Nite Jewel - One Second of Love

  I keep hitting the replay button on this damn song! It's the coolest, simplest little synth-pop thingy I've heard all week and I just love that it sits in the background and plays nicely while I work on projects!
  Enjoy!

Grimes - Oblivion

  Okay...the synth-pop resurgence is making me happily nostalgic.  Several years ago I'd predicted that, after so much ridiculously over-produced electronic fare blasted our ears, that the audible pendulum would end up swinging back to its roots.
  It's in full swing as we head into 2012. 
  Those that aren't old enough to remember the old home-spun tapes of Casio keyboardists who were recording unique songs and even full-length albums in their bedrooms won't appreciate just how much of a love-letter this new generation of synth-pop actually is.
  While a LOT of my friends aren't even going to begin to nudge in order to let some of these awesomely modernized throwbacks to electronic simplicity and exploration reach their grumpy old ears, I've can't stop listening to the stuff!
  Case in point:
 

Kiyohiko Senba & the Haniwa All-Stars - Sports Festival (LIVE)

  There really aren't words for this amazing sonic experience.  I don't have the background information for this performance.  But you don't need it to enjoy what comes across like the Polyphonic Spree being conducted by Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne.  Enjoy!

Evelyn Evelyn - Have You Seen My Sister, Evelyn?
Evelyn Evelyn Official Site 

Not since the Born Again Floozies have I been so in love with this type of sound.  Like you've discovered a strange old library full of audio recordings.  Once I learned that this was actually Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley, I was sold.  Check out their site to download their album.  If you're like me and enjoy old radio serials or stories told through audio with sound effects?  You have to listen to the track "The Tragic Events of September".  You'll love it.

 The Studio Killers (Ode to) The Bouncer
Studio Killers Official Site

Someone shared this with me and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since!  And being a fan of indie-animation didn't make matters better.  Just a ridiculously catchy song and strangely cool video! Enjoy!
Listen to more of The Studio Killers at their SoundCloud Profile!

The Copyrights - Hell Will Be Party Time

Just think back to those days when you'd fight because you hadn't given up.
You're welcome.

Lovage - Stroker Ace

What do you get when you cross Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle with Dan the Automater and Jennifer Charles? Something a little more seductive, mature, well-structured and sexy-cool than anything off My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult's Sex-Plosion album. A song that gets played 'you know when'. Enjoy a little Lovage (the name of the collab with Dan the Automater and Jennifer Charles). Light some candles and call someone you...uh...love.

U2 w/Brian Eno - Your Blue Room

During the 90s, U2 was creating a lot of music for films (my favorite was Wim Wender's 'Until the End of the World'). Producer Brian Eno decided they should create an entire album based on THAT work. While this song seems pretty level and doesn't really go anywhere, pay close attention to the lyrics. I think you'll be surprised what you find there. Here's 'Your Blue Room' over the George Lucas's 'THX1138'.

The Decemberists - This is why we fight

This song has been getting some serious rotation in my playlists lately. Line that has recently become my anthem? This:
"And when we die...We will die with our arms unbound. This is why...This is why we fight."
Truer words were never spoken.

Bon Iver - Calgary

One of my favorite albums and musical performers of the last couple of years is Justin Vernon's band, Bon Iver. Their 2007 release, For Emma Forever Ago, was just amazing. I really, really enjoyed the whole album. Here we are in 2011 and Bon Iver is releasing their next album the self-titled Bon Iver. This is the first track to leak from the album and while it's not as groundbreaking as that first album it's almost a return to form on this particular song. The first song off the new album is called Calgary. Enjoy.

The Ladybug Transistor - I Found a Reason (Velvet Underground)

Like the Friendly Fires posting proceeding this one (for all your linear-minded folks out there), this is an older song from Ladybug Transistor. Currently the band has released a decent second album called Clutching Stems. While not every song of theirs is a hit, the overall vibe is what really makes me a fan. Slowly becoming a fan.

Friendly Fires - Jump in the Pool

To continue the 'summery' theme from the last post? Take a 'Jump in the Pool' with the Friendly Fires. This is an older song but if you could flash forward in time and look back on the summer of 2011? This might be the soundtrack to at least a portion of those memories.

TullyCraft - How to Stuff a Wild Bikini

It's summertime!

I'm From Barcelona - Charlie Parker

Do they really need any words of introduction? Sweden's biggest band (because it consists of 27 members) brings more awesomeness to your ears!

Generationals - Trust

Generationals Official Site

The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness

The Strokes Official Site
Do I REALLY need to say anything about this? It's the friggin' Strokes' first single of their first album in almost four years!
Enjoy!

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Janglin'

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Official Site
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Wiki
I've posted the Polyphonic Spree on here before and people who hadn't heard them really seemed to enjoy their music. Well for those who might wonder what the Polyphonic Spree would sound like if they were a folk band? Here's your chance.

Your second helping:

Ghostland Observatory - Stranger Lover

Ghostland Observatory Official Site

Everything that's old is new again. GLO (Ghostland Observatory) reminds of a nod back to all the sound that was happening between New Wave and Manchester. It's almost like GLO dust-panned all the ashes of that era's music and dropped the dust all over Daft Punk. It also feels like a couple of very cool guys from the future who'd been listening to 70s records stumbled upon an archaeological tomb that was once something called a Radio Shack in its early years when it actually stored electronic parts upon its shelves. Give'em a listen!


And here's a second helping:

The Format - She Doesn't Get It and other upbeat 'shoe-gazing' songs.

I'm going to apologize for this post a little bit. While the music in this multi-song post isn't new or ground-breaking, it's the vibe that kinda sums up how I'm feeling right now as I write this at 1:30am and wait for my clothes to dry.
Simply some songs that are keeping me going as I work on a multitudes of projects.
Enjoy and take care,
Tijuana Taxi

MEN - Off Our Backs

MEN on MySpace
Even though LeTigre is sort of in limbo and nothing's really apparent about the future of the group, JD Samson (DJ/Keyboardist/singer) has taken this time to work on his own awesome project called MEN. Their first full-length release (Talk About Body) will hit the ears of the masses at the beginning of February.
I have to admit that when I first heard this, it was just kind of 'meh'. Upon listening to it again I can't wait to hear what a full album might sound like. Definitely something to keep an eye on next month. Check out the link I've provided to their MySpace profile to hear a couple more songs from MEN.

Radical Dads - Recklessness

From Robbie Guertin (singer/keyboardist/guitarist of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) comes this awesome little project called Radical Dads. Currently Radical Dads keeps popping up on stage with bands like the Dum Dum Girls (who I'll be lucky enough to see in March) and Crystal Stilts. Like the Dum Dum Girls, Radical Dads has that fuzzy 'We're makin' this in the spare bedroom for fun' sound with a slight hint that someone who's done this before is behind the wheel. Give'em a listen and leave a comment about what YOU thought of this first released single (which has been shot onto a limited edition 7").

Radical Dads "Recklessness" Official Music Video from Shahin Izadi on Vimeo.

Gabby Young and Other Animals - "We're All in This Together"

Gabby Young and Other Animals Official Site

Yet another piece of the UK music scene that will probably go unnoticed here in the states. Always a shame that performers like this don't get international recognition here. There isn't much to say about GYaOA. This eight piece 'folksy' group from Britain features the amazing opera-trained Gabby Young. Just listen and be swept up into the warmth of her voice. Just gorgeous.

Smith Westerns - Weekend

Smith Westerns Official Site

Smith Westerns are from Chicago, Illinois. Their second album, Dye It Blonde was release only a couple of days ago at the time of this posting.
Their first single off the album should help you understand why they're considered one of Pitchfork's rising stars.

Smith Westerns - Weekend from Fat Possum Records on Vimeo.

Allo Darlin' - My Heart is a Drummer

Allo Darlin' Official Site

There's not a whole lot to say about this one. Just get ready to fall in love with some of that cute, Aussie, old-school indie pop. Just wish they'd come state-side again.
Enjoy!

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

Someone had me listen to this. At first I hated it. After giving the band my ear for a couple listens, I really started to enjoy them. I'd first heard them on some crappy video shot from a phone during SXSW 2007. Decided I was done with them after that. I was wrong.
Surrounding themselves with bands like Bat for Lashes, Simian Mobile Disco, MGMT and Florence and the Machine shows the kind of crowd they keep and that alone is a fair indicator of the kind of interesting and listenable sound that they'll be putting forth in the next couple of years.
I'm actually falling asleep as I write this, so I'll just leave you with Yeasayer.
Enjoy!

Janelle Monae - Tightrope (featuring Big Boi)

Why Janelle Monae was passed over at last years Grammy Awards will forever be a mystery to me. Hopefully, with appearances on So You Think You Can Dance and about a dozen other various shows, she'll get what she deserves: a Grammy for making music interesting again. I've been following Monae since 2006 and have secretly been hoping that this little lady would explode like a monster. Somehow it hasn't happened and I'm really baffled that she's still relatively unknown.
Consider yourself lucky and ahead of the curve, people. I DARE you not to enjoy this song. I predict that you'll be checking out more of her stuff as soon as you're done giving this song a listen.
Just get ready to get hooked on an up-and-comer who stands above all the musically regurgitated debris that keeps getting served to the normal folks.

Small Black - New Chain

Official Blog for Small Black
Another modern band with that aural, 'shoe-gazing' type of dreamy sound. I've been cleaning out a couple hundred old cassettes for another blog I'm working on (I'll reveal the link later on this month). While I'm tossing them, I'm popping a few into a ratty old cassette deck and just listening. Small Black sounds like something that I might've had hidden in that pile of import cassettes from almost (gulp) twenty years ago.
During the transition from the 80s into the 90s, European 'alternative' bands were drifting into the territory that's being explored by Small Black. Mostly on their b-sides, bands like the Charlatans sounded like you were lost on the ocean with not a care in the world and the most beautiful weather ever encountered.
Put their newest album on and just sail away.
Enjoy!

April Smith and the Great Picture Show - Colors

April Smith and the Great Picture Show Official Site
When I'd first heard this song, I just hit repeat and listened to it again...FOUR times in a row! I was just bouncing along. Needless to say, I purchased a copy of her album 'Songs for a Sinking Ship' as soon as I got home. The whole album is just subversive fun as Smith sings about everything from beating the crap out of the competition for a man you admire to a vague ode to Dexter (the television series) that recounts something the woman in the song has done that's just too horrible to mention.
Here's to hoping that we hear more from April Smith and the Great Picture Show!
Enjoy.

First Aid Kit - Hard Believer

First Aid Kit Official Site
After covering the Fleet Foxes song, 'Tiger Mountain Peasant Song', in a simple YouTube video, the Swedish duo of Klara and Johanna Soderberg were caught up in the new machine of internet word-of-mouth. While they've been around since 2008, it's only recently that they're gaining popularity here in the states. Someone sent me the YouTube video and I was just sort of hypnotized by the quality of the girls' voices together. I just couldn't NOT listen to their version of the Fleet Foxes song. I'm hoping that you'll enjoy that same hypnotic feeling when you watch their video for 'Hard Believer'.