This has been an excellent week for new music! And by that, I mean new-new as well as just new-to-me. Let's start with the new-new stuff.
New Jams
In the interest of readability, I'm providing links rather than embedded players. It also seems right to link to the sources where I discovered this stuff, rather than try to claim it as my own.
First up, we have, at long last, the debut EP from sexy, heartfelt Aussie duo Garçon Garçon. I've been enjoying their song Stay In Touch for a while now, as it's got that inexplicably perfect blend of upbeat synths, sad lyrics, and earnest vocal delivery we've loved for going on thirty years now. The five-track EP expands on that sound, giving us a danceable plea for companionship (Take Me Out), a gritty ditty featuring a verse from Cazwell (Hollywood Song), and wistful—and blessedly non-gender-neutral—longing for love (Maybe Tonight). Give the EP a listen and buy it; these guys deserve the support!
Next, rising star Moxiie dropped a Valentine's Day bombshell of a song on the world. As a followup to her stunning "Jungle Pop" EP, Everything To Me is a smooth, bouncy ode to devotion. It's a free download, so go get it and get into the Moxiie groove.
Bright Light Bright Light, the source of all things disco momentous, gave us a Valentine's Day mixtape that included his delightful remix of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" which he then made available by itself. The remix takes an already brilliant song, which has seen its share of excellent remixes, and transports it back to the dance floor of 1994. And that is by every measure an excellent thing. It makes me that much more eager for Bright Light Bright Light's full-length album, which should see release in the coming months. Check out Gotye's "Making Mirrors" on Rdio.
Other stuff that made me lose my shit this week:
- An astonishingly good mashup of Robyn's "Dancing On My Own" with Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know?" – I'm still shaken up about Whitney Houston's death. The world has lost a truly excellent talent, though it could be said that talent was lost to drug addiction years ago.
- Monarchy's remix of "Lights" by Josh Beech and the Johns
- Sweden's Smith & Thell deliver hotness with "Kill It With Love".
- Another Swedish pop star, Darin, delivers dance-pop perfection with "Nobody Knows" – I've said before and I'll say it again: I really should just move to Sweden.
- San Francisco's Midi Matilda drops a moody, catchy EP available in multiple download formats, and they're letting you set your own price. This is the wave of the future! Go listen to and buy Red Light District now.
New to me
I discovered K.Flay last year when she opened for Casio Kids at Cafe du Nord and was mesmerized. This girl has got it all. What I didn't know is that she'd already put out one EP, and now she has another. I bought both, and they're fantastic.
Karmin performed on Saturday Night Live last weekend, though you wouldn't know it if you watched the episode on Hulu or bought it on Amazon; music performances are often cut out from the post-broadcast digital versions. Why the labels and publishers insist on doing that is beyond me, because I see it as limiting the artist's exposure. Nevertheless, I looked for Karmin's performances and found them on Vevo, and they're fantastic. (Never mind the terrible website.) Everything is available on Rdio, too.
Lastly, I don't know how I managed to live through the 80's as a synth-pop fan without discovering the music of Ultravox. Listening to their best-of on Rdio this week, I was kicking myself for missing it when it first happened. Happily, it's all available there, and it provides a great musical history lesson. For instance, I had no idea that Infernal's "Vienna" was actually an Ultravox original. Learn something new every day! Happily, the news is that the almost-original lineup is working on a new album, so if we're lucky, they'll strike the same gold OMD did with their recent album History of Modern.
Dance on, my friends!
