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]

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

Teen Daze////////All In My Brain

As the snow/my pre-finals homework/miscellaneous laundry items pile up, I find myself hesitant to dive into a steady listening cycle of Christmas chunes. (Sufjan/dubstep Santa, I'll be ready soon enough) Instead I've been opting for summery nostalgic jams, (Contra is apparently even better as a winter album as a summer album - seriously) and this music fits in perfectly. Like any buzzing buzzband worth their salt, Canadian bedroom project Teen Daze instantly transports the listener to a nameless beach, and leaves me feeling as if I woke up to the tide lapping at my heels. I realize I have nothing better to do, and roll over and continue imagining this music in my cranium. That kind of nostalgia.

Here's a highlight from their lovely debut Four More Years called "Shine On, You Crazy White Cap"


On November 30th the band released a new EP fittingly entitled Beach Dreams on their bandcamp site.
It's available via a pay-what-you-want pricing scheme or as a free download with an email address.
Stream it/download it below:

For more Teen Daze and a blurb about the new EP from the band, check after the jump

TV Girl

The chillwaves are here to stay, and San Diego provides the newest darling of the genre, a project entitled TV Girl. The band consists of Trung Ngo on guitar, keyboards, and backup vocals and Brad Petering on lead vocals. Their eponymous debut EP is available on their bandcamp website as a free download. Standout track "I Don't Care" fits right into the chillwave canon, preaching lo-fi vibes to create a track worthy of being the soulmate of "Local Joke." Check out the 4-track EP below.

Covered in Nostalgia: Gold Panda's Debut, 'Lucky Shiner'

It's that feeling when you first walk outside and feel the fresh fall air breezes across your face. When you think of home. When you get in your car and play that old '90s song that you used to hear in the van on the way to swim practice… The subject of nostalgia has been a hit all year, it's all over Vampire Weekend's second LP, it's even where they got the name for it: Contra -- an old video game the band used to play. James Blake's CMKY is built off of 90s R&B sampling, and he doesn't even try to hide it. It's right there in our face, it's what his songs are built by. Kanye West's first single off his upcoming album, "Power", the Chi-town rapper, samples from King Crimson's "21st Century Schiziod Man." And again, he's not trying to hide it. The Texas-based blog, Gorilla vs Bear's web design is from old Polaroid pictures. Our obsession with nostalgia is us trying to capture the past. It's so relevant in music because music is struggling to find a new path. There are hundreds of genres as opposed to 60 years ago when you could could count the amount of genres with your hands and still have enough fingers to snap to the very new rock 'n' roll sound.

Now the debut from the British electronic producer, Gold Panda, is covered with it. The album's opening track "You" begins with the sound of putting a cassette in a vintage tape player over the quiet atmospheric synth beats no doubt sampled from a once beloved 80's electronic track. He repeats a sample of any beat over and over again throughout the album. This is especially prevalent in "Vanilla Minus," "Same Dream China" and "Snow & Taxes" where you can just picture the producer playing his AkaiMPC2000XL like Chris Martin playing the same rift for "Clocks." In an interview with Pitchfork, Gold Panda said this about sampling songs, "If I'm ripping off something that's already brilliant, what's the point?" Sampling is the nostalgic feeling in music. It's old, but there's something fresh about it. Here the feeling reminds you of a quiet night. Nothing new. Nothing special.

The night's darkness surrounds everyone. Gold Panda's music is surrounding. The music feels like it's made in a bedroom. It's the 'bedroom beat' genre, the autumn/winter version of 'chillwave.' With Nighttime sounds of planes flying above while you're trying to sleep. The beat, however, keeps you up and moving, asking for more. The beat is on repeat. Over and over. Spinning it's ambiance of night. "I'm With you but I'm Lonely" is exactly what it says. The music is there, echoing, but there's something missing. The album has this sense of loneliness around it. A sense of your daily routines, what you do every night before bed. You brush your teeth. Wash your face. Read a few pages of that book you can't really get it into. Lay in bed. Watch the fan circle over and over again. You feel lonely. The album hits it's high point with this statement.

The track, "Parents" seems to stand out. It's sound resembles a live recording of any acoustic guitar set. It's a universal sound. The track's opening words, (the only words you can ((barely)) make out in the album) is that of the producer's grandmother after whom Lucky Shiner is named. Nostalgic for the British producer. Nostalgic acoustic reverb for the listener.

The opening track, "You' has the same name as the closing track although the sound is different. It's much happier. It's processes an engulfing rhythm. As if 'you' have changed, for the better or worse, it's hard to say. The sun will rise bringing a new day either way.

Fucking Crushing It. A Rhodes Music Story.

I'm the newest writer on the HNW team. Fucking deal with it. I'm crushing it. I go by Rhodes. Only because that's my middle name and I'm already not playing by the 'rules'. [via rules RLLY contain my creativity, like bars do when you're in jail]
Back 2 Basics. I'm a college student majoring in the arts. I listen to music a solid 16 hours a day. I'll cut STRGHT to the good stuff: Top 5 favorite albums by artist who are still writing good music: 1) Animal Collective 'Feels' 2) Animal Collective 'Strawberry Jam' 3) Animal Collective 'Merriweather Post Pavilion' 4) Animal Collective 'Sung Tungs' and 5) Panda Bear 'Person Pitch'. I kidd. But I am a huge 'AnCo' fan. Hands down best band around today, and it's scary how close you can compare them to The Beatles. Also, side note, really looking forward to the new Avey Tare album.
In all reality we're all fans of the Radioheads and we live in a Radiohead-ruled world. ((If you don't believe me just wait for them to drop their next LP, they'll change the music world yet again.)) And Daft Punk of course… [via didn't want 2 break 2many rules on my first post/throwing Daft Punk in here will always win some votes w/the readers].
Right now I'm still riding the 'chillwaves' provided by the 'chill-trio' of Washed Out, Toro y Moi, and Neon Indian. But I'm also getting into the 'bedroom beats' of 2k10 with Gold Panda, Beat Connection, and maybe Small Black. It'll be interesting to see how this Brooklyn-based band fare on their debut LP 'New Chain' out 10/26.
Alright heres what you want:

My Top 5 Singles of 2k10 (So Far):
5) 'You and I' Washed Out (feat. Caroline Polachek)
4) 'Marathon' Tennis
3) 'Slow Motion' Panda Bear
2) 'Monster' Kanye West (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver & Nicki Minaj)
1) 'Runaway' Kanye West (feat. Pusha T)

My 'Top 10' albums (LP or EP) of 2k10 (So Far):
Honorable Mention:
- Matthew Dear 'Black City'
- MGMT 'Congratulations'
- Black Keys 'Brothers'
- The Radio Dept. 'Clinging to a Scheme'
10) Liars 'Sisterworld'
9) Titus Andronicus 'The Monitor'
8) Sleigh Bells 'Treats'
7) Vampire Weekend 'Contra'
6) Gold Panda 'Lucky Shiner'
5) Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti 'Before Today'
4) Sufjan Stevens 'The Age of Adz'
3) LCD Soundsystem 'This is Happening'
2) James Blake 'CMKY - EP'
1) Beat Connection 'Surf Noir - EP'

///////Thanks 4 Reading

Chillwavves Flood Southgate House: Neon Indian Concert Review

Last night, Newport venue Southgate House hosted Neon Indian, one third of the chillwave holy trinity. Their debut album Psychic Chasms has been in constant rotation since its release, and after missing their set at Bonnaroo this year (damn RV detours!), I relished the chance to see Alan Palomo and company at such an intimate venue.

Charlie and I proceeded to treat the night like any normal Sunday: play Captain Dickhead (thanks Rachel Gordon), round up some lovely ladies, and make Tito drive us, dancing excessively all the while. Shows at Southgate are always memorable thanks to it's small size, and this show was particularly great due to a energized crowd that had the space and energy to erupt into a dance party for the entire set. (Another great aspect of Southgate shows: inevitably running into band members while taking a piss. At least 5 times last night.)

The place is old school

The recorded sounds of chillwave are fuzzy and faded, sounding as if they were dug up from an 80's time capsule and played underwater. In a live setting, however, the songs took on a new life, as each layer resounded through the old ballroom. Starting off strong with "Terminally Chill" (Charlie and I seemed to be the only ones providing terribly off-key backup vocals) the mostly college-age crowd grooved along to a set consisting of most of Psychic Chasms material.

so chill

They also played their newest track, "Sleep Paralysist", which was commissioned by Mountain Dew's Green Label Sound project. (So far I think Mountain Dew > Converse in the whole "companies-as-record-labels" scenario, since "Post Acid" and "Sleep Paralysist" are much better tracks than "All Summer Long". Bleh.)

Momentum built perfectly throughout the evening, with Palomo's dreamy vocals and the rest of the band's impeccable chemistry and stage presence entertaining throughout. One of the coolest parts of their live setup was the LED guitar used by lead guitarist Ronald Gierhart. It was the perfect complement to their sound and a unique visual effect that further captivated the mesmerized audience. "Deadbeat Summer" and "Ephemeral Artery" brought it home, and everyone left soaked in fresh chillwaves, reveling in unforgettable good vibes and a new set of musical memories. This is not a band to be missed.

Alan Palomo, chillin' hard

Next up : MUSE! Updates coming tomorrow.