Best of Release Radar – Week 40:2022.

Friday was upon us, yesterday! And that, means that we got another bunch of steaming hot new releases from our current, or soon to be favourite artists.

I will, like i always do, pick my three favourite tracks from this weeks Release Radar playlist on Spotify, without any particular order.

The first track off of this weeks Release Radar is 90 Proof (with J. Cole) by Smino, J. Cole. I’ve had J. Cole on heavy rotation for years, the man rarely, if ever, miss with his releases. This is my first encounter with Smino, but i do enjoy what i hear and i will be sure to check out more of his work. The J. Cole Feature caught my attention at first, but they deliver a very good track, that is easy to listen to.

The second track this week is Sun & Moon – Blastoyz Remix by Above & Beyond. This is one of those timeless classic electronic tracks that always brings a smile to my face whenever i hear it. And since it’s release in 2011, we’ve gotten a plethora of remixes, and this Blastoyz Remix hits very hard, and is one of the remixes that stand out a bit.

The last track of this weeks Release Radar playlist is Chasing Rainbows by Lxst Boy, Kiano, Spencer Hunt. There’s very little at all to be found online about Lxst Boy. This usually isn’t my cup of tea. But this is some groovy pop with a catchy instrumental, combined with voices that grows with the help of the instrumentals. This is going straight into my daily rotation.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Discover Weekly – Week 40:2022.

This week on Discover Weekly. I choose three tracks and list them in no particular order! We’ve stepped into october and autumn is a fact that we no longer can ignore. The leaves of the trees paint a colorful picture before they depart towards the ground.

The first track on this weeks Discover Weekly playlist is Agenda Suicide by The Faint. The track Agenda Suicide is off of The Faints 2001 album Danse MacAbre. This is an existensial song, lyrically, that sounds very much like songs did in 2001. And it is very good, i had never heard it before, so i got very happy when i heard it as a part of my Discover Weekly playlist! Some elements of the song, like the voice of the singer, made me think of Bloc Party – a band that i hold very close to my heart.

The second track this week is tremolo+delay by toe. This song if off of their 2012 album the book about my idle plot on a vague anxiety. Never ever before had i heard of the band toe, and therefor i will paraphrase what it says on Genius.com, that i also linked in the sentence above. toe is a japanese group founded in the year 2000. They play mostly instrumental post-rock, and i believe that tremolo+delay is a beautiful rendition and exhibition of their craftsmanship with the instruments. One of my many favourite things about instrumental songs is when you get the feeling, that they tell you a story, even without there being any lyrics. And i get that feeling from tremolo+delay, it tells a story, without using any words.

The third and last track off of this weeks Discover Weekly is Lucid Dreams by Franz Ferdinand, and the song is off of their 2009 album Tonight. I was absolutley obsessed with Franz Ferdinands earlier work, and i listened to it a lot, when i was younger. But it’s been a while since i revisited their work. And that’s why i got very happy when i saw that i had a Franz Ferdinand song on my Discover Weekly, this week! The song in question, Lucid Dreams starts off like a regular FF song, but it is waaaaay longer than their regular tracks that i am familiar with as this track stretches out for almost 8 minutes. And the first three and a half minutes or so, sounds like a regular FF track, and the rest of the song fades into an smooth and soft instrumental outro.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 39:2022.

On fridays we get a batch of steaming fresh tracks on our Release Radar playlists from Spotify, and this last friday was no exception! I will list my three favourite tracks down below, without any particual order.

The first track this week is Baianá by Nia Archives. I first fell upon Nia Archives in a reddit thread in the subreddit called ElectronicMusic, where a user was asking for electronic music by women. One user made a big list containing of artists, and one of those was Nia Archives. I got very interested because if the variety of different sounds Nia uses in her tracks, some tracks sound very much like classic jungle, and some tracks have heavy jazz/hiphop/soul influences.

The second track this week is Fossora by Björk, Kasimyn. Sometimes i get a feeling that the icelandic prodigy Björk can do nothing wrong in the musical sphere. This song shares the same name as Björks new album, that was released the 30th of September, 2022, an album i will be sure to check out. However this track is a hard hitting song with some almost hardcore electronic vibes towards the end of it. I find it interesting, and i’m intrigued to hear how the rest of the album sounds, if it follows in the same footsteps as this single.

The third and final track from this weeks Release Radar is Darby Crashing Your Party by NOFX. The veteran and legendary punk band NOFX has been putting out music for decades, and this single is on point. It sounds like NOFX, the familiar voice from Fat Mike, combined with the quick and heavy instrumentals from the rest of the band, mixed with lyrics that often puts the tip of the finger of the issues in the world.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Discover Weekly – Week 39:2022.

Another week, another Discover Weekly update! As always i pick my three favourite tracks from the playlist and list them here, in no particular order.

The first track this week is Since I Left You by The Avalanches. The Avalanches released this track back in 2000, and this was their only album until 2016. Avalanches combines a dreamy take on electronic music, with sometimes equally dreamy voices and sometimes funny samples. I’ve been listening to Avalanches for a while, and my favourite track of theirs is Frontier Psychiatrist.

The second track this week is Election Day by Blaze Foley. This is the first track i’ve ever heard from Blaze Foley, and i know nothing about him. But according to Genius he was a country artist that was murdered in 1989. Usually i’m not that keen on country music, but then i realize that it’s the more newly produced, and commercialized country that i don’t enjoy. However, this gritty and raw country is amazing.

The third and last track from this weeks Discover Weekly is a track called Pa Pa Power by Dead Man’s Bones. Dead Man’s Bones play a sort of ”dark folk music”, and i think it’s very good. The first time i heard a song from this duo was when i was watching a movie or a tv-show, when their track In The Room Where You Sleep was used, and i fell in love with it. Oh, by the way – a fun fact about the duo Dead Man’s Bones is that one of the performing artists is Ryan Gosling, more known as an actor.

Hope you had some good tracks on this weeks Discover Weekly!

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 38:2022.

On fridays we get a fresh batch of tracks on our Release Radar playlists from Spotify. And as the weeks before, i will pick my three favourites from this weeks Release Radar.

The first track on this weeks Best of Release Radar is Eddie by Red Hot Chili Peppers. This single was released the other day, and will be featured on RHCP’s upcoming album, that is being set to release the 14th of October. I read that Eddie is a song about Eddie Van Halen that passed away in 2020. This track sounds very much like a RHCP track, and i do enjoy that. And as always, i am a sucker for songs that sound a bit melancholic, which this track surely does, you get that undertone.

The second track this week is Love On The Run by Broken Bells. I read on Genius that Broken Bells is the love child of the front man from The Shins and Danger Mouse. Two artists and groups that i thoroughly enjoy, and this combined project of theirs is no different. I think this is very good. You have a beautiful voice that sings, combined with some easy listening instrumentals with influences from blues, jazz and rock. This is a fabolous track that will go straight into my regular rotation! Be sure to check out The Shins and Danger Mouse’s individual work, aswell!

The third and last track this week is Diarabi by Vieux Farka Touré, Khruangbin. This is a fantastic song, but i had to do some looking around to make sense of what was it was. This song is a single from the newly released album Ali, that’s a collaboration between the Texas based psychadelic rock band Khruangbin and the Malian artist Vieux Farka Touré. Khruangbin is a band that i’ve been listening to before, and i love what they do in musical way, their instrumental sound combined with the voice of the singer, is just fantastic. Diarabi is a sound that features Vieux on song, and Khruangbin on intstrumentals, with some backup singing. And it got a bit of that classic Khruangbin-sound, combined with some, i assume, malian influences from Vieux. It’s a match made in heaven. Alexis Petridis at The Guardian wrote a review of the album here. Give it a read!

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Discover Weekly – Week 38:2022.

Monday has passed, and we’ve gotten ourselves a updated Discover Weekly playlist from Spotify! As earlier weeks, i will listen through it and choose the three tracks that i like the most and list them, in no particular order.

The first track off of this weeks Discover Weekly is Eastwood Dub by King Tubby. Genius says that King Tubby was a Jamaican sound engineer, who greatly influenced the development of dub. And that makes sense, as this track, Eastwood Dub has got that classic dub-sound, and it’s really easy to listen to – and it makes you nod your head with the rhythm. There’s something that’s just a bit soothing about the sound, and i can see that this track would be sampeled in other songs, with singers singing over this dub.

The second track is Wet And Rusting by Menomena, and it’s off of their 2007 album Friend And Foe. Genius lets us know that Menomana is a Portland, Oregon based band. Just as with King Tubby, i had no previous knowledge of Menomana. But i love the sound of this track, Wet And Rusting, it reminds me of Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, MGMT and similar bands. There’s something with the soft voices of the singers, combined with the heavy focus on the instrumental elements that just makes sense to me.

The third and last track from this weeks Discover Weekly playlist is Open Heart Surgery by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and it’s off of their 2000 album Zero. The Brian Jonestown Massacre is, according to Genius, an American psychadelic rock baned based in San Fransisco, California in 1990. In this weeks list, this is the only band i had previous knowledge of. I’ve been listening to The BJM on and off for years now, however the album Zero which contains this song, has passed me by without notice. Open Heart Surgery is a track with slow sounding instrumentals and a rather melancholic lyrical element, where the singer reminds me of Robert Smith, from The Cure.

Also, side note, this was the first week in years that i didn’t get a track that’s in a language that i don’t understand. Intriguing! I hope your playlist contained some good songs, that will feature in your future rotation!

Until next time, takre care.
SLQT.

Asphalt Meadows – Death Cab For Cutie

This past friday, the 16th, Death Cab for Cutie released a new album, that’s called Asphalt Meadows. I fell in love with Death Cab for Cutie 16 years ago, when i heard their song Soul Meets Body off of their 2005 album Plans, when someone put that song in a video montage of a player versus player video of the computer game World of Warcraft. Can’t remember what video, or who made it, but hats off to you, for introducing Death Cab for Cutie to me.

This american rock band has put out a lot of music since their debut in 1997. Asphalt Meadows is a 11 track album, that stretches over 42 minutes and 5 seconds. And my impressions are that this is an album that sounds very much like a Death Cab for Cutie-album. Some songs that are very gentle and downtempo, some songs that features gentle parts with temposhifts and some songs that goes a bit harder than the other songs, with lyrics that are sung a bit harsher, with an overall tempo that is paced quicker than other tracks.

And this formula is what Death Cab for Cutie is known for, tempo-shifting songs, beatiful lyrics with the angelic voice of Ben Gibbard, that is tightly knit into a package with the help from the very instrumentally strong support from the rest of the band. And this is both a strenght and a weakness from Death Cab for Cutie. You get what you expect, it’s very tight and efficient, but you don’t ever get surprised by a release from them. And i assume that this is what has kept them in the game for so long. The fans, me included, always know what we’re going to get, and it’s often, nearly always, very good. However, i would like to see some experimenting, as i believe that they’re competent enough to make a lot of different genres work. And, you can always fall back and listen to Ben Gibbards other band The Postal Service, that in all honesty sound a bit like DCfC, but it’s also very good.

All in all, to round this text off. I like this album, a lot, i think it’s good, and it will be heavily rotated by me. Have you given it a listen? If not, give it a chance!

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 37:2022

This week we had some interesting tunes in the Release Radar playlist from Spotify. And as usual, i will pick three songs that i enjoyed, and i will present them in no particual order!

This weeks first track is Take Me High by Kx5, deadmau5, Kaskade. I’d say that you attribute this track to ”Kx5”, which is a collaboration between Kaskade and deadmau5. This is a very good electronic dance track. All around interesting, with some easy lyrics, heavy bass, and with some features that makes it harder not to move your body together with the music, than not do dance along. I’ve been following both deadmau5 and Kaskade for many years now, and whenever they team up together, and collaborate on something, magic tends to be made.

The second tune from this weeks Release Radar-playlist is All Along (Kaytranda Remix) by Rochelle Jordan, KAYTRANDA. I’m familiar with both KAYTRANDA & Rochelle Jordan, however i don’t know much about them, other than this is a very danceable, yet easy listening remix of a somewhat souly-RnB-track. I really like this song, and i believe that it’s going into my regular rotation of tracks!

This weeks last track is DRAIN STORY by Bladee. The swedish draingang prodigy keeps on delivering interesting and unique tracks. He’s been on a roll lately and this is yet another hit in the right direction. When i first heard of, and about Bladee, his tracks confused me, and i didn’t really enjoy it. But with time, and Bladee’s effort to keep on evolving and putting out music consistently, so has my interest for him and his what he touches in musical way, risen.

This week was a fun week, i had a wide variety of tracks, in a wide variety of genres. I hope that you also had some good music that will enter into your new rotation!

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Discover Weekly – Week 37:2022.

Another week! Another batch of tracks has been generated and put into our Discover Weekly playlists. And, like every week, i’ll let you know what three tracks were my favourite!

The first track of this week is Unhappy by OutKast from their 2003 album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. This is a mastodont album, consisting of 40 tracks. I’ve listened a lot to OutKast over the years, i love most of what they’ve done. However i haven’t been listening that much to the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album, apart from the biggest songs, like Hey Ya!, Roses & The way you move. Unhappy is this beautiful, yet melancholic track, with a groovy groove with a sound of the lyrical elements that brings a eerie, melancholic feeling over this track. This is a well used phenomenon by OutKast, a very happy and upbeat instrumental, with terribly depressive lyrics – like on Hey Ya!. I’m very pleased that i was introduced to this track my Spotify, and it’s going straight into my regular rotation.

The second track this week is A Dozen Roses by Braid. This track comes off of Braids 1998 album Frame and Canvas. This was the first time i ever heard this song, and the first time i heard of this band. AllMusic says that Braid is: ”Influential emo band from the days when the genre still had a connection to hardcore”, and i feel like that describes this song very well. You have this gritty sound, with changes of the tempo that you often find in emo songs, combined with the lyrics and the way the singer sings – this feels like a good representation of the emo wave.

The third and last track this week is I’ll Fight You by Open Mike Eagle. This track is a single that was released the 9th of August, 2022, so it’s right off the press! I’ve heard of Open Mike Eagle, but i have never really listened to his music before. I think this track is very easy to listen to, the voice of Open Mike Eagle is soothing and he’s very much on the beat. I loved the beat straight away, and as i kept on listening to the track a couple of more times, it just grew on me. And i very much enjoy how well the flow, beat and voice grows together to make this track a reality.

This week was a good week, i had a lot of good songs, and it was tough to choose tracks this week. And, only one song was in a language i don’t understand, i believe it is sung in Dutch.

I hope you give these tracks a listen, and i hope that you’ve gotten some good tracks on your Discover Weekly, this week!

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 36:2022.

This weeks three picks from my Release Radar playlist from Spotify is as follows:

The first track that i pick this week is Atopos by Björk. The icelandic musical prodigy Björk has finally released some new music. This new single of hers is very interesting and gives me great hope for the future of Björk!

The second track of this week is Tonight (feat. Ezra Koenig) by Phoenix & Ezra Koenig. I have no prior knowledge about Ezra Koenig, but i’m going to look him up and see what else he has been involved with. Phoenix and i go way back, and i’ve been listening to their music for quiet a while now – and it always brings me big joy whenever these french musicians release new music. Looking forward to see what they have been brewing together inside of the studio.

The last track from this weeks Release Radar-playlist is Rocksteady by Built To Spill. I am not sure really how to motivate this song other than i thought that it is a nice track that’s rather easy to listen to! I have very little prior knowledge about Built To Spill, so i will be sure to check them out.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.