YACHT & YACHTLIKE

I AM A BIG FAN OF YACHT. THEY ARE NOT EVEN TOO CUTESY FOR ME. THEIR NEW SONG, "PSYCHIC CITY" HAS BEEN MAKING MAJOR ROUNDS WITH MAJOR TASTEMAKERS. IT IS CUTE AND CATCHY.



ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKE MOST ABOUT YACHT IS THEIR PROPENSITY TO WRITE SACCHARINE SWEET SONGS WITH VERY SUBTLE UNDERCURRENTS OF DARKNESS AND DANGER. "PSYCHIC CITY" DOES THIS WELL. BUT SOMETIMES, WHEN LISTENING TO YACHT, I DON'T HEAR PAST THE CUTE MELODIES AND SINGING, AND FEEL LIKE I WOULD LIKE SOMETHING MORE OBVIOUSLY DARKER. SO I AM VERY GLAD I DISCOVERED THE FOLLOWING TRACKS.



THE FIRST, "TREE FROG", BY DEASTRO, WAS RELEASED ON ONE OF MY FAVORITE LABELS, GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL. IT HAS EXTREMELY YACHT-LIKE MELODIES AND SLIGHTLY MELANCHOLY LYRICS. IT IS ALSO A DEPARTURE FROM DEASTRO'S EARLY MATERIAL, AND I AM EXCITED TO HEAR IF HE CONTINUES IN THIS DIRECTION ON HIS NEW LP WHICH I HAVE NOT HEARD YET.



THE SECOND, "BLACK MAGIC" BY MAGIC WANDS, DOES NOT QUITE HAVE THE SOUL OF YACHT'S OR DEASTRO'S TRACKS. IT ACTUALLY FEELS A LITTLE LIKE A CHEAP ATTEMPT TO CASH IN ON THIS YACHT-LIKE SOUND. BUT IT WORKS AS A SONG WHICH IS COOL, WHICH IS A NICE ALTERNATIVE, BECAUSE YACHT IS NOT SUPER COOL.

DOWNLOAD THE MP3 OF:
PSYCHIC CITY
TREE FROG
BLACK MAGIC

HIPNOSIS

VANGELIS IS PRETTY MUCH A SUPER GENIUS WHO CAN DO NO WRONG. "PULSTAR", BY HIS ITALO-DISCO ALIAS HIPNOSIS, IS A SPOOKY BANGER FROM 1983 WITH POTENTIAL TO DESTROY DANCEFLOORS.

SPLITTING THE 12" WITH "PULSTAR" IS VANGELIS' END TITLE THEME TO BLADE RUNNER! IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS TRACK, IT IS BASICALLY WHAT KAVINSKY ATTEMPTS TO EMULATE.



HIPNOSIS - PULSTAR
VANGELIS - BLADE RUNNER (END TITLE)

COSMIC KEYS TO MY CREATIONS AND TIMES

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PILL

so much melodrama in the rap game. i feel that many, if not most, rappers are trying way too hard to prove shit. with laid back swagger becoming an increasingly rare commodity, it is very refreshing to hear a great new mixtape: PILL'S 4180: the prescription, that exemplifies the forgotten art of bragging without sounding whiny.



pill is a fun rapper who doesn't make party rap, and that makes me glad - party rap started to really annoy me around when i heard "PARTY WORKS" on benzi's NEW DEAL mixtape. (truth be told, i love "party works", but it was a major 'ok, that's enough' track for me.) instead, pill raps about the hustle, but not in the obsessive, sometimes whiny, way that clipse, jeezy, and juelz do it. there is no way any of the above could drop as good a coke-rap over "single ladies" as pill does on "blow".

he also has the ability to wax lyrical, and it makes for a really nice balance on the mixtape. the quick 'coldest story ever told' he drops over "heartless" is a nice teaser of his storytelling abilities, which get a better showcase on "it ain't eane gotta be like dis".



if you are not sold on pill yet, watch his video for "trap goin' ham" - it's kind of documentary-meets-music-video. maurice garland has an incredible firsthand account of the video shoot on his blog.

oh, and there is a great beat repertoire on 4180 - from "single ladies" and "jumpin' out the window" to "nike boots" and "drivin' down the block" - and a bunch of great stuff i've never heard before, too. "bunkin" is especially monumental. more rappers need to get on the 'boing' sound effect.



here is a link to the mixtape! download the whole thing!

pill - 4180: the prescription

MEMORY TAPES!!!!!!!!

LET THE EXCLAMATION MARKS SHOW HOW MUCH I LOVE THE MYSTERIOUS FORCE BEHIND HAIL SOCIAL, WEIRD TAPES, MEMORY CASSETTE, AND NOW THE REFINED AND MAGICAL MEMORY TAPES. WISTFUL MODERN ENNUI HAS BEEN ONE OF MY FAVORITE FEELINGS OF THE PAST YEAR, AND THE MUSIC MADE BY THIS BEING DOES AN ABSOLUTELY TRILL JOB OF CONJURING THESE FEELINGS UP.



I AM VERY EXCITED TO HEAR THAT A MEMORY TAPES LP IS SOON APPROACHING. I WAS ALSO VERY EXCITED TO HEAR "BICYCLE", THE LEAD SINGLE OFF THIS UPCOMING LP. IT IS NOT A PERFECT SONG BUT IT IS CLOSE. IT ALSO MARKS A REMARKABLE PROGRESSION FROM THE INCONSISTENT HAIL SOCIAL TO NOW, COMBINING THE BEST ELEMENTS OF MEMORY CASSETTE AND WEIRD TAPES TO MAKE A RELATIVELY POLISHED PIECE. I AM VERY, VERY, VERY EXCITED TO HEAR WHAT IS TO COME ON THE MEMORY TAPES LP.



YOU CAN DOWNLOAD "BICYCLE" BELOW, OR YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT WITH THE DISCOGRAPHY OF WEIRD TAPES AND MEMORY CASSETTE AT THE WEIRD TAPES BLOG.

MEMORY TAPES - BICYCLE