New Death Cab

Really interesting production, reminds me of "Letter To My Son" by Bloc Party. I dig. Let's hope the rest of Codes and Keys is half this good, I'm tired of people shitting on Death Cab (however deservedly...the old stuff is undeniably better than Plans and Narrow Stairs).

This Batch Makes Very Little Coherent Sense

I've just had some tunes kicking around my head of late, figured I should share em with y'all. Mostly Indie Rock, with a dance jam and some experimental/beat stuff packed in there at the end for good measure.

Like Eating Glass - Bloc Party

Bloc Party are probably the first band I became seriously obsessed with. This is off their stellar debut, Silent Alarm, which should be mandatory to have in your music library. The other albums are good too, but they never really topped this one; they just went in different directions and tried new things, which is totally respectable.

Up - Modern Memory

Freaking obsessed with this band/record. Expect a post in the near future detailing why I am so obsessed with Modern Memory. And their past, and their future, and everything else related to the brothers Faler. But just vibe with this jam in the meantime, and keep your eyes on this blog.

We Laugh Indoors - Death Cab For Cutie

People hate on Death Cab a lot. And while I can see why (cf. the lyrics from Plans...), I can't help but love them. They have an undeniably pop quality to them that I think some people find distasteful, but there really is so much there in the music and lyrics, I dunno. Fuck it, I like em. Though on second thought, the bridge to this song is pretty awkward. They pull that sound off better on the bridge to "Tiny Vessels." (youtube link)

White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes

I most certainly was not into Fleet Foxes back when everybody else was two years ago. That was my Electro/EDM phase, I had other things on my mind. But after hearing an acapella group here utterly KILL this song, I had to go back and see what I was missing. And man, was I missing. Gorgeous lyrics, wonderful songcraft, and vocal harmonies that will lift you high above this plane... Another essential album for y'all's music libraries.

Electric Boogaloo (Hudson Mohawke Remix) - Wiley

Jam Jam Jam. Super awesome synths, very spacey feel, then in come the drums and this shit gets tribal. Fuckin HudMo. What a boss. "Report to the dancefloor, honey..."

Weak Will - [Post-Foetus]

It wouldn't be our blog if we didn't post something related to Will Weisenfeld, aka Baths, aka Geotic, aka the bee's tits. But here's a track from his earlier moniker, [Post-Foetus], from the release The First Will Weisenfeld EP. Warning: EXPERIMENTAL AS HELL. I fucking love it, though. Spoken word lyrics over epic handmade soundscapes, touches of the pop sensibility that we love so much about Baths, not to mention the song is about not being able to talk to someone you love from a distance, who can't relate to that!?

~ [[ whole batch in a .zip ]] ~

BONUS!! (zip only!!): Baths - Mecha Joy (youtube link). An early Baths track that was a BITCH to track down in 320, as it isn't officially on any release that I can track down. SO GET ON THAT SHIT!!

Back In LA! (LandLord EP)

After traveling my ass off to distant though awesome places, I am back in L.A. for the summer. Appropriately, I was listening to this on the way home:

Why You'd Want To Live Here - Ben Gibbard

A tribute to my hometown. Ripped this from a live set Ben did for All Songs Considered over at NPR. An amazing live set, it's online for free, download it on iTunes from the All Songs Considered Podcast if you're a fan, even if you've renounced Death Cab (especially after they sold a song to the Twilight soundtrack...).
(also grab this)

ON TO THE REAL STORY TODAY, FOLKS:


This EP was posted about two and a half months ago at the WEDIDIT Collective (arguably one of the most "with it" places on the interwebs), and I've returned to it regularly since then. LandLord is a collab between GroundIsLava, a badass producer and WEDIDIT homie, and Jake Weary (credited here as just "Weary," I think) who I have yet to research but I promise a post at some point. As far as I can tell, GroundIsLava produces and Weary sings, but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, some of my favorite beat music jams are vocal tracks (RobertaFlack by Flying Lotus, Ooops by Hudson Mohawke [a more mainstream song than most beat music but similar vibe to LandLord] and everything 0. does), so to hear these guys on this EP combining all the glitchy, hip-hoppy production of the beat music movement with really killer, soulful vocals, really makes me happy about music nowadays. These guys have said that "future r&b" is pretty much what they're going for here, and I think they NAIL it.

COP THIS SHIT!! (also it's free)

The Upside - Landlord

My personal favorite track. Great synths, thick beat, and AWESOME vocal production (the same can be said for pretty much the whole album). PLUS it comes with a catchy chorus, guilt-free! "I'm so down for you, down, til the ceiling's the ground..."

The other tracks on here are great too. "Animal" is fierce and ominous, another killer chorus with nasty-ass vocals. "The Upset" has this awesome 8-bit feel over a stuttering beat and bassline, and these wobbly square synths that these guys seem to love so much. And there's instrumentals too, for those of you who like your boom-bap without too much vocal saturation ("Airport Security Sabbatical" and "Bluetooh Narcotics"), though I'm all for it.

again:COP THIS SHIT!!(remember, it's free!)






P.S. All Songs Considered has an awesome series called "You've Never Heard....[album name]?" where they ask young interns to review classic albums. Pretty neat to hear fresh perspectives. God I love NPR. Check it.