Jonathan Wilson- Desert Raven

Jonathan Wilson is an accomplished guitarist, vocalist & keyboardist who made his debut into the recording  industry in a 1999 with a band called Muscadine. Muscadine released one album that rendered unsuccessful and quickly split up. Wilson's solo albums were well received by critics and he had the ability to work with some big names like Erykah Badu, Phil Lesh, and Elvis Costello. His music a soft, bluesy folk rock retrospective to rock music that came out of the late 60's/early 70s. 

"Desert Raven" is a track off Jonthan Wilson's 2011 album titled Gentle Spirit. The track starts with a mysterious intro that stirs the imagination before it progresses into this perfectly gentle bluesy melody. 

Happy listening :)
MF

Blitzen Trapper - Thirsty Man

BLITZEN TRAPPER is an indie rock band from Portland that has been around for 15 years and is set to release their 8th album this Friday October 2nd. The group consists of six members who combine to layer multiple levels of sound creating an indie folk meets experimental rock vibe. This track "Thirsty Man" came to me on Spotify's Discover Weekly this week, just in time as I am anxiously awaiting the release of the group's new album to debut in 3 days.

"it's better to love & lose than to gain the world on the string"


Until Friday, happy listening :)
MF

Four Tet- Morning/Evening

Kieran Hebden, better known by his DJ name: FOUR TET released his 8th album in July of 2015 titled Morning/Evening. The album consists of only two tracks titled (yep, you guessed it) Morning Side and Evening Side. Each track, roughly 20 minutes in length, provides a biorhytmic ambiance that coincides with characteristics and emotion humans experience at different times of day. As an individual who adores analyzing music as it relates to psychology and human emotion, I absolutely love the album and appreciate the complexity of its concept. 

It reminds me of something I have seen before from artists LOTUS with  "Umbillical Moonrise' & "Umbillical Moonset" and KINGS OF LEON with  "Use Somebody" and "Be Somebody"

Stream Morning Side & Evening Side (Complete Album) below:

PS. Doesn't FOUR TET kind of look like a mad scientist when he performs? It's pretty epic to watch... 

Happy listening :)

MF

Yo La Tengo- Stuff Like that There

I've been listening to the group YO LA TENGO for a few years now but haven't really given them the time of day until recently. My first listen was when the track "Leaving Home" was added to a playlist by a friend in 2011 and my next wave of interest sparked after the track "I'll Be Around" was featured on the Boyhood soundtrack. Recently, I started listening to their most recent album and this time I am hooked. 

YO LA TENGO has released a total of 12 albums since their first in 1986 and each album is exceptionally well done. They have really ventured into multiple genres over the years with an apparent heavy influence from my all time favorite THE VELVET UNDERGROUND. There most recent album Stuff Like that There is a careful blend of edgy rock and soothing melodic pop. The type of music good for any time, any day, any mood. 

Stream YO LA TENGO's most recent album Stuff Like That There below:

Happy listening :)
MF

This Week in NYC:

The Bowery Ballroom
Tu 9/29 - Marian Hill
Wed 9/30- Bob Moses

Central Park SummerStage
Tu 9/29- CHRVRCHES

Music Hall of Williamsburg
Tu 9/29 - Atlas Genius
Th 10/1- Toro Y Moi

Radio City Music Hall
Tu 9/29= Hozier
Th 10/1- Beirut
Sa 10.3- Grace Potter & Trampled by Turtles

Webster Hall
Tu 9/29- Rudimental

Carnegie Hall
Th 10/1- D'Angelo & Dr. John

TERMINAL 5
Th 10/1- Twin Shadow & Wild Belle

Blue Note Jazz Club, NY

Fri 10/2- Rebirth Brass Band

GO SEE LIVE MUSIC :)
MF

Zhu x A-Trak x Kez Namdi- As Crazy As It Is

I give you "As Crazy As It Is" produced by ZHU and A-TRAK ft. KEZ NANDI. This follows the release of ZHU's "Automatic" ft. ALUNAGEORGE to premiere as the highly anticipated Genesis series. This track has a very fresh beat mixing balkan-like reggae sounds and is quite different form anything we have heard from him previously. 


Happy listening :)
MF

Big Grams EP:

"Goldmine Junkie"

This past Friday 9/25/15 Big Grams finally released the highly anticipated self titled EP. Big Grams consists of Big Boi of Outkast in collaboration with the electro-pop duo Phantogram. If you aren't listening to this yet you are doing something wrong! Each track on this perfectly fluid EP is solid and the sound keeps consistent to both artists previous releases.

Happy Listening :)
MF

“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -- more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid ... Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.” 

― Bertrand Russell, Why Men Fight

The California Honeydrops- It Ain't Hard to Tell

Happy listening :)
MF

Nneka- Soul Is Heavy

Nneka is a Nigerian/German singer songwriter with enough soul to go around. 

Soul is heavy mixes hip hop and R&B with Nnekas unique accent and voice tonation to bring us a powerful and exciting track. 

Sounds similar to: Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill

Happy listening :)
MF