Laying in the Austin Grass: Tiger Waves

I've only been to Austin once, and for less than 48 hours. I had experienced, the day before, a two hour delay in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, which necessarily transformed my perspective into that of a caged animal.

It's a shame, then, that my 2011 visit left no opportunity to see the Austin in the way that James Marshall of Tiger Waves sees the city. He formed the band in early 2011 with Chicagoan Reid Comstock, who moved down to the second-largest state after months of collaboration. I want to see the Austin of arpeggios over soft snare drums, of soft-spoken lyrics for a late spring afternoon. I'll go back someday - just a day and a half's drive south. For now, I get a glimpse through Tiger Waves "A Smirk and a Smile."

Evening Fog Special: The Knocks Remix Goldroom

The Knocks gave us a real treat with their remix of Goldroom feat. Mereki Beach's "Only You Can Show Me." It's a bouncing disco ditty with some fading in and out and a sing-along vocal hook. Per the usual with the Manhattan duo, (who themselves admit "Hey, we got the magic"), the synthesizer that carries the beat has such an edible texture. This ain't no fluff.

Goldroom, aka LA's Josh Legg, has made quite a name for himself both in and outside the blogosphere in recent months. Be sure to give his mixes a listen as the above link, too.

Bass Kick of the Week: Random Access Memories (Vanderway Edit)

Something new on Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories" for our ears to chew on this morning. The Versailles duo has always understood that good chords make good dance music. And Vanderway of the L'ordre collective understands that fat bass and a well-timed hi-hat make good funk.

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere 3

The clock just hit five in:

Kiritimati, Republic of Kiritimati

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

Papeete, French Polynesia

It's time for a cold one, wherever home might be, and a review of Prom Sawyer's favorite submissions since our last It's Five O'Clock Somewhere feature.











~Goodman is 22 year-old East Coaster Michael Evan Goodman's project, and it's tough to reduce his music to just a few sentences. "Dawdling" evokes the pluckiness of freak folk with the propensity for melody that catapulted names like The Morning Benders to success. I dig the song, but moreover, I love the attitude it captures.


Wolf Saga brings some bouncy electro - urban late night hallucinogenic electro - to the feature. I want to play this and drive all night through the fog. And I dig his intention, to make something that "people could just enjoy."


Funk LeBlanc scores another with his latest "Fire In The Sky" off the French independent label DiscoThrills Records. The disco connoisseur brings the early '80s back to life and more than holds his own among the best of the nu-disco producers out there. I'm happily absorbing everything he puts out.


Belgian Fog is Seattle's Robert Dale. He's inspired by the "unsaid things going on in our heads." Thus the complexity of "Wait for Help," both lyrically, rhythmically, and in the instrumentation. He writes, he records, he produces - the self-made artist. I hear a thousand paths converging in this track - from Caribou's psychadelia to Wolf Parade, and a thousand sounds between.

Stockholm's Last Lynx

The Eurasian Lynx is allegedly being reintroduced to Northern Europe. I don't know anything about that.

What I do know is that Last Lynx, a Stockholm quintet off of SoFo Records, seems to be introducing themselves quite well to the Scandinavian music scene, and to the Electric Mississippi as well. Their chief influences? 60's organ music and wolf howling.  I can hear a bit of both in "Luminous Blue," which is part Doors solo, part Western showdown, and on principle part Edward Sharpe. The texture on that organ is just ooh baby!

Can't Look Away: Maribou State Remixes George Maple's "Fixed"

In art, the impressionists reminded us that the sensation of viewing can often feel more real than realistic portrayal. That is to say, they suggest an image, or an emotion, and allow the viewer to make up the distance.

From the sweeping arpeggio that opens Maribou State's remix of George Maple's "Fixed," I couldn't help but feel a faint touch of Maurice Ravel and impressionist music. Which is to say, for me, that the remix suggests an emotion otherwise inexpressible. And there it is  - one of the most standout tracks I've heard all year. The Londoners' remix flows like water at play, or a potential lover sipping red wine on a train as the other disembarks.