December 2011
(Photo: Royal Baths)
New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest party nights of the year, but it’s also a battle. Can you manage all the expectations? Can you get that kiss you really want? If you don’t, will the combination of substances turn your stomach into a fiery cauldron and send you home early? Maybe it’s that “anything could happen” attitude that makes the...
San Francisco indie-electronic band The Limousines, formed of multi-instrumentalist/producer Giovanni Giusti and songwriter/vocalist Eric Victorino, is known for its fun, dancey tracks as seen on last year’s debut Get Sharp. Now the band is offering its take on the Paul Simon classic “Call Me Al,” and while that’s definitely well-trodden territory, I find this rendition fairly imaginative and...
(Photo: The War On Drugs)
Perhaps we’ll remember 2011 as the year we returned to “the song.” Yes, I know, music is almost always based around songs, but those elusive mysteries with actual choruses, verses, bridges (remember those?) and emotions seemed kind of rare for awhile. Whether in the loose slacker forms of Kurt Vile, the Petty-meets-experimental vibe of The War On...
(Photo: Katy B)
Dance this year was all about getting low, getting high, freaking out, hooking up and sweating into delirium. Oh, wait. That’s what every year in dance is. Oh well. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. House, club, R&B-laden vibrations, garage, drum’n’bass, bangers, dubstep and a smattering of cruelly-labeled microgenres that we can’t even wrap...
(Photo: Curren$y)
Diversity was the key concept in 2011 rap music. While new MCs bubbled-up from all corners of the country and used blogs to gain equal footing with rappers from major media centers, a diversity of sound gave us everything from the spacey minimalism of Drake and The Weeknd to The Throne’s maximalist stunting to Maybach Music Group’s by-the-numbers street bangers.
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Ah, 2011. It’s almost over, and in the spirit of music media protocol, we’ve decided to give you our editorial picks for the best tracks of the year by both person and genre. Relive music’s sonic glories or just discovery a ton of new tracks that we think are really good. Stay tuned all week for playlists galore on both RCRD LBL and Spotify. Up first, our Creative Director...
As we conclude our recovery from last night’s Diplo show, we also look back at yet another great week of music. Check out our weekend playlist for new selections from Miike Snow, Royal Baths, Matthew Dear, Kid Sister, Lee Fields and much more. Also, be sure to come back next week as we begin a robust end-of-year series featuring playlists from all of our editors and genres on both RCRD LBL...
(Photos By Loren Wohl)
We seriously just stopped sweating from last night. That’s how good the second edition of the RCRD LBL & BING Presents Smoke & Mirrors party featuring Diplo, CREEP and Matt Shadetek was. Hosted by our Creative Director Elliot Aronow and Eyebeam Art + Technology Center, the entire evening was a beautiful mess of innovative beats and crazy dancing all topped...
Tonight! It’s happening! Smoke & Mirrors featuring DIPLO, CREEP (DJ Set) and Matt Shadetek of the fabulous Dutty Artz crew starts at 9pm at Eyebeam Art + Technology Center in Manhattan. Here’s a handy Q&A to answer some of your burning questions.
I am 20, but like, that is kind of close to 21. Can I still come?
We are sorry, but no, you cannot. This show is 21+ – no...
(Photo: Noah Kalina)
Off-kilter Anticon popster Raleigh Moncrief collides with queen-of-ghoulish-things Chelsea Wolfe on the White Horse remix of his track “Lament For Morning.” It must be about all the bad things you did last night with those disembodied voices raining down in melodic bubbles like some oddball sonic acupuncture. It’s like the original’s ping-pong effect...
More than two years after the group’s debut, Miike Snow is indeed back. Here, they lead-up to official singles in January with the track “Devil’s Work” – a serious, cinematic march that does its title well. Andrew Wyatt’s haunting vocals narrate the song’s sharp swells, while hooks jet from all corners and resolute melodies are backed by horns and piano...
Come December 13, Moby’s “The Right Thing” gets the double A-side single treatment along with a cut entitled “After.” On this remix, Kleerup takes the reigns, diverting potential late-night sterility for organic drums that knock in an uncompressed fury. This one is calibrated for making you spin in wild circles at a sawdust-strewn loft – a winter party savior.
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From The Internet doing “Cocaine” with Little Dragon to Charles Bradley’s “Heartaches & Pain,” this was a week where things could have gotten a little too intense. We found a way out, though. Moby made us dance, and new jams from of Montreal, Guards and Spector made us feel just fine about how the future will turn out. See you next week, and don’t forget...
We’re one week away from the second Smoke & Mirrors presented by RCRD LBL and Bing. Featuring Diplo and brand new additions CREEP (DJ Set) and Matt Shadetek, we wanted to throw you out a little mix of some of our favorite Diplo productions that have been featured on the site. Stream or download and be sure to RSVP!
DECEMBER 15, 2011
RCRD LBL + BING Present:
SMOKE &...
With a title like “Bodies In The Dunes” you probably already surmised we’re not heading into glittery dancefloor territory. Pop. 1280 is abrasive, atonal and finds glory in a dirty tribal stomp. Vocals, intoned like older material from Liars, tell you exactly where those bodies are hidden while kitchen sink percussion clatters with the sort of reckless abandon that I love in a...
I feel kind of weird when I intro a new cut as one of the best songs of the year. Surely all the songs I bring your way should be the best songs of the year? But alas, they cannot, or at least they can’t be as great as Fairewell’s “Born Under a Bad Sign.” This is the kind of vulnerable, wide-eyed indie rock song that’s been missing from the world too long. Here,...
DECEMBER 15, 2011
RCRD LBL + BING Present:
SMOKE & MIRRORS
DIPLO
with special guests
Hosted by Eyebeam Technology and Art Center
21+ event
Doors: 9pm
Entry is RSVP Only
Click here to RSVP.
Smoke & Mirrors is your favorite new party, brought to you by RCRD LBL. Smoke & Mirrors brings big names to small rooms. Be prepared to get lost in the music and enjoy some smoky surprises....
(Photo: Josh Anderson)
Holiday cheer, sure, it’s all well and good, but I love a depressing Christmas song and Caitlin Rose comes through on the countrified “You Never Come Home For Christmas.” With a light guitar strum and Zooey-meets-Patsy vocals, she sings, “You never come home for Christmas, and maybe it’s better that way.” Dang.
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November 2011
Bah humbug to those dreading Turkey Day. You get a reprieve from work just to stuff your face with pie, your total lush/sommelier uncle brings a case of the good stuff, Mom gets loose with the Connecticut pain pills and Dad gives you a three hour lecture on how the computer was invented while your brother revs up the car so you can see A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas at the Brasstown...
Dark matters. It does, it matters! Without the dark there would not be light, and Expensive Looks – aka New York resident Alec Feld – knows that, which is why “Nothing More” is a sublime blend of both sub-tropical, Panda Bear-ish sunshine ebbings and the kind of jewelery box electronics that help stave off anxiety attacks in little girls. Feld’s debut record, which is called,...
Kansas City hardcore band Coalesce has just reissued its 1997 debut album Give Them Rope. The band, which came back from a lengthy hiatus in 2009 with Ox, is considered integral to ’90s hardcore. That cred is showcased here on “Chain Smoking” – a cut from the record, which is being released as a double CD/LP via No Sleep / Relapse Records. The track growls with the band’s signature heavy...
As you prepare to spend some quality time with family, friends and too much wine for a reasonable individual, it’s a good idea to stay stocked-up on new songs. Check out our weekend playlist for new cuts from Harlem MC A$AP Rocky, downtown rocker Lissy Trullie, electronic expert Nicolas Jaar and the dance stylings of L-Vis 1990 and Tycho.
Steve Hauschildt, a member of Ohio electro-experimentalist trio Emeralds, is no stranger to creating his own sonic universes. His solo debut, Tragedy & Geometry, is an attempt to merge sound and vision, and he describes the album with an equal emphasis on imagery and music. I would normally call this bluff, but Hauschildt seems totally legit. “Batteries May Drain” will have you...
DFA kids, nu-disco duo and inevitable future Brooklyn dance royalty Holy Ghost! is the kind of band we need more of in this world. They’re just so stoked to be here – you can see it in their faces when they gleefully slam on their keyboards live or when they show up as punching bags on talk shows – and you can hear it in their bubbly, mellifluous energy; the one that colors every vacation-ready...
Rocky relationships make for good songs. We’ve known this since, well, songs were invented, and Mwahaha adds another with vocal assistance from tUnE-yArDs (aka Merrill Garbus) on “Love.” Avoiding the predictably quiet acoustic guitar route, Mwahaha’s song goes for heavy synth lines, tweaked vocals and even a ripper of a guitar solo. The band’s self-titled debut...
There comes a time in the life of every German-Californian kraut-punk outfit where it’s preferable to let the motorik beat run off into the distance for a while and explore the emotional places you visit rather than charge right through them like a bunch of speed-addled bulls. For Teenage Panzerkorps — arguably the world’s finest proponents of German-Californian kraut-punk — it seems...
11-11-11 – a day of all ones. Something creepy has to happen, right? Maybe a computer will take over our souls! Either way, you’ll need some music to get through whatever weirdness comes up. Here’s our weekend playlist that includes everything from the cavernous post-punk of Gauntlet Hair and Jonti’s psychedelic hip-hop to the spooky pop of Planningtorock and a lush remix of...
(Photo: Norman Conrad)
These days are days in the sun for the spick-span semi-famous with AOL-parental-filter smiles and for PR speak that reassures us we’re better off connected even though the fact we can’t stand each other has never been clearer. That in mind, it’s heartening to know that there are moments when pop music still seems prepared to engage with the occult. I...
Brooklyn’s Trouble And Bass is just five-years-old, and in that time the dark dance crew’s party-turned-label has managed to make it big by staying small. Their roster is short and familial, limited to major selectors who often double as interview pinch-hitters (trust, founding member Star Eyes could have a late-in-life career in network/goth newscasting), probably because they’re all really fun...
(Photo: DanMonick)
The skewering of power-pop outfit Surfer Blood’s “Miranda” by School of Seven Bells is one of the lushest and sweetest whippings we’ve seen. Because the newly-infused mechanical clanks and demonic synths actually open a dimension in which the breathy, nostalgic rock vocals calling out for love lost are magnified until they become sublimely exalted. Dreamy, for sure, and rather...
If Alan Wilkis’ name sounds familiar, it’s because the Brooklyn-based producer has crafted more than a few popular remixes for artists that include Yelle, Yeasayer and RJD2. For his latest project, PRINTS, the indie beat wiz is rolling out a series of original songs – each crafted from a selected instrumental piece – and accompanying remixes. His most recent release is a remix to “Come And...
Well-documented British enthusiasts Crystal Fighters have set their Anglophile envy on current London residents Vadoinmessico in “Teeo”—turning the once sepia-toned Latin folk ditty into a jumpy sunshower of Balearic beats, chopped indie yelps and sea foam synths. If you’re looking for a sandy jam to combat the impending clouds of S.A.D. which await now that the clocks have turned against you,...
Cloud Nothings didn’t exactly make clean music before, but the bubbly-turned-brooding flip on “No Future/No Past” presents an unexpected move towards rawness. It makes sense. The band’s new album Attack On Memory was produced by Steve Albini, a master of the unadorned, and everything about this track creates a tension waiting for it to finally explode. Those Albini drums...
King Midas Sound’s 2009 album Waiting For You is one that I consumed without much expectation at the time. It has surprisingly lingered, though. Its intimacy and open space seemed to make it a no-brainer for a remix collection, and after two years we finally get one with names like Gang Gang Dance, Flying Lotus and Nite Jewel doing their own dubs of the original tracks. On this version of...
Alekesam is a San Diego-based group who are gearing up to release their debut album It’s Not You, It’s Here in the coming months. That’s just about as far as the details go, though. The mysterious band is hell-bent on keeping their identity under wraps for now, but in the meantime, the album’s title track was featured on the final season of HBO’s popular series Entourage this past summer. The...
November already? It seems early, but, hey, it actually snowed last weekend in New York, so who knows anymore. As we start thinking about our year-end lists and reflecting where music has gone since January, there are still plenty of new tunes just waiting for your ears. Check out weekend playlist for jams from Eli Escobar, King Midas Sound, Rimar, Bleached, Big Pooh and much more.
What do you say about a song like this? Not in a bad way, it’s just Rimar makes the sort of music that would turn Paul Morley into a weed-smooth West Coast FM jock were he to attempt to describe it. It’s sunshine party music for pretty girls to sway to. It’s as refreshing and as comforting as an ice cold beer. Alternatively, don’t drink, just “jam” it on your...
Little Brother alumni Big Pooh dropped his solo album Dirty Pretty Things on November 1, leading with “They Say.” The track, which finds the North Carolina native brushing-off those who have doubted him in the past, recently got a remix with features from two classic hip-hop emcees. A Tribe Called Quest rapper Phife Dawg and former Slum Village member T3 both add their poetry to the jazzy...
“I’m in love with your girlfriend” is how “Girlfriend” by London’s CITIZENS! kicks off, which is, well, pretty bold to say the least. This electro-pop number is all about wanting what you can’t have, yet it stays firmly in the pocket with soulful vocals, synth stabs, microfunk bass lines and a breakdown that shows how eclectic the group’s take on...
Brooklyn duo Lightouts, consisting of Greg Nelson and Gavin Rhodes, combines a ‘90s alt-rock aesthetic with a more contemporary bent. The pair has released three singles with accompanying b-sides so far, and here’s a great sample. “And It Comes And Goes,” the lead track from the band’s second release, is an energized rock number – sort of The Hold Steady meets Dinosaur Jr. More than...
If it’s true that music should offer a snapshot into the time in which it was produced, then people will listen back to this offering from 5kinandbone5 and be able to discern a fair bit. First and foremost—and you suspect this will be true of a number of songs currently being written all around the world—people today use the internet. Indeed, young men and women can “hook up”...
And just think, they thought he was out. Even though Wale had a few early career missteps, he has found a comfortable home with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group. His new album, Ambition, hits everywhere today (Nov. 1), and the DMV MC seems poised to experience one of the great hip-hop comebacks in recent memory. It’s understandable that he’d want to celebrate. “Chain Music” is one of...
Bleached’s gritty guitar sing-a-long “Searching Through The Past” feels like it’s sort of channeling The Go-Go’s—if The Go-Go’s had scabby knees and stoner voices, and lived in a house where their parents were gone all the time on business, so everyone always came over and drank in the rec room and practiced graffiti techniques on the walls. More girl rock that boys will dig is on a 7-inch of...
October 2011
High Places, the duo of Mary Pearson and Rob Barber, clearly values evolution over churning out the same product over and over. The onetime New York (now L.A.-based) duo used to be all about naturalism, mixing little swathes of samples, tribal drums and Pearson’s flighty vocals. Those elements are still there, but it seems like the result is way more attuned to late nights on a dance...
Rapper/producer Quelle Chris is on a lot more radars after his work on Danny Brown’s mixtape-of-the-year contender XXX, and now the two are getting together to cause more trouble on Chris’ solo debut. This cut, where the two Detroit MCs go head to head with Long Island rapper Roc Marciano, is a wacky, hyper-lyrical split of barroom blues, lethargic tempo and just enough spliced...
Guess what I’m gonna do now? I’m gonna tell you what “indie” is! It’s been a while, huh? Anyway, the most recent time I realized what indie is was when I saw that Summer Camp’s Elizabeth Sankey had been watching Dawson’s Creek all day. I used to like Dawson’s Creek when I was a kid, because I always wanted to fuck Joey, while all my friends wanted...
The deserted beach vibe of “I Think The World Of You” sucks a good deal of the joy out of the song’s cute title. So too does Two Wounded Birds’ mopey bass, sharp surf guitars and mushmouth vox. It’s all kind of depressing and ghoulish, really. Still, it’s quite pretty. And very, very good for making out under the boardwalk. So, of course, we love it. The band’s new single Together Forever...
Joe Goddard, whether in his excellent main band Hot Chip or as a solo artist, is one of the best around at infusing electronics with emotion. A great songwriter and DJ with expert rhythm and taste, Goddard shows-off his conception of danceable soul on his newest release Gabriel. You’ve probably heard his mixes (and, let’s be honest, used them to get up on the newest sounds), but we...
(Photo: Sarah Resnick)
“Sketch 5” by Tim Hecker has a palpable tension. Piano mingles with a delay pedal, swirling in ominous layers as atonal pings and cloudy background crescendos keep things appropriately heavy and cinematic. You’ll find Hecker is a sound scientist, and this one shows-off the process used to build his fantastic Ravedeath LP from earlier this year. Find more...
Space disco! Clubby R&B crooning! Heart of glass hooks! Do you like these things? We sure do. That’s why we dig Gigamesh’s latest take on Theophilus London’s “I Stand Alone.” Nerd note: Gig’s initial ‘Sunlight’ remix of the song was selected by Mr. London himself to premiere at last month’s string of Noisey.com global shows. So, we’re sure hoping you’ll enjoy the follow-up: the ‘Moonlight’...