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

AUGUST 2015- NYC Concert Update

7/29-- Beat Connection @ Webster Hall
8/1-- Star Slinger @ Output
8/1-- Snarky Puppy @ Watermark
8/1 -- Dr. John @ Central Park Summerstage
8/5 -- Yo La Tengo @ Damrosch Park
8/5 -- Hot Chip @ Webster Hall
8/8-- Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs @ MoMa PS1 Warm Up
8/8 -- Jamie xx @ Terminal 5
8/9 -- Glass Animals @ Central Park Summerstage
8/12-8/15 -- Galactic @ Brooklyn Bowl
8/17 -- Mac Demarco @ Bowery Ballroom
8/19 -- Morning Teleportation @ Brooklyn Bowl
8/23 -- Maya Jane Coles @ Verboten

Funkadelic- Biological Speculation

Found this song last week while watching the film Afternoon Delight produced by Jill Solloway (creator of Amazon's Transparent). Have been listening to it on repeat ever since. Every time I hear it I can't help but start moving :)

Funkadelic is most widely recognized for their collaborations with George Clinton and  their sister band Parliament due to a wider commercial success. Their music incorporates 70's disco with a smooth and funky soul flavor.

Sounds similar to: Parliament, Sly & The Family Stone

Happy listening :)
MF

New Ratatat Album- Magnifique

Stream Album on Spotify here :

Happy listening :)
MF

Electric Forest 2015

 Wheel of Fortune Door Panels

String Cheese Incident ft. Dominic Lolli

Good Life VIP tent at Sherwood Court

Jubilee Tent at dusk.

Epic.

Chillin with the legendary Chali 2na after his set with the Funk Hunters.

This girl was really feeling the energy.

Just some extremely groovy dude chillin' at the VIP/Artists pool. 

On the Regular- Shamir

Have you ever started listening to an artist for a while before you researched them and discovered the gender of the singer/rapper was not what you expected? This has happened to me a few times in my life and left me astounded by the mistake. For my first 18 years of existence, (I kid you not), I thought Tracy Chapman was a white male. Finding out she was, in fact, a black woman on Google was a shocking experience for me. Another example of one of my unexpected gender discoveries was finding out the lead singer of the group Rhye was a male. I cannot tell you how many times I listened to the album "Woman" imagining an actual woman singing those gentle melodies. Shamir provides yet another example of my false gender pretenses. I can hardly believe this is a male rapping.

Shamir is an American singer/rapper/producer from Las Vegas that made a pretty big noise at SXSW 2015 with his debut album "Ratchet". Shamir is most recognized for the androgyny in his voice which he prefers to consider "couterinterior". His music blends contemporary electronic dance sounds with energetic nu-jazz hip hop. Have a listen to my favorite dance track off the album "On the Regular".

Happy listening :)
MF

Afterhours Ibiza- Sweet Alabama Shakes

 I cannot be the only person who has typed in "Alabama Shakes" on Spotify only to find this unique trancey bedtime album "Sweet Alabama Shakes" by Afterhours Ibiza. The album provides a lot of variation from track to track with uptempo drum solos, latin hip hop and downtempo funky space jams. If you haven't already stumbled upon this on your quest to listen to the Alabama Shakes or otherwise, I highly recommend giving it a listen.

Happy listening :)
MF

Soulwax & Funkadelic- Peep This

Funkadelic & Soul Clap teamed up to release their 'In Da Kar' EP earlier this year. Although, Funkadelic has been toured fairly recently, this was the first music release in almost 30 years. The track "Peep This" mixed with Soul Clap and featuring Nick Monaco, G Koop & Greg Paulus definitely lives up to the funky reputation.

Happy listening :)
MF

Eels- Guest List

Eels are one of my favorite 90's alt. rock bands best known for their song "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues". Their music has been frequently used in teen movies & TV series likely due to the passion and emotion it evokes.

The track Guest List is off of their 1996 album "Beautiful Freak". True to the title, the lyrics and melodies are generally pretty dark and cynical full of juxtapositions and tormented messages. Guest List is no exception. This track specifically resonates with me due to its powerful imagery you can imagine through the lyrics and the gentle melody.

Are you one of the beautiful people?
Is my name on the list?
Wanna be one of th beautiful people.
Wanna feel like I'm missed. 

Sounds similar to: Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel


Happy Listening :)
MF