Something For The Ladies

Right on time, Spoon has begun to give us sneak peeks into their follow-up to their beautifully-crafted 2007 release Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga with Got Nuffin, a three-track EP that Merge will be distributing tomorrow. Their album, which is yet to be named, will be more playful and melodic than the last, but if these songs are any evidence, it still holds potential to be one of the best of this year.

Personally, mewithoutYou is one of my favorite bands. With a history of being very active in issues of social justice, mewithoutYou kicks it up a notch with 2009’s It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright. Sounding like Aesop’s fables twisted by McDonalds, the brilliant lyrics hinge on the listeners ability to take it all in stride. And now with actual singing, Aaron Weiss does not disappoint.

Now it’s time for something a bit more low-key. Apparat’s 2007 release, Walls, is a softly melodic work of art. The distinct and pleasing soundscapes, with minimal vocals, produces an aural experience as delicious as the record’s chromatic album art. Although at times repetitive, I assure you that Walls’ beautifully woven compositions will draw in more than just a couple relistens.

There’s something about Europe that yields the perfect conditions for producing amazing electronic music. Producer Jean-Baptiste de Laubier, or “Para One” in his solo career, is a long-time collaborator and beat-master with the French hip hop troupe TTC, but his real talent shines on his solo release Epiphanie, whose success would be miniscule without the momentum that was thankfully produced by TTC’s popularity.

Mos Def fascinates me. His solo career is both individualistic and mainstream, simultaneously, both in style and approach. The hip hop styles he explores in his records are traditional, but reinvented. In The Ecstatic, Mos Def continues on this trend, combining familiar international melodies and instruments with his rhyme, creating a worldly and exotic album that is familiar but fresh.

I’ve been really digging the amazing multitude of electronic music that has been kicking ass this year so far, and it has opened my eyes to an artform that I really never paid attention to in the past: the remix. After Remix Week here at SFTL, I looked into different awesome remixers and awesome songs to remix, and, well, this mixtape is a showcase of what I’ve discovered.