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Track Review: Foster the People - Waste (Synthetrix Remix)

Most are familiar with the catchy tune "Pumped Up Kicks" by L.A.-based indie-pop group, Foster the People. However, most people have never heard any of their other songs, and they're missing out. I discovered this awesome Synthetrix remix of Foster the People's "Waste" a few weeks back and I have been jamming to it ever since.

Synthetrix, aka Vic Stapf, is a DJ and remixing artist. (He also happens to be from L.A.) I have always appreciated a remix that leaves much of the song in tact while adding new and unique variations to the the rhythms and choruses, as Synthetrix does so well. The beat starts off intensely and the synth-bass melody gets you grooving as the chorus definitively rings in: "everyday that you're gonna waste...". I actually heard the remixed version before I heard the original. After listening to the original version one can really appreciate how Synthetrix reworked this song into an even more danceable tune--in a genre he dubbed "electropopdancewhatever". There are more Synthetrix remixes on his Soundcloud profile. Enjoy.

Foster the People - Waste (Synthetrix Remix)

Track Review: Tramp

Otis Redding isn't new to many people, but I am having a musical "throwback day" and I have been listening to The Dock of the Bay, his sixth studio album and the first of a number of posthumously released Otis Redding albums. I picked this song to review because it is different than other songs on this album, the song is more of a conversation with a lady, Carla Thomas, talking bad about Otis and Otis just calling himself  "a lover!" (and it's just a funky song). The lyrics are humorous and really shows Redding's comical side which isn't exposed much in his other songs.

Otis Redding - Tramp

Track Review: Egg On Sea

Cotton Jones is a folk band with a wonderful sounding duet made up of Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw. The two started making recordings just as a side project back in 2007, but now has become a full-time gig.

In August, they did a live set for a small recording studio in Chicago, called Daytrotter. I have been a big fan of Cotton Jones since their first LP, Paranoid Cocoon, which was release in 2009. I got to meet the band in the fall of 2010 when they played a show in Lexington. They were both great people to talk to and I was hoping to get to talk to them more by having them on WRFL the next time they came to town. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet, but luckily they are still touring and this new single from their most recent EP, Sit Beside Your Vegetables, shows that this band is still producing groovy tunes.

Cotton Jones - Egg On Sea

Album Review: Up from Below

I really just started listening to this album last year, even though the album came out in 2009. I found this album to be a lot of fun and unique while listening to it.

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros are a great modern folk band that have a lot of rich sounds and mixture of different genres of music heavily influenced by the late 60's early 70's bands, such as, the Grateful Dead, The Doors, and The Mamas & the Papas.

Front man Alex Ebert has an interesting story of over coming the lifestyle of partying and drug abuse. Really his whole experience is what leads him to form Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, "Ebert wanted to make a change. He broke up with his then-girlfriend, moved out of his house, and did a couple of stints in rehab. He spent a year sleeping on a blow-up mattress in a tiny apartment, disconnected from the world. This time alone left him to contemplate Edward Sharpe, his alter ego."

Ebert developed Sharpe into a messianic figure, saying "He was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind, but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love." One such girl was the singer Jade Castrinos, whom he saw sitting on an outdoor bench and immediately knew he needed to have a relationship with her. Their resultant affair formed the seeds of what would become Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. The band would grow to have 10 members and you can hear it in their music.

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - 40 Day Dream

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Carries On

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Home

Track Review: Foxes Mate For Life...

"Foxes mate for life, because they're in love" are what Born Ruffians are saying in the chorus part and if you don't like that then there is something wrong with you. This band is still young and are just starting to show up more and more on radio stations around the country. I first heard this band's album Say It while DJing at WRFL in 2010 and really enjoyed their catchy lyrics and sound. This song is off their first LP Red, Yellow & Blue and it is just as good, if not better. This band is on its way to become something special if they keep making songs like this one.

Born Ruffians - Foxes Mate For Life

Track Review: Does Your Heart Still Beat?

Tether Beat is one of my favorite tracks off of Twin Shadow's debut release, "Forget" (2010). It starts slowly and builds into a dark, catchy 80s dance tune, complete with dreamy and retro synthesizer sounds, modulated vocals, and lightly-flanged guitar solos.

Twin Shadow is the stage name of Dominican-born, Florida-raised, George Lewis Jr., who has a knack for creating catchy 80s-esque dance tunes. "Forget" was produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear and it shows. Taylor helps Twin Shadow mold "Forget" into a melting pot of new wave and synth-pop with undertones of chamber rock, without being too much of just one genre. While you're at it check out a few others from the album, such as "Castles in the Snow" or "When We're Dancing".

Twin Shadow - Tether Beat