[PLAYLIST] The Best REMIXES of 2012 – Part 2 (July-Dec)

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TBE-Best-of-2012-Remixes

 

Man oh man. Could we be in a better world for fun remixes of great songs? Some of the old guard has been slacking in quality lately (RAC, where you at?) but new talent is cropping up in droves. Cyril Hahn practically made his name from that Destiny’s Child remix. Noah Hyde is on the map with amazing work. Manu el Chino nabs his second spot of 2012. Too many great tracks. Get on it for the weekend and check out all the bands and remixers you may have missed through the years. And especially listen to that Years & Years remix. What a genre flip. Mmmm…..

Be sure to catch all the 2012 “BEST OF” lists!

[Artwork by Jacob Youngblood Ziegler]

[PLAYLIST] The Best SONGS of 2012 – Part 2 (July-Dec)

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TBE-Best-of-2012-Songs

Screw the Oscars! Now that the site is back up we can continue the (very late) Best of 2012 Awards!

So many great songs last year. The second 6 months of jams did more than stand up to the first. So many genres colliding in this list. Beautiful songs. Funny songs. Innovative songs. Simple songs. Dance songs. Rock songs. All songs that Read more

[EP] American Royalty – PRISMATIC (w/ “Hungry”)

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American Royalty - Prismatic

when i had my eye, staring at the sun, growing old and wise, but staying young and dumb

We’ve already been massaged by the jittery bongo & guitar shuffle of American Royalty’s mellowed out single “Honey & Queen” and now the LA group has dropped the Prismatic EP which has 4 more tracks of their psyched-out groove rock.”Hungry” follows EP-opener “Honey” and is the real party starter. Gutars shred over whiplash a rhythm section and it makes me want to rock. Then they get tender on “Mariah” before bringing the slow burn weirdo funk on “EVO.” Its an excellent document of the band’s continually evolving sound and proof that there are more ideas going on in their heads then they will ever be able to record. Get on this adventure while you can.

[PLAYLIST] The Best COVER SONGS of 2012

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TBE-Best-of-2012-Covers

Cover songs are still my favorite way for emerging bands to put their own sound on a hit song and get easy attention. However 2012 was for some reason a slow year for cover songs. Luckily a handful of bands did them well and left us with flipped and twisted takes on old classics and net hits alike. Here are my 10 favorites (#1 at the bottom). What did I miss? Read more

[LP] Wild Cub – YOUTH (w/ “Thunder Clatter” + “Jonti”)

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Wild Cub - Youth

i see you hidden in the night

  • Who: Keegan DeWitt (TBE alum!) & Jeremy Bullock
  • What: Danceable indie rock, like Generationals, Kisses, Young Empires
  • Where: Nashville, TN + Facebook
  • When: Buy debut LP Youth now.
  • Why: First of all, I’m sorry. Sometimes I find an album that takes me by such surprise, that makes me so satisfied with it’s sounds, that I keep it to myself for far too long. I’m caught between the disbelief that it is as good as I think, and the nerves that come with writing a review of an album I love. It’s all illogical and foolish at best, but its the way I am. I’m like the partner that loves you so much that they don’t even know how to show it. Sorry Keegan and Jeremy, I do love you. And I love the beautiful baby Youth you’ve raised into this world.

My recent favorite tracks “Thunder Clatter,” “Straight No Turns,” and “Jonti” are are the perfect triangulation of their sound somewhere between the shaggy indie rock appeal of Generationals and the synth dance shades of Kisses. Hell, “Wishing Well” even throws some 80s nods to classic Peter Gabriel. Wild Cub draw rich water from a variety of wells but the cocktail they mix is undeniably their own.

[LP] Peter and Kerry – LA TRIMOUILLE (w/ “Annie” + “Fifty In The $lot$”)

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PETERKERRYALBUM_final_1600

but all your sighing heavily and semi-silent mutterings are another guarantee that it’s too late to stop me

Peter & Kerry’s “Knees” is one of my favorite sad-sack breakup folk songs in recent years so it was a pleasant surprise to hear them pepping things up for the sonically fun yet still break-up-y “Split For The City.” The fun kept coming when months late I finally got my hands on their debut full length La Trimouille. The album takes the elements of “Knees” that made it so infectious and blends them with a variety of fun and quirky songs stylings and a dash of hip-hop delivery that all adds up to and endlessly pleasing album. Even though the lyrical content is often classically English and mopey I can’t help but Read more

[EP] Newtimers – EGO EP (w/ “Heavy Weather”)

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Newtimers EP

we loved and we laughed, thought we would last

It’s been a year since we heard from Sweden’s sneaky sex-groove masters Newtimers so it’s about time we got some more magic. The Ego EP just dropped and if you and yours need some heat during these frosty times then throw these jams on the fire. It’s like Prince, only relevant. Like The Weeknd, only  less depressing. Like sex itself, only less complicated. Even breakup songs like “Heavy Weather” are bound to inspire one last hurrah. Oh, and we get a dance-off video cut to “She’s A Gun”? Sexy women. Sexy outfits. Sexy dancing. The band can even be in it. In the background.

[EP] Jamestown Revival – THE KNIVES & PIPES EP (w/ “Ain’t It A Shame”)

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Jamestown revival

we’re never gonna away, from dreaming of the good ol days

♫ Jamestown revival – Ain’t it a shame

  • Who: Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance
  • What: Southern slanted Indie Rock, like Brown Shoe, Kings of Leon, Y Luv
  • Where: Los Angeles, CA + Facebook
  • When: The Knives & Pipes EP is out now.
  • Why: Jamestown Revival play music that you can feel the history in. And not just of the south-folk tinged genre itself, but in the songs and stories they tell. Its no surprise that Jonathan and Zach go way back. Growing up together in Austin, Texas, they have built their chemistry through years of friendship. “Ain’t it a Shame” is my favorite song on their solid 4 song EP. I think. It’s hard to pick. Even harder when you see them live, which I was lucky enough to do in someone’s living room at a recent Sofar Sounds event in Venice. Pretty amazing.