Artist Watch: Theophilus London

It is now the fourth week of winter break, and I have completely run out of things to do. BOOM I come across this video, and I remember Theophilus London, one of those artists who has been around the edges of my musical radar screen for a while. Finally motivated by "Humdrum Town," I gave This Charming Mixtape a listen.

London's varied musical interests are on full display as he puts his flexible flow over a wide array of beats. Most have a heavy electro sound, but songs like "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Crazy Cousins" show that London has been inspired by a truly diverse range of music. He's definitely an artist I'll be watching now.

You can download This Charming Mixtape here, and make sure check out his equally charming blog.

Artist Watch: Vampire Weekend

People say that Pheonix was the Vampire Weekend of '09. Well guess what. It's 2010 and we don't have to settle for electro-y, French indie rock anymore; we get the real deal. Vampire Weekend's next album drops just five days from now (January 12).

If the first two legitimately available songs are an indication of what the rest of Contra will sound like, we're in for another catchy, witty treat from the Ivy League rockers. Both "Horchata" and "Cousins" (awesome video, first official single for Contra) stay true to that "Upper West Side Soweto" sound that led to their success back in '08.

The whole album can be streamed from VW's official website.

Artist Watch: Wale

Wale has really been around the rap scene for a long time. Well, for a new hip-hop artist in the age of free internet mixtapes at least. His first mixtape dropped way back in 2005. Wale then floated around the hip-hop universe as an independent artist, releasing three well received mixtapes, until 2008 when he signed with Interscope. Later that year, The Mixtape About Nothing was released to wide spread critical praise, Pitchfork calling it "one of 2008's best rap albums." The self-aware tape and 2009's Back to the Feature built up hype for his long awaited debut album, Attention Deficit, which came out this past Tuesday (11-10-09). After one listen to the album, I can happily say that it retains the qualities that have kept Wale around this long. It's catchy, but not a ringtone catchy way; original; and lyrically substantial. Favorite song so far, "Mirrors." If you're a UVa student, definitely check the album out, as our beloved UPC has scheduled the DC emcee to play at the Student Activities Building on December 4th.


And as a bonus, check out "Letter," which Wale recorded with John Mayer and released for free early in November. It shows off many of the same qualities mentioned above, and it's John Mayer on a hip-hop hook. Tell me you're not curious to hear how that works out.

Artist Watch: Oh.Bliv

Guess what? Oh.Bliv, one of the collaborators on an earlier Just Plain Sounds release, Black Soap, just dropped a new set of tracks today. You can go ahead and listen or download Rugged Tranquility for free right here.

Artist Watch: Minus the Bear

It's been a couple years since Minus the Bear, the Seattle-based indie rock quintet, has released anything of note. After Planet of Ice came out, fans have only been able to snag copies of their Acoustics EP, which provides the simple novelty of hearing acoustic versions of old songs while adding in one original entitled "Guns & Ammo," but isn't exactly what I would call an exciting, worthwhile release. While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and say that Planet of Ice didn't really seem all that great either.

So, you may be wondering why I'm sitting here, typing away about a band that has been letting me down for a couple years now. Well, it's because the band is gearing up for another release, and recently released some cool sounding viral clips that make it seem like Minus the Bear's upcoming release is going to be a bit of a return to form. But, don't just let me be the judge of that, go ahead and check the videos below and hear for yourself.

Artist Watch: Menya

You may have seen the previous post about Menya regarding their late summer tour dates, but since they've finished all of those up, the trio from New York has decided to stir things up in the studio by doing a little mixtape. On said mixtape--which will be fully available for free on October 2nd--is a collection of three covers of the group's "most loved (or hated) songs" and a brand-new single.

To help promote the mixtape, Menya decided to release videos for each song on YouTube, starting with a cover of Vanessa Carlton's "White Houses." Since then, they've also released videos for the humorous flip-cover of Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up" (which is aptly named "(So What) I Hook Up") and the equally clever response-cover of 3OH!3's "Don't Trust Me," where the Coco Dame and Angie Ripe speak for the ladies and get some revenge.

While their original track hasn't even hit YouTube yet, these covers have been getting so much attention that even Rolling Stone had to write about them. So, I guess what I'm saying is: go check the videos out down below and be sure to grab a copy of their mixtape when it releases on October 2nd. It'll be epic.

"White Houses" (Vanessa Carlton Cover)


"(So What) I Hook Up" (Kelly Clarkson Flip-cover)


Menya Responds to 3OH!3 in "Ho's Revenge"

Artist Watch: Radiohead

I'm sure it may seem a bit weird that a band with as much renown as Radiohead is appearing in a section primarily targeted at up-and-coming artists, but here's a bit interesting news that may make you want to keep a closer eye on them: a 'leaked' song for Radiohead's upcoming EP seems to have given way to an alternate reality game.

With a track entitled "These Are My Twisted Words," Thom Yorke and crew have created a very interesting way to market themselves by taking advantage of music pirating sites and Twitter in addition to their own site. Here are the particulars that make the song seem more than a simple leak:

-A few days ago, a new Radiohead track appeared on the music sharing site, what.cd. To listen to the track, click here. Packed in with the file posted was this text file.

-Some Internet super-sleuths suppose that the line mentioning "the wall of ice" is a reference to a particular xkcd comic (see the image above) due to its similarity to the band's own views regarding digital rights management.

-Also found in the text file is a date: 2009-08-17, which was proposed as the release date for the Wall of Ice EP. Obviously, this is not quite the case though, as it is beyond that date, and no further tracks have been found. Others supposed that the date is in reference to the date that EMI re-released Radiohead's back catalog in order to make a few quick bucks.

-Then, showing up on Radiohead's merchandise site is a picture of twisted trees that resemble design on the text file. This coincided with a post on radiohead.com that 'officially' released "These Are My Twisted Words." Inside the zip file for the song hosted on the band site, there's a mysterious PDF packed in that displays a series of images, including one of the twisted trees. Directions for these images read as follows: "This is an artwork to accompany the audio file. We suggest you print these images out on tracing paper. Use at least 80gsm tracing paper or your printer will eat it as we discovered. You could put them in any order that pleases you"

So what does it all mean? Well, we know the EP hasn't released on the day predicted, which has undoubtedly called much of this conjecture into questions. However, I think that the new result of typing http://wallofice.com/ into an address bar (it changed to its current form on August 17, mind you) is enough proof that this Wall of Ice EP isn't just a crazy Internet farce.

Artist Watch: Ronald Jenkees

I know that for some of you seasoned YouTube viewers, Ronald Jenkees is probably a bit of a familiar name in the sense that he seems to be rather old news. But, that doesn't mean he is any less worthy of being on artist watch. In fact, he's probably the perfect candidate because he is still awesome, but doesn't seem to be gaining much more visibility in the cloud of crazy that we all like to call the Internet.

If you like what you hear, you can download some of his songs or simply visit his YouTube channel to access a great deal of this peculiar, but talented individual's works.

Artist Watch: Menya

They've come and gone around these parts, and now they are gearing up to come back again. Menya, the dirty, poppy, hip-hop trio are going on a quick tour of the East Coast starting July 30th. If you haven't had the chance to see them yet, be sure not to miss them this time!

Here are the tour dates:

7/30/2009 8:00 PM at Mile High Club - Pregame Party (Menya only, no Nyle) 21+
216 S. 11th St. 3rd floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

7/31/2009 9:00 PM at 1619 House (w/ Nyle, Boy With Robot, Chang Chang/Ruinit) all ages
1619 Herbert Ave., Williamstown, New Jersey

8/1/2009 8:00 PM at Mellow D’s Studio (w/ Nyle, Paradise Movement, The Tamboureens) all ages
1427 N George St., York, Pennsylvania 17404

8/7/2009 1:00 PM at Krasner’s Basement (w/ Nyle, Lost Tourists, Age Sixteen, Hightide Hotel, Brandon Setta, Key Lime Pie) all ages
9413 Bridgewater Court West, Fredrick, Maryland 21701

8/8/2009 8:00 PM at The Miracle on 34th St. (w/ Nyle, Lost Tourists, Henry Mills, DJ Fleg) all ages
8907 34th Ave, College Park, Maryland

8/16/2009 12:00 PM at Precision Street Rods [RVA Tattoo Anniversary Party] (w/ Nyle, Oh The Story, lots more) all ages
5709 Charles City Circle, Richmond, Virginia 23231

Artist Watch: Wolf Gang

Coming out of the UK with the recent release of their single "Pieces of You," Wolf Gang has successfully secured the first spot on Mise-en-scène's Artist Watch, a series in which up-and-coming artists are highlighted for such things as being sexy, fun, or just generally awesome.

Wolf Gang, as they are the first in this series, encompass all of the aforementioned qualities and more. "Pieces of You" is an excellently orchestrated and varied pop track that--upon repeated listens--only seems to get better. With a David Byrne-esque style and 80s revival vibe, the English outfit lays down some fun tunes that have resulted in tours with the likes of Marina & The Diamonds, Miike Snow, and The Temper Trap. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any word regarding a full-length album release as of yet, but you can order the single here if you like it.

If that's not enough Wolf Gang for you though, as an added bonus, here are some other tracks to check out.

Wolf Gang - Night Flying
Wolf Gang - The Kill
Wolf Gang - Lions in Cages