Pulsating Vein

Tight schedules and lots of international time zone callings later, I can feel a weird pulse near my jugular vein. It can't be healthy. I should probably get some stress management or something. I guess thats why I listen to the music I do.

Jamie Isaac, London based maestro released Softly Draining Seas. And as the name suggests, its a piece of beautiful ambience music. Lazy vocals and a clicking strumming beat. The vocals become more apparent as the song progresses. Looking forward to seeing this guy live!

No Ceremony ///. Gotta say it was the /// that got me interested. But this song, Hurtlove is a beauty. Check out the video too, pretty awesome. The strong repetitive piano is met with a lovely building beat that explodes and resonates. I'm left wanting euphoric vocals at the end, but its controlled magically. More of a 'go' song. But not quite. Put's it in my music category. Its what gets that jugular vein pulsing.

Glo-Fi

Two lessons learnt from the weekend.  True happiness and joy can only come when the soul has nothing left to yearn. And a lesson about the ego. A beautiful but destructive thing. Nothing is more attractive than when the ego is sure of itself. And nothing is uglier than when the ego is obsessed with itself, tumultuous and over bearing. Drawing a line under my lessons, lets talk about truly joyous stuff, music.

Lo-fi, as you know is the one for me. But, I still like a good beat. And better than that, music which can take control of my current state and transform it to match the mood of its ambience. That's the power of music as an art. Treasure Seasons. Even the name excites me. Basically, a London/Sweden duo who make music 'inspired by the city'

Firstly, Secrets. Listen to this with a good system, or with a good set of headphones. Whirling swirling sounds are met with a thick beat. And then those synths. Are they the best you've heard in '13? The synths come together with the beat and swirling whirling stuff. Daydreaming. Repetitively. And suddenly I have forgotten everything else on my mind. I kind of fall into a trance and only get woken up once the track comes to an end. Desperately fumbling for replay button. And then. Escape. This is Glo-Fi

Fjords. Little droplets of water. And a brilliant, complex beat. I don't know what Ida sings about on this track. But the drops of water. The woody but polished beat. The synthy bridge. The humming. And those droplets. And that humming. And that beat. And thos droplets. Did I mention the drops and the beat and the humming and the synths? Yeah, that. Sick.

The Week-End

Basically after a pretty rough few days at work, I put it to an end today with a few sweeping statements with my bosses. This is my little weekend mix which I fully intend to rinse to get myself back on track.

1. Playing Truant - I don't know what Joshua Idehen goes on about in Playing Truant, but there are moments of magic a plenty on this soft dreamy track. Pale not to be confused with Pale vv is one of the freshest producers around. And he delivers on this. Big time. Kinda like spoken word but with a bass and beat that kinda makes you wanna move. Its ok. You can move.

2. A Little Sumthin - Bipolar Sunshine has been getting a lot of blog love recently for his recent releases Fire and Rivers. For me this is the standout. FTSE has had his say on this too. Smooth vocals, heavy bass, clicking along. I think I found it. You can be the only one.

3. Calling Me - Chillwave. Aquilo. Twinkle. Resonance. Calling. Me. And I wake up, its calling me on. I expect sun out, shades on, breeze. This is like the song you stick on after a big night. And drift.

4. Blue Out - I don't know much about Mohit. But what I do know, is the lazy vocals and the experimental arrangement before the beat kicks in at 55 seconds is a sound i could easily listen to a million times over. The beat gives the whole track a bit of fullness. That's not a bad thing. It's what makes this such a warm listening experience. Slow me down and sweep my feet of the ground. And then that guitar at 1.56 gets the teenage air guitar out in full force.

No Place Like Home

As I said a few days ago, work has been crap. Other things have been too, especially after a special weekend. A family death, stressful deadlines, a wind of change. I think that's what Lo-fi music was made for. Brooding, atmospheric and seriously contemplative.

It's been a real long time that I got heavily excited about new music. I mean its nice to stumble across stuff which pleases your ears for a few minutes. It's ridiculously rare that I come across a new band with whom I instantly fall in love with. But I have. I know it sounds like a massive big intro, but seriously, Watercullers aka Kris Lavin have smacked that void right up. So naturally, on their SoundCloud, I went down the track listing and every song I listened to hit the spot. I seriously suggest you listen to all of their music, but here are the three stand outs for me.

Repetitive Tape Jam - ok, no vocals, but puts you in that mood to just stare at the blank wall and think about stuff that doesn't exist.  0.59 to 1.27 magic moments with lovely guitar riffs

Window - 'I wanna lean outta windows with you' - have there been truer lyrics? Just a beautiful composition of supple undertones of pain. Sorrow. Yes, but it still makes me smile. 'Stand in silence with you'. Simply beautiful.

The Best Place to Live - A sample from Wizard of Oz or something, crazy play with that later and an amazing springy electro beat. Layered with hollow echoey vocals. Yes, please. Plenty of it. And that lovely glide into a song that sounds completely different. And that weird rumble thing. I love it. Then stripped back and...

Control

Slick production, smooth vocals and a feel good vibe. And I still wouldn't classify it as RnB. Siloet, a London outfit have put together a banger of a debut release. Control, kinda brings you back to 90's pop, with a little slice of garage beats and then theres those smooth as silk vocals. It shouldn't really work, but together, it sounds brilliant. Have a listen...

Together

Wasn't expecting to upload one from the mighty. A nice little surprise for a Wednesday evening.

I'm not a fan generally of songs written for movies. And this does veer a little off track with the symphonic minute or so from 4 mins onwards. But before that Romy's vocals are as sultry and atmospheric as ever. For a band that came from nowhere, to be playing a headline set at Coachella and now to get the nod to write from one of Hollywood's most anticipated releases, The Great Gatsby, must be a real thrill for the London trio that is The xx.

3.10 to 3.45 is beautiful. Together.

Waves

Works been a bit crap lately - silliness overcoming any semblance of sense and reasonability. No cure, but what makes it ok or bearable sometimes is a bit of new music.

Basically three bands have got me salivating this year. Pale, Wolf Alice and Echopark.  And its the latter that have dropped their debut album first.

Waves, my favourite off the album along with Teleportation is something else. To compare to The xx would be disrespectful.  While there is a strong sense of gentle minimalist guitar on here, the rest of the album is a lot more upbeat.  What makes this track the standout for me is the mashing together of quieter reflective hollow sounds with an upbeat more house beat which just crashes and collides all the way to the finale once it seems the two sounds have reached a strong polarity with heads bopping harder. As the two tracks fuse together over a long climax, all that remains is the 'Waves' at the death.