"So Good To Me" by Chris Malinchak

Come on, now how cute is this...?

Record of the Day says that "So Good To Me" (featuring a sample from "If This World Were Mine" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell) by 26-year-old New York deep house producer Chris Malinchak is fast shaping up to be the soundtrack of the summer. What a warm, joyful tune for warm, joyful days.

http://soundcloud.com/chrismalinchak

London Grammar

I have been listening to these two songs on repeat for an hour or more now... can't get enough of this young English trio, fronted by one Hannah with an absolutely swoon-worthy voice.
Gorgeous.
*sigh*

Their EP "Metal and Dust" is available on the UK iTunes only... for now. I predict big things for these three.

http://www.londongrammar.com/

"Ingenue" by Atoms For Peace

Atoms for Peace is a side project for Radiohead's Thom Yorke.

Just cool.

http://atomsforpeace.info/

BEAUTY: Man--Stephan Stephensen, a.k.a President Bongo

Regular readers know that I have quite a thing for Stephan Stephensen, the Icelandic musician who is one of the core members of Gus Gus. Also known as President Bongo, or sometimes President Penis (I could get used to calling him that), his newest musical project is Gluteus Maximus, a remix/DJ/band with fellow DJ Margeir. Here they are strutting their stuff... and the President has so much to strut. They bill themselves as "the big guns. An arsenal of rotating musical mass." I mean, really, for crying out loud, this man's sheer beauty is gonna kill me someday...

Here is their original song "Everlasting" featuring mellifluous vocals by fellow Icelander Högni Egilsson.

http://www.gluteus-maximus.com/#_

Currently listening to...

... the classic "Love Is A Stranger" from Eurythmics' first domestic release "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" THIRTY YEARS AGO! Amazing song and amazing lyrics... and Annie is so gorgeous.

Love is a stranger in an open car
To tempt you in and drive you far away
Love is a stranger in an open car
To tempt you in and drive you far away

And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so, it's an obsession
And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so, it's an obsession

Love is a danger of a different kind
To take you away and leave you far behind
And love, love, love is a dangerous drug
You have to receive it and you still can't get enough of the stuff

It's savage and it's cruel and it shines like destruction
Comes in like a flood and it seems like religion
It's noble and it's brutal, it distorts and deranges
And it wrenches you up and you're left like a zombie

And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so, it's an obsession

It's gilt-edged, glamorous and sleek by design
You know it's jealous by nature, false and unkind
It's hard and restrained and it's totally cool
It touches and it teases as you stumble in the debris

And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so, it's an obsession

http://www.eurythmics.me.uk/
http://www.annielennox.com/
http://www.davestewart.com/

Currenlty listening to...

... "New Day" by The Present Moment. I love me some synth-pop and this recent band from L.A. honors the legacy of Depeche Mode.

http://thepresentmoment.bandcamp.com/


And here is the inspiration:

Currently listening to...

... the sinister, sinuous, hard dance sound of "Let Go" by The Japanese Popstars.

"You're trying too hard to keep control.
Just relax and let go."



http://www.thejapanesepopstars.co.uk/

"Taking Down The Tree" by Tracey Thorn and Green

We are taking down our own Christmas tree today...
Anyone else?

http://www.traceythorn.com/

Currently listening to...

..."Ice Age" by How To Destroy Angels.

Sublime.
Perfection.
Just... wow.

http://www.howtodestroyangels.com/

Currently listening to...

...the luscious "dark disco" sound of "Blind" by Hercules and Love Affair with vocals by Antony Hegarty. It popped up on my playlist a few hours ago and I have had it on repeat for a while now...

As a child I knew
that the stars could only get brighter
then we would get closer
get closer
mmm mmm

As a child I knew
that the stars could only get brighter
then we could get closer
leaving this darkness
behind

Now that I'm older
the stars shed light upon my face
but when I found myself alone
find myself alone

Now that I'm older
the stars shed light upon my face
but when I found myself alone
I feel like I, I am blind

Feeling
Feeling
Feeling
Feeling
like I am blind

I wish the stars could shine now
For they are closer, they are near
But they will not present my presence
they will not present my presence

I wish the light could shine now
For it is closer, it is near
But it will not present my presence
And it makes my past and future painfully clear

To hear you now
To see you now
I can look outside myself
I must examine my breath
I look inside
ooooh

To hear you now
To see you now
I can look outside myself
I must examine my breath
and look inside
Because I feel blind
Because I feel blind

Feeling
Feeling
Feeling
Feeling
like I am blind

http://herculesandloveaffair.com/

What flower expresses...

From "Home Of The Brave," a 1986 film by Laurie Anderson

http://www.laurieanderson.com/home.shtml

Currently listening to...

...a little known track entitled "I Live" by Hilary.

Hilary Blake, known professionally only by her first name, was an English singer/songwriter in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. She released a four song EP in 1982 which received airplay on Los Angeles' famous KROQ radio station. "I Live" was one of those four songs.

The instrumentation is pure "1980s synthesizer" but used in a way that, at that point, few had yet tried. The racing, jangly percussion line and anxious buzzing create a tight, manic texture that was ahead of its time. The lyrics seem simple but are actually quite profound: Hilary sings of living in a house of her own making. In Jungian dream analysis, a house is a symbol for ourselves. Hilary is not trapped inside a house but is living her life as it happens. She is controlling her life, her "house." It is a wonderful, deep metaphor with universal implications since we are all living in a house of our own making, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. It is inescapable.

I live in a house with no doors and no windows
I live up in a room with no chairs and no floor
In this box, with cracks in the ceiling
I sleep on these walls
That just means I live

I live in a house
Of my own making

This light filters in through the rips in the rooftop
I feel so confused which is rain and which is teardrop
I scratch at the plaster I fall down exhausted
That just means I live

I live in a house
Of my own making
You say what you want to say
I live
I live in a house
Of my own making

I sleep here in this box with no shades on my windows
I wake up every night thinking past every heartbeat
I live

I live in a house
Of my own making
You say what you want to say
I live
I live in a house
Of my own making
You be what what you want to be
I live
I live in a house
Of my own making

She never released any more material. In 2007, she passed away from unknown causes.

Currently listening to...

...the ambient "Requiem For Dying Mothers Part 2" by the transcendent Stars of the Lid.

Listen to how the texture masterfully shifts from drone to strings. Truly a marvel.

http://www.brainwashed.com/sotl/

Currently listening to...

...the bubbly, sizzling, exuberant "I Love It" by Swedish duo Icona Pop.

Ah, youth...

http://www.iconapop.com/