I’ve been a fan of Ray Barbee the early pioneer of “street skating” since I can remember but, just recently I was introduced to Ray Barbee the talented musician. Ray’s sound is full of seemingly free flowing improv, lo-fi vintage drums, warm note scales and jazzy xylophones. I now want winter to quickly end.


Enjoy!




Moment By Moment

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Triumphant Procession

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In Full View

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An Evening with Josh Harmony, Ray Barbee & Christian Hosoi

Epicly Later’d - Ray Barbee

This a super small music post of course but, I just had to share The XX!


I was introduced to The XX after seeing them on xlr8r.com “Artists to Watch”. Their sound is simple, clean, sexy and so effective. The video for “Crystalised” comes across genuine and sincere. Just 4 bands members standing super close to each other with their backs up against a wall, it’s perfect.


Enjoy!




The XX - Crystalised

The XX - Basic Space (Sampha Remix)

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Download This Track

“Phantogram” previously named “Charlie Everywhere” is the collaboration of artists Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel and self describe themselves as “a culmination of unique urban influenced rhythms, and psychedelic melodies, with combined technology and organic texture
- Tripwire


If you put J Dilla, Tree Wave, School of Seven Bells , Black Moth Super Rainbow & Portishead in blender you’d get the sound of Phantogram. Their sound is a combination of everything I enjoy in trip hop, psychedelic vocals, and buzzing electronic basslines.




Enjoy!




Phantogram - Mouthful Of Diamonds

Phantogram - Mouthful Of Diamonds

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Phantogram - As Far As I Can See

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Phantogram - 917 When I’m Small

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My bud Tim Rosa mentioned to me the other day that Little Dragon’s newest release “Machine Dreams” was amazing, man he was right! Little Dragon’s singer Yukimi Nagano is a Swedish-Japanese vocalist and has a singing style somewhat reminiscent of Santogold but, only a thousand times better (I can’t stand Santogold)! I won’t be surprised if Little Dragon blows up here shortly because they are amazingly talented in all regards. Daedelus’s track “Admit Defeat” comes from his 2005 EP “Throw a Fit”. It’s a beautiful track that at moments breaks free with melody but then quickly switches gears into broken cuts and samples. Porn Sword Tobacco’s track “The Lavalife” is one that requires close attention when listening to in order to appreciate the subtle song progression. It’s definitely mood music.

Enjoy!




Little Dragon : Blinking Pigs

Low budget feel but, works so well with the song. Doesn’t help if you’re sexy as hell!





Daedelus rocking out with his home made bitbox

The first time I saw Daedelus live was here in Sacramento, CA along with Tycho and LED Soundsystem. At the time I’d never seen a bitbox used before and after Daedelus set up using only his laptop and bitbox I was blown away! Here’s an example of how he destroys it!







Little Dragon - Blinking Pigs

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Little Dragon - My Step

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Daedelus - Admit Defeat

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Porn Sword Tobacco - The Lavalife

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My fellow design bud Demetre Arges dropped a track on me today that blew my mind. The perfect sound and vibe for the current weather here in Sacramento, CA. Mayer has an authentic soul sound that could fool you into thinking it was roughly 30 years old. It’s refreshing hear music that stays true to it’s roots but, at the same time brings something unique to the table. Combine this sound with some Southern California skating and you’ve got pure gold! Someone grab me some shaved ice, I’m gonna chill in the shade for a while.


Enjoy!




Mayer Hawthorne - Maybe So, Maybe No

Interview with Mayer Hawthorne

Mayer Hawthorne - Maybe So, Maybe No

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Mayer Hawthorne - Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out

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Wow. This band is awesome!


This Brooklyn based trio is comprised of twin brothers Christoph Hochheim (guitar, vocals), Anton Hochheim (live drums) and frontman Kurt Feldman. Their sound is comprised of Cocteau Twins shoegaze guitars, crusty 8-bit drum effects and airy vocals which all make for a heavily layered sun drenched dreamy sound. Get more info on The Depreciation Guild at Kanine Records or at their official site. Oh, and I love the usage of Adobe Illustrator’s simple 3D shapes used for the album art!


Enjoy!






The Depreciation Guild - “Dream About Me”

Directed by Jack Ferry

The Depreciation Guild - Dream About Me

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The Depreciation Guild - Butterfly Kisses

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The Depreciation Guild - Sky Ghosts

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I’ve been meaning to add some music posts for a while so, here ya go.


I feel a tad old to be listening to Passion Pit’s “The Reeling” but, man it’s really good. I’m a sucker for basically anything with great synths. Metro Area’s “Soft Hoop” is a deep house classic from 2002. I had no idea that the Kelley Polar Quartet played all the strings! It all makes sense now. Nautilis’s track “Why’s It Got to Be So Damn Tough” is off his 2001 album, “Are You An Axolotl”. Nice mellow IDM hip-hop. I actually went snowboarding with Nautilis in South Lake Tahoe a few years ago, he’s a very humble and talented dude.


Enjoy!




Kelley Polar Quartet Live

Passion Pit - The Reeling

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Metro Area - Soft Hoop

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Nautilis - Why’s It Got to Be So Damn Tough

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Nujabes - Aruarian Dance

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Lusine can easily be thought of one of Ghostly International’s premiere artists backed with an amazing discography. Moderat consists of 3 electronica artists (the name should give you a hint), anyways it’s a huge soundtrack. The track “3 Minutes Of” is my “jock rock“, at 1:48 I’m ready to go! Breakbot remixes Data’s “Aerius Light” with his distinctive slappy basslines and trademark warm synth sound. Modeselektor’s ” Vote or Die” comes off their 2005 album “Hello Mom!”. Classic IDM sound.




Enjoy!

Moderat - Intro







Lusine - Two Dots

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Data - Aerius Light (Breakbot Remix)

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Modeselektor - Vote or Die

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Moderat - 3 Minutes Of

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