to see something truly exciting and youthful come out of New York City. We've respectively been letting Toronto run away with the throne. After seeing ASAP's potential in his live show a few weeks ago and now with the release of LiveLoveA$AP he has our full attention.
For the most part New Yorkers are jaded, highly critical, and we have a tendency not to support our own. It's funny how that happens but we have to work for everything here, so we make our artists work for it too. That line about, "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere" is kinda true. But during that interim period where are an artist is either gonna blow or not they need to treat their city like some shoulder pads. And New York should stand up and support. And in case you forgot or never knew, Harlem invented #swag...
It's no secret who we love in these parts and our family in Toronto is no exception. This isn't nepotism, it's just good music. Mr. Black sent this well curated OVOXO mixtape of remixes and rarities my way and I haven't stopped listening.
This is a great sampler for us before Take Care officialy takes over next month. Here are a few of my favorites for that owl life...
Drake - Marvin's Room (Shlohmo rmx)
This blog has a little too much of my own work and friends' work. It was time to put up some incredible music I have absolutely nothing to do with. Cults is the band. Cults is the album. Perfection.
I don't know anything about them or their music. All I know is I'm feeling it. I hope you will too... We'll get back to our regularly scheduled program later in the week. Shout to Noir for the heads up...
It's always a cop out to describe music by comparing it with familiar artists but imagine Nico was remixed by Portishead and you'd have the self-titled debut from Anika. An incredibly raw mix of sounds and emotions. With influence spanning punk, dub, and 60's girl groups, the sonic spectrum is wide and refreshing.
The singer's history in political journalism and music promotion seems fitting. At times Anika is politically charged, at others it's just really beautiful stripped down melodic tunes from Portishead's Geoff Barrow. For the most part it's "uneasy easy listening..." that is startling good...
