Faronheit | A Chicago Centric Music Blog

The hottest music from Chicago & beyond

This Week in Music: 1-30-15

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On 01/30/2015

In music, music festivals, music news, music videos, this week in music

Every Friday, instead of sharing downloads and Soundcloud streams, we take a quick look back at the many other music-related things that happened this week in a segment that’s appropriately called “This Week in Music.” If there was a great or noteworthy music video that was released, it’ll be featured here. If an artist gave a particularly noteworthy interview, that might pop up in the links below. The same goes for interesting articles related to music, documentaries about bands, and just generally whatever might strike my fancy. If you’ve got something fun or important related to an artist that you think should be mentioned here, shoot me an email! All the information you need is in the sidebar on the right. So here’s this week’s wrap-up. Click the links below, and you’ll be off!

Music Video: Hundred Waters – Show Me Love (Nicole Miglis Acoustic)

Watch a mini-documentary about Panda Bear and the making of his new record

Music Video: Courtney Barnett – Pedestrian At Best

YouTube Audio Stream: Lower Dens – To Die in L.A.

Music Video: Mourn – Your Brain Is Made Of Candy

Watch Zola Jesus perform her song “Nail” live outside during a blizzard in NYC

Music Video: Kanye West – Only One (ft. Paul McCartney)

Tickets for the 2015 Pitchfork Music Festival are on sale now!

Music Video: Purity Ring – Push Pull

Music Video: Run the Jewels – Lie, Cheat, Steal

Pick Your Poison: Thursday 1-29-15

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On 01/29/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Allow me to make some recommendations as your journey through this Thursday set of Pick Your Poison. There’s some delightful tracks from Boudoir Noir, Colleen Green, Mellow Yellow, MY BODY< Prima Donna and Shannon Wardrop. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Big Sean (ft. Drake & Kanye West), Butch Walker, Ex Cops, Follakzoid, Los Angeles Police Department, Natalie McCool, Santiparro (ft. Kyp Malone) and Shy Girls (ft. Antwon). Arc Rev One – DON’T TRIP (nothing is real)

Boudoir Noir – Change It Up

Colleen Green – TV

Hidden in the Sun – Salt and the Spring

Humans – Follow (Phil Moffa Remix)

Mellow Yellow – Cloverleaf

MY BODY – Make It Good

NIKO IS – 35,000 Feet

Prima Donna – Living in Sin

Sam Lao – Money Money

Shannon Wardrop – I Wanna Be Your Lady

Thoughts Detecting Machines – New Day

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Album Review: Panda Bear – Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper [Domino]

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On 01/29/2015

In album review, BNM, music, music videos


85Heat WaveNoah Lennox aka Panda Bear has been making music for a long time. Nine albums and a bunch more EPs with Animal Collective, and counting Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, five solo full lengths as well. That’s a wealth of material, made all the more interesting by how his sonic and lyrical themes have evolved over the last 15 or so years. The one thing he’s never been is complacent, and that’s served him particularly well on landmark records such as 2007’s Person Pitch and 2009’s Animal Collective release Merriweather Post Pavilion. Though each new piece of music stands alone as its own unique statement, we have reached a point where there are certain qualities that define a Panda Bear song. Things like samples, reverb, psychedelia and overdubbed vocal harmonies have become par for the course, it’s just the way they’re presented that has changed.

Following the dark, dub-infested minimalism that was 2011’s Tomboy, it’s something of a relief that Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper is a bit more well-rounded, albeit still quite serious affair. Singles like “Mr. Noah” and “Boys Latin” bounce, swirl and ensnare you with their hooks before you have the chance to realize you’ve been sucked in, the words often so obscured with reverb that you’re never fully sure what they’re saying but sing along anyways. That’s part of the charm. Yet when a phrase does come across with clarity, as on the latter track with the line, “Dark cloud has descended again,” it turns a seemingly joyful moment to one of dread. Such is the dichotomy that permeates much of the record, as Lennox embraces the love and serenity that growing older and having a family can bring, while at the same time wrestling with the fear of dying and leaving them all behind. The album title itself spells that out explicitly when the lyrics don’t.

At it’s heart however, Grim Reaper seeks to establish an overall focus on good triumphing over evil and finding the pleasures in life, one day at a time. The two tracks at the center of the record, “Come to Your Senses” and “Tropic of Cancer,” take a break from the frenetic sound collages that dominate much of the album to offer moments of sobering contemplation and outright beauty. On the former, Lennox chants, “Are you mad?” over and over, each time with a slightly different intonation, as if he’s trying to suss out what those three words even mean before finally deciding, “Yeah, I’m mad.” With the latter, harps and pianos plink with a heavenly sort of grace, as Lennox considers life after death and in doing so revives some of the memories of his own departed father from more than a decade ago. It’s a bit of a callback to his 2004 solo debut Young Prayer, which was created as a tribute to him.

Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper probably won’t be remembered as the best Panda Bear album, though it is his most accessible and all-encompassing to date. Thanks to its meticulous sequencing and reflective themes, it’s the sort of record that takes you on a journey and leaves you off in a much better place than where you started, even if it took some serious chaos to get there. Chalk up another big win for Mr. Noah.

Buy Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper from Domino Records

Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 1-28-15

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On 01/28/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Happy mid-week to you all. You’re not going to want to miss some great tracks this week from And the Kids, Book Club, The Capture Effect, My Midnight Heart, Sorren Maclean and Their Wedding. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from American Wrestlers, Dan Lissvik, Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst, In Tall Buildings, Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders (ft. Sharon Van Etten), Shlohmo, Yowler and more.

And the Kids – No Countries

Book Club – The Way It Seems

The Capture Effect – SKYwave

David August – Her Myth

E.A.S.Y. – Coming Around Again

James Nasty – Good Perereca

Mutado Pintado – Keep On Flying

My Midnight Heart – Drown

NewYorkers – Miracle

Quiet Quiet Band – Battery Human

Sorren Maclean – Rows & Rows of Boxes (Acoustic)

Their Wedding – I Tried to Leave You

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Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 1-27-15

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On 01/27/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

There’s some great downloads in this set from How to Dress Well & TALA, Island Apollo, Kid Creme, Passenger Peru, Simian Ghost and Tropics. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Andy Butler, Calexico, Diet Cig, Glen Hansard, Mikal Cronin, Mount Eerie, Slutever, Torres and more.

Draag – Gown

Eaten By Television – Darlene

How to Dress Well & TALA – The One (HTDW Version)

Island Apollo – Lion Eyes

Kid Créme – Sugarman

The Longwalls – Home

Monsters As Humans – Gravity

Nick Lutsko – Predator

Passenger Peru – The Best Way to Drown

signal:noise & Jay Fay – Trunk

Simian Ghost – Echoes of Songs (For Trish Keenan)

Tropics – Let Go (Little Dragon cover)

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Pick Your Poison: Monday 1-26-15

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On 01/26/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Hope your weekend was great! Highlights of today’s Pick Your Poison include tracks from The American Spirit, Aphex Twin, Ki: Theory, La Bete Blooms, Radio Birds and WOOF. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Body Language, Hurry, Kate Tempest, King Woman, Marriages, Sarah Bethe Nelson and Vetiver. A.G. Cook also does a killer remix of the new Charli XCX (ft. Rita Ora) single, and Shigeto remixes a track from Hundred Waters.

The American Spirit – Wait For the Night

Aphex Twin – Diskat ALL Prepared1mixed [snr2mix]

Doe – Julia Survived

Gosh Pith – Window

Ki:Theory – The Way It Was

La Bete Blooms – Stay Away

Natasha Kmeto – The Only Time (Nine Inch Nails cover)

Radio Birds – Hold On Me

Sigrid Zeiner – Overload

Sommeil – Touch

VUURWERK – Wakening (ft. Climb X)

WOOF. – Hear Me Breathing

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This Week In Music: 1-23-15

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On 01/23/2015

In music, music news, music videos, this week in music

Every Friday, instead of sharing downloads and Soundcloud streams, we take a quick look back at the many other music-related things that happened this week in a segment that’s appropriately called “This Week in Music.” If there was a great or noteworthy music video that was released, it’ll be featured here. If an artist gave a particularly noteworthy interview, that might pop up in the links below. The same goes for interesting articles related to music, documentaries about bands, and just generally whatever might strike my fancy. If you’ve got something fun or important related to an artist that you think should be mentioned here, shoot me an email! All the information you need is in the sidebar on the right. So here’s this week’s wrap-up. Click the links below, and you’ll be off!

YouTube Audio Stream: Burial – Temple Sleeper

Music Video: Ex Hex – Don’t Wanna Lose

Stream an 80-minute set from Panda Bear, recorded last May at Brooklyn’s Warsaw

Music Video: Interpol – Everything Is Wrong

Jack White is getting his own Topps baseball card

Music Video: Viet Cong – Silhouettes

David Byrne is staging a color guard show ft. performances from St. Vincent, tUnE-yArDs, How to Dress Well, Kelis, Dev Hynes and more

Music Video: The Weeknd – Earned It (NSFW)

Watch an interview between Sleater-Kinney and the girls of Broad City

Music Video: Charli XCX ft. Rita Ora – Doing It

Read Killer Mike’s essay about Martin Luther King Jr.

Music Video: Modest Mouse – Coyotes

Pick Your Poison: Thursday 1-22-15

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On 01/22/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Some delightful downloads in this set of music come from Dan Deacon, Grand Lake Islands, Joey Bada$$, Taylor Locke, Tep No and Valise. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Ava Luna, The Babies, Daniel Rossen, Elliot Moss, Marching Church, The Mountain Goats, Quarterbacks, Ron Flieger and The Sonics.

Annalibera – Black Cat White Cat

Dan Deacon – Feel the Lightning

The Fraidies – Never Love Again (It’s Doubtful)

Grand Lake Islands – Monterey

Hidden in the Sun – San Francisco Blues

Joey Bada$$ – Born Day (AquariUS)

Little Daylight – Be Long (Twice As Nice Remix)

Mackenzie Shivers – Orphan Song

Taylor Locke – Time Stands Still

Tep No – The Last Ones Standing

Valise – Dialogue

Woolymammoth – Ridoline

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The Class of 2015: 10 Artists to Watch

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On 01/21/2015

In class of 2015, lists, mp3, music

classof2015
It seems like I say this every year, but there’s absolutely no way that the Class of 2015 will be able to top the Class of 2014 in terms of overall success. If you’re looking at statistics and equations, it’s pretty much a mathematical impossibility. And you know what? That’s perfectly okay. In fact, I’ve gone out of my way to select artists for this year’s class who will probably not catapult to the top of the charts and get nominated for copious amounts of Grammys. It’s never been a popularity contest, even if some of the artists have become massively popular anyways. The goal of the “Class of…” project is to shine a light onto bands and musicians who are deserving and likely to receive strong raises in their profiles over the course of any given calendar year. The expectation is that they have the talent and promise to do great things, of course whether or not they actually accomplish them is another matter entirely, as a few have turned out to be duds or late bloomers. Either way, all of the 10 artists named are kept under careful watch by yours truly, and you’ll be able to find out about their latest and greatest happenings for the next 12 months right here on the site with periodic updates as to their progress.

I’m tremendously excited to reveal the Class of 2015 below. While the goal is to offer up a diverse array of talents across many different genres, I couldn’t help but notice a small theme with a majority of this year’s class. Should projections prove true, 2015 will be a big year for 70’s style folk singer-songwriters. If David Bowie’s glam rock era helped define 2014’s main sound, the intimate and personal songs of Nick Drake and Harry Nilsson may be where we’re headed next. I mean, if Sufjan Stevens can pop his head up from wherever he’s been hiding to announce a new album that’s a “return to his folk roots,” then like the groundhog it must be a signal of things to come. Rest assured though that everything below is not exclusively for bedroom headphone listening. So without further ado, let’s jump right in and meet the Class of 2015!

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Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 1-21-15

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On 01/21/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

There’s some great downloads in this set you won’t want to miss from 8th Grader, Gorgeous Bully, The Last 24, Riva Ridge and Tim Myers. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Bjorn Torske, Carmen Villain, Jose Gonzalez, KOPPS, Marika Hackman, Mew, Santiparro (ft. Will Oldham) and St. Vincent.

8th Grader – Morro Bae

Boudoir Noir – Summer Skin

Gorgeous Bully – Dumb Ideals

Human in Bloom – All the Fish (Live)

ISTILLFEELIT – Perfume

The Last 24 – StrangerInMyHead

Love in the Dark – Colorblind Mastermind

Reighnbeau x BK Beats – That Look

Riva Ridge – Runs Deep

Tim Myers – March Hills to Climb

TKDJS – Sellout

Yokan System – Klee

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Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 1-20-15

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On 01/20/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

The site was “off” for Martin Luther King Day yesterday, but we’re back in style today. Highlights in this set come from Arca, Chromatics, KNTRLR, Lowin and Radical Dads. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Bells Atlas (covering Future Islands), Bils., Cheatahs, Oscar, Sannhet, Sharon Van Etten, Yak and more.

Andrew Oliver – Desert Sun

Arca – Sheep

AViVAA – Guilded Cage

Chromatics – The Bell

HiRollers – Only

Hollywood Principle – Find Me Out

KNTRLR – XXX

Löwin – Best Laid Plans

Matthew O’Neill – Campfire Cook

Maybe the Moon – Two Birthdays

Radical Dads – Don’t Go

Tyler Nail – San Antonio

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Pick Your Poison: Thursday 1-15-15

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On 01/15/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

You’re not going to want to miss downloads in this set from Black Dave, Hanni El Khatib & Freddie Gibbs, Kin Cayo, Project Pablo, Twin Wave and We Do This. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from C Duncan, Dinner, In Tall Buildings, Jason Molina (ft. Will Oldham & Alasdair Roberts), Jonathan Emile (ft. Kendrick Lamar), Marika Hackman, Mikky Ekko and Vision Fortune.

Black Dave – Respect the Intellect

Book Club – Fallen Leaves

Green Sky Accident – Sundrench

Hanni El Khatib & Freddie Gibbs – Satin Black

Irontom – In the Day and the Dark

Kin Cayo – Our Ship

Misteur Valaire – Known By Sight (Beat Market Remix)

Project Pablo – Movin’ Out

Tony Quattro – Zulu Carnival

Twin Wave – Feel You

The Velocity Gospel – Sisyphus

We Do This – I’m Not Going Anywhere

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Class of 2014: A Look Back

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On 01/14/2015

In class of 2014, lists, music


It seems like with each new year, the “Class of…” project gets stronger. That’s pretty much by design, though when I first introduced the Class of 2014 I wasn’t so confident it was going to work out. The Class of 2013 had set the bar almost impossibly high, what with now household names like Haim, Chvrches, Little Green Cars and Savages all part of that universe. Yet this past year’s group of 10 artists not only managed to hold their own, but one in particular rode the train to stardom and the third biggest selling record of 2014. And to think that when I made the introduction last Januaryu nobody had any idea who this artist was, to the point where a show was booked for a tiny 350 capacity venue and it took awhile to sell out. I’ll tell you all about that, and recap how the other nine artists in the Class of 2014 did after the jump!

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Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 1-14-15

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On 01/14/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Highlights of this mid-week edition of Pick Your Poison include tracks from Baby Baby, Best Girl Athlete, Paperhaus, Puzzlecut and Warning Light. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Cylinder, Dutch Uncles, Grooms, Inventions, Moonbabies, Moon King, A Place to Bury Strangers and Tsembla.

Baby Baby – Take Me Home

Best Girl Athlete – Talk

A Cat – Rip Out

Death By Icon – Conundrum (Remix)

Draag – Chair

Fuji Kureta – Open Up

Little Lapin – Magnet Eyes

Paperhaus – So Slow

Pink Feathers ft. SPEAK – The Feeling’s Gone (Eau Claire Remix)

Puzzlecuts – The End Is A Vicious Thing

Sirius Blvck – Tribe Quest (ft. Oreo Jones & DMA)

Warning Light – Buried in Ice, Thinking of You

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Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 1-13-15

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On 01/13/2015

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Don’t miss highlights in this set from Acid Baby Jesus, Chastity Belt, Diamond Rugs, Durante, Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love and Miss Kenichi. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream cuts from Django Django, Iron & Wine, Joe Pug, Marika Hackman, Phosphorescent, Wand, Waxahatchee and Years & Years.

Acid Baby Jesus – Ayahuasca Blues

Chastity Belt – Time to Go Home

Diamond Rugs – Voodoo Doll

Digital Tape Machine – Beast

Dream Circle – School of Life (ft. Johnny Voltik)

Durante – Full Moon

Freeweights – True to My Game

Iren – Ready for Love

Jasmine Jordan – Best I Can (ft. Habit Blcx)

Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love – Burrow

Miss Kenichi – Blanket

TNGHT – Acrylics (RL Grime Edit)

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