Gold Soundz

tombrrr: deathrowe: Sweetest Touch by gross magic. Sam...

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:38:34 +0000

deathrowe:

Sweetest Touch by gross magic. Sam McGarrigle, aka gross magic is my friend. He makes great music that you should listen to. Here’s my favourite track off his ‘Teen JAMZ’ demo. Isn’t it so.. L7?

Sam McGarrigle is also my friend. He has been making music for about as long as anyone can remember so he’s been getting a lot of practice, and I think this demo is a sure sign of greater things to come. Sweetest Touch is absolute single material and a potential anthem, here’s hoping

Yeah yeah yeah blah blah blah, sams a ledge.

TV Girl - If You Want It ‘If You Want It’ is an...

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:49:00 +0000

TV Girl - If You Want It

‘If You Want It’ is an instantly likeable track, sampling ‘power pop’ godfather Todd Rundgren’s ‘Hello It’s Me’. Neon Indian pulled the same move on ‘Deadbeat Summer’ - sampling ‘Izzat Love’ - and similarly TV Girl assemble a new track around a strong melodic loop. The whole feel of the song is distinctly 70s, a welcome change from the amount of 80s and 90s influenced music that has been flooding the internet recently, with fuzzy synths and a springy bassline giving it that retro feel. Lyrically the song is pretty generic focusing on love troubles, but the way in which this is addressed; ‘you only want me when you’re drunk’ adds something comical and new to the song, making it that bit more memorable.

Smith Westerns - Weekend The lead single from the highly...

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:33:00 +0000

Smith Westerns - Weekend

The lead single from the highly anticipated “Dye it Blonde” does not disappoint. It’s bold, beginning with a squeaking solo, and demonstrates the new, cleaner, sound that we can expect on the follow up to the brilliant and fuzzed out self titled album these guys put out last Summer. The cycle is fully complete and glam-rock is officially cool again, with Smith Westerns grabbing Bowie and Bolan and dragging them into the present day. The song-writing credentials of the band are obviously strong and they have mastered the art of writing catchy songs with stadium sized choruses about girls, getting drunk and hanging out. Perfect.

Forest Swords - Rattling Cage Featuring probably one of the...

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:21:04 +0000

Forest Swords - Rattling Cage

Featuring probably one of the best snare sounds of the year, ‘Rattling Cage’ is insanely well put together. Mike Barnes has an ear for when to bring parts of the track to the fore and when to let them sink into the background, and he demonstrates this throughout with darting guitar lines and expertly chopped vocals. Within this genre comparisons are inevitably going to be drawn with ‘Burial’, however it is undoubtable that Forest Swords has successfully found a more individual sound.

VALLEYS - Ordinary Dream ‘Ordinary Dream’ starts...

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:09:00 +0000

VALLEYS - Ordinary Dream

‘Ordinary Dream’ starts off pretty inconspicuously and could easily mesh into the background and be forgotten about, much as the name suggests. However the neat guitar work and hazey vocals slowly build towards an epic crescendo about a half way through. Drums erupt from nowhere, grabbing your attention and forcing you to take notice. After that you are hooked, the song floats back down into a mellow state, but everything now seems more defined. We are definitely eagerly awaiting a new full length from these guys.

Hooray for Earth vs. Twin Shadow - A Place We Like Blissed out...

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:02:06 +0000

Hooray for Earth vs. Twin Shadow - A Place We Like

Blissed out synth pop surrounds you wherever you go these days, and Twin Shadow and Hooray for Earth are certainly adding to this trend. Twin Shadow’s album ‘Forget’ puts a darker twist on the genre, but the same cannot be said about ‘A Place We Like’ which is undeniably positive. Musically there is not too much original going on but what does stand out are the intertwining vocals which work really well together; both complimenting each other perfectly, making this collaboration truly worthwhile.

hipsterpuppies: maeby’s college radio show features a lot of...

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:22:22 +0000

hipsterpuppies:

maeby’s college radio show features a lot of dead meadow and a lot of dead air

[via amy m]

‘bout sums it up

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round (Little...

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:50:00 +0000

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round (Little Loud Remix)

If you thought that Ariel Pink’s blogsmash ‘Round and Round’ couldn’t sound any more glam, or any more cheesy… you were wrong. English remix whizz Little Loud, who has remixed a sequence of great songs now including Memory Tapes’ ‘Bicycle’, takes ‘Round and Round’ shifts the structure of the song and does a good job of making this track even more positive and feel-good than it already was. He adds catchy little synth lines here and there and generally gives the song a more hazy feel, without masking the strength of Ariel Pink’s vocals.

Cloud Nothings - Hey Cool Kid Cloud Nothings’ ‘Hey...

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:34:00 +0100

Cloud Nothings - Hey Cool Kid

Cloud Nothings’ ‘Hey Cool Kid’ has been around for a while now, however he has just compiled his first full length, which is effectively most of his releases up to the present day smushed onto one album. By the sounds of things none of the tracks have been re-recorded or altered, and ‘Hey Cool Kid’ still maintains its ‘lo-fi’ charm. The guitar work is scrappy, the timing is not spot on, but it really doesn’t matter because by the time the chorus hits you for the second time it is clear that Cloud Nothings’ Dylan Baldi - 19 - has captured a sincere youthful sentiment and slotted it into a 3 minute pop song.

Panda Bear - Alsatian Darn There really isn’t much more...

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:25:00 +0100

Panda Bear - Alsatian Darn

There really isn’t much more to be said about Animal Collective and Panda Bear, they’ve been bombarding the music scene with their greatness for a long time now without becoming stale and over-played. ‘Alsatian Darn’ is another B-side from Panda Bear which again outshines the A-side, ‘You Can Count on Me’. It is not apparent how catchy this song is at first, but it soon becomes fully lodged in your head and no matter how many times I have listened to it, it won’t leave. The bouncey piano and rattling drums blend together in typical Panda Bear style, leaving it fairly obvious that his next LP ‘Tomboy’ is going to be a suitable follow-up to ‘Person Pitch’.

Times New Viking - No Room to Live It has been a trend of late...

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:14:00 +0100

Times New Viking - No Room to Live

It has been a trend of late in the ‘lo-fi’ scene to clean up the production and neatly move to the pop side of the alternative genre. Times New Viking are the latest in a string of bands (i.e. Best Coast, Wavves) to get out of the bedroom and into the studio, and I have to say I’m liking the current progression. ‘King of the Beach’ & ‘Crazy for You’ are two of my favourite albums so far this year and the more the fuzz is stripped away, the more the song writing talents of these bands are exposed, and in this case that is a good thing. It may not work for everyone but it is certainly working for these guys with ‘No Room to Live’; a perfect pop jam.

Memoryhouse - To the Lighthouse (MillionYoung Remix) Me and...

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:03:00 +0100

Memoryhouse - To the Lighthouse (MillionYoung Remix)

Me and Frank are gonna try and post about one remix a week, and we decided to go back to early this year for MillionYoung’s remix of Memoryhouse’s ‘chill-wave’ single ‘To the Lighthouse’. Whilst maintaining the beachy vibe of the original, MillionYoung layers the song up with bubbling synths and adds a Memory Tapes-y/New Order-esque solo to top it all off. A job well done.

Gauntlet Hair - Out, Don’t… When MGMT released...

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:55:00 +0100

Gauntlet Hair - Out, Don’t…

When MGMT released their second album this year it was criticised for being over-ambitious in attempting to cram too many ideas into single songs and even too many ideas into one album. People wanted a continuation of the simple pop songs of their first album… Well, where MGMT arguably fell short, Gauntlet Hair do not. ‘Out, Don’t…’ winds and weaves through differing sections with no identifiable chorus as such, but still manages to maintain a sense of cohesion and does not become disjointed. When it finally reaches its destination (an anthemic finale) you have almost forgotten the song’s beginnings and feel the need to press play all over again.

James Blake - Limit to Your Love James Blake takes an...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:34:00 +0100

James Blake - Limit to Your Love

James Blake takes an unexpected left turn into the realm of R&B with this cover of Feist’s ‘Limit to Your Love’. Still keeping his minimal dubstep roots alive with a throbbing sub-bass and fragmented rhythm, which appear on earlier hits ‘CMYK’ and ‘Air and Lack Thereof’. He adds to the themes on the ‘Klavierwerke EP’ (extended silences and piano led songs) but crucially adds his own vocals to the mix.

Turns out there is nothing he can’t do at the moment.

Gold Panda - Snow and Taxis Gold Panda continues to go from...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:28:00 +0100

Gold Panda - Snow and Taxis

Gold Panda continues to go from strength to strength after a string of floor-filling dance tunes. ‘Lucky Shiner’ adds diversity to what he has already accomplished and newest single ‘Snow and Taxis’ does not disappoint off the back of previous single ‘You’, which is definitely up there on the track of the year list.

Avey Tare - Lucky 1 Animal Collective seem to be on an...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:24:00 +0100

Avey Tare - Lucky 1

Animal Collective seem to be on an unstoppable hot streak… within the space of 18 months they have released last year’s huge album ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’; followed it up with the very good ‘Fall Be Kind EP’; and now working on solo projects, Panda Bear and Avey Tare drop addictive singles which hint at the greatness that can be expected from the full lengths that are to follow.

‘Lucky 1’ demonstrates the bright song writing talent of Avey Tare which is such an integral part of Animal Collective’s success on songs such as ‘Summertime Clothes’.

Twin Shadow - Castles in the Snow I had heard nothing of Twin...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:18:00 +0100

Twin Shadow - Castles in the Snow

I had heard nothing of Twin Shadow before listening to his album ‘Forget’ on spotify and was instantly drawn to this track. Everything coming via Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear’s production these days seems to be perfect gems of synth pop goodness, with Twin Shadow and the newest Neon Indian single ‘Sleep Paralysist’ both coming out this year.

This really has a killer chorus.

No Age - Glitter Potential song of the year from L.A noise-punk...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:08:00 +0100

No Age - Glitter

Potential song of the year from L.A noise-punk group No Age. Taking a slightly more poppy approach on their new album Everything In Between has paid off. The follow-up to 2008’s ‘Nouns’ is laden with memorable choruses with ‘Glitter’ probably being the best example.

Deerhunter - Helicopter (Diplo & Lunice Remix) Huge remix...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:04:00 +0100

Deerhunter - Helicopter (Diplo & Lunice Remix)

Huge remix from Diplo and Lunice of the lead single from Deerhunter’s new album ‘Halcyon Digest’. They add extra drum work and synths pulling this track from bedroom jam to club banger.

Photo

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:56:30 +0100