Archive | March, 2012

the idea of shadows on stars

30 Mar

We have entered our office Mega Millions pool and are in on 150 tickets. If we don’t post on Monday, we are collectively worth $44 million after taxes via lump sum, and are in Greece, but will follow up shortly.

Today’s Indie: Here / Shadows on Stars

‘I dont know where all the time went / we carved its path with road trips / and cast the spell with backs on beaches under the stars’

The best music has the ability to take you somewhere else– to offer a temporary respite from clanking keyboards and office lighting and overly caffeinated coffee jitters. Oregonian duo Shadows on Stars take me out in the woods somewhere back home in the Pacific Northwest with this song, nestled amongst trees on a peaceful, dewy morning. If you have never been up there, just picture all those sweeping aerial forrest scenes from the Twilight movie previews.

The swells of sound and softly echoing male/female harmonies remind me another celestially minded group, Stars, and this slivery whisp of a song has me yearning for something of the past… I am just not sure what. Whatever it is it has had me hitting repeat all day. ‘Here’ is my first taste of the band’s self titled debut, and it licks of promise… you can download the album for free via the band’s Facebook page. #indie/tory

Today’s Untz: Idea of Happiness / Van She

‘and she says, stop you know you lift me up dancing / you know how to find me, you take me away’

Van She, an electro pop band from Sydney, recently released their single ‘Idea of Happiness’ off their upcoming album of the same name due out July 6. Their label introduced them as a “new band from Sydney fresh on ideas, fresher than Flavor Flav, fresh like coriander, fresher than the Fresh Prince, fresher than fresh eggs.” The Australian label Modular People has busted out acts like Cut Copy, The Presets, Ladyhawke and Sneaky Sound System so Van She is in some seriously good company.

This track has summer written all over it. So soak it in, enjoy it, and have a great weekend. We’ll be back with some Monday untz to lift your spirits. #untz/tom

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twisted into you

28 Mar

Today’s Indie: I’m Into You / Chet Faker

‘our bodies make it perfect / and your eyes can make me swim’

Dim the lights, turn up the sound and let the lure of this song pull you right into the bedroom. Australian musician Chet Faker broke into the  scene covering Blackstreet’s classic anthem, No Diggity, but his original debut shows an eclectic mix of soul, rock and electronics that meld together to send shivers down the spin. I’m Into You is off Faker’s new EP, Thinking in Textures, out last Monday. To say the least, I’m into it.  #indie / tory

Today’s Untz: Triscuits / Monitor 66

‘girl you got me twisted’

Monitor 66, who hail “by the shore” in Sweden, say they make music with funky bass lines inspired by sunsets. Sounds pretty perfect to me.  Music often makes me picture myself in some nature like paradise which is why I always like to post something visual with the tracks I feature.

This song, ‘Triscuits,’ has some well placed samples from the old school tune ‘Twisted’ by Keith Sweat, bringing the 90′s back with that smooth tropical disco sound. They had enabled a free DL, but now it looks like it will be released on House of Disco Records. Enjoy this one. #untz / tom

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geographer inspector

26 Mar

I love indie music – pop, dance, rock, folk. My boyfriend loves untz- unicorn disco, space base, neptune jamz, luvstep…  While I originally started TUATI on my own, we have decided to combine our passions and share what we each love on the blog. I will continue to post the indie, but Tom will take over the untz. Ying and yang, head and heart, rest and play, everything is covered.  Musical bliss.

Today’s Indie: Verona / Geographer 

 

‘you call me all the right words but the right words sound so wrong / you say that I’m changing, I guess I will before too long’

Throw back Monday because I haven’t had time to dig through the week’s new stuff, and because Verona has been running in my head on loop all weekend. While this SF trio has been around for a few years now, they are the best band to happen to me this year, and fittingly introduced to me by new blog partner. This track is off the band’s earlier album, Animal Shapes, and what draws me in like so many of their songs is lead Michael Deni’s vocals. At the start there is patience in his sound, like he is purposefully keeping himself distant, but then in the chorus he sweeps into something more vulnerable and intimate before pulling away again. So fitting given the lyrics… great stuff. #indie / tory

Today’s Untz: Inspector Norse / Todd Terje

Following a string of celebrated releases, Todd Terje of Oslo, Norway, has been leaning on everything from kitschy euro sounds to deep funk and latin jazz. He’s  relatively new to the scene, but has already made his mark within dance music circuits. I can’t quite recall where I’ve heard this first track before, but I assume it’s on one of the many mixes I listen to. Go check out his soundcloud. #untz / tom

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tomorrow night out

23 Mar

TFGIF.

Today’s Indie: Tomorrow / Niki & the Dove

‘I’m ready to learn what it takes to burn / I’m going to let you show me what it means to breathe fire’

Fierce, fiery and female driven, I can’t help but start by saying that this song would be perfect for the Hunger Games soundtrack. Now that I have gotten that out of the way: I first heard of Niki and the Dove via Goldroom’s amazing remix of Mother Protect, but all the bells and whistles of untz caused me to miss the real power behind lead singer Malin’s vocals. Enter the Swedish electro pop duo’s newest track, Tomorrow, and you can hear her on fire.

The tribal beats put me under the sun somewhere on safari, and the build flourishing into an impassioned chorus is terrifically done. Malin’s voice reminds me of another talented Swede, Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano. Tomorrow is off Niki and the Dove’s upcoming album, Instinct, due out this May. #indie

Today’s Untz: Night Out / Martin Solveig (Madeon remix)

‘it’s a long shot but darling couldn’t loving you more’

Born in 1994, French DJ/producer Madeon is not old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes in the US, but has proven himself mature enough to craft remix gold and apparently tear up live sets at clubs he shouldn’t legally be permitted into. The phenom is on my must see list for Coachella this year, in part out of shear fascination/curiosity. Here is his nice little take on Night Out… can’t wait to hear it live. #untz

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magnetic reunion

19 Mar

I am in the midst of slowly compiling a life changing playlist of songs that go ‘oooh-oooh’ –  Rural Alberta Advantage’s Frank, AB, Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody, and just about any song by Arcade Fire. Today’s Untz definitely has made the cut… shoot any more ideas my way.

Today’s Indie: Man on Fire / Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

‘I want the whole damn world to come dance with me’

Wow. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have released the first track off May 29th’s forthcoming album, Here, and it has put me out in the desert watching an epic sunset around an open fire while somehow simultaneously being curled up in the bedroom I grew up in at the same time. With a slow and steady rise, arcing hushed hums, and gentle guitar, Man on Fire has a Sunday kind of sound to it that has happily settled right into and awoken my sleepy Monday morning soul. As a blogger at Folk Hive put it, ‘these goddamn hippies have my heart…’ Happily so.

I want to see our bodies burning like old big suns. #indie

Today’s Untz: Reunion / M83 (Mylo remix)

‘I could build a fort / and play all day / between your lips and mine / let’s stay here forever’

Reunion is one of my favorite tracks off Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, but the beat is so transfixing I never really took the time to figure out the lyrics. The boyfriend sent me this Mylo remix this morning and as I geared up to post it I took a look at a lyrics sites. Floored. The sentiment matches the sound to perfection, and the whole thing is pretty much magical. Ooooh. #untz

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alpine come down

16 Mar

I spent last night learning how to make beer with my sister and future brother-in-law. Thus a short and hoppy post, brewed with love.

Today’s Indie: Coming Down / Bon Iver (Anais Mitchell cover)

‘I never laughed so loud / I never laughed so loud / I think I’m coming down’

Bon Iver presents the perfect song to accompany this Friday morning’s feel after our fourth consecutive day of rain here in the Bay, cut by my own sniffles and a sleep blanketed head. Justin Vernon could bring me to my knees with a rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Star, so hearing him sing something new that is so soft and simple and strong is the perfect pick me up. This is the first I have heard of his friend and collaborator Anais Mitchell, but her original take is pretty rainy day worthy as well. #indie

Today’s Untz: Hands / Alpine (Goldroom remix)

‘it’s ok to feel the ring on my hands, my love, my enemy’

LA’s Goldroom, aka Josh Legg has gotten a lot of playtime on TUATI, and for good reason. In addition to contributing regular posts on Binary Entertainment’s blog, he creates totally swoon worthy indie pop remixes. Today’s dreamy blend of snow and sand is off of six-piece Aussie group Alpine’s Hands. #untz

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young wild child

13 Mar

As I toil away at regular life, I am finding myself increasingly jealous reading other music blogs lose their shit over the promised land that is this year’s SXSW. Next year… until then I will just have to enjoy the wave of great new music pouring out alongside this San Francisco rain.

Today’s Indie: The Tale of You & Me / Wild Child

‘well the next time I grab your hand when we walk by the sea / well I just might pull you in’

With the best lyrical banter I have heard since Edward Sharpe’s Home or Of Monsters and Men‘s Little Talks, this folk gem from Austin’s Wild Child is somehow sinister, foot tapping and romantic all at once. Spouting out a laundry list of ways to off one another or kick the bucket collectively, our protagonists explore the messy, dirty bits of a drive you crazy kind of love, and the result is stunning. The last minute or so of the song takes a curious turn, weaving into a warm childlike choir echoing: sleep good / hold tight / just know that I’ll make it right. To carry on the continuous cycle of any classic love/hate relationship, let’s rinse and repeat and listen again. #indie

Today’s Untz: We Are Young / Fun. ft. Janelle Monae (Alvin Risk remix)

‘so if by the time the bar closes / and you feel like falling down / I’ll carry you home’

We Are Young has been a gripping guilty pleasure of mine since I heard it played along with 111.3 million other viewers of this year’s Superbowl in a Chevy commercial, but in an effort to share new music instead of Billboard’s #1, I have held back on this one. It hasn’t been easy. Enter DC producer Alvin Risk and his new feel great remix of the song, and all my troubles are solved! Go ahead, dance your face off away to Fun. at SXSW, I won’t mind. Really. #untz

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beach house guest

9 Mar

I was dog sitting last night, and I swear as soon as I turned off the TV and turned on this Beach House song Lilly went from running around on a rampage-like exploration of my apartment to snuggling right alongside me on the couch and on the sound. Very well trained.

Today’s Indie: Myth / Beach House

‘you came rolling down the cheek / you say just what you need’

With a chill and sigh inducing sound to it, Beach House’s new track, Myth, reminds me of a more glum version their simple and soft Take Care. It continues to both mystify me and delight me that these vocals are coming from a woman… the first year I was into them I never questioned that they were male. Oops. #indie

Today’s Untz: This Head I Hold / Electric Guest

‘take drink / sit back / don’t think / the more I listen the deeper I sink’

Has this song been in a commercial? I feel I have heard it in my subconcious a million times. Bring it on a million more. LA based up and comers Asa Taccone and Matthew Compton are generating quite a bit of buzz before their upcoming SXSW debut, and rightfully so. #untz

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slow machine

7 Mar

It can be hard to keep track of seasons in San Francisco, where we often have summer in winter and winter in summer, but the calendar tells me it is just about spring. Festival season is right around the corner, and I can feel it in the air. Receiving this little delivery was just a bit like Christmas morning…

Today’s Indie: Shake it Out (acoustic) / Florence + the Machine

Florence + the Machine: Shake-It-Out-Acoustic

’cause I like to keep my issues strong / it’s always darkest before the dawn’

Speaking of Coachella, Florence + the Machine is one of the acts I am most highly anticipating. Here is a serving of indie chicken soup for the soul/ears from her: an acoustic take on Shake it Out that warms you from the inside out. I came across this yesterday afternoon and it cheered me right up from a dreary afternoon of Excel Pivot tables, instantly taking me somewhere else entirely. Silence is cut by Florence’s strong voice going solo, and when the guitar folds in, I literarily get chills – actual goosebumps. Things build beautifully from there. This video is a nice accompaniment, and definitely adds to the mesmerizing effect this take on the song can have. Enjoy. #indie

Today’s Untz: Slow / MRTN (Final DJs remix)

‘just try and stay calm / baby take it slow’

Nothing about this song makes me want to take it slow, and about ten seconds in on my first listen I knew I wanted to share it. This is the second track that has caught my attention from German duo Final DJs, who are awesome enough to thank just about every person that comments on their SoundClouds. Nice and talented, I dig it. #untz

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black and white valleys

2 Mar

Short post today because Thursday’s happy hour led to happiest hour. But great music comes in small packages. And sometimes there is clarity in early morning fog.

Today’s Indie: Down in the Valley / The Head and the Heart

‘I saw your face in the crowd and you came out / just like the sun and the moon and the stars at night’

I am going to cheat, and repost the first song I ever posted on this blog way back on  January 16th, 2011. The Head and the Heart captured my heart two years ago, and now they have a music video out for my favorite song that captures everything that I find knee buckling in them. The video shows how far they have come, amongst sound checks, violen strings, wagging dog tails, tambourine screams, stretching alongside battered vans, and snapshots from the live performances I know so well. As I gear up to see them cause me to pass out with joy in the desert sun of Coachella next month, I share the feeling once more. I know there’s California… #indie

Today’s Untz: Black to White / Felix Cartal ft. Miss Palmer

Moving piano, sultry female vocals, and a hook that has any headache transformed into head shake in seconds… this will be on my pre-game playlist for the next few months. And then some. #untz

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