Up-and-coming producer producer DJAO has been a fixture of the Seattle electronic scene for a while, mainly through his involvement with Portland label/collective Dropping Gems. This notoriety has pointed him toward Friends of Friends, whose next release features brand-new tracks from DJAO along with other familiar names like Evenings, Octo Octa, and Kid Smpl. "Time To Stop Waiting" is a downtempo jam. Bright synths and crisp drum lines make way for relaxing piano samples and slowed down vocals, meanwhile keeping things in an optimistic light. It's a lightheartedness that we all need to consider in the future.
Show Me The Future is out January 15 through Friends of Friends. Listen to DJAO's contribution below, and snag the other 6 tracks in a few weeks.
This weekend, Elite Gymnastics brought his anonymous friend's new EP In Transit to our attention. As the title suggests, Recycle Culture have taken things into a rather different direction from previous hyper-inducing trance remixes with these beautiful, floating, wide-reaching compositions. It's down-tempo, and it sounds like crisp winter mornings.
Read more →
On their equatorial remix of A Classic Education's "Night Owl", Sydney's (least googlable) psych-pop duo FISHING gives the splendid pop jam an additional organic touch, and somewhat obvious, packed into their watery soundscape. Their Lefse Remixes EP also features remixes of Teen Daze, Houses, Dominant Legs and Monster Rally & RUMTUM.
Read more →
Not too much is known about new musical project Time Wave Zero. They might be from Montenegro, they have one other track posted on their Soundcloud, and that’s about it. So, their latest track is fittingly titled “Unknown Unknowns.” It’s a seven-minute synth jam as heard through a broken-down boombox, sounding like something the Internet coughed up and spit out, in the vein of early James Ferraro or Hype Williams. Time Wave Zero appear to enjoy verging on the conceptual side: the track samples a speech by Donald Rumsfeld where he claims there are only three things, “known knowns," "known unknowns," and "unknown unknowns”, while 'Time Wave Zero' itself refers to a complex and bizarre theory of 'novelty' by New Age writer Terence McKenna. But ultimately, it’s that incredible syrupy synth line which makes the song so great. Not quite a loop, the synths meander about without building towards anything in particular. The whole thing sounds like the soundtrack to classic Nintendo games—think EarthBound, or perhaps Animal Crossing. At once joyously nostalgic and vaguely unsettling, “Unknown Unknowns” is a strangely addictive seven minutes.
Read more →
London electro-pop duo AlunaGeorge made a substantial mark in 2012, and "Your Drums, Your Love" still manages to excite us. Their new single "Diver" once again solidate their odd, contrasty sound with layers of metallic details and that soft, soulful voice of Aluna Francis. We're anticipating their full-length Body Music which is set to be released in June of this year.
Read more →
Hailing from Mississippi, Frenchbraid is a new pop rock collaboration between producer Misha Hercules and Joshua Clark. Their only release so far is a highly emotive piece of pure pop radiating nostalgia, titled "Black Tears". Beginning with a fairly mundane opening, the track explodes into vivacity with a string of power chords circa mid 1970s. With further listens, delicate details appear including the brilliance of Hercules’ production, which reeks of a personal love affair with British Glam Rock. Frenchbraid recently performed live with Dent May and Dead Gaze, all of which share a similar angsty, emotive pop quality and all of whom come from Mississippi. Maybe there is something in the water.
Get "Black Tears" for free over at bandcamp.
Read more →
The future is more interesting than the past. Especially now that we've survived the world's end and a whole year of new beginnings and numerological unluck awaits us. Many exiting, forward-thinking productions and artists from this past year seem to agree with that statement, especially within the electronic realm of futuristic new sounds and genrehybrids. Others disagree and dive backwards into the wavy sounds of memories and patina. But when that ubiquitous retrospective indie nostalgia is spawned off the hands of Baltimore duo Beach House, it somehow never gets old. Here is their new home music video made up of footage from their Bloom recording sessions in 2012.
Read more →
Those of us here at NFOP have been following Magic Fades for quite some time. The duo, based out of Portland, OR, make post-hypnogognic R&B with a dark edge. These guys, though, take it to a new level by sampling tracks so well-known that it's silly it hasn't been done before hundreds of times. So after sampling a hit like "The Boy Is Mine" in "Obsession", the title track of the new LP, it's no surprise that this time, for "#1-P.O.L", Magic Fades have turned to another quintessential 90s group. This time, though, they sample a "Pure Moods" classic, complete with Gregorian chanting; we are, of course, talking about Enigma's "Sadeness". Here, the new age flutes mesh seamlessly with Magic Fades' brand of autotuned R&B vocals to create a slow jam perfect for 2012 - or, well, 2013.
Listen to "#1-P.O.L." below, and grab Obsession LP on January 8 through Mishka.
