I have no idea what this footage of a girl taking a shower…and then a bath…has to do with Lemonade’s song, “Neptune”, other than Neptune being the god of water and the sea, but the stupidity of this semi-metaphor does nothing to diminish how awesome the song is. If you like tropical-flavored dream-pop, then this song is absolutely for you. I’m getting pretty good at finding yet another amazing chill-out song for your Sunday afternoons.
[Footage of a girl taking a bath, so obviously this is NSFW.]
This song makes me want to load up my VW Bus and take a trip down to the beach. [NOTE: I don’t actually like going to the beach. Also…I don’t own a VW Bus. But if I did like going to the beach and I DID have a VW bus, I’d totally be playing hooky and driving down to the beach right now. In my time machine. Because the footage in this video is obviously from the 60’s/70’s. Man, I just can’t win, can I? At least I still love girls in bikinis and shooting people with imaginary bullets. You can’t take that away from me, video.]
Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” was one of my very first true experiences with electronic music. Although classified as disco in 1977 when it came out, you can tell immediately by Giorgio Moroder’s soaring synth work that you’re listening to something new and different, something that still feels truly unique and spectacular today. What made this a Donna Summer song though, and not just another Giorgio Moroder song, is Donna’s mind-blowing vocal chops. Her voice sounds like something out of another world, something brought down from heaven, but remember folks: this was in the days before auto-tune. What you hear is all Donna. She was just that good.
Sadly Donna died today at age 63 after a long battle with cancer. “I Feel Love” really opened my eyes (and ears!) to a new world of music, and for that I’ll be eternally grateful. I remember hearing this song come on while waiting in line in the cafeteria in college and pointing out to my friend, “Oh hey, that’s Donna Summer!” to which she replied, “How the hell do you know that’s Donna Summer?”
Trust me, after you first time you hear “I Feel Love” you’ll always remember Donna Summer too. RIP.
Bad Lip Reading has worked its magic on Double Take’s absurdly fantastic gem of a song, “Hot Problems”, and the results are pretty delightful. As if it were even possible, the chorus to “Time To Rock” is almost, ALMOST, as catchy “Hot Problems” and it’s definitely easier to dance to. Ignore the crazy lyrics and this song is ready for Top 40 radio. Listen to the crazy lyrics and you’ll realize that it’s SO much better than whatever else you’ll find on Top 40 radio. This is right up there with “Russian Unicorn” as one of the best songs Bad Lip Reading has done.
One of my favorite new discoveries lately is Noir Cœur, a surf rock/synth pop duo from France who make dreamy, fuzzed-out music for the beach. You can’t help but hear the waves crashing in your head when you listen to these songs, so it makes sense that David Dean Burkhart spliced together some footage of windsurfing for the “Wet Souls” video, while the Antiheroes Collective combined surf footage with vintage 60’s nudity for the “Hizzouse” video. This is definitely a band I want to keep an eye on.
The video for “Hizzouse” contains quite a bit of nudity, so it goes without saying that it’s NSFW.
Although the free download disappeared on their Bandcamp page, right now you can still download the songs from their first EP, ‘Jahnimal’, for free on their Soundcloud page.
This is one of those videos you absolutely have to watch, even if you don’t watch every video that I post. Trust me, your day will be better off because of it. Kindness has put together another unconventional, almost anti-music video for his new song “House” that is a mesmerizing analysis of pop music and what it is to love pop music.
In the video he sits down with an 8-year old boy and they play with some keyboards and a drum machine, discussing what the boy thinks of each sound. It’s playful and yet informative, almost like a segment from an old PBS kids show. It doesn’t hurt either that “House” is probably the best song off of their debut album and it already feels like a classic pop song.
If this video doesn’t end up on my list of the best music videos of 2012, I’ll be really shocked because it’s SO good, on SO many levels. Of course it’ll have to compete with their equally amazing video for “Gee Up“…
Considering how much I already love Flight Facilities, it’s kind of amazing that this is only the third single that they’ve released. “With You” is a forbidden love song chock full of sexy disco grooves and R&B influenced vocals handled by Grovesnor, aka Rob Smoughton, the drummer in Hot Chip. The video is an Astro Boy-influenced animated short film about a girl and a robot who aren’t suppose to be in love, and the story follows the lyrics of the song pretty well. “With You” is so smooth and soulful, full of angst and yet very easy to dance to, which makes it one of my favorite new songs that I’ve heard recently.
[I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t realize until like the third or fourth time I watched the video that the design of his helmet is actually the Flight Facilities band logo.]
I wanted to do a little Beastie Boys tribute after Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch’s passing last week, but I couldn’t really find anything new worth posting. Yet again, however, the internet has come through for me. Last week a family put together a pretty faithful remake of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” with their kids, and the results are pretty hilarious. I especially like the suitcase that was suppose to be full of Pop Rocks and the Connect Four gambling den. I think MCA would have approved.
The video for “Water Hymn” contains footage from the very appropriately themed vintage film, ‘Aqua Frolics’, which features quaint shots of people doing all sorts of water-themed events, from water skiing to high diving to eating Thanksgiving dinner (!) underwater. This song comes off of Painted Palms’ Canopy EP, one of my very favorite EPs from last year. You might remember their song “All of Us”, which has been previously featured in both its original incarnation and its Beat Connection remix on two of my older mixtapes.
I don’t really know much about Munno other than the fact that he lists himself as being from both Montreal and Maryland, but what I do know is that this song is crazy pretty. “Mine” combines quiet piano music with electronic beats for a soothing, yet energetically blissful experience, perfect for this beautiful Mothers’ Day weather. If you like this song, for a limited time you can pick up his EP for free right here.
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