Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo (2018)

I'm going to briefly explain how a Houston based trio, manages to build a career on making some of the most unique Surf, Psychadellic, Thai-Funk music in the history of the world.  Oh, you don't think it's possible?  What part?  The part where they're from Houston Texas and sound like this?

Maria También

It's kind of easy really.  The same way a lot of indie groups figure out their sounds, maybe this one is slightly different.  Instead of meeting in college or on a concert circuit, they met in church.  Not just any church in Texas though.  This was St. John's Methodist Church in Houston.  Yep, the same church that gave rise to some little group called Destiny's Child.  The guitarist, Mark Speer, and drummer Donald Ray started out there playing for the church group.  It wasn't until a little while down the road that Speer met up with Laura Lee and taught her to play the bass that Khuangbin was born.  

Their first EP back in 2010 was nothing short of a tease.  It was a collection of 3 tracks that sounded much more like a DJ set/sampler.  It spanned everything from soul to deep psychedelia to shades of an Afgan that frankly I doubt anybody in Texas had ever heard of before.  While it was brilliant, and the people needed to hear more it wasn't until almost 5 years later that they came out with their first album, The Universe Smiles Upon You.

People Everywhere (Still Alive)

Their newest album, Con Todo El Mundo our this past February, was something that I stumbled on while looking for something different.  Over the past year or so, I've fallen into enjoying psychedelic music more.  Bands like Tame Impala and Gum have definitely made modern psych more popular.  Khruangbin popped up on Reddit of all places as a passing comment on my blog after someone read my post about Tame Impala and how I had been looking for something that in the same ballpark.  Khruangbin was nowhere close.  Their music style has a lot more melody and soul than psych ever will.  You can get lost in the strings of this like you could in the electric(ness) of traditional psych.  This is a lot less synth and a lot more driving.  Lee's bass is powerful, Dj's drumming is simple yet funk driving.  And Mark Speers guitar work is nothing short of world style  If that makes any sense.  Throw in the elements of good old southern church music and you've got a really laid back sound that managed to marry everything exotic of music you just couldn't imagine ever hearing from Texas.

Evan Fins The Third Room

It's kind of fun to listen to all of their music and see where they drew influence from.  I could swear that I've heard shades of west coast hip-hop, European jazz, funk for sure, and definitely some 60's/70's soul.  For an instrumental heavy group, it's cool to hear these guys with such a wide reach, both in their inspiration and hearing their music in the wild.  There's no doubt that with this current album, they're going to become a whole lot more popular.  As a matter of fact, I think, if you really listen hard enough, you'll recognize some of their music.  

As usual, I had to get this album the day it dropped.  I snagged the white edition from Newberry Comics, only because the edition I wanted from Late Night Tales was sold out in the weeks leading up to its release.  Keep an eye on Late Night Tales, those guys have a bunch of artists and series of DJ album's that you're just not listening to and you really should be.  

Here are some links:

Khruangbin on Bandcamp

Khruangbin on Twitter

And in case you missed the link on the left sidebar, their NPR Tiny Desk concert from May 19th

 

I'll be back, maybe in a few days.  I'm kind of on vacation, not too far from the world famous Red Scroll Records.  Something tells me, I'm going to hit that store like I'm mad at it this week.  Also, if there's anyone in the NYC area that hasn't heard, you're really missing out by not going to Academy records in either Brooklyn or their East Village shops.  You never know what gems you'll find there.  Like that awesome Siouxsie and The Banshees album, I'm coveting on their wall in Brooklyn right now.  

Sofi Tukker - Soft Animals (2016)

I was turned on to this band after listening to the Coachella stream on a long car ride home back in April.  The crazy thing about this group is, I was resigned to slog through whatever the act was before the one I really wanted to hear, Future Islands, (I'm posting them next.).  I had no idea what to expect.  SiriusXMU is definitely trying to focus on indie artists, but more often than not end up playing the same pseudo-mainstream artists under the guise of indie.  Sorry, Father John Misty is not indie.  Though that's part of a much larger post full of bias on my part, none of which has anything to do with the point at hand.  That point being, Sofi Tuckker's Soft Animals, is one of the best albums that I've bought all year.  I'm kicking myself for not knowing about them sooner.

Sofi Weld and Tukker Halpern got together and collided with Brazilian culture to come up with what has got to be the most incredible menagerie of NYC attitude and Portuguese dance -ever.  I mean, come on... Just. Look.. At... This!

Drinkee - Live at Coachella 2017 Sunday, April 16th

As for their album, it's full of what I would call Brazilian Funk, and lyrics that are so razor sharp, you may even mistake this album as a message to someone.  I haven't heard a modern album this well collected since the 90's.  These guys put together 6 songs that are so far beyond their years, you would think that this was a best of the album.  Of course, I've only heard it on vinyl, so maybe it just sounds a lot better in general.  If you're looking for that summer vibe, this is it.  I can't wait till they come back to the Northeast.

Lastly, and I almost never agree when an artist lends their art to a corporation, ever, but, if you were ever wondering who's music it is behind the current Old Navy campaign, well.  Remember, as usual, I was into it long before it was "in".  ;-)

Check them out: Sofi Tukker

Follow them on Twitter: @SofiTukker
Hear them from time to time on Sirius XMU

Buy their album through their website, or stream it here, and support indie artists!

Word Up! New From Eric Clapton, Mari And Other News.

I had tweeted this earlier, but it's worth noting and even adding a little more to it.  Eric Clapton was profiled in the Wall Street Journal for a new single that he kinda released ahead of his 23rd studio album due out later this month.  The crazy thing about this single, Spiral, he improvised the whole damn thing.  Check it out when you can.  It's the WORD!  Obviously, I'll be buying the hell out of this album when it hits the street Friday, May 20th.

Listen to Eric Clapton's 'Spontaneous' new song 'Spiral' (exclusive) https://t.co/q1sDkqVwmq via @WSJ

—  (@WMVCulture) May 3, 2016

In other news, I just wanted to post another apology for the lack of updates.  Simply put, I've been really preoccupied with everything except enjoying my free time.  You should know however, that what little free time I do have, I've been spending it inside of a bunch of record stores.  Since my RJD2 post back on April 9th, I've managed to increase my vinyl collection by about 33%.  I bought a new Pioneer turntable from the awesome folks at In Your Ear Records.  I acquired new speakers from a good buddy and augmented them this past weekend.  Why I have a 7.1 surround sound system in a room that's roughly 150/sq is anybody's guess, but damn.  It's fantastic!   Try listening to Tame Impala's Currents on a 7.1 surround system and tell me that doesn't make you hot.  All of that has contributed to me settling into a newer space and getting more comfortable with my surroundings which are things I haven't been able to do since the holidays.  

Over the next few weeks up through late June:

• I have a lot coming up and going on.  I'll be traveling in, around, through, and back and fourth about CT for a while, so look out, I'm going to Red Scroll Records to do some damage!  I'll also be in and out of Exile On Main Street to soak up something new.  
• My birthday is coming up and there's no better way to celebrate than buying myself that new Clapton record.  
• I have a few concerts in June down in NYC and my long awaited vacation whereupon I'll definitely get some writing going on. 

All that said, this time last year it looked as if I would be blowing through all of the vinyl that I owned posting once a week, now, if I actually were to stop collecting, I could run this blog weekly for another 2 years and you'll never see the same record twice!  


Of course, I missed a lot by not posting, and that's not because I couldn't, it's because I made a conscious decision not to.  I purposefully didn't post for Record Store day because the original post that I made, I did so out of anger.  I actually condemned RSD because of its effects on music, record stores, indie artists, and the lack of quality releases.  I still have a draft of it, and perhaps I'll revisit it, until then I choose to stay positive.  Besides, I did end up supporting a few local record stores, and that's what's really important.

I also didn't post regarding the death of Prince mainly because what I had written devolved into an angry post about vinyl flippers and how they were seizing the moment and profiting off of the genius that was Prince.  Frankly, owning 2 of the greatest albums that he ever made, (IMHO), knowing that I'll never sell them nor be tempted to makes me happy.  I think that there are quite a few people out there that just don't give a fuck about music and too many fucks about money to appreciate music and vinyl.  So to that end, when I clean up that post, if I clean up that post,  and make it 98% about the artist and his music, I'll post it.  

I also had 2 other posts that I had started and subsequently shelved because I wasn't happy with the pictures that I took!  Needless to say now that I have a better sound system in place, with really bad lighting, I'll do a little more work and get those posts in the cannon over the next few weeks.

Finally, I do need to answer one of the comments that I had received over the past few months.  Someone had messaged me glowing over the success of my RJD2 post.  Which again, thank you all for the love.  It was by far the biggest post in this blog's history.  The indictment was that I spend too much time focusing on bands that nobody's heard of hence why those other posts don't get anywhere near the views and reactions that this one did.  Ouch.

In response, that's kinda the point.  I would get on my own nerves if I wrote about music that everybody's heard on the radio or a passing car.  There's a trove of outstanding music out there that many have never heard of.  it just happens to sound great on vinyl, and that's why I'm here.  The whole point of what I'm doing is in celebration vinyl culture.  Which in itself is an indie hobby.  If I didn't love indie music and bands that weren't widely known, I wouldn't be doing this.  So to all the indie groups, and those following me on Twitter, play on !  Let me know about your vinyl drops and I'll keep spinning.  That said, when you get some time, check out Mari who's released a flurry of music and remixes recently.  If you are a fan of Mozez, and by extension Zero 7, and yes, even Sia, you may enjoy Mari immensely. 

Mari - Free

Lastly, this post unofficially begins the countdown to #100.  The 100th post needs to be something special while I have an idea or two in the works, you just need to know that it'll be something kinda cool.  Like the 50th post, it'll also usher in a format change.  I'll be jumping to Wordpress and refreshing things a bit.  That project begins today.

That's all for now.  I'll be back Wednesday, where I'm going to get my immolation on.