Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Dead Flag Blues (Intro)

I feel like, with the close of 2013, this is more than apropos. Burn 2013 and what it had to offer--learn from it, but don't go back. Cheers to 2014, folks.

"the car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel
and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
and a dark wind blows

the government is corrupt
and we're on so many drugs
with the radio on and the curtains drawn

we're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
and the machine is bleeding to death

the sun has fallen down
and the billboards are all leering
and the flags are all dead at the top of their poles

it went like this:

the buildings tumbled in on themselves
mothers clutching babies picked through the rubble
and pulled out their hair

the skyline was beautiful on fire
all twisted metal stretching upwards
everything washed in a thin orange haze

i said: "kiss me, you're beautiful -
these are truly the last days"

you grabbed my hand and we fell into it
like a daydream or a fever

we woke up one morning and fell a little further down -
for sure it's the valley of death

i open up my wallet
and it's full of blood"

Schlohmo remix of HAERTS: Wings

Schlohmo is an artist from Los Angeles, California, known to his mother as Henry Laufer. The 23-year-old producer  is a lo-fi beat junkie and field-recording enthusiast, whose crackling, low-BPM compositions update Boards of Canada’s filmstrip-soundtrack wooziness.

An LA native, Laufer grew up listening to “stuff like DJ Shadow, Amon Tobin, M83 stuff with some sort of cinematic vision.” He started making beats when he was 14, but “didn’t really do it with any sort of purpose until I was like 17 or 18. That was also around the time he and his friends, already fans of Flying Lotus, discovered Low End Theory.

The Dodos: The Season

The Dodos are an indie folk duo which formed in San Francisco, California in 2005. They consist of Meric Long (vocals, guitar) and Logan Kroeber (drums).

The Dodos began playing music together in 2005, when Meric Long, who had been gigging steadily along in San Francisco as a solo singer-songwriter, was introduced to Logan Kroeber through a mutual friend and resulted in an amazingly wonderful project.

The Front Bottoms: Twin Size Mattress

The Front Bottoms are a two-piece indie-pop acoustic band based out of New Jersey. The band was formed with three members in 2006: Brian Sella (vocals, guitar, lyricist), Brian Uychich (keyboard, vocals) and Matt Uychich (drums). However, in the year 2010 Brian Uychich left the band to concentrate on school full-time. Brian Uychich was replaced by Drew Villafuerte (bass, keys) 

Gentlemen HALL cover of Kendrick Lamar: Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe

Gentlemen Hall is comprised of six individuals out to deliver pop songs wrapped in unique instrumentation. From flutes to vintage synthesizers, Gentlemen Hall is not a typical lineup of drums, vocals, bass, and drums. Based out of Boston, the band was originally just a group of friends with no intentions of making music together. Despite coming from completely different musical backgrounds, the sextet was drawn to the the sounds of common artists and found themselves incorporating the pulsing synth sounds of Depeche Mode, the hallucinatory topics and arrangements of the Flaming Lips, and eclecticism and unique vocal approach of David Bowie.

Little May: Hide

Little May is a Sydney-based indie-folk three-piece band, Little May creates expansive and intricate heart-warming harmonies which showcase the story-telling talents of Hannah Field, Liz Drummond and Annie Hamilton; Little May is the tale of three friends who are quickly making a name for themselves and winning hearts both locally and abroad. Little May is inspired by the likes of folk-loving friends: Fleetwood Mac, Mumford & Sons and Local Natives, the outfit make a notable nod to the likes of fem-folk trailblazers such as Julia Stone and Holly Throsby.

The second single "Hide" is a bit of a sneak peak from their forthcoming debut EP which is set for release in late 2013. Testament to Little May’s diversity, "Hide" is a darker, more intricate offering than the previous "Boardwalks".

Jack's Mannequin: Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)

Jack’s Mannequin began as a side-project of Andrew McMahon, who was the vocalist, pianist and main songwriter of the band Something Corporate but has now become his main project. The band is based in Orange County, California. The name Jack’s Mannequin originated from one of McMahon’s songs called Dear Jack, which was written about a friend of his whose brother was diagnosed with childhood leukemia. Andrew himself was diagnosed with leukemia, causing the concept to take on a whole new meaning.

I'll admit something to you. I haven't been as active of late because I literally hate the holidays. I don't think it's anything to do with the holidays as much as knowing that people are spending more and more time with the folks they love while I'm just doing my own thing, leading to some wonky sleep patterns,  Vitamin D deficiencies and long nights (in the worst way). Cheers to the holidays.

Winter Mitts: Le Paradis

Wintermitts is a genre-bending six-piece band from the rain-soaked left-hand corner of Vancouver, Canada. They're bilingual (at minimum), they rock out on trumpets and accordions, they waltz when they need to and they’re as absorbing (and as comforting!) as you’d hope a winter mitten would be.

The Neighbourhood: Sweater Weather

Stage: early 2012. A mysterious band appeared on the interwebs. The group, The Neighbourhood, revealed no bio, no photos nor backstory, offering only a moody track titled “Female Robbery.” Fans and the press were confounded confused and a little lost, endlessly sculling the net for any kernel of information that might lead them to the identity of these mysterious musicians. Pieces of the puzzle, some reflecting reality and some not so much, began to crystallize. The Neighbourhood were a quintet; They were from California--in spite of the Britishization of their name. Then, “Sweater Weather,” which had an accompanying — and equally dark — video.

Although The Neighbourhood’s identity remained in question, reality was that the music they were making felt transformative to critics and fans alike. The evocative combination of rock instruments with R&B and hip-hop aesthetics seemed, in many ways, revolutionary, a re-imagining of sounds that left everyone wanting MORE.

Stage: 2013. The Neighbourhood are an American alternative rock/dark pop band that formed in Newbury Park, California in August 2011. The band consists of members Jesse Rutherford, Riff Raff, Jeremy Freedman, Zach Abels, Mikey Margott, and Bryan Sammis.

Slow Magic remix of Sun Glitters: Too Much To Lose

I've raved about Slow Magic before, so I'll rave about Sun Glitters instead. Sun Glitters hails from Luxembourg and is an ocean of lush melodies, ghostly digi-diva choirs, pitch-shifted vocal samples, and warm bass melodies driven by alternately dense and relaxing beat-work combinations between down-tempo and wonky beats.

Firehorse: If You Don't Want To Be Alone

Firehorse is a project by Leah Siegel. The band includes Steve Elliot on guitar, Tim Luntzel on bass, and Brian Wolfe on drums.

"I'll build you a house
In the oak tree outside
You can come by
Whenever you'd like

Don't be frightened
I'll set you up right
Cause everyone needs
Somebody sometime"

Gallant produced by Felix Snow: Manhattan

Forget shows like "The Voice", network producers should instead do a talent show where aspiring producers are put through their paces. Because it's the overall sound of a record that dictate success more than any individual component parts such as vocals or guitar, isn't it? It's definitely the sound of the songs by the artist under inspection today that marks him out, which is rather like saying something because the singing is fantastic, and we don't as a rule give a monkey's behind about the voice. The voice of Gallant, a 21-year-old from Maryland who moved to New York and now lives in Los Angeles, is a spectral warble whose falsetto tremble resembles Michael Jackson if he would've surrendered to his true feelings rather than insisting on pseudo-macho posturing that frankly fooled no one. Without the sonics the singing would be merely arresting. With what Felix Snow does to them and around them, well, it’s one of the best things I've heard all year.

Deptford Goth: Real Love Fantasy

Wordless.

Louis Armstrong: What a Wonderful World

Once again, I refuse to taint the purity of both the music and the musician with my words.

Bipolar Sunshine: Love More Worry Less

Bipolar Sunshine is the project of Manchester-housed fellow Adio Marchant, who is no stranger to the stage. His solo project is a wonderful culmination and combination of electronics and lyrics, both of which carry weight and power. 

Star Slinger remix of Coolrunnings: I Am You

Another one of Star Slinger's amazingly delicious mixes to the flavour of Coolrunnings.

Nevergreen: Emancipator

To most folks, it must seem like this young electronic producer came out of the blue (wherever that location is, I've been looking for it most of my life). Emancipator, also called Douglas Appling, played his first live show in July of 2009, opening for Bonobo at the Roseland Theater. Since then, he's toured with Bassnectar,  and drawn crowds at festivals like Trinumeral and Symbiosis, in addition to closing out Sound Tribe Sector 9’s late-night parties in Denver at the request of the band. Emancipator has also landed a Puma sponsorship, given an interview to Rolling Stone Japan, discovered that one of his songs was played at the Beijing Olympics (still trying to figure out how that happened) and his song “Shook,” a mash-up that perfectly mixes Mobb Deep's behemoth-y raps with a haunting-as-ever track from the Icelandic band Sigur Ros, became the highest-rated song on Hype Machine’s “Best 50 Songs of 2007,” and has appeared on Hype Machine as the #2 most popular song in April 2009. Meanwhile, we his fans wait hungrily for the next piece of work.

Tove Lo remix of Hippie Sabotage: Stay High

Tove Nilsson, also known as Tove Lo, is a female singer and songwriter from Stockholm, Sweden, whose style can be defined as an indie-pop mood, with a minimal beat and some stringy-synths,  with a side of agile and witty lyrics. Lo’s favourite subject is love, though she presents it in some naughty ways, but with a classy outcome nevertheless; this is an expression of Lo’s musical identity: a plucky style that’ll knock your socks off for sure!

XXYYXX: Angel

XXYYXX is the alter-ego of, or perhaps better name for Marcel Everett.

Marcel works out of his man-cave-bedroom creating harmonious melodies that provoke emotions and paint rather vivid images of stillness, oneness, and peace. R&B rhythms and various vocal samples are Marcel's staples that donate forward motion to his music, creating open environments that feed into lifelike movement. Marcel has the unique ability to make you feel like you're on multiple trains moving at various speeds in different directions ALL AT THE SAME TIME. His uncommon sensibilities draw on musical elements that make for great music in a modern, if not futuristic context. You get the feeling that if aliens ON ACID lived on a planet made of music, that XXYYXX would be one of it's residents. It's meditative and calming, yet yields, separates, and has some beat. From the abyss of time and space, he creates polar opposites of pulsating breaks, and contours that are rounded by evocative vocal melodies and his awesome skill.

With XXYYXX, space proves to be nothing, as is gravity. The otherworldly music has more patience than the average bear, as Marcel seems to make BPM's oscillate with life and breath. He creates a perfect union between everything good about the last 20 years of R&B, and that of electronic music. With vocals reeling you in, the rest is a question of your mind's eye's scenery. Whether the hook is sped up, slowed down, or both, Marcel's music is all about juxtaposition. Broad notes of low end bass balance the way 4-6 percussion parts pull your ear in various directions, only to reconvene in perfect little pockets. What's unique about this music is how Marcel Everett has blurred history. It's clear from the resulting sounds that he's versed, INCREDIBLY intentional, and is dead set on blending decades through the medium of sound. “I see my music being more experimental in the next 10 years… Music should be free-flowing and expressive.”

If XXYYXX's music gets farther out than where it currently resides, then the future of music is in seriously deft hands. Between claps and snaps, beats and vocals, XXYYXX makes for some delicious audio candy. 

Gespleu Downcast edit of MGMT: Electric Feel

WHO IN THE WORLD IS GESPLEU DOWNCAST?!?!?! 

JMSN: The One

Christian Berishaj, better known by his stage name of JMSN, is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, song-writer, engineer, fire-eater, mixer, producer, videographer, juggler, and all-around renaissance man that lives in Los Angeles, California, but is steeped in the soul of Detroit since birth. 

Brand New: Last Chance to Lose Your Keys

Brand New’s debut studio album "Your Favorite Weapon" was written and produced by the honorary band member Mike Sapone. The album has been more than once described as being “bitter about ex-girlfriends”, with an obsessive concentration on what I like to call “post-breakup angst".