Hello Goodbye

I've no time for blogging. But you need these tunes. I'm here for you.

Avante-garde-psychedelia by Danieljose X on Mixcloud

Other Lives - Take us alive
Levek - French Lessons
Tame Impala - Feels like we only go backwards
My Morning Jacket - Outta my system (Wahsed Out Remix)
Levek - Girl in the Fog
Grizzly Bear - Sun in your eyes

Top 5 of 2011

Fresh out the box.
Stop!
Look, and watch.
Ready yet?
Get set.
It's moooore music!
 
(High fives if you know what that is.  Double dream hands if you don't...)
 
These little ditties are a good time for all.   Nujabes is one artist who made music that is pretty well universally appreciated.  With a plethora of instruments this boy was no synth-only composer,  he did well to sample many'a'flavors over some of the dopiest beats.  Piano, woodwinds, strings, exotic fruits, and the like, he makes about anything flow in these rich, smooth, and supple compositions.
 
And if you're not sure how 'supple' can describe music, you are not alone.  And if you wonder how beats can be dopey, you are not alone.  But if you don't like Nujabes on some level, there is something seriously amiss in your person. 

Spiritual State came out this year and will be his last LP.  (Unless his record label wants to release a lame remix album to make a buck, which is likely.)

Dude was undeniably talented and will surely maintain his underground fanbase long after his death.  There are certainly undertones of nostalgia in these trademark upbeat major-keyed tunes.  (Maybe I'm reading into them though the lens of my experience with Nujabes music...)  This album as a whole is good front to back, I've included just a few my fav's.
 
Enjoy.
 
Please. 
 
And thank you.





And (a couple weeks late) I have the best (in fact, not opinion) albums of 2011 in this particular order:

#5. Spiritual State by Nujabes

#4. Bless the Self by Geotic

#3. King of Limbs by Radiohead

#2. Drive by Tycho

#1. Tamer Animals by Other Lives


These may not have won any of MTV's "Idiot Music for Pop Society" awards, but they're the type of albums you can put on repeat, listen to them for hours on end, and still want to listen more the next day.  At least that's my experience with them.  They are probably in Bethany's list of "most overplayed" of 2011, which may hold some weight, but not really. 
 
Get these, people.  Get them all.  Play them back to back to back, over and over and over.  You don't have to be a rocket surgeon to appreciate them, but it may help.
 

Tamer Animals

If this doesn't improve your life, nothing will.



Other Lives - Tamer Animals Sampler by tbdrecords

On iTunes for $7.99

You'd best be excited

Gather 'round for I have news, and that news is good. Our friends 'Other Lives' have completed their new album "Tamer Animals" which lands on the 10th of May, hip hip hooryay! If you haven't heard of this band, please email me your home address and I will rip a cd and mail it to you STAT. No questions asked. Your full satisfaction is guaranteed. Or you can send it back with a check to cover my original shipping expense and a certificate of severed friendship.

In the meantime, you should listen to their new single here, or download a crisp clean version from their website OtherLives.com

ALSO, live show May 15th @ The Record Bar in KC, anyone?