Quit Mumbling

  Blacksmif, aka Yemi is a young producer hailing from London. His recent release on Synchronicity was crafted with finesse and affection without resorting to well known tropes or obtuse programming. Here’s what he had to say for himself a few months ago on the current state of his scene, reaching out to wider audiences [...]

Yeasayer put out a new song from what is the presumed follow-up to 2010′s Odd Blood this week. “Henrietta” starts out with those familiar vocals in reggae adornment (Ras Trent!) before it shape-shifts into the ethereal refrain “Oh, Henrietta/ We can live on forever” that ends on the smoother, more meditative side of their psych-pop [...]

The Walkmen released a non-album track as the b-side to first single “Heaven” this week, and it’s gorgeous. Leithauser’s vocals move at a leisurely pace through inherited memories towards that damn build in the final minute that renders the last arc of the song completely afloat. The album is out May 29 on Fat Possum.

There is something about a Tallest Man On Earth morning. His first release from his upcoming There’s No Leaving Now is a welcome return, like seeing an old friend after a particularly neglectful time to ground you back in place. Kristian Matsson captures the idea of constant movement like a sprawling green field that’s growing and [...]

For most females (and some males) of a certain age, the Disney Princess represents a deeply ingrained notion of ideal femininity. As little girls, we spent countless hours recreating her scenarios in our imaginations: swimming in sexy little shell bras and mutely wooing a foxy prince, escaping the confines of our enormous Arabian palace to mingle amongst violent hand-chopping [...]

New Four Tet tends to come along when I really need it.  When it’s a week where I need to lock into a groove, zone out from distractions, and enter into a state of pure focus.  Hebden’s newest release (off his Text Records) allows me to do just that. The A-Side, “Jupiters” begins with starry [...]

There comes a point in May (and I think it’s Cinco de Mayo) when we begin to hear summer’s call, the time of year most closely associated with youthful indiscretion. It’s strangely nostalgic and you have to just let it wash over you like a seasonal stage change. Maybe it’s California, but our best memories, [...]

The Walkmen released another song off their upcoming Heaven today. Off the heels of their title track, “We Can’t Be Beat” is all about the necessity of the other side of perfection, and danger in not planning for and accommodating failure along the way (“Golden dreams all lose their glow”). It starts off like a lullaby, with Hamilton Leithause’s [...]

There’s a captivating hypocrisy to the culture of youth that we can’t escape from, and often indulge in. We speak in extremes, of the best nights and the worst days; of great hopes and of bad dreams. We drink in excess, and love in fragments. We denounce ignorance, and devour kindness, like a sickness, like a [...]