Tagged: maryland

[Meet] Luxury Liners

I’ve always enjoyed Carter Tanton’s knack for an ultra hazy sound but his new project is something else.

Under the new moniker, Luxury Liners, Tanton throws a heavy low end under his reverbed vocals in his latest single, “Caribbean Sunset.” Still present are the warping loops but there’s more of a harshness to it alongside plenty of push and pull between the percussion and the glittery synths. Off of the forthcoming LP due out April 2nd (via Western Vinyl), They’re Flowers should be an interesting direction to say the least.

Grab your copy of the track below and stay tuned over the next couple of months for what  drops next.

Caribbean Sunset – Luxury Liners

Right-click and enjoy.

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On my way to Baltimore..

If you’ve been a reader of the blog for awhile, you may have picked up on the fact that I’m from Maryland. And I love that god damn state. Philadelphia suits me, and I have had a great time living there for years after college but Maryland, that’s my home.

It’s safe to say I’m pretty excited to be working here this weekend, I even made a long trip out of it so I could see friends and family. So, it’s perfect timing that Chelsea got up another Etsy treasury before our trip south of the Mason Dixon line. Check out her hand-picked curation, I now have crabs and beer on my mind.

LISTEN:   Desert Cat – Casa Castile

Antique map of the city of Baltimore

Continue reading →

Smash things, break stuff, dance around, get crunk, get wild, AHHH!!!

Baltimore’s Smash Gordon, not to be mistaken with Flash Gordon, recently put out this old mix he did when he was “goofing around a bit hungover” all the way back in 2010. It sort of blows my mind considering how dirty nasty this is and thinking if I were listening hungover, I would probably throw up immediately.

Anyway. I just got finished listening to this whole thing and despite its somewhat (what I consider) abrupt ending, it’s really awesome. Lots of good electro songs to help you Hulk-out and smash things.

But poor Smash forgot the track list and is actually running a contest to see who can name them all. If you’ve got it in you, email Alex@steezpromo.com with all the track names and you will win a sub-human prize pack (with a bottle of jack daniels, a few shirts, some stickers and more!)! SWEET!

GET SOME GOOD SPEAKERS AND BLAST THIS SHIT!

(it’s pink cuz pink means real serious)

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New Podcast featuring Lisa Jaeggi!!!!!

What’s Protocol? Podcast with recording artist Lisa Jaeggi by Whatsprotocol on Mixcloud

We were lucky enough to get Lisa Jaeggi to come on the podcast and talk about her new album “Epic Epic”. We had a good time and as promised during the podcast here is the link to purchase her new album. Also here is the Wikipedia page on solipsism and I also found out that Solipsism syndrome exists. 

Tracklist:

1. Lisa Jaeggi – Whether He Knows

2. Bon Iver – Michicant

3. Lykke Li – Love Out of Lust

4. Radiohead – Morning Mr. Magpie

5. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – Bottled in Cork

6. Arcade Fire – This Must be the Place(Talking Heads cover)

7. Lisa Jaeggi – All the Good

8. Local Natives – Sun Hands

9. TV on the Radio – Golden Age

10. Beach House – 10 Mile Stereo

11. Eliza Doolittle – Pack Up

12. Lisa Jaeggi – Come Hell or High Water

13. Q and not U – Soft Pyramids

Also, if you want to throw the podcast on your iPod you can download it here.

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Video premiere – It’s immediate fire edition.

I love this shit.  Like I said before, it’s the “I don’t give a fuck” attitude that always draws me back to this duo. Every single time.  Greg from Rapdragons left this vid in my inbox overnight and it’s a perfect hazy visual for the thickness of humidity that is outside of my central-air confines today.

“Got a Light” puts Neon Indian’s cushy bass and synths up against Nick and Greg’s chill-as-hell rap.  These guys just seem like they’re down for a good freestyle any day of the week, as long as a certain ingredient is involved.

Fresh off the reels is Rapdragon’s new video for their song “Got a Light” off their newest release, Natural Born Chillers which you can download here

Got A Light (Rapdragons x Neon Indian) – Rapdragons

Right-click and enjoy.

 

Also…

Got an email yesterday concerning Morning Teleportation news (remember their perfect pop song?)…the guys are teaming up with the visual duo, Phantasmic to create some sure to be awesome music/visual collaborations this summer but need some funding help.

Please roll on over to their Kickstarter page and see if it’s something that interests you, I’m sure they would appreciate anything you could donate.

I’ll call off the dogs if you call off your guard.

Mmm I’m feelin’ kinda folky right now.

And it’s after midnight and I just got home from work.  I don’t know if I can get used to this schedule, but I do like coming back to my apartment and listening to this kind of stuff loud.  Is that weird?  Whatever.

Poetically Diseased – Little Arrow I absolutely love the quivering male vocals with the barely audible guitar.  Let the slow crescendo build you up, while more members of the band join the song and fill it out. The lyrics, “Here it is, embrace your freedom,” are like an encouraging chant towards the end. Damnit, just download (they do need to step up their SEO game though).

Curs In The Weeds – Horse Feathers I mean with a name like Horse Feathers of course it’s gonna be some solid folk.  These lyrics are great and that’s no typo in the name kids, trust me I looked it up.

Come Hell or High – Lisa Jaeggi What I can only describe as lo-fi folk, and it’s damn good.  Audio Engineers would cringe at the “quality” but Jaeggi’s voice makes me smile.  I love the fact that I can hear car horns in the distance, it’s raw and fantastic.  And she’s from Mo.Co. yesSS (my hood).

Unfold – Julie Peel A simple, sad love song.

Mr. Blue – Catherine Feeny This song came on during shuffle this morning and it’s stayed with me ever since.  Feeny’s got such a listener-friendly sound, I just don’t think she can go wrong.  Fun fact, her first album was produced by this other great folk muscian.

 

Right-click and enjoy.

Living the #sweetlife.

Well, I have to hand it to the Sweetgreen Co. They definitely stepped their game up for their Sweet Life fest this year. They took the festival onto a bigger music venue – Merriweather Post Pavilion, which really upped the ante. I liked the effort of a small-ish local/organic food company trying to organize us like-minded young adults around some great music.

It wasn’t the best I’ve been to but hey, I think they’ve got something here…

 

I arrived after a couple of acts because, well, it was raining all morning and I wasn’t exactly dying to see some of the earlier shows.  I did however miss Ra Ra Riot because of some major box office FAIL (I’ve learned my lesson..no more will call and perhaps I should dust off my printer).  That was unfortunate and left me with a bitter taste in my mouth even before I had the chance to get searched by Event Staff.  What made my mood better was the plethora of alcohol at my disposal.  And trust me, everyone was drunk.

So I took to a few bottles and hung out under the tent and waited for Cold War Kids to stop playing.  Then the small group I was with, ventured down towards the stage to get up close and personal for the Crystal Castles set.  I’m going to say this again because I know I’ve said it before..if you ever get the chance to see these guys live, just fucking do it.  It was awesome to get that close to Alice Glass – who mind you, was seizuring on her back on stage in a fancy boot for her broken ankle.  The first song they opened with…wait, the first NOTE they opened with rippled through me and made my entire body shudder.  It was something far from natural.

From there we moved to the lawn to get some air and by this point none of us really cared about the rain, nor did the rest of the lawn.  As I was being entertained by this poor group of completely shitfaced kids in front of me, I caught Lupe’s act.  I feel I may be alone on this complaint but I sort of hate when rappers come to these festivals and bring a rock band back-line.  I want to hear you rap.  I don’t want to hear some Kid Rock inspired guitar set with some political rants peppered throughout.  Sorry, dude..I was hoping for better.

After the let down of Lupe, Girl Talk brought my mood right back up.  It might have been just perfect timing – my alcohol buzz setting in or what..but they had everyone on the lawn going nuts.  I’ve always missed these guys whenever they’re in town and they did not let me down.  They might have hurt the eco-friendly sentiment when they unleashed hundreds and hundreds of balloons and more confetti then you know what to do with onto the crowd..but their set was as solid as it could be.  They know their genre/sound and what they’re good at and I commend them for doing exactly that. They don’t stray far and I like that they haven’t tapped into the dubstep/remix magic that’s been blowing the fuck up.

And then I left.  Yep, before The Strokes.  Saw them a couple of weeks ago at Coachella..and you know how these parking lots get so I wanted to get out as fast as I could.

 

 

Good job Sweetgreen…maybs I’ll see ya next year.

Now snag some tunes from my Sweet Life sampler, and yes I’m biased (right-click to download).

01. Humdrum Town – Theophilus London

02. Vanished – Crystal Castles

03. Machu Picchu – The Strokes

04. Every Day – Girl Talk

05. Go To Sleep – Lupe Fiasco

 

Enjoy.

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Meet Rapdragons.

When I first heard a track from these guys last year I thought it was a joke.  They sound so nonchalant that it makes you think they’re two dudes hanging out, spitting some clever rhymes with their feet up on the coffee table.

That may not be far from the truth, but Nick Often and Greg Ward are quickly making moves producing mixtapes and records on the regular.  Plus these guys are from my native state, Maryland, which almost makes me a bit sad that I’m posted up in Philly and not able to check them out in their Baltimore scene.

Ingenius lyrics with an “I don’t give a fuck attitude” is the key to my heart.  Right-click and download, you won’t be disappointed.  Make sure to check out their new new as well.

 

She Got Me (Moss of Aura Remix) Ten Stories Hijacked

Natural Born Chillers (Rapdragons x Moss of Aura) Natural Born Chillers

Two Faded (Rapdragons x Toro Y Moi) Natural Born Chillers

 

 

 

 

We have reached less then 20 days ’til Coachella….

Enjoy.

Ricky Eat Acid

Meet Ricky Eat Acid…or Sam Ray, another Marylander (love it), and another solo genius in the whole lo-fi synth world.

“Get married~” is another one of those songs that didn’t hit me until just the right moment in my car which prompted me to think to myself..how am I not posting about this guy yet??  This song is definitely trippy as fuck and has got a nice thick, static sound to it.  It’s off his latest release, Dance with u, which is  different then the rest of his music.  It’s darker with heavy drum machines and the synths take the music in a more witch-house direction.  It’s personally not my favorite type of music but I think Sam is just on the outskirts of it.

If you take a look at his bandcamp you can tell this guy is constantly at work, and it’s FREE.  The rest of his music is a lot more ambient.  I really like the soundscapes he creates, taking you on an aural journey…something you can lose youself in.  I definitely recommend checking it out.

I’m not sure that Ricky Eat Acid has found his exact niche yet, but doesn’t mean it’s not hurting his work; he’s creative as hell.  I think some of his stuff is screaming for some sampling..just saying.

Anyways, download and enjoy.

Get married~ – Ricky Eat Acid

Friday five.

Talking Walking Cloud – Dustin Wong I immediately thought this song sounded like a fucked up accordion at the beginning..but then turns into this amazing, beautiful song.  Dustin Wong, from Ponytail, creates this elaborate layering which I am in love with.  And he’s from Maryland? Yep.  Solid.

Meadows of Canterbury – Wizards Just a little dreamy soundscape.  The theme of this post is mostly instrumental/minimalist tracks if you haven’t clued in yet.  I admit, I enjoy chillwave and Wizards delivers.  I definitely will be driving down on 95 to this little tune.  Better not be in traffic though. Check out “Aurora Borealis” if you like this…ruLL gOod.

Sorry, I’m still drunk I think.

Babe – Evenings Just chill..no words for this song.  Just directions; press play.

Fade to White (Feat. Emily Reo) – Blackbird Blackbird Of course I had to post some Blackbird Blackbird.  I’m in love with them as well.  Their sound is just so unique and I’m convinced no one can sound like them or even come close.  Huge fan since the second I heard their wacky jams earlier this year.

Bathurst – Foxes in Fiction And to make it a clean five I’m including the latest from Foxes in Fiction.  Not too crazy sound wise but it’s pretty simple.  Just a little percussion and guitar.  I dig.  You know I’m a sucker for lo-fi.

This posting is dedicated to my roommate, who woke up in our apartment complex hallway.  These next 12 hours will be hell for us.

Have a great weekend!

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