Pharrell uses a cut from the Tron soundtrack to serve up a reminder that 1) He’s Pharrell 2) He’s still pretty sick and 3) He hasn’t gone anywhere. That said, it’s rad to hear Pharrell rapping with some heat again. Skateboard P. Daft Punk. 2011.
Pharrell Williams – The Game Has ChangedPharrell:(Myspace)
Rating: 8.2
We love Alison Krauss’ voice. “Paper Airplanes” is beautiful. Ignore the stale adult contemporary production and just feel that voice.
Alison Krauss & Union Station – Paper AirplaneAlison Krauss & Union Station: (Official)
Rating: 8.0
Yesssssss. We caught The Raveonettes @ Boston’s Paradise on Thursday Night (review forthcoming!) and “Evil Seeds” was the second song in their set, and wow, the song (which we hadn’t heard yet) just immediately grabs on to you, pulls at you on the most visceral of levels, literally, like when the beat drops and that main guitar figure plays out from Sune Rose Wagner’s guitar you feel like your insides are being ripped out of you. It’s really some feeling. There’s a darkness, a visceral quality to The Raveonettes’ music that’s there to be found if you want to find it; beneath all the pop song melody, jangly guitars, it’s there.
The Raveonettes – Evil SeedsThe Raveonettes: (Myspace) (Official) (Twitter)
Rating: 7.9
Is that a proper looking UK guitar band or what? The Heartbreaks are four sharp-dressed dudes from Lancashire that play some killer guitar pop. Listen to their music and you can pick up bits and pieces of the entirety of British Isles rock history; a little bit Smiths, a little bit U2, a little bit Cure but also whole lotta big melodies and big hooks. There are approx nine billion (we counted) of these sort of UK nostalgia bands on both sides of the Atlantic, but what separates The Heartbreaks is just that, the songs. Nostalgia is great, we love dance rhythms and delay pedals but these boys all bring some serious songwriting chops. Check out “Jealous, Don’t You Know” below, the band’s third single, and hear for yourself.
The Heartbreaks – Jealous, Don’t You KnowThe Heartbreaks: (Myspace) (Soundcloud) (Facebook)
Rating: 8.0
Our boys in Mona get the Cadillac remix treatment as indiesphere heavyweight Dave Sitek goes in on “Shoot the Moon”. Let us know what you think.
Mona – Shoot the Moon (Dave Sitek Remix)Rating: 8.1
Another sharp remix of Jamie Woon’s super sick “Lady Luck” this time via Brighton UK producer Royce Wood Junior. If you like a little funk and/or a bit of pizazz in your Jamie Woon this new remix does not disappoint.
Jamie Woon – Lady Luck (Royce Wood Junior Remix)Royce Wood Junior: (Soundcloud)
Rating: 8.4
Jacques Greene’s “Another Girl” sounds like possibility. It sounds like what’s possible when you stop giving a fuck about all that shit in life that stops you from enjoying it. It sounds like forward motion. It sounds like a life worth living. It sounds like all that. It sounds like what life can be.
Jacques Greene – Another GirlJacques Greene: (Soundcloud) (Myspace) (Twitter)
Rating: 8.8
Contributed by Bruce Rave
The B3Sci gang and I had a great time hanging with The Vaccines after they wrapped one of their many SXSW sets. I’ll be running a 30-minute interview special around 2:00 Pacific time on my Friday Go Deep show at Moheak Radio. Drummer Pete was telling us about how “Wetsuit” is his favorite Vaccines song as it relates what the band was going through when they first formed. It’s a change of pace compared to most fast-moving Vaccines tracks, but it’s another fine pop melody in full force.
The Vaccines – WetsuitCatch Bruce on Moheak Radio Fridays 1-3pm PST
The Vaccines: (Info) (Pre-order What Did You Expect…)
Rating: 8.7
Contributed by Erin Routson
If you thought it was possible to get tired of Wiz Khalifa’s 2007 single “Say Yeah”, you’d be wrong. Clay and Justin mash it up with the beats & pitched up 70s soul of UK’s Star Slinger and give it another life as a banger. Every time I think I’ve listened to it enough times in a row, I always listen to it a few more times. Like the Hood Internet, they put out some sick mash-ups of hip-hop and indie that creatively change how you hear those songs refreshing even the stuff you thought you were over.
Wiz Khalifa x Star Slinger – All You Got to Do Is Say Yeah (Clay and Justin Mash)Clay and Justin: (Soundcloud) (Bandcamp)
Rating: 8.4
Speed the beat up a touch, re-record the vocals so that dude hits the verse the tiniest bit harder, and this song is a hit. On radio, right now. “It Usually Goes” is a Top 40 Radio hit record. p.s. the Eisley sample on the beat is tight as fuck.
OnCue – It Usually GoesOnCue: (Myspace) (Facebook) (Twitter)
Rating: 8.4
“See You Soon”, featured here from York UK (we totally thought he was American too!) singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s “Pictures” EP, is the sort of song that takes a tremendous talent to compose. The lyrical imagery; an empty jet bound for leaving, a light without a spark inside a car bound to see your friends; are specific but they’re also imagined in a way; images of a past love in a place that’s not you. The melodic lines are framed by simple guitar strums set to a simple downbeat. The spare guitar, the stark evocative images, the hushed melodies, it’s sort of becoming the BFL sound. We can dig that.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – See You SoonBenjamin Francis Leftwich: (Myspace) (Official)
Rating: 7.8
Jamie rolled into BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge earlier in the week cutting this acoustic cover of Adele’s newest UK chart topper “Someone Like You”. Jamie’s version oozes soul. Get into it below.
Jamie Woon – Someone Like You (Adele Cover)Jamie Woon: (Myspace) (Facebook) (Twitter)
Rating: 8.2
