Lithium

You know it when you hear it, but you haven't heard it like this. Take nirvana to the beach.  Little Roy has composed an album of Nirvana covers, this is my favorite. The ska element, with brass instruments, gives the song an upbeat happy-go-lucky feeling. To me Roy's voice has a rasp that only older voices have, and it does a fantastic job translating the pain of this song in a somewhat non-painful way. Enjoy!

Lithium - Little Roy
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Little Roy

Sa Sa Samoa

Get ready for some ambient bliss.  This track has roots in church choir, tribal, and electronic. Now if someone described a song with those descriptors, would you have envisioned this song? If you said yes you are a liar, or you are Korallreven. But you don't have to be a talented producer to appreciate this fantastic track. Enjoy!

Sa Sa Samoa - Korallreven
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Korallreven

Wicked Games

From the first note I ever heard Coeur de Pirate sing, I was in love.  This fantastic stripped down cover brings completely new meaning to an already great track. The painful piano chords alongside her voice which carries an even larger pain are just right. Enjoy!

Wicked Games (The Weekend Cover) - Coeur de Pirate
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Coeur de Pirate | The Weekend

Select Sundays: Rumour Has It / Someone Like You

I know some of you may not like Glee, may not ever like Glee, but that's no reason for you to deny Naya Rivera and her astounding package of beauty and talent. While she shares the stage for this Adele mashup, if you watch the video, the song is all hers -- especially in context of the episode, if you've seen it. As a public service, I just wanted to have the song on MP3 for everyone. Because it's the best. Also: Here is Naya Rivera covering Amy Winehouse.

Rumour Has It / Someone Like You - Glee Cast
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Glee Season 3

Nightcall

I get a sexy european-ish nostalgia from this song. Don't the 90's telephone ringing and that slow beats-per-minute swing just make you feel sexy. I'm a sucker for Lovefoxxx's voice as well, she has a cute yet confident sound. Enjoy!

Nightcall Feat. Lovefoxxx (Breakbot Remix) - Kavinsky
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Kavinsky | Lovefoxxx (from CSS) | Breakout

Me and Mr. Wolf

There's a playful back and forth on this track.  I love the sound of her cute and intelligent voice.  There's a ton of instruments dancing around like characters in a pixar film, classic guitar, clarinet, trumpet, piano, and more. My favorite part of the song is when they both sing together. Enjoy!

Me and Mr. Wolf - The Real Tuesday Weld
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The Real Tuesday Weld

Oranges

This edit captures the soul of deep house. Smooth jazzy synths, upbeat drums with an appearance from bongos, and an overall smokey dark room urban aura inviting all people to relish while they boogie.

Oranges (Jacques Renault Edit) - Mark E
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Mark E | Jacques Renault

Reptillians

First of all, if I could snap my fingers and become a master of any one instrument I'd choose the bass. I know, bass players are known for lack of personality and zero sex appeal. Regardless, I love the sound of a good bassline. There's a bass solo in this track, which you just don't hear in new music these days. I did this entire track, but that driving bassline just hits me hard. The falsetto singing and the ambient walk-feeling of this song complete it for me. Enjoy!

Reptillians - Starfucker
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Starfucker

Sometimes

Grease up your hair, plop on a poodle skirt and leather jacket while dancing around to this fun soda pop diner track.  I simply love the classic hook, "sometimes". There's been a constant innovation and press to move trends and standards forward in the music industry, but it's nice to see a band stick to a tried and true formula that's 60years old! Enjoy!

Sometimes - Bandana Splits
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Bandana Splits

Select Sundays: Soak It Up

Sometimes you just don't want a lot of lyrics you know? I'll admit that ambient music can sometimes put me to sleep but if it's got a nice soft beat and perhaps a hint of vocals, I can really put something on repeat. After all, we can't dance all the time can we? This track is the type that the louder you play it, the calmer you feel. A rarity.

Soak It Up - Houses
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Houses

Change Of Time

The beginning of this song gives the impression that this is one of those sentimental singer song writer voice + guitar only songs. While his guitar and voice sound lovely, there's more in this track.  The electric guitar and drums make their entrance and the song finishes with a strong chorus. Enjoy!

Change Of Time - Josh Ritter
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Josh Ritter

Take Me Home

Don't let the shaker and hand claps at the beginning of the song fool you.  Trust me, when that bass guitar starts your head bobbing and mouth smiling you'll know what you're in for. The song is full of soft sounds, yet the beats per minute allow you to get up and move your body to the beat. So make sure you do just that. Enjoy!

Take Me Home - Poolside
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Band Name link

I Won't Be Left

Yesterday Tegan and Sara released a DVD and a CD.  If I were able to be friends with any musical act on the planet, Tegan and Sara would be it.

Choosing a track to post here was rather difficult, as I think that all of the tracks they re-recorded with stripped down arrangements are fantastic. It took a bit of collaborative brainstorming with a fellow die hard Tegan and Sara fan to conclude that I Won't Be Left was the song to post. Tegan's vocals up front backed up by Sara's delicate voice sends tingles down my spine. Hearing "I won't be left, dancing to songs from the past" paints a great imagery. Enjoy!

"May you all be bummed at one point"

I Won't Be Left - Tegan And Sara
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Tegan And Sara

Parix

I can't escape the fantastic melody of this chorus, and I've tried.  I especially like the first line of that "Bad dreams ricochet, ricochet".  It's gotta be so tough to write the word 'ricochet' in a song, and have it sound so dang good. There are other aspects of the song that grab me, like the fluttery vocals and when the first note of blazing bass hits you. Enjoy!

Parix - When Saints Go Machine
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When Saints Go Machine

Goodbye

This song paints a landscape of nature for me: tropical rain with distant thunder. The piano chords crash, while tinny guitar strings fall in large water droplets. The smooth cool breeze flows subtly over your skin as what either sounds like whispering female background vocals or some type of muted bamboo flute. There's no fear in this storm, it's breathtakingly beautiful. Enjoy!

Goodbye (Instrumental) - Apparat
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Apparat

Select Sundays: Master of Art

There are many things I like about this song: the powerful beat in the beginning, Laura's voice setting the scene, the slightly Lost in Translation feel to the song. But most of all, I think I love the fact that Stevenson's grandfather composed "The Little Drummer Boy," one of the best Christmas songs ever (which was popularized by the real life Von Trapp Family)! So think of that connection as you put this song on repeat. It's what I've been doing.

Master of Art - Laura Stevenson & The Cans
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Laura Stevenson & The Cans

Regnsky Blogset

Many months ago I had the idea to make a 1hr mix with songs that have all been posted from one specific music blog, a "blogset".

This concept lent itself to be done more than once, with more than one blog. I currently subscribe to almost 50 music blogs, so choosing the first one was not easy. Not to mention that I could do many different sets just using songs from the same blog. Hopefully this is the first in many of its kind.

Luckily I keep close track of which music blogs I've downloaded songs from, in a somewhat compulsive matter. So I started by reviewing these collections of songs and piecing a set together in my mind. Eventually I decided that my first "blogset" would be from Regnsky, a blog I've followed for some time. They haven't been as active recently as in the past, but they have introduced me to tons of great music through my course of following.

Lastly, the blog is in Danish, so a special thanks goes to google translate.

Tracklist:

1) I Need Medicine (Original Version) - Fairmont

2) Purple Ivory - Henrik Koefod

3) Still Dreaming - Andre Lodemann

4) Without Me (Feat. Tracey Thorn) - Tevo Howard

5) In Another Room - Pional

6) Seasun (John Talabot's Kids & Drums Remix) - Delorean

7) What you Do (Feat. Tyree Cooper) - Tom Trago

8) Paris Is For Lovers - Fet Et Moi

9) Curesto (Original Mix) - Solomun

10) Meanwhile (Kollectiv Turmstrase Remix) - Johnjon

11) Baby, Let's Love - Mano Le Tough

12) Distant Shores - Peter Dundov

Regnsky Blogset Mixed by The Nose - The End Starts Today
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The Nose

Someone Out Of Town

Some ideas sound good in theory, but in practice almost never work. Looping background vocals is an example of this.  And Yuna is an example that does it right. I'm constantly surprised at how amazing simple arrangements can sound when they are carefully executed. Yuna's voice is incredibly easy to latch onto, and when you do so, you latch onto her emotion as well. Enjoy!

Someone Out Of Town - Yuna
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Yuna

Boogie II Night

I just love the broken beat that starts this track. It all smoothes out when she starts singing. The track is sexy and fun, with a very danceable beat. This is one of those end of the night songs that comes on, and stays in your head through the next morning. Enjoy!

Boogie II Night - Danny Krivit
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Danny Krivit

Mind Rhythm

There's a telepopmusik-like sound to the vocal hook on this track, which I love. The beginning build is gradual and eloquent. There's aggressive drums and bass, yet serene keyboard keys dropping everywhere like raindrops.  Overall the song balances out quite nicely. Enjoy!

Mind Rhythm (HKay Remix) - Freeloader
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Freeloader | HKay

Trojans

Sometimes a good song doesn't require it's bits and pieces dissected and analyzed.  As you experience the song you know that anyone who hears the track for the first till will crack a smile. My best description is that the song is timeless. Enjoy!

Trojans - Atlas Genius
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Atlas Genius

Select Sundays: Robbers

These days, if you find out about a band you missed out on a few years ago, it seems like an absolute lifetime before. What was I doing in 2006? It's near impossible to think back that far. Did they even have the Internet then? If T.E.S.T. had been around five years ago, this track would have certainly made the cut.

Robbers - Cold War Kids
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Cold War Kids

Stems From Hell

This electrified sound of a bass string rattling to the infectious progression of notes moves me. The sound reminds me of the lowest notes on a piano (created by strings). There's a dark smoky industrial feel to this track, the stuff that makes you overuse the word underground. The song has poise, and doesn't blare out at you for every ticking second. The ups and downs are calculated perfectly, resulting in just over 8 minutes of thrill. Enjoy!

Stems From Hell - Gui Boratto
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Gui Boratto

Caminhando

I don't enjoy people with split personalities, but I do enjoy songs with split personalities. Caminando starts out sounding like a live campfire recording, and mid song the drum machine shows up out of nowhere with a snare. Soon the bass drum follows and you've been transported from the campfire to the club floor.

Fun Fact: the original song by Simone was recorded in 1979, in Brazil, during a time of turmoil.

Enjoy!

Caminhando (Chuckie & Nico Hamuy Bootleg) - Simone
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Simone | Chuckie | Nico Hamuy

Can't Buy Love

This isn't your typical deep house track.  I love how dark and mysterious the song is. In fact, I'm slightly reminded of final-level video game music.  Then there's the vocals, with their heavy reggae style. And to bring it home, there's a true to life lesson within the lyrics:

"You can pay for sex,
But can't buy love"

Well, sort of a true to life lesson... Enjoy!

Can't Buy Love feat. Dani Siciliano - Aquarius Heaven
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Aquarius Heaven | Dani Siciliano

Granny Smith

I wasn't ready for this song. In fact I've played it four times back to back, and I'm still not ready for it.

It's very easy for there to be too much going on in a song. I admire the simple, yet elegant design of sound. Too many instruments, sounds, samples, vocals, genres, influences, you name it, can easily kill a song.  This song has everything but the kitchen sink, and it works. My gosh does it work. The piano, the trance-like synths, the male vocal sample "but I'm new here", and the saxophone! Where did that come from?! This delicate hodgepodge of sounds swept me off my feet. And now I've listened to it 5 times in a row.  Enjoy!

Granny Smith - Strange Fruit
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Strange Fruit