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
More guitars with grooves from our buds The Kills. This is rock and roll, kids. If you’re taking notes, that’s: Distorted Electric Guitar syncopated with a rhythm and blues backbeat. Blood Pressures is due April 5 on Domino.
The Kills – You Don’t Own the RoadThe Kills: (Official) (Myspace) (Facebook)
Rating: 8.0
Pleasant vibes blown in from the Pacific Northwest. Previewed from the upcoming Helplessness Blues is “Montezuma”, a paean to two of rock and roll’s most popular subjects, love and the past.
Fleet Foxes – MontezumaFleet Foxes: (Myspace) (Official) (Twitter)
Rating: 8.0
Contributed by Christopher Gedos
My only really polished skill is my ability to make sweeping generalizations about the state of people, places and things. So take it with no small grain of salt when I proclaim that Smith Western’s “All Die Young” is one of the representative songs of this the year 2011. It’s not indie pop but rather plain old pop music, music meant to be heard by the masses lest capitalist hogs and lowest common denominators bully their way through the back door. The effortlessness, the long build to the chorus, it’s dream pop at the expense of the dream and nerd rock at the expense of the nerd. It’s Beach Boys circa ‘71 had Brian Wilson never cracked. A beautiful lake-effect blowing in off the shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago’s Smith Westerns.
Smith Westerns – All Die YoungSmith Westerns: (Myspace) (Blogspot) (Twitter)
Rating: 8.7
Contributed by Christopher Gedos
Q: Does this band know how good they are? A: Of course. Otherwise they wouldn’t have kept their cards superglued to their chest over the past year. Otherwise they wouldn’t self release their album (Go Tell Fire to the Mountain, out in the UK June 13th), nor would their website look like an art gallery installation. Otherwise their music wouldn’t bubble with such untamed emotion, nor would their videos border both catharsis and parody. These guys are so far ahead of the pack it’s scary, and their other songs are of equally uniform quality. WU LYF’s U.S. debut this April Fool’s Eve at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn is sure to be AN EVENT.
Wu Lyf – L Y FWu Lyf: (Official) (Myspace) (Facebook)
Rating: 8.7
Material from Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues continues to meet expectations. “Lorelai” feels like a deeper album cut – still poppy, you can hear how it might play off “Battery Kinzie” and the title track on the full-length. Helplessness Blues is released May 3. Calendars marked.
Fleet Foxes – LorelaiRating: 8.1
