Hippie Sabotage remix of Kyla La Grange: Cut Your Teeth

UK based singer Kyla La Grange's latest track "Cut Your Teeth" is intricately laced with soothing vocals that explore the rhythmic sensation of pop as well as R&B, with basic percussion and droplets of indie and scratchy futuristic sounds. Although Kyla La Grange is quite the colorful woman, equipped with a vibrant presence and pastel rainbow-colored hair, her vocals also carry their own weight with a  brightening effect. With that in mind, it's quite interesting to delve into the remix that Cali-based production duo Hippie Sabotage have spun to the turntable.  Hippie Sabotage alter the song's original poppy aura by drastically lowering the pitch, morphing it into a sound that closely resembles what an AlunaGeorge and an XXYYXX fusion might sound like. Overall, this remix of "Cut Your Teeth" beautifully contrasts with the original by adding thicker and heavier dimensions to the already existing one. 

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.

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. 

Slow Magic remix of Satellite Stories: Sirens

Courtesy of +Kristen Shive, I discovered a band that's been creeping around my music library since September of last year, with the release of their new album Pine Trails. Satellite Stories is a Oulu, Finland based indie-rock band packed with energy. My ear detected similarities between the new album Pine Trails and Two Door Cinema Club's 2010 album Tourist History, and I like it a lot.

Slow Magic is music from "your unknown imaginary friend." 

Slow Magic: On Yr Side

Slow Magic is a serious chill-trip. Mellow just exudes from the beats. For lack of a better word, this song is dope. Somehow blending electronic beats and echoing lyrics into a mellow fashion, you can just relax with this song while feelin' it. 

Baby Monster: City of Lovers

They've been compared to MGMT and Passion Pit. They've got a serious feel for hook-filled dacefloor grooves that serve as anthems for listeners. They're Portland, Oregon based electro-indie-pop duo Baby Monster, Danny Sternbaum and Marty Larson--and they've got a point or two to prove.

"I wanna be a lover in a city of lovers.
It ain't so easy to get in here
But it's not so hard."

Chrome Sparks: Send The Pain On

So much mellow! Chrome Sparks is the solo  project of Jeremy Malvin, a 22 year-old musician and producer living in Brooklyn, New York by way of Pittsburgh and Ann Arbor.  With a background in heavy in classical percussion, Jeremy combines his love for synths, beat, and dance music into a unique blend. 

Mister Lies: Cleam

Mister Lies is the result of dorm-room insomnia, the state of being without roots in altered states of being, in a city of strangers and the feeling of homesickness in the previously anonymous Nick Zanca. 

Teen Daze: Saviour

Another one of those indie-rock band who's songs all sounds like summer.