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[SKoA Presents] Ten Bears
If you were disappointed in the new MGMT like I was, here's a new band for you to check out. Ten Bears are a "future pop" band from the UK that have a buzz slowly growing around them for their catchy electronic tunes.
A few new tracks just emerged from their upcoming album, "Braces," which drops April 26. Give them a listen:
Ten Bears - Red Shoes
Ten Bears - Fireheart
And here's the video the band released for the title track. Perfect for 420 day if you ask me.
Download: Ten Bears - Braces
[SKoA Presents] Chiddy Bang
I first came across Chiddy Bang on Pretty Much Amazing after they created a remix for Gorillaz's Stylo and then some time passed and they dropped their most recent mixtape "Air Swell" and after hearing that tape I knew these guys were a group to watch. From rocking electronic beats that sample MGMT, Kate Nash and Kid Cudi to rock legends like Radiohead (Check out the track "Because" below), Chiddy Bang are quickly gaining popularity amongst the Interwebz.
For those that don't know, “Chiddy Bang is a four piece hip-hop/electronica outlet from Philadelphia. Currently attending their first year of college, they posses a musical maturity that is far superior to the teen-pop cliche. Chiddy Bang blends hard hitting lyricism from front man Chidera “Proto” Anamege, original electronica afro-beat and jazz influenced production from keyboardist Noah Beresin and drummer Zach Sewall, and additional production and vocals from guitarist Pat Braz.” Frontman Proto reminds me of a mix of Gym Class Heroes' frontman Travis McCoy, The Cool Kids and Wale, which is dangerous.
Check out some of their unreleased tracks below and their mixtapes, "Air Swell" and The Swelly Express and expect more of them on the blog.
[SKOA Presents] We're Drizzling A Little Awesome Sauce On Our Reviews!
So first of all, we kind of had record numbers for this humble little site. THANK YOU ALL FOR STOPPING BY AND LOVING ON JACK WHITE AS MUCH AS WE DO! We never realized that a couple little streams could be such a game changer. We hope you continue to stop by and leave comments so we can all geek out together about music we all love.
Due to the sudden surge of eyeballs on our part of the interwebz (HI NEW PEOPLE!!!), we figured we should start getting a little fancier than we've been in the past. BUT in true SKOA form we're trying to not take ourselves too seriously since we are music fans and not snobby critics (at best we try to make sure we don't come off like that anyways).
Having said that, I present to you the Official Some Kind Of Awesome Rating System:
That's right. Freaking Awesome Sauce. No 7.4s here (yes Pitchfork, we are looking at you) out of 10. Just a simple 5 "bottle" rating system. This will essentially be our gauge of how much we're into something, be it a show or a single/album.
Now let it be known: we do not intend to review things we're not in love with. That's a waste of time, especially when there is so much awesome in the world. The albums you see here will always start at three bottles at the very least. Unless something REALLY leaves a bad taste in our mouth, we hope to never unveil the one or two bottles.
We have a lot in the works to continue to share with out everything that we think is super awesome and would love your feedback every step of the way because as much as this is a creative outlet for us, we really just want to geek out with other people.
[SKoA Presents] Alan Wilkis
Yesterday, we posted an awesome remix of the RJD2 song "The Shining Path" done by Brooklyn, NY musician Alan Wilkis. After grooving down to this track for most of my day, I had to hear more and find out who this guy was. Little did I know, I actually had a remix Alan did with Star Trak artists, Chester French (which is amazing BTW) and then ran across more of Alan's material on his MySpace Page. I got admit after first listen I was hooked, the music was so funky and just amazing I needed to purchase his most recent EP, Pink and Purple. It was like hearing a blast from the past with a freshly updated twist. He was also commended by RJD2 on his recent remix: "he ditched the 6/8 time sig, took it straight 4/4, and generally made it something Prelude records would have been proud of. I love it, check it out!"
Alan Wilkis is definitely someone to add to your collection as well an artist to look out for in the future. Check out two of my favorite jams from the Pink and Purple EP and let us know what you think!
[SkoA Presents] Japanese Cartoon
NO SHACKLE! NO SUGAR! ALL SABOTAGE! ALL SABOTAGE! The wonderful chaotic catchpharase from the song "All Sabotage" by punk/pop/hip hop/rock group Japanese Cartoon. Those that arent familiar with Japanese Cartoon wouldn't guess that this awesome group is the side project by Wasalu Muhammad Jaco better known as Lupe Fiasco. The groups album "In The Jaws Of The Lords Of Death" is expected to release later this year and some of the material might be played at Lupe's upcoming tour the Steppin' Lasers tour. They have also been featured in Lupe's single off the Twilight New Moon Soundtrack titled "Solar Midnite" (where Lupe gets his Anthony Keides on). Check out some of their tracks along with their video for the song "ARMY" below and keep in touch with SKoA for more updates from this amazing group.
Japanese Cartoon - ARMY
Japanese Cartoon - All Sabotage
Japanese Cartoon - In The Jaws Of The Lords Of Death
Japanese Cartoon - Heirplanes
[SKoA Presents] The Seven Fields of Aphelion
More great news for Black Moth Super Rainbow fans! BMSR's Keyboardist, Seven Fields of Aphelion’s debut record, Periphery, was released Tuesday, February 16th on Graveface. Those expecting to go into this album expecting BMSR/Tobacco kind of sounds may be a bit disappointed. However, SFoA does provide a dreamy ambient melodic sound on her solo work which makes this album quite enjoyable.
To celebrate the release of her album, she is pleased to present her new video for the song "Michigan Icarus". Check out the 2 bonus cuts below and if you dig the music, make sure you pick up a copy of the album.
The Seven Fields of Aphelion 'Michigan Icarus' from graveface records on Vimeo.
The Seven Fields of Aphelion - Grown
The Seven Fields of Aphelion - Mountain Mary
[SKoA Presents] Dirty Ghosts (Allyson Baker, Carson Binks and Aesop Rock)
Those of you may have about the Dirty Ghosts awhile ago on Pitchfork. If you haven't heard Dirty Ghosts consists of the former Bassist and Guitarist of SF indie band Parchman Farm, Carson Binks and Allyson Baker and Indie Hip Hop Rapper/Producer Aesop Rock programming drums and samples. The creative sound the group brings to the table is nothing less of what they even call themselves, dirty. Allyson vocals bring a sweet melodic mix to the grunge rock/hip hop beat sound. Check out the band's Myspace page (linked above) for more information on this awesome group and enjoy some of the cuts of their upcoming album below.
Dirty Ghosts - Steamboat to Concord
Dirty Ghosts - Bottled at the Source
Dirty Ghosts - Battle Slang (Via Pitchfork)