Gold Panda, Lucky Shiner

Sorry about my absence. Not, it's not because I somehow manage to be lazy in almost every aspect of my life (which is true) but rather it's because I've been unrealistically busy the past couple months of my young life.

To clear things up, I have spent my time (since my last post until now) listening to some of the best music that might have ever crossed my eardrums. I want to inform you. I NEED to inform you.

My top band lately, the one that is synced into every iPod playlist, stuck in my head like those annoying McDonald commercials, and vivid in my dreams, sparkles like silver and shines like gold....



GOLD PANDA that is, if I am not being clear enough.

I could not have asked for anything else in the band. It's got me hooked on Indian and Oriental sounding music, which I must admit is a first for me.

The mastermind behind the works of Gold Panda is a man with a similar name; Derwin Panda. All the way from Chelmsford, Essex, this one-man team spawned a new wave of experimental electronic.



The music has got me thinking about distorted sounds, not catchy jingles.
About the melodies, not the lyrics.
The way music flows and moves through time, not the landmarks of music with lyrics.
It's not about singing along to a song but rather feeling the song.

Gold Panda sounds like an easy combination between Animal Collective, The Dharohar Project, and slivers of smashed-up vinyl. The music is choppy, dreamy, quick, beautifully repetitive- a swirly mix of colorful sounds. It makes me want to grab a raincoat from my closet, slip it on, and dance in a hazy rainy day, stomping around in oil-stained puddles of water. Or maybe grab my camera, grab my friends, and spend a day dancing around in the scents and the kaleidoscope of autumn colors.

Favorites:
You
Quitters Raga
Snow And Taxis

Top 10 Music Videos

Since we're heading towards the tail end of the year, the temperature drops along with the snow. The holidays are impending and this is my little gift for all of you. Ten of my most cherished music videos from an assortment of my favorite artists. Not all necessarily new, but all truly beautiful.

1. Decisions, How To Dress Well

Children in Indian headdresses, clowns, colors galore, with an ambient soundtrack. This video is emotional and easy on the eyes.

2. Mouthful of Diamonds, Phantogram

Eerie winter trees, spotlights on the snowy lawn, and synchronized head movements all taking place in a cozy cabin. Oh, not the mention, the beautiful Sarah Barthel in an amazing dress I'd love to wear on New Years.

3. Quitters Raga, Gold Panda

This unofficial music video makes me want to jump back into the fall season, jump back into my memories, jump back to those moments I consider the best of times.

4. Elephant Gun, Beirut

With a trumpet in hand, Zach Condon from Beirut creates a romantic, hypnotizing circus in a room full of confetti and ballerinas.

5. Welcome Home, Radical Face

Foggy memories, garage jamming, trampoline jumping, forest wandering. He seems so oddly content being alone. I just want to jump in and join him.

6. Little Bit, Lykke Li

She oozes of coolness! Can I be her please? And can we all dance now?

7. I Must Belong Somewhere, Bright Eyes

I feel so bad for this figurine. This stop motion short film tells the tale of happy endings.

8. Alligator, Tegan and Sara

The sisters become hibernating Eskimos inside their garbage bag igloo wearing crazy knit head wraps while it snows glitter. I want to make glitter angels, too!

9. For Emma (A Capella), Bon Iver

And I thought real, live talent had been lost.

10. Why Don't You, Gramophonedzie

The dream girl comes to life. and even helps clean your room. and gives you a makeover.

enjoy :)

Glasser

Combine bands like School of Seven Bells, Beach House and Bat for Lashes, toss in a bongo, maybe some heartfelt shrieks here and there. Let’s just add of one of those trippy kaleidoscopes for fun and top it off with my recent purchase- a Native American headdress. The result will likely resemble the musical recipe crafted by Glasser.

The lead singer, Cameron Mesirow, recently released her debut album Ring in September 2010. Freshly introduced to the music-market, the album induces a sublime/dreamlike trance. You can visualize an assembly of drummers circling a fire, or maybe it will take you back to a chilly early winter day. The music is hard to describe because it’s enlivening yet transcendent but always powerfully detailed. Mesirow’s voice remains steadily romantic throughout most her album but can invoke full emotions when she inserts her high-pitched yelps in songs such as “Apply”.

Mesirow is a one-woman-team and I respect that. I respect talented independence. I also respect the fact that: One; we have the same idol, Joni Mitchell, Two; she records her music using GarageBand, and Three; her father is a member of the Blue Man Group.

I can’t get enough of this new discovery. I can honestly say that I listen to “Home” hourly, embarrassingly sing-along with “Glad” in my car, and can be heard blasting “Apply” in my apartment. I bet my neighbors hate me and those who pass me on the road scoff at me. Fair enough though, fair enough.

Grab your musical instruments, clear your throat for some fun-filled shrilling, and prepare yourself for Glasser.

Favorite Songs (as I've already mentioned):

Home

Glad

Apply

out in the thunder

opens my eyes wide

there is something in my mind

keeps me up all night.

Photo Courtesy

Stepdad

Stepdad makes me feel as though I’m being tossed back in time; a time when video cameras weighed as much as miniature automobiles and headphones invaded bystander's personal space.

The music created by Stepdad is a fashionable version of the 80's. I’m not saying that Rubik’s cubes, the Ninja Turtles, legwarmers, and bump-it bangs are not trendy, but Stepdad captures the prime attributes of that generation- the synthesizers and tacky sweaters- and adds a touch of humor. They layer synthetic music, drums, antique keyboards, and their patent high-pitched dyadic choir to create something inventive for today's indie music scene yet strangely familiar to those who lived through the 80's.

On a side note, I deeply appreciate their love of cat's, their beautiful yet archaic way of creating music videos, and their face paint. It reminds me of all those amazingly trendy and creative hipsters that I was always jealous of. Maybe I still am jealous.

This group is dear to my heart because it represents my tender town of Grand Rapids. The two members, Ultramark and CobraZebra (whoever they may be) traveled from Chicago and landed further east in a small town. They then started growing brilliant music from the ground beneath my feet. And I am grateful for this.

Stepdad's first EP Ordinaire which was released this year has changed my life. They make me want to dance like it was 1980. Allow it to change yours. So you can dance like it were the 1980's too... for free. Download it here. Do it.

Favorite Songs:

Jungles

My Leather, My Fur, My Nails

Cutie Boots

We belong to place, to places

strong and brave, courageous

our tiger faces

Keep your eyes peeled for their first full-length album, “Wildlife Pop” which will be released hopefully by the end of the year!

Photo Courtesy of http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=491108186&albumID=0&imageID=12844333

Toro y Moi

I want to skip fireworks across a flat pond. I want to be a pyro starting things on fire just to cause a vibrant fog. I want to venture out into the endless autumn wilderness. I want to successfully rock-out colossal circular frames. But most importantly I want to be as cool as Chazwick Bundick, the lead singer for Toro y Moi, in his video “Talamak.”

This 23 years old pioneer in the chillwave movement is similar to the likes of some of my favorites; Phantogram, Washed Out, Neon Indian, and Small Black. Chaz’s newest album, "Causers of This" was released in January 2010 but has since then started up a side-project under the name of Les Sins

Toro y Moi- a puzzling name with enlightening music- is the concoction of playful yet whimsical background beats and distorted, dreamlike chants that have had a heartbeat injected into their veins.

Favorite Songs:
Talamak
Low Shoulders
Blessa



I feel another timer,
With my life, slow down.
Slow it down.
It's my body's plan


Check out Chaz’z photography blog here
Check out other chillwave artists here

photo courtesy of www.prettymuchamazing.com

Mumford & Sons

Fall is approaching. Summer is wrapping up and standing next in line is that prevailing autumn wind- resulting in a flood of kaleidoscopic leaves- leaving many yearning for warmth once again. Fortunatly, I am prepared with the perfect fall album specifically designed to help those cope with this michigan season transition.

Mumford and Sons, a group started in 2007, is causing a stir in the London music Scene and is now saturating North America. Their most recent album “Sigh No More,” was finally available in the US in February of 2010.

This is music for the passionate. It's a collaboration of beautiful lyrics, rich instrumentals, and a memorable vocals. The infusion of folk, country and bluegrass create a perfect recipe for powerful music. What I find most intriguing about this band (apart from the animated and purposeful use of instruments) is their ability to rotate who plays what. Each member is musically talented in several instruments that they can simply switch instruments in the middle of a concert; this group is a true collection of passionate musicians, which is hard to find these days. I couldn't imagine a better combination in music.

“Sigh No More” is currently on repeat on my beloved record player and I doubt I will ever get enough of it. These rich folkey tunes are a simply perfect pair with apple cider, cozy sweatshirts, and pumpkin carving. So cuddle up, drink up and turn this brilliant music up. :)

Favorite songs on the album:
Little Lion Man
White Blank Page
Winter Winds

Lead me to the truth and I

will follow you with my whole lie.

photo courtesy of www.thebluewalrus.com