memory tapes - green knight

memory tapes - seek magic

do your ears a favor.

seek magic is the fantastic debut studio record from american chillwave artist memory tapes. despite a mass of indie electronica artists struggling to discover their own unique voice, memory tapes does just that and makes it seem like child's play. seek magic is one of the greatest albums i have ever had the pleasure of listening to and i still go back to it regularly.

memory tapes is one of multiple aliases of dayve hawk. originally the frontman of rock band hail social, hawk went on to record a slew of eps and remixes under the monikers memory cassette and weird tapes before releasing seek magic.

seek magic is a rare gem of an album that incorporates a plethora of genres to create something that is both fresh and timeless. hawk's soft vocals sing cryptically poetic lyrics over a bed of dance beats, angst-fueled guitars, and dreamy lo-fi noise. and let's face it, how many albums can you think of that sample a dribbling basketball on one of the tracks? not too many, i'd imagine! seek magic is an absolute must-have and a true testament that the indie music scene is very much still alive. the entire record is perfection from start to finish but my personal favorites are "green knight," "stop talking," and "graphics." you should know what to do by now. hop to it!

01. swimming field
02. bicycle
03. green knight
04. pink stones
05. stop talking
06. graphics
07. plain material
08. run out
09. green knight (visions of trees remix)

do your ears a favor.

neon indian - mind, drips

neon indian - psychic chasms

do your ears a favor.

psychic chasms is the critically-acclaimed debut album from american chillwave band neon indian. although an lp with the same name was released half a year prior, the record itself features those same few tracks with a slew of others. i still remember when psychic chasms first came out and how it basically ignited a whole new subgenre and thus paved the way for other chillwave artists.

neon indian is composed of alan palomo, jason faries, lars larsen, and leanne macomber. palomo previously worked on other musical projects under the aliases of ghosthustler and vega, although his work with neon indian is by far his most impressive.

psychic chasms sounds like an epic trip on the perfect concoction of drugs. filtered vocals swirl over retro video game synthesizers, digital noises, and lo-fi electronic beats. the hooks are plentiful, the production is rich, and the lyrics are surprisingly good. "6669 (i don't know if you know,)" "should have taken acid with you," and "mind, drips" are my personal favorite tracks, but i digress; psychic chasms is one of my favorite albums of all time and warrants a download from anyone with an appreciation for solid electronica music. i also included a few of my favorite neon indian remixes.

01. (am)
02. deadbeat summer
03. laughing gas
04. terminally chill
05. (if i knew, i'd tell you)
06. 6669 (i don't know if you know)
07. should have taken acid with you
08. mind, drips
09. psychic chasms
10. local joke
11. ephemeral artery
12. 7000 (reprise)
13. should have taken acid with you (body language remix)
14. psychic chasms (anoraak remix)
15. mind, drips (mirror people remix)

do your ears a favor.

heartsrevolution - c.y.o.a.

heartsrevolution - revolvers

do your ears a favor.

revolvers is a custom mixtape highlighting some of the best songs of american electronica duo heartsrevolution. though they have released a slew of eps over the last five years, they are very difficult to come across. luckily, their debut album ride or die is slated for release later this year. in the meantime, check out this mixtape if you like electronica music at all!

heartsrevolution is comprised of leyla "lo" safai and ben pollock, though terry "prince terry" campbell stands in as drummer for live events. the duo have been placed on several lists geared towards innovative artists to watch out for and enjoy a strong underground fan base.

heartsrevolution sounds like a bunch of drugs and computers having sex in a dance club. safai belts out processed vocals over wicked electronic beats, experimental noise, and trance-inducing synthesizer riffs. i like the songs "digital suicide (swyst)," "switchblade," and "c.y.o.a." best but heartsrevolution are truly geniuses of their craft. fans of electronica, techno, and dance will find a lot to love here. revolvers is an excellent (and safe) way to pop your heartsrevolution cherry! get lubed up!

01. digital suicide (swyst)
02. ultraviolence
03. switchblade
04. take it or leave it
05. wolves and libertines
06. the rose and her prince
07. prism effect (featuring cory kennedy)
08. c.y.o.a.
09. dance till dawn
10. digital suicide (lullaby)
11. switchblade (la riots mix)
12. c.y.o.a. (flosstadamus mix)

do your ears a favor.

twin sister - all around and away we go

twin sister - in heaven

do your ears a favor.

in heaven is the stellar debut full-length record from american indie quintet twin sister. the album is a beautiful hodgepodge of genres that compliment each other to create a lush sonic experience which draws the listener in completely.

twin sister is comprised of vocalist andrea estella, guitarist/vocalist eric cardona, bassist gabe d'amico, keyboardist dev gupta, and drummer bryan ujueta. the band's previous two eps from last year, vampires with dreaming kids and color your life, garnered a lot of buzz and placed them on several "artists to watch" lists. though both of those releases are amazing, in heaven is a natural evolution in the band's stylistic musings and they incorporate the best from both those discs.

in heaven, in essence, is a dreampop album with heavy disco influences, chillwave ambiance, and dreamy production. the vocals are ethereal and the attention to detail with atmospheric instrumentation and electronic effects is spot-on. in heaven is a gorgeous piece of sonic art created by five young people who clearly love music. this record is perfect for putting on while enjoying a joint with good company. "kimmi in a rice field," "luna's theme," and "gene ciampi" are my personal favorites, though twin sister can pretty much do no wrong. as an added bonus, i included a slew of older tracks from their previous eps. aren't you curious to find out what all the fuss is about?

01. daniel
02. stop
03. bad street
04. space babe
05. kimmi in a rice field
06. luna's theme
07. spain
08. gene ciampi
09. saturday sunday
10. eastern green
11. phenomenons
12. lady daydream
13. the other side of your face
14. all around and away we go
15. dry hump

do your ears a favor.

sleep ∞ over - forever

do your ears a favor.

forever is the full-length debut record from american electronica artist sleep ∞ over. technically, she has released a slew of other eps and lps, but most of her releases are available in extremely limited quantities and her oldest work is out of print altogether.

sleep ∞ over is stefanie franciotti from right here in atx, which makes me quite the happy bunny! despite what plays on the radio, the fact is that there still are creative forces out there making music into art and the fact that stefanie is based in austin pleases me so much!

sleep ∞ over is the perfect name for an artist that creates this type of music. in all honesty, forever sounds like the soundtrack to a dream. sonic texture swirls over ambient synths to create fantastic landscapes while stefanie's unforgettable vocal strains flutter aimlessly. from start to finish, forever is a fantasy for the ears that is both haunting and sensual. my favorite songs are "romantic streams," "casual diamond," and "stickers," which is probably the single sexiest track ever recorded. the entire album is pure art, though, and i adore it. are you curious yet? i thought as much. check it!

01. behind closed doors
02. romantic streams
03. porcelain hands
04. heavens turn by themselves
05. casual diamond
06. cryingame
07. flying saucers are real
08. stickers
09. untitled
10. don't poison everything

do your ears a favor.

wtf - too much caffeine

i'm so excited, too, jessie! who would have ever guessed that after her stint as smart and sassy jessie spano on saved by the bell she would later move onto ultra classy family-friendly flick showgirls and rub ice on her nipples? this guy right here, that's who! all i can say is: get it, girl.

this video is a hilarious remix of the infamous scene in which jessie's bestie zack finds out that she is addicted to caffeine pills (that's right) because there's NO TIME to study and she HAS TO SING! after all, there's a sleazy music video in leotards at stake here!

this is some funny shit and i'm laughing my ass off but it's also a little sad (not really) since jessie isn't only SO EXCITED; she's SO SCARED, too. chin up, girl. i'll never get into stanford, either.

adventure - rio

check it out - alyce

welcome to the first installment of "check it out," where i hope to enlighten you and give you something to look forward to. pretty sweet video, huh? this is the trailer for the upcoming horror movie alyce, which is finally gearing up to debut at cannes this year.

the film revolves around best friends alyce and carroll, hipster chicks in l.a. with a taste for sex, booze, and drugs. after getting shitfaced, they head up to the roof of their building. bad idea! carroll falls several floors and is left in a vegetative state. alyce is relentlessly haunted by the memories and to shut them out, she finishes off her best friend. but that's only the beginning.

alyce is already getting lots of buzz on the internet and with a trailer and synopsis like that, i'm not surprised!

shane has no shame - fucked up

lookin' good! :) this picture was taken on a particularly rough bender of a night over a year ago. i still don't remember much of what happened, other than it took me about two weeks to fully recuperate.

i'm all for mental stimulation, so long as it is done in as safe a manner as possible. if i recall correctly, i was stoned as fuck, drunker than i had ever been, and had a little bit of molly in the system to top it off.

i think i look pretty happy in the picture, despite how seriously fucked up i was! memories...

blonde redhead - 23

pnau - embrace (featuring ladyhawke)