avantpost

Thought you did well playing around with today’s Google Moog Doodle? Yeah, Brett’s got you beat. 

Jam of the Day:

SBTRKT - “Trials of the Past” (featuring Sampha) 

Though I like the more celebrated singles (“WIldfire” and “Ready Set Loop”) fromSBTRKT’s (Aaron James) recently released debut, “Trials of the Past” happens to be my favorite track. SBTRKT’s producing skills are top-shelf in “Trials” where glitchy, subdued microbeats meld with pastel synths. His seven collaborative efforts with vocalist Sampha lend a continuity to the whole album that feels familiar while still keeping it interesting. #GreatiTunesAlbumPurchases

What kind of f@ckery is this? So sad.

R.I.P. Amy Winehouse, 14 September 1983 - 23 July 2011.

Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek (Live)

The first time I heard this song, my friend Steve was driving me home from the bar. He put on this song and turned the volume on his stereo in his in 10 year-old Volkswagen station wagon all the way up. That’s the best way to listen to this song. You need a stereo with sufficient bass to capture the amazing effect of the vocoder on Imogen’s voice. The higher you turn up the volume the better it sounds as well — you’re surrounded by an endless chorus of British songstresses. 

Gold Panda - Fifth Avenue

This is a track that, every time it comes on the satellite radio, I look down at the display and shout to myself, “It’s Gold Panda!!” This is the kind of music I used to want to make with acoustic instruments. It’s so delicate it’s about to fall apart. 

Here, Gold Panda, an Essex lad whose surname is actually Panda, combines tiny, mosaic, microhouse samples with rhythmic glitch production. Excellent quiet starry night driving music. 

Nicolas Jaar - Colomb

Electronica producer Nicolas Jaar’s music might be the love-child of Erik Satie and Aphex Twin: plenty of well-produced electronic pops and crackles at a tempo that brings to mind lazy road trips with feet on the dash. I love Colomb’s mix of lo-fi hand claps and highly-produced synths. See Pitchfork’s interview with the 21-year old indie label owner who’s also a comparative lit major at Brown (well, of course he is) for more. Visit his SoundCloud for mixes.  

Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” is a potpourri of early ‘90’s personalities…plus Rebecca Black: A Critical Analysis

The second track and latest single from Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album is an eight–minute mega–video depicting a geeked–out Perry waking up after a wild house party. 

Things start getting interesting after a quiet evening of sudoku is interrupted by a neighboring lawn party organized by Rebecca Black along with modern–day Hanson and “Uncle” Kenny G. Then a brief retelling of She’s All That takes place where Perry is turned into a beauty, albeit ‘80’s fluorescent beauty, with the help of Black. There’s some Wii dancing, a surprisingly–convincing “Robot Dance” by Black, and a tenor sax–soloing “Uncle” Kenny G with house band, Hanson. The video also prominently features Darren Criss and Kevin McHale of Glee fame. Directed by Marc Klasfeld and Danny Lockwood, the video isn’t what I pictured for what has always been my favorite track from this album—I imagined a more upscale and adult video for this track, like if Black’s “Friday” video was set the the music of “Last Friday Night” but with obscene quantities of vodka—still the video is original and enjoyable, if predictable. I predict the single will do well. In addition, it looks like Rebecca Black won’t be fading into obscurity anytime soon.  

This dress could have been avoided if Kathleen had a sassy gay friend. 

nprfreshair:

fyeahoperasingers:

Soprano Kathleen Battle sings ‘Je veux vivre dans’ from Gounod’s ‘Romeo et Juliette.’  1988, and that’s James Levine conducting.

Say what you want about her attitude (or what she’s wearing), but you can’t deny that she can sing.

Tomorrow: conductor James Levine