Australian band Van She are masterminds of the electropop genre. Their new album Idea of Happiness is set to be released on Modular July 10th. The single, posted below, is an homage to the Sidney summers. Living free while the cool breeze blows your mind away. This is a song I will be listening to all summer for sure. Happy Listening.
LA duo Capital Cities brings us some beats to usher in the new season. This upbeat catchy groove makes me want to jive the night away. Capital City does well to capture multiple genres into a nice mixture. This is the leading track off of their album Capital Cities EP. Definitely enjoy this and Happy Listening.
I have been sitting on this one for quite some time, ever since Sailor & I was so nice about sending it to me but here it is! Monde Ideal does a wonderful job capturing the emotions of the sound and altering it to fit his style. It stays true to the nature of Sailor & I but this wonderful side projects adds elements not seen in the band. The slow beat style definitely reminds me of something Shlohmo would try and do. Love this remix and it has definitely found a way into my rotation! Do not forget to check out the interview we did with Sailor & Ialso we have a post about Monde Ideal as well, Happy Listening.
UK twinkling star Swim Deep provides the base for how summers are suppose to start. All promises are kept, the sun hitting your fragile winter skin and you feel like you have just been reborn. This song blooms into a full fledge dance marathon as it mixes elements of MGMT and is as carefree as Cults. Jenny Lindberg, the drummer of Warpaint, seems to be the subject of interest... Enjoy this there is no real other way to put it but Happy Listening.
This song just speaks to my soul. Off of the Port of Morrow album The Shins are topping my personal billboard charts. Such amazing and tight instrumentals mixed with such honest lyrics brings me to a standstill. This was actually the first song I have heard off of the album and let me tell you I am hooked for life. Happy Listening.
=b
UPDATE:
The Song was taken down from Soundcloud so check out this sweet video of The Shins performing live.
March 26th is a date you want to memorize because that is the date Chet Faker's debut album, Thinking in Texture, comes out. I just have a thing for Australian artist and this is no different. The laid back track builds in layers and unravels its many depths as it progresses throughout the song. A must have for your late night summer mixtape. Happy Listening, I am sure.
Alright, alright, we have had some very amazing interviews on The Otter Beats but it is time to take it to a whole other realm. Now introducing the very talented, free spirited, artist from LA, Steffaloo (This is where I imagine applause)!! She has done various collaborations and her name can be seen on features all around the blog world. From collaborations with Blackbird Blackbird, Chrome Sparks,Teen Daze and more recently on Germany Germany's new Departure/Disconnect release it is hard to escape her name on your daily blog hop. “It kind of all began with Mickey (Blackbird Blackbird) and since then has gotten kind of out of control... In the best way possible! Most of the collaborations I've managed to do have come about from the tight knit community I've managed to become a part of, online bloggers and musicians alike. I've become pretty close friends with Mickey (Blackbird Blackbird), Jamison (Teen Daze), Jeremy (Chrome Sparks), Dylan (Persona La Ave), Victor (Sun Glitters) and even people I haven't met in real life, like Drew (Germany Germany).” With music moving to friendship the bonds between sounds grows stronger. It is very nice to see products that are based on such close knit ties and you can definitely tell with the final production. “It's a pretty amazing thing to me, the willingness and desire of all these artists to want to work together and share together. I've learned a lot from each one of them.” Amazing stuff as Steffaloo grows into her own brand of music. Learning from other artists is an valuable tool. Being able to share so freely will surely polish her music as she continues to release new music!
Music has always been a part of her life. “I grew up in a very musical home, but music really started becoming a substantial part of my life a couple years into being here in LA. My brother Tim (Smoke Don't Smoke) and I started going over to our friends house a few times a week and just having these never ending music nights. We'd play until we couldn't feel out fingers and before I knew it I found myself playing just about every single day. It became a way for me to just get my thoughts and feelings about life out.” Very strong roots, a large network of support and a blank canvas is all you need in this lifetime. “My family is a huge inspiration for me. I am lucky enough to not only have insanely talented siblings but ones that I genuinely love and are best friends with. It's such an amazing thing to be able to combine all of our different strengths into common creative projects.” Indeed as they just finished shooting a video for the band Snowmines, which you can check out here on vimeo.
2012 is already proving to be such an exciting year and Steffaloo has some goodies of her own. “This year is proving to be crazy and I may need to learn to say 'no' a little better! Right now the plan is to release a remix EP in the coming months and an album in the fall. I am working on a couple of projects that I am really hoping people will be as excited about as I am.” We indeed are very excited about what is to come, more music less problems. “This year has been about really trying to expand my own sound and start to create something a little more dynamic and full.” I am very excited as I am sure we all are to see her music mature, this is a wondrous thing. With influences like Feist, Imogen Heap and Adele it is going to be such a great year! I have attached her latest single, If You Were My Baby below. Don't forget to like and Happy Listening!
It
came about when i moved here and some coworkers of mine starting
calling me Steffaluffagus (The big wooly mammoth guy on seasame
st) and it slowly just morphed into 'Steffaloo'. Before i knew
it everyone was calling me that. - Steffaloo on her name origin.
I don't know why, and this is not a typical goal of any aspiring musicians i feel, but recently i've really just wanted to play on the 'Ellen Degeneres' show haha! - On where she would like to play
Toronto band Parallels brings us back to the 80s with the song Moonlight Desires. This comes off their 2nd album due out June 26th. This is a lovely piece taken from the simpler times of the go-go 80s. I am in love with the choice of synthetic sounds. Check out their debut album Visionaries. Happy Listening.
Handsome Boy Modeling School is an all star duo consisting of Dan the Automator and Prince Paul. With all this experience you can definitely tell the difference. The production quality alone is fantastic. The vocals of Cat Power adds so much sensuality to this track it is unforgeable. Love this, Happy Listening.
Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop - Landon Pigg (Daniela Andrade Cover)
Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop combines simple words into such raw emotions. I have fallen for not only this song but this wonderful cover by the very talented Daniela Andrade. I love the contrast between the two versions and side by side they can sing merrily into eternity. Happy Listening =).
Hannah Cohen, model, book writer and musician. Her dreamy vocals, guitar mixed with ambient build ups gives the original song, The Crying Game, a wonderful aura and feel. Active Child however comes in and strips it largely of its guitar aspects and brings new life to such a wonderful composition. Enjoy both renditions below, Happy Listening. Also check out the variation in Active Child remixes with the 80s vibe of their remix of Wolf Gang's Back to Back.
This pure instrumental cover of MGMT'sKids stands out from all the rest. Lady Danville provides us with a sense of their capability as artist and rejuvenates a track that is surely buried under all the new music you've already discovered. Please enjoy this LA trios rendition that will revive that one summer in 2009. Happy Listening.
A very laid back remix to the song All to All by the very talented artist collective Broken Social Scene. The original track is off of the Forgiveness Rock Record. This track features the vocals of India born Canadian recording artist Emily Haines, of Metric. The pace of the song is very slow and builds in layers as it moves along. A wonderful contrast to the original, Happy Listening.
They just dropped a mixtape and they are giving us an interview, I think
that is fantastic! Keljet hails from the Netherlands and as we like to
document environment changes sound. “Electronic dance has always
been huge in the Netherlands, and we've been listening to it for a
long time already. A lot of big Djs from Holland even made it into
the DJ Mag top 100 but their style is significantly different from
ours.” It is good to see Keljet diverging from the norm. With their
Nu-disco feel it is always a treat to say the next day, I partied
with Keljet. “We're both from '87, so we grew up in the nineties
when disco-music wasn't really around on tv and radio. Growing up we
definitely didn't only listen to top 40 music. We both liked lots of
different types of music... all those styles have had their influence
on our music. But the disco influence in our music mainly comes from
nu-disco producers like Gigamesh, The Magician, Grum and FredFalke...” Great to hear some heavy weights on the list. The Magician is indeed a wizard with his tools. “We definitely like
their music and we think we can learn a lot from listening to their
music.” It is refreshing to see Keljet reaching for new
inspirations as well as incorporating their own flavour to future
compositions.
{I Partied with Keljet}
Trial
and error is something we are all too familiar with and with Keljet
it is no different. “When we started making music together we were
trying to make electro/fidget house. We failed. We failed bad. Real
bad. We even sent it over to a couple of big producers but of course
they never responded.” From humble beginnings it is always a
learning process with music. Setting strict guidelines may suffocate
the sound but not setting them at all may yield poor results. It is
about finding the balance and I think Keljet has done that
beautifully. “Our style changed into more nu-disco, or as we like
to call it “indiedisco”. We think our sound is unique to the
Netherlands to be honest.” Exciting as the two find their voice and
shout it into the sky to make their name heard.
We
can expect some exciting work from the two Netherlanders in 2012. “We
just finished a remix of Don Diablo, of which you can already hear a
preview in our latest mixtape. He asked us personally to do a remix
of his new single, and he really digged our version.” The song they
are referring to is no doubtSilent Shadows, it has some pretty
massive drops and you can hear the snippets everywhere, step into the
light. “We also have got a new original coming up, on which we
collaborated with a great singer from a NY based group Ambassadors.”
Very exciting as we can see how much the duo has changed. Technically
they seem more spot on and tight, which is always a good thing.
“We've gotten more satisfied with the originals we come up with. So
you can expect both remixes and originals from us this year. Of
course we'll also be releasing more new bootlegs, since we want to
give away free tracks as well, since we love our fans and all the
blogs that support us!” Great to hear =). They are also looking to
play more gigs as well. So look out for any buying opportunities! “We
haven't really played really big gigs yet... in our hometown there's
a cool venue called “Doomroosje” where we used to go party
ourselves... Theres always a nice atmosphere and the people that go
there are more open to new music styles than in a lot of other clubs.
We dig that. In the future we hope to play some bigger venues in
Holland and abroad.”
Def:
Keljet – Dutch dialect-slang for “dude” in a very obscure form.
Ehh...
Well, however we called one track on our latest EP "Vodkashots",
Koen doesn't like wodka at all haha. Teun is a big fan of it and
forces Koen to drink it when we're out in town haha.
We
think it's really cool that you guys do interviews to get some unique
content for your blog, even though you just started the blog. It
makes your blog stand out from the rest! So keep up the good work.
Thanks! We now present the first I Partied With Keljet Mixtape, Happy Listening:
1. Lancelot - We Can Dance (Goldroom Remix) (Keljet Guitar Edit)
2. Goldroom - Nights In Nantes (Keljet Remix)
3. Moon Boots - Off My Mind 4. Plastic Plates - More Than Love
5. Peaches & Munk - You Can't Run From My Love (Keljet Guitar Edit)
6. Mitzi - Voyage Voyage
7. Grouplove - Tongue Tied (Gigamesh Remix) (Keljet Guitar Edit)
8. Oliver - Dirty Talk (Black Van Remix) (Keljet Guitar Edit) \
9. Calvin Harris ft Kelis - Bounce (Keljet Remix)
10. Don Diablo - Silent Shadows (Keljet Remix) [I Partied With Keljet Exclusive]
11. Keljet - Vodkashots
12. Nero - Reaching Out (Fred Falke Remix)
13. Laidback Luke & Sander van Doorn - Who's Wearing The Cap (A-Trak Remix) (Keljet Guitar Edit)
Side project of Alexander from the band Sailor and I (our interview with them!) and it is definitely worth your time. Monde Ideal is a wonderful blend of orchestra strings with electronica elements. The blend is uncanny and that in its own essence is refreshing. You can definitely draw parrallels between Monde Ideal and Sailor and I but really it is so good that it is a non factor. Happy Listening.
Perfect timing for this Oscar Llapso special as Spring is just showing us the sunny side of things. This is one that just came in to us from Fake Flamingo Records. As you guys already know Fake Flamingo Records is a company where artists create music under pseudonyms. After bandcamp sales reach over $1000 a limited 12" record is pressed and shipped to 100 people who have paid for the bandcamp release. This is a wonderful concept as it allows artists to create music free from corporate adjustments. Keep it up and Happy Listening!
We posted this song a while back but here is a fresh video of Sydney Australia's Flume remix of New Navy's track Zimbabwe. A clean super chill vibe, check out the original post and as always Happy Listening.
Kid Cudi in his purest form. Ever since his debut rap album it was this vision that was always on his mind. WZRD is his true creation and the reason he brought his sound to the main stage. After paying his rap dues WZRD is the end result and let me tell you, by now the millionth person, this album is amazing. Attached bellow is the song Teleport 2 Me, Jamie which brings together a classic Cudder feel with heavy synth layers and entrancing hooks and new Cudi (or old Cudi I guess 0.o). This rock album is a must have for any real fan. Happy Listening.
Canadian duo Learning offers us a taste of their psychedelic electronica. Blending new instruments with the classic bluesy style of the guitar, this band creates some awesome atmosphere building music. The laid back sound and the usage of sampling allows for slow calming build ups into the eventual tipping climax points. Pick up their demo at Bandcamp. Happy Listening.
Toronto band Eight and a Half is a name you will want to practice saying. The band trio consist of disbanded Stills members Dave Hamelin and Liam O'neil. The last member and drummer is Broken Social Scene's Justin Peroff. This all star line up is absolutely unreal and you can definitely tell how much experience they have based on the production quality. These guys are no amateurs and we expect many hits in the upcoming months as they get set to release their debut on Arts and Crafts Records on April 10th. Mark the date as it is being mixed now by John O'Mahony who did mixing for the likes of Metric and Coldplay {via}. As always Happy Listening.
Pyramid, no I am not talking about mummies, but the french artist
Pyramid. “I had another name before, but it was shit, so I wanted
to change it. One day I thought of Pyramid.” Ever since then it has
been all uphill for this talent. Being rooted in the French
electronica scene does influence your sound, as it seeps through your
keyboard onto your ableton live recordings. “I honestly don't know,
people says that the french electronic has a particular sound, there
is more melancholia in our melodies I guess, and that's probably true
for me... I just do what I can behind my computer and if that's
sounds good, I'm happy!” Very great insight as it is much easier to
support your music and promote it if you believe in your music, as
with anything else. In terms of hardware the young producer says he
mainly focuses on his computer. “I'm better with software but I
want to experiment a lot more with hardware later.” Exciting news
as we see his sound develop and warp into a beast of its own!
{Lost in Space!}
Look for the Rising Day Remix EP in 2012. The 5 tracks are remixed
by 5 very incredible artist, Pilotpriest, Monsieur Adi, 125#, Title
and Stay Ali. Later in 2012 look for Pyramid's own EP The Last
Escape, currently in production. As for the sound of the EP it will
be very close to the type of tones you hear from his remix of Foxes'Youth, attached below. “That's a funny track. This track is a kind
of preview of the sounds and beats that I'm going to use a lot in my
next tracks. Monsieur Adi told me that he was about to remix Foxes
officially, and he asked me if I'd be interested to do it, so I gave
my try.” The sound is just immaculate as you really do see the
maturing music of Pyramid.
Obviously all artists have their roots and
with Pyramid it is no different. “I'm a fan of Gorillaz, Moby,
Boards of Canada, Justice and the Daft of course... Also 2 big big
big geniuses for me, Rone and Pilotpriest who are going to be huge!”
Possibly a collaboration in the works eventually, we can only hope!
Try to spot the influences =). Happy Listening.
"Thanks for your attention, it's always a pleasure to see people
who cares about your music, so, thank you!" - Pyramid
No, thank you!! You may also enjoy AXXE, or even some Keljet to fill out a Pyramid playlist!
