All I wanna do is live in ecstasy.

When John Gourley, the man behind indie-rock powerhouse Portugal. The Man, was asked how he wanted his next album to feel, he said:

"We just wanted to make something that was The Beatles meets Wu-Tang." (Pigeons & Planes)

Well, they accomplished something close to their goal with Evil Friends, a wholly amazing album. Their most pop-centric album to date, Evil Friends was the product of the band working with producer extraordinaire Brian Burton AKA Danger Mouse. This is important because Danger Mouse has done amazing work on albums for Gnarls Barkley (which he was half of, by the way), The Black Keys, Gorillaz, and Beck. With his feet firmly planted in both the indie rock and hip-hop worlds, Danger Mouse was the perfect man to lead PTM down this road. The most potent pop concoction they created in the lab was their "let's get famous so we don't have to work" anthem, "Purple, Yellow, Red, and Blue."

Considering Portugal. The Man's hip-hop sensibilities, producer/mash-up artist Terry Urban decided to bridge the gap with a mash-up album called Portugal. The Man & Friends combining PTM and some of his favorite rappers (Jay-Z, Kanye, Biggie, and J. Cole). The entire five-track album is up for free download on his soundcloud.

My personal favorite is "Purple Night," which mashes up "Purple, Yellow, Red, and Blue" with Jay-Z's "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" off his Dynasty: Roc La Familia album. It manages to keep the essence of the PTM track while adding the swagger of a younger pre-Bey Hova.

There's no sun today, but, hey, I'm out to play.

It's been a long and fruitful few weeks out in LA. I don't have a lot to tell about GRAMMY Camp or the days thereafter. I'm just looking forward to getting back in the swing of things here on the blog.

New music has been flying in. I'm working on a review for Bad News Bears, a possible collaboration with All Things Go, continuing the concert series, doing an interview or two, and, of course, my scavenging never stopped.

A quick sample, here: Sombear's debut album dropped last Tuesday and it's everything I wanted. That's right. Brad Hale, the drummer for the Now, Now is back with a full album of electropop and chillwave goodness. If you need to be reminded what Sombear sounds like, try to imagine if CHVRCHES were led by a guy...or just check out my first post on them. The songs range from ethereal, skying pop to laid-back chillwave. It's a great summer album and there's a free stream of the entire album over at Consequences Of Sound that I highly recommend.

Bonus! He'll be playing the following tour dates with Dessa from Doomtree:

9/14 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
9/15 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
9/17 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
9/19 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
9/21 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose
9/22 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
9/23 – Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
9/26 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar <------- I'll be there (probably)
9/27 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement

Recommended Tracks: "Incredibly Still", "LA" (post title lyrics), "Love You In The Dark", "The Good"

You wait for the sun to make the sky.

St. Lucia, the nom-de-tune of electropop artist Jean-Philip Grobler, is known throughout the blogosphere for his sunshine-laced synths and breeze-laden bass lines. Born and bred in South Africa, Grobler grew up singing in a traveling choir and spending his free time singing along to MJ.

The self-titled debut EP made waves with the single "All Eyes On You," which became nationally known by being featured in campaigns for both Victoria's Secret and Taco Bell.



With his first full length record, When The Night, on its way in October from Neon Gold Records, St. Lucia is poised to make a splash on the big stage with the release of his first single "Elevate". The song absolutely oozes summer and should take its rightful place on your seasonal playlist.

Your thoughts surrounding me

Honestly, I don't know how Dan Croll hasn't taken over the world. The Liverpudlian has charm out the wazoo, he's good looking, and he had the skills to be a professional rugby player until an injury forced his early retirement. On top of all that, he writes, plays, and sings music that toes the line between electropop and folk.

He first surfaced in September of last year with his single "From Nowhere", which leans more to the pop side of things, and then putting out the "From Nowhere" - EP.



Since then he's come storming back with the single and video for the much more folky "Compliment Your Soul". The video features him and his band jamming out in a museum while the horns and happiness kick in around them.



Just this week he dropped another tune, "In/Out", which hits much more on the electropop side of things. It's more than worth a listen. Get your ears on this before everybody catches on.

Cocaine 80's

Cocaine 80's, a hip-hop collective, was started by No I.D. and regularly features the awesomeness of Common, James Fauntleroy, Rob Kinelski, Kevin Randolph, Steve Wyreman, and Makeba. It's understandable that this isn't a super recognizable list of names, but you really should familiarize yourself with this group because of the following reasons:

1. All of their EP's (there's four) are available as free downloads. That particular link has all of the downloads bundled.

 2. They make feel-good chilled out alt-R&B when led by James Fauntleroy. Check out "Unchain Me/Love 3x".



3. Do I have to say that everything they've ever released is free again?

While there was still sense in my mind.

Smallpools has finally released a second song. And it's doozy. It's called "Mason Jar" and it completely recaptures the original magic of "Dreaming".



These LA dudes conjure up comparisons to the likes of Passion Pit and Two Door Cinema Club, with vocals that sound a little like fun. These guys have nigh on infinite pop potential and their upcoming debut EP release (JULY 16TH!!!) is marked on my calendar in red.

Also, I'll be seeing them on their first ever live tour which happens to actually stop within reasonable driving distance of me. So...you could say I'm a little psyched.

Introducing: How Sad

The name How Sad doesn't really fit a band that's just so damn happy sounding. These Montreal peoples got together in early 2012, made a name for themselves in Canada, then set about touring with awesome peeps like Darwin Deez (OMG LOVE) and Purity Ring (SWOON). Their shrink-wrapped synth pop is summer-ready, or at least the one song they've released to the interwebs is. That song is called "Indian Summer" and it does not disappoint. It's sunny as all get out, so you should probably put on AT LEAST some SPF 30 to avoid a burn.



"Indian Summer" is the first single and title track off their upcoming debut EP which will be coming out in August. These guys will be popping up on your radar soon enough, why not get a head start?