Rusko - California Dreamin'

Who the hell is Rusko? Well, it's the name of a place in Finland and also the alias of Christopher Mercer, dubstep artist from the UK. With tons of singles to boot and only one official album, he's got one coming out May 13 and another in 2013. If you aren't already familiar with dubstep, I forgive you, not everyone can appreciate a genre that can make you dance for 24 straight hours (true story, and no drugs either!!!)

You can't listen to this track and not tell me it's not good. If you like him, look him up, he's really good.

Goldfrapp - Lovely Head

This is Goldfrapp. Many of you may already know her, others not. She was recently featured in SPIN magazine in a fantastic "meet-your-idol" sort of article except amongst musicians. She met Debby Harry of Blondie fame and they instantly hit it off.

I want to share this track with you because it's so intense. Reminds me of those James Bond epics but also sounds deviously hypnotic. This isn't some undiscovered artist either, just some good fucking music!

Blank Spaces -/-

So my good buddy Asian Dan posted about Blank Spaces on his blog a couple of weeks ago but it's so good I gotta do it here too. His description is also too perfect to pass up:

"-/- or Blank Spaces could be music that someone found on a lost cassette from the 80s. Everything about the vibe and aesthetic just feels like it is a demo tape of some lost 80s UK band. “The Great Shark Hunt” totally reminds me of Human League and Yazoo meets New Order, with its sequenced synth line and the chorus FX on the bass that comes in during the chorus and the little solo at the end."

Ya dig?

Myspace.

Mux Mool - Skulltaste

Lots of gems in this release. SKULLTASTE is Mux Mool's debut release and it clocks in at a stunning 80 minutes!!! That's an entire Disney movie. I hardly ever say this but this is one of those few releases where your money will go a looooooong way! Sorta like other artists (Mono/Poly, Flying Lotus, 00Genesis) Mux Mool is always attempting to reinvent the wheel through his music. What I mean is that each song is different. You know how a SamiYam song is a SamiYam song (well after what he's released so far at least)? A Mux Mool track is always different.

The sample track is entitled "Encadelus" and it's a disco burner yet it still totally sounds like Mux Mool. Listen to understand.

BUY

Streetlight Manifesto - Linoleum

Alright, some of the greatest punk/ska/pop (whatever you want to call them) bands were at their peak in the '90s. Actually lemme rephrase that, MOST if not ALL of them were as infective as crack cocaine. Nowadays, with the return of trip-hop, the rise of dubstep and the culminating end of ska music, bands like NOFX, Green Day, Blink 182, Black Flag and Fugazi are either out of commission or going soft (erm, Green Day, cough). In any case, once a song was goo,d it'll always be good and NOFX is a testament to that philosophy.

Enter, Streetlight Manifesto. I had heard of them but never actually listened to them. I love ska, always have, always will. I may not be in the mood for ska for a couple years but I will always appreciate it. Streetlight Manifesto, led by the great Tomas Kalnoky has the voice every Punk/Ska band should have. Check them out LIVE on Youtube to see what I mean.

Anyway, the cover they do of NOFX's Linoleum is beyond amazing. Listen to it, if you like it, buy their newest album: 99 Songs of Revolution: Volume 1.

Chiddy Bang - Swelly Express

Chiddy Bang. Rumor is they began as a full band but then split up and now it's just the white dude who produces and the black guy who raps... Works for me, shit!

Of course, they're unsigned and effing young too!!! I hear they're 19 so at this rate, they'll either be killing it by 25 or sitting somewhere in the back booths of some dark bistro, scuffing at the Cool Kids. Speaking of them, these are the Cool Kids of 2010! 2008, 2009? Those were for the Cool Kids, now we gotta make room for Chiddy Bang. Kanye Likes 'em, Pithfork loves 'em

and SXSW booked 'em. Go listen, now!

Oh and their latest release: SWILLY EXPRESS is out now, you can find it for free somewhere. Not here though.

^__^

FLYamSAM - Green Tea Power

Shit's been on stowaway for over a minute now... Flying Lotus and Samiyam. Thing is, both these cats have a style that's really hard to get into. This one's for the beat heads, the true appreciators of instrumental/electronic hip hop... Well, that is a way of putting it but I think these artists strive to work outside of the box so reducing them to simple categories is doing them an injustice.

Let's try this: FLYamSAM is roller-blade-wheel music... What the fuck does that even mean? Exactly.

Keep your ears to the ground for a release, sometime this year; maybe the next... Who knows?

Son Lux - Weapons EP

Holy shit! Son Lux sounds like that Rob Dougan character whose gone into hibernation ever since the Matrix trilogy's been considered a piece of shit (though I still do love the first one... and also, the rest of them, why not? Ha.) In any case, let me reiterate. If you haven't heard of Son Lux, that's alright because I hadn't either, until earlier this week and that's what this blog is for, right? To discover new stuff.

Imagine Trent Reznor, Muse and Rob Dougan all meet at some undisclosed location in England to make a baby. Rob's all for it, Trent's having second-thoughts and the entire lineup of Muse is hopped up on energy drinks and pills (that means they wanna fuck, bad.) In any case, they do it and they have a child. The child grows up in a matter of two years and produces the fantastic WEAPONS EP.

Son Lux, produces, sings and does a ton of other shit too!!!

More about Son Lux.

Listen NOW.