March 30, 2008

Wesley The Robot

Filed under: Cut Copy,dance mix,Party Mix,secret machines,Wesley the robot — AZLTRON @ 8:27 am

Another week goes by, another Wesley the Robot mix. Tell me what you think of the cartoons and the songs!

Flaming Lips – Pilot Head at the Queer of God

Secret Machines – Sad and Lonely

Cut Copy – The Twilight

The Faint – Psycho Killer (Talking Heads Cover)

Dandy Warhols – Solid

Autolux – Blanket

Classixx – Dial 1 (Radio Edit)

Frankmusik – Made Her Smile

Plastic Operator – Folder

The LK – Tamagotchi Freestyle

Mason Proper – Lights Off

Microfilm – Chicago (Sufjan Stevens Cover)

There’s also this neat thing called Muxtape, where you can make an online playlist. Check out mine here. You should make one and send it to us.

and just for fun, here’s a couple of remixes of my cartoon:

Wilco:


Mr. Buttocks:White Rabbit:

March 27, 2008

Stroik

Filed under: Dan Bejar,Destroyer,Feist,Of Montreal,Stroik,White Williams — AZLTRON @ 9:27 am

Stroik is an artist from Morrisville, North Carolina, who plays a variety of keyboards, guitars, percussion, and the result is reminiscent of The Cure or Feist if it was fronted by Dan Bejar. If you fancy the likes of other one man band/sometimes dance parties like White Williams, chances are you’ll enjoy Stroik.

Stroik – The Wrong Eulogy

Stroik – What You Want

Stroik – Slide Right By

March 24, 2008

The Iry offer Dinner for Two on the Moon

Filed under: Coldplay,Coldwar Kids,Muse,Spoon,The Iry,White Stripes,Wilco — AZLTRON @ 12:39 pm

I received an e-mail about this close knit indie rock group from Columbus, Ohio a while ago, but being busy, I just listened to the sample tracks, realized this band was highly enjoyable and went on with my days. It wasn’t until I started doing these ultra music blog updates that I realized I had committed an atrocious crime in not writing about them yet, considering I’ve enjoyed them for weeks.

They employ the timeless rock/pop band structure using pianos upfront and guitars for texture. Talking about texture, they sound similar to the Cold War Kids, and at their most dramatic a little like Muse.

The Iry – Whole Again

The Iry – Blackout

The Iry Myspace

March 23, 2008

Hadouken Get Smashed!

Filed under: Bloc Party,Hadouken,Muse,Nine Inch Nails,prodigy,razorlight,the faint — AZLTRON @ 7:43 pm

Hadouken blipped onto my radar screen some months ago, with their hipster electro punk rapping style and outrageous lyrics. They are self aware to the point of parody and that’s what makes their high octane jaunts so enjoyable. Apparently they’ve got an album coming out entitled “Music for an accelerated culture”.

If you’re into night vision underage house parties, they’ve also got a video that’ll be right up your alley.

Hadouken – Get Smashed Gate Crash

Hadouken Myspace

Alaska in Winter

I realize that now it is spring and the last thing many of us want to do is revisit winter, but take heart, there are good things about winter, well, the word “winter” at least. Like Brandon Bethancourt’s musical project Alaska in Winter. Mr Bethancourt and company have graciously sent me a mix of their new CD Dance Party in the Balkans, featuring the vocals of Beirut. It’s an eclectic trip.

Alaska in Winter – Dance Party in the Balkans Mix

Alaska in Winter Myspace

March 22, 2008

The Pharmacy

Filed under: arcade fire,the pharmacy,The Shins,Vampire Weekend,Weezer — AZLTRON @ 7:24 pm

The Pharmacy is an indie band that will keep you guessing as to where they’re coming from, starting off with the usual catchy guitar chord progressions before erupting into a poly-symphonic cacophony. This might seem like hyperbole with bands like the Arcade Fire and The Shins seemingly promising you a new musical language, but The Pharmacy doesn’t seek to re-teach you a language, they instead endeavor to remind you about all the languages you thought you forgot about. The vocals remind me somewhat of Weezer front man River Cuomo’s while the music is so vibrant and multi faceted I challenge anyone to not find at least something that they like about it. I read another review describing the dense sound of the Pharmacy as a scrapbook and I think that’s perfect, you can imagine the band tearing construction paper and lovingly gluing all the pieces together, wrapping it up and sending it to your ears.

The Pharmacy – Adieu Adieu

The Pharmacy – Mirror Song

The Pharmacy Myspace

Science for Girls

Science for Girls is the brainchild of Darren Solomon, a producer with roots in Jazz and Brazilian music. His debut album features a slew of guest vocalists over the course of 10 downtempo electronica songs. Fans of expansive textured synthpop like DNTEL will find something to like here. Often times the songs bloom like a flower in slow motion in the spring. Conveniently for my previous analogy there’s even a song called “Violets”.

While I was looking over the bands Myspace I noticed that one of the influences was Wendy Carlos who was a pioneer of electronic music and recreated many classical (Ludwig Van Beethoven) works in the early seventies with a Moog synthesizer, perhaps most noticeable in the cult Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange. The same kind of classical tones come through even in the distorted electronics making for what I regard as the most sophisticated down-tempo electronica I’ve heard in a long time.

Not to be pigeon holed as a one trick pony, Science for Girls has a couple standout indie-pop tracks that are too cute to not be mentioned, most notably “Australia”. If you know anyone from Australia, no doubt you’ll be playing this track for them within 10 minutes of your knowledge of its existence.

Science for Girls – Northern Lights

Science for Girls – Australia

We Were the States

Filed under: the dandy warhols,the hives,the walkmen,White Stripes — AZLTRON @ 3:15 pm

Do you ever get a hankering for rambunctious rock with just a hint of class? Like the best punk band in the world wearing custom made tailored suits? Or maybe a gang brawl with those participating adorned in top hats and canes while snapping their fingers West Side Story style? Well if you’re like me, then the answer is a resounding “yes”. My latest fix for this niche is Tennessee’s We Were the States, whose bouncy garage rock style reminds me of the Hives, with a bit more southern spice, and by “bit” I mean a whole case of red pepper.

We Were the States – Till Morning Comes

We Were the States – Up Your Sleeve

Bridges and Powerlines

Filed under: Bridges and Powerlines,The Dears,The Shins,Vampire Weekend — AZLTRON @ 3:01 pm

Bridges and Powerlines is a band whose members came from geographically divergent areas to coalesce in New York City. Their critically acclaimed raucous post-punk-pop is composed of heartfelt lyrics, driving guitars and a synth that will make your head explode. Well, maybe not explode, but it will make your head bob with the beat.

Bridges and Powerlines – Uncalibrated

Bridges and Powerlines Myspace
(Go here and listen to “Middle Child” It’s fantastic!)

Oh! Custer

Oh! Custer is a Swedish Shoegaze/Pop band from Sweden. The band formed when Josef and Esbjorn decided to start a band in the summer of 2005 in Lund Sweden. They’ve just recently released their second EP entitled States, which also has the songs from their first EP, Leaves, as bonus tracks.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s something going on in Sweden. Either they’ve replaced the fluoride in the water with some songwriter enhancing drug or the Swedes are genetically engineering a superior race of musicians that will soon take over the world. Which might not be a bad thing considering the quality of their health care… Musings aside, Oh! Custer wields chiming guitars that evoke the best of those moments in between waking and sleeping. That moment of perfect satisfaction before the alarm goes off, and perhaps the 5 minutes after hitting the snooze. The beats are driving but never jarring, the reverb is as soft and gentle as a violin and the vocals calmly replay the events of our days through a hazy projector.

Oh! Custer – States

Oh! Custer – Your Name

Oh! Custer – Post

Oh! Custer Myspace

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