What I’m Listening to Today: Another Jay on Earth

It’s Friiiiiday, Friiiiiday, listening to mashups on Friiiiiday.

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What I’m Listening to Today: Blackhawks

It’s amazing what you can find when stumbling around the internet. Today, hopping from link to link, I came across a band whose myspace page was created as of 3/30/2010. Blackhawks, “one half of Nude Beach and a whole of Bananas Symphony” according to Get Off The Coast, make jams (plural) though only a couple can be found upon searching.

The first I came across is Blackhawks’ cover of Spacemen 3’s “Come Down Softly To My Soul.” I’d never heard of Spacemen 3 before today, however they appear to be a fairly obscure English psychedelic rock group formed in the 80s. Blackhawks’ treatment smears on the reverb and sampling to beautiful effect. Additionally, there is Blackhawks’ “Sunday Morning.” This one is taking a bit more time to grow on me but it is a curious blend of styles with imaginative turns. Check Blackhawks at the link below:

http://hypem.com/#/artist/blackhawks

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What I’m Listening to Today: Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers

Yo Yo Yo Playtonics,

As you may know from my semi-regular segment ¡MASHUP MONDAY!, I am a mashup enthusiast. Something about the idea of redesigning the old to make new really appeals to me. Today I stumbled across a wonderully creative endeavor called Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers, a remix album incorporating Wu Tang acapellas & Beatles songs. The album is produced by Tom Caruana and you can download or stream the album here.

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What I’m Listening to Today: Small Black – “Despicable Dogs”

A steady drum track, catchy keyboard riff, and mesmerizing melodica accompaniment make Small Black’s “Despicable Dogs” a thoroughly engaging track. It communicates nostalgia for a time and place that the song renders intimate and tangible. I am hooked on the combination of intonation and imagery with the lines “smoke machine begins to blow” and “indifferent to the written wall.” In addition to the studio version of this song, I have also been listening to Washed Out’s remix. In many ways, it feels like a very different song from Small Black’s original version. The tempo is slower, the sound is synth driven, and the vocals are textually smoother. For those reasons, Wahed Out’s remix is an interesting listen since he effectively places his stylistic mark on the track. After the jump is a video of Small black performing “Despicable Dogs.”  Is that Juan from Pitchfork’s Juan’s Basement on bass???

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What I’m Listening to Today: White Hinterland

Hey Playtonics,

It’s Friday which is exciting for a number of reasons: a) End of the work week (wooooo!) b) One day closer to the Eagles playoff game on Saturday (for those of you who don’t know me, I am an avid Philadelphia sports fan and recently created a (Philadelphia) sports blog called Time is Yours) c) Hype Machine added its last installment of Music Blog Zeitgeist 50 Albums of 2009  (I do not think I would know the word zeitgeist if it was not for Hype Machine and music bloggers endless use of the word in reviews). Today, HypeM added albums 20-1 with the ability to stream the albums in their entirety on the site. However, aside from relistening to Girls’ Album (#10), Passion Pit’s Manners (#7), and The XX’s XX (#5), I’ve had this song on repeat all day…

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What I’m Listening to Today: Volcano Choir

Two summers ago, I spent the better half of August listening to Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago. The album played on repeat during any long car trip and I broke down and analyzed “Skinny Love” many times over with friends. The unique experience that For Emma communicated can never be reproduced, nor should it be attempted. It was the right album at the right time. However, for myself and fellow Bon Iver listeners who crave the warm vocals of Justin Vernon in the coming fall months, Volcano Choir is a welcomed substitute.

Volcano Choir is the collaboration of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and fellow Wisconsin natives Collections of Colonies of Bees. The merger of these performers reminds me of Tortoise and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s work together; math rock progressions with folk sensabilties. While I have not been able to get my hands on their debut album Unmap, today I found this video of “Island, IS” on Pitchfork. Vernon’s vocals float on top of tight, dizzying loops, creating an endlessly listenable track. Here is a link to the video:

Volcano Choir: Island, IS

Also, if you are looking for a more sophisticated review of this track, check out this episode of Breakfast at Sulimays:

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What I’m Listening to Today: Cymbals Eat Guitars

guitars...yummmmm

Hey Playtonics,

Today I figured I would inform you all as to what is bumping in my headphones. Stumbling around hype machine (a great music blog aggregator that allows you to play tracks off the site), I bumped into Cymbals Eat Guitars . This band has a great guitar rock sound that reminds me of Built to Spill. I recommend checking out the songs “And The Hazy Sea” and “Windy Phoenix.”

Listen to Cymbals Eat Guitars on Hype Machine

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