Tag Archives: hightide hotel

I’ve Never Heard Someone Say Love Was Not Enough

2 Jun

—-Hey hipsters  this isn’t 2008 there’s nothing “Ironic” about your mustache anymore. This includes pulling your hair over your lip/drawing a mustache on your finger it’s been done… the  novelties worn off—-

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After finishing up with the night cruise posts I’m in the mood for some songs where the instrumentation carries the songs a little more than the lyrics. I’m sure as I piece this one together I’ll stray a little from that format  but that’s basically where my heads at. Plus I’m coming off of 8 straight stressful days at work (this is rare) so I’m wanting something that gets my head moving a little bit…hopefully my feet will follow.

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YesYou- Half of it

 

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.Australian newcomers sounding like they have been planning this for a while.

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Beat Connection- Same Damn Time

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Honheehonhee- A Is For Animal

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My new found love for Beverlay sparked my interest in honheehonhee to a more than passive level. I’ve listened to this song four times today…to say it’s growing on me is probably an understatement.

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Bon Iver- Perth

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So here it is! The first leaked track from Bon Iver’s upcoming album due out on the 26th of this month!!! This track is PERFECT… God i hope the rest of the album jumps off like this song does 2:00 minutes in:) Get the first single off Bon Iver, Bon Iver  for free and Pre-Order the album here : JagJaguwar

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Purity Ring- Ungirthed

Corin Roddick is just as impressive on his own as  he is in Gobble Gobble which is kind of surprising seeing how solid Gobble Gobble are. The fact that Meghan James’ voice is perfect definitely helps. If you don’t know who gobble gobble are here’s a great example of why should:

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Nils Frahm- Said And done

The problem that i run into with most instrumental bands is they try too hard. Nils Frahm does not. Everything he does comes across natural and without any pretentious force behind it with a sound that comes across layered just enough to keep your attention without feeling cluttered which is hard to find amongst piano players.

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Eric & Magill- Gentle, Polite

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Tim Showalter turned me onto Eric & Magill last winter through his Strand of Oaks page. All Those I know is an album worth paying for and fortunately E&M care more about letting us experience their art than making money off of it so it’s free over at there bandcamp page: Eric and Magill- All those I know album

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Digits- Rachel Marie

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Alt Altman continues to show what he’s capable of.  Does anyone know if he’s still playing with The Ghost Is Dancing?  He definitely impresses me more using the digits moniker but The Ghost Is Dancing made really good music. Get the entire digits album for free at www.digitsmusic.com

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Impure Jazz-Biting the Lan  That Seedz

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Another instrumental band that does it right. Impure Jazz are  three  Bloomington/Columbus natives that put on one of the best live shows Indiana has to offer. A collective of sweat, attitude, energy, and above all  talent with a tone and undercurrent to match. All three members are currently working on other projects that are equally as good but for me they’ll always be Impure Jazz the band that was too good to conquer the world. I’m sure we haven’t seen them play their last show or at least that’s what i keep telling myself.

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Long Walks on the Beach- MetaPhysical

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One For The Team- Best Supporting Actor

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The Limousines- Very Busy People

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Holiday Shores- Phones Don’t Feud

Holiday shores have kind of taken that best coast low-fi  sound and tweaked it enough to make me thoroughly enjoy something that’s different from the typical sound in the genre.  Holiday shores are honestly the first band to make me forget how burnt out i am on that overall sound in a while. Coherent lyrics help.

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Kowalski- Take Care, Take Flight

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Pheramones- Punching Hours

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It’s a tie between this track and Paul Baribeau on which song is my favorite from this mix. I think of Punching Hours as what would happen if you could force Jukebox the Ghost and Tim Kasher to make a song together… hence why it may be my favorite song from this post.

Night Driving In Small Towns- February

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Lost In The Trees- Love on my side

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Love on my side is the most sing-along-able mug-swinging song to enter my ears this year (yeah i know it came out last August, i’m a little behind on this one) ….Also how is this song not in a commercial yet? Someone better start writing out the check cause this song sells happiness.

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Port O’brien- Oslo Campfire

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Wentworth Kersey- Oxbow

It’s no secret by now how i am completely in love with the overall sound of Wentworth Kersey. The texture is so good you can taste it. It’s vintage without being hipster “vintage” (Translation- The finished sound is worth the means it took to create it if you know what i mean).

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The Tillers- Ludlow Street Rag

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“if I could run a little faster i would catch that train” I had that line stuck in my head for almost four months before i found out who sang it. I caught it on the backwoods radio show last fall and missed who the band was. I tried finding it online but to no avail. It’s been a process but now i’m in possession of this amazing song from a band that’s doing something bluegrass based worth listening to.

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Paul Baribeau- Falling In Love With Your Best Friend

It’s hard to find a baribeau song that’s not amazing. As a matter of fact looking through my library i can’t see a single song of his that i wouldn’t recommend to a friend. I’ve been looking for a reason to bring his stuff into light and since i just put “ten Things” up on the night cruise post i thought that today would be a good day to share something else from him.

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Hightide Hotel- She Dreams of Melting Rocks

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If I had heard Hightide Hotel in high school i’m pretty sure my mind would have been blown. These guys are everything that was right in 2001 without everything that went wrong by 2003.

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Stereodojo- Tapple Tree

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Active Child- When Your Love Is Safe

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Last summer i couldn’t get enough Active Child…doesn’t look like this summer will be any different. Pat Grossi may call them albums but what he really creates are soundtracks to a good time.

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Dave Armstrong- Tambourine

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This is the third Dave Armstrong song i’ve listened to and it’s the third consecutive time i’ve been glad that i randomly downloaded the guys album off of bandcamp. His songs are like putting a Sufjan touch to a broken heart.  Name your price on the album over at his bandcamp page (I took the free route and hope that by spreading some  positive words about his art it makes up for my being cheap . Throw him a couple bucks if ya got it though, i want to see bigger things from this guy in the near future)

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Ed Askew- April Song

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It’s hard to find a mix where askew fits well into. I think it’s better just to listen to his stuff on it’s own which is desperately missing from nearly a hundred percent of music out now. That’s what makes askew’s music consistently mentioned in  any music related conversation.

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As usual if you or a band you represent would like some content removed from the page I’ll be more than happy to do it. I’ll also never recommend the music again in a positive light. If you want someone to get into your music don’t ask for their money first ask for their time. If there’s any music i’m missing or missing the point on here’s the comments section let me know about it.

*Also i’ll be getting the actual website up in a week or so as well as finally start having the downloads come straight from the heycoolkid page as well as having zip files for the entire playlists

“Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.”…or the art of making the perfect mix for cruising at night

27 May

There is nothing i enjoy more than meeting up with friends at dusk and heading out on a late night drive through the country.  Conversations are better, time feels like it doesn’t  exist, the world feels like it’s full of possibilities, and the stress of day to day monotony are forgotten completely. It’s the only place i truly feel free, where i finally believe that anything can happen, where my friends and I strip away  all pretensions and  feel truly alive.

Before heading out there are a few necessities that must never be overlooked; Redbull (or your choice of energy drink), Nicotine (pick your poison), something for the munchies, something to pass around (i’m not condoning or promoting but from personal experience having something….um… light-able(?)….. guarantees a solid cruise to go from being just something to pass the time to epic), and the all coveted “cruising mix”.  I have hundreds of mixes that i’ve refused to discard even though at least three tracks on each disc are unlistenable due to scratches from floating around on the floorboard of my car. Each of those discs has it’s own story, it’s own memory , and all i’ve got to do is slip it in and turn the volume up and have that precise night come flooding back to me.

The problem with putting a mix like this up is that the unknowns which go into a perfectly made mix cannot be accounted for, i’ll never be able to bring in that intimacy through a high speed connection.  You have to know who will be with you and what they are currently digging, which bands are overrated to them, which ones are underrated, genres they don’t respect, pop songs that they secretly enjoy, and most importantly you need to know when it comes down to that final drag of the ride when all words fall silent and your heading back home, minds in quiet contentment, that the songs playing are going to truly encapsulate a feeling between the group of you at that exact moment. This is not always easy to do. Inevitably there will always be at least one person who is foreign to the group and who probably doesn’t enjoy anything outside of corporate mainstream radio and you have to make sure that songs make the mix which they will appreciate because if one person isn’t enjoying themselves it doesn’t take much for them to upset the vibe between everyone else.

There are three parts to a night cruise. There’s the departure; everyone in good spirits high in everyday conversation and only needing the mix to send of a solid vibe to set the tone for the entire journey without being too weighed down not to allow it to slip off into the ether. The settling in; this is where the music works more as a guide, both for conversations and for emotions. I usually use this part of the mix to bring up songs that we haven’t heard in a while, songs that we may normal be “too cool” for but given the right opportunity with a couple good friends they can be great tracks to sing along with. And then the third being the introspective part of the drive where conversations become more personal and where you have the unique chance to take a look inside yourself as a collective. The third part also being where at least one person inevitably falls asleep. When looking back on past nights out it’s amazing how much the bond as friends becomes strengthened  and on more occassions than i can count how many crushes and friendships have moved on to something more tangible all from the right songs and where you end up sitting along the way.

Although this mix could feasably be something i would immedietely burn up and take out tonight it’s also only a guideline. an example of a good way to go about planning a night journey through the country. Hopefully a few of these songs will make it onto your own mix before heading out with friends.

Part 1:

The Departure

Minus the Bear- Pachuca Sunrise

cut copy- Take me over

Allo Darlin- the polaroid song

Hightide Hotel- She dreams of melting rocks

Passion pit- eyes as candles

The Love Language- Heart to Tell

Tokyo Police Club- Boots Of Danger

Harlem Shakes- Nothing But Change part II

Darwin Deez- Radar Detector

Beach Fossils- Youth

zeus- kindergarten

Animal Collective- Summertime Clothes

Free Energy- Dream City

hooray for earth- surrounded by your friends

The radio dept.- always a relief

sun airway- put the days away

fun. – All the pretty girls

yeasayer-madder red

the rural alberta advantage- north star

Matthew and the atlas- I will remain

Shiv Hurrah- All my teeth

Belle and Sebastian- If She Wants Me

Rogue Wave- Eyes (b-side)

David Gray- Babylon

Sam Means- yeah yeah

The Tillers- Ludlow Street Rag

Dan Mangan- Fair Verona

Good Old War- My own sinking ship

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