Maps & Atlases
First off, if you’re a Trinity student, you should know that volunteering at WRTC is awesome. WRTC is Trinity’s radio station. I started DJ-ing a weekly indie rock show three weeks ago, and I’ve been exposed to boatloads of new music. The world does not end with HypeM, and I don’t want to sound like a hipster and say that I’m really beat in terms of the way the internet spreads music, but I am. The whole process of the radio station feels far more genuine. But now that I’ve thoroughly made myself out to be a snob, I’ll get to the point.
Maps & Atlases is one of the many discoveries I’ve made from going through the new music cabinet at WRTC during my show. Perch Patchwork is the best album I’ve heard in a while. The whole thing is pretty much a much mixed bag, not in the regard that the songs are either good or bad, since every track is pretty darn sweet. The thing is that Maps & Atlases has such a wide variety of influences that you just never know what you’re going to get. Over the course of the album, I hear mid-90’s pop-rock cliches, African-influenced percussion, Williamsburg indie-rock, and Appalachian folk, among many other generic classifications that I could throw out there solely for the purposes of my own understanding of this fantastic album. Legit, from one moment to the next, these guys can be compared to artists from Sufjan Stevens to the National to Weezer to Peter Gabriel to yada-yada-blah-blah.
Regardless, it’s solid and you should definitely take a listen. What’s pretty easy to say is this: every track on Perch Patchwork is different from the one before it. They’ve all got slow build-ups to huge cascading climaxes and it’s just awesome.
Not to mention that lead singer Dave Davison is just absurdly talented.
First off, seriously NSFW, but in a good way.
It may be falltime, but I’m seriously in the mood to rediscover my favorites from this summer. Was obsessed with this video forever.
Hailing from Spain, EL GUINCHO is Pablo Díaz-Reixa, and is no stranger to indie-pop. The video featured below is for a track called ‘Bombay’, which was featured on the most recent of his three full-length releases called ‘Pop Negro’. Here, he combines the Caribbean and the African with the indie sounds of a New York summer.
I never actually got to listen to Pop Negro. I now have it and will report back soon.
HOPE TO LIVE
Mill member Luc Rioual has begun a personal endeavor to listen to a new album every day for an entire year and is updating his progress on the project at hopetolive.tumblr.com.
Here’s my recommendation for Luc.
Raw Sienna, my favorite album from the prolific British Blues outfit Savoy Brown.
If you have any recommendations for him, be sure to let him know on the website’s recommendation form. Hopefully this will make for a really good transition into his proposed Mill mix-exchange.
KILLABITS.
Killabits is not a well-known dog food manufacturer. That’s Kibbles ‘n Bits. KILLABITS is a Dubstep duo hailing from Toronto, CA who, while gaining notoriety in the Dub world, have also quietly established themselves as a Dub duo with the ability to fill a party and rock it.
Why? Killabits may primarily be dubstep, but their tracks are heavily influenced by the Drum-and-Bass movement whose comeback is slowly coming to fruition in the U.S. They also refuse to shy away from the ever-infectious electro-pop melodies that have become so prominent in dance-music over the past few years. As such, while dubstep can be fantastic, it can also be slow. Killabits throws a dub groove in your face that you’re going to have to sprint to if you want to keep up, which is always fun.
Killabits, like many dubstep acts, have also established themselves as capable remixers, which has only propelled their own material to even more popularity. Their portfolio currently features remixes of tracks by Major Lazer, Aloe Blacc, and even Kid Cudi.
So check these tracks out.
Louis La Roche – Malfunction (The Killabits Dubstep Remix)
»>This one’s my personal favorite.
Major Lazer ft. Collie Buddz & Linda Ortiz – Never Good Enough [THE KILLABITS REMIX]
SO… THIS FRIDAY. KILLABITS HALLOWEEN DUBSTEP JAM. WEAR A GODDAMN COSTUME.
Also featured will be the Mill’s own DJ Philistine, who’s certainly been making moves of his own.
IT’S SO SEXY…
This is Dom. He’s also in a band called, well, Dom.
Siren on Saturday was fantastic. Shout out to Mill-alumna Fran Stabile who was workin’ her ass off to throw the whole thing together along with the rest of the people over at Village Voice and whoever else was behind it. If you were there early enough, and I was lucky to be, you caught the set from Dom, a band hailing from Worcester, Mass who were the first on the stage and probably performed under the hottest conditions of the entire day.
Dom released a 10” on Burning Mill Records (not really sure how I feel about any name that refers to the burning of our fine establishment) called Sun Bronzed Greek Godz and it is just fantastic. Tracks like “Bochicha” and “Rude As Jude” have a very distinct surf-rock feel to them while “Hunny” and “I Wonder” echo the grungy feel of late 90’s alt-rock with a new better produced tilt.
The best two tracks on the record, though, are the first two: “Living In America” and “Burn Bridges”. High pan-flutey synths soar on top of really grimey bass while Dom preaches ideals about patriotism and relationships with the sage of your best friend who gives his/her best advice when he/she’s wasted. It’s like if Neon Indian and MGMT had a love child that just wanted to dance, even when the music wasn’t playing anymore. Really fun stuff. And come on, how dope is that lyric? “It’s so sexy, living in America!” Isn’t that what we want snooty Europeans to think about when they hear whispers of Americana from afar? Hell yes.
Check it. And go and pick up a copy of their record from Burning Mill.
NAKED
You know when you find a song that changes your life? This track is fucking unbelievable. Orchestral. Danceable. Emotional. Beautiful. Everything I want pop music to be.
The Naked And Famous - Young Blood (mp3)
Kilian Martin: A Skate Escalation
Oh my god this is incredible. The track is called “Tracy’s Waters” by Patrick Watson off of his 2009 album Wooden Arms. Go to the YouTube page to watch it in HD.
MAY 4 IS ALMOST HERE!
I’m sure you’re aware by now, but The Mill is throwing a HUGE show on Tuesday 5/4 featuring some pretty sweet acts, and they are….
THEOPHILUS LONDON
This guy has been making moves in the indie-hip-hop realm like nobody’s business, and it’s no mystery why. His style is sick, a perfect union between production and rap. His samples are perfectly selected and placed, and span everything, from Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston to techno beats that were premiered last week. His flow is completely different - he’s got this preach-hiss-sing aspect to his voice that is reminiscent of nothing I’ve heard before. He’s got a little electro, a little R&B. All in all, Theophilus has the best of every world in hip-hop right now. If you’re interested in his music, you’re in luck. All of his mixtapes are available for free online, as he hasn’t released his first full-length yet. Check them out here:
- I WANT YOU (released 4/10)
- This Charming Mixtape (released 1/09)
- JAM! (released 4/08)
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SAVOIR ADORE
Savoir is a full, five-piece pop-rock outfit from Brooklyn. Their style is simple, but infectious - their sound is raw and polished, focusing on melodies that glide through one ear and out the other with ease. They’re just damn fun and effortless, and perhaps that’s what makes them so endearing considering the movement towards overproduction and over-complication in the studio and on the stage (of which we are all certainly a willing participant). Savoir is signed to Cantora Records, who held a showcase at The Mill last fall that featured Bear Hands and Rumspringa. Now, Savoir is ready to blow the lid off this place. Should be difficult considering we’re outside, but still… Check these tracks.
- Bodies (mp3)
- We Talk Like Machines (mp3)
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WET BANDITS
You probably know these guys as Ayad and Jeff from a little band called Passion Pit, in which Ayad serves as the lead sampler and Jeff does synth work. Anyway, these guys also DJ under the name Wet Bandits and, well, I have no clue what to expect. But hey - these guys know what they’re doing. Here are a couple of their remixes you shouldn’t miss.
- Chairlift - Bruises (Passion Pit Remix) (mp3)
- Two Door cinema Club - Undercover Martyn (Passion Pit Remix) (mp3)
- Lady Gaga - Telephone (Passion Pit Remix) (mp3)
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SLEEPY MAILBOXES
Trinity College’s own Alli Millstein will be opening this whole thing off with her new project Sleepy Mailboxes. A fun electro-ass time!
SO GET YOUR ASS TO THIS SHOW! IT’S GOING TO BE ABSOLUTELY EPIC! TICKETS ARE $5! RESERVE THEM NOW! SEND AN E-MAIL WITH HOW MANY YOU’D LIKE TOMILLTIX@GMAIL.COM!
Check the promo tattoos for the May 4 show at THE MILL!
Theophilus London / Savoir Adore / Wet Bandits / Sleepy Mailboxes
E-mail milltix@gmail.com to reserve tickets ASAP!!!
THEOHPILICIOUS!
Theophilus London will be hitting the stage at THE MILL in less than a week. Joined by Savoir Adore and some friends from Passion Pit (they’re swinging by for a DJ set), Theophilus is going to rock it. Plain and simple. Reserve your tickets now at milltix@gmail.com.
Today, however, Theophilus released a new mixtape I WANT YOU, available for free download here. I haven’t checked it out yet, but if it’s anything like what he’s put out in the past, it should be mind-blowingly good. Check it out.
