This video for the track ‘About You” by XXYYXX is one of the coolest concepts that I have seen in weeks. The video is all Jeff Vash. The track meshes with the visual flawlessly. Peep it below.
Blazo | Reflections
March 16, 2012 – 11:38 pm
So Blazo is a new producer to come into my life recently. His debut album “Alone Journey” was released in August of 2009. It is a beautiful record. “Reflections” is a continuation of “Alone Journey”. It was released in January of this year (2012, for those who are displaced in time…). He references Nujabes often in his descriptions and I would file it under hip hop and nu-jazz. I love how this album has a Japanese feel to it, some of the melodies are samples of traditional Japanese music, a tip of his hat to Nujabes of course. There are a few MC’s on the album, although it’s mostly instrumental. He is from Cracow, Poland. Which is where he lives now. There are four albums to download at his band camp page, you can also find more music as his myspace page.
Cousin Culo & Phi Unit | So Emotional…
January 22, 2012 – 6:27 am
Hello… So I’m Matt, Matthew, Matty, whatever. Jake asked me a month ago if I’d like to contribute. I said hell yes and then clammed up. I wanted to bring you something different for my first post, but what I wanted to write about/post was no where to be found on the internet, which would be no fun to come to a music site and not be able to listen to something. SO, I came up with another more accessible album. Cousin Culo (also known as Cousin Cole) and Phi Unit released this album of remixes on soundcloud around a month ago. It’s indie bands with a dance treatment. The individual tracks are really great, but the magic, in my opinion, is in the mixed tape. Which is the last track in this playlist. I find myself dancing around the house all by my lonesome and having a great time to this mix. I hope you do too…
Phi Unit & Cousin Culo – SO EMOTIONAL (Free Download) by COUSIN COLE
Bombay Bicycle Club unofficial video for ‘Lights Out, Words Gone’
December 24, 2011 – 2:01 am
I came across this vid the other day on OEN. I have to say that I was quite fond of the track and the imagery in the vid. Beyond having an older euro-spec Audi, this video (shot with a pair of Canon 7Ds), offers up a captivating cut that melds well with the song. The track is by Bombay Bicycle Club. It’s called “Lights Out, Words Gone.” The video was made by Karim Huu Do. Enjoy it, below.
Vynil came back, what about tapes?
December 23, 2011 – 7:19 pm
Jake, here. Hopefully it isn’t odd/inappropriate that my first post isn’t actually about a particular track or group, but rather a medium for recorded audio. Anyway, two amigos of mine are working on a project that I feel like is noteworthy. I wanted to pass it along. For anyone else who is a Gen-Xer, you know how the cassette tape change the world. When I was young, I had stacks and stacks of tapes. It (is) was an amazing medium. I had a dual cassette boombox during my breakdancing phase circa 4th-5th grade that I brought with me everywhere. The term “mixtape” (i.e. the medium that launched careers for guys like 50 Cent), came from this quasi-obsolete medium. Without droning on for too long (apologies if I already have), please check out the kickstarter trailer for this fantastic film that my friends are attempting to bankroll. If you are feeling a little bit of the cassette in your heart during this holiday season, please go the extra mile and donate a bit of cash, as well. Peep the film below–
Youth Lagoon goes to the well.
November 21, 2011 – 11:17 pm
We don’t really review albums here at EFOG. Though we like to have conversations about them.
So Youth Lagoon is the moniker of Mr. Trevor Powers of Idaho. It’s a solo project and in some ways honors that description by hovering deep inside an intimacy that may only be achievable by a solo artist or solo project.
Perhaps the absence of collaboration in this regard allows Trevor to navigate a fragile quiet interior without additional voices or ideas gumming up his headstrong commitment to mining the darker active questions we seldom ask ourselves.
And somehow it all comes out like if Neil Young were trapped in a well for a week and his panicked, desperate and heartfelt pleas for rescue were recorded on a nearly functional Fisher Price tape deck.
All of the above is a good thing. The saturated fuzzy distortion of the instruments and his vocals seem at once unpretentious, nostalgic and graceful. He evokes such a distinct sense of emotional place that it’s hard not to imagine him writing and performing the entire album alone in a cave. It’s honest, simple and just good music.
So I’m very much enjoying it top to bottom, again and again over and over.
But hey it may not be your cup of tea. If you hate music. Though if you like this, check out Perfume Genius. They sound so similar I thought they were the same artist for about as long as it took to google.
Youth Lagoon | The Year of Hibernation | Fat Possum|Lefse | 2011
I Don’t Go Clubbing.
November 16, 2011 – 11:37 pm
I break into a cold panic when someone waves me onto a dance floor. I smile, I wave back sheepishly, I feign a cramp or flee pretending I’ve just received an urgent call. I hide in the bathroom and very thoroughly wash my hands or hover near the bar praying that the line is insurmountable so I can look back across the room at my dancing, joyful loved ones and raise my hands in mock frustration. Deep inside I am weeping with gratitude, and pray it takes all night to get that cocktail.
And yes, occasionally I find myself guilted into mildly shaking my arms and bobbing my head. Essentially moving like a stoned, paranoid Pinnochio. It’s a superbly terrifying experience, dancing.
Why is this important?
Because I love electronica. Why is that important? Because people in clubs are dancing to electronica. How do I know if I don’t go to clubs you might ask? I just do. Trust me. I read about what people are dancing to.
So yesterday I stumble upon this track from Glass Candy from their Warm in the Winter EP. Which is the whole point. If I were the dancing type this is what I would want the DJ to play just before they turn the lights on.
QWAOBWSTT: Or Questions We Asked Ourselves Before We Started This Thing (pronouced qwah-behsett)
October 12, 2011 – 4:22 am
**Jake: How did we decide to do this?
Joe: Should I pretend I’m talking to someone?
Jake: Yeah, that sounds cool.
Joe: So one night Jake and I were talking about music and I went full nerd and started yammering on about bands and how great the year has been for music like one does when they’re hunting for humiliation or at least a long awkward silence. And Jake, much to my relief, was cooler than I am but equally into music. So we got to talking and Jake mentioned that a friend of his was a music blogger and that said friend had a site he never did anything with and was looking to give it up. He suggested that I take it over and write about music. Admittedly, I was a little hesitant because the internet is about half porn, a quarter wikipedia, and a quarter music blogs. What could I possibly have to say to add to the ongoing monologue about what’s great or what’s bad or why listen. But the next day Jake had a better idea and it was called Ear Full of Gold and it would be something we wrote together. Instead of the conventional “What’s new” format we thought it would be better to write tiny essays that forked through genre and time without a cohesive thread beyond a common love of music and sharing that with others who may or may not agree with our really brilliant ideas about music.
Joe: Should I pretend I’m talking to someone?
Jake: Yeah, that sounds cool.
Joe: So one night Jake and I were talking about music and I went full nerd and started yammering on about bands and how great the year has been for music like one does when they’re hunting for humiliation or at least a long awkward silence. And Jake, much to my relief, was cooler than I am but equally into music. So we got to talking and Jake mentioned that a friend of his was a music blogger and that said friend had a site he never did anything with and was looking to give it up. He suggested that I take it over and write about music. Admittedly, I was a little hesitant because the internet is about half porn, a quarter wikipedia, and a quarter music blogs. What could I possibly have to say to add to the ongoing monologue about what’s great or what’s bad or why listen. But the next day Jake had a better idea and it was called Ear Full of Gold and it would be something we wrote together. Instead of the conventional “What’s new” format we thought it would be better to write tiny essays that forked through genre and time without a cohesive thread beyond a common love of music and sharing that with others who may or may not agree with our really brilliant ideas about music.
**
Jake: Right.
Joe: Is that right?
Jake: Yeah, I think that’s good.
Joe: Is the pretending thing working?
Jake: Yeah it’s cool.
Joe: Okay cool.
**
