This Record Helps. 

Gold Panda x Charli XCX. Match made in grimy dance-pop heaven? 

Ernest Greene, aka Washed Out, was all over the internets yesterday after announcing his Sub Pop full-length debut (out July 12). Additionally it's mentioned he's coming around the Bay with a gig at the Great American Music Hall a few days prior on July 9th. I'm totally stoked...in that chillwave kinda-way.

Streaming from the upcoming Within and Without, is "Eyes Be Closed" - a track undoubtedly influenced by Enya, and that standing outside a phonebooth song. 

EDIT (7/20): Two days ago Domino Records (by way of Subpop) released the "short beautiful visual piece" for "Eyes Be Closed," which can be now be seen above. 

Oversights 2010

In my haste to post the previous entry within the closing hours of 2010, I realize I made some glaring oversights. Um, no mention of LCD Soundsystem?! Sister Crayon? Daft Punk going Tron? Now that the dust has settled from bringing in the new year, I've gained some clarity, and I'd like to reflect on some of the most notable 2010 musical goodness one last time. LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy arguably makes This Is Happening the best album of the year, and makes me want to pack up and leave for New York forever. "Dance Yrself Clean" gets you to do just that, and "I Can Change" is the best song the Human League never wrote. $17 was the price of admission for a screening of Tron: Legacy in IMAX 3D. It was all well and good, with those lightbikes and games of straight-dagger frisbee (as I like to call it). Olivia Wilde is smokin', and Jeff Bridges is basically The Dude ("You're messing with my Zen thing, man.") But when legendary French house robot-DJ duo Daft Punk make their cameo at the End Of Line club, the movie becomes louder, better, and any qualms about the steep ticket price are squashed. Check out the new fantastically old-school video for "Derezzed," and pay attention for one lovely cameo. Oh, Kanye. Whatever. It's good. I was fortunate this year getting to know the Sacramento quartet Sister Crayon through a good homie of mine. So besides Terra, Dani, and Nicolas being super cool and chill folks, they also happen to make wonderfully soulful indie pop, fusing it with traditional trip-hop elements - samples, ambient melodies, and crisp beats. These kids had an epic 2010, highlights including the premiere of their video for "in(Reverse)" in February, their opening at LA's The Echo for School of Seven Bells in June, successfully acquiring a touring van(!), and completing a tour of the west coast with El Ten Eleven. They're killing 2011 already, playing with Little Dragon in LA tomorrow at the Natural History Museum, and anticipating the Manimal Vinyl release of their full-length Bellow, out February 22. And just yesterday, Boy George of all people tweeted about their cover of Bowie's "Bewlay Brothers" saying it was "FUCKING LOVELY." You can catch them live on February 23(along with Dan Deacon) in SF at the Rickshaw Stop for the Noise Pop festival. Listen to the fantastic single "Souls of Gold" off their forthcoming LP here. Boy George should be feeling good about himself lately, after guesting on Mark Ronson & The Business Intl's Record Collection for the modern synth-pop slice "Somebody to Love Me" - a track not far behind the rest of my favorites in 2010... Mark Ronson of course- the more talented of the producing/musician/DJing Ronson siblings (his sister being hi-top sneaker wearing and ex-Lilo-lovin' Samantha) - is producing Duran Duran's new album, which he says will satisfy any true DD fan, that "it's the imaginary follow-up to Rio."  Uh huh. Yeah, that's what he said. But is it any good? Nah.

Although speaking of Rio, my hair is well on its way toward John Taylor status circa 1982. I always thought he was sooo pretty. p.s. this is hella cute.

HEALTH, the experimentally inclined noise band from LA covers their homie Pictureplane's "Goth Star", which in turn was created around an iconic sample from Fleetwood Mac's "Seven Wonders".

I'm just waiting until someone kills it with Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back". God, now talk about a hook of a synth line. MONEY.

Bill Eppridge - Skateboarding in New York City, 1965

this is your brain on music.

I swear to god, songs follow us.

I want to go back.

M83 at Terminal 5 in NYC on May 10, 2012. 

Includes many of my favorite things - sneakers, new Justice track, skateboarding, killer editing, and Katy Perry.

Well done.  

You know when you've been listening to a highly agreeable song for a while, and one day it hits you like a ton a bricks? And you're like, it's so obvious. 

Oh Arcade Fire. They deserve every accolade for The Suburbs. The record can mean exactly what you want it to, for anyone, from here to Montreal. It's that good. You just have to listen. 

This song is yours and mine.