Reyka Vodka has teamed up with Soundcloud and the Iceland Airwaves music festival to give American bands and DJs the chance to play in the magical land that is Iceland. All you have to do is upload three of your tracks to the officially page to have a chance to be picked to be flown over and setup with gigs all over Reykjavik.
More info here.
Finally James Blake is playing CMYK live. When I caught James Blake down at the Fader Fort in SXSW it was a Bass filled set that highlighted his dance side while his show back in May at Le Poisson Rouge here in NYC highlighted his songwriter side mixed in with sparse dance moments. Hopefully he has developed his sets into something that flows and strikes a balance between his dance/song-y side. This is exactly what I was expecting from CMYK live, an amazing extended and energetic rendition of track that showcases the full musical spectrum that is James Blake.
There is something about AzarI & III that I could never put my finger on with their brand of Distopian-futurist-house. It is more than appropriate that their debut full-length album is entitled “Manic”. The entire LP is a collection of genre blending dancefloor tracks that will conjure up images of 80s excess mixed in with 90s apathy. It is a collection of tunes that strike a nostalgic note while still feeling very futuristic. “Lost In Time” and “Change of Heart” are two of my favorite cuts from the album along side all the big singles that we all know and love. “Undecided” is a track that is a clash of Depeche Mode and and early NIN – a sound and vibe that I have no problem hearing in today’s musical environment. This is definitely in the running for one of my top favorite albums of 2011.
A truly Psycho-delic and awesome collaboration between The Flaming Lips & Lightning Bolt. Captain Beefheart salutes them.
When I listen to Fort lean I imagine it is a hazy summer afternoon and that their music is that refreshing summer breeze carries you into a lovely summers evening. There is something refreshing in the familiarity and vibe of Fort Lean and the the way they execute their music to-the-point Pop Rock.
“Dreams (Never Come True)” is my favorite cut off their 4 song EP that they are giving away on their Bandcamp. There is a touch of Roy Orbison thrown in with some 60s Pop vibes, but in the end just dig it y’all.
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/JULY%202011/02%20Dreams%20(Never%20Come%20True).mp3]
Fort Lean – Dreams (Never Come True)
Asian Dan Q&A : Fort Lean
1. Who is Fort Lean? How and why did the five of you come together to form the band?
Fort Lean is Keenan Mitchell on vocals and guitar, Jake Aron on bass, Sam Ubl on drums, Will Runge on synths, and Zach Fried on guitar. We all met at college and have played together on and off for the last few years. We were all at a point at the beginning of 2011 where our other commitments had come to an end, and we’d all been meaning to get something going together. The timing worked out so we jumped on it.
2. As I browsed the official Fort Lean tumblr fortlean.com, I noticed a theme of “NYC Bum’s Living the Dream aka sleeping on the warm asphalt of the city”. Is this a metaphor for Fort Lean itself? A true meaning of the “sounds of the streets”? Discuss.
That is a actually part of an ongoing series that Keenan is working on titled “Guys Chillin.” . We are working with Gagosian Gallery on an exhibition of selected work in late fall 2011.
3. “The weather’s perfect all the time.” dominates the header of the Fort Lean website. What is this perfect weather you speak of?
At Fort Lean, which is a place you can go, the weather is perfect all the time. Hot but not too sticky, and you can sleep in the park comfortably without getting hassled by the cops. Fort Lean is about getting too drunk at your own picnic. Fort Lean is about leaving the city. Fort Lean is a place where you can still see the skyline but you can’t hear any cars and you can put all your stolen wine in the stream to keep it cool and when the fire dies out you can see some stars and not too many airplanes.
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The new Rapture track has been floating around the web for a while but now DFA Records understands that free MP3s make the world go round, which is why they are offering the track for free with an e-mail as the only price of admission. This was quite the grower of a track for me at first. Not until the full blown outro section comes in with that bellowing “Hallelujah!” did I have my revelation that the Rapture are onto something.
Download: The Rapture : How Deep Is Your Love?
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/JULY%202011/The%20Rapture%20-%20How%20Deep%20Is%20Your%20Love.mp3]
Vondelpark’s “nyc stuff and nyc bags ep” is one of the finest release from R&S Records this year. A collection of 5 songs that clock under 22 mins and take you on an introspective sonic journey. “TV” is the second track of this EP and is just as strong as the first release “Camels”.
M83 is the master of creating nostalgic and emotive slow-motion music that borders being a form of novelty music but somehow he makes it work. This time with “Midnight City” he steps it up by throwing in an epic 90s Sax Solo. I don’t even know where to begin with this track. All I know is that I like it in a non-ironic way. I am so serious. See.
-____-
Download: M83 : Midnight City
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/JULY%202011/Midnight_City.mp3]
Jim-E Stacks’ Lemme has been on repeat for me during these warmer times and I am sure it will be well into the end of the summer #summervibes. Mr. Jim-E was kind enough to answer a few questions revealing why cassettes are the ideal musical medium, that Leighton Meister’s music and Drake’s beats are the future and that he <3’s Jerome from LOL Boys with all his <3.
Check out Jim-E Stack’s latest remix of Chaos in The CBD’s “Birthday Song” – a feel good bumper of a tune that includes some lovely chopped up RnB vocals.
Chaos In The CBD – Birthday Song (Jim-E Stack Remix) by Jim-E Stack
Love Jim-E Stack on Facebook and harass @JIMESTACK1 on Twitter.
Asian Dan Q&A : Jim-E Stack
Who is Jim-E Stack?
Some dude who makes music and tweets.
How would you describe your music?
Club music. I guess my music is stuff you’d hear and dance to in the club…I hope. If I tell my aunt and uncle from Indianapolis that I make “club music” they can understand it in a general sense, so that’s cool. So many heads say they make this future-post-house-step-bass or whatever it is, but how are your aunt and uncle from Indianapolis supposed to understand that? Maybe they don’t need to. I dunno.
What was your first musical memory?
My little brother and I used to share a bedroom back in San Francisco, where I was born and raised, probably in 1998 or 1999. I remember our family didn’t seriously bang with CDs and stuff yet, only our parents had a CD player. But my brother and I had this lil cassette player boom-box in our room. We’d hit up the Warehouse Records in the neighborhood to get cassettes every once in a while. When we were going to sleep at night I remember popping in the Eiffel 65 cassette or the Backstreet Boys cassette. I’d chill in bed like, “Yep, this is dope.”
What are your biggest influences, musical or otherwise?
People. I think there are people or whatever that influence me musically, and then there are people that influence my music. My favorite musicians, whether they’re DJs, producers, or singers like Leighton Meester, all influence me musically. I hope people get my dumb jokes. But anyways they shape who I am as a music listener and lover, not so much a music maker.
My boy Jamilio is gonna call me a groupie for this but whatever I guess I am one. Noah “40” Shebib has seriously influenced me musically, as a listener. The stuff he’s done with Drake in the last few years, and some recent stuff with Lil Wayne opened me up to a deeper, more ambient side of hip hop, or hip hop/rap in some iTunes libraries, that I didn’t really get down with before. Listening to 40’s mellower productions brought me back to some records with more R&B vibes that I’d owned for a while but kind of put aside. Like Aaliyah or Cassie. All that obvious R&B shit that everyone is wet for. As much as I sometimes wish I was a devout, self-righteous R&B head or whatever, I’m really not. I didn’t grow up listening to SWV records or anything. I got into it backwards.
There are also the people who directly influence my music. They have an impact on the way I make music. Some of these people aren’t even musicians. They’re just the kids I want to see having a good time dancing to my tunes, or some girl who I’m thinking about while making some beat on my computer. NGUZUNGUZU is a group that has really influenced my music and the way I make it. Shout outs to Asma and Daniel. Their music is so weird and crazy, but it’s totally their own. Sometimes I hear them ignoring some subtle production standards and just doing shit their way. That really helps push me towards doing my shit my way on my own tracks. NGUZUNGUZU always inspires me to be myself with my music, so I’m really making songs for me, not just the listeners. I think that’s what counts ultimately too. If I’m not trying to make music that’s uniquely me, and special to me, it’s never going to stand out to listeners, so why bother.
Jerome P of LOL Boys has probably influenced my music the most out of any artist or porn star or animal. I met him two years ago in San Francisco and ever since then he’s been putting me on to the weirdest music and been pushing me to make my music distinctly my own. I would not be the DJ/producer or musician I am today without him. Respek Jerome. Love you.
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A-Trak is a “DJ” and here is a Mini Mix that he finally made for Annie Mac where he does “DJ things” like “mixing and scratching” that is sure to make people dance – all in a matter of 5 mins.
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/JULY%202011/A-Trak%20Annie%20Mac%20Mini%20Mix.mp3]
A-Trak Annie Mac Mini Mix
All music shared on this site is copyrighted by the artists and are only meant as samples, please buy their music, buy their merchandise, see them live, support them, tell your friends about them, love them, cheers.
