Since the last post here, somebody moved to Miami, Spanish deportes fans have had a lot to cheer about, and MES favorite Big Boi dropped an apparently stellar album (I haven't had time to give it a proper listen). It's the summertime and I'm putting in nine to five for the Man so I haven't had much time for new music, movies, ect. But with the World Cup over I've found time to listen to enough new stuff to put together this summer-themed post.
Please Note: Each of these songs, especially the last three, deserve their own feature-length article, so please bear with me as I pile them all into one, unworthy weblog post.
All Summer - Kid Cudi, Best Coast, and Rostam Batmanglij (of Vampire Weekend)
Converse thought that the kinds people of people who listen to these three artists didn't wear Chuck Taylors enough so they commissioned them to do a song together. Anyways it's a fantastic union and the result is a catchy, laid back song that bears the trademark styles of each artist seamlessly. It's a song that fits naturally with memories of late night drives with windows down. It's warm, pleasant, and you'll want to hear it again.
The music video really sucks, and it's the first time I've really felt a music video detracted from a song. So I post the video above mostly for the sounds and to have something up there, but try and listen to it sans Converse provided visuals (free MP3 here or hit the SoundCloud stream below). The images of summer the song calls to mind on its own are more than sufficient.
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Power - Kanye West
This is new shit for that guy from Chicago who dropped out of college or whatever to make music. This song is similar to Kanye's previous work in that it's better then almost all other contemporary hip-hop or pop and makes defending the genre as an art easier. And you can get into like all the drunk people who don't give a shit about hip-hop as art when you're maybe a bit intoxicated and you don't give a shit about anything. And that's what good music does.
Mr. West has the industry on his proverbial male reproductive organ, and he knows it. "No one man should have all that power," Ye says in the song. Maybe not, but I'm glad he has it and not someone else. His new album is supposedly called Good Ass Job, and supposedly comes out September 14th (the same day that Cudi's new album supposedly comes out).
Drunk Girls - LCD Soundsystem
Continuing on the inebriation and music theme, we have this gem from LCD Soundsytem, who have a long history of making excellent tunes, and this is supposedly (nothing is certain) the last album from mastermind James McMurphy under the guise of LCD Soundsystem. Savor this last, tasty album. (Entitled This is Happening and it came out earlier this year.)
This is one of those songs that slowly builds on itself until it all falls over in an excellent pile of noise towards the end of the track. A lot of their songs use this pattern quite successfully, but this one is a bit shorter than their norm and perhaps more digestible for the average listener. I could have put any one of the songs from the most recent album up here, but I felt this fit the mood of the post best. Check the whole thing out, please. (This Is Happening - LCD Soundsystem)
Summertime Clothes - Animal Collective
This ain't new (it came out in January 2009), I know, but it needs to be here.
I love the lyrics of the song. I love the harmonies. I love all the crazy loops. Mostly though, I love the faceless dancers in eyeball things in the video. It all combines into something that perfectly conveys a feeling that everyone loves and knows. "A voice from the clock says you're not gonna sleep for a while; my bed is a pool and the wall is on fire." Indeed.
If you haven't been listening to Merriweather Post Pavillion for a year and a half now, get on it.
When the sun goes down we'll go out again!