Aphera Music

Here’s a cut from Jack White’s new solo record which is said to drop April 24. It’s crazy to think that Jack’s name might be more recognizable than the names of any of his bands yet he’s never had his name on an album alone. Crazy. There’s a great feeling about this song. The energy of his voice and the guitars against the cool clarinets has a really pretty effect. I’m pretty psyched about this record .

This is really beautiful. It’s a new song from Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear.

Sorry that we never made an end of year list or anything. Larissa and I had a pretty busy but really fun break and the list kinda fell through because of that. Who cares anyway cuz we’re looking forward to some awesome releases in 2012. Looking forwards is more fun.

George

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Producer Julio Bashmore’s as of yet unreleased track “Well Wishers”. I heard this along with the track by the Portico Quartet called “City of Glass” which I’ve uploaded to the player. It is also unreleased as of yet. Dig it.

The Bashmore track is just a really slick groove and I’ve had on repeat for a while now. The Portico Quartet song is a really cool song in that it was recorded 100% live. This is incredible because as you can notice it’s heavily electronic. It’s a quartet too, not your mom and dad’s string quartet though. The idea of four guys getting together to collaborate and perform electronic music of this nature excites me as the standard four piece rock band format falls apart around us. It’s a new direction and example of the synergy that small intimate “bands” can achieve. So dig it.

ps sorry about all the talking during the beginning of the track. I ripped it from Gilles Peterson’s radio show about a week ago.

Lastly, a new James Blake song for y’all.

Ah, what a great label: Stones Throw. Home to one of my favorite producers, Madlib, who is responsible for producing what is some of rapper Doom’s best works (see Madvillain). They are also home now to a really interesting project by a bunch of session musicians, all with very impressive resumes, who banded together (pun!) to form what is known as The Stepkids. They released their debut album and it hardly got the attention it deserved. For your edification I’ve included two tracks of theirs from the new album on the player, “La La” and “Suburban Dream”. I’ve posted about “La La” before because it’s absolutely brilliant but that’s because the band members all possess an incredible ability, as I assume top notch session musicians should have, to emulate the classic sounds of the hit pop songs of the 60s and 70s and on top of that their songwriting is pretty clever; you’ll know what I mean when you hear the songs I’ve posted. So please check these guys out because they were pretty much glossed over by Pitchfork, who gave them a tragically mediocre review. I mean I wish I could put every song of theirs on the player; it’s that good.

Click here to access the player.

Back to Stones Throw, they put out a podcast that I periodically listen to and it’s always 100% quality so if you’re looking for some chill sounds from guys who are in the know and always presenting the coolest newest stuff, look into it. Check it out here. I’m an advocate of label awareness so if you like a particular band, see who puts their music out and see who else is on the label. It’s likely you’ll find similar artists or at least artists of the same caliber and it’s a great way to find new music.

yeah I need to get a life...

Hello friends!

I’m working on a whole batch of new music right now that I hope to have finished by the new year but until then I’m excited to share the first track that I’ve finished from the bunch. It’s called “Running from Daylight” and I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

I’ve put the track on the player, or you can right-click here and do a “save as” or whatever if you really want the file. Also, You’ll notice the track is credited to Yurij. This is the name I’m recording under now. Boom.

Next topic: Radiohead recently played two shows in NYC and now they’ve recently released tour dates for a bunch of shows for the southern US but fortunately it appears there are more dates coming. But what I wanted to share was a recording from one of their recent NYC shows which features Radiohead opening their song, “Everything in its Right Place”, with Thom Yorke singing a truly beautiful rendition of REM’s “The One I Love”. I’ve included it on the player. As you may have heard, REM recently broke up and it’s a shame because they were a very powerful and benevolent force in Rock and Roll. But hey, it’s not like they’re dead or anything lol.  Michael Stipe is still out there and being ridiculously awesome. Watch below: his appearance on the “Reporrrrrrrr”.

Let me also take the opportunity to express my sympathy for all the victims of the Sandusky situation, which sadly not only includes the victims he personally touched but it also extends to all residents of the area surrounding Penn State and all the individuals who have ever associated themselves with the university. I know we’ll have the ability to rebound because us Penn Staters are really tough.

Lastly, I’ve really been listening to too much Neil Young lately so also I’m including one of my favorite Neil Young tracks to the player: “The Loner”. This track was what led me to fall in love with his music and I recently covered it at an open mic (at which I wore my REM shirt) which was fun because I rarely do stuff like that.

Respectfully,

George aka Yurij aka Yurchyk

The two most musically active members of Radiohead have paired up with one of my favorite rappers to bring you the track “Retarded Fren”. Jonny Greenwood’s involvement seems to be the appropriation of his orchestral work, “Popcorn Superhet Receiver”, which appears to be sampled and elaborated upon by Thom Yorke and rapped over by Doom aka MF Doom aka (with madlib) Madvillain. The track is simple enough and kinda interesting. It seems to be some sort of promotion for some label’s tenth birthday. I dunno the track is good enough to stand alone so I haven’t looked much further into its raison d’etre.

listen to it here

I’ve also included on the playlist my favorite Doom track, “Great Day”, from his classic collaboration with Madlib, Madvillainy, so click the player icon on the right to check it and everything else that we’ve posted out.

I just heard this track on Gilles Peterson’s BBC radio programme (ha) and this track really caught me. The track is a remix of a Lana Del Rey track who apparently is this up and coming female singer/songwriter type. I don’t know much about her but her voice is extremely beautiful and to add to that the song’s lyrics are some of the most sexually charged words I’ve heard. Really loving the setting too. The remixer, Joy Orbison, is another Londoner working in that style called dubstep that I’m loving so much these days. But back to Lana, she’s hot and making good music which is good for everybody.

Lana Del Rey – Video Games (Joy Orbison Remix) by beatsbaby

Aside from right here, I will not mention anymore the long break that apheramusic took because it was inexcusable and silllllly. I feel like I’m starting a new page and I’m also 21 which I’ve been told means something.

I saw James Blake perform twice in the last 4 months. Both times I can safely say my mind was blown. This guy is taking long strides towards a future of musical domination. His new EP, Enough Thunder, does little for me except for this one song but no worries because he’s got a new EP coming out later this year and I’ve heard some of his unreleased songs when he played them live and they kick ass.

I was surprised to hear that James Blake was being called dubstep so I looked up what dubstep meant and I discovered it has a rich history steeped in two step and house and all those weird genres that come from London. Not only that, but I found out that an electronic artist with whose work I am sorta familiar, Burial, is a pioneer of dubstep. funny. Then I found Mount Kimbie, a group loosely associated with Blake, and I heard this song, “50 Mile View” and it blew me away. A lot of richness to their sound – ear candy for anyone with an ear for electronica. A lot of it comes from the way they use reverb to keep sounds lingering; every new sound sits on the residue of the previous blips and synth struts, lingering and fading simultaneously.

Next, Pitchfork just posted a new track by Gonjasufi, everyone’s favorite stoner electronica raspy-voiced psychadelia singer. That’s right kids. Anyway he’s got a new EP coming out or something and again the tracks are produced by my very favorite Flying Lotus. Listen below but first I’m going to express my excitement over the news that Flying Lotus tweeted about his new album, for which he apparently has so much music that he either has to pare it down or make a double album. Now excuse me while I clean up the mess I just left on my keyboard (eww gross).

GONJASUFI – “EATFISH” w: BLU (Produced by Johnson&Johnson) [aif] by Hydroshare.tv

It’s nice to see you guys again, signing off, this is George aka Yurij.

This is a song by Bilal called “Levels”. The particular mix that I added to our playlist is a done by Flying Lotus and it’s brilliant. The song just builds and builds and the climax isn’t even overblown – just perfect.

Click Here to open the playlist and listen.

Here’s the original mix with video  directed by Flying Lotus.

Bilal ”Levels” from flying lotus on Vimeo.

Disappointed by the lack of musically promising releases this spring, I’m pigeonholed to focus my attention on the scarce quality releases. Here are two:

Tomboy Panda Bear

I was initially turned off by this seemingly repetitive underdeveloped album. At least in comparison to Noah’s contribution to Animal Collective, Tomboy comes off sounding like what it literally is: Animal Collective stripped of everyone except Panda Bear. However, I returned to this album, attempting to appreciate something I may have missed. I wrote off everything until Sheherezade – the fourth to last song. From then on, the album becomes more delicately refined. It’s true that throughout, the album is full of layers, psychedelics, and beautifully orchestrated sounds. However, in comparison to Animal Collective they add up to no more than drawn out ideas. Whatever the case, this is still an enjoyable listen.
Panda Bear – Tomboy by In House Press

Burst Apart The Antlers

I have less to say here because I just started listening to the entire album yesterday. The sound palette ranges from Radiohead to new wave, post-punk rock. As usual, Silberman’s voice is both showcased and integrated to function as an instrument of emotion and music. Stream the album over at NPR

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/24/135572911/first-listen-the-antlers-burst-apart#playlist