Matt Honkonen Pure Journey
With the new album dropping July 12, Matt Honkonen gives us a taste with Paper Wires (singles). Out of the three tracks, all of which are great sounding, the one I think stands out the most is “More Than You Need.” A close to perfect Indie Pop number, with clear southern influence. Honkonen is having fun doing this, showing off his full range as a leader, creating a world for us where we get the best of everything musically. The line “You want an open book, with pages in their place, and all your answers written down, with a hand that never shakes” immediately tells you this cats a poet. Soulful bends that reveal the aged heart of the road, the idea of the next life on the horizon, and a delicate delivery not afraid to express the learning and the teaching. You’ll explore this new valley as a pure creation, letting things just be, as you get thrown into the musical journey. Matts a real light amongst all this sound clutter. So grab a small cup of whiskey, sit on the porch and chill to this batch of singles.
Look for a full album review in July, I’ll keep you posted.
Candy Empire Over Love Hills
The brand new track from Candy Empire titled “Animal,” plays like a smooth trotting trip-hop daze. Subtle vocals float on top of a lush rhodes piano, while the beats delve into this downtempo world. The gorgeous new song relays a message of love, and the inner struggle. The “Animal” in this case, equates to the baggage keeping you from accepting the gifts being offered. Candy Empire released a self titled record back in March of last year. Nab the album and the new song here.
Pick Of The Week: Whails
Whails, an infectious 60′s style band that immediately reminds me of the Beatles. The voice vibrating over sunny hits, completely calls to front your happy sensory missions. Not clear if the new music is a 4 track ep, or there’s more somewhere else. Regardless, we have tracks to DL for free. Coming to us from Perth, Australia the group hits all the classic sounds trickled with a modern edge. You can tell they appreciate the fundamentals of writing a great song, but they’re not afraid to listen for the things surrounding the basics. Exploring at times, the mysterious Lo-fi Pop sensibility, Whails is the kind of group begging for an unconnected turntable, whose vernacular evolves via the purple wings sheltered from the storm. Its flying above us in the desert, like water beads bouncing down the colored glass. Yeah, I’m tripping out to this.
Noble Robot Sideways Mobility
On the new track from Noble Robot, Rory Barber continues to blow minds. A longer number,“Bright Side” plays with plenty of journey behind it. This band has always taken the adventure road, exploring, experimenting in this uneven box they continue to develop for themselves. Few groups bend genres in a successful manner. Noble Robot has no problem delivering a blurry line on the new single, while exuding their (trademark) quirky musicianship, tinged with improvisational risk. The new song comes in over six minutes, and listening at a distance you’d think it was an EP full of short bursts. Rory and his better half Nellie Gillis just keep releasing wonderful music. Sounds that are filled with compassion, angst, a yearning for love and adventure. I surely hope Noble Robot gets a larger audience in 2013, they deserve it. Also included here is the other new track “Icarus,” which if comparing the two from a stylistic point of view, it completely solidifies the case for a bending musical persona. A+
Pick Of The Week: Sonic Tramp
Music is everywhere, millions of little pieces fluttering this invisible chain. Some hits are linear, others searching for it in a pool of rainbows. I came across London’s Sonic Tramp (Martin James Wagdin) this morning. When I find a song I like to see the date of its release, and how much press it’s already received. Acres is meant to give some love to Artists who are still relatively unknown even if they have a cult following that swells in their own inner circle. Sonic Tramp is here with no start date, or sign of expiration. Lets drink the kool aid together, and listen to this cat.
The song “With You” was released last fall. It’s a glamour pop number with heavy synth work, traversing the outer glow, while you run in mukluks over some dark disco pants. Sonic Tramp has a ton of great work, a variety of remixes, and a new song just released in the last month, go HERE to listen. He has remixed The Chemical Brothers, MGMT, Crystal Fighters, Friendly Fires, Bon Iver, and Empire Of The Sun to name a few. I’m just puzzled why his song “With You” hasn’t come across the wire to me in another form at this point. Regardless, its wonderful, a precious cool scenario walking the city streets in some vintage pastels, with a vivid sheen to outline the shadows. That world is always fun, this is your atmosphere. You can DL the single on iTunes.
Cristallin Swirling Memory
Cristallin out of Switzerland released “Terranea” last week. The new song opens up in the ocean setting. The emotions released and resonating off the coral reef, it boomerangs back to you, the image walking underneath the clouds. This is a really wonderful song. Cristallin is a filmmaker who makes music to accompany his visuals. It’s easy to hear the emotional input on this track. Inspired by something unsaid, but vivid from the start. Funny thing about this, I wrote the review while streaming via soundcloud, then watched the video. Great to see what the song put in my mind is exactly what this filmmaker translates on the screen. The imagery is super cool, hard not to picture yourself hanging with these dudes, skating, seeing all the beauty their set has to offer. There’s plenty of others to watch and explore over on vimeo. Get the song for a NAME YOUR PRICE over on bandcamp, along with some other wonderful sounds.
We Were Born Canaries Textured Still
Denmarks We Were Born Canaries released the new single “White Gold” yesterday. The song is the lead off the new EP coming soon. From the very beginning its apparent the band engaged a worldly call on their instrumentation for this one. Quality sounds plastered with rich textures, immediately set the track up. There’s an experimental nature which stands out in a big way on the break down. Sounds that remind me of whales communicating a complex translation underneath the call out from the lead singer. Her voice rests perfectly over this number and when the lyrical hook drops back in for the finish, the melting begins – Honest, explorative pop, with an excitement clearly beaming from the band. STREAM ONLY.
Daycones Sugar Garden Graffiti
Weirdly addictive, like a wound you keep messing with. Daycones, a new project out of Milwaukee, WI has all the weird psych daydreamer fades you could hope for. Lazy deep vocals delivered over warbly mischief , performed by Ryan Janke. I can only hope that Daycones has more work to deliver this summer, cause I would really enjoy rocking on my porch while being lifted from this newly discovered heady visual dealer. Just really cool sounds man, a wondrous colorful explorations in what will eventually be on a cassette at some point, I hope. STREAM ONLY
Tropical Tobacco Color Color Surf Surf
Saturday Morning! Not your typical day for a blog post. I’m chilling out in the country basically sitting in the front yard of the National Park. Last night I came across Tropical Tobacco. Now, I can’t say for certain I haven’t seen this name before, either at a glance while surfing some of my favorite sites. Maybe, I get him confused with the other Tobacco fella, who sings in that creepy acid trip band who shows the B movie roles at their concerts (See Black Moth Super Rainbow)?. This is not him, or that group, nothing the same, except the SUN.
Tropical’s sound is quite simply “Tropical”. With the song “One Ounce” released back in January (missed it), this is indeed the setup of the summer for me. Every blog or site from here to Pluto is saying that about one song or another, sure this one as well. It’s probably the most over played thing to say, a cliché no doubt. But who cares about superfluous jargon. We’re talking about summer here, the season when people feel young, and run around like crazy people for a few months. And that’s why we post about “summer songs” so much when we hear them.
On this color filled, drug induced beach run, Tropical Tobacco just hits all the right notes, for me especially. The song induces a running down the beaches of Lake Michigan visual for me. Now instead of Holly and me holding hands, and tripping on ourselves while laughing like goof balls, I see that plus my son strapped up in the Ergo, bobbing back and forth on my back. It’s interesting how your kids can make you see the colors all over again, make you see the youth in yourself as you explore the sand for the very first time together. This song is that experience, and it’s just FUN. Also nab the track “Debris/” to come down off the super high experience. Get them both FREE HERE! They have a new album coming out sometime this year, thank goodness.
Naked House Makes Sugar Pop With Ohsowhy
Sometimes pop music just needs to be classic in the sense it makes you happy, and shuffles those endorphins up and up around the home front. These things are not easy to do, especially while maintaining some semblance of integrity to the craft without spilling over into redundancy. No surprise, Ohsowhy is part of another track that just beams happy, regardless of your musical bend. Naked House continues to provide excellent music, and these two have a real dedication to the idea of a soundcloud community. Respect!
BoomBox “Lost Ya”
Not much to say here except listening to this track will put a smile on your face. Simply a smooth, Michael Jackson (esque) number, from the dudes called BoomBox. FREE exclusively via This Song Is Sick.
My 20 Picks For 2012
2012 was an interesting year for Holly and me. We learned we’d become parents, due date late January 2013. Our son’s name is Cove, he now is the proud owner of years of collecting music, and a few choice instruments. My first album came out under Nomadic Firs, which had so many weird, and exciting moments. With those two big items I give you this random list, which is a collection of Artists I heard getting played over and over again in our house. These are some of the folks that took me out of my own creations, and allowed me to just be a fan of music again. Something I honestly misplaced, and the reason I do this site. So cheers to all of you for making this last year fun for us, we appreciate it.
Pleasure Curses Orbit Cool
DC’s Pleasure Curses are just cool sounding, which includes all the waves of 80′s you can handle. In part, it fits nicely with the indie pop trends of the last few years, but they offer up the goods without being entirely predictable. It’s really enjoyable, with focus on the less contrasted earnest tones of some of their tracks. Growing up with movies like the Breakfast Club, Lost Boys, and anything else from that period, Pleasure Curses flashes that light, and they know it. A big standout for me is the heavier tones of electronica, mashed with the steady orbit of rock, and glam style vocals. All together a dope body of work thus far. Well done dudes. Pleasure Curses is Jahn Alexander of Remote/Remote, and Evan Maxwell. Look for the first LP coming soon.
Oldhouse Bicycle Remnants
Shining out of Glasgow, there’s a fantastic new group called Oldhouse. They just released their debut EP, which is FREE through bandcamp. The music veers in/out of many themes that are all rooted in Folk. Oldhouse lets loose though, take the track “Tumble,” an intimate tale of two souls connecting. This reminds me of a small group, in a small room, jamming with the window open, so the neighborhood can hear the declarations. The other track I found intoxicating was the more “freak folk” sounding “Submerge.” Through the hall you grew up in as a little child, you come of age, and remember writing on the walls. This song puts me in my hometown, thinking about the ghostly silhouettes, and the faded tracks of our youth, resting still in the new era. Those remnants represent the adventures we had, and how we implored ourselves to explore, as little dudes.
I suggest getting this entire record, it’s really wonderful, and reminds me of how great this kind of music can be, especially if it’s a memorial of suggestions, without depending on depressing you.
~ Ryan Boos
Aunt Brandon Pop Ice
The new single “Baby” from Aunt Brandon, out of Los Angeles, is a hot one for the sample heavy lovers. At only 18 years old, A.B. shows his chops are veteran esque, with a strong intuition to keep the hooks where they need to be, up front, repeated, and crisp. There is little else to share, it seems like finding this tune was random, and possibly this new producer is just starting to put things out for the rest of us. Cheers to what’s next, and more info regarding this young buck.
~ Ryan Boos
Man On The Moon Youth Montage
This Man On The Moon is Arvid Lizell, from Stockholm Sweden. On “Falling Through The Sky” the electronics really move the song, give it this motion, or vivid montage you found in a dusty box while cleaning out the attic in your parents house. There isn’t much else to say at this point, except Man really marries some of my favorite sounds together, while keeping things mostly simple, yet emotionally unique. This song really would fit the flashes of someone’s life, more so than any song I’ve heard this year. Wake up in the morning, kiss your partner, put on clothes, drink coffee, pet the dogs, shut the door, get in your car, walk in work, say hello to the first person you see, flash forward to the sun in the trees, bright colors, smile, walk in the woods, hold hands, skip with the youth, bounce in the fountain, laugh, miss your friends, notice mannerisms, wave to a stranger, spend money on the little things, and always dream big, even from your desk at work.
~ Ryan Boos
Noble Robot Starship Quirky
Out of Williamsburg, Rory Barber and Nellie Gillis are Noble Robot, and they have a ton of free wonderful music on their soundcloud page as well as an album release last year called Lit. Their official website says their new album is called Stars Above (not sure on release). The two newest tracks find the Robot stirring in its usual antics, with the clever key hooks, and Rory continuing his mostly lazy vocal, generally effected in a super cool way. I’ve been a fan for a bit now, and I think of all the SC pages I’ve visited, they by far hook it up the most. There are tons of free tracks, and nothing on there that’s skip worthy. On “Winter Sun” they pour it on heavy atmosphere, and the lovely back and forth between them makes the tune superbly addictive. Barber finds a groove on the vocal and hits this almost rap mentality, which serves the tune extremely well.
~ Ryan Boos
Julsy Lone Wanderer
It’s easy to call music something, or categorize it into some magical-butterfly, flying around like a head trip. But the immediate sensation of those analogies, or dream esque psych pops, don’t make the words less meaningful, or somehow less original. Clearly I’m about to go off on some magic-magic, blanket thrill ride with this album review. Julsy, who we’ve covered on here a couple of times, just released Break, which is a slow evolving, hands spread out in the air, dizzy circles, with enough floating long hair to make its own boat to sail away from here. I have no idea what that means, but her music made me say it. The record is two parts sound collage, scratch that, its pretty much a whole sound collage, yearning to be in an abstract DIY film made by some filmster doing a passion project, which is something I love always.There’s a vivid bright spot on the things Julsy makes. Never in a rush to cover up spaces, almost if you met her she would be most comfortable in those awkward quiet moments. The music is like that, but all taking place off this trail someone told you to walk down, because your true self is at the end of it. I’m rambling now about self discovery and over doing the whole dreamy wordy review, but that’s this music for you. It’s slowly complex, a discovery channel special showcasing the ecosystem perils of man. You can name your price right here, and pick up this wonderful piece, which will surely bring some calm to your daily life. Heavy rotation, especially for those meditations. I dig it so much I wrote this poem.
Patient listener, bright-eyed fawn,
The lone wanderer, found his one,
Vivid hallways, cold spoken heat,
Shadow light, foliage beeps,
Wild fun, abandon hills,
Hands together, they kill,
Wind feathers, color thrill,
Daydreams are better.
~ Ryan Boos
Sacred Caves Synth Bleached
Sacred Caves is a band that was created after these two dudes ran into each other at the Abandoned Caves of California, from there the relationship blossomed what they ended up with was the band. Big synth, 8o’s esque pop, that won’t sit the cool vibe down so I can catch up. The hook is breath-taking, with the beautiful echo trailing behind the lines. “On The Outside” is a perfect pop song, the kind that ignite all the cliché for me to try to not write here. But I give up, the song makes me wanna get in my car and drive or dance in an abandon building like Kevin Bacon in Footloose. This is what summer pop was intended to be, a generally hip track that’s synth work has the subtle nature of something else going on, almost a bitter sweet moment of coming to age, and having to let go of someone or something.
~ Ryan Boos
Anymals Sun Hat Adventure
Chillwave is the shit, anyone else thinking otherwise, well I feel sorry for you. Out of Bordeaux, France comes Anymals, and “Kids Grow Better Under the Sun” has every possible golden gem you could ask for, except it could be longer. I can just keep hitting play over and over again though, its well worth it. We’ll all have to repeat this one tune for now, I don’t see any news about an LP or more tracks. But I’ll be watching for it. I want more! Name your price on the single here. The song has gotten some love on SC, and surely other sites didn’t miss this one when it came out a month ago, but not everything has to be brand new, and we certainly don’t care much about single release dates here.
~ Ryan Boos
Young Wonder Flutter Hooks
With so much to love, Ireland’s Young Wonder brings “Luck One.” The samples are so rich in mood enhancements, with the lead singer coming in when you’d least expect it. The last couple weeks I’ve come across some great music in this similar theme. I’m not sure if this is the trend for the summer, this two parts sample clip heavy music, with a flutter of pop essence and the skills to do both. I’m loving all this music that bends the predictions of where you think the tune is going. This one is full of rich fallen fruit, just pure potent electronic pop, that wastes no time making its moves to the hooks, the hip, and the lovely. The self titled EP came out April 14th. You can download the tune exclusively at WE ARE HUNTED.
~ Ryan Boos
Ohsowhy Is A Canyon Call
“HayFeverFuzzy” is a gorgeous tune shedding light on an allergy making us stay indoors, and experiencing the outside world from inside a window. The music is soft and wraps underneath her layered voice. The song is the canyon call, the echo chamber of self wanting to roll around a field, in the dirt, under a bubble of love for the hope to obtain something pure.Ohsowhy has skills and she’s always willing to share them. You can’t mistake this when visiting her soundcloud page. If we were living in some commune somewhere, all of us. She would be the glue, the voice that kept my personality in check in order to share the beauty in front of me with everyone else. I just hope we get an album from her, very soon. Check out this song she did with Buried Redshoes, whose another songster I’ll be exploring.
~ Ryan Boos
We Were Born Canaries Are Ideal Silhouettes
We Were Born Canaries – My Beat from Jakob Steen on Vimeo.
We do grow in the summer, or at least the moments of joy are longer, and our memories can only hope to stay in that time. We Were Born Canaries “My Beat” is a whirlwind through the wonder of looking up. It’s funny how much this video is the exact opposite of the light in the face perpetuation we see today. When is the last time you went anywhere and didn’t see tons of people looking into their pits of social acceptance? It’s such a staple now, you can often see the driven multi-tasker light up a cig, hit the text button, and work their cars. Best advice, get the hell out-of-the-way, by looking up and moving to your own beat.
I’ve been listening to the album all morning, which came out April 20th on A:Larm music. First impression is nothing short of chill. The music provides a space for Stine to solidify her soft, easy-going approach to delivery. Her voice is pure, leaving out the force that would inevitably take the light away from the blissed out places Jakob takes you through. Much of this record reminds me of a silhouette trying to burst out from beneath an ever passing ideal, that you eventually grow out from under. Like my favorite premise in a movie, this is a coming of age tale, or at least it sounds how that looks to me. Pop over to iTunes and support the band.
Jacob who sent us the info, also told me Brian Batz from Sleep Party People mixed the record with the band in his living room. I love those little nuggets of information about music, and how it comes together.
We Were Born Canaries is Stine Grøn & Jakob Steen.
~ Ryan Boos
Acres Mixtape Volume One
Special thanks to Ellen Epley for the photograph, I highly recommend visiting elleneply.com to see her other work. She captures the moment really well and her subjects never seem to force anything for the camera. I kept getting the sense that these photos snapped themselves, just by the way her collection sits naturally. I chose this particular photo b/c I felt it speaks to what we’re trying to do on Acres. The site is about people forming this community together. The feeling I get from the image is this acceptance to explore something new, to let your guard down and do something. The girl in the photo looks right at you, and for me it suggests purity, and the liberty to change course in life, even if it’s for a moment. There’s no doubt, that I tried to mimic the overall impression the weather had been leaving on me lately, with volume one. It’s not too hot or cold, its upbeat and chill at the same time. I think this mix has enough edge to keep you awake while also giving you the atmosphere to chill on the porch. Spring time is without a doubt one of my favorite times of the year. I was really excited to add these groups to my collection this last month. They’re all really amazing musical acts that offer up something special. Don’t forget to Download the mix for free, and take it with you wherever you are, and wherever you go. Lastly, thanks to the Artists who have submitted their voices for the Acres, Discovering You tag line. Keep sending them in, I think they really sound nice in the mix.
Track List:
Sleep Party People “Chin”
Beaches Beaches “Got Feel”
Tea Leigh & Luke Reed “Rivers Of Love”
Sean Bones “Here Now”
Mountain Range “Evelyn(e)”
Bear Cubs “Cascade”
Everything Sleeps “Hold Me Down”
Remote/Remote “Rotations”
Jonas K.P. “You, I, Us”
Matt FX “Breezy”
~ Ryan Boos
