Featured Artist: Pretty Lights

Pretty Lights is the work of Derek Vincent Smith, a producer out of Colorado. His reputation is spreading, but for now he is still relatively obscure and is giving his music away. His music all emanates one particular mood or sound, but if you click with it you will groove to this stuff constantly. It's instrumental hip-hop, with great beats, a liberal use of hip-hop and soul sampling, fantastic bass lines and excellent structure. It is structurally that he is so unique - though his aesthetic is classic hip-hop, his structure is pure electronica. None of this verse-chorus-verse stuff; Pretty Lights is all about the constantly evolving mood, with flourishes emerging into new memes mid-track and a constant dynamic interplay among a song's elements.

Suffice to say, Pretty Lights is really, really good at what he does. RJD2 and DJ Shadow may cross more boundaries (sometimes to terrible effect - RJD2, stop trying to be a singer-songwriter and DJ Shadow, you are not mainstream and never will be), but Pretty Lights has nailed a sound and there is no one better at it. You can download .zip files of his EPs and LPs to date at his website, completely free, or download my favorite tracks below to form your own opinion.

Pretty Lights - I Can See It In Your Face
Pretty Lights - Fly Away Another Day
Pretty Lights - Sunday School
Pretty Lights - Total Fascination
Pretty Lights - Let Em Know It's Time To Go

From The Vault: Sleater Kinney

Sleater-Kinney were an all-girl group out of Olympia, WA. Perhaps the most widely known band of the Northwest-born Riot Grrrl movement (along with Bikini Kill and Bikini Kill founder Kathleen Hanna's later project, Le Tigre), Sleater-Kinney is the work of founding members Carrie Brownstein (Guitar) and Corin Tucker (Vocals, Backup Guitar) and a rotating cast of drummers.

Brownstein and Tucker were dating when the band formed in 1994, but their break-up several years later did not tear apart the band. Sleater-Kinney garnered critical acclaim for political agenda and harsh vocals but innovative guitar-work on mid to late-90's releases Sleater-Kinney, Call The Doctor, Dig Me Out, and The Hot Rock. Their third and fourth albums on label Kill Rock Stars, All Hands on the Bad One (2000), and One Beat (2002) were both immediately hailed among the best albums of the nascent decade. 2005's The Woods, with a more anthemic, classic-rock sound, would be the band's last hurrah. In 2006 they ended their thirteen-year run together, entering a period of "Indefinite Hiatus" (speculation centered around Tucker's desire to spend more time parenting). In March of this year, Brownstein announced that she would be pursuing a new project with Sleater-Kinney ex-drummer Janet Weiss and that fans could potentially see a full-lineup Sleater-Kinney release "sometime in the next five years." If only...

Sleater-Kinney peaked before indie had really crossed over into the mainstream, and they never had a breakthrough hit on The O.C. (it's doubtful they would have consented to, given their nuanced second-wave feminist agenda). As a result, many of today's discerning music listeners have only a passing familiarity with their wonderful sound. Corin Tucker's yelps are definitely 'love-it-or-hate-it' material, but they've got passion up the wazoo, and Carrie Brownstein's guitar work crossed over from inspired into impressive circa 2000. Check out a few highlights of their back catalog below.

The Original Sound
Sleater-Kinney - One More Hour (Dig Me Out, 1997)

The Moment of Perfection
Sleater-Kinney - One Beat (One Beat, 2002)

The Classic Rock Anthem
Sleater-Kinney - Rollercoaster (The Woods, 2005)

New Music Monday!

Kopitar dekes, turns and fires... Stick save and a beaut! Luongo has just robbed Anze Kopitar of the go-ahead goal. These things don't happen just any day, but anything goes on New Music Monday!

Blitzen Trapper - Heaven and Earth

I acquired this track several weeks back, but it was cut, last-second, from that week's New Music Monday to make way for bigger-name artists (The Hold Steady, The National, The Black Keys, etc.). I tuned into KEXP on Friday and they reminded me that this was an oversight. Upon freshly experiencing it, the advance track from Blitzen Trapper's forthcoming Destroyers of the Void LP is easily as good as any of the above tracks (and is what I wished the new Band of Horses sounded more like). Pretty and atmospheric, it will echo back and forth in your head long after you've closed your iTunes.

Crystal Castles - Celestica

Crystal Castles are tough to read. Their first proper LP (self-titled) was generally interesting electronica, with moments ("Untrust Us") that allowed just enough accessibility to be really enjoyable. Their upcoming second album (also self-titled; assholes) was previewed by a fairly noisy, unpleasant track, but then comes first single "Celestica" to show off their pleasant side. I still don't know what to think of them, but this track is damn pretty.

B.O.B. - The Kids (f/Janelle Monae)

Piping-hot ATL rapper B.O.B. drops a new collab with Janelle Monae ('the female Andre 3000') in which they both improvise over the approximate tune and structure of Vampire Weekend's "The Kids Don't Stand A Chance." They muse on the unfortunate situation today's urban kids find themselves in, but the tune keeps it almost light-hearted. Still, I'm beginning to think a couple of people reading this should probably go do Teach for America.

M.I.A. - Born Free

New M.I.A. means yippee-ki-yay! Actually, this is a fairly low-quality rip (in my opinion) but the song is a classic old-school Maya Arulpragasm joint, packed with attitude. None of this "Paper Planes" pop shit (which I loved) or "There's Space For Ol Dat I See" slow-paced stuff (meh). If you need another reason to get excited, Google "M.I.A.+Blimp". Oh yeah.

The Black Keys - Unknown Brother

The Black Keys' new album has leaked and it is full of retro blues-rock goodness. To hold you over until you can buy it for yourself, here is one of my early favorites, the quasi-title track "Unknown Brother."

The New Pornographers - Moves

The New Pornographers' new album has also leaked. Listen to it streaming in full here at NPR, and catch album opener "Moves" to get another piece of the puzzle.

The xx - Do You Mind?

Not exactly new, but with an artist as hot as The xx, we'll take what we can get. "Do You Mind?" was one of the outtakes from their debut self-titled album from last fall, and fits with their hushed mood beautifully.

Robyn - Dancing On My Own

Robyn's first of three releases this year (supposedly), Body Talk Pt. 1, has another track revealed. "Dancing On My Own" continues her streak of electro-produced pop nuggets, this one with more than a tinge of sadness and bitterness.

Macklemore - The Town (Sabzi Remix)

New Seattle hip-hop anthem "The Town" gets a fun, synth-heavy remix treatment by Blue Scholars' DJ Sabzi. The added backdrop really makes it feel like more of a song than a manifesto - both are good. Read his take and almost-apology here at the Blue Scholars' blog. 

Amanda's Best of the Decade: #80-71

#80

Happy Birthday - Clem Snide

Album: Soft Spot

Year: 2003

A brass-laden, twangy, alt-country jewel. Eef Barzelay, the awesomely-named frontman of New York's Clem Snide, belts out a birthday toast that's sweeter and more genuine for it's rough-hewn sentiment. "I hope that your friends are true and funny and your girlfriends are sweet, and wear tight pants," he pronounces over a fanfare of trumpets and driving beat. What more can you ask for, really?

#79

So Lonely Was the Ballad - Jamie T

Album: Panic Prevention

Year: 2007

I first heard "So Lonely Was the Ballad," a few months after I returned from a post-college stint working in London. I ached to be back with every fiber of my being. And here was this snot-nosed, South London kid fusing punky, white guy bravado and Britain's unique hip hop stylings into impossibly catchy summer jams. It sounded like the London I'd come to know and I was enchanted. Stiff upper lip be damned, this guy is the new England Billy Bragg wasn't looking for.

#78

Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Mix) - The Killers

Album: Mr. Brightside Single

Year: 2005

One of my eternal frustrations is the existence of The Killers not as a dance band. I dislike their tacky, Vegas-gothic aesthetic and the fact that they are always (seriously, every two minutes) cranking out singles I cannot tell apart. Every one of these crappy singles, however, is a perfect canvas upon which remixers can make magic. I feel like Brandon Flowers needs to put his guitar away, fire his band mates, hire a couple of Australian DJs and become the frontman of the world's catchiest dance band. I don't need to elaborate much on the music, we all know the song. This is just a long, better version of it: more compelling synth sounds, more swelling strings, more echoing vocals, a more danceable beat. And so was born my love of the remix.

#77

Hellhole Ratrace - Girls

Album: Album

Year: 2009

I expect great things from Girls, who released my second favorite album of 2009. Frontman Christopher Owens is a refreshing break from the last gasps of hipsterism, which is rather spectacularly eating itself these days. Owens' sad story informs his music with an angsty honesty that is rarely done so well. When it explodes at the halfway mark, I dare anyone with a soul not to explode, too. Crusty, lo-fi guitars wail and Owens' sincere, heartbreaking vocals - pirouetting on the edge of maudlin - soar over a treacherous featherbed of fuzz.

#76

Run - Air

Album: Talkie Walkie

Year: 2004

A creepily sexy bit of computer love from French electronica wizards Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel. Equal parts androgynous attraction and nature film swelling sighs, this one shivers its way into your consciousness and sticks.

#75

I Cried Like a Silly Boy - Devotchka

Album: Curse Your Little Heart EP

Year: 2006

I acquired this album based on its Pitchfork review which was, simply put, the most delicious blurb I have ever seen dished out by the site. The EP contains mostly covers, of which this is one, the original version by relative unknown Ted Thacker. Devotchka's signature gypsy strum gives the song a perfect, tensely romantic motion. The aforementioned Pitchfork reviewer, one William Bowers refers to the track as "a swooner" and he could not be more spot on. There's something just out of reach about its beauty and even clocking in at 3:27, it's over far too soon.

#74

Rama Lama - Sons and Daughters

Album: The Repulsion Box

Year: 2005

I've always been a sucker for the eerie, sickening creep of a song you slowly realize is about somebody being dead. This one has the benefit of also being by a Scottish band, another thing I'm a sucker for. Scott Paterson's thickly accented vocals make for a visceral thrill over the steady beat, twangy guitars and Morricone-esque whistle.

#73

Let's Not Shit Ourselves - Bright Eyes

Album: Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground

Year: 2002

By turns confessional, resigned, rollicking and angry, this ten minute festival of angst is Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst at his best. Surprisingly not overindulgent for such a long song, here his political, social and emotional disillusion intertwine and hammer away at the listener in a strangely triumphant iteration. Somebody get this guy a god damned timpani roll, already.

#72

There is No There - The Books

Album: The Lemon of Pink

Year: 2003

The Books of New York City specialize in what I've always referred to as "electro-folk" although almost any other moniker would do just as well. The term "aleatoric" is often bandied about in association with their sound, although this is largely erroneous - their sound incorporates chance elements only in the sense that many of their samples are thrifted rather than created. But according to frontman Nick Zammuto the rest of their creative process is highly controlled. There's nothing catchy about this song and it goes against almost everything I look for in music but it's mesmerizing, and the album it comes from is an unlikely grower - seamless in its assemblage. Though the concept is labored, the result is as difficult as sitting a front porch on a summer evening.

#71

We're Here - Guillemots

Album: Through the Windowpane

Year: 2006

Pure cinematic glory from the UK's small-time pop visionaries Guillemots. Lead singer and creative director Fyfe Dangerfield's knack for crafting the sensation of world-obliterating romance is well showcased here from the first warbling notes and quick dash of violins to its final, brilliant crescendo. I occasionally take issue with Dangerfield's taste level but he's right at home here where a sappy fondness for narrative meets clever instrumentation and untethered, imagination-capturing joy.

Aaron's Best of the Decade: #80-71

#80
Dizzee Rascal - I Luv U
Album: Boy In Da Corner
Year: 2003
Grime's big break-through hit to date is a delicious-sounding piece of British hip-hop. The futuristic squelches of bass and the burbling synths encapsulate everything jarring and addicting about grime's sound, while Dizzee tears through the track, tossing off diatribes about (what else) girls.

#79
Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers (f/Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Method Man)

Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2

Year: 2009

Raekwon the Chef had been hinting for years that the sequel to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, a classic from the Golden Age of the Wu, was in the pipeline. Nobody could have guessed that anything from the album would be this fresh - while he brought the gritty sound of Staten Island throughout, "House of Flying Daggers" enlists the heavyweights of the W and turns into a posse cut on par with Wu-Tang's best.

#78
Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds

Album: Robbers and Cowards

Year: 2006

The Cold War Kids are not a great band. I am not particularly anticipating their next release, and I find some of their topical, Christian-influenced stuff boring. However, they came out firing on a trio of EP's back in 2006 that dropped a few memorable tracks, none better than "Hospital Beds." The song milks flawless guitar-keyboard interplay and fantastic vocal melodies to create a piece that threatens to break out into a full-blown anthem at any moment. It never does, which makes it even better...

#77
Florence + the Machine - You've Got The Love

Album: Lungs

Year: 2009

This song threatened to move up my list after I saw Florence + The Machine live at Seattle's Showbox at the Market last week. Since it only came out at the tail end of 2009, I'll leave it here and let posterity tell the true story. Pretty little Florence Welch lets her voice out of hiding and wails an absolute show-stopping soul-rock hybrid that can't help but tug on your heartstrings.

#76
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

Album: St. Elsewhere

Year: 2006

Yes, it was heavily overplayed. I completely agree. I can't defend America's need to play it on rock, rap and pop stations ubiquitously for the better part of 2006-07. But some kernel of me remembers the winter-spring of 2006 when I heard that DJ Danger Mouse (a favorite of mine from The Grey Album) was teaming with Cee-Lo (a favorite from Goodie Mob and his underrated pair of solo albums) for a whole album, and the advance single had started making rounds in the clubs in England. When I first hunted it down via the power of the internet, all I could think was how original it sounded. Nobody was making pop or art music like this, and I just wanted to dance to it. Soon enough, everyone was dancing to it, and that's not such a bad thing.

#75
Phoenix - Lisztomania

Album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Year: 2009

Not a surprising entry, but a necessary one. Phoenix really did hit a home run with their re-tooled sound on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and "Lisztomania" is the track that sealed the deal for me. Persistent and catchy, it epitomizes the sound of 2009.

#74
Madvillain - Rhinestone Cowboy

Album: Madvillainy

Year: 2004

The name Madvillain is still whispered around hip hop blogs, always with the hope of a sequel. The combination of MF Doom's sick associative wordplay and Madlib's completely out-of-left-field beats left everyone wanting more. "Rhinestone Cowboy" barely sound like a song, more a performance over a backdrop like you've never heard in hip-hop, and the lyrics are indeed a work of art. You try thinking of a rhyme as sweet as "fine chrome alloy" with "rhinestone cowboy." Can't be done.

#73
Gym Class Heroes - Cupid's Chokehold

Album: The Papercut Chronicles

Year: 2005

Gym Class Heroes pull a sweet sample out of "Breakfast in America" by Supertramp and craft a neo-romantic ode to a special lady. Switching between absurdly modern quirks ("She even got her very own ringtone") and grade-A cheese ("If I had to choose between her and the sun, I'd be one nocturnal son of a gun"), these guys are just too adorable to resist.

#72
The Decemberists - Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect

Album: Castaways and Cutouts

Year: 2002

Way back, before The Decemberists had (inexplicably) become wildly popular for their obscure, verbose sea shanties, there was Castaways and Cutouts. Their debut album was scattered but thoroughly unique, and after sifting through the various styles they were trying on, I was hooked by the relaxed beauty of "Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect." It is achingly wistful, and I can't help but appreciate wistfulness expressed with an excellent vocabulary.

#71
Cut Copy - Lights and Music

Album: In Ghost Colours

Year: 2008

An album I expected to enjoy mostly as a guilty pleasure (and I thoroughly did) kept coming back to me. I'd make a new mix CD for my girlfriend's car, or put together a playlist for a party, or just want to chill out to some electronic music, and every time I would find myself including "Lights and Music." I still can't pinpoint why it stands above the legions of Euro-trash electronic artists sporting a near-identical aesthetic, but every piece of its composition just falls into place beautifully as the beat and bass chug along unerringly.

Featured Scene: Mash-Up

The best DJs have never been limited by the songs the artists create. Upon finding a funky bassline or grooving instrumental, the first thing a DJ does is figure out how they're going to fit it into their mix, and I'm not talking about before or after another song. We live in the digital age, and with hard work, tempo-altering and pitch-shifting you can mix and match just about any songs you like.

The first legendary mash-up album was DJ Danger Mouse's The Grey Album, on which he matched Jay-Z's raps from The Black Album with chopped up goodness from The Beatles' The White Album. These still took the form of traditional songs, matching up one set of verses with guitar-work from one original Beatles track. Soon after, Greg Gillis, recording under the moniker Girl Talk, put out his third full-length mix, entitled Night Ripper. The scope and ambition present in those 40 minutes put everyone on notice; it was possible to create an entirely new listening experience out of no more than 10 or 20-second snippets of riffs, flows and beats (Greatest Moment in Mash-Up, so far: Night Ripper track "Smash Your Head" matches Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" with The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" and blows everyone's mind). 

Since Girl Talk achieved popularity, it's been amateur hour all over the internet. New mashed-up tracks are sprouting right and left, and frankly most of them are crap. Of the dross clogging the blogosphere, a couple of names have continually resurfaced for their commitment to excellent work. The Hood Internet are the new legends, with inspired source material and an already-significant catalogue of quality mixes (and an ambitious six-minute continuous mash-up of the best of the decade). The White Panda are now on my "must-listen" list as well for a few smart, fun selections. Check out my Mash-Up essential listening playlist below, and realize, this stuff is REALLY good to have around for parties...

DJ Danger Mouse - What More Can I Say (Jay-Z v The Beatles)

Girl Talk - Smash Your Head

The Hood Internet - Two Weeks of Hip-Hop (Grizzly Bear v Dead Prez)

The White Panda - Praise Outkast (Fatboy Slim v Outkast)

The Hood Internet - The Decalogue (The Hood Internet v The 2000s)

Remix Roundup

Bangers are temporarily making way for a wave of chilly, spaced-out (mostly) Scandinavians this week. I swear it's got nothing to do with Tuesday's date. We can all go back to dancing in two weeks but for now, sample the following music perfect for sad scenes in eighties B movies, druggy club Sundays, interplanetary travel and early morning swims in glacier-fed lakes.

"Holiday" - Montauk

Sweden's Montauk dropped their first single 'Holiday' a few weeks ago and it's ushered in with quite the remix fanfare. A fellow Swede, 22-year-old Jeremy Olander gives the piano heavy original the standard house treatment, engulfing the track in a pulsing, womblike environment. Great sonic textures here, with lots of surprisingly organic clicks and beats contrasting well with the highly manipulated vocals. By contrast the remix from Visitor takes the eighties-influenced electro route. Replete with synth strings and a soaring "guitar solo," it's screaming for a bad movie montage in the best possible way.

"Holiday (Jeremy Olander Remix)" - Montauk

"Holiday (Visitor Remix)" - Montauk

"Electric Counterpoint III. Fast (RYXP's Milde Salve)" - Steve Reich

Writing about Röyksopp (SPOILER ALERT) as part of my Best of the Decade list reminded me what beautiful music they make, despite their disappointing efforts on Junior. This remix, released by the Norwegian duo as part of their website's Track of the Month feature, is a throwback to the days of Melody A.M., when they were making the best downtempo around. Steve Reich, whose 1987 track provides the canvas for this mix, is a pioneer of American minimalism. This is hardly his first trip around the block with the club kids: "Electric Counterpoint"'s third movement was notably sampled first by The Orb in their 1990 release "Little Fluffy Clouds" and an entire album of remixes was released in 1990. Clocking in just over eight minutes, this gorgeous, spacey journey layers Pat Metheny's original guitars with lush waves of strings, restrained - almost timid - beats and a persistent echo. It's got the elemental quality of "A Higher Place" or "40 Years Back/Come" that has been sadly lacking in Röyksopp's more recent work.

"Electric Counterpoint III. Fast (RYXP's Milde Salve)" - Steve Reich

"Sun (Spirituals Remix)" - Caribou

Speaking of Röyksopp...anyone hear the echoes here? Pitchfork's pick of the remix contest entries for the new Caribou single "Sun," this one is a disrupted, clicking mess. And it's awesome. The cool undertones, liquid feel and jazzy percussive elements of the original mesh well with the faintly sinister quality of the remixed additions by Portland's Tyler Tadlock. It unsettles with all the beauty of horror film TV static.

"Sun (Spirituals Remix)" - Caribou

"First Class Riot (Touch of Jules et Jim)" - The Tough Alliance

Bookending with Swedes today, we've got jj, a current obsession of mine, remixing band-friends (and former label mates) The Tough Alliance, an off-and-on fling for me. The original is pure sixties surf pop, punchy and addictive. After jj get their hands on it, it's more like a faint light seen from the bottom of a very deep, mossy well, transformed by sumptuous vocals and leaky faucet beats. Plus, you've got to love Elin Kastlander's opulent, dream pop wailing "Remix, baby!" - a humorous reminder of jj's predilection for covering or reworking really, really, really hilariously bad music.

"First Class Riot (Touch of Jules et Jim)" - The Tough Alliance

R.I.P. Guru (of Gang Starr)

Hip hop veteran Guru of seminal duo Gang Starr passed away today at age 43, following a heart attack in March. Guru and long-time Gang Starr partner DJ Premier had a falling out seven years ago and were no longer close, but the entire musical community mourns the passing of this legend. Here are a pair of classic tracks in honor of the fallen.

Gang Starr - Militia (Remix)
Gang Starr - Work

New Music Monday!

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in the world, she walks into one with wi-fi, and visits my blog. And, of all the days in all the weeks of the year, she does it on New Music Monday!

The excellent new BSS album, Forgiveness Rock Record, has leaked, and you can listen to a free, high-quality, completely legal stream of it over at NPR. "Chase Scene", offering a look at their more dramatic side, is one of the highlights of the album's hyperactive first half.

Broken Social Scene - Chase Scene

I offer this track to give you the tip early - B.O.B. is in the process of releasing an album (release date moved UP to April 27 because of how hot he is currently) that is generating a lot of buzz. I don't think he is a particularly standout MC, but this single, featuring a chorus from the lead singer of Paramore (meh), is going to be everywhere soon, so you may as well listen to it now and form your opinion.

B.O.B. - Airplanes (f/Hayley Williams of Paramore)

Swedish troubador Kristian Matsson, recording under the moniker The Tallest Man on Earth, is sure to evoke Bob Dylan comparisons upon first listen. With repeat listens, it's clear that he is a worthy inhabitant of the weathered voice, nimble finger-picking and singer-songwriter genre that Dylan gave us, and "A Lion's Heart" offers all you could ask for in this vein.

The Tallest Man On Earth - A Lion's Heart

Chiddy Bang are a group of Philly college kids who just plain get hip-hop today. They're up to speed on quality, innovative electronic production and MC Chidera Anamege has an impressively polished flow. On the brand new Air Swell mixtape, they chop up beats and vocals from "Skeleton" by adorable Brit Kate Nash and "One Life Stand" by Hot Chip for this pair of party-starters.

Chiddy Bang - Breakfast (f/Kate Nash)
Chiddy Bang - Hey London (f/Hot Chip)

The next track dropped from the upcoming Band of Horses LP, Infinite Arms, I can't claim to be impressed by "Factory." It is pretty, yes, but only in a generic way that makes me think they sense a chance to follow in Death Cab for Cutie's footsteps and are making a quick cash grab using easily manipulated teenage hearts.

Band of Horses - Factory

The National drop another track from upcoming release High Violet, this time with ethereal back-up vocals from Sufjan Stevens. "Afraid of Everyone" is typically slow-building, with an understated brassy backing. Expect a very mature album (no surprise from these guys).

The National - Afraid of Everyone

Blur released their first song together in seven years (!) this past Saturday, as a Record Store Day exclusive. They only pressed 1000 vinyl 7-inch singles, but are offering it as a free download as well, so judge for yourself how Damon Albarn and company are holding up following detours into Gorillaz, Chinese opera, solo careers and seven years of life.

Blur - Fool's Day

Chicago DJ drops an advance track from his upcoming release, Dynasty, and wisely taps Dragonette vocalist Martina Sorbara to play siren over his beats. Love her delivery on the consonance-heavy line "I'm going rococo with sequins in the summer."

Kaskade - Fire In Your New Shoes (f/Dragonette)