now seville

10 Aug

[guest post by Nicole]

A guest post from my best friend Nicole, who happens to been the queen of untz, with a closet full of emo. We have enjoyed dancing our faces together throughout the city and beyond – Deadmau5, Benny B, Axwell, Boys Noize, Tiesto – but Nicole has also spiritedly tagged along with me to see me cry to The Head and the Heart not one but two times, and is not so secretly obsessed with Our Lady Peace and Incubus. She is also known to come home late from a night of raging only to continue dancing in her room by herself into the morning. My musical life and adventures would not be complete without my better half, and I cannot wait to take Outside Lands on with her on this weekend. In the meantime enjoy her impeccable taste and musings below. – Tor

Today’s Emo: If Not Now, When? / Incubus

If Not Now When / Incubus

‘I’ve waited all my life / if not now, when will I? / stand up and face the bright light / don’t hide your eyes it’s time’

My taste in the emo skews towards alternative rock, so I’m gonna highlight a brand new song from one of my favorite alt bands, Incubus.  I’m really liking this title track from their latest CD, released a few weeks ago. Funny enough, I was introduced to Incubus on an incredibly emo day – sitting in the doctor’s office, homesick at sleep-away math camp (math camp…who does this to their child?).  Anyway, the TV in the doctor’s office was playing their video for ‘Stellar.’  I looked it up when I finally went home, found more of their music, and the rest is history.

The melody of ‘If Not Now, When?’ definitely contains elements of the band’s signature sound from their last three CDs, including the necessary showcase of lead singer Brandon Boyd’s vocal ability.  In my opinion, his voice is one of the most notable in rock music ever, and it’s flawless here.  With regard to lyrics, they are posing a question that I often need to hear. (Tor also asked me the same question about writing this post for months.) This is a pleasant addition to the emo playlist, especially for those days where you hesitate to act on what you truly want to get in life.  Ugh… so #emo.

Today’s Untz: Largo Al Factotum / The Barber of Seville (Mustard Pimp remix)

The untz is what I live for, and I try to indulge in many of the shows that come through this city. I also make it to the opera house a few times each season to enjoy my fair share of arias. (Gotta balance the #rage with some #culture from time to time, you know.) You can thus imagine my delight in stumbling upon this fun electro remix of ‘Largo Al Factotum’ early Monday morning before the dreaded work day.   And yes, I did find out that this is actually the Jersey Shore Season 4 anthem, but I have no shame; I’m loving the epic cascades and escalations, the famous chorus interspersed throughout the song, and that Jersey club beat on the 1s and 2s. Even with Mike or Ronnie equivalents in my personal space at the club (oh, Ruby Skye), I would dance happily and emphatically to this on any night out. Might even break out the fist pump myself. I am short, brown person named Nicole after all…

Mustard Pimp is on Steve Aoki’s label, Dim Mak.  I like what he has to offer with this tune, so off to his SoundCloud page I go in hopes of a work day full of solid #untz.

– Nicole / electroNic

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scattered indians

8 Aug

Don’t tell Tiesto, but I have started trading in his sets for an occasional podcast of This American Life during my recent runs, just to mix things up. Heard a great one titled Break-Up the other day, featuring a contributor who decides to write a break up song to help her get over her own, and ends up consulting Phil Collins who has some surprisingly thoughtful commentary on the matter of love lost. Highly recommend squeezing in, between the untz and the emo.

Today’s Emo: Four Days Straight / Scattered Trees

‘first your heart beats me and then your church bells ring / oh I cannot wait for you to touch down’

Scattered Trees is a five piece indie rock group hailing from Chicago who I stumbled upon the other week. I found myself mesmerized by this quiet masterpiece on first listen, with lots of melancholy and wistful thinking stirred up from the sound.

The group has been together since 2006, but went on hiatus for the past several years until the passing of frontman Nate Eiseland’s father caused him to start writing music again. The track is off the group’s recent resulting album, aptly titled Sympathy, and is interesting because if you listen from the obvious angle, it sounds to be about the broken hearts residing from an epic breakup. However, upon further listen and with the context on when/why it was written, it’s more likely intended to be  about something entirely different. Give it a close listen and hear for yourself. #emo

Today’s Untz: Polish Girl / Neon Indian

‘was this only in my head / just like most things go misread / when over thought’

A bit of a chill untz, but it is Monday and I want things a little slower. Besides, these beats are righteous. I got excited about this song because of its name – one of my favorite people is Polish, and I promptly sent this her way. Another blog described this as a glowing jam, and I couldn’t agree more. The perfect background music for just about anything.

Neon Indian is fronted by Texan chillwaver Alan Palomo, and have a new album out, Era Extrana, which could be translated to she was weird, or strange era. Hmm. #untz

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nicest hook

5 Aug

I brought along my ipod and plugged into my favorite The National album to drown out the sound of the drill during three hours of terrible dental work a few weeks ago, and now my favorite band is making me cringe. Never again. Next time I get attacked at the dentist (god forbid), I am bringing along Rebecca Black. Speaking of… it’s FRIDAY.

Today’s Emo: Nicest Thing / Kate Nash

Nicest Thing / Kate Nash

‘I wish that you needed me / I wish that you knew when I said two sugars / actually I meant three’

All aboard the emo express, because this one is a doozy. Kate Nash has a fragile but firm, innocent but polished kind of sound to her, which serves as the perfect platform to deliver this knee buckling song of want. The young British songbird reminds me of a more subtle Lilly Allen, and I enjoy all of her music, although some of her tracks can come off a bite trite.

Not Nicest Thing. Simple and aching, it basically says all the things we wish we could say but can’t… beautifully brutally honest to a point where it makes me a little uncomfortable, in a good way. As someone I know put it, this song is love. #emo

Today’s Untz: Take You Higher (club mix) / Goodwill & Hook N Sling

‘she said “hello mister, please to meet ya” / I wanna hold her, I wanna kiss her’

Play time! Sleepy folk siblings Angus and Julia Stone’s Big Jet Plane gets woken up by what sounds like Laidback Luke’s You Used to Hold Me? Wha? Never thought I would hear the day, but wow does this work. Take You Higher has been the number one song on Hypem the past couple of days and I can see why… I have been riding this wave throughout Thursday and now into the weekend. #untz

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last midnight

3 Aug

Capped off my Oregon trip with three days in the house I grew up in, hiking in the woods, drinking micro brews, and saying what might be a final goodbye to my loyal yellow lab of twelves years, Callie. I also spent a lot of time 11-hour-a-night hibernating in my old bedroom, which is oozing with the emo of a younger self.  Dried prom corsages, a signed Matt Nathanson stub, a battered ticket from a 2001 Dashboard Confessional show at the Salem Armory, and most noticeably, sharpied lyrics etched onto the wall, from Third Eye Blind’s Background to Ben Harper’s “not talking ’bout a year, no not three or four” to an abrupt ending halfway down the wall at “Enrique Ig” because I never did look up how to finish spelling the Hero singer’s name before I lost the sharpie.

Eight years later, and it is all still there, right next to my shining disco ball. I, however, am back at the grind in SF.

Today’s Emo: Last Night / The Morning Benders (Strokes cover)

‘see, people they don’t understand / no, girlfriends, they can’t understand’

The Morning Benders put a refreshing spin on a classic, injecting coy vocals, smooth guitar and playful synth into their take of Strokes’ Last Night. The Berkeley turned Brooklyn indie quartet pay tribute to that angsty rush of a ‘no one understands me – I am better off alone’ feeling, where you are suddenly ready to kthxbai yourself out of something. They make it sound good. #emo

Today’s Untz: Midnight City / M83 (Christian Strobe remix)

French electro-dream poppers M83 named themselves after a spiral galaxy, Messiar 83, a perfect name for such celestial sounds. Waves of electro, ambiguous noises melded together, soft indiscernible vocals over rolling beats… shoegazing ‘tro at its best. Wish I could gaze my way through Wednesday instead of facing catch up crunch time. #untz

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sonic sound

1 Aug

A brief presentation because I am still on vacation in the wonderland that is Oregon.

Today’s Emo: Three Rounds and a Sound / Blind Pilot

Blind Pilot / 3 Rounds and a Sound

‘I was sleeping /  my eyes were dark til you woke me / and told me that opening / is just the start / it was’

A favorite track from some of my favorite Oregonian indie rockers, Blind Pilot. I was reminded of BP by the playing of another one of their tracks in a shitty indie movie we rented at our Portland hotel after the epicness that was brew fest because all the mainstream stuff looked too blah. Should have gone with Jennifer Aniston, but at least I was reminded of this gem… a blurry installation of hope amidst silvery sweet vocals, gentle guitar, and yes, rounds. Not worth forgetting again. #emo

Today’s Untz: Sonic 2 -Chemical Plant Zone / RAC

I was sliding through song after song my Hypem Latest list last week, plugged into work and not paying attention to what was going into my ears when I heard the playful electro start to build in this song, and tuned back in. I was not surprised to find it was the remix mastermind that is RAC that caught my ear, but was surprised to find this whole jingle is not original untz but a SONIC remix. I am Nintendo 4 lyfe, and barely touched Sega and the hedgehog, but this track has me wanting to roll through some golden hoops. #untz

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fire wax and wire

29 Jul

Today’s tracks both come from the influence of friends… one of my favorite attributes of music is how easily and happily it is both given and received. I am homeward bound to Oregon this morning for a long weekend, ready to escape for the annual beer fest, mountains, family, and friends. The happiest of Fridays.

Today’s Emo: Wax and Wire / Loch Lomond

‘I’m helplessly needless and needless to say I owe you’

My friend Chris who is usually an untzer tipped me off on this great indie a couple of weeks ago, and I have been listening steadily since. I love the music box intro, that the song fearlessly takes a moment to break and rebuild in the middle, and the way the words want to make something broken whole again. With a little research I was even more delighted to discover the six-piece band is from Oregon, although they are mysteriously named after a lake in Scotland. #emo

Today’s Untz: Set Fire to the Rain / Adele (Plastic Plates remix)

‘but there’s a side to you / that I never knew, never knew / all the things you’d say / they were never true, never true’

Another untz pulled from my friend Tom’s Blogjuice, where he has succinctly summed the track up in his description:  ‘Sexy voice + Sexy Beat = Sex.’ Well done. Sydney turned Los Angeles transplant Plastic Plates preserves the sincere angst of Adele’s ballad, while upping the tempo to something more engaging and movable. Dish it up. #untz

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a-team miracle

27 Jul

My co-rec soccer team, the Fiyah Balls, suffered a tough play off loss Monday night after deciding to channel the US’ PK scoring abilities against Japan. I may have been involved in one of the fatal shots… no Brandi Chastiain moment for me. On the bright side, getting eliminated early in the evening gave me the chance to sit down and finally catch up on music blogs sans distraction for the first time in what feels like weeks. The result: the two solid covers below. And we still have our championship shirts from last season…

Today’s Emo: The A-Team / Birdy (Ed Sheeran cover)

‘but lately her face seems slowly sinking, wasting / crumbling like pastries’

The original version of this song is beyond emo, and Birdy takes her cover up a notch to the point where it stings. The tragic figure in the track is addicted to crack, works as a prostitute to pay rent, and is slowly crumbling like a pastry… a surprisingly poignant analogy, causing me to picture straggling crumbs at the bottom of a bag, hopeless.

All of this is being reworked by this talented fourteen year old British songstress who keeps cranking out breathtaking covers. However beautiful and believable, I hope she has little to relate to in this one. #emo

Today’s Untz: Miracle / The Dirty Tees ft. Natasha Bedingfield (Fragma cover)

Guilty pleasure music Wednesday… time to dance around the bedroom before hump day. Once I got past the shudder of hearing Natasha Bedingfield’s voice (memories of Pocket Full of Sunshine on endless loop in my head) and got into the layers of untz wrapped around this cover, everything fell into place and it seems like the only appropriate response. Enjoy. #untz

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beach bass

25 Jul

A short but magical weekend, capped off with tubing down the Russian River on Sunday afternoon. Want to be back there now…

Today’s Emo: I Didn’t Want to Make Out (I wanted to kiss) / Long Walks on the Beach

‘I didn’t want to make out / I wanted to touch your lips with mine / to see if I could change our minds’

Long Walks on the Beach was featured in my second TUATE post ever, so I’m excited to share more of his stuff seven months down the line after happily stumbling upon him on Hypem the other day. Singsongy, clap along beats, slick vocals, and sliding xylophone notes make I Didn’t Want to Make Out a perfect summer driving song… windows down, speakers up, hand out the window rolling into little hills with the wind.

The song sounds decidedly California, but Fritz Kramer is doing his long walks on the other coast out in DC. There is something so endearing in the sentiment of wanting a simple kiss instead of a steamy make out session to reconnect… smitten on this song all over again.  #emo

Today’s Untz: I’ll Get You / Classixx (Gigamesh remix)

‘do you like bass / do you do you like bass’

An oldie but a goodie, we listened to this track to wake up on a sleepy drive home from Yosemite a couple weekends ago and I was reminded of how great Classixx can be… I saw them kill it at Mission Rock last winter. Gilgamesh smooths things out while keeping the catchy chorus intact in his remix. Yes guys I like bass. I love bass. #untz

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crave a come down

22 Jul

Friday doesn’t feel like Friday when you know you have to go to work on Saturday. Exhausted. Music to the rescue?

Today’s Emo: Coming Down / Dum Dum Girls

‘by tomorrow I’ll be gone / if you wanna tell me something / you had better make it strong’

Coming Down has an effervescent, Wild Horses couldn’t keep me away kind of feel to it, where things start to slow down around you when you listen. I am finding myself totally bewitched by these California ladies’ new single, off their sophomore album, Only Dreams, out September 27th via my favorite label, Sub Pop.

Lead singer Dee Dee (Kristin Gundred) has the chops and songwriting strength of Cat Power, and this song sounds dangerously close to one of my favorite Mazzy Star songs, Fade Into You. I could imagine it being played in one of those epic montages at the end of an episode of House, instilling a lingering feeling of letting go and finality. Not the best upper for a Friday, but worth a dozen listens nonetheless. #emo

Today’s Untz: Crave You / Flight Facilities (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix)

‘why can’t you want me like the other boys do / they stare at me while I stare at you’

Sultry vocals and a very self assured young lady who considers herself to be dripping in gold get untzified via dubstep duo Adventure Club’s dance worthy antics. Flight Facilities present that age old problem of finding oneself amidst a bevy of suitors (life is tough) yet only attracted to the one person who could care less, and Adventure Club really nails the remix, taking the song from a 6 to a 9 in no time. Crave worthy. #untz

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california keys

20 Jul

Three weekends stand between me and Outside Lands, and I am restlessly waiting for live music and the revelry surrounding a summer festival weekend. This will be my third time at the rodeo, and having Outside Lands in our backyard definitely takes some of the pressure and expectations off of the whole ordeal of a fest… no weeks of planning, funds into transit and lodging, or pleading for time off. Instead, a hop in a cab or on a bike, and open fields, happy people, and hours upon hours of music all weekend long. The perfect staycation, dripping of untz and emo, sweet and simple. Will be seeing today’s untz-er for a forth time that Saturday night, dancing my face off. Twenty three more days…

Today’s Emo: California Sunrise / Dirty Gold

‘she waits for the summer to find a lover / she looks for him underneath the sand’

This track is the perfect antidote for an antsy Wednesday stuck indoors, sending me right back into the sun drenched Sierras of Saturday. The trouble with living in Northern California is you are only a couple hours away from heaven in any direction at any given moment, and knowing that makes it really hard to make it through a summer work week. The producers of the track make me think I should be working harder, though, as they released their debut EP during their senior year of high school. High. School. Brothers Lincoln and John Ballif and pal Grant Nassif spent the spring touring and releasing their five track debut EP, Roar, amidst finals and the prom.

Seagulls give way to feel good, tap along drumbeats and youthful vocals of summer love and lust amongst the sand, bringing me back to the opening scene of Grease where Sandy and Danny are rolling about in the wake together. Oh young love. Simple and easy to ease into, like the song. California sunrise, come on and wake me up. #emo

Today’s Untz: Where Are My Keys / Deadmau5

The Mau-five laid this track out for an Ibiza crowd in June and I feel transported somewhere else just listening. A steady, teasing build gives way to brief piano break and then signature mouse tracks in loops. This is the kind of song you could get lost dancing to for hours and hours without realizing it… if this is what happens when Joel can’t find his keys, I hope he stays forgetful. #untz

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