star shadow

14 Nov

And the beat goes on.

Today’s Emo: Dark Star / Polica

‘ain’t no man in this world who could pull me down from my dark star’

Gayngs may have taken themselves off the streets for the time being, but two of their talent, producer Ryan Olson and singer Channy Casselle have joined forces to craft Polica in the supergroup’s wake. Dark Star features lot of smooth brass rolling throughout, met with plenty of sass come from Channy. The sultry sound has me thinking of a singer in a smokey old club, and conveys the kind of subtle urgency that makes you want to pull someone into a dark corner.

Excited to see Casselle join the leading ladies of the fall alongside the likes of Lana del Rey and Class Actress. Her echoed, slightly sinister vocals have me reminiscent of a favorite songstress of my middle school days, Fiona Apple. Sway your way through Monday. #emo

Today’s Untz: Scale it Back / DJ Shadow ft. Little Dragon (Party Ben remix)

‘and when you reach up, the sky – I stay…’

When sifting through potential Monday morning untz I tend to sway towards the softer stuff. Epic tracks without any build can feel jarring to take with your Monday morning alarm, and it’s best not to get too riled up so early in the week when Friday feels far from reach. Thus this steady track from DJ Shadow, featuring the cool and collected vocals of Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano, remixed by Party Ben. You can almost hear a hint of Donna’s Last Chance in the beat. #untz

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dreams like you

11 Nov

I almost saved this for 11:11 on 11/11/11, but decided today’s tracks are too good to sit on. Don’t forget to make a wish tonight.

Today’s Emo: Dreams / Cadillac

‘these dreams won’t last forever / so hold it to the sky’

Some cheery, carpe diem indie pop to slip into the weekend with. OK, I know this sounds a lot like just about any remixed Foster the People track or something straight off of Miami Horror, but a great song is a great song, and I am welcoming the introduction of Cadillac into my arsenal. Dreams is off of the Aussie group’s self titled release out in October. The entire EP is worth a go. #emo

Today’s Untz: Someone Like You / Adele (Thomas Gold & Mark Mendes remix)

‘I remember you said, “Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead”

One more take on Rolling in the Deep? I couldn’t bare it. But another run on Someone Like You? Yes, I’ve got it in me. Thomas Gold and Mark Mendes splash something beautiful across Adele’s piercing classic, as the pitter patter of a drum line gives way to rolling piano and Adele’s striking vocals. The beats and builds make a song that bites a little more bitter than sweet a little less emo and more empowering. We’ve all been there. Repeat. #untz

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dead lion

9 Nov

I have been a bit of a lush this fall, and after a very sluggish run on Saturday after a very epic Friday evening, I decided to go dry until after I run the Big Sur Half on the 20th. I know, I know, it’s just two weeks without booze… but in this city it kind of pours. Here’s to tea and honey and rest. And music.

Today’s Emo: Paris / Grandpa was a Lion

‘Paris you are the 4th of July / floating on our backs down the river / in the failing light’

Good music settles into my mood, great music has the power to change it. Monday afternoon came with some confrontations leaving me feeling unsettled and hectic. Then Paris came along, and with it slower breathing and a steadier mind. This was temporarily forfeited at the end of first listen, because I had to turn my volume up so high to capture the whispery vocals that the piercing intro of the electro song next in queue almost gave me a heart attack. But all was well when I backtracked through Paris again, and again.

Grandpa was a Lion is Justin D’Onofrio, and his sound reminds me of early Bon Iver vocals meets The Middle East with a touch of Iron and Wine’s folk and glimpses of Youth Lagoon’s backdrop of synth; dreamy lo-fi bedroom pop to curl up into. The track is off of this month’s release, Seven Songs, which ironically contains eight, topped off with a remix of Kanye’s Runaway. #emo

Today’s Untz: Aural Psynapse / Deadmau5

Oh hai Deadmau5, pleased to see you again. Joel officially released Aural Psynapse this week, but the track is actually a rework of an earlier track of his dated some time mysteriously between 1998-2002. You can hear traces of an old school, chiller ‘Mau5 here, especially in the serene beginning, and while this wouldn’t tear down the walls of a club, I am liking it more than most of the stuff he has released this year. #untz

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a different kind of moonlight

7 Nov

Hard to head back to work after a one day weekend. Music to the rescue.

Today’s Emo: Passions of a Different Kind / Flashguns

‘come on, come on / because we can do this all night long’

Some solid vocally driven rock to slip into the workweek with. Passions of a Different Kind and Flashgun’s album of the same name have been getting steady playtime all weekend, and I am getting a the Kooks meets a tad of Frightened Rabbit vibe from the UK trio. Passions stirred. #emo

Today’s Untz: You Don’t Want to Dance with Me / Monarchy ft. Britt Love (Moonlight Matters remix)

‘how do I get you to feel what I feel for you’

The original version of this song is magical but this remix is through the roof. Moonlight Matters feels like an appropriate moniker for our remix artist– there is something dark night on a backroad sounding worked into the sound. #untz

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happy boy

4 Nov

Summer couldn’t last forever, but it kind of tried. Rain and a chilly wind have returned to the Bay alongside red holiday Starbucks cups, the need for under armor on now dark evening runs and the desire to cozy up indoors with blankets and too much red wine. Also loads of great album releases and shows to wait out the “winter” with.

Today’s Emo: Lonely Boy / The Black Keys

‘oh, oh oh I got a love that keeps me waiting’

If you haven’t caught The Black Key’s new single, Lonely Boy, you are in for a treat. And if you already have, you are in for a treat again. The bluesy rock duo from Ohio release their follow up album to 2010’s Brothers on December 6th, and this is the first taste of it. Lonely Boy has that ‘move your body now’ kind of draw to it like Tighten Up, with the catchiest of a chorus backed up with what sounds like a choir. If the rest of Camino sounds anything like this, it is sure to be celebrated. #emo

Today’s Untz: Happy Violence / Dada Life (extended vocal mix)

‘it’s like happy violence / forcing us tonight, it feels so right’

This extended mix of Dada Life’s Happy Violence has a the Love Shack meets Nintendo beats kind of feel to it that is driving me crazy in the best kind of way. I can’t quite pinpoint what happy violence would look like in practice– perhaps a gentler, more playful and less destructive version of Rihanna and Eminem’s Love the Way You Lie- but logistics aside, I like it. Happy Friday. #untz

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knock athens

2 Nov

I saw Youth Lagoon at The Bottom of the Hill last night, and the show gave me everything I needed after the kind of work day where I thought I should go straight home to bed. Instead I got lost in a 22 year old from Idaho’s first show in San Francisco. Trevor Powers produced the kind of sound that had my fingers playing pretend instruments across my purse all night, with a force that made me think my phone was vibrating in said purse all night, and displayed a mild sense of awkwardness that made me realize I was experiencing a rare opportunity to witness someone on the cusp of greatness without having them quite realize it yet. I will be sharing more of him shortly I am sure.

Today’s Emo: DIY / Keep Shelly in Athens

When I first came across Keep Shelly in Athens on Hypem a couple months ago, I assumed Athens Georgia. However, after finding myself totally transfixed by today’s track, I did a little digging and the electro-poppers actually are from Greece. TUATE’s first Grecians, and godly ones indeed. I love the persistent piano in the background, and while Halloween is over, there is definitely something a little dark and Haunted-Housey about the beats that roll in during the build. All of this is perfectly topped off by KSIA singer Sarah’s sharp vocals, and the result is truly striking.

It is a big fall for duo, as their EP, Our Own Dream, breaks November 5th, and they embark on their first US tour throughout the month, stopping through The Indepedent on the 9th. #emo

Today’s Untz: Dancing with Avicii / Captain Cuts (The Knocks vs. Avicii)

‘we don’t care if the sun comes up / cause you know we’ll be dancing with the dj’

Nothing like two of your favorite tracks being seamlessly rolled into one to take on the mid-week blues with. My friend Alex sent me this gem in response to my “send music rex plz” gchat status plea yesterday, and I’m glad that he did because it woke me right up out of my post Halloween weekend daze. These songs are both so happiness inspiring in their own right that together they are truly infectious… you are forewarned. #untz

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stay kids x 2

31 Oct

I like Stay Kids so much I am sharing it twice. TUATE’s first double feature.

Today’s Emo: Stay Kids / ANR

‘the better years, are they still to come / get rid of fear and stay young’

The double feature worthy pick is a killer track from Miami’s Awesome New Republic. The high pitched, heavenly vocals in the intro remind me of Passion Pit’s Michael Angelakos, and there is a similar feel in the sound to another song about Kids we all know and love (ahem MGMT), but when the slow and steadiness gets cut by crazy syntherciszing gymnastics, ANR’s Stay Kids becomes a sound of its own.

The first time I heard the hook I was so caught off guard that I thought I accidentally had two windows of music playing at once on my computer. Not so, just awesomeness from a single song. The track is off March’s debut album of the same name, and if you like what you hear be sure you give It’s Around You a go. #emo

Today’s Untz: Stay Kids / ANR (Memory Tapes remix)

‘but we don’t have the bodies to live so fast / we solve the problem without the knowledge to make it last’

Same song, different angle. New Jersey’s Dayve Hawk, aka Memory Tapes, washes some chillwavey beats over ANR’s original take, and then shakes up the synth. Arguably too chill to be called untz, by righteous beats nonetheless. #untz

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future rock fever

28 Oct

Favorite Halloween costume idea: a shirt that says “October 28th.” When people ask what you are, say “Last Friday night.” Happy Friday, happy trick and treating.

Today’s Emo: Knew You Well / Cultfever

‘and we try we dont get it and all along we forget its just the two of us here and we’re alone’

New electro pop duo, Cultfever, provides the perfect opus to roll us into the weekend. Robust sound with a bite of strong female vocals reminds me of Metric, and its matched perfectly with sprawling, celestial synth. Roller coaster of sound in my ears. Like another New York based male/female team, Cults, Brooklyn’s Tamara Jafar and J Peter Furniaks have been gaining serious buzz online, and I can see why. Knewyouwell is off of their first album, set for release on Tuesday the 1st. Enjoy. And then enjoy again and again and again. #emo

 Today’s Untz: Understand the Sky / Future Rock remix

Found this track, as I find most of my favorite less known electronic music, from my friend Tom’s blog. Keeping with today’s celestial sounding stuff, Future Rock’s remix of Understand the Sky has a slightly out of this world glean to it that has been getting me through the end of the week. The Chicago based trio is supposedly magical live, so hope they travel West. #untz

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go to the lagoon

26 Oct

It is the Wednesday before Halloween, and I find myself without a costume. I would be one of the kids from the Dubstep Xpertz videos, but people would just think I was a Mission hipster/pre-gaming for the Deadmau5 show instead of actually being out for the night as someone else. San Francisco problems.

Today’s Emo: Montana / Youth Lagoon

‘there’s a spirit in Montana and in your chest, a soul / oh what a soul’

I am late on the Youth Lagoon parade but so happy to finally be sharing a track. I have never met someone from Montana I didn’t like (or love) so I was drawn in by song title alone, but stolen away by the song’s pull of piano and whispery, calming vocals. This is the type of music that causes me to slow down for a moment… it makes me feel a lot of things that I can’t quite separate out into pieces, in a good way.

Youth Lagoon is the project of Boise’s Trevor Powers, and Montana is off his recent release, The Year of Hibernation. The 22-year old is playing the Bottom of the Hill on Tuesday, November 1st, a perfect way to cut the work week with some gentle lo-fi bedroom pop musical rumblings. #emo

Today’s Untz: Let Me Go / Kaskade ft. Marcus Bently

I had to run to dinner last night post gushy emo write up and ended up out entirely too late for further considerate listening or pondering, but Nicole (dining and subsequent wine bar mate/best friend) has listened to Kaskade’s new album and assures me that it is amazing, and that this is the best part. #untz

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flashguns & robots

24 Oct

Saturday’s Bridge School Benefit Concert was my favorite yet. Last year’s miserable deluge was traded in for sun, I found myself rocking out to Carlos Santana (blame the whiskey?), Beck pleased the crowd with a string of tracks off of Sea Change and Mumford and Sons were on everyone’s lips by the end of the evening. I love the feeling live music can evoke in me of being removed from everything and completely centered at the same time.

Today’s Emo: Heat & Fire / Flashguns

‘if I give myself away / will you buy a piece of me everyday’

Coming across a music blog that you really like is like when you meet a new friend and totally hit it off; there is a thrill of the potential that lies ahead between the two of you. Perhaps I feel this way because I found the blog I am currently smitten over via my friend Asanka setting me and its author, Venya, up via a facebook intro. I am so thankful that he did, because it is rare that I find a blog that I enjoy both listening to and reading to so much…  beatrixtapes is filled with layers of awesome chillwave dance and indie, with thoughtful musings and reviews nestled amidst the tracks.

One of my favorite discoveries so far is Flashguns, a British indie rock trio who released their debut full length album, Passions of a Different Kind, this month. I am just starting to wrap my head around the album and their sound, but an initial take has me getting a The Kooks meet Cold War Kids meet Fleet Foxes kind of vibe. Yes please. Heat & Fire is one of my favorite tracks thus far, edgy but easy on the ears, steady but with surprises. #emo

Today’s Untz: The Girl and the Robot / Royksopp ft. Robyn 

‘you never seem to know when to stop / I never know when you’ll return / I’m in love with a robot’ 

While I was busy chilling at Bridge School, my best friend Nicole spent the weekend in LA dancing her face off to Royksopp, my favorite Norwegian two headed monster of untz, and the one and only Robyn. I know I can’t have it all, but still find myself beyond jealous to miss out on such a killer combo live. Nicole said they teared it up and played their two collaborations together — None of Dem and today’s untz about a relationship with serious work/life balance problems. If I close my eyes with the speakers up, I can almost imagine it going down. #untz

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