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Foamo | Foamo.net Mixtape

I still cannot fathom how more people haven't heard of Kye Gibbon, the UK producer known as Foamo. Over the past couple years Foamo has been smashing the HypeMachine charts time and time again with his excellent remixes [Major Lazer, La Roux, Man Like Me] and his equally banging solo tracks ["Rockerman", "Everything Cool", "Wardance", etc.]

At the ripe age of 22, Foamo has enjoyed an ongoing residency at The Fat! Club in London, crafting his signature sound that combines the primal force of jungle/garage/grime beats with wobbly fidget-house bass. [Coachella missed the boat again in bringing over some woefully repetitive 'dubstep' over this guy]
His first Fat! Club mix was an instant classic and to celebrate his new website going live, Foamo has resurfaced with another free mix that showcases his eclectic taste and his unique ability to venture all over the spectrum of his favorite genres. Perfect for grimy dance parties.

Download: Yeasayer | I Remember EP

I got so much love to give. The music industry has offered several Valentine's gifts today, all of which are substantially better than candy hearts that taste like colored chalk. (Yes, we've all tried colored chalk.)

Yeasayer continue to win my undying love by offering yet another free download, and this time it comes in the form of a FREE EP of their latest single + remixes, featuring the Odd Blood cut "I Remember", along with an official video for the song. The band also announced a summer tour with a convenient gap in their June itinerary that would be excellent for a Bonnaroo appearance. [EDIT: apparently this made too much sense.]

  

In other news, Radiohead resumed world domination by announcing their newest LP entitled The King of Limbs which releases in a mere five days. [Saturday, February 19th] Sadly, it is not free this time.  At this point it sounds like 2k11 is already saved, and that Carles may have been justified in lamenting over 2k10. Only Radiohead could overshadow Arcade Fire winning Best Album, free Yeasayer, and upcoming records from Panda Bear and the Strokes. Happy Valentines Day to you too, Thom.

The Strokes | "Under Cover of Darkness"

The first single from the Strokes' equivalent of Chinese Democracy, entitled Angles, is now available on their website as a free download. The song is called "Under Cover of Darkness" and begins to confirm the return to their Is This It form that the music world has been craving for so long. Listen to a stream below, and don't fight the urge to high-five everyone in the room.

Stream: Toro y Moi | Underneath The Pine

This ain't your father's chillwave. That is, if you were born last year, when Toro y Moi's Causers of This was released. Cementing his spot on the chillwave Mt. Rushmore, creator Chaz Bundick showed prodigious glimpses of his knack for funky, danceable jams on tracks like "Talamak" and the chillwave flag-bearer "Blessa." Chaz has decided to move past the heavily-sampling methods on Causers of This to a fleshed-out disco vibe on his sophomore LP, Underneath the Pine. The album is now streaming in full over at the Urban Outfitters blog, and it also contains an interview with Chaz about the record. [LINK]

[Click to stream Underneath The Pine]

After the jump: check out the awesome DIY-flavored videos from the first two tracks to leak off of the LP, "Still Sound" and "New Beat." [joyous dance moves]

Review: Cut Copy | Zonoscope

One of my favorite cliche quotes about dance music is, "Some people dance to remember. Some people dance to forget."
I remember seeing the quote earlier in 2k10 and realizing that for the emotional spectrum that is dance music, these really are the two options. Cut Copy avoids this trend on their ambitious new album Zonoscope, which releases February 8th on Modular. [Preorder here] Citing a new direction for their sound, the band moves away from the psychadelic synths of their first record Bright Like Neon Love and further explore the territory from their previous record, In Ghost Colours. Rather than forgetting or remembering, Cut Copy dance for foresight and understanding on Zonoscope.

[Full review and album stream after the jump]

MGMT | Live At Le Bataclan 10/8/2010

Welcome back. I have been incessantly busy the past few weeks with the minutia known as a college education, but in that period I found time to travel to the future and listen to the forthcoming Cut Copy album Zonoscope (more on this LP later). Needless to say, I now understand why a Delorean was chosen for time travel rather than the fixed-gear I've been using.

Since rejoining society I got word that MGMT released a live EP of a show in France from 2010. Upon questing for said EP I ended up finding a lovely bootleg from the first night of their 2010 shows at Le Bataclan in Paris, France that contains the full set from the evening rather than the five song offering on the EP. The quality is surprisingly crisp for a bootleg, and the setlist is made up of a good balance of cuts from Congratulations and Oracular Spectacular. While many bemoan MGMT and their fickle relationship with the live setting, I have found their live performances only to have improved musically every time I watch them play, and this bootleg is a testament to their ever-improving skills of instrumentation. It makes for a great listen for any MGMT fan and a nice complement to the stellar Daytrotter session released earlier in January.

Download the full set and check the setlist after the jump.

The Hood Internet | Trillwave

[via Mishka]

As it continues to get unbearably colder, there is always a need for some sunny jams to soundtrack the weekend. This mixtape comes from The Hood Internet, perennial top 100 residents on Hype Machine for their prolifically clever mashups. Trillwave, commissioned by Mishka, is a very obvious combination of chillwave (and other indie) with some of the hottest hip-hop verses, making for a much more enjoyable version of Girl Talk if you are the type who prefers some more obscure beats to be sampled. (All Day can get pretty old after the 58th spin...) Or maybe you just like mashups. 

Download it here

Tracklist after the jump

Coachella 2k11 Lineup!

The time has finally come. Here is the lineup poster for the 2k11 edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, also known as the best three days of the year.

Personally I am thrilled at the inclusion of acts such as The Twelves (!!!!!), Delorean, Kanye West, The Strokes, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire (finally getting their deserved headlining slot) and the bevy of incredible electronic artists that will fill out the remainder of the Sahara Tent lineup. Once again Goldenvoice has delivered a lineup sure to make for another unforgettable weekend. Look for Kanye's closing set Sunday night to be something truly spectacular.

Who are you most excited to see?

Panda Bear | 'Tomboy' Release Date Announced

The long awaited, finally completed, album from the Animal Collective member, Panda Bear, has a release date via his own record label, Pawtracks. Tomboy is expected to be released April 19. It will include the tracks previously released as singles (and a forth single being released soon via Kompakt), except "all the tracks have been added to" and newly mixed by the former Spaceman 3 member, Sonic Boom, who also produced MGMT's last album, Congratulations.

The singles released so far by Panda Bear after the jump…

Album of the Week | Cape Dory - Tennis

For every Christmas in July, there must be an album like Cape Dory, the debut LP from Colorado couple Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, better known as Tennis. The album [out now via Fat Possum records] accomplishes the same rare feat Surfer Blood did almost exactly a year ago: crystallize a chunk of summer adventure that even in the heart of winter transports the listener to a sunnier destination, somewhere off the coast of civilization. As previously noted, Tennis garnered as much buzz as any upstart band in 2k10, and with Cape Dory they validated the hype, producing one of the first great albums of 2k11.
[full review after the jump]

[photo by Joe McCabe, denverpost.com/reverb]

The Third Twin | Homemade

Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory. The full story can be read over at Consequence of Sound. The Sparknotes version: a group has surfaced mysteriously on YouTube and their music has a Daft Punk quality to it. The videos and songs on this page were enough to convince many (myself included) that Daft Punk has leaked a new album as The Third Twin. If The Third Twin really are Daft Punk, this will go down as one of the single most brilliant marketing schemes of all time. If not, the music is still strikingly beautiful, and deserves attention for being interesting enough to evoke such comparisons. Is Homemade the new Homework? Check out a couple videos below, see more on their YouTube channel, and grab the zip file of the songs here to decide for yourself.

"Evil Minds"

"This Is Love"

Dubsquids | NYE Blowout Mix

New Year's Eve. A 'huge' party night and a great time for those Dj's out there to prove their worthiness. On that night, I was fortunate enough to catch Dubsquids a project formed by Dj Prism & Ben Bratton on the drums. Dj Prism labled them as "a 'Drum and Decks' duo out of Northern Kentucky" who has been "rocking parties since 2008." Dj Prism is currently a resident DJ at many Louisville clubs, and Ben Bratton plays jazz bars in Cincinnati.

We have been gifted/blessed/lucky to post the URL to download the "NYE Blowout Mix" a dance/dubstep New Year's Eve set featuring almost too many 'relevant' dance/rap/indie/electro tracks. The mix runs at about 73 minutes of party bliss, and is sure to please. It's a dance party mp3 for all the iTunes libraries out there...

Click here to download Dubsquids' New Year's Eve set.

Album art after the jump…

Jamie xx | In The Mix for BBC Radio 1. "I'll Take Care Of U"

Jamie xx, the sick 'drummer' from The xx, just dropped this dope, on-forever-repeat, mix for Benji B's show last night on BBC Radio 1 [via Pinglewood]. This mix includes tracks/remixes from Beach House, James Blake, Mount Kimbie, Adele, as well as some Jamie xx originals (a killer DJ Choko's "Stealth Drums" to "Far Nearer" mash) and ending with a classic Gil Scott Heron & Jamie xx collaboration.

Jamie xx - In The Mix for Benji B on BBC Radio 1 [via Hypetrak]


Full tracklist as well as a new track, "I'll Take Care Of U," from the forthcoming Gil Scott-Heron remix joint We’re New Here out via XL Records February 22 after the jump...

Album of the Week | † - Justice

Timing is everything. Justice understood this fact upon achieving the massive success of their debut album †. It was too easy to cash in and release a filler sequel in 2008. But as more time elapsed, fans and detractors alike wondered if they would ever return. After all, no act has energized or polarized the electronic music scene with the fanfare of Justice since Daft Punk were still making albums rather than film scores. The last known signs of life for their follow-up came on June 19th, 2010, in the form of an interview with Ed Banger head honcho Busy P from Australian site In The Mix, where Pedro had this to say regarding the new record:

“They actually started to work on it not that long ago,” Busy P revealed. “They started on the first parts of it about two months ago, so we’re going to give them some more time to keep working on it.”

While Pedro wouldn’t go into specifics about how far Justice had progressed with album number two, he stressed that he wasn’t putting any pressure on the duo to power through the recording process.

“I keep telling them that I don’t want them to rush things, because at Ed Banger we are free, we can do it our own way,” he explained. “From me being the boss of the label they have all the time that they need.”

“If they need another year to make a record then I would give it to them,” Pedro added, likely sending chills down the electro community’s collective spine. “People always say ‘we’re waiting for the new Justice’, but if you look at some artists like Beastie Boys or Daft Punk, they sometimes take four years between albums, so we’re still on time with Justice. I’m confident in their skills and if the album is out in 2011 then I will be happy.”

This quote certainly whetted the appetite of fans, who could take solace in knowing only a proper sequel would be released if such a large break was needed to achieve their desired vision. Another smart move from Justice and Ed Banger is their reluctance to appear in social media as so many other bands do incessantly with the advent of Twitter as the chief source of musical information and interaction. By avoiding the temptation to stay in the public eye at all times, they have avoided becoming a band reduced to "the people who play that one song from that car commercial." (still a great way to get promoted, but a discussion for another day)


By keeping this mystique and anonymity in an age where everyone instantly knows everything, Justice have the opportunity to keep their artistic integrity and to release an album that will only bolster their career rather than declare it officially fizzled. The latest signs of life from Justice come from Steve Aoki's Twitter feed, where he hinted at new Justice music being spun at Pier 10 in Puerto Rico as recently as last night (January 5th).


The reason this all matters? † (Cross as it had to be renamed by the record company) was one of the most important albums of the recently concluded decade. The album is a microcosm of everything exciting happening in modern music. Consider the following elements:

• Sampling - The kids love mash-ups. Girl Talk gave away his album for free and yet was able to quit a biomedical engineering job to do a national tour. His craft? Samples. † is full of them, and when released it was rumored that there were as many as 300 uncleared samples present in the record. This kind of underground songwriting is at the forefront of music and the use of nostalgia as an expressive weapon only continues to enhance the life of young bands (James Blake, Twin Shadow, Tennis, etc.)
• Branding - In 2k11, branding is more important than ever. The internet is the last frontier of commerce and industry, and Justice is a product of this movement. Gaspard and Xavier both worked as graphic designers before they became rock stars with turntables. Consider also the album artwork, with it's bold logo both expressing a theme of the album (a disco-opera) and simply just being an amazing, iconic image. Think the xx cover. Also, Ed Banger Records maintain their chic through their Cool Cats blog family. How many other labels have cult followings for their fashion lines? Justice are the ones who made all of the hype possible in the first place.
• Fusion of genres - What exactly do you call this music? Why do we label music in the first place? Hybridization has become standard fare for bands yearning to get noticed in the Twitter era. † fits the mold perfectly, sampling over 400 albums, including hip-hop and metal samples, to create a concept album that is both stunning artistically yet works more effectively for the dance floor. Such a bold venture has not been accomplished in electronica to such widespread acclaim since Daft Punk. The effects? Everyone remembers how fun D.A.N.C.E. parties are. And yes, now you always spell it out. 

† is a landmark album. A new generation of electro imitators have followed, but if all goes according to plan, you can witness the triumphant return of Justice in 2k11. But for now, just throw this record on and lose yourself in the show. 

New Daytrotter Sessions | MGMT, Twin Shadow

Daytrotter.com has established itself as one of the definitive curators of new music, recording songs with the hottest new bands, releasing them for free, and always showing a knack for promoting bands at the cusp of achieving much larger success with their expressive writing. Their good taste continues to show through in some of their newest sessions, including a set from the ever-divisive MGMT and the prodigious 80's revival from George Lewis Jr. and Twin Shadow.
Stream a song from each of the sets below and check out the excellent write-ups for both bands along with the full sets and download links on the Daytrotter page.

MGMT | Song For Dan Treacy


Twin Shadow | Shooting Holes


Twin Shadow is currently on tour across the U.S. and is coming to Motr Pub to play a FREE show this Saturday, January 15th. Best believe I will see you all there.