LISTEN: Gaphals - "Regimen" LP

Whoa. Been a while, huh? Did you even notice I haven't posted since July? I'm still alive. I moved to a new state. I got a new job. I moved to an area where I don't really know anyone, so maybe this will mean getting back to regular posting? Ah, who knows.

Anyways, I'm sitting here at work trying to power through this mental block, and I'd have to say my main motivator are these Swedes Gaphals playing their invigorating, electric, unrelenting punk rock into my eardrums. Screw coffee or an energy drink, just put on Gaphals' 2013 LP Regimen and feel the adrenaline rise. Give it a spin below.

Teach Me Equals and RedRumsey (Unwound, Long Hind Legs) Announce Tour

Teach Me Equals (formerly Bard & Mustache) and RedRumsey (Vern Rumsey of Unwound, Long Hind Legs) will be hitting the west coast for an 18-date joint tour this September. And oh what a celebration it will be: Vern Rumsey last toured over a decade ago.

In 2002 following the split of Unwound, Rumsey effectively retired and quit making music. Over 10 years later, he found himself returning to his massive back catalog of work. It was the key to starting a new chapter in an already impressive career, one defined by his bass and guitar work in the aforementioned Unwound as well as Long Hind Legs, Fitz of Depression, Witchypoo, and Blonde Redhead.

LISTEN: Campo - "Heartbreaks" (Remix) & More

To show you just how behind I am, this post is about a song I heard in my car driving back from the bar a few weeks ago. Yes, I heard it there and thought, "Oh man, I have to break this stretch of not posting and do at least a quick write-up on this song." Sadly, I'm just getting to it now.

But you're not here to read about my life, you're here to, I would assume, put some fresh jams in your ears. Enter Uruguay's Campo with their self-described "subtropical music," a mix of "british indie pop, electro, rock and tango." That fateful Friday night a few weeks ago is when my ears met Campo's remix of their own original track "Heartbreaks." This reinvented version is from the group's recently released remix and rarities EP Remixes & Rarezas and is a lively mix of latin pop and salsa that makes for the best kind of summer soundtrack. It's electric, smooth, infectious, soulful and entirely organic. If you can't let this rhythm shake your skeleton, I guess I don't know what will invigorate that winter chill bitten body of yours.



Dig that? Hear the whole EP below.

LISTEN: Sluggers - "Turbo Fade" (Lazerdisk Remix)

Hey there. It's been a while, but I'm back to it now that the site is back up and running. Shall we?

I'm not typically a fan of remixes -- for anyone just checking in -- but sometimes they steal my attention like Mondays steal your cheer (Eh? Ok ok, sticking to music writing). Anyways, one of the few songs I've had on repeat recently has been, you guessed it, a remix. I had never heard the original version of Sluggers' "Turbo Fade," so I had zero context for Los Angeles duo Lazerdisk's reworked version of the song -- and maybe that's why I enjoy it so much. That uninhibited first listen had me hooked just moments in, with it's mix of hard-hitting, infectious beats, ethereal drapery, and adventurous synth lines.

And maybe the best part about this whole story of man meeting remix is the fact that I discovered this track from this video. That music director is on point, huh?

Coldplay Release Their "Magic" At "Midnight"

When Coldplay released their debut album Parachutes, I was young and rather taken by its mood, songwriting, and tonal beauty. The albums that proceeded that debut grew the band's fame into superstardom and everyone became a Coldplay fan -- or made jokes about how you liked Coldplay ("40 Year Old Virgin" anyone?). There seems to be some invisible line that divides bands and groups, and with the release of Coldplay's smash hit "Clocks," they crossed over to the status of "group."

What does that even mean? Maybe I just fashioned these categories in my own mind? Well, for me anyway, it's when a band just seems bigger than anything, bigger than themselves. It's not necessarily related to ego in any way, it's just a status certain bands reach where they become so ingrained in popular culture, so beloved by the masses, that people seem to lose sight of what makes a band so great: the relationship the members share. For the most beautiful, memorable, and meaningful, music that is created is that which is bred in the bond a collection of individuals share with one another. As the great Tom Petty said in Dave Grohl's "Sound City" documentary, "[Music] is all about people relating to each other and doing something that's really from the soul."