KJHK Staff Members share some of the things they’re listening to as of now.
Welcome, interested music adventurer, to Thingz We Jam. Every week KJHK.org will feature some selections of music contributed by the lovely faces of KJHK that highlight some gems that we don’t think get enough attention. Get your headphones/speakers/preferred listening apparatus ready, because here we go!
Mitch Raznick:
Nadastrom – Fallen Down (Off their debut LP, which is self-titled and came out on Feb. 24)
Nadastrom is one of the newest members of Friends of Friends (FoF) record label, which is one of my favorite in electronic record labels. FoF always does a great job of finding these creative, left-field musicians and producers, and every now and then, they bring out a new artist that instantly resonates with a lot of listeners. In the past, FoF has released albums like Shlohmo’s Bad Vibes, Vacation and Laid Out, Groundislava’s self-titled and Feel Me, and a ton of other great albums by artists like Daedelus and LOL Boys.
For the past year or so, FoF has been a bit more off the radar, most likely due to their contracts with spotlight artists ending. But with Nadastrom’s debut full-length being such a unique yet engaging take on dark house music, you can expect the record label to introduce us to some more great music in the future.
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Allison McFall:
Joanna Newsom – ’81
I hadn’t heard of Joanna Newsom until last week, when one of my friends showed me this song and another played it on her radio show in the same night. It was fate! I can’t stop listening to her. She’s a folk singer-songwriter who plays the harp. Super beautiful.
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Shane Blair:
Foner – Flmng
In a distant corner of the internet, this little trip-hop gem sits on foner’s bandcamp shelf amungst many similar minimalistic beats. It’s ambient and solemn to boot, but when the beat kicks in I can’t help but nod my head. The nonsensical vocal sampling adds an air of wistful mysticism, and the bass riff that comes with it gives the song a more powerful personality. Though “flmng” seems to be a simple beat experiment in the arsenal of a barely known loop-maker, this song is definitely worth experiencing. It’s a diamond in the rough, it is.
Emilie Staffford:
Mild High Club Track – Windowpane
Alexander Brettin aka Mild High Club released his debut 45 on Stones Throw Records earlier this year. This righteous lad has toured with Mac DeMarco, Meatbodies and Wand. He also played guitar on Ariel Pink’s newest record. Basically he is friends with everyone in the psychedelic, chill, likable weird crowd. I fell head over heels in love with this track from the first time I heard it. With 60s British psychedelia as the corner stone and hints of California sunshine, the vibe is dreamy. The harmonies, waning guitar, groovy bass and the precise percussion send me into a tizzy every time. <3 Luckily for me his first LP is scheduled to come out later this spring.
Tyler Daniels:
Shadow of Whales – Just A Little
Freshly minted band Shadow Of Whales comes to us from indie-rock breeding ground Austin, Texas, but you wouldn’t expect it from their sound. Brought together in 2013 after a series of previous bands didn’t work out, Shadow Of Whales gives us a fresh, catchy sound in the alt-rock game. “Just A Little” is a song off their first EP and mixes everything you love about alternative rock into one bad-ass song. From the opening guitar riff to the anthem-esque harmonizations, this song has a great sound but sounds less like something produced in Austin and more like something that would be delivered to us from across the pond in the lands that produced bands such as Muse, Franz Ferdinand, and Kasabian. It is full of that addicting English indie-rock feel that we’ve all come to love. Catchy guitar riffs, pounding drums, incredible harmonizing and vocalization, and just an overall sound that makes you want to get up and dance. “Just A Little” is guaranteed to make you tap your feet and bob your head, and it’ll most likely be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
Mike Van Esler:
Silk Road Assassins – T
Silk Road Assassins are a tri-partite grime collective (Chemist, LoveDr0id, and Tom E. Vercetti) that has yet to produce a proper release, yet they’ve managed to build a ton of buzz within the forward-thinking grime community. With “T (Peace Edit)” they’ve crossed that bridge–sort of. Released on Mr. Mitch’s Gobstopper Records, T is part of the Peace Edit trend started by Mr. Mitch wherein producers remix a track in a more introspective fashion (playing off the War Dub phenomenon in grime wherein producers sample other artist’s tracks in a way to show they are the superior producer). Interestingly, T (which samples T-Pain’s “I’m Sprung”) sounds like a regular Silk Road Assassins track, a style which is gaining popularity but lacks proper nomenclature at the moment (sorry!). Silk Road Assassins are definitely set to do big things in 2015 so be on the lookout.
