playingwithtoys: Everything Could Be Fine cassette

Records are for posers, reel-to-reel is for the real deal, eight-track is for the freaks and cassettes are for? Sometimes music just sounds great on that jittery medium. I used to make mixes off of KROQ back in the day on my Sony Walkman and go ride my bike around the neighborhoods of Orange County singing my head off.

Nowadays I mostly wear out an already worn copy of Tracy Chapman's self-titled debut and a few Blanket Truth albums on tape. However, I immediately snatched up Sun Glitters' electro-storm of a debut Everything Could Be Fine on the late 80s kid analog. BUT unfortunately a little gaff at the factory delayed the delivery by more than a month!

The label head of We Get By and Sun Glitters' own Victor Ferreira were kind enough to quell my queries and insure they didn't just, "take the money and run." I happily received it a few days ago and am eager to experience Everything Could Be Fine in a whole new way.

Listen:
Sun Glitters-"Too Much To Lose"

Look:
original 8.Bit Samba review
Sun Glitters on bandcamp

you meddling kids: Memory Tapes' "Wait in the Dark"

I cannot wait for Memory Tapes' Player Piano to drop on the us kids (July 5th). 2009's Seek Magic was full of modest glo-fi grooves, but with the song "THIS OUR LIFE" and now "Wait in the Dark," Dayve Hawk seems to be taking a more aggressive and openly melodic stance this time out.

"Wait in the Dark" is not nearly as stunning or epic in scale or scope as "LIFE," but it's certainly very charming and filled with plenty of Hawk's signature wah-wah keyboard doodling. The song describes the uncertainties in a crumbling relationship, but the music reflects the inherent liveliness of the times when love (in all forms) puts us at the edge of our seat, sensitive to all possibilities.

Listen:
Memory Tapes-"Wait in the Dark"

Look:
Memory Tapes on blogspot

you meddling kids: Sun Glitter's "Things Are"

Just as I was reviewing the debut Sun Glitters record, Everything Could Be Fine, a new song by the Luxembourg artist drops in my tumblr dash, called "Things Are."

The sampling gets pretty extreme on this go around. Like monks in a church, deep howls feel the void between the stop-start beat. Things feel a little messy, aimless, but I think it's Ferreira's intention. The song is called "Things Are" after all. It's another nice addition to the Sun Glitters catalogue, another deeply melancholic wandering to absorb and chew on.

Listen:

Look:
Sun Glitters' official site

albumreview: Theophilus London's Lovers Holiday EP (2011)

Theophilus London is a musician/rapper/fashionista whose debut ep Lovers Holiday, is the perfect little dose of hip summer jams for a playlist mix near you. These songs practically beg to be played at the background of your favorite daytime backyard chill sesh.

Case in point, "Flying Overseas," the track that turned me onto London features a swift chillwave beat and lovely vocal turns by Solange Knowles and Devonte Hynes. The song fits worldly musings into our generation's global aspirations and if we had our way London's very Young MC-style of rapping would be bumping out of speakers from Tokyo to Italy and inbetween.

Holiday isn't afraid to get a little more serious with the other ep highlight, "Strange Love" highlighting a great female vocal sample stuttering under chimes and tongue-twisting rhymes by London. It's thrilling and perhaps the one song best kept for the bedside instead of poolside.

Theophilus London drops his debut LP over the summer and although I'm enjoying this record in a casual kind of way (as I assume it was meant for), I wonder if this hip hop hipster will utilize his strengths and stays away from weaker sounds like on "Girls Girls $." I can only accuse that track for being boring, but Lovers Holiday overall is something to take notice of right now.

Listen:
Theophilus London-"Flying Overseas (feat. Devonte Hynes And Solange Knowles)"

Look:
Theophilus London's official site

albumreview: Sun Glitters' Everything Could Be Fine (2011)

I first discovered Sun Glitters thanks to Anthony Fantano over at The Needle Drop. I was immediately struck dumb by the wave of melancholic grooviness apparent in my favorite Glitters track, "Too Much To Lose." I followed suit and grabbed the entire record, Everything Could Be Fine, off the Lëtzebuerger artist's bandcamp.

Sometimes I have trouble getting into primarily instrumental music. I can't shut up and really listen. Everything Could Be Fine is teaching me to dig deep between the frosty soulful samples off songs like "Feel It" and "A Dragonfly in the City" and let the snyth melodies and purring bass on songs like "Beside Me" and "Find Your Way (See)" pass through me like brisk air currents reawakening the negative space.

Victor Ferreira has crafted sonically united album, but it feels fit for any occasion. Not just for chilling, not just for weeping alone in the bedroom, it could be heard after hours at a club or played on a calm roadtrip down the coast. Everything Could Be Fine is a wonderful album and will get you hooked on Sun Glitters in no time.

Listen
Sun Glitters-"Too Much To Lose"

Look:
Sun Glitters on bandcamp

you meddling kids: Washed Out's "Eyes Be Closed"

Holy Hell the summer has finally begun with the arrival of Washed Out's new single, "Eyes Be Closed off his subpop debut Within and Without.

Chillwave king Ernest Greene doesn't fail to disappoint coming in guns blazing with a more treble heavy, swirly synth anthem. When those taiko-style drums kick in its pure bliss albeit a bit short for my taste.

Greene certainly has a handle on his craft and seems ready to bring "whatever you want to call the kind of music he makes" to the mainstream. Everyone is waiting.

ps. I'm seeing him in LA July 8th at The Echo!

Listen:
Washed Out-"Eyes Be Closed"

Look:
Washed Out on myspace