Musical Story #1: Pela to We are Augustines

When asked what my favourite album is, aside from slating the questioner for such ignorance to ask as much, my answer always ends up being Pela's 'Anytown Graffiti'. To be honest I'm not 100% it is my ultimate album but I never seem to be able to give any other answer. 

Released in 2007 and despite landing itself on over 35 'Best Albums of 2007' lists, it remained relatively unknown. The band, from Brooklyn, went on to nurture their incredible live act and began (and supposedly finished) recording their second album - 'Rise ye Sunken Ships!'. To my immense sadness it was never released and Pela split up in 2009. 

For front-man, Billy McCarthy, this was the beginning of a roller-coaster of a journey. This began with the tragic death of his brother, after which Billy was faced with the huge decision of whether to give up on music or take the plunge by starting a new band. 

Fortunately he did the latter and We Are Augustines was born with Eric Sanderson of Pela joining in on the action as well.

Perhaps it's not the amazing music of Pela's 'Anytown Graffiti' that makes me so attached to it (don't get me wrong - it is an incredible album) but more the fairytale story which has come to accompany it. No matter what happens in life, if you want something bad enough and try hard enough, it will come.

We Are Augustines 'made it' and have just finished another European tour playing to hundreds of thousands of fans across the continent. I was lucky enough to see them twice and meet Billy who was approachable, polite, funny and grateful. 

This is not just another band, it is a couple of men who have plugged away at something for so many years and this is painfully clear in all of their music. Finally they are reaping the rewards - I couldn't be happier for them.

Pela - Lost to the Lonesome

Pela - Waiting on the Stairs

Read Pela's story here

We Are Augustines - Chapel Song

Support Billy and Eric by following WAA on Facebook right about here

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - White Walls

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis recently dropped their debut album 'The Heist'. With a huge amount of hype surrounding it, they seemed to live up to expectations by releasing a soleeed effort. 'Thrift Shop' has to be my standout track but a lesser known cracker is 'White Walls'. 

Have a go here: 

One More for luck - "My oh My":

Their album is well worth a download and is available on iTunes.

Follow him on Facebook

Introducing: Logic

I would have thought this guy would be huge in the UK already. Alas, he is not. Still, the future looks bright for the 22 year old rapper who's catchy hip hop is begging to be played on the radio. Upon listening to Logic, or young Sinatra, you can instantly tell he has a knack for lyrics and an ego almost a fifth of the size of Kanye West's. In reality, in interviews, he comes across intelligent, modest, hard-working, thoughtful and unique. Not one to be confused with the numerous rappers today who seem to get taken over by a lust for bling, bitches and the like, Logic says:

"You are not defined by the material you possess or the amount of money in your bank account, what defines you is how you attain them."

Brilliantly refreshing.

All three of his mixtapes are available for free and legal download. Get them whilst you can...

All I Do:

Let Me Go (feat. Lykke Li):

Mind of Logic (feat. Camille Michelle Gray):

Like Logic on Facebook.

Introducing: Stereoclip

I like it when you hear a remix which doesn't ruin a song. It's nice. But when it is completely different and still as good, well that's super nice. Here's Stereoclip, a Belgian DJ I reckon, with his (or her) sexy-ass deep house tune 'It's About Time'.

And the remix...

And another one because it contains some awe...

Follow them on Facebook. Look at them on Soundcloud. Caress them on Twitter. 

They don't have Twitter. . 

Word of the Day - Lance

To Lance [larnse]

verb (used with object)

1.

to defraud; swindle: 

"You lance-ing me bra?!"

2.

to deceive; influence by fraud:

 He lanced us into believing him a hero.

3.

to wholly obliterate any feelings of trust, respect and admiration through deceit: 

I really liked that guy and respected him until he royally lanced us all.

Toussaint Morrison - Baby, I'm Bad Weather

Toussaint Morrison is quite the character I'm told. He suffers from dissociative personality disorder which surprisingly seems to aid his music as he raps and sings under the guise of any of his alter-egos. 

'Baby, I'm Bad Weather' was described to me initially as a "summery version of Atmosphere" - perhaps not the best critique of a 3 and a half minute song but I'm sure you get the idea.

Mix jazzy muted guitar with simple hand-claps and awesomely fluent rapping and boom goes the proverbial dynamite - you're onto a winner... 

Available to download for free here

Introducing: Bakermat

So... Bakermat is Dutch for a baby's cot - or so Wikipedia tells me... It is also the name a young Dutch DJ has decided to give himself. I'll level with you, I know next to nothing about this guy. 

What I do know is that he has recently started releasing some pretty interesting deep house tracks on Delicieuse Musique. He is also responsible for this fairly gnarly remix of Sergio Mendes' 'Mas Que Nada':

He claims to be influenced by old school jazz kings Coleman Hawkins and Nat King Cole which would explain the frequency at which he uses saxophone samples and infectious trumpets as can be heard on his latest release: 'Leven':

So there you go. Form an opinion, like him on Facebook (you will get 'Leven' for free if you do so) and boast to your friends that you found him first. Though you didn't - I did...

Breathe Owl Breathe - Swimming

You know how sometimes you wake up and glide through a day without really engaging yourself in anything. The day seems to breeze past you and before you know it, it's dark and almost time for bed. No? Just me? Ok. Well, this incredibly simple yet effective indie tune from Breathe Owl Breathe would be featured in the soundtrack to that day.

'Swimming', off their 2010 album Magic Central, is a laid back, click-infused melodic pop song about a bloke and some bird who both wish they were swimming. Swimming's nice, who could blame them. Have a listen, buy it, wear it as a hat, whatever...

Movie: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I don't really like movies. I guess I do but I rarely watch them. I tend to find myself ineffectually searching IMDB for the perfect film to fit my mood at that time and, unsurprisingly, it rarely exists - or scores below 5 out of 10 which is probably worse.

The films I do like are generally documentaries. My logic stretches itself to believe that if it's a documentary then it is real thus I can watch it without feeling like a mug who's been lulled into thinking Hogwarts could be believable. That's MY logic, never said it made sense...
I'm waffling...

Recently I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It's ace. Not a lot happens but I found myself taking quite a lot away from the documentary which is based on an old Japanese sushi restaurateur who works his whole life in his restaurant located in a station on the Tokyo subway. 

Jiro's work ethic is almost unbelievable. He claims that should you work in a particular profession, you may as well dedicate your energy to perfecting your trade and trying to enjoy it as you do. If only life were that simple... 

Couple the most amazing looking food with stunning footage of one of the most undeniably fascinating cities in the world and you're onto a winner. Watch it. 

Bon Iver - Calgary (Cillo Remix)

This is a cracking chilled rework of the stand out track on Bon Iver's latest album. Cillo is pretty darn good and I expect to see more of his work gaining popularity over the coming months. 

Follow him on Facebook here (I do...) - he is constantly uploading fantastic remixes and original tracks which are free to download if you 'like' him - no brainer... 

Download Bon Iver - Calgary (Cillo Remix)