The Maroon Cafe

Selah Sue | Raggamuffin feat. J. Cole

2012-05-17T09:48:27-07:00

Not much going on here but an assisted verse from J. Cole for the beyond talented international singer-songwriter and Belgium girl wonder Selah Sue‘s single ‘Raggamuffin.’ If you’re a fan of both then this post is for you, smart label move if you ask us. Her debut album is available now.

Selah Sue – Raggamuffin feat. J. Cole

Album Review: Best Coast – The Only Place

2012-05-17T08:22:21-07:00

“On most of the tracks, after the nervous strum of the guitar sounds, you’d almost expect Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley or Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge to break out singing about crashing a house party or brushing up against a crush’s locker.”

Best Coast – The Only Place (2012) 4.0/10

Mexican Summer

« When I’m with you » had the record player scratchiness that a picture would have being bleached by Californian sun, bringing to mind a dog-eared portrait of laughing youngsters with just enough candidness so as not to fall into to prepubescent teen-pop and conjure up a kind of universal nostalgia of summers past – conveying an aerial yet empowering energy that accounts for French luxury brand Hermès using it to revamp its old fashioned “carré”. However Beth Consentino and Bobb Bruno took that picture, PhotoShop-ed it to an abusive sepia tone,and shone a pop light way too bright in the dark room rendering tracks more like that kind of American teenage pop that likes to call itself punk rock – Beth’s usually unassuming moaning voice has lost its enchanting raggedness, guitars are systematically distorted and drums thump the same persistent rapid beat. A quick glance at the track titles gives you the gist of the captions in what would be a rebelling pre-teen’s photo scrapbook – “Why I Cry”, “How They Want me to Be”, “Do You Love Me Like You Used To” are only a few cases in point of the unexpected emo hue “The Only Place” took.

The rapid strumming of a guitar with which “The Only Place” opens brings to mind the Beatles luminescent “Here Come the Sun” – for the first ten seconds up until the moment when a distorted guitar breaks out along with lead vocals that overly stress their American accent. The verses go round and round like a boardwalk fair ride whose droning melody never ends, rapping out “We have fun, We have fun, We always have fun” like a motto that ends up sounding like more of an antiphrasis for sounding like propaganda. You might not even notice that a new track has begun as “Why I Cry” rolls around with a twin guitar riff and rhythm – a recurrent flaw of the album that strongly lacks in variety.

“My Life” is perhaps the most telling example of how the seaside duo played to its pre-teen potential – posing at the beach – rather than its enthusing frankness that would lead you to jump onto a board, into crashing waves without ever having surfed. Lacking any ironical distance to make the following lyrics legitimate, the track goes “When I go to sleep at night I’m wishing for a choice to go back in time to make what’s wrong feel right (…)” before falling into life-changing soul-searching revelations such as “My mom was right, I don’t wanna die, I wanna live my life, my life, my life(…)”. On most of the tracks, after the nervous strum of the guitar sounds, you’d almost expect Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley or Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge to break out singing about crashing a house party or brushing up against a crush’s locker.

A dim light of redemption does shine down on the LP thanks to the twinkle of “How They Want Me To Be” and “Dreaming my Life Away” – partly for their being more laid back and mellow, partly for them harking back to the Best Coast feel one might have expected to find in this first LP. Lyrics set aside, the vocals of the latter are slightly subdued with a sensual echo much like those of the former easing back into the long chair of a warm sand beach at sunset, letting you drowse of into dreamy sleep. Hopefully, this first attempt at surfing the Californian musical curls was a faltering shot at body-boarding in view of a majestic long board feat yet to come.

Iron & Wine | One More Try (George Michael Cover)

2012-05-16T13:43:16-07:00

Most of the staff consists of 80s baby, so we have no problem putting up an incredible cover of George Michael’s “One More Try” by Iron & Wine. Listening to artist cover a track from a different genre and keep most of the integrity lets us know Iron & Wine aka Samuel Beam is a talented musician.

Willis Earl Beal | Disintegrating (Yours Truly)

2012-05-17T06:48:20-07:00

Willis Earl Beal performs “Disintegrating” over the phone for a fan while doodling one of his trademark pieces of art at his grandmother’s house in Chicago. All captured and formatted into a mesmerizing clip from Yours Truly. Really starting to admire this guy more and more, his debut album ‘Acousmatic Sorcery‘ is available now via XL recordings.

MP3 Shuffle: Damien Rice | Coconut Skins

2012-05-16T13:29:41-07:00

“You can wait for ages
Watch your compost turn to coal
Time is contagious
Everybody’s getting old”

If anyone knows what this man is up to, please let us know. Damien Rice gets constant spins at the Cafe. The only problem is, he is mood music. Not really good mood music. Rice’s track ‘Coconut Skins’ off of his 9 album, which was released in 2006.

Dream Tiger | Control (Janet Jackson Cover)

2012-05-16T09:15:38-07:00

this is my favorite janet jackson song. in celebration of her birthday today (may 16th, 2012) i am streaming this track as a gift for your ears. this track is part of the “Dear Janet” project: a complilation that features 18 covers of her songs and is due Fall 2012. **side note: this is not mastered – i HIGHLY recommend listening in GOOD headphones or hi fi speakers for the full experience!!**

Dream Tiger (also known as Liz Wolf of the Why band) she’s a former dancer, turned photographer, turned musician. She’s also a Janet Jackson fan which is evident with this very very soothing cover of ‘Control.’ Her upcoming project ‘Dear Janet‘ will also be 17 covers of Ms Jackson. This project should be interesting….. stream the lovely homage below.

Spotted [TBB]

Night Manager | Broke Haircut

2012-05-16T08:06:19-07:00

Brooklyn risers Night Manager returns with their lo-fi garage rock jam ‘Broke Haircut,’ the track was uploaded by the band and given away as a freebie, …. grab this just under two minute lovely now and imagine how awesome this will sound while you’re serving up those drinks at your next house party.

Album Stream: Laurel Halo | Quarantine

2012-05-16T13:12:17-07:00

Laurel Halo is set to release her new project ‘Quarantine‘ in later this month via Hyperdub, we loved ‘Light and Space‘ and in a gracious manner, the Michigan native is streaming the album in full via . Best description of this on first listen, a musical journey you have to experience from start to finish, that means no skipping. Press play and enjoy one of the more unique releases of 2012.

(via FACT)

Kindness | House

2012-05-15T08:38:45-07:00

Kindness plays critic to the pop world and teaches a kid to play his latest single ‘House’ from his well enjoyed debut project ‘World, You Need a Change of Mind.’ The visual is odd and adoring with us leading more towards the latter. Lp is available now.

Syd Arthur | Edge Of The Earth

2012-05-15T07:23:35-07:00

Our dudes Syd Arthur are about to unleash their debut album ‘On and On‘ this Summer, however you can grab a first taste of what to expect from this behemoth sounding project. Consider the lovely ‘Edge Of The Earth’ an appetizer before the full meal arrives on July 2nd. Visuals directed by Alaric King.