Catarac Coup de Ville

Lisping and lame French punning aside, if you haven't heard of the Bay Area kids known as The Cataracs, get familiar. Take a little bit of Chromeo, a little bit of Flobots, with just a smidgen of Hyphy flare and you'll get something close to the sick sound of The Cataracs. They switch comfortably between auto-tuned melodies on tracks like "Baby Baby (The Lover's Anthem)," old school flow and sampling on tracks like "Rich Girl," and hyphy swagger on tracks like "Marshawn Lynch (Feat. The Jacka & Mistah F.A.B.)" for an impressive set list, to say the least. Any hip hop or pop music enjoyer will for sure enjoy this. Tighter than leather spandex. yeeeeeeeeee!

Baby Baby (The Lover's Anthem) - The Cataracs

(sketchy video for) Rich Girl - The Cataracs

Marshawn Lynch - The Cataracs

Heads Up

In honor of it being Sunday morning, instead of heading to mass, today I'm going to feature a band with soul. The Duhks, from Winnipeg, Canada, are a five-piece outfit that churns out some of the least hick-tastic, most genuinely listenable Appalachian-inspired roots music. Though the arrangements are more traditional, Sarah Dugan's vocal has a youthful, clear alto timbre of Feist with the control of Fiona Apple. "A Mighty Storm," "Toujours Vouloir," and "You Don't See It" are my personal favorites. N-joi.

A Mighty Storm - The Duhks

Toujours Vouloir - The Duhks

You Don't See It - The Duhks

Oscar Worthy

I'm gonna go ahead and ignore the weird white fog swirling around my window that may or may not be the sign of a nuclear apocalypse and focus all my energy on the yummy new album Actor just released by St. Vincent, aka singer/songwriter/guitarist Annie Clark. The New York Times is officially in love with her, but I found her first, so back off, yuppie scum. Now that that's settled, down to the brass tacks. Actor delivers more of the simple, delicate melodies first introduced on Marry Me, but explores deeper arrangements with more variation. The real kicker about St. Vincent's swagger, particularly on this new release, is her ability to convey the subtle nuances of complicated emotions with poise and non-chalance. "Actor Out Of Work," "Laughing With a Mouth Of Blood," and Just The Same But Brand New" are my personal favorites. Also included is St. Vincent's Black Cab Session of Dig a Pony. 'Cause it's that awesome. ¡Happy weekend!

Actor Out of Work - St. Vincent

Laughing With a Mouth Of Blood - St. Vincent

Just the Same But Brand New - St. Vincent

Dig A Pony - St. Vincent Black Cab Session

Pure.

Not to get all naus-talgic, but nothing puts a smile on my face like great music coming straight outta home sweet NYC. I guess that explains why I've been particularly smiley ever since The Pains of Being Pure At Heart released their self-titled debut. They've got a bit of Peter, Bjorn, and John, a bit of Blur in the edges, but a sound that seems to supercede any singular comparison. The only all encompassing remark that seems fitting is that their melodies have a way of melting into a fuzzy pop oblivion of distorted guitars that sounds like awesome and feels like summer. Guy/Girl vocal fans should pay particular attention. Ch-ch-check it out.

Young Adult Friction - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Stay Alive - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

This Love Is Fucking Right - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Mmmm Morphine-oasty.

Today, I thought I'd do a fun commemorative issue of one year and half of metal-rod-in-my- leg-dom. Staring down the barrel of a 9:00 am surgery, I'm confident the following playlist will guide me safely through those sterile hallways, send the painkillers straight to my brain, and make sure I stay the hell away from the white light. Happy hump day. (I'm probably not using that correctly, but doesn't it sounds like something that might help hammer home the point? Or drill it in? Apparently idioms aren't my thing.)

Saturday Night - Blitzen Trapper
Club Love - 99allins
Brigitte Bardot - Creature
Boys Wanna Be Her - Peaches
Could You Be Loved - Bob Marley
No Substitute Love - Estelle
Rabbit Hole - Cleast Eatwood
LoveGame - Lady Gaga
Amazing (Thin White Duke Edit) - Seal
I Know What Boys Like - The Waitresses

The Bestest Best

Because finals, the weather gods, and my penchant for awful decision-making has made today the very worst, it is only fitting that today's post be about The Very Best (which has been solely responsible for getting my mental capacity to half-mast). Malawi-via-London singer Esau Mwamwaya and London production team Radioclit make up The Very Best, a collaboration that has cranked out some of the best remixes in the past year. Based on the positive feedback they received the duo released Are The Very Best in November of last year, an album consisting of remixes of popular songs that use the hooks from popular songs as a backbone to introduce Mwamwaya's Malawi-inspired arrangemnts and vocal stylings. The result is nothing short of brilliant. Standouts include, "Tengazako," an awesome reiteration that is pretty much the only redux of Paper Planes I've heard that's coherent as its own track. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" cleverly takes Vampire Weekend's calypso-inspired guitar riff and places african drumming and singing over it for a rich sound that feels authentically Malawian. "Boyz" remixes M.I.A. again and throws in Akon's vocal with the help of autotune (shocking!) as well as Mwamwaya's for a really interesting twist on the arrangement that still doesn't stray too far from the original. Interestingly, The Very Best has also included original tracks tracks, which are equally compelling. "Funa Funa" and "Sister Betina" use the same winning formula of Malawian instrumentation/vocals over a western mix, but the production is so spotless you'd swear it was lifted from elsewhere (not to discredit Radioclit). For anybody else in need of an upper as much as me, throw this on with a strong cup of coffee.

Tengazako - The Very Best

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - The Very Best

Boyz - The Very Best

Funa Funa - The Very Best

Sister Betina - The Very Best

Casxi-Me, Baby

Casxio (pronounced Cah-see-yo) is one of the most exciting bands coming out of LA right now as they put on one of the most impressive showings at SXSW. Reminiscent of french indie group Phoenix, Casxio takes funk rhythm guitar and throws a falsetto that sounds closer Mika (oh yeah, they can hit those notes). "Seventeen" has already gotten a lot of blog attention (as well as a great remix) and is well on its way to becoming an underground hit. "Roque Baby" delivers more consistent danceable funk/rock/pop. The band's video for "Boiling Points" directed by Fresh Kill is not for the faint of heart with a bloody plotline that's almost comical in contrast to the carefree music it's promoting. Just in time for the summer, get into Casxio before your annoying friend does.

Seventeen - Casxio

Roque Baby - Casxio

Seventeen (Noel Zancanella remix) - Casxio

Boiling Points - Casxio

Sleepy Heart

I was going to write about one of the numerous fantastic albums released, but the sounds of 2008's Lost Wisdom from Washington band Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire forced my ink elsewhere. Mount Eerie, Phil Elverum's continuation of The Microphones, has created one of the most genuinely beautiful acoustic records I've ever heard. Everything from the lyrics to the harmonies to the melodies is masterfully constructed. Though the sound isn't innovative, it's perfect in its simplicity. Doiron's confident vocal intertwines with Elverum's shaky voice to create a fragile, almost discordant sound that leaves you hanging on every note. The album itself is a coherent unit with every track playing towards the vision of the album as a whole, which makes it difficult to pick standouts. "Voice in Headphones" introduces an electric guitar and a more expansive arrangement with vocal layers to create the closest thing this album comes to a crescendo. "O My Heart" showcases the softer end of the album driven by Doiron and Elverum's vocal interaction. "You Swan, Go On" is a more upbeat track that features Elverum's vocal heavily with a more assured melody that bears resemblance to Sufjan Stevens. There are rare times an album fits a day perfectly, so for anybody lucky enough to be in Boston by an open window, hit play and sink in.

Voice in Headphones - Mount Eerie

O My Heart - Mount Eerie

You Swan, Go On - Mount Eerie

Insectomania

The Bug, one of Kevin Martin's 20 aliases, takes London dubstep, Jamaican dancehall, and grunge and turns them on their face. The Bug offers dirty beats in clean arrangements that dabble in an array of styles for an aggressive sound like nothing you've ever heard before. "Poison Dart" feat. Warrior Queen is a feminist rant with an arrangement that's heavily reminiscent of Santigold. "Skeng" drops quite possibly the deepest bass I've ever heard with Killa P-Flowdan's decidedly flatline vocal giving the track an eerie march quality that listens like a war cry. "Angry" featuring Tippa Irie is the closest thing The Bug offers to straight Dancehall and is an infectuous party anthem that goes out to one of my favorite biddies back home who's always ready to rraaaaage (2 days, Nessyface). For adventurous hip/hop enthusiasts looking for something fresh, look no further than The Bug.

Poison Dart f. Warrior Queen

Skeng f. Killa P-Flowdan

Angry f. Tippa Irie

Batgirl: Redux

Bat For Lashes AKA Natasha Kahn's etherial, haunting music that has (justifiably) earned her comparisons to Bjork and PJ Harvey comes back in full force on her sophomore effort Two Suns. For the first time Kahn's music feels like a complete artistic vision realized, which is particularly apparent on stunning tracks like "Glass," whose arrangement of a faint organ, crashing drums, and electronic backnoise builds and whirls with her vocalizations to create an incredible wall of sound that gives Kahn's vocal room to breathe in the massive space created by the echoing reverb. "Sleep Alone" combines a melody that might as well have been taken straight from Tori Amos's mouth with electronic synth noise and acoustic guitars that play perfectly off each other. The record's single, "Daniel," recalls MGMT with it's airy synth sounds and funk-inspired electric guitars, while a steady drum machine hits brings forth an element of synth-rock à la Yeah Yeah Yeahs on It's Blitz. One of the better albums I've heard this year, Two Suns is definitely worth a listen.

Glass - Bat For Lashes



Sleep Alone - Bat For Lashes

Daniel - Bat For Lashes