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skyline

Music comes to our lives in different ways, whether we seek it out or by happenstance, and whether or not it stays and how we view it is determined by even more immeasurable variables still. Sitting on this flight back from New York City to San Francisco I think about the last few days and how I’ll remember this legendary trip, the complete details of which will only be shared by a select few.

I had come back to the city to DJ a wedding of two friends who were getting married on the Brooklyn waterfront with an absolutely gorgeous view of Manhattan. The wedding party and guests were seated to a selection of Mark Mothersbaugh instrumentals from Wes Anderson movies and the bride walked out to “Penelope’s Theme” by Nathan Jones – adorable and cute in all the ways you can’t get from a Chris Brown song.

After a short but moving ceremony, the newlyweds kissed triumphantly as The Kinks’ “Strangers” came on in celebration and they walked back down the aisle as husband and wife. It was, quite honestly, very touching and perfect for the occasion. But what really hit me was shortly afterwards, as the sun came down behind the massive city skyscrapers and the guests milled about waiting for dinner, I threw on “Sweet Disposition” by Temper Trap and in that moment something clicked in a way I hadn’t felt before about an already pretty epic song.

It’s an anti-thesis to everything that a wedding symbolizes (eternity, forever, commitment), but instead a celebration of just that one sweet moment. That brief period in time where things come together and it’s just… perfect. “Sweet Disposition” is a powerful song without any sort of context but that one moment, on that one dark evening in Brooklyn under the promising lights of Manhattan it entered into the realm of one of the Great Ones.

A dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs.. a moment of love

Oh, you....

Oh, you….

Well folks, I don’t want to get too long winded on this one. There are few things more exciting than when one of your favorite artists remixes another, scaled infinitely when it turns out absolutely perfect. Chrvches remixing MS MR, to me, falls under that categorization. And if either artist is one you haven’t heard yet, this is surely your vehicle to doing so.

HOT DAMN THIS REMIX IS AMAZING. Just had to get that out of my system.

Purity Ring live at The Independent 2013- San Francisco, CA

Purity Ring live at The Independent 2013- San Francisco, CA

You know who Purity Ring is. We don’t have to do that whole song and dance. Their debut album Shrines was one of our favorite albums of 2013 and just a few months ago they released this surprisingly (well, not so surprisingly) INCREDIBLE cover of Soulja Boy’s “Grammy.” Typically when the whole indie-band-covers-rapper thing goes down it’s very tongue in cheek, but in this case we have a laughably ironic track turned into something vulnerable and pretty. The cover has received so much traction that it makes regular appearances at live shows and fits in seamlessly with their repertoire.

"Is that a fly in my beer?"

“Is that a fly in my beer?”

Music is, by its nature, derivative and often times it’s easy to ascribe influences to a particular artist. Alt-J was a band last year that seemed to skirt any kind of label, even though some didn’t think they were as groundbreaking as promised (I disagree, but whateva). SPEAK is a band from Austin, Texas that comes to deliver on the promise of innovation and a fresh sound – having told the major label scene to kick rocks and do things their own way. What happened next is a track that goes all the places you didn’t expect it to go, and works in all the ways you didn’t think it could.

If that sounds like some seriously pretentious hipster bullshit I’m not even going to argue with you there, I get it. But even on your 3rd or 4th listen to “Peaks” will leave you happily scratching your head, wondering where on earth this came from. This is a band to pay attention to.

Oh, and according to Pigeons & Planes (who broke the track), they’ve got a video game coming alongside the album this summer? Art rock, indeed.

"Ugh, god, not another press photo"

“Ugh, god, not another press photo”

The Australians wanted to get in on the “sounds like Fleetwood Mac” party after the early success of Haim and now we have this brilliant new tune from The Preatures. In all fairness, they’ve had music on their Soundcloud account for over a year and when you hit the “sounds like Fleetwood Mac” nail as squarely on the head as they have, it cannot be denied. It may be a while before we get a full LP or an American tour date but you can get connected on their Facebook page.

Thanks to Neon Gold for the find.

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