So here we are…. first post of 2012, celebrating the first full year for Heycoolkid!.
I’ve come a long way, still have a long way to go, am blessed to have seen such growth within myself in the last twelve months, I’m beginning to figure out who I really am, who I really want to be, accepting my weaknesses and developing my strengths, I’m alive and I feel it and that’s a nice change in itself.
Who knows where we’ll be in another year, a blink of an eye that lasts the length of a lifetime. Lord willing, 2013 will be here soon enough…. let’s enjoy this moment while we have it.
This weeks mix covers a little of everything, in a good way, hopefully it sets the tone for what’s to come.
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1. Tashaki Miyaki -”Somethin Is Better Than Nothin
You would think by this point that the whole one drummer/One guitar player duo would have lost it’s luster, it hasn’t though and for the most part it’s from the fact that every band who surfaces with that dynamic have a new sound compared to the others and as in the case of Tashaki Miyaki it’s still rather impressive.
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Looking for the most fitting soundtrack to packing up and finding oneself? Carousel‘s “Here Now” is all we could hope for.
Optimism meet chill.
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“Go Easy” is a complex song in a very unexpected sort of way. Layering itself continually, it does just about everything possible other than turn in a calculated direction. Sure things feel organic but not in any classical sense.
We Cut Corners may not be reinventing the wheel but still sound original without getting weird or uncomfortable. It’s not often I get to say that.
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4. Kisses – “Kisses (Lake Heartbeat Mix)”
I’m always in the mood for a solid remix… especially when it’s a remix of “Kisses” a stand alone track worthy of any playlist/situation.
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5. Donovan Woods – “Put On Cologne”
Sure there’s a hint of acoustic-pop to “Put On Cologne,” there’s also an airy focus hidden within a shell of confident songwriting. This is a very fitting song for colder weather and longing emotions.
Somewhere between The Weepies and Glen Hansard there has been sitting vacant a space for Donovan Woods to fill.
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6. Tyler Lyle – “The Golden Age And The Silver Girl”
I’ve had a few tracks from Tyler Lyle lying around but hadn’t given this guy out of Atlanta a real chance. That was until I heard Heather Brown (ie I Am Fuel, We Are Friends) on NPR last week. I haven’t been shy about my feelings for having complete respect for her taste in music. I can’t think of a single band she’s recommended I haven’t agreed with her on, so when she mentioned Tyler Lyle I made it a point to give the guy my undivided attention … once again she was absolutely right. This is an amazing title track from an album I wish I’d gotten on board with sooner.
Check out the entire The Golden Age & The Silver Girl album here.
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7. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – “Yellow Missing Signs”
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is one of the more underrated bands around. For the amount of time they’ve been giving us solid indie music I can’t believe they are not name dropped more often alongside bands like Freelance Whales and Tokyo Police Club when mentioning upbeat relevant music. SSLYBY is on my list of bands to see in 2012, from what I’ve heard they deliver, I’m ready to experience it first hand.
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8. Victor Florence – “Unravel”
“Unravel” makes me think of an intense and slightly cleaned up Kimya Dawson or less angsty Titus Andronicus… a very good thing if you ask me.
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Bonus: Victor Florence – “Winter”
As I was writing about “Unravel” I came across “Winter” . I thought I liked the guys sound before… now he’s got a chuck norris grip on my heart. Check out the review I just wrote for this song here.
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9. Under Electric Light – “Someone Somewhere”
One shift in the musical landscape last year was this unprecedented push towards an 80′s soundtrack sound in synth based songs. Under Electric Light seems to have a very conscious focus towards things of background importance. “Someone Somewhere” makes me feel like I’m doing something even when I’m not, kind of like a montage for my life.
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10. Karen Elson – “The Ghost Who Walks”
Despite the fact that Karen Elson‘s day job is something I have complete distaste for she sure as hell knows how to create some solid 60′s influenced rock music.
knowing how complex we are are as individuals it amazes me how much people want to act like each thing we do defines us. This is why I can listen to a song like “The Ghost Who Walks” and close my eyes and take nothing but enjoyment from the experience. Good art is good art even if in a round about way it was funded by Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
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11. Bowerbirds – “Tuck The Darkness In”
“Tuck The Darkness In” is a beautifully written song about the realization of time and the coming to grips with a truth we sometimes don’t see, holding onto all things good, and the appreciation for things as a whole which can only come as we mature along the paths we’ve taken to find ourselves.
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12. Little Silver – “Stolen Souvenir”
This is one of my favorite songs to fall asleep to. Steve Curtis and Erika Simonian’s vocals work so well when weaving with such subtle alignment, singing us to a peaceful place of understanding, what’s not to love?
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I’m realizing an underlying message to this weeks mix that before now I hadn’t noticed was there. That’s how things seem to work out though, certain ideals seem to come together when making a playlist and for the most part it’s unintentional. Seeing how things lay beside each other this week it’s still surprising to me that “Young” pretty much embodies the ethos for this weeks collective yet that’s exactly what it does.
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This husband wife duo is really only at the beginning of what’s shaping up to become a very promising future in our lives.
“Aviary” is only a sample from their incredible Save Your Season album which I highly recommend experiencing as a whole. For how solid it is I’m really surprised not seeing it on more Best album’s lists last month.
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I guess it’s a good thing he can’t see you in his dreams since through your absence we ended up with “Empty Bed.”
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16. The Bird Day – “More Movement”
I found this track through Winnie Cooper.
“More Movement” is a danceable bass driven song of artistic expression.
The Bird Day have a passive presence worth respecting… I can get down on songs like this all day.
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17. Monument Valley – “Dear John Letters”
“Dear John Letters” is my favorite song I’ve heard since “Howth.”
Sadness leaks in from every direction with each passing second of this song. It’s a shame it takes such deep loss to bring about a reflective monumental song that feels larger than the world around us and as individually enveloping as a song can be.
The weight within these words would be impossible to carry or move but beautiful enough to sing along and embrace, which is all we ask for from music that means the most to us. I hope that through this song Monument Valley comes to find some sort of peace that without it would not have been there, that’s what it did for me.
One of my best friends was killed at the hands of her husband when we were both twenty, something I rarely talk about but think of constantly…when “Dear John Letter’s” reaches those last few lines I was taken by surprise to have that situation clearly brought into focus. I may be in a different place, the stories may not be the same, yet for me this song kind of helped it all just settle for second, no other song has ever done that.
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All songs are for promotional purposes. If you or an artist you represent would like to have some content removed email me at heycoolkid@yahoo.com
