Time for an update on what has been passing through my ears as of late. As always, these are albums that have stuck in my head and been replayed a number of times. The music that has moved me along the last few weeks. Any links I provide are not affiliate links or anything, I usually try and link either to the artists site or somewhere where you can hear the music and buy it at a good price. I write these because I love music and I love to share it… Sorry, but no album artwork this time around. Let me know if you miss it though, I may add it later…

South San Gabriel (Will Johnson)
I found this artist while looking though the archive at daytrotter.com and quickly found that he has a ton of music out under a few different project names. After picking up a couple of his solo albums under his own name I found South San Gabriel which is easily my favorite as of now. ‘The Carlton Chronicles’ is what first drew me in. The music is not unlike Bon Iver with more of a full band sound just to give you an idea of what it sounds like based on my last music recommendation. It’s an album best suited to be heard as a whole which I really like. The songs seems to work so well together I could not recommended specific songs as favorites and rather just encourage you to hear it as a complete album. Hmm, just read back what I wrote and it seems a bit confusing. Breaking that down a bit, its good. Buy it. Listen. Smile. Artist page

Clark
Clark must be one of the most un-appreciated electronic musicians I know of. For whatever reason reviewers tend to pass him off as another Aphex Twin duplicate, those sorts of reviews really really bug me. It just shows me how little the reviewer knows about the genera. Clark has recently released an album called Turning Dragon that, from what I understand, was constructed from loose tracks and ideas that did not work on his last full length. While this new release has been marketed as though it would be great for the dance floor I personally dont see how its all that much more suited for it than any of his other albums. The beats themselves and the energy is just a little more straight forward on this release is all. I still see it as a finely tuned lot of songs. This music fits within the traditional crunchy feeling of his previous releases but as I said, pushes the beat more to the forefront of your attention than some of his previous albums and only slightly. I love his approach to his songwriting, it has a depth that you just don’t see much in electronic music and I cant get enough of it. So it goes without saying that I recommend this album for anyone who doesn’t mind a bit of a sharp edge to their dance tracks. Play it loud and sing along, and by sing along I don’t mean sing I mean… Artist Site (album preview tracks on that page)

Kelpe
While checking bleep.com for new releases I came across an artist called Kelpe and his new album Ex-Aquarium and quickly fell for his blend of live drums and acoustic sounds with a subtle funk vibe that left me wanting to dance along. I found a copy of it online to give it a go and fell for it even more prompting me to shell out the extra money it took to get it imported from the UK rather than just buy the digital release. I found this album to be danceable but not really in a way thats in your face. Its a great mesh of organic sounds and samples with thick synth bass lines and compositions that build up and always leave you somewhere different than where you started. I will go ahead and add the player from bleep.com below this one so you can listen here. Check out Shipwreck Glue, Skylla, and Silver Nutkin, and the masterful use of tremolo on Half Broken Harp. These are the songs that sucked me in at least… (also, artist site link here)

Vampire Weekend
I dont need to say much about these guys. I really did not expect much of this band and wrote them off as just a bunch or hyped up indie pop, that is until I caught myself humming along a song that I heard of theres and decided to listen closer and found myself getting hooked. Yes, you wont find a lot of depth here, just catchy simple pop but something about it cheers me up and only time will tell when I will get tired of it but I thought I would mention it here all the same because it is something that has frequented my players as of late. Artist Site

Death Is Nothing To Fear (Spectral Sound)
Filling in my straight forward dance music cravings as of late the Death is Nothing to Fear series from the Spectral Sound label (Ghostly International) has gotten me covered. Here you will find a collection of minimal techno that, if you can get into such things, will get you moving in no time. Label Site

Sleepingdog
A friend of mine saw this group open up the show for Iron and Wine in Brussels a few weeks ago and suggested I check them out and so I did and I found a great album of subtle songs nearly as minimal as the Daisuke Miyatani album I mentioned a couple of weeks ago here on 50ft only add singing to the mix. Here you will find sparse instrumentation and whispery singing gentle enough to lull you to sleep. Listening I was reminded of an old favorite, Corina Repp. The name of the album I have is Polar Life and I believe it is a fairly recent release and is worth checking out for those of you who love quiet minimal music as much as I do. Artist Site

Nick Jaina
One of my favorite small labels that I have enjoyed since their early days as a label is Hush Records based out of the North West US and always seems to find a unique batch or artists holding a similar gentle aesthetic that I usually enjoy a lot. I recently checked there site to see what was new and came across an album called Wool by Nick Jaina and after hearing the free mp3 they had on their site I went ahead and took a chance and ordered the album from them. Although I have only had it a few days I find that I really enjoy it. A piano heavy album that feels almost like watching a movie to hear. It has a theatrical sort of a feel to it not unlike Tom Waits only not as gritty. It has a nice swing that does a good job of calming me down somehow. Label Site
(Random update: Noticed I was quoted on Hush’s website which prompted me to re read what I had written here about this album and laughed to myself as I wish I had been a bit more clearly spoken on this post, ha. At any rate, a follow up to my thoughts on the record after hearing it more, still a frequent player in my ears and I stand by my comments of its theatrical elements, I find its the perfect album to put on a good pair of headphone, close your eyes, and experience. Seriously though..)
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Well this list is starting to stretch a bit long and I think I have covered most of what I wanted to for now at least. For those of you who read these posts I hope you find something new to check out and enjoy it! There is one other odd song I will mention which is on Nine Inch Nails new self released 36 song instrumental album Called Ghosts. Overall the album drags often but I came across this one song that I really loved which is a really quiet piano piece that has a really nice feel to it. Although it is an instrumental I find myself singing along to it and making up words to go along with it as I hear it. So if you feel like taking a chance on it and have $5 to spend you can pick up all 36 songs in digital format on his site.Thats all for now, as usual, all the best and I will see you next time…