Waterstrider – “Redwood”
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Oakland’s Waterstrider sound damn good on their latest track “Redwood”. Indie rock for jungle hikes and sunsets in the sand. Jittery like good coffee in a coconut mug.
Secret Company – “Saviour”
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Secret Company are from London and only have this one jam out so far but its a big one. “Saviour” is the opening salvo of a band with big places on the horizon. “Saviour” has stadium sized bombast but with just enough glitch and grit to keep it grounded. And with old school TBE fave James Yuill providing additional production there are a lot of the right things in place here.
Clean Bandit – “Rather Be Feat. Jess Glynne” + “Heart on Fire”
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London’s Clean Bandit craft the kind of timeless funky grooves that could have easily been cooked up in nearly any decade in the past 40 years. But thank goodness they are making them right now. That means that there will be more. “Rather Be” is a great intro to Clean Bandit, with heave dose of soul and heart. Then “Heart on Fire” kicks things up a few notches as a proper part-starter. Both are mixtape gold.
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Dreamers – “Ivory Sails”
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Devner’s Dreamers only have this one jam out so far but its a big bouncing piece of indie-pop that holds nothing back in the infectious department. Perfect for this view of Lake Atitlan I have right now. Don’t Google it. You will be jealous.
Valente – “The Distant Lights”
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Valente was born in Rome to two musical parents. You can hear the music in his blood. He now bounces between Los Angeles, Europe, and Asia, working on music scores and  his project under the Valente name. “Distant Lights” first caught my ear through one of the great remixes available on his Soundcloud but the original version deserves special attention for its sparse arrangement and lush beauty. So far it has separately stopped both my roommates in their tracks as they walked by the song playing. Songs like that don’t come around every day.
Cathedrals – “Unbound”
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San Francisco’s Cathedrals have this one little song on their “Soundcloud” but it’s sure making a big splash. “Unbound” is a beautiful swirl of dueling boy/girl vocals and steamy tension. Perfectly spare guitar notes and big “oooh ahhhh” sing alongs send this jams straight to the top of the “repeat” list. More please!
Sphynx – “Hunger” & “What Is Love” (Haddaway Cover)
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It’s been a while since I’ve covered Austin’s awesome dance party instigators Sphynx. The guys are back with “Hunger”, a soulful groover for dance floor lovemaking. Couple it with their recent cover of Haddaway’s “What Is Love?” and things are going to heat up! Get into that talk box!
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In other hilarious news, Feb 13 is being proclaimed ‘Sphynx Day’ in Austin by Mayor Lee Leffingwell and the band be celebrating the day with a televised performance at City Hall. Yes! Then after that their new album Golden Garden will be coming out. Better make it a whole Sphynx month!
OONA – “Kaleidoscope”
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Los Angeles’s Oona have this written on their Soundcloud for “Kaleidoscope” and since I’m too busy rocking the F out I will just let you read it.
The dance-pop of your dreams. Like you’re riding the subway in a mystical place surrounded by podbots and there you are, in your second hand garb, dripping with plastic pearls and gaudy rhinestones, blasting this hi-energy, super sonic medicine, an uncture for your ills, ill for your unction, and your toes are tapping, your mind is racing, your heart is standing still. It’s the ultimate collaboration, the penultimate trip, the radical manifestation of what you’ve been thirsting for all along and have only just found out.
“let’s Go-O-O!” Ok, now I’m sweaty…