Chris Recommends

Various Artists - Originals Vol. 1

2009-01-05T00:07:00.004-05:00

This is a very nice (and very limited, from what I understand) compilation from the label Claremont56, who specializes in nice mellow, new-agey disco, often referred to by DJs and nerds as Ballearic Disco. I wouldn't necessarily call it dance music, but I would call it a great listen. Put this on your headphones while you commute to or from work, it'll make you feel like you're in a movie. The track I've linked below treated me quite well while I was on the way home from dinner tonight.

Cantoma - Maja (Dub)
Buy It Here

Faded Paper Figures - Polaroid Solution

2009-01-02T16:53:00.006-05:00

Man, I'm such a sucker for this indietronic stuff. Shoe-gazey pop at it's finest.

Faded Paper Figures - Polaroid Solution

Schnipper

2008-12-16T23:34:00.004-05:00

Matt Schnipper writes for the Fader, both in print and on their website. His weekly column "Schnipper's Slept On" is about records that Schnipper likes but most people don't know about. Except it's not about that, it's really about a whole lot of things. It's so superbly written, both funny and poignant, that it's easily the best thing they've got going on their blog (Around The World With A-Trak is a close second). Schnipper lives somewhere near me, and know this because I always manage to bump into him at unexpected times and we sort of say hello to each other because we know each other, but then we usually go back to talking to our friends. I've recommended his stuff once before, when he had a whole month dedicated to him and his zine (I called him nerdy but I meant it in the endearing way), but really he should be recommended on general principle. This most recent edition of his column serves as a nice year-end review, the kind that makes you think of your life and the things that you did, all the little small moments that didn't seem to mean anything until you tally them up at the end. I can't promise I won't put some cheap imitation of his post on this website at some point during the next week.

Schnipper's Slept On: Grouper (and other things)

Okkerville River - Lost Coastlines

2008-12-08T22:55:00.003-05:00

For a long time people would ask me "Do you listen to Okkerville River?" or "Oh hey, have you checked out the new Okkerville River album?" and my answer was always "no." I think that this is because I lived in a college town, and then now I live in that part of Brooklyn that might as well be a college town (if only there were some institution of higher learning around here...) and I get the impression that a lot of Okkerville River's fans are college kids or kids that still wish they were in college. To support my point, I was alerted to this song's existence while watching MTVU (the MTV for colleges) at my dad's house over the Thanksgiving holiday. He's not in college, but for some reason he has that channel anyways. I really like it so I procured the album and while I'm sorry to say that none of the tracks are nearly as gorgeous as this one, I am glad that after 5 years of nagging I've finally listened to a bit of Okkerville River.

Okkerville River - Lost Coastlines (right click, save as)

Department Of Eagles - In Ear Park

2008-11-07T12:48:00.008-05:00

Department Of Eagles is weird folky stuff from members of Grizzly Bear, according to people at Turntable Lab they used to make weird downtempo beats? Regardless, this has been on repeat for weeks, and will probably be among my favorite releases this year. Below, one of my favorite tracks.

Department Of Eagles
Department Of Eagles - No One Does It Like You (right click, save as)

KEXP's Streaming CMJ Coverage

2008-10-23T11:28:00.002-05:00

For those of us who have to work during the day (and/or those of us who are too hungover to drag our asses to daytime showcases), KEXP has come to the rescue by inviting a few bands to come play in their studio. Personally, I prefer this to waiting in insane lines with the rest of Hipster America to get into a showcase featuring a band I've never heard of, who may or may not suck. Just now I was introduced to Friendly Fires, and now I'm inspired to try and catch their set at the Fader House later tonight. Give it a listen, especially those of you who aren't in NYC right now. Don't get caught sleeping!

KEXP 90.3 FM

Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road (Live on VH1 Storytellers)

2008-10-03T12:31:00.002-05:00

Goddamn.

Lee Jones' Resident Advisor Podcast

2008-09-25T15:39:00.004-05:00

Just perfect. I've been a big fan of Lee Jones recently, the Tiger Stripes remix of his track "Aria" is probably my favorite techno song released this year. Here, Jones starts off really moody, and keeps it that way through the first half of the mix. This is perfect for autumn. The second half is a a bit more ass shakey, but sounds great. I couldn't help but smile when the M.A.N.D.Y. track came in.

Tracklist:

Kitty Bronx - Sacramento - Junior
Margaret Dygas - Sail Away
Jean-Michel Bernard - Golden the Pony Boy - Astralwerks
Acid Pauli (feat. Master Saphi Band) - Euphonium - Bar 25
Jon Brion - Phone Call - Hollywood Records
Oni Ayhun - OAR 1 - Oni Ayhun Records
Jay Haze - The Warmth
CSM - The Way - Reel Discs
Warbgasm - Influenza (Plasmik Deep Chord Remix) - Hypercolour
Untold - Kingdom - Hessle Audio
And.Id - Sand On The Floor - Mobilee
Plez - How Can You Stop - BBE
Nicone - Una Rossa (H.O.S.H. Remix) - Stil Vor Talent
Butch & Julie Marghilano - Last Tango (Daso & Pawas Remix) - Envy My Music
Sideshow - 'If Alone' Feat Paul St.Hilaire (Château Flight Dub Mix) - Aus
M.A.N.D.Y. - Superman (Reboot's 20 Cubans) - Get Physical Music
Toasty - Like Sun - Hotflush
Burak Sar - La Garua - Cécille Records
Minilogue - Snake Charmer - Wagon Repair
Patrice Baumel - Roar - Get Physical Music
Lee Jones - Weisses Kanninchen - Aus
Gwen Maze - More Than Love (Anthony Collins Remix) - Supernature
Lalo Schifrin - End Title (Cool Hand Luke Soundtrack) - Dot Records

Lee Jones' Resident Advisor Podcast
Download in MP3 form here (right click, save as)

TV on the Radio - Golden Age

2008-08-21T11:36:00.002-05:00

HOLY SHIT

Zo & Tigallo Love The 80s!

2008-08-08T10:25:00.004-05:00

Zo and Tigallo are from Raleigh (raise up!), and Tigallo is more commonly known as Phonte, a member of Little Brother. This is basically a series of super buttery R&B 80s covers. Like, if the tunes weren't so poppy you could make babies to this. Below is their version of "Take On Me" that's actually been floating around for over a year, credited to Phonte himself (it had me really scratching my head the first couple times it came on my ipod). The cover itself is great, but it gets really good at the end when they take some liberties and let Carlitta Durand really go to work. Girl sounds like Chrisette Michelle and that's a good thing.

Zo & Tigallo - Take On Me
Buy It Here

Oak

2008-08-01T10:15:00.004-05:00

My friend Jolene introduced me to Oak a couple months ago, they recently opened a location in NoLita. When we were there I immediately thought they were really avant-guard as well as out of my budget (both of these things are still true). Still, I can't stop returning to their website and drooling over their fall preview. Just think of the prices as motivation to be upwardly mobile.

Oak

Summertime

2008-08-01T10:12:00.002-05:00

Been a while since I recommended anything, my bad. It's the summertime! I've only got about 6-8 weeks of heat and skin and sweat and making out, I have to make the best use of my time. I recommend that you do the same.

(Yes, this a cop out, don't worry, I'm gonna post about Oak in a minute.)

Top Ranking Santogold: A Diplo Dub

2008-07-11T14:04:00.003-05:00

Thank god, Diplo's finally out of the rave cave and back to what, in my opinion, he does best: raps and weird blends. Top Ranking Santogold is, as far as I can tell, designed to be the Piracy Funds Terrorism to Santogold's MIA (Sorry on to pile on with the unfair MIA comparisons, but bringing Diplo into the picture makes it hard to resist). Anyways, it's shit like this that makes me remember why I used to love Diplo so much. Soundtrack for the summer? Quite possibly.

LP3 by Ratatat

2008-07-10T11:09:00.005-05:00

Ratatat have been one of my favorite acts since I was in ~~high school~~ my freshman year of college (god, that long ago!?), so I was naturally looking forward to their third proper full length. At first I liked it, and was then disappointed (sometimes it feels a bit incomplete, sketches rather than songs), but now it's grown on me a bit. Enough, at least, to get the ol' recommendation. It continues with the huge multi-instrumental sound that they developed with Classics, with a distinctly more tropical/latin feel than the last one. Judging by some of the song titles I think that maybe they went on vacation to Mexico and just got really into whatever village they stayed in. Anyways, they keep teasing that LP4 is right around the corner so let's hope that's not just malarkey. Check out "Falcon Jab" from the album in the link below.

Oh PS - Ratatat.com is amazing. At first I thought it was a joke created by the band, but it looks like an actual legitimate website for a family in Milwaukee.

Ratatat - Falcon Jab
Ratatat on Myspace

Revisiting Joanna Newsom's Ys

2008-07-07T22:31:00.003-05:00

About a year and a half ago this was my big Winter album, and it's still great for snowy nights. However, tonight, paired with the hum of the window A/C, it's doing the trick quite nicely.

Alphabeat - Fascination

2008-06-12T19:35:00.003-05:00

So Alphabeat seems to be kindamaybe new over here, but they're old news in their home country of Denmark, where this single came out last summer. Doesn't make it any less catchy though. This is that great summertime pop song that makes you feel like you're 18 again.

Alphabeat - Fascination

Caps & Jones' Backyard BBQ Mix

2008-06-10T21:09:00.008-05:00

Caps & Jones have long been two of my favorite DJs, no one can spin a party the way they do. They surprise me every time, and that's what makes someone a good DJ, their ability to surprise you. Krudmart, a fine online retailer of t-shirts with dirty pictures on them, commissioned the boys to put up an entry in their monthly mix series and sure enough they delivered. The result is a 48 minute romp through rock and pop of yesteryear. You're gonna say "Oh FUCK I love this song," about 10 times through the course of the mix. Of course, it's free for the masses on the Krudblog, the link to which is following this informative tracklist:

rush - spirit of radio
the fixx - one thing leads to another
cyndi lauper - she-bop
flock of seagulls - space age love song
head east - never been any reason
thin lizzy - jailbreak
kansas - carry on my wayward son
black sabbath - behind the wall of sleep
joe walsh - life's been good to me so far
blue oyster cult - godzilla
weezer - the world has turned
sonic youth - teenage riot
dinosaur jr - freak scene
blondie - hangin on the telephone
the clash - remote control
tom petty - yer so bad
the cyrkle - red rubber ball
joe walsh - in the city

Caps & Jones - Backyard BBQ Mix

Static Major - I Got My (Feat. Lil Wayne)

2008-06-09T19:22:00.004-05:00

I know that we're way beyond Lil Wayne overkill these days, I wouldn't be surprised if dude showed up and started rapping in my dreams (no homo). However, Static Major could use a lil more shine. He's the other guy on Lollipop. Anyways, this is really fast and has awesome Promiscuous Girl-esque synths in the hook. I hoping this becomes a huge summer jam. To help it along, I've been playing it several times per day on the sound system during kickball games.

Static Major - I Got My (Feat. Lil Wayne)

Classical Music

2008-06-09T19:17:00.002-05:00

Can't really go into detail on this one (yet) but I'm working on a project right now that involves listening to lots of classical music on vinyl. Maybe it's the sweltering NYC heat affecting my brain (are you sure it's June?) but I'm kinda digging it. Really nice stuff to have on in the background while you read blogs and emails and whatnot.

Stat Quo - My Ride Double Bubble

2008-05-04T23:01:00.005-05:00

Whoooooooooooowee that's a damn fine beat. Regular readers should know by now that I'm a sucker for a vocal based beat. Peep the harmonies in the chorus though. So dope! I hope this shit blows up this summer. If i had a car I'd drive around with this on repeat, volume all the way up. B.O.B. on the track too, so you know it's prolly heat.

Stat Quo (Myspace)
Stat Quo - My Ride Double Bubble (Feat. B.O.B.)

Cam'ron - Killa Cam

2008-04-28T23:15:00.002-05:00

In case you are one of approximately 20 people who is still sleeping on this song (don't feel bad, I was #21), here it is. If you're an ol' head and you haven't heard it in a minute, allow me to remind you. Cousin Cole sent it to me yesterday to throw on the kickball playlist. He's always made fun of me in the past for not having it, and I didn't take him seriously until now. This has been on repeat all day. Jesus, that beat just... floors me. I've always been a sucker for vocal based hip hop beats though.

Cam'ron - Killa Cam

The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)

2008-04-12T10:46:00.004-05:00

Good God.

I really hope this becomes huge (hell, for all I know, it already is). Nice to see Falke stepping into the spotlight a bit.

The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

2008-04-08T17:17:00.005-05:00

Cut Copy's album is out today, and goddamn it's good. Definitely a great spring/summer dance album, expect to hear this plenty in Brooklyn during the coming months. This, Juan Maclean, and Hercules and Love Affair are making it look like it's gonna be a good summer for dancing.

Cut Copy - Feel The Love
Cut Copy - Lights & Music

Liam Finn - Second Chance

2008-04-08T15:23:00.003-05:00

Liam is the son of Neil Finn, whom Austrailians & Brits will recognize as the frontman of Crowded House. Crowded House's first two albums were the only ones that were successful in America, the first going platinum and the second going gold, but their American popularity fell off pretty quick once the 90s arrived. Anyways, I caught the video for this tune the other night on New York Noise and haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Nice little melancholy lo-fi song for the beginning of spring.

Liam Finn - Second Chance

Samuel - Say Goodbye

2008-03-06T22:53:00.002-05:00

This shit is so emo! Whatever, I'm all about it. This track was produced by The Knocks (poised to blow up huge soon) and features Wade from The Virgins, but I'm not sure if he's singing or playing guitar or what (in the Virgins he plays guitar). Still, this shit is hot. Catch me filling dancefloors with melodrama in 2008. This is totally my favorite song right now.

Samuel - Say Goodbye (Feat. Wade from The Virgins)