Tag Archives: toro y moi

Editor Picks Top 10 Gems (Albums and Tracks) of 2011 and Final Wrap

31 Dec

Editor's Gems of 2011 - Top 10 Tracks and Albums

Editors Picks Top 10 Gems Albums and Tracks of 2011

So that’s it. One more year down the drain. Good, I love moving forward. This has been one of those odd years where the new bands were good, the sophomore albums were unusually FANTASTIC. Really, I had a hard time clearing our albums from Girls, Toro Y Moi, Cults, White Denim, etc. These albums are so great that I truly believe we are at a water shed moment in the music industry. Where the social connected world has created ARTIST, who can create and share. We listen, we judge, they create more and boom, we have great records. I hope the Apple created .99 cent song world is over and that we’re headed back to an age of records. Oh well. We’re not there yet, so I’ll share my final lists for 2011. It was a great year for the Muse, Turk and me. We have new little Hummingbirds fluttering around our homes, even more inspiration to weed out the Top 40 drivel and put on some quality music for our little ones to dance to.

EDITORS PICKS Top 10 Albums of 2011
10. CultsCults
9. White DenimD
8. Young GalaxyShapeshifting
7. The VaccinesWhat Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
6. EMA Past Life Martyred Saints
5. YuckYuck
4. James Vincent McMorrowEarly In The Morning
3. DonkeysBorn With Stripes
2. Other LivesTamer Animals
1. GirlsFather, Son, Holy Ghost
If want to grab these and our Hummingbird winners on vinyl just grab them here

EDITORS PICKS Top 10 TRACKS of 2011

10. Nurses – “Fever Dreams”

9. Kurt Vile – “Jesus Fever”

8. Sun Airway – “Waiting on You”

7. Dirty Beaches – “True Blue”

6. Cults – “Oh My God”

5. Yuck – “Georgia”

4. James Vincent McMorrow – “If I Had A Boat”

3. Girls – “VomitGirls – Vomit

2. Other Lives – “Tamer Animals”

1. White Denim – “Street Joy”

HEAR THE ENTIRE LIST ON SPOTIFY RIGHT NOW

PLEASE SUPPORT THESE BANDS. I read a post from the lead singer of Pepper Rabbit last night and he stated “It’s very hard to be an “indie band” these days. You spend 100% of your time trying to get the band to another level, 75% of the time on tour losing money, and the rest of your time in either complete elation, or complete doubt.” So support them, love them, show them how much you care. Share them in this new socially connected world and claim them as yours. Claim them like a lover because they work their asses off to do it for you. I love new bands and I will spend every hour of my life finding something new for you.

Follow our favorites — all the Hummingbirds

Signing off
RE NBD

Sophomore Strength – Best Second Records of 2011 Must Buy Vinyl List

10 Oct

The Sophomore Strength

Sophomore’s Rule

2011 is shaping up to be the year of second records. Or at least the “Next” record for many of our NBD favorites. Seriously, I think this new age of releasing EPs has helped turn these bands into better album makers. These records are great! Seriously better than we expected. Just download the new Girls record and you’ll hear for yourself. That’s right, albums from our favorite “Already Profiled” bands. Below find the links to these artists and the link to their new records. And yes they are in order of our favorite. Support the bands and their plans! If you click through to a Facebook link, it’s only because we featured those artists on our FB page before we launched the blog.

1. Widowspeak – The new album is here and it’s VERY VERY good. The two tracks on their profile are included on their self-titled record.

“Puritan” – If haven’t been listening then are you okay? Because everyone’s talking about Widowspeak.
Buy Now

2. GirlsFather, Son, Holy Ghost is so good, I think I’ve listened to it about 1000 times. The bad is maturing and you can hear it in their sound.

“Vomit” – Heard this once and I’ve been listening to it on repeat for months. I hate repeat, but I don’t hate this track.
Buy now

3. YuckYuck S/TEverybody has them on their list now. It’s cool. At least we can say we profiled them over 18 months ago. Love these guys because they bring back what I loved so much about The Smashing Pumpkins, dual overlayed guitars and the Sonic Youth obsession. These Canadians may be the lone leftovers of last year’s obsession with the maple leaf. Great band!

“Georgia” – Wow. 90’s rock. Sonic Youth meets The Pumpkins meets Screaming Trees meets flannels and boots.
Buy now

4. Balam Acab Wander/Wonder – Alec Koone has been our obsession for some time and this full length is so worth the vinyl.

“Oh Why” – Haunting for your October chill. Just a great track.
Buy now

5. CultsCults S/T – These tracks ended up in our inbox about 16 months ago. They were sly and anonymous, but everyone seemed to get the same mail. We called around and everyone said the same thing “Did you hear that track” we were all in shock, and we wanted more. Well we got a record and it is just as good. So good.

“Oh My God” – Yes it’s that good.
Buy now

6. Washed OutWithin and Without – Chill summer music, perfect for the beach or a romp under the sheets. So shows the album cover. We loved him back in 2010 and 2011 has been a break-out year for him.

“Amor Fati” – Spacey dreamy track from one of our favorite digs.
Buy now

7. Toro Y Moi Underneath The Pine – I’ve spent the better part of 35 years focusing on music and what I like. My tastes are my tastes, but I’ve never been more moved when I heard TYM for the first time. Now he’s three LPs and a few EPs in and his maturity is showing.

“Still Sound” – Another groove from our favorite winter sweater boppin’ fave. https://newbandday.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/09_still_sound.mp3'
Buy now

8. Nurses – New album Dracula is so friggin good. The Muse and I saw this Portland trio open live at the haunted Brookdale lodge in Santa Cruz for last years NBD #1 artist Tallest Man on Earth. The track is below and it’s good!

“Fever Dreams” – Hard to describe this track. Just listen
Buy now

9. Real EstateDays Really one of our favorite finds from 2009 that carried over to 2010 and has stayed with us. The album comes out next week, but we know it will be great.

“Green Aisles” – Can you see the excitement. Well you can at least listen to it.
Buy now

LISTEN TO THE WHOLE LIST ON SPOTIFY

Band of the Day 2.24.11 Star Slinger

24 Feb

No question that Star Slinger is the best new band of 2011


Band of the Day 2.24.11 Star Slinger

What the hell. Amazing doesn’t describe what Star Slinger provides. It all started on April 10th of 2010, when the Nottinghamshire beat master Darren Williams went record shopping in Manchester’s North Quarter. By June 2010 Darren had pieced together his first LP “Volume 1”, recording tracks when they came to him, even in his bed. He’s so much better than Toro y Moi,

He’s now produced 26 official tracks, one ginormous LP and a buzz that is unstoppable. He’s also remixed Small Black’s “Photojournalist”, Deerhunter’s “Helicopter” and has been leaking out unofficial remixes from Broken Social Scene, etc. Look for Star Slinger to release “Volume 2” very very soon. Below you’ll find our three favorite tracks from “Volume 1” and his most recent EP released via SoundCloud.

Vitals:
Hometown: Nottinghamshire, UK
Members: Darren Williams
Sonic Soulmates: Girl Talk, LCD Soundsystem, Keep Shelly in Athens, J Dilla, Toro Y Moi, Mathemagic
Must Hear Tracks:
“Mornin” – Just the best track of the year!!!!

“Elizabeth Fraser (COCTEAU TWINS REWORK)”– Poking at my heartstrings by remixing one of our favorite artists of all-time with our all-time favorite track “Heaven or Las Vegas”

“Minted”

Hear the most recent EP tracks now, posted 10 days ago:
“Casanova’s Jump Off”

“Slow ‘N’ Wet”

“Baby Daddy”

Follow:
Star Slinger official site
Twitter
SoundCloud
BandCamp
Tumblr
Facebook

Band of the Day (1.27.11) – MillionYoung

27 Jan
cred: David Andrako www.davidandrako.com

cred: David Andrako http://www.davidandrako.com of MillionYoung

Band of the Day (1.27.11) MillionYoung

Chillwave was a 2010 phenom, at least it was the talks of the blogs. Our faves in the category, Washed Out and Toro Y Moi, were chilly and wavy, but they had a flavor of groove. Both captured the airy space sound, but they coupled that with beautiful harmonies and layered sounds. MillionYoung, of Ft. Lauderdale, So Florida, captures the finest of chillwave but he adds in a layer of clean guitar that really makes for a great sound. Where he may get a little out of tune on some tracks, he makes up for it on the tracks where he stays on track, in tune. MillionYoung is a pseudonym for South Florida’s Mike Diaz. His first EP was released in 2009, “Sunndream”. His second EP was released in early 2010, entitled “Be So True”. He’s potentially got the chance to dethrone our chilled leaders…you be the judge, listen below…

Vitals
Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, South Florida, FL, USA
Members: Mike Diaz
Sonic Soulmates: Toro Y Moi, Washed Out,
Must hear tracks:

“Gravity Feels” – Wow there is a lot going on here. At around 3:00 minutes the song hits a new level, love this track.

“001” – Very Toro Y Moi…really like this track as well

Follow Millionyoung:
Facebook
MySpace
Twitter
Official Site

Editor Picks Top 10 Gems (Albums) of 2010 and Final Wrap

31 Dec

The Top 10 Most Incredible Albums of 2010

Editors Top 10 Gems (Albums) of 2010

So this is it. The final post of 2010 and it’s MY list of albums. Yeah that’s right, an entire ALBUM. That’s what bands and artists do, they go into the studio and create a record for us to enjoy. The art of crafting a story and telling it to us through poems, notes and melodies. I love a record because it’s what makes a band. Nobody would read a chapter of a book and say that an author is great, you need the whole art form. An album tells you the story of a band, not a track. These are the albums that changed MY world in 2010. Albums ONLY from the bands that debuted in 2010. Some of our favorite bands only released EPs…boohoo, hopefully 2011 will give us records from these bands. Damn it’s been a great year musically. If you said this year in music sucked, then you weren’t listening or reading. If you have a friend and you’re a friend then pass along NewBandDay.com to them. It’ll be their New Years Resolution, or yours if you’re looking to be a better friend. The albums are here. So go download them…NOW! See you next year.

10. Innerspeaker Tame Impala
9. Crazy For YouBest Coast
8. Causers of ThisToro Y Moi
7. The Midnight HumThieving Irons
6. TreatsSleigh Bells
5. One of UsThe Pomegranates
4. We Built A Fire Seabear
3. Clinging to a SchemeThe Radio Dept.
2. Total Life Forever Foals
1. The Wild HuntThe Tallest Man on Earth

Other things we loved and Who we’re scoping in 2011…new LPs:
We loved Karkwa and their passionate fans
We loved Canada
We loved Sweden
We loved XX/XY duos
We loved the Pet Sound but we’re over it now.
We loved The Walkmen Lisbon

2011
We will plan the Inukshuk this year
Our first showcase will happen this year
Watch out for:
Sweet Bronco
Keep Shelly In Athens
DannielRadall
Yuck — This will be the band of 2011.
Soviet League
Still Corners
The Dewars
Jogger
XX/XX
Radiohead
The Strokes

We need music excavators for every city, country, fad, etc. Please email us if you or a friend want to contribute to New.Band.Day

Read our Music Excavators Picks:
Editor Gems (Albums)
Editor Gems (Songs)
Arizona Turk Gems (Albums)
Arizona Turk Gems (Songs)
Music Muse Gems (Songs)

All the Hummingbirds

Band of the Day (10.12.10) BIGCOLOUR

12 Oct

BOD: (10.12.10) BIGCOLOUR

I remember the first time I heard The Police. I can’t say I was of the age where I could see them live, but it was a sound that struck me as inventive. The lead singer playing bass, the drum beats I couldn’t tap my toes to and the layered guitars with reggae overtones and a smattering of garage punk. So there’s this guy from Chicago that seems to have some buzz around him. His name is Brian Brissart and he’s cleverly owning his sound. I know comparing him to The Police is a big “No No” but dude has a direction that people are comfortable with and it sounds great. It’s a combination of Toro Y Moi’s spectacular chillwave vibe, The Police’s vibe and Real Estate’s Indie rock feel. He has a couple of EP’s out, his newest is Meshes of the Laughternoon. Listen to a few tracks below.

UPDATE —- Just got an email from the label and BIGCOLOUR just released the fantastic EP Centuries of Summer and you can download it for free from his BandCamp here.

Listen and love it.

Hear:
“Crevasses” – The Police guitar and vocal vibe. My favorite track from the new EP

BIGCOLOUR – “Crevasses”

“Stork” – Probably the most accessible track from Brian. Love it and I wouldn’t be shocked to see it splattered all over the blogs.

Download – BIGCOLOUR – “Stork”

“Power Stranger” – Love this track too.

Download – BIGCOLOUR – “Power Stranger”
His live band includes:
joseph andert
jordan vouga
alex auby

Follow:
MySpace
Facebook

Band of the Day (7.1.10) MATHEMAGIC – Happy Canada Day!

1 Jul Canada Rules the Music World

BOD: (7.1.10) MATHEMAGIC – I love Canada Day…I’ve celebrated it several times in Banff, Vancouver and Calgary. It’s a great time, and it’s a dandy excuse for us to celebrate the fact that today’s best music is coming from the Great White North. Arts & Crafts introduced most of us stars and stripers to the scene with Broken Social Scene, Stars, Zeus, etc. It was Arcade Fire from Montreal that owned 2008, and now it’s Mathemagic who will blow your mind. On April 13th they released their Paper Bag EP and it’s wonderful.

Mathemagic is a collaboration of brothers Evan and Dylan Euteneier from Guelph Ontario. Their sonic similarity most resembles that of The Beach Boys, Animal Collective, Washed Out and even a little Toro y Moi.

Follow them on MySpace only.

Members:
evan euteneier
dylan euteneier
karen jacobs
Hometown:
Guelph/Toronto

Tracks:
“Breastroke”

Best of 2010…So Far

30 Jun

June 1st marked the mid-year for 2010. We compiled our favorite bands from the past 6 months and posted them on our original Twitter and Facebook profiles. Now we’ll recap them here for your enjoyment.

10. Sleepy Sun BOD: (3.25.10) SLEEPY SUN –> SXSW’s darlings in 2010, SF via Santa Cruz dream core brings me my new favorite band.

9. Morning Benders BOD: (3.13.10) –> Berkeley residents, bring big indie sound to the SF scene.

8. Toro Y Moi BOD: (5.26.10) TORO Y MOI – Chazwick Bundick created a new sound, a new style and frankly a kick-ass set of tracks. Chillwave is now here and Chaz invented it.

7. Phantogram BOD: (5.18.10) PHANTOGRAM – A splendid electro-duo bringing street beat, trip-hop a little soul and a little Portishead sprinkled in. Promise that this will be the band you can claim for 2010. They are The XX of 2010.

6. Efterklang BOD: (3.1.10) EFTERKLANG—> bring an end to the February Winter blues with Efterklang. Denmark’sMads Brauer, Casper Clausen, Thomas Husmer & Rasmus Stolberg bring us sweet music. Must have album “Magic Chairs”

5. Foreign Born BOD: (5.3.10) FOREIGN BORN – Rogue Wave and The Walkmen inspired these SF boys to make the trek to the shady side of LA. Silver Lake water has turned them into a damn fine band. Vampire Weekend should be worried, because they solve they out do them.

4. Sleigh Bells BOD: (3.23.10) SLEIGH BELLS –> Do not adjust your sound, it’s meant to blow the treble out of the water. CMJ darlings and NY/FLA finest. This is the band of all bands for 2010. Watch them rip “South of Heaven” into “Tell Em” Even more reason to love them.

3. Real Estate BOD: (2.18.10) Real Estate – Jersey/Brooklyn’s finest Mondanile, Courtney, Duguay and Bleeker bring their self titled beach sounds.

2. The Tallest Man on Earth…BOD: (4.22.10) THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH – Must hear Dylan protege. His second album is a beauty. Bob Dylan’s protege hits the hills of Scandinavia and you must hear it. This is the best singer songwriter for 2010 and beyond. You must see him live and please buy his album.

Top New band of 2010 so far….The Radio Dept.
BOD: (3.2.10) RADIO DEPT. Yesterday the Danes, today the Swedes. They’ve been at it for years even on the Coppolla currated Marie Antoinette sdtk. This band melds fantastic 80’s space age synth with a unique sound that will surely make them your NEW FAVORITE BAND! We promise. We talked about them in March and we still believe they are the soul of New.Band.Day.

The Radio Dept. – “Clinging To A Scheme” by ThinkIndie