London's Chew Lips!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

This morning I heard about a synthy pop group called
Chew Lips from the UK and I'm definitely seeing potential for a full length. You can catch this trio playing various shows around London
here. I couldn't find much about these guys but check back as we'll be covering any releases they've got. In the meantime enjoy one of their tracks below!
Salt AirLabels: Pop, synthetic
Peachcake Debuts!
Monday, July 21, 2008

Come later October,
Peachcake is finally releasing a full length debut titled
What Year Will You Have the World? They've got some serious history as they've been on and off together for over 5 years. During their various hardships, they released an EP via Jimmy Eat World's label Western Tread which really introduced their electronic, synthy pop sounds led by Stefan and John's vocals. Peachcake is encouraging you to bring mix-tapes to its shows (CDs, tapes, etc.). Bring one and you will be entered into a raffle to win a copy of the new album. If you're mix is one of the top 3, you'll win a special Peachcake prize pack! We were lucky to get the single from the forthcoming
album! Check it out below and check their 'The Make Mixes, Not War Tour'
tour dates.
Stop Acting Like You Know More About The Internet Cafe Than MeLabels: Pop, synthetic
Psychic Stunts' 101 Pick Up Lines
Friday, July 11, 2008

The Stockholm duo,
Psychic Stunts, have a new EP called
101 Pick Up Lines which in fact are a small handful of songs that refer to pickup lines! I wanted to specifically tell you about their catchy synth pop single
Speaker's Block. In finalizing the song, they had a release show of sorts where everyone got to participate in singing the chorus for the recording. Check out the video
here. You can get the songs here and we got two below for you.
Speaker's BlockLast Bottle, Lost BattleLabels: Pop, swedish, synthetic
Make Space For My Milky Way Arms!
Saturday, July 05, 2008

Houston's
My Milky Way Arms are currently touring in the East coast/South in support of their beautifully crafted and highly imaginative self-titled EP. I just listened to the entire thing and realized it would have been a way better soundtrack to last night's fireworks than the songs about how dope America is. Don't get me wrong, I dig that stuff but these EP tracks are electronic snug fits in my ears! These are heavy electronic and cinematic symphonies with swaying vocals you can get lost in. Check out the tracks below and check
here for more music and tour dates!
Unbearable Lightness Of BeingSunshineMagneto (Ahhhh!)Labels: Electronic, synthetic
Kuryakin's Still Here EP!!
Thursday, May 15, 2008

I've been a longtime fan of
Kuryakin ever since they began making music in '03. The Swedes, Petter and Johan have been makin' some sweet pop music with their Macs and guitars with several small releases throughout the years but finally they've got a new one called
Still Here released on
Shelflife. It's an EP but it's got several brand new songs from the duo to accompany your on coming summer dayzzz. You can get the special 7" and EP
here!
Still HerePeace of MindAlso check out the Bossa version of
A Parade, from their 2005 Birds Demo.
Labels: dream pop, synthetic
Escuchela....La Ciudad Respirando!!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

What's up everyone! Sorry for the post delays, I've been extremely busy working on a short film which I'm super excited about. But we're back with an amazing triofrom Brooklyn, NY.
Look How It's Snowing Upwards, Look How They Move Towards Heaven, the 51-minute debut full length from
City Breathing is out now via the
Roses & Hello Label. City Breathing rocks a more heartfelt loopy post-rock sound with subtle lyrics and reminds me of my early favs the Mercury Program. It's beautiful, it's very cinematic and your mind gets a quick uncontrollable opportunity to paint pictures and dwell on past memories! It's good stuff you can get lost in. Sample these sweet tracks:
Rain & RevolutionWe Can Retrace The Sinking SkyAlso you can download then entire album or
purchase the CD and pay what you want!
Stream it here and if you dig it, support'em! Also City Breathing will be rollin' out a residency at Matchless in NY on 3 consecutive Wednesdays, Get the
deets.
Labels: ethereal, Instrumental, synthetic
Little Dragon! Little Dragon!
Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Sweden's
Little Dragon is cruisin' through California for a 3 night tour beginning at the
Elbo Room tonight! This seemingly synthpop group is filled with notably arranged electronic beats, jazzy percussions, and tons of experiments with hints of jazz, r&B, soul, and good pop. You might recognize Yukimi Nagano's beautiful soft voice as she has collaborated and featured with Koop and Jose Gonzalez. They currently have a self-titled album out that dropped at the edge of last summer via UK's
Peace Frog Records.
Twice Constant Surprises No Love I wanted to specially note my high interests in their music videos. The video for
Test seems more simple, while the other a bit more complex, but both are really interesting and Yukimi's all up in the front. Check these videos out!
Last 2 dates in the states!
Apr 2 2008 8:00P Mercury Lounge Goleta, California
Apr 4 2008 8:00P Roxy Los Angeles, California
Labels: Experimental, Pop, synthetic
PlayRadioPlay! Texas Out Now!
Thursday, March 20, 2008

Texan Daniel Hunter has just released his debut full length simply titled
Texas which just dropped 2 days ago via Island Records.
PlayRadioPlay! follows up their
The Frequency EP with 12 new catchy emo-induced poptronic tracks. This one man show is reminiscent of The Rocket Summer with more synths and lots of emo gooey mush-mush lyrics. It's like how I love those Korean dramas no matter how predictive and cheesy they are! Check out some of the songs on myspace and then get the album
here!
We got a rad Fresh Music Friday's mix for you tomorrow, look forward to it.
Labels: Pop, synthetic
Late Case Of The Mondays With The Pharmacy!
Monday, March 10, 2008

I know I'm not supposed to judge by titles but the name of
The Pharmacy's new album makes me reminisce about the
Choose Your Own Adventure books. Those books were rad and pretty much I would always cheat cause I would always end up "die-ing" or whatever the punishment was for skipping paragraphs. Our friend Anna has never heard of these books...what?! (I'm old realization moment) They had sci-fi ones with killer robot armies and You Be The Jury which got right to the
case. Anyways enough about middle school.
Let's move onto the soundtrack to my high school years! These 3 Seattle-ites play a mean keyboard with their chaotic harmonicas and violins often changing course mid track. Fun and catchy pop synthetics with punky harmonies and all that stuff your ears are gunna love. February's late release of Choose Yr Own Adventure is the kick of energy you need and enough to get you out to one of their
shows with Japanther. Check the tracks below and then get that record via their label,
Don't Stop Believin'.
Warm & UntornChoose Yr Own AdventureHave a great week!
Labels: indie, synthetic
Soothing Sounds Of Morning Recordings
Wednesday, March 05, 2008

This'll be short and sweet!
Morning Recordings is a some odd 8 piece poppin' some nice loungey electronics, and often sooth grooves. Small hints of ambience which create complete utilized opportunities for beautiful harmonies. Chicago's
Morning Recordings has a new album called
The Welcome Kinetic via
Loose Threads and if you're into the dreamy pop, you gotta pick that album up. We've got 3 tracks for you off their latest 10-track which will be more than enough to get you into it.
Sugar WaltzThe Welcome KineticLabels: ambient, dream pop, Electronic, synthetic
The Notwist Is Finally Back!!!!

Don't get me wrong! I love a lot of the collaborative efforts in these past years like 13 & God, and Michael's compositions for Ms. John Soda, but after 6 long years, Germany's
The Nowtist has announced
The Devil, You + Me, an 11 track LP, which will be out in May in Europe via
City Slang, and June in the estados via
Domino Recs. I'm so excited for this album as they have collaborated with the crazy
Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, a 21 piece higly
inventive and experimental jazz/classical group! If you've never heard of The Notwist, not to worry, I got some goldies for you, and 1 brand spankin' new track off of
The Devil, You + Me! More on
myspace.
Brand New Track!Good LiesNeon Golden (2002)
ConsequenceThis RoomTrack Listing!
The Devil, You + MeGood Lies Where In The World Gloomy AlphabetThe Devil, You + Me Gravity Sleep On Planet OffBoneless Hands On Us Gone Gone GoneLabels: Electronic, indie, synthetic
More of Russia's Futurists Kim & Buran!
Saturday, March 01, 2008

I am learning more about certain older school Soviet Russians and their
love & more than likely obsession for space and future. Russian Futurism comes to play and I think
Kim & Buran pull it off well with their names following heroes in a soviet Sci-fi cartoon. Their music is fully engulfed in a classy electronic lounge sound with very dream,y big band synthetics. These guys have been quiet lately as their latest album dropped over 2 years ago. Hopefully they are in their laboratories creating some new stuff for a forthcoming. As I'm listening to the album I am constantly reminded of how much their sound can range. Sometimes you get the accuracy of down tempo to an often hip spy scene gig. I got some songs for you off their latest album
Rock'n' Robot.
Space WalkThe Future ManMoscow NightsAlso listen to
Happy New Year Marsians on their
myspace.
Labels: Electronic, lounge, synthetic
Case Of The Mondays With Chairs In The Arno!
Monday, February 18, 2008

The first thing that really caught my attention was how the band's name was derived, Check this out: Jeff, Jeff and Ryan, while studying in Florence, were drinking wine (lots of it) near the Arno River and they decided it would be a great idea to through the
Chairs In The Arno. Random! Story gets better, Becca Hsu came on board and the band moved into the same house together and began to work at the same coffee shop! Late in '07,
Chairs released their debut album
File Folder off
Mushpot Records. The album is packed with sweet synth filled pop tunes made from Moogs and Casiotones, drum machines and vocals layering over eachother. I would best describe it as late-night 0bsessions with nintendo and then piling to sleep in the
Wii hours of the morning and having lovely dreams of living inside a video game. Listen to the Fun below!
Suit Pressed Size ThirtyGet the album
here Happy Monday!
Labels: dream pop, synthetic
Mid-Week Tunes From Aster!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Austin's Tim Hussman and Bryan Ellis have creatively combined synth pops with layers of recorded guitars, drums, keyboards and Postal Service-like vocals. They put some awesome electronic videogame samples without that remixed videogame track on crack sound. Together they are
Aster which is named after an imaging instrument on the Terra satellite that orbits our earth. Interesting. But I think their sound is highly appropriate for such a name. A couple weeks ago, Aster released their debut LP
Some Things Seldom Heard Of, and you can
pick it up
here. Check out these tracks! Let your ears fall in love now!
Attempting to MultiplySome Thing Seldom Heard OfGo
here to stream the entire album!
News Quickies:
iPod Touch comes now in 32gb!
Shaq got traded to the Phoenix Suns!
TimeWarner is splitting AOL up, Finally!
Labels: indie, synthetic
I Can't Believe It Is 2008!!!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008

It was hard to find anything on this guy. Stockholm's Petter Strömberg is
RobotBoy. I am not sure if it has anything to do with that French
cartoon. I found out about him over at
Friendly Noise, this awesome Swedish label. He's got a poppy-er electronic sound. Synths and light hearted indieness. In October RobotBoy dropped these two songs and I have a like for them so check them out!
SeptemberLes Enfants TerriblesGet more songs free
here! Happy Wednesday
Labels: Electronic, indie, synthetic
Microfilm Remixes Intelligent Dance Music!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The Windy City has a lot to offer these days including
Microfilm at the top of the list. Microfilm are Matt Keppel and Matthew Mercer (matt&matt lol)who have been making music since 2006. They already have received lots of acclaim for their debut
'After Dark' and continue to do so with their newest EP,
'Twilights' which features 4 remixes of the After Dark track! If you haven't already heard their stuff take a quick preview on their
myspace. They fall under an electro-house sorta genre but they definitely don't stay there. They pack their EP's and albums with electro synth driven, sometimes techno-ey, sometimes ambient, and an overall minimalist dance groove, then somehow manage to reimagine it and remix it! You can taste the soul, definitely the house, and there's just hints of lounge.
After Dark (Warmdesk's Edit Remix)Also check out Mercer's solo stuffs from his 2 EPs...we got some for you here.
Bee's KneesNo No NoHappy Tuesday!
Labels: Electronic, house, synthetic
Yacht's Friends In Hell!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Oregon native
Jona Bechtolt is one seriously productive guy. He's making music, videos, running Urban Honking/ The Ultimate blogger, remixing, and seems to be involved with so many different projects. Let's quickly catch up with one of those projects. This is the 1st release in over two years from Yacht which contains lots of people he has been involved with over the years.
Our Friends In Hell is out on
States Rights Records and it contains remixes from people like the Blow, Mirah and Architecture in Helsinki. Jona has taken these songs and transformed them into heavy electro-synthy compositions. A chunk of the album is a track to track dance floor hit with, of course, some slower tunes with crazy electronics. Check out these songs now!
Blow -
Hock It (We To Remix)Mirah -
Make It Hot (Over Remix)Yacht -
See A Penny (Pick It Up) from the latest,
I believe In You. Your Magic Is Real.
Labels: Electronic, indie, remixes, synthetic
Case Of The Mondays With Shinichi Osawa!
Monday, December 03, 2007

Happy Monday! Sorry for the lack of updates, the BBQ headquarters have relocated and now we're back online! Today we bring you to the world of
Shinichi Osawa! As you can tell from the picture above, he's a DJ bringin' you the heavy dance and electro you love/crave. I love the sampling of vocals (i.e. Au Revoir Simone) on several of these synth driven tracks. If you're currently into the indie dance craze, Shinichi is the Japanese love child of Daft Punk, Digitalism, and Soulwax.
Mondo Grosso (Italian for "Big World") is his solo name as he does producing and mixing for lots of artists. Mondo's got your house, techno, underground club covered as we are
told he has the largest sellout DJ sets in Japan.
I have been raving about this game on PSP called
Lumines, because of the music and visual coordination, turns out Shinichi produced the music! Shinichi's
The One (
Avex Trax) dropped a cuppa months ago and you can get it
here. I saved the craziest part for last...Shinichi Osawa is 40 years old! Whut!! When you can finally get over that, definitely check out his live sets and shows!
Star GuitarState Of PermissionMaximum JoyDigitalism -
Pogo (Shinichi Dub)Soulwax -
Miserable Girl (Osawa Extra Hard Edit)Plaid -
White's Dream (Osawa Remix)Xtopher & Raphael Just -
Popper (Osawa Distortion) Labels: Club, Dance, Electronic, synthetic
Gimme Some MOJIB!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Our Canadian friends over at
Non-Existent Recordings have recently released Mojib's debut album, Whimsical Lifestyle. Swedish native,
Mojib is a producer/mixer of sorts who has delicately combined pop melodies with different drum elements and synth sounds everywhere. Some of the loops provide for some awesome hiphop/ downtempo vibes with airy vocals over faint piano keys. It's a wide array of musical influences coming from all over and I dig the experimenting. Mojib, in the past, has done remixes of several bands and songs which initially caught my attention. If you got itchin' for some great remixes and mixtape style music,
Mojib.net has got a ton of FREE downloads! We got some for you right here!
Break Of Dawn (Sigur Ros' Staralfur remix)I Don't Know (Kings of Convenience remix)Grip Like A Vice (Go! Team Remix)Here is a
preview of the 'Whimsical Lifestyle' album.
Get that
album now!
Labels: Experimental, hiphop, remixes, synthetic