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Giveaway: Ólafur Arnalds Signed Vinyl

Olafur

One of our favorite things to ponder while listening through the serene sounds of Ólafur Arnalds’ latest album, For Now I Am Winter, is recollecting how this dude used to rock the drums in hardcore and metal bands such as Fighting Shit. As awesome as that is, in all seriousness, since the beginning of his solo career in 2007, Arnalds has consistently raised the bar as a musician and composer. This April Ólafur Arnalds released his fourth studio album, For Now I Am Winter, of which is arguably his most cerebral offering to date. In fine cinematic fashion, Arnalds fuses strings, piano loops, and beats with his unique vocal stylings to create a setting of ethereal pop, the sort of which goosebumps are made of. We highly recommend that you take a moment (if you haven’t yet) and have a listen to For Now I Am Winter, available now via Universal Music’s Mercury Classics label.

In fact we recommend it so much that we’re giving away an autographed copy of Ólafur Arnalds’ For Now I Am Winter LP to one luck reader. For your chance to win, email us here and say that you’d like to be entered in the Ólafur Arnalds vinyl giveaway. We’ll be picking our winning submission at random Monday morning May 6th. One entry per person.

Ólafur Arnalds england (Official) (Amazon) (iTunes)

reviewed by
04-29-13

Dally Auston & Joey Purp – Do Ya Thang

dallyauston

Chicago MCs Dally Auston & Joey Purp link up on top an A+ jazzy, cocktail-hour-on-the-yacht OnGaud beat for the dope new Save Money collaboration, “Do Ya Thang”. We are loving it.

Dally Auston (Facebook)

Rating 8.3

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04-29-13

Run The Jewels – Get It

el-p-killer-mike-run-the-jewels

Longtime collaborators make it official with the announcement of new s/t Run The Jewels project. “Get It” sounds quite like what you’d expect (or have already listened to 100x) a collab between Run The Jewels members El-P & Killer Mike might sound like that which is a-ok/awesome with us. On “Get It”, the menace, the skin-tight rhythms and beeps and bloops that mark the El-P sound fit Killer Mike’s crushing, fists up, literate lyricism very very well. Stay tuned for the LP.

Run The Jewels – Get It

Run the Jewels newyork (Soundcloud)

Rating 8.3

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04-29-13

George Maple – OPST

george maple

The steady build of love, adoration, hyperbole & expectation. Hype. The hype for the sultry-voiced Aussie newcomer George Maple is here. The expectation, the hyperbole, etc, the love; that’s all in its crystallizing stages. “OPST” is beautiful (the obvious reference here is Sade or the more recent progenitors of her sound) but the execution, the vocal performance (!), just everything on record here is very special. Wrap us up in the gold sheets.

George Maple – OPST

George Maple england (Facebook)

Rating 8.8

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04-29-13

Patrick Baker – Reckless Love

patrick baker reckless love

“Reckless Love” is new from Nashville-based artist and producer Patrick Baker. We really liked Mr. Baker’s “This Love” track from earlier this year, and while “Reckless Love” is maybe a bit different stylistically (whereas “This Love” had a very refreshing (and tasteful) re-appropriation of ’80’s R&B-leaning pop feel to it “Reckless Love” lies, for us, very firmly in the early 90’s. And while a bit different in sound, the steady house-thump of “Reckless Love” is no less as strong a track as “This Love”. We’ve got it on repeat. You’d best sort out doing the same below.

Patrick Baker (Official)

Rating 8.3

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04-29-13

Premiere: Sir Sly – Gold (Twice As Nice Remix)

SIR SLY Twice as Nice

Twice As Nice shine up some “Gold” from LA based trio Sir Sly with this latest remix. The Australian duo make for a nicely matched pairing as they fuse a slow burning electro pulse into the song’s intransitive melancholy melody. Sample an exclusive premiere of the remix below and catch Sir Sly on tour throughout the US this May.

Sir Sly (Facebook)
Twice As Niceaustralia (Facebook)

Rating 8.3

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04-29-13

SKATERS – Armed

Skaters single

We can’t express enough how refreshing it is to hear new band sound like this. Outside the stale lines of most guitar bands from the last 5 years, “Armed” nods to a different class of influence from the obscure side of the Clash to psychedelic British rock. In honor of SKATERS recent 7” release for “I Wanna Dance (But I Don’t Know How),” the band are giving away a digital download of “Armed”. Also, the NYC rockers will head to the UK next week for a month-long headlining tour. They are a don’t miss live show.

SKATERS – Armed [FREE DOWNLOAD]

SKATERS newyork (Facebook)

Rating 8.3

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04-29-13

Whitesquare – Sucker For Love

SHAKUR

Yeah, you’re just a sucker for love too. When I moved to SF last year, I don’t think I was prepared (how could I have been?) for just the sheer amount of radio play Pac, Dre & Snoop (& Too Short, it’s like Too Short is a current artist still putting out relevant records) get out here. Which is cool because, of course, I’d rather hear “Do For Love” or “So Many Tears” 1000x more than garbage like “No Worries” or “Pour It Up”. Right so the track; “Sucker For Love” is Italian producer Whitesquare’s nu-house restyling of the classic 2Pac song and it is phenomenal.

Whitesquare italy (Facebook)

Rating: 8.3

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04-27-13

Annie – Tube Stops and Lonely Hearts

annie

Annie’s back. The Norwegian poptress’s great new track “Tube Stops and Lonely Hearts” is a her first release since 2009’s modern classic Don’t Stop LP. “Tube Stops” earns its hit record $$$ a bit differently than some of Annie’s most recognizable singles like “Heartbeat” and “Greatest Hit”, the melodies are denser & the rhythms a bit more circuitous. The track’s hooks (which are still great) are bit more difficult to get to than the more immediate hyper-magnetic quality of her previous singles.

Annie norway (Facebook)

Rating 8.3

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04-27-13

Anderson East – Say Anything

andersoneast

“Say Anything” by newcomer songwriter Anderson East is a really stunning. Spare, soulful, evocative but most specifically beautiful this acoustic version of “Say Anything” belongs in league with the best dusty ballads of Bruce or Ryan Adams. Get introduced to this very special track from a very special new artist below.

Anderson East ()

Rating 8.7

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04-27-13

Travis – Another Guy

TRavis Another guy

Fran and the boys are keeping the legend that’s Travis alive with “Another Guy”. The song is an excerpt from their forthcoming and 7th studio album, Where You Stand. The title track from the album will be it’s first single and we can expect our first listen this coming Tuesday, April 30th. Mark it. And in the meantime check out this new video for “Another Guy” shot on a VHS in all of it’s scandalous hilarity staring famed Berlin director Wolfgang Becker.

Travis – Another Guy

Travisscotland(Official)

Rating: 8.5

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04-27-13

Jhameel X Dwntwn X Giraffage – Move Me

Cover America 3

We’ve been waiting for this one to come up for air for some time now. No & So Cal forces unite for “Move Me,” part of Kitsune’s forthcoming America 2 compilation. It’s pretty incredible how well Giraffage’s sample manipulation works with vocal stylings from Jamie Leffler of DWNTWN and Jhameel. It all finds the pocket. Hoping there’s more collaborative projects from these guys in the works because this is one for the books.

Jhameel X Dwntwn X Giraffage – Move Me hat tip to Indie Shuffle

Jhameel california (Facebook)
Giraffage (Facebook)
DWNTWN (Facebook)

Rating 8.7

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04-27-13