I went to a Camera Obscura show this weekend, and needless to say the gang from Glasgow were excellent.  What I didn’t expect was the quality of the opener, North Carolina-based The Love Language.  To be honest, I didn’t even know they were opening until I walked past the merchandise table.  I had heard a few tracks off their self-titled debut and was interested to hear the live interpretation of their low-fi sound.  What The Love Language brought on stage was anything but lo-fi.  The performance was rock, blues, pop and Mo Town all rolled into one. It was high-energy and every member of the band appeared to be having a blast on stage even in light of a frustratingly somber audience.  Lead singer Stuart McLamb had a voice that stopped me dead in my tracks and a stage presence that kept me frozen there.

What’s frustrating is that  none of this seems to come through on the album.  This isn’t a bad review, and I don’t want it to come across as such.  The album is strong, the songs are carefully crafted and lyrically powerful.  Their sophomore effort Libraries coming out mid-July can be streamed from Merge’s website.  Thankfully, it sounds much more like what I heard live than their debut album.  Check out “Heart To Tell” from the upcoming release, this Laundromatinee session, and their Daytrotter sessions.

The Love Language – Providence from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Love Language – Heart to Tell

_________________________________________________________

MYSPACE | WEBSITE

One of my favorite Remix Fridays ever featured French artist La Roux. Well, sometime last week Major Lazer released a free mix tape featuring remixes of La Roux songs. Below are a few of my favorites from the album but you can get the whole thing for free here. Also featured this week is a Delorean another remix of the XX’s “Islands” which as we have seen is the equivalent of a white canvas for remix artist.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Major Lazer & La Roux – Bulletproof (Nancey Remix Ft. Matt)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Major Lazer & La Roux – Quicksand (Mad Decent 2010 Rerub)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Delorean – Islands (Delorean Remix)

It’s no secret the we love Kid Cudi.  I had almost forgotten about the Christian Bale rant when I heard this Kid Cudi remix/mash up of LCD Soundsystem’s “Danc Yrself Clean”.  Full-on mainstream success has still alluded Cudi but I’m starting to sense we are on borrowed time.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Kid Cudi – All Talk (Feat And Chip Tha Ripper)

_________________________________________________________

MYSPACE | WEBSITE

To be honest, if someone had asked me when we started this site, what artist I thought I would never write about would be, I might have said Kanye West. Arrogance and image problems aside, I always found Kanye’s production pretty interesting, if not fun. His vocals though always come off flat and forced, something I am not particularly looking for. So, his talents just seemed wasted too me. While that still may be true, I really like his new track, Power, off his upcoming full-length Good Ass Job. The production is still tight and with the Moby-esque sampling, the track turns out really fun, despite the lacking vocals.

Kanye West- Power (right click to download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The long-awaited Summer Mixtape is here! Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer for many, and many of you will likely be getting situated in your cars to fight the swarms as you seek take advantage of the gift of warmer weather. For me, summer is defined by the road trip. Windows down, music loud, I am filled with either the anticipation of a destination or the reflective euphoria of a time well had. These tracks, some of which have been featured before, resonate with the images and sounds of the middle months. Some highlights include Toro Y Moi’s recently released “Leave Everywhere,” which marks a new direction for Chaz Bundick, and relatively older, but always fun “The Summer” from Jason Schwartzman’s Coconut Records.

As for the contest, M. Shankle of Loudon, Virginia is our winner whose design inspired our pencil line tape deck album art.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MIXTAPE

Track Listing

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

02 – The Ruby Suns – “Cranberry”

03 – Lemonade – “Lifted”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

04 – Cataldo – “Black and Milds”

05 – Real Estate – “Beach Comber”

06- Sleigh Bells – “Rill Rill” (Ring Ring)

07- Tanlines – “Real Life”

08- Washed Out – “New Theory”

09- Ducktails – “Beach Point Pleasant”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

10- Best Coast – “Sun Was High (So Was I)

11- Sunglasses – “Referee”

12- Coconut Records – “The Summer”

13 – Delorean – “Real Love”

14 – Toro y Moi – “Leave Everywhere”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

15 – Lissie – “Little Lovin”

16 – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – 40 Day Dream

17 – Jonsi – “Go Do”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

18 – Surfer Blood – “Floating Vibes”

19 – Girls – “Lust for Life”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

20- Christmas Island – “Twenty-Nine”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

21- St. Vincent and The National – “Sleep All Summer”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

22- Camera Obscura – “Honey In the Sun”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I thought for sure I’d hear a Paul Simon cover from Ezra Koenig, years before one from TTMOE.  That said, this “Graceland” cover popped up a couple days ago on Music Vs. Misery (great blog title) and it is absolutely spectacular.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tallest Man on Earth – “Graceland” (Paul Simon Cover)

_________________________________________________________

MYSPACE | BUY

Jason Sebastian Russo of Common Prayer has essentially done what I would in my most wildest dream: Go to the UK , pull together a large band of British pop talent and record an album that falls somewhere in the Folk-Rock divide.  Common Prayer is big, Edward Sharpe style, the band has eight members.  The band does a great job of arranging their songs using their man power to create songs that slowly build instead of attacking you with sound.  They played at SXSW and are playing New York’s Truck America festival.  Common Prayer will be releasing the full length There is a Mountain on June 1st in UK/EUR and July 19th in the States June 1st in the US and July 19th in the UK and Europe.

Common Prayer: Us vs. Them from Foglight Films on Vimeo.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Common Prayer – “Us Vs. Them”

_________________________________________________________

MYSPACE | WEBSITE

It might be late, but its technically still friday. I am actually pretty excited about a lot of these tracks. Lemonade’s “Lifted” is already a great track, but the remix takes it in a completely different direction. Rather than sun soaked beaches and copious boat drinks, the remix evokes a dark club while still keeping some of the original xylophone. I dig both, actually. Also featured is a remix of a band we have featured before, Twin Sister by emerging chillout band Teen Daze, who also remix another track this week. That track, an orginial by one of my favorite chillwavers, Washed Out, is already good and arguably better after Teen Daze’s intervention. Rounding out the week is a remix of one of my favorite indie rock bands, Ra Ra Riot. Enjoy!

Lemonade-Lifted (Twin Shadow Remix) (right click to download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Twin Sister-All Around and Away We Go (Teen Daze Remix) (right click to download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Washed Out- New Theory (Teen Daze Remix) (right click to download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Ra Ra Riot- Too Too Too Fast (Say Hi Remix)) (right click to download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Three years ago a then unknown band Band of Horses released the epic Everything All The Time. The album which contained now ubiquitous jams like “The Funeral“, which has been remixed and reworked numerous time, most notably by Kid Cudi, is epic in every way. The band followed their 2006 debut with 2007’s Cease to Begin, solidifying there reputation as purveyors of solid, and poppy, indie rock. Three years later and the third album from the Seattle-based rockers was released yesterday. I haven’t given the album a proper listen, but you can stream two tracks, Factory and Laredo as well as two videos, below and the rest of the album at the bands website. I would post a few downloadable links, but the web sheriff apparently has been sending cease and desist notifications, so I won’t even bother. Enjoy the stream, and expect a review/thoughts on the album later.

_________________________________________________________

MYSPACE | WEBSITE

A friend of mine recently mentioned that the weeks have only become distinguishable by Remix Friday. Flattering, if not mildly disturbing. Anyway, here is a myriad of tunes to distinguish your week by. If you had to ask me what album made up my formative years, I would probably go with either The Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness or The Spice Girls- Spice World. My favorite track off of Mellon Collie was easily 1979 (Don’t have a favorite off of Spice World. They are all great). I recently came across a pretty good 1979 remix that I thought would be great for RF. Additionally, I have a great Washed Out remix, a one-man band we have featured on Remix Friday before. Possibly my favorite track I found this week was a remix of French DJ David Guetta’s Kid Cudi colloboration Memories. I think that may be 3 Kid Cudi inclusions on Remix Friday. Needless to say, we like the dude. Rounding out the week is Alan Wilikis’ remix of a personal favorite of mine, Phantogram’s Mouthful of Diamonds. We have featured Phantogram before, and had an Alan Wilikis remix on RF. Go listen to the original Mouthful of Diamonds (here is a pretty good live version), because it is excellent. Take care and have a great weekend!

The Smashing Pumpkins- 1979 (Spin.Kidd Redub) (right click to download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Small Black-Despicable Dogs (Washed Out Remix) (right click to download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Phantogram-Mouthful of Diamonds (Alan Wilkis Remix) (right click to download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

David Guetta-Memories (Feat. Kid Cudi Fuck Me I’m Famous! Remix) (right click to download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.