The Twelves - Episode II (mixtape)

I like The Twelves and I like their latest mix.

Download available at discodust and bigstereo.

Tracklist:
01 Zeigeist - Humanitarianism (The Twelves Remix Replay)
02 Radiohead - Reckoner (The Twelves Replay)
03 Mirwais - Naive Song
04 Of Montreal - Gronlandic Edit
05 David E. Sugar - To Yourself
06 The Virgins - Rich Girls (The Twelves Remix Replay)
07 Daft Punk - Voyager 08 Jupiter - CHIP
09 Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (The Twelves Replay)
10 Metronomy - Heartbreaker
11 The Twelves - Works for Me (The Twelves Replay)
12 Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance (The Twelves Replay)

And in case you missed it, here's their first mix.

Btw, if you're wondering, (as of now) this is the only remix of theirs featured on t61.

TheHype.fm

Now jumping to a different part of the spectrum, here's some streaming radio hosted by some top blogrollers for all you indie electronic loving dance folks. And for those looking to get an early jumpstart to your weekend, previous podcasts are available for download too.

AnnieB's Detour: Maxbumps Mix

Hmm what happened to those Hearya roundups that used to feed t61 on Sundays? They’re getting a bit repetitive, no? Anyway, I whipped up a mixtape of a variety of things I’ve collected over the months, some new, some old. Maybe not my ideal mixtape, but I tried to make it t61 friendly and include things that I normally don’t discuss, which range from light indie rock to singer songwriter type of songs, by artists who aren’t continually topping the popular charts over at Hype Machine. I don’t know, maybe you’ll discover something new.

Here’s the playlist:
1. Voxhaul Broadcast - Rotten Apples
2. Noah and the Whale - 5 Years Time
3. Fanfarlo - Harold T. Wilkins
4. Darker My Love - Two Ways Out
5. David Byrne and Brian Eno - Strange Overtones
6. The Submarines - You, Me, & The Bourgeoisie
7. Sissy Wish - DWTS
8. Love Like Fire - From A Tower
9. Now, Now Every Children - Everyone You Know
10. Laura Marling - New Romantic
11. Erin McCarley - Pitter-Pat
12. Catherine Feeny - Mr. Blue
13. Holly Conlan - OK
14. Greg Laswell - The One I Love
15. Landon Pigg - Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop

Btw, I’m really glad these tracks made it to t61. They’re my personal shoegaze/dream pop picks at the moment.

AnnieB's Detour: Keedz

There’s this track that’s been floating around the blogosphere and I guess it’s been on heavy rotation somewhere in Europe. Anyway, the reason behind the latest hype appears to be because Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E” comes to mind. People have been speculating that it’s Justice under a different alias, or that it is Keedz but mixed by Justice. The tracks are rather similar, so there’s no real breakthrough or anything.


Keedz – Stand On The Word
(video link)

In the end, it’s really just a rebirth of a gospel song. I'm a bit confused and am not sure if it's by Celestial Choir or The Joubert Singers. All I know is that it was mixed back in the day by Larry Levan, a legendary dj of his time, and that now we have a modern version with a current artist’s name linked to it. Here’s the older version for comparison.


Celestial Choir/The Joubert Singers – Stand on the Word (Larry Levan Remix)

AnnieB's Detour: Passion Pit

A couple weeks ago, I found this addictive track by Passion Pit, a band who’s been getting a lot of references to MGMT. Their EP, Chunk of Change, is expected to be released mid-September followed by an full length album next year.


Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

You can preview a couple more tracks over at myspace, or download four free tracks at last.fm.

AnnieB's Detour: Little Jackie

Like Estelle, guess you can consider this mainstream now, but I heard the first track on the SXSW sampler back in March, and it looks like they've been getting a lot more press over the past month since her album was released last week.

From myspace:
Blend the old-school R&B sound with a quirky hybrid of hip-hop and pop and you get Little Jackie, the creation of genre-defying singer-songwriter Imani Coppola and programmer Adam Pallin. With a nod to the soulful Motown rhythms of the past and a sneer to many of the social and cultural issues that consume the public today, Coppola has crafted an album of musical sugar and spice, filled with sweet, saccharine-tinged melodies and spicy, bold commentaries.


Little Jackie – The World Should Revolve Around Me


Little Jackie – The Stoop


Little Jackie – 28 Butts


Little Jackie – One Love

I streamed the entire album and it’s a good listen if you like the poppy 60’s hip-hop throwback era. Recommended for those who listen to Joss Stone, Lily Allen, Estelle, Lauren Hill, and Corinne Bailey Rae. She also did a set on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic.

AnnieB's Detour: Minipop

For me, this week’s t61 highlight was that San Francisco-based band, Minipop, joined the site. Honestly, with so much music from the SXSW sampler, I was easily overwhelmed, especially with more of the rock stuff. However, Minipop was one of those bands that just stood out to me after listening to their song, “Like I Do”. If you don't know already, I have a slight bias toward dreamy indie pop songs. I actually thought about blogging about them before, but now that they’re t61 official…even better!

Minipop’s website

Minipop’s myspace

AnnieB's Detour: Moulinex and SymbolOne

A double post!



Before t61 came along, I had no idea I’d be digging this electronic, 80s-vibe sort of dance music. Particularly, I’ve been very pleased with the two mixes from Moulinex that have come to the site, and I hope more are on their way. Not to be confused with the French manufacturer of small household appliances, Luis Moulinex is a Portuguese dj/German producer who is part of D.I.S.C.O.Texas, a collective of artists (think RAC). I didn’t think anything would come about my random question during my interview with Andre (of RAC) about being from Portugal, and then I read this interview with Luis Moulinex who also admitted Portugal not having a thriving music scene. Portugal sure looks like it's missing out as these artists are fleeting their native country and going elsewhere. Anyway…Moulinex = good stuff!


Cazals – Somebody, Somewhere (Moulinex Remix)

This is the first remix of his I heard.

…and obviously I immediately liked SymbolOne too. Apparently these are long lost “musical” twins that reunited. Not only that, they are Justice and Danger-approved! Justice featured “Love Juice” on their (rejected) Fabric Xmas Mix, and Danger has put his own spin on the track as well.


SymbolOne – Love Juice (Danger TV Remix)

This is another SymbolOne track I like. I should say they have Erotto’s seal of approval too as it is featured in his mix, "The Double Edge".


SymbolOne – Everything Louder Then Everything Else


Moulinex’s myspace
SymbolOne’s myspace

AnnieB's Detour: Lykke Li (Concert)

So…I saw Lykke Li last Monday at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. To be honest, I thought I was going to miss out since I got off of work late and she was the opening act. Luckily, there was another act before her, so I sort of sped for nothing. Anyway, the crowd was mainly filled with a rather eager, bright-eyed, college youngsters from what I can tell near the stage. The older folks seem to be content being on the sidelines.

Eventually, out walks Lykke Li in her belted baggy black attire and gold chains, followed by the rest of her bandmates. The setlist starts off with Lykke Li singing the high-pitched, staccato ooh, ooh, ooh's of the slow tempo "Time Flies". Then, it picks up with "Dance Dance Dance" and slows back down a bit with "Everybody But Me".

El Perro del Mar was the main act of the night and she came out to do a guest performance on "My Love". The next song might have been "Let It Fall", but my memory has faded regarding the setlist. Anyway, the crowd, of course, got giddy for "Little Bit", but I really thought the highlight of the show was the upbeat performance of "Breaking It Up." Even my friend who is absolutely unfamiliar with Lykke Li remembered that song the most. Lykke Li then closed out her act with "Tonight" and "I'm Good, I'm Gone".

This show had so much more than the expected handclapping. Add the cowbell, the kazoo, and the megaphone on top of Lykke Li's pelvic thrusts and hip sways, just makes it a great show. That, and I love the fact that the guys who play the keyboard and drums were on either side of Lykke Li at the front of the stage, and the guitar in the back. The percussive aspects are really instrumental to her music, in my opinion.

While my friend and I didn't stay for the main act, we ended the night by walking past the star of Entourage on our way out of the venue. That was my friend's highlight of the night, even though we didn't know his name other than 'the guy from Entourage'. (Btw, it's Adrian Grenier...however, I had to look that up.)

Oh, and I guess I should end off this post with something new. Here's a track by Kleerup with Lykke Li on vocals.


Kleerup - Until We Bleed (ft. Lykke Li)

Lykke Li's Website
Lykke Li's Myspace

AnnieB's Detour: D*R*I

Perhaps you guys are better than me and looked into D*R*I a bit more earlier when it had posted onto the homepage. Dri is Adrianne Verhoeven of the Anniversary, Art in Manila, and Fourth of July…and should definitely not to be confused with the punk, metal, trash music of D.R.I. In contrast, her music is downtempo trip hop and easy on the ears.

I don’t know how long it’s been, but I still can’t get enough of this song. It’s from her solo debut album, Smoke Rings, which was released last November.



I highly recommend that you visit her Virb page where you can stream most of her album.

Otherwise, here’s another taste of D*R*I.


D*R*I’s Myspace


Btw, I just made two other posts as brief commentary, but I set them at an earlier date so I don't bombard this blog simply because I'm trying to play catch up. If you're interested, you can click on the link or tag to my column.

AnnieB's Detour: Luisa Maita

While thesixtyone appears to be more geared toward indie rock, every so often we get a refreshing addition to the site. If you like CéU, you should definitely like the sounds of Luisa Maita, another native of the Brazilian São Paolo music scene. Modernizing traditional Brazilian music, she delivers a variety of samba, jazz, afrobeat, and soul, creating an eclectic sound that makes for easy listening.







Just in case you were unaware, she actually debuted on thesixtyone months ago with this track below. Took a while for it to take off from what I remember since some listeners told me it wasn’t there cup of tea at the moment, so I’m really glad she received a better reception this time around.



Lastly, she has also been featured on Musica de Bolsa, which is like Brazil’s equivalent to La Blogotheque’s Take Away Shows.

Sidenote: Once again, I highly recommend Aurgasm, a music blog that deviates from reporting the usual rock form and focuses on presenting a variety of other musical styles such as downtempo, folk, nu jazz, chanson, scandinavian, jazz, cuban, brazilian, electro, soul, jump blues, bluegrass, film score, and electronica.

AnnieB's Detour: Electric President

I’m a bit surprised Electric President didn’t take off immediately when it was uploaded to thesixtyone, especially when their sound reminds me of Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service, and Styrofoam. A few weeks versus a day sort of shows how reliant we are on familiar names. Anyway, Electric President is comprised of two guys, Ben Cooper and Alex Kane.

….and I literally kept playing these two songs over and over again.





From last.fm:
The songs are characterized by nasalized voices, acoustic riffs, MD-four tracks, SM58, and some computers.

Also, to find out more about Ben Cooper’s other music projects, you can visit his website at this link. If you’re interested in checking out his artwork, you can click here.

P.S. I sent a brief message over myspace letting him know the songs were sitting at the top of the homepage at the time. He replied and was appreciative. So he knows about thesixtyone now, but I think it ends there.

Radical Face’s Website
Radical Face’s Mypace
Electric President’s Mypace (I think this one is run by the label)

AnnieB's Detour: The Ting Tings

How fantastic! The Ting Tings have a song featured as a free download this week on iTunes. The song is called “Great DJ” which according to NME, was the most popular indie track so far for 2008 back in March. Amazing what an accidental wrong chord can create when learning the guitar (see interview clip below).


The Ting Tings – Great DJ"

The Ting Tings is a British indie pop duo, and they are set to release their debut album, We Started Nothing, on May 20th. I was instantly hooked when I first heard the percussive opening of “That’s Not My Name” on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic last fall. The rest was just darn energetic and catchy, not to mention, there's handclapping too. Nic Harcourt even listed their self-released Demos as number two on his top 10 albums of 2007. You can also catch a studio session and interview they did on his program here.They’ll re-release the single on May 12th.


The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name"

This next track below is actually my favorite of the bunch. You can even hear some cowbell in this one.


The Ting Tings – We Walk (Demo)

Also, they are now part of the iPod campaign, which features their song "Shut Up and Let Me Go".


Okay, signing off…Ting Ting Ting!!! Really, don’t you just love their name? Watch the Yahoo! interview and you can find out how they came up with it.



The Ting Tings myspace

AnnieB's Detour: Melody Gardot

Diving into the world of jazz, I liked this week’s iTunes free music download selection, Melody Gardot’s “Worrisome Heart”, the title track off her latest album.


Melody Gardot – Worrisome Heart

She has a very interesting story as well. Four years ago, she was struck by an SUV while riding her bicycle, suffering serious pelvic and head injuries where she could barely sit up for ten minutes. In addition, she endured short term memory loss and heightened sensitivity to light and sound which still continues even today. Thus, she has to wear sunglasses and hearing devices in order to perform. During her recovery period, her doctor suggested music therapy as a way to rebuild neuropathways in the brain. Unable to sit at the piano, she instead picked up a guitar and made some recordings from the bedside, eventually releasing them on an EP titled Some Lessons – The Bedroom Sessions. It’s interesting that prior to the accident, she didn’t even consider pursuing music as a career. Anyway, she is often described as a mix of Madeleine Peyroux and Norah Jones, the latter more apparent in some of her other less jazzy songs.


Melody Gardot - Goodnite

You can also check out her interview on NPR here.

Melody Gardot’s website
Melody Gardot’s myspace

AnnieB's Detour: Brooke Waggoner

Speaking of Teitur earlier, I’ve been meaning to post something for the longest time about this next artist who has recently been touring with him.


Brooke Waggoner – Hush If You Must

From CD Baby:
Brooke Waggoner began playing piano at age 4 and took classical lessons for a grand total of 17 years. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in music composition and orchestration, hoping to one day score films and orchestrate her own projects. She says her songs tell of a "lone 23-year-old girl, sagas of daily life, [and] bits of poetry" that are "all melded with honest proclamations and confessions."

At performances, she says she "tries to create pictures and take people on journeys." She pulls from many artists to create her sound, such as Electric Light Orchestra, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Aaron Copeland, David Bowie, and Chopin. Doo-wop, droopy melodies and sighs and swoons also find their way into her songs.

Never forgetting her classical lessons, Brooke says she strives to "connect the 'classical world' with the 'mainstream world' by showing people it all works hand-in-hand." Although they may be presented differently, she says: "The beauty in the structure of a Mozart piece is essentially the same structure used in pop songs”


Brooke Waggoner – I Am Mine

Anyway, here are a couple sites that provide reviews of her six-track Fresh Pair of Eyes EP, which you can download entirely for FREE at her website.
http://popwreck.blogspot.com/2008/03/brooke-waggoner-fresh-pair-of-eyes.html
http://www.stereosubversion.com/album-reviews/brooke-waggoner/

While the second review wasn’t all too thrilled about her EP, I really don’t think you can beat the fact that she made it available for free. I've listened to it multiple times over the months and that’s pretty good in my book.



Also, here’s another link of an interview conducted by Stereo Subversion. There’s a pretty good descriptive introduction as well.
http://www.stereosubversion.com/interviews-features/brooke-waggoner/

Brooke Waggoner’s website
Brooke Waggoner’s myspace

AnnieB's Detour: Gotye

You know, on rare occasions the Palms Out Blog does good things. While I may not like a majority of the mixes, it does introduce me to artists worth looking into a bit more, like this Belgium-born, Australian-raised, ARIA-award winning artist, Gotye (Wally De Backer). I honestly don’t even know where to begin in describing his sound because he has a very wide range. One song will you remind you of one artist, while another song will remind you of a different artist, or a combo…yet in the end, creating a sound all his own.

Anyhow, the song that came cruising through t61 is a remix of “Heart’s a Mess”. To me, the vocals in the mix start off like Junior Boys that then progress into something similar to Shiny Toy Guns. Check out the music video of the original version below.

He also has other crafty music videos which can be viewed here.

So where does the name Gotye come from? Well, according to wiki:
Wally was embarking on a project that was, in his own words, "about refiguring past things (old vinyl sounds) with my own ideas". It therefore seemed appropriate to draw on his past for inspiration for the project's name. Wouter, Gotye's real name, from Flemish translates into French as Gaultier (or Gautier or Gauthier). Wally's mother used to call him Gaultier as a pet name. Drawing on this and choosing his own spelling gives us 'Gotye'.

Gotye is pronounced "gore-ti-yeah" in Australian English.

In summary:
Wouter > Walter > Wally
Wouter > Gaultier > Gotye

Voila!

Gotye’s Website
Gotye’s Myspace

AnnieB's Detour: Thao Nguyen (t61 Reflections and Concert)