Swiss Lips recently released a video for their excellent song Danz. There's not really much to say about it. To sum it all up, it's really just an old guy dancing around in different city backdrops. Plain and simple. There's something about it though, something that pulls your eyes in and won't let you look away until the very end. I'm not going to lie, I was hooked as soon as I saw the guy doing the Macarena. It's due time that makes a comeback... right?

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Video: Swiss Lips - Danz

by Matt

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Here's something reeeeeeaaaal smooth for your ears. Columbia Nights just released their debut EP, Dawn / Dusk, and it is a fantastic listen. Singer, Sarai Abdul- Malik's sultry voice will sweep you off of your feet, leaving you intoxicated with each word she croons. The duo working the instrumentals behind the vocals, Hayling Price and John E Daise, are making some of the nicest contemporary jazz to have ever graced my ears. There's a nice spacey vibe that comes from Columbia Nights' sound, backed by some fitting hip-hop and classic soul inspirations. This is the perfect soundtrack for winding down after a late night out. Dawn / Dusk is released under the Philadelphia indie label Record Breakin' Music, which I'm about to delve into and get familiar with, because it looks like they're littered with good stuff over there. Stream Columbia Nights' Dawn / Dusk bellow, and get yourself set into a nice, relaxing groove.

Columbia Nights - Dawn / Dusk

by Matt

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Bravestation is no newcomers when it comes to being featured on TheRecordStache. I originally posted their debut EP, and then later the Signs of the Civilized single and remixes, where I gave a top 10 list of Bravestation collaborations I'd like to see. Moral of the story is that I've been a big fan for a couple of years now. When I saw in my email this morning that Bravestation officially announced a full length album along with a new single, I was ecstatic. The album, Giants & Dreamers doesn't come out until July 10th, but at least the new song, Tides of the Summit, should hold me over until then... maybe. Tides of the Summit just adds on to Bravestation's list of excellent tribal/tropical pop songs. The song is warm, hopeful, and slightly psychedelic, which is just an added bonus. Tides of the Summit is currently being offered for free, along with Signs of the Civilized, but I definitely recommend heading over to Bravestation's Bandcamp to preorder, because you won't want to miss out on this release. Now, I'll be counting down the next 57 days to hear Giants & Dreamers.

Bravestation - Tides of the Summit

by Matt

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The first time I heard The Eclectic Moniker, was sometime last year when I started getting into that tropical pop sound that would soon grace my earwaves over and over again. The first song that I ever heard from The Eclectic Moniker was Easter Island, and I knew from that moment on, that this great band would grow to be one of my favorites of all time. Every note, melody, groove, and feel that The Eclectic Moniker's songs portray is instant gratification in knowing that some super cool guys in Denmark are providing super cool songs for some guys alllll the way in Florida. To my personal opinion, The Eclectic Moniker is making the best tropical pop that's out there. Their DEBUT album (which is where the art is from, and everything in that art describes everything about the music) released today, and I am so excited to listen to the rest of it. I've heard a few other songs besides Easter Island, like Aquarium and From All of Us, and if they are any indication in the way the rest of the album is, it is going to be one heck of a listen! This is one of my most anticipated albums of this year, and now it's finally out! I'm so excited to get my ears around this and get my relax on with a margarita or some other tropical-islandy drink on my back patio... if only I could find the album somewhere here in America to buy it.

Excited to Hear The Eclectic Moniker's Debut

by Joebags

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I was browsing through my followers on Twitter a little bit ago, listening to some of the stuff that I don't always have time to check out right away. I saw Mt. Wolf, and like I've said time and time again, if a band has WOLF or BEAR in their name, they're probably really good. I think there's an unwritten law somewhere that states that a band may not feature one of those animals in their name if the music is terrible. Not much of a surprise, but Mt. Wolf's sound is stunning. They label their sound as "dream folk," which is a perfect description. The music is everything ranging from hypnotic and lush, dark and sweet, and relaxing yet dance-able. As far as I know, they currently only have two songs available. What's crazy though, is that Underground and Life Size Ghosts are only demos! These songs aren't even completely polished off and they sound this good. I'll be keeping my eye out on Mt. Wolf, that's for sure.

Mt. Wolf - Underground/Life Size Ghosts

by Matt

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A couple of weeks ago, I made the bold statement saying, "To be honest, half of the time, I'd rather be posting about Peter Gabriel instead of some of the features that I throw up on here." Well, turns out, his label Real World Studios recently released a full length version of this documentary on 1991's Real World Recording Week. The goal of this week long recording session was to bring together musicians from all over the world, encouraging them to create together, and finish the week up with 8 completed albums. These recordings happened several more times throughout the 1990's, some eventually going towards the album Big Blue Ball.

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Documentary: Real World Recorded

by Matt

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The Couch Brothers is a duo with one of the most interesting back stories that I have ever read. The pair, Kazu and Maikal X, met in 2005 when Kazu, a Japanese Gypsy, was passing through Holland. The two discovered that they shared an interest in music, so they began creating music together in a room that happened to have a 'Yellow Couch' in it. The Couch Brothers were officially formed, and the duo would continue to meet up on the 'Yellow Couch' over the years, in between periods of world travelling. They experimented with sound, finding their own unique groove, and have now come to the point where they are preparing the release of their album, Electric Gypsy 2.1. The Couch Brothers' sound is hard to pinpoint at a quick, first listen. At one point, you think that they're a neo-soul outfit, and the next they're classic hip-hop, then followed by experimental electronic. Turns out, their sound is all of the above, and then some. If you're familiar with New Zealand's Electric Wire Hustle, then you will feel right at home with the Couch Brothers. Electric Gypsy 2.1 officially drops on May 25, and you can bet that you'll find a full review of it here, when the time comes. I've provided a few samples from the album bellow, give them a listen and get yourself excited to hear the rest of the phenomenal sounds that Electric Gypsy 2.1 has to offer.

The Couch Brothers Share World Travels

by Matt

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It's that time of the week, again. Another worthy song getting added to the Smooth Sax of the Week list, and this one is up there with the smoothest of them. I featured JMSN's †Priscilla† a couple of days ago (here), and this week's addition is plucked straight from the album. The song is Love & Pain and it contains a saxophone that may very well be one of the best uses of the instrument since its heyday in the 70's and 80's. To top off the icing on the cake, the song wraps up with an audio excerpt straight out of the movie, Natural Born Killers. Which is really fitting with JMSN's music, it's dark and twisted, but when it comes down to it, it's ultimately sexy. 

Smooth Sax of the Week

by Matt

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St. Lucia's EP is still one of the best things I've heard, so far, this year. His mixture of 80's synth pop and tropical pop is everything I could ever dream of. It's the perfect pairing. St. Lucia's music is packed with sing-a-long anthems, that also happen to be completely dance-able. The video for Before The Dive is a lot like St. Lucia's music, in general. Grand and mysterious. The camera work here is great, giving a real cinematic feeling, mixed with enough wonder to keep your interest until the cosmically epic finale. The result is some eye candy to match the sweetness your ears are experiencing.

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Video: St. Lucia - Before The Dive

by Matt

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Mali Mali is a trio from New Zealand, created by Ben Tolich, also consisting of Joel Greatbatch and Peter Reid. The band's EP, Brotherly, may be old news to any New Zealand readers that may have stumbled their way over to TheRecordStache, considering that this collection of 5 tracks was released back in July of 2010. However, Mali Mali is new to me, and the music to be heard on Brotherly sounds like it could have been released just yesterday. So I'm just going to go on ahead and share Brotherly with the rest of the world, and we'll all pretend that this isn't two years old. Mali Mali's sound is very heavy on natural instruments, giving them a great presence that comes off sounding like they're just hanging out and playing right there in your living room. Acoustic guitars and stripped pianos are heard in the forefront of the songs, backed by lively drums, lush ambiances, and sweet soundscapes. The outcome is a styling of mainly alternative influences, with some folk inspirations, as well. My only complaint about Brotherly, is that 5 songs just isn't enough.

Mali Mali - Brotherly

by Matt

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Dirty Bourbon River Show is a band out of New Orleans, and they have been cooking up some awesomely zany tunes since their formation in 2008. The variety of influences within Dirty Bourbon River Show's music is almost overwhelming. Seriously, pick a genre, from any decade, it's all here. I'll run off a quick list, just so you can get some idea of what you'll hear: blues, soul, rock, folk, gypsy, and jazz. There's so, so many more influences to be heard, as well. Dirty Bourbon River Show's music is like a big pot of mystery gumbo, each bite being a different flavor, which is a completely appropriate description considering the city that they're from. The music is old fashioned, yet extremely fresh and modern, somehow at the same time. The album being featured here, is Volume Three, but it is actually Dirty Bourbon River Show's fifth studio album. Check out the rest of what the band has to offer over at their Bandcamp, which will surely lead to a really exciting listening adventure. I think we can all agree that these guys enjoy what they do, and have tons of fun making their style of music. I think I need to make the 3 hour trip from Pensacola to New Orleans sometime soon to check out Dirty Bourbon River Show's live act.

Dirty Bourbon River Show - Volume Three

by Matt

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Here's a phenomenal talent that has somehow managed to fly under my radar until recently. The artist is JMSN (pronounced Jameson - like the whiskey), and his debut album, †Priscilla†, was released this past January. Just so you know, this one, sort of popular, R&B guy named Usher has already given JMSN a fair amount of acclaim in NME Magazine. I really undersold that last line. JMSN also already has a pretty large following, so I'm baffled at how I have gone so long without hearing his work. Anyways, the type of R&B that JMSN is making, is in the same dark, mysterious, and sexy style that some other guys have been making names for themselves with, over the past couple of years. I'm sure you know who all I'm talking about, I don't need to name drop here. Fine, here's a hint: there's three big ones that have been building steady buzz, and one has previously been featured on TheRecordStache (here). What sets JMSN apart from the rest of those guys, is that his album has a real flow to it. I have no problem actually calling †Priscilla† an album, unlike a lot of LPs, because real thought was put into the layout and flow of the songs. JMSN really sets an intended mood with his record, and keeps that mood winding throughout the span of over an hour, with no tracks feeling out of place on †Priscilla†. Listening through the album, leaves a tense and unsettling, yet unquestionably sensual, feeling. JMSN, who also self produced †Priscilla†, has composed some chillingly heart-pounding soundscapes that remain ever changing, keeping you constantly guessing at what might come next. The album never begins to drag or becomes boring because the listening experience is a nonstop guessing game. To top off my praise of JMSN, his art direction is phenomenal. As someone who studied and created video art installations in college, I truly appreciate the audio videos on JMSN's Youtube channel. They're so simplistic, yet completely erotic and personal, perfectly matching the audio. Seriously, go to Youtube and check this stuff out. To sum up everything here, JMSN's †Priscilla† is a work to be reckoned with, and is an absolute must hear.

JMSN - †Priscilla†

by Matt

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Hey friends! It is me, Joebags, coming at you tonight with some great tunes for you to chill out to. What we have here is some great indie-pop from the band known as BEARS. This is their album Greater Lakes. Matt once said to me that if a band has the animal, Bear, in the title, it is going to be good. This one is ABSOLUTELY no exception. From the first track, and throughout the album, its pure goodness! This album is packed with everything from chamberpop sounds to very 60's sounding/Beach Boys tinged pop songs and even a little folky stuff, too! Every note, every melody, every groove, every sound, demands your ears' attention. I've been meaning to post about these guys for a few weeks now, but with the end of a semester (and the endless nights of studying) and the shift into 35 hour work weeks, I have failed to update. Now, BEARS is the perfect way to describe that transition back to the blogging. With this breath of fresh air that is Greater Lakes, prepare to feel relieved, relaxed and delve into the Greater Lakes with BEARS. (Picturing diving into the actual Great Lakes with Bears as scuba buddies is actually pretty awesome!) So treat yourself to something grand and listen to this today!

Bears - Greater Lakes

by Joebags

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No, your ears aren't deceiving you. The songs bellow are not some old relics I discovered in my grandparents' attic. The songs posted here, are the creation of Portland, Oregon's Inspirational Beets. Normally, I wouldn't post the whole background of each band member, but the eclectic mixture of musicians here is fascinating:

"Inspirational Beets include a longstanding ambassador of the local gypsy jazz scene, a guitar guru with an extensive background in country-western swing, a versatile bassist who has performed with both established and emerging bands throughout the city of Portland, a Lithuanian who entertained thousands of tourists over several summers while working as a vaudeville entertainer in southeast Alaska, and a veteran of the 76th United States Army Band based out of Wiesbaden, Germany."

Inspirational Beets' music is inspired by the eras of Prohibition and The Great Depression. The band's sound is very true to the types of fragile, stone-like records that you would find in your local antique store stashed away in boxes somewhere in the old phonograph section. The music is fun, warm and nostalgic, bringing back memories of time spent with the family. I bring you this post in hopes that this younger generation of blog readers realize that this sort of music still exists and that it doesn't have to have synthesizers and auto-tune and dub to be considered relevant. Now, I can only hope that Inspiration Beets releases their work on vinyl, pre-installed with pops and scratches, so that I may enjoy it on my turntable.

Inspirational Beets: Bringing the 20's/30's Back

by Matt

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