Toronto – Thursday night approaching and looking for some dance floor thrilla? Look no further then this late night worthy disco tune courtesy of Marcus Lambkin aka Shit Robot.
Recruiting DFA superstar Nancy Whang (of Juan Maclean/LCD Soundsystem fame), the track Take ‘Em Up has all the classic element of a DFA endorsed tune – laid back vocals, dirty bass lines and the lingering feeling that whoever is responsible for the music is just way cooler than you will ever be. Check it out.
It’s one thing to endorse the use of recreational drugs, it’s another to name your entire band after a drink made with these said substances. This is exactly what Sydney band Bhanglassi has done. Having named themselves after a cannabis themed lassi, one would suspect this band to be of the stoner, laid back, jamming, Phish-like variety. Instead, the group has taken their influences from variety of English acts, such as The Specials and The Jam.
The track “Everything’s Amazing” features elements of both ska and mod rock and has a nice frenetic pace to it. It is off their latest EP of the same name and you can find out more about them here. It’s all rather catchy.
Toronto – Incarnations are a New York based band (featuring members/a member of The Phenomenal Handclap Band) whose sound harkens back to the 1970s heyday of California country rock, smooth yacht rock and soul-pop. Despite their American origins, they recorded their album, With All Due Respect, in Spain and released it on a Spanish label. They’ll also be playing the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, so these guys must love Spain.
The track, “Meet Me At Midnight,” is a nice bit of ’70s style soft rock that recalls bands like America. Check it out.
Toronto – Elefant was one of those bands that came up around the same time as The Killers, The Strokes, The Bravery, etc. Despite having a fairly solid debut record in Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid, this New York band did not see their careers elevated to the heights that their counterparts did. I quite liked Elefant, and I think I saw them at Lee’s Palace or something at one point. The song Misfit was really good.
Anyways, the band broke up but lead singer Diego Garcia has since launched his solo career. His first track is called “You Were Never There” and has this really chilled, laid back vibe that makes me think of the days in the ’70s where I was hanging out by an outdoor pool during sunset in the hills of Hollywood. There would be palm trees everywhere, mountains of cocaine and everyone had bucket hats and white suits. That probably wasn’t me. Either way, that’s the feeling I get from this track, which is off his debut album – Laura. It was released a few weeks ago. Check it out on itunes.
