I woke to the soft patter of rain and the low grumble of thirty thousand hangovers. Tent zippers opening and the crunch of beer cans buried in grass. Nature seized the opportunity to strike us at our weakest, and the soft patter soon turned to a torrent.

We sat huddled in lawn chairs underneath a cheap gazebo, and shivered as we recanted the drunken misadventures of the night previous. Feeling the sludge in our veins, Jackie and I set out to explore the festival grounds. We trudged through the rain and walked past the mobile food trucks and makeshift vendors that donned the entrance to Tent City. A small convenience store was the only source of essential resources, and each morning disgruntled residents would stock up on beer, hot dog buns, tampons and other what-have-yous that ran dry. Line-ups would become a common theme, from the morning rush to the portable toilets (known as Honey Buckets), to the slow crawl of the three-dollar mobile shower trucks. Every activity was preceded with a lengthy queue.

The most tragic of all lines was that of the box office. We had purchased “Platinum Tickets” from the Sasquatch website for a lofty fee (double the regular admission), and we were quite curious about the benefits we would receive. The website promised free showers, complementary water and alcohol in the festival grounds as well as a private viewing area for each stage. However, reality came flooding down as quickly as the rain as we reached the front of the box office line.

The platinum tickets we purchased directly from the Sasquatch website, in fact, had no perks whatsoever. The only bonus being that they were twice as expensive; which is only a bonus for the most profligate fool. The tickets we thought we had obtained were “VIP tickets”, which we were told cost upwards to 1200 dollars. The website was creatively misleading, luring us to spend extra under false pretenses, however our wristbands were still valid, and after spending twenty minutes in the box office line we were grateful regardless of the financial trickery. A young woman broke down bawling and braced herself against a wooden fence as she learned her wristband was broken and thus “invalid”. Three men bickered with a lady behind protective glass about a bracelet slipping off a wrist in a drunken stupor, while a tactless youth was caught in an elaborate lie about how he obtained his ticket.

We heard sob stories of all varieties, and it became apparent that the system developed by the Sasquatch! festival was not wholly effective. Your wristband was your life. If it was broken, and you weren’t the original purchaser of the ticket, you were screwed. Since the tickets were sold out within moments of going on sale in March, many (if not most) attendees were forced to buy their tickets from a third-party scalper. Tickets would be bought en masse for the sole purpose of profit, and would-be festival goers were forced to pay a premium to private profiteers. If it so happened that the wrist band you purchased were to break or get lost, you would not be attending the festival. The wristbands themselves were highly prone to error, and between the four of us, two were faulty to some degree. But fortunately, we purchased our overpriced tickets directly from Sasquatch, therefore we were protected in case of accident.

We made the thirty minute walk from the festival entrance back to our campsite with a sour taste in our mouths, and the weather certainly wasn’t helping. Nothing quite irks me more than soggy socks, and the only solution to our nagging dissatisfaction was to refuel our blood-alcohol ratios. After all, the grounds would finally open in a few short hours, and first on my list were the Japandroids.

Playing at the HONDA stage brought to you by HONDA, the JAPANdroids were edgy and raw, just like the 2014 Honda Civic with it’s sleek design-..

*ahem*

The Vancouver based alt-rockers were a throwback to an era than fizzled out somewhere in the last decade. That wave of bands that swept the hearts of teenagers and flushed out the lineup of every Warped Tour for the better part of my high school life. Drenched in sweat as his curls clung to his forehead, Brain King was very passionate about the music. “Celebration Rock” was a few days away from its first birthday, and King with co-vocalist David Prowse pulsated with the energy and exuberance of a first show.

Japandroids – Wet Hair

Japandroids – Evil’s Sway

———————

Few at the festival ever approached the charismatic magnetism of Joshua Tillman and his band “Father John Misty”. His performance could be likened to a full-bodied orgasm as he writhed and cooed onstage, puffing out his chest and channeling the sensual energy of a young(ish) Mick Jagger. In between songs, Tillman was quick-witted and whimsical, joking with the crowd and even quipping “What the fuck was that..” after the sound had briefly cut out at Sasquatch’s most blatantly sponsored stage. (Ironically, throughout the weekend, the Honda stage had a plethora of sound issues despite funding). Tillman oozed sexual energy and held the crowd on a string for his entire set, and will hopefully be returning for a sophomore effort under his new pseudonym Father John Misty.

Father John Misty – Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings

———————

Anticipation was the word at the Yeti stage. Artists were given a strict set time, and only headliners were permitted to go beyond the allotted hour or so. After finally appearing just over five minutes late, the crowd erupted as Trevor Powers took the stage.

What followed was one of the strangest twenty five minutes of the entire festival. There was very little prep time for the bands, and unlike most concerts the soundcheck would take place on stage for the first few moments of each performance. Powers was very meticulous. Obsessively meticulous. The crowd, half drunk, patiently waited as Powers tested every dial and knob on the board. He’d point up to the sound director indicating an increase in volume, or down. This wouldn’t be a problem for most bands, except Trevor Powers uses more wacky sound effects than Beck himself.

Up, up, up, down. This went on for twenty minutes while the crowd became incredibly restless. The nervous patience soon turned to frustration. A girl who had just finished explaining her love for Youth Lagoon, referring to Trevor as if he was an old friend, looked back at us and said “I can’t do this..” And with a uncomfortable smirk squeezed out of the crowd and out of the show. Youth Lagoon was one of a select few shows I was most excited to see, and while I managed to maintain optimism far longer than my compatriots, even my spirits began to wane. Was he even going to do a show? The liquor began to fade and a dull headache took over. Boos began to rain down on Trevor and his bandmates, yet he was unshaken. At no point did he acknowledge the crowd, nor our displeasure, and with his Technicolor sweater and acid-wash jeans he was truly in a world of his own. He was weird. We could all see it. And just as we all lost hope..

Youth Lagoon – Mute

The start of Mute blew us away. The Yeti stage was one of the loudest and most powerful despite its size. Almost instantaneously the mood of the crowd changed, and Powers began his hypnosis. It became very apparent why the soundcheck was so meticulous, as every note and every noise was perfectly timed. A euphoria began to sweep over the crowd as the basslines rattled the Gorge.

Youth Lagoon – Pelican Man

One of my favorite songs of Youth Lagoon’s latest album “Wondrous Bughouse” was Pelican Man. As he bounced between crowd favorites like “Cannons” and “July”, I found myself belting out the chorus line to Pelican Man.. only to discover I seemed to be the only person who actually knew the song. The faces around me stood in awe, mouth agape, and although they were singing along moments earlier the drugs had certainly took hold of them in that moment. I felt twinge of pride knowing a song that no one else did, but the pendulum would soon swing the other direction.

Youth Lagoon – 17

17. Another track from Youth Lagoon’s first album “The Year of Hibernation”. I’d heard it only a handful of times, and the song never found its way in to my rotation. Yet the crowd around me had awoken from the bipartile hypnosis of Trevor’s music and their drug-induced state, and they loudly began to sing the chorus. Everyone knew the words, and I did not. It was a very strange moment as I became acutely aware of my own hipsterdom. I had no friends back home that knew Youth Lagoon existed, and there certainly wasn’t any radio play. There was no outside influence on the songs I liked most, I simply liked them. I loved Pelican Man, but the song everyone knew was 17.

In retrospect, this seemed obvious; Pelican man had only 9,000 views via Youtube, where as 17 had 400,000 plus. Clearly, it was the more popular sound, but I had no idea prior to the show.

Youth Lagoon remains the best concert i’ve ever seen. Nothing can quite capture the pure nostalgic euphoria of his brief set-list, and it remained a high I never quite came down from for the rest of the festival.

———————

Our last stop of the evening was at the main stage for the big headliner. Hometown hero Macklemore (paired with producer Ryan Lewis) was one of the biggest attractions of the festival. Everybody had packed the main stage to see one of hip-hop’s biggest sensations of the past year. The sun had long since gone down and the sight was incredible. Never in my life had I seen so many people in one place, and the breathtaking Gorge in the background was in stark contrast with the incredibly populated (and loud) hillside. A long peninsula stage jutted forth in to the crowd, and suddenly from the very tip, Macklemore rose from underneath the stage with his arm stretched upwards to the sky. Fully donned in a fur coat and a Detlef Schrempf jersey, the Gorge erupted in to an ear-blistering roar.

Macklemore was a true performer, and his show was full of flash and high in production value. Even as a very mild fan, I couldn’t help but appreciate the performance. Wanz soon made an electric entrance tearing away a janitors outfit to reveal a purple-suede suit, and the thirty-thousand onlookers instantaneously knew what came next. Thrift Shop shook the grounds to their core. The crowd threw their arms forward in perfect unison with the beat, and visually it was one of the most awe-inspiring things i’d ever seen.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Thrift Shop (feat. Wanz)

I always figured “Thrift Shop” to be a sarcastic social commentary and a stab at the new wave of vintage fashion. I thought Macklemore was making fun of us, a well-crafted parody song along the lines of LMFAO only much better. But it became apparent that he in fact was embracing his popstardom, and nobody was laughing at the joke. Maybe it wasn’t a gimmick after all? Did we really think ridiculous fur coats and cartoon one-sies were cool? I thought we liked these things ironically because they weren’t cool. The line between hipster culture and pop culture was completely blurred, and as the song wrapped up I found myself once again analyzing the experience from a social scientific perspective.

Macklemore broke up his songs with social commentary of his own. He told the story about how he used to come to the Gorge as a kid and “get fucked up”. His tone changed, and he began to tell the tale of his sobriety. It was a very strange moment as he preached about getting clean, and the cheers seemed a little ironic. There stood one man in front of thousands of heavily intoxicated fans. Drunks, poppers, snorters, smokers, and tokers on uppers and downers of all varieties. All listening to Macklemore preach about how drugs and alcohol held him back from his full potential. Surely this was a difficult moment for every ‘Molly Facepaint’ peaking while donned in full hippie garb, but it was only the first sermon of many from the Seattle-based hip-hop star.

His second speech hit a much higher note as he spoke of gay marriage and equality. The eclectic crowd once again felt in tune with Macklemore as he praised Washington for “leading the way” in the fight for equality. Many of us, however, were visibly irked. Not because we thought differently, but because he clearly snubbed half of the crowd without his knowledge. For nearly eight years, gay marriage has been legal in Canada. Washington had just legalized same-sex marriage only a few months ago. Upon our arrival the night before, it became blatantly obvious that half (if not more) of the Sasquatch attendees had driven down from Canada. We had been “leading the way” to achieve equality for the better part of a decade, but Macklemore was not aware of our overwhelming presence at his show. In fact, many artists throughout the entire weekend had made the grossly inaccurate assumption that the majority of us were from Washington state. Even though the festival was held nearly dead centre in state borders, actual Washington citizens were an incredibly rare sight. However, as Canadians, we are very polite, and our slight discomfort was immediately washed away with the passionate performance of Mary Lambert and her singing of “Same Love”.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Same Love (feat. Mary Lambert)

Ray Dalton was the other standout and he boomed over the crowd with bravado. Macklemore had an incredible knack for pairing up with other hometown heroes, and Dalton’s performance on “Can’t Hold Us” was incredible.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Can’t Hold Us [Ft. Ray Dalton]

Fatigue began to wash over me as I tried to keep up with the youth. At the age of twenty three I was surprisingly part of an older minority, and I lacked the vitality to keep a twelve-hour buzz going without crashing. We ducked out of Macklemore early and made our way back to the camp, desperate to fall asleep before the masses came trumpeting back from the first headliner of the festival.

“Sasquatch Survivors: Stop Here”

The line lurched forward and the smell of fresh rain on hot pavement swam through my open window. Border guards leaned towards each other with smiles and chuckles, as half of Canada began to trickle back into our homeland. An endless march of cars packed to the fullest; coolers crammed between blankets crammed against people. Girls in sweat pants with their hair in a high bun, and guys in a ratty pair of jeans and aviators. It had been five days since we made the eleven hour sprint down to the Gorge, and we had another eleven hours to go over every minute detail of the festival. Like any trip, there were ups and downs. Absolute highs and the lowest of lows. There were moments when I wanted to drive home, and moments when I never wanted to leave. We may have reached the end, but it all had a beginning.

Day 1: False Start

The clouds were pouring and dampening more than just our clothes. We were already four hours behind schedule, and the companion couple we were supposed to be leaving with made sport of being late. With our patience already running low, the gloomy weather offered no condolences. We white knuckled our way in to the heart of the Rocky Mountains as the rain increased in intensity. Heavy rain turned to snow, and it became apparent we’d have to halt our trip earlier than expected. The four of us took sanctuary over a hot chocolate at Tim Horton’s and reworked our game plan.

The gap-toothed owner had all the callings of a motel murderer. He was friendly to the point of eerie, and his wife smiled squint-eyed from ear to ear. He kept speaking about our arrival as if it was a twist of fate, and I grew keen on making a speedy exit to the nearest pub. Fortunately, we were still in Canada, where nothing bad ever happens and everyone is genuinely friendly. In the end, we were the villains. Our pub fare was refueled by a bushel of beers and a flask of rum, and after several noise complaints from faceless motel transients we were forced to shut down for the night.

Day 2: Tent City

For six hours we burned highway. South through the pine of Northern Idaho and west past the Spokane Valley. More and more cars sported Alberta plates, and with each passing glance at another driver, a silent conversation was spoken through eye-contact. We all gave the same look. Anxious anticipation of the unknown. A certain comradery was understood when we passed fellow Albertans on their way to Sasquatch. Although we were strangers, we were allies in a foreign land. This conversation repeated itself every few minutes with a new set of Albertans, and it began to sooth my nerves. A certain confidence could be gained knowing we weren’t the only ones getting nervous as we drew nearer to the Gorge.

Our coolers were stocked as I heedlessly followed the convoy of cars off the main highway. We weaved through country roads as the clouds finally began to break and the Gorge materialized under the waning sun.

The first glimpse of tent city was astonishing. Thousands upon thousands of cars lined the grassland to resemble a sheet-metal crop circle, and a full-spectrum rainbow of tents dotted every available square foot of grass. Following a surprisingly short half hour wait, we pulled into our spot. Festival coordinators endlessly folded lines of cars back-and-forth in a life-size game of Snake as our troupe scrambled to assemble our tents with varying degrees of difficulty and frustration. Our friends Cody and Jasmine brought a ten-man pop-up tent with a “sixty second set-up time” while Jackie and I bickered over folding poles and which way the fly was supposed to sit on top of our cozy two-man triangle. We looked silly sitting next to the Taj Mahal of tents, but our self-consciousness was shed after the first beer. Our neighbours soon became our companions; eight kids from the valley-city of Kelowna halfway between home and Vancouver. After a number of beers and laughs, the chaos began to rumble through the grounds. Thirty thousand youth, crammed into a field with an excess of liquor, drugs and hormones. From a distant corner of the camp, a loud roar would erupt and consume the whole grounds. A collective battlecry; a communal vocal display of unity and inebriation, all in anticipation of the festival to come.

Midway through the night, our group resolved to stumble into the infinite expanse, joint in hand. Four neo-hippies smiled from the back of a Volkswagen Type-2 bus donned with LED Christmas lights and glow-in-the-dark window paint. I waved and felt their acceptance. Ten kids sat stoic under a giant glowing jack-o-lantern tent, dubstep and smoke flooding out the entrance. Their demeanor was much less peaceful, heavy drugs and hard hearts. Or hard drugs and heavy hearts.. they had the tension and potential energy of an atom bomb. I dared not wave.

Laughter and music. Painted faces played dress-up and made their best impersonation of a now-aging generation. Pseudo flower-children desperately attempted to channel the waves created in the 60’s. The difference being there was no great awakening; no government power waging war on drugs and no palpable dish of “one love” and “world peace” being served. We were a generation without a great war, without the definitive features that made the 60’s such an important decade in world-wide cultural identity. We were still searching for our voice, our meaning. For a few moments, however, huddled around an archaic Coleman camping stove, we all felt the heartbeat that pumped life into generations past. The collective euphoria twined with the notion that “we are not alone”. We are one and the same.

Or perhaps the mental conviction required to eat a cold can of beans made one nostalgic. Was this anything like Woodstock? Could we ever come close? With our relentlessly submersive technology left at home, we were out of our element. We were disconnected, we were offline, and we were wild.

The Red River – When We Are Wild

Sónar is overwhelmingly good this year. For those who aren’t familiar, Sónar is a 3 day music and new media festival that takes place every June in Spain since 1994. It’s one of the greatest urban festival’s in the world set in a massive aircraft hanger on the edge of the city of Barcelona.

For the 20th installment of the international festival, Sónar is pulling one of the most advanced line-ups this summer with a lineup that includes Diplo, Jurassic 5, Major Lazer, 2 Many DJs, Hot Natured, Pet Shop Boys, Skrillex and on and on and on. There isn’t a better way to kick off the summer festival season and The New LoFi is going to break it down for you by day.

Day 1
Thursday, June 13th

Liars – The Other Side Of Mt. Heart Attack
Mykki Blanco – Wavvy
Gold Panda – You
Sébastien Tellier – La Ritournelle
Music Go Music – Light of Love (Rob Da Bank Remix)
Lindstrøm & Todd Terje – Lanzarote

Sónar is such a massive event not only because of its size and urban setting but because of the sheer amount of events going on, musical and otherwise. I’m going to focus on the music for this post, however you should definitely check out Sónar by Day to see a list of other events.

Your first day at Sonar should be a day of exploration… get to know the city and where all the venues are. With that in mind, I’ve only picked out a few “must-see” artists to check out on Thursday including Gold Panda, Mykki Blanco, Sebastien Tellier, and Rob da Bank. And you should also give New York talent some love by stopping by Sonar Hall to see Liars. They just released their sixth LP entitled “WIXIW” which mixes their punk leaning sound with a new electronic vocabulary.

Another must must see on Thursday is Linstrøm & Todd Terje. Independently these guys have been killing it for years. Hans-Peter Lindstrøm has been a big name for years now, remixing LCD Soundsystem and Franz Ferdinand among others. And Todd Terje has been slowly garnering a similar name for himself with remixes of Hot Chip and Joakim plus his massive hit “Inspector Norse.” This Norwegian partnership should be a force in the festival setting.

See the full schedule for Thursday on the Sónar website

Day 2
Friday, June 14th

JJ Doom
Foreign Beggars
Major Lazer
Baauer
Maya Jane Coles
Diplo
Kraftwerk (3D show)
Two Door Cinema Club
Bat For Lashes
Nicolas Jaar
Alvin Risk
Skrillex
Eats Everything
Richie Hawtin

Friday is a packed day. There are so many good shows to see. The underlying theme for Friday (and maybe for this years line-up in general) is that Hip-Hop has returned to Sónar. The reunion of Jurassic 5 alone is worth making Sónar a Hip-Hop fans destination but you also have the team-up between Brooklyn producer Jneiro Jarel and iconic MC, MF Doom to create JJ Doom. There are also the Hip-Hop inspired electronic artists including Foreign Beggars, Major Lazer, Baauer, and Diplo.

Friday is also an incredible day if you are into Dubstep with names like Skrillex, Alvin Risk, Eats Everything, and Baauer. If you are into something slightly less intense you should check out Kraftwerk at SonarClub. The legendary four piece German group has adapted their show into a 3D performance which should appease your eyes as much as your ears.

The highlight for me on Friday would have to be Richie Hawtin’s DJ set to close out the night at SonarPub. He’s bringing his new project “ENTER” from the island of Ibiza where it started last year to Barcelona. Hawtin has been a force in the techno world for nearly 20 years now and his live sets are unmissable. If there is one show you see on Friday make it this one.

See the full schedule for Friday on the Sónar website

Day 3
Saturday, June 14th

Chromatics
AlunaGeorge
Pet Shop Boys
Jurassic 5
Hot Natured
Beardyman
Skream
Justice DJ set
2manydjs

Saturday is no less packed then Friday and it has some huge names. Like I mentioned before the reunion of LA hip-hop legends, Jurassic 5 could be a good reason to go to Sonar alone. It’s the first time in years that all size members (DJ Nu-Mark, Cut Chemist, Chali 2Na, Zaakir, Mark 7even and Akil) are back together on one stage.

Pet Shop Boys are another heavy hitter, producing music since the 1980′s they’ve been reinventing themselves from a satirical pop group into a house and techno duo without abandoning their synth-pop roots. Newer players to the synth-pop game are the Chromatics and AlunaGeorge. The English pairing of Aluna Francis (vocals) and George Reid have been quickly rising to popularity in Europe and it’s not too long before they become a household name in the US as well. Chromatics have been on a similar global ascent but from the other side of the ocean and with a less pop more synth sound.

Another list of artists not to miss can be found in the Ed Banger series on Saturday. Skream, Laurent Garnier, Breakbot and a DJ set by Justice on one stage makes for a solid 4 hours without having to move venues. And then you have the always incredible performance by the The Deawele brothers (known to the world as 2manydjs when they spin, and Soulwax when they create their music live). For Sónar’s 20th Anniversary they return to celebrate with a genre spanning performance covering hits from pop to funk, from prog rock to R&B, from hip-hop to techno.

See the full schedule for Saturday on the Sónar website

Welcome to the latest episode of the FlipSide on TNLF. This week, we go back to our roots, music that I discovered that are soundtracks to skateboarding or snowboarding video parts.

Girl & Chocolate Skateboards latest cinematic adventure “Pretty Sweet” features not only top tier street skating and excellent cinematography and direction by Spike Jonez, but a soundtrack that’s so inventive and different, its almost worth getting for the music alone.

http://prettysweetvideo.com

I’m going to highlight a few sections that really stood out for me.

Firstly, Raven Tershey comes out and destroys everything in his path, all with a smile, blazing to Mercyful Fate’s “Gypsy”. It’s a good dose of classic metal guaranteed to get the juices flowing. No video here, apologies – just an audio track.

Mercyful Fate – Gypsy

Kenny Anderson & friends are accompanied by Justice’s  On and On. I like this track as it reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir.

Jesus Fernandez,  skates to a Gypsy King cover of the Eagles classic “Hotel California, sung in Espanol.

Guy Mariano, epic for well over 2 decades, skates to Lissie’s cover of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness”. I  like that this track is a live  version, the energy and attitude it  fits his skating so well.

Lastly, I would never have heard Bowie’s “Five Years” if not for this video. Especially cool, some industrious fellow named marcus4gtown decided to recreate Marc’s part entirely with EA Game’s Skate 2 and Skate 3. Gotta hand it to him, he nailed it. well done.

ok folks, hope you like what you hear, until next time.

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery.

When it comes to the music, those who are  composers, musicians, and artists create because of  inspiration.  While surfing around youtube, I came upon a posting by a band who created music that was inspired by Van Halen; that is, they did not cover a VH song, but rather, inspired by the sound of the original Roth-Era Van Halen, created completely new music that is very obviously an homage to Eddie, Alex, Mike and Dave. Godpeed music has two tracks online, and I have played  them continuously, hoping they make more. The first track “5″9, very clearly channels “Jamie’s Cryin”, from 1978′s self titled “Van Halen” album, while “Hold Everything” finds it’s inspiration in “Unchained” from the 1980 album Fair Warning, The weird thing is that I actually like these songs more than the songs that they were inspired by.. interesting. I’ve included the original Van Halen songs as well. Have a listen, and see for yourself how cool this is. Also, I’ve included a video snippet of a 14 year old guitar ripper. She was born after Van Halen hired former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone to replace the ousted Sammy hagar as Van Halen’s set of pipes, and if you watch, it’s clear that she is ridiculously talented. Enjoy

and here’s the girl who rips! Thanks to Scott Dempsey for passing her along.

West coast DJ producing the freshness on a Biggie track? It happened. And I can listen to it for days.

Los Angeles based DJ/producer Woody’s Produce released a remix of “Dead Wrong” in memorial of Biggie’s death on March 9th. It was a track that didn’t make it to any album while Notorious was alive but it seems to bring him back each time someone reworks it.

The Notorious B.I.G. – Dead Wrong (Woody’s Produce)

Mixtape Riot coined the perfect phrase to describe this weeks installment of Chillwave Wednesday: “Unstoppable Swag.”

Toddla T Sound – Worst Enemy
I’m still mad at Toddla T for knocking up my DJ crush, Annie Mac… but good job buddy, you beat me to it. Not that screaming “Friiiiiidayyyyy” in front of her DJ booth whenever I went to see her live was ever going to get me laid, but hey. Jealousy aside, Toddla T Sound (a collaboration between Toddla T, Shola Ama, Serocee and DRS) has got quite quiet banger on their hands with “Worst Enemy.” Catch them on tour this summer across the UK and Europe.

Röyksopp – Keyboard Milk
Somehow this B-side off of Röyksopp’s “Forsaken Cowboy” single completely escaped me. I know it’s a bit old now, but it totally fits the chillwave theme (if not a bit darker). It could easily be the segment of the score for an 80′s sci-fi movie like Blade Runner or Tron. And though this track might not be timely, Röyksopp do have a new mixtape coming out called Late Night Tales that features an intro track by Röyksopp called “Daddy’s Groove” as well as the studio version of their cover of Depeche Mode’s “Ice Machine” along with music by Rare Bird, Little River Band, John Martyn, Richard Schneider Jnr, Andreas Vollenweider XTC, Thomas Dolby and of course Vangelis. Preorder Late Night Tales on iTunes or stream a mini mix of it on Soundcloud

Mr. Little Jeans – Oh Sailor (Strange Talk Remix)
Strange Talk do what Mr. Little Jeans have been doing to other artists for the last few years. Remix an original track into a starry eyed slow-burner.

Alpine – Gasoline
Love love love Alpine. I was jazzed when the Australian ensemble dropped their debut album A Is For Alpine last year and the single ‘Gasoline’ is still on heavy rotation for me. The opening line is a ripper: “There’s….. gasoline in your heart. there’s….. fire in mine.” It’s pretty much what every girl I have ever dated has told me (if not as eloquently).

The Child of Lov is 25 year old musician from the Netherlands who might have a “fetish for hot birds eating and drinking” according to his tumblr page. His debut single “Heal” was released by Domino Recording Company’s sister label Double Six on November 26, 2012. His debut album was released May 6th and features DOOM, Thundercat and Damon Albarn. The album is a nod to soul heavy hitters Little Richard, Otis Redding and James Brown while taking things to a new place, channeling the neo sounds of Dilla and D’Angelo. Check him out.

http://thechildoflov.tumblr.com

We first heard from Dan Croll when he released his debut single “From Nowhere” late 2012 and now he’s come back at us with the a new single called “Compliment Your Soul.” Hopefully this means that his debut album is coming out sometime this year.

If you can’t wait for the full length album however, Dan Croll has teamed up with The Very Best to create a remix of the new single. The Very Best’s sound hasn’t complimented another artist like this since their work with Vampire Weekend.

Dan Croll – Compliment Your Soul (Very Best remix)

Dan Croll – Compliment Your Soul

“Purple Yellow Red and Blue” is the second single from the new Portugal. The Man album, Evil Friends. It’s a little less abrasive than their first single and it returns to their signature sing-a-long melodies that I’ve known them for. As a complete sidenote: Portugal. The Man was still one of the best live shows I’ve been to in the past two years. Why they aren’t more popular then they are is a complete mystery to me. My opinion aside, if you ever get the chance to see them live you shouldn’t miss it. Especially now that they have new material.

Visit their website to see all the Portugal. The Man Tour Dates