Death Cab For Cutie - “Crooked Teeth” Okay, okay, one more summer jam and that’s it, I promise (don’t hold me to that). As I’m sure you guys remember, Plans is one of my top three favorite albums of all time, and “Crooked Teeth” always reminds me of running around town with friends in the middle of June doing whatever sounds fun. That as opposed to “Summer Skin”, which is much more reflective, and pretty melancholy and depressing to be frank, definitely a song you’d listen to towards the end of August as break is coming to a close. But for now, here’s another li’l diddy for your respective mixtapes and playlists. College students, enjoy the start of your break, high school students, kick all kinds of butt on your finals and AP exams, and everyone else, just have a great summer! - Callie |
|
Bastille - “What Would You Do? (City High Cover)” “What Would You Do?,” you ponder. Is that the 2001 hip-hop smash being covered by a British breakthrough act in 2012? Yes. Yes it is. You think it won’t work but… then… it does… Before they exploded into the Top 40 this year, Bastille made a couple of wicked mixtapes called “Other People’s Heartache Part 1 + 2” which you can find floating around cyberspace for free. They are a Baz Luhrmann-esque mish-mash of R&B, hip-hop, country and rap songs, rejiggled for Bastille’s Dan Smith to layer his unique vocals on to. It really really works and I feel very hipster and underground when listening to it. Other covers include TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams. |
|
Real Estate - “Municipality” What’s that? Did I hear you guys say that you wanted more summer jams? I could’ve sworn I heard you guys say that you wanted more summer jams. Which is great, you know, because I actually have this awesome Real Estate track for you right here. Much like Bigfoot (which came out yesterday!) this whole album is a pretty great summer treat. Perfect for any loafing or extended car rides that you may be a part of. Other real good summer albums:
- Callie |
|
Cayucas - “High School Lover” Is it too early to declare a favorite album of the year? (Considering that Modern Vampires of the City doesn’t come out until May 14th, it very well may be.) Regardless, I can already tell that Bigfoot is going to be in very heavy rotation out by my pool/the beach/community duck pond in the coming months. This album is summer. I can honestly almost smell ocean air when I listen to it. It’s the warm breeze, it’s riding your bike to the surf shop, it’s your second glass of frozen lemonade; which is funny seeing as this song and “Cayucos” debuted in January and October respectively. The entirety of Bigfoot isn’t officially released until April 30th, but until then you can listen to the whole thing on Stereogum for free, which I can tell you you’re gonna wanna do as soon as possible. Five stars, A+, ten out of ten, would recommend to a friend. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you when you realize that you don’t want to listen to anything else for the rest of your life. Other highlights:
- Callie |
|
TLC - “Unpretty” I have no idea what it is today, maybe the weather’s turning people into grumps, but for some reason it seems like half the users in my assorted social networking feeds are set on trashing everyone they see for the way they look and what they wear. The pettiness, the triviality baffles me, I just don’t get it! What a waste of energy, you know? It kind of took my mood down a few pegs too, so I decided to put my iTunes on shuffle and try and get some things done around the house when this song started playing. Appropriate, right? So if you’re having a bad hair day, or if you can feel your bathing suit taunting you from its dresser drawer, try giving this song a listen. Maybe T-Boz, Left Eye, and Chilli can impart some wisdom and cheer you up a bit. I hope your day is as beautiful as you are. - Callie |
|
Tycho - “Send And Receive” April is next week. Wait. April is… next… week? Honestly man, where has the semester gone? I feel like I just moved into my apartment a month ago and now suddenly I’m gearing up for the long summer ahead of me, which also means that finals are just around the corner. Now, I am one of those poor, unfortunate souls that can’t concentrate very well (i.e., at all) while listening to lyric-heavy music, or music with any lyrics for that matter, so my choices when it comes to study music can be rather limited. That’s why I generally stick to ambient and electronic music, with Tycho being my all-time favorite pick for when I really need to get down to business. Scott Hansen knows how to tickle a mean synth, and the second I put on Dive or Past Is Prologue, one of my… oh, I’d say top fifteen albums of all time, I am immediately calm and ready to work. It’s like a musical massage for your soul, the kind with that really nice, warm oil that smells like eucalyptus and spearmint. I’ve conquered some of my most difficult thesis papers, exam reviews, and final projects with this album playing in the background; it always gives me that little push I need to trudge on through the sticky muck that is cramming after weeks of procrastination. Hopefully it’ll do the same for you. - Callie |
|
Vampire Weekend - “Step” How long I have waited for this moment. Vampire Weekend finally broke their three year (!!!) silence on Monday and released two, count ‘em, TWO new songs; the rollicking, grungy “Diane Young”, whose music video features multiple Saabs “torched like a pile of leaves,” and the mellower “Step”, with a gorgeous and very VW string arrangement that brings me right back to “M79” and “Walcott”. Between these two new songs and what we now know to be “Unbelievers”, which was debuted as “New Song #2” at Pitchfork Music Festival last summer, I’m eagerly counting down the days until May 7th, when Modern Vampires of the City will be officially released. Mark your calendars, - Callie |
|
teen suicide - “Salvia Plath” My first thought upon hearing this song was, “WHY WON’T ITUNES LET ME GIVE THIS SIX STARS?” I… I love this song. I love this song. This song scratched a musical itch that I didn’t even know I had. I really can’t explain it; maybe I’m just subconsciously looking for the perfect song to associate with spring break, or maybe I just needed a new dreamy lo-fi tune to run into the ground. Whatever it is, I know that it’s going to remain a favorite of mine for a very long time. I’m a huge fan of the entirety of waste yrself, actually (“Haunt Me” and “Benzo” were serious contenders for this week’s pick), which like “Salvia Plath” is on the shorter side, clocking in at a brief but refreshing 23 minutes. If you want more of the now defunct teen suicide, check out Julia Brown, Sam and Alec’s new band that delivers a lot of the same sound on their new album to be close to you. - Callie |
|
• 1 of 14 •
Next page
