Recommended music: 'Sister' by Ultraísta

After a gap of 6 years the trio of Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker and Laura Bettinson are back with their second album 'Sister'. One of the things that's immediately noticeable about this record is the influence and input that Godrich must have on Thom Yorke / Atoms For Peace records, and Radiohead as well. Some of these tracks could easily be Atoms For Peace tracks with female vocals. Elsewhere there are a couple of songs that remind me of Polica, and a hint of Unloved in the singing too.



It all wraps together in an engaging sound that's part electronic beats, a few funky basslines and some woozy vocals and sounds. It's the sort of record that would be equally at home soundtracking a long drive in the sun, relaxing by the pool or a chilled night in a bar with some friends. The fact that we can't really do any of things at the moment shouldn't detract from the pleasure of listening to this music, it'll be good for your headspace. You can listen to the whole album below.

Track of the Day: 'Digging For Windows' by Zack de la Rocha

What do you expect from a track by the ex Rage Against The Machine frontman and produced by El-P from Run The Jewels - teddy bears and flowers? Of course you don't. What you expect is exactly what you get - a pounding beat, electronic crunches, angry lyrics (the first word is 'fuck' and it's not the only use of it) and attitude by the bucketload.

We need more angry records like this in the world, especially if they're given away for free via BitTorrent like this one is - you can get it here.

Recommended music: 'The Gaslamp Killer Experience - live in Los Angeles' by The Gaslamp Killer

Recorded live at the Mayan Theatre in LA, this awesome experience really brings out the musical diversity in the GLK's music. If this is your introduction to his work you'd be hard-pressed to actually work out what genre his music belongs to, while if you're familiar with the original versions of these tracks, which are on his excellent album 'Breakthrough', you'll be amazed at how they come alive with this 14 piece band.

The record is even more impressive given that the performance came while William Bensussen a.k.a. GLK was still recovering from the near-death skateboarding accident he had while on the way home one night (there's plenty of photographs on the internet of the line stapled all the way up the front of his torso if you really want to see what happened).

The genius of this records is taking the mix of styles, breaks and beats from 'Breakthrough' and turning it into an epic, jazz / classical hybrid that would sound as good in a concert theatre as it would stoned on your couch. It's engrossing and absorbing, and as the tracks are stretched and expanded they seem to suck you in to GLK's enlightened world. The best example of this is the monumental closer 'Keep It Simple Stupid', which started life at less than 2 minutes long but here flows out over 13 fascinating minutes.

It's worth noting that the tenor sax on this record is played by none other than Kamasi Washington, whose own epic album comes out on Brainfeeder next week and who also played a major part in the creation of Kendrick Lamar's brilliant 'To Pimp A Butterfly' album.

The Gaslamp Killer is bringing his experience to London this summer - he'll be at Koko in Camden on June 25th, and I'll most definitely see you there! In the meantime you can stream the whole album below, and if you want to get the extremely cool looking blue vinyl version of this the best place is at Bleep.

Recommended music: 'Zen Summer' by Cloud

The second album from Tyler Taormina sees him in a brighter place, both literally and metaphorically. Although it was recorded before he packed up and left Long Island for Los Angeles it almost sees him anticipating that move, replacing the outpouring of emotions on 'Comfort Songs' with something more contented and relaxed. From the moment the wave crashes against the shore at the start of opening track 'Fly Into The Mystery' you can sense the journey to the West Coast. Here's what Tyler says about the vibe of the record:

"After 'Comfort Songs' I was in a dark place; but I always knew that when it ended a really uplifting and bright time was going to come. When it inevitably did the lightness I experienced turned into a real strange period of transition, culminating with me leaving home for Los Angeles. 'Zen Summer' was written to help those experiencing the anxiety associated with a state of flux. I wanted them to realise that things would be alright in the end."

Despite the change in direction the album is still full of personal observations. You can sense the importance Tyler places on surrounding yourselves with people you care about in these mirrored lyrics from 'Sunshine Psych' near the start of the album and 'Rainbow Road' at the end:

"I like when a house is full of life and when friends stick around"
"I like when a house is full of life and friends you call the best"

In 'Melting Cassatt' (which you can hear below) he confesses that "I told myself that I wouldn't cry...but it's OK now". Advice is despatched on the trippy 'Sleepy Giant Speak' :"One way out is to whine, one way in is to count the good things, it's your life, don't be scared"

The music meanwhile has broadened and deepened to become a blend of Mercury Rev and The Velvet Underground, while on the blissed-out 'Tastes Bad' we move into the stoned mantra of enlightenment-seeking psychedelia.

Overall this blissed-out and uplifting record is something that nourishes your soul as well as providing enjoyment for your ears. The album is out on 7th April via Paper Trail Records, and you can order your copy here.

Video of the Day: 'To Die In L.A.' by Lower Dens

Equal parts glamorous and seedy, this colour-saturated new video from Lower Dens heralds their new album 'Escape From Evil', as well as a new look for main woman Jana Hunter. Featuring the improbably named actress/model/singer Actually Huizenga, and the impossibly handsome Danny Ata (pretending to be Marc Jacobs), it's some kind of morality tale (I think) on the vacuousness of Hollywood. Oh, and there's some dead deer in it too for reasons which don't become apparent. Weird.



The new album is out on March 30th.

Track of the Day: 'Medication Meditation (feat. Krayzie Bone)' by Flying Lotus

Taken from the updated version of Grand Theft Auto 5, which features a massive new soundtrack, this is a bit less jazzy than the stuff on FlyLo's recent 'You're Dead', although it follows a similar format to the Kendrick Lamar-featuring 'Never Catch Me', ending with an instrumental portion.



PS I saw a cryptic comment on the internet the other day that implied that the imaginary FlyLo FM from GTA V might actually become a real thing - let's hope so!

Recommended music: 'Cosmic Logic' by Peaking Lights

If the music you release is an good indication of how things are going in your life, then all must be pretty good in the Peaking Lights camp right now. Husband and wife team Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis have made an upbeat electro-pop-dub record that's surely designed for sunshine and good times, rather than their previous releases which were more made for late nights, weed and relaxing. I guess having two kids can make your life change like that.

The murky, scratchy, lo-fi dub of old had been replaced with bright and crisp electronics that in places almost veers towards eurobeat. The one constant is Indra's floaty voice, which swoops and wafts over the backing. Album opener 'Infinite Trips' is a bit of a red herring - it's not trippy, and it's also not very much like the rest of the tracks on the album. 'Telephone Call', which is next up, is a much better indication of things to come, in which Indra signs about phone calls from space and seems to be more than a bit influenced by The Space Lady. Later on, 'Everyone and Us' has a bassline that really reminds me of 'Giant' by The The, although it's probably highly unlikely that they (or even you dear reader) will have heard that. 'Eyes To Sea' (I love that title) is built around a hypnotically repetitive electronic loop, and is followed by 'Bad With The Good', which seems to have stolen all of its keyboard and drum settings straight from the 80s - like a lot of the songs on here it's refreshingly simple and uncomplicated.

'New Grrls' is lyrically the best song on the album, telling how Indra tries to balance being a mum and a wife with being in a band, before listing role models like Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, Yoko Ono and Lydia Lunch. Even if it does sound a bit like Ace of Base 'Breakdown' is a brilliantly catchy tune, and 'Tell Me Your Song' then closes the standard version of the album with a whirligig waltz.

I bought the vinyl version which comes with an extra 12" with remixes of 'Breakdown' and 'Bad With The Good', both of which are excellent. Overall this is probably their most consistently good album and one which is well worth your hard earned pounds or dollars.

Recommended music: 'Golden Skies' by Mono/Poly

The début album  from Mono/Poly on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label is a cosmic whirl of tinkered with and twinkling electronics, beats and ambience, which combine to create a pyschic soundscape where nothing is quite what it seems. Less jazzy that FlyLo's output, and less funky than Thundercat's (whose 'Heartbreaks + Setbacks was made with Mono/Poly) this is a trippier, more mellow flow of mostly instrumental music. In place it's not a million miles away from stuff like The Orb, while other parts are more like film soundtracks, and although there are a few dance beats in there for good measure this is more of a record to throw on and drift away to rather than to hit the floor to.

In places you could accuse it of being a bit to vague and unfocused but that's also part of its charm - Charles Dickerson (the rather sober-sounding guy behind Mono/Poly) is not afraind to try a load of things at once, knowing that most of them will work out.

Recommended music: 'Comfort Songs' by Cloud

There's a line in 'Cars & It's Autumn', the opening track on this album, that pretty much seems to sum up the whole feeling and purpose of the record. "Funny how I'm happy now, singing about my sadness" sings 21-year old Tyler Taormina, and you get the sense that in some ways the record is his own personal therapy - a way of emerging from the 'difficult' teenage years and accepting that sometimes life is going to be shit, but as an adult you have to have the strength to deal with that. In doing so he provides some measure of comfort for the rest of us, hence the album's title. Walking a tightrope between optimism and despair he dips into both and ultimately emerges as a stronger human being - "My ego still needs me to be number one, but I think that I figured it out / That I only wish to be a positive force, and I don't wanna be the main character of my own life anymore" is the phrase that closes 'Authorless Novel'.

Musically this a broad church, with piano led numbers, acoustic moments, some beautiful trumpet solos, and even one or two musical moments that Mogwai would be proud of. Some bits of it remind me of Mercury Rev as well, although I can't really put my finger on why. Halfway through there's a section of songs (the end of 'Stomach Pit' & the start of 'Frere Jacques and Me') that remind me so much of hymns I used to sing at school that I wonder if there is a religious element to Taormina's upbringing, and if this in some way contributed to his teenage torment. 'Desperation Club', the longest song on the album, even comes with its own manifesto, and states 'If this were a movement, its members would follow not by choice or will'; a Fight Club for the weak and disenfranchised then.

Other great things on this record? The line "Celebrate celibate strangers", which could have come from the pen of Morrissey. The choir of friends on 'A Light Wish Weighs A Lot'.  The way that at times it feels like the whole thing is about to get out of control before it's gently reeled in. The way that the 'Ave Maria' violin introduction of'Stomach Pit' gives way to the song's melody, which has more than a passing resemblance to 'Amazing Grace'.

If you're looking for comparisons then this is every bit as haunting and touching as last year's 'Put Your Back N 2 It' by Perfume Genius. But you shouldn't really be comparing this to anything as it's in a class of its own.

The album is out on Audio Antihero on August 5th and is available as a download or a limited-edition cd - click here to order. And whilst I don't wish any ill on Jamie or his record label, it's safe to say that if he shut it down tomorrow he could feel safe in the knowledge that he's helped to give birth to a truly great record.

Track of the Day: 'Blue Dream' by Batwings Catwings

In contrast to the electronic vibes of the last 2 TofD, here's the improbably named Batwings Catwings from Los Angeles. This brand new track from them is a slight departure from their previous track 'Radio', moving them more into Seattle grunge Riot Girrl territory. It's punchy and sassy, with great lyrics like 'Are you still the one with an addiction, your eyes are barely still human'.

Have a listen to the track, and even grab a free download if you're quick enough.