Azealia Banks - Fuck Up The Fun
ScienZe & King I Divine - Happiness Is (featuring Sene, Blu & Britain Parker)
Big Baby Gandhi - American Experience
Locke Kaushal - Ninth Inning

DOWNLOAD FULL PLAYLIST HERE

1. Azealia Banks – Fuck Up The Fun
2. ScienZe & King I Divine – Happiness Is (featuring Sene, Blu & Britain Parker)
3. Big Baby Gandhi – American Experience
4. Locke Kaushal – Ninth Inning
5. Cam’ron – So Bad (featuring Yummy Bingham)
6. Death Grips – I’ve Seen Footage
7. Danny Brown – Grown Up
8. ScHoolboy Q – Blessed (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
9. SpaceGhostPurpp – No Evidence
10. Courtni Starr – Charlie Brown Teacher
11. Styles P – How I Fly [(Remix) featuring Avery Storm, Curren$y & Nitty Scott, MC)]
12. Vado – Badman (featuring Lana Del Rey)
13. Blaze Burna – Weed (featuring Devin The Dude & Smoke DZA)
14. Nas – The Don
15. Symphony – Do U Like That (featuring Daz Dillinger)
16. Ghost Loft – Blow

DOWNLOAD FULL PLAYLIST HERE

Savoire Adore - Dreamers (The Golden Pony Remix)
The Golden Pony - Find Our Gold

I have never heard Savoire Adore‘s “Dreamers”, nor do I ever intend to. For whatever reason, The Golden Pony‘s remix is enough for me. I could blame this on my weakness for dance music. I could blame this on the glass of white wine I just guzzled to deal with the heat… Or maybe it’s just plain great? Unclear! But I think it’s the wine.

Photo via: shebicycles

Motion Control - Rolling Shallow
Motion Control - It Feels Right
Motion Control - Departure

Motion Control is a mysterious new project by some girl I don’t know and the artist formerly known as Old Gold. I’ve been listening to them obsessively ever since a friend shot their tracks in my direction, mostly because I’ve been trying to figure out an accurate yet non-pretentious way to describe them. The best thing I can come up with is that their sound’s heavily routed in the 1980s, with one foot in freestyle and the other firmly lodged in Italo-disco.

Most likely, I have failed in both the non-pretentious and accurate department with that description, so let’s just put it this way—this is some really good stuff. You’ll like it. I swear!

Henric Wallmark of Heart-Sick Groans will be releasing his debut EP as Ghost Lake on THEM Records later this week. The six song set is a slight departure from the slick, pure-pop production of Heart-Sick Groans, as Wallmark ventures out into a mellower electro-acoustic style.

The EP, simply entitled Late Spring Morning Sunlight, lives up to its name in every respect. In fact, if you close your eyes tightly whilst listening, you can almost feel the warm rays soaking through your skin… Or maybe I’m making that up! All you really need to know is that these are some excellent, lullaby-like tracks, and they’re highly recommended by It’s The Money Shot. Highly recommended!

Photo credit: Henric Wallmark

Amanda Mair - Doubt
Amanda Mair - House
Amanda Mair - Sense

So far, Amanda Mair is three for three with her self-titled debut. All signs seem to indicate that the full ten-track album will knock socks off worldwide, thereby resulting in an awkwardly sock-less state of being for all citizens of the planet Earth. Enjoy your socks while you still can, folks! They’re gonna be gone before you have time to say goodbye.

Click through (or look below) to watch the music video for “Sense”:

Bears - Perfect Girl
Bears - The City Still
Bears - The City Still (Low in the Sky remix)

“I found the perfect girl, pretty as can be. I guess just not perfect for me.”

It took me approximately fifteen plays to truly listen to the lyrics of “Perfect Girl”. I’m not proud of this. But, but, but… On the surface level, it’s such an inoffensive, peppy indie-pop jam! If you’re not actually paying attention—which one might be prone to do whilst casually listening in their cubicle—you might fall victim to the song’s deceptively joyful vibe and carefree, Beach Boys-esque melodies.

Bears‘ Greater Lakes works, overall, because it’s a mostly depressing album that only sounds depressing half of the time. Well, less than half of the time. Though you might hit the doldrums hard on “Don’t Wait”, “I Don’t Have You on My Mind” and “I Can’t Make Things Right”, each is followed by something significantly more upbeat (including closing track “Until The Very End”, one of the album’s lone moment of genuine happiness).

The beauty of Greater Lakes is that it’s whatever you make of it. You can turn it on and soak in every single emotion, or simply bop and sway to the music. From the unapologetic hermits’ anthem “More Left Out” to the instant dance party of “From Good to Bad”, this is an album that takes you on a journey. That isn’t always the case in today’s current musical climate. Kudos to Bears for achieving this.

Photo credit: Jersey Knitter

Jordan Bolton - Love Was Always Cruel, It Just Wasn't Cruel To Me
Jordan Bolton - Black And Grey

Manchester’s Jordan Bolton makes indie-pop with an adult contemporary sensibility. That opening statement may sound like a backhanded compliment (or a downright insult if you’re super snobbish), but it’s an accurate description for his catchy, highly-hummable tunes. They sound like classics from the late nineties or early aughts. After a few listens, you almost feel like you’ve known these songs forever.

I kept thinking of Jack Johnson‘s “Flake” every time I listened to “Black And Grey”, while Bolton’s latest release “Love Was Always Cruel, It Just Wasn’t Cruel To Me” gives me a bit of a Joseph Arthur vibe. You can decide for yourself whether these comparisons are in any way accurate. Most likely, they are not! But at least I got you to listen to Jordan Bolton, and (hopefully) you will love it.

Good news! Y La Bamba is giving away their latest release Court The Storm for free. Bad news! It’s only available until 11:59pm PST, so you’re shit out of luck if you came across this post after today, March 1st. Thankfully, you should still be able to download the album’s lead single “Squawk” above, and stream one of the band’s favorite tracks “Ponce Pilato” below.

Did either of those strike your fancy? Fantastic! To claim your free copy of Court The Storm, follow @YLaBamba on Twitter and send out the following tweet: “Follow @YLaBamba and retweet this to get the new album #courtthestorm feat @NekoCase for free. exp 11:59pm PST Listen: http://snd.sc/AhS8ik”

Oops! I probably should have mentioned earlier that indie goddess Neko Case is a featured guest on the album’s title track. You can listen to it below. Of course, before you do so, please take note of the following tweet from Neko Case: “Just so you know @ylabamba are THE BALLS.”

THE BALLS! That is all. Thank you for your time, dearest readers.

Photo credit: Ingrid Renan

CANCER KILLING GEMINI – IN NINE MONTHS I’M FUCKED

There’s a great post on Cancer Killing Gemini‘s blog called “5 Reasons Why Straight People Should Come To The Big Queer Rock Show”. The fifth reason is quite simple, but particularly important when deciding whether to attend a rock show—”The Music Will Be Amazing”. Here’s what the band had to say on that matter:

“From Grygiel’s stripped down acoustic set, to Oilhead’s dance-rock assault, to the rock/electronic clusterf*ck of Cancer Killing Gemini,  to the high-octane rock of Full Body Anchor, it’s a one-time music collection that can’t be missed.”

Beyond helping an amazing non-profit organizaton (and the awesome raffle prizes), this is, perhaps, the most exciting thing about the BIG QUEER ROCK SHOW. The artists involved are all producing such diverse sounds, and some of them are even doing it within their own set list. “Rock/electronic clusterfuck” is an apt description for Cancer Killing Gemini. The band has been releasing a new song through their website since January 2011, and you never really know what to expect. The last two, which currently includes “In Nine Months I’m Fucked”, are always available as a free download.

Rumor has it that March’s track “Homosexual” will be making its official debut at Friday’s show. I will confirm or deny those rumors shortly after Cancer Killing Gemini (and the rest of the bands) have finished rocking my face off.

PS: You can get advance tickets to the show here. If you are unable to make the show for whatever reason, you can still make a donation to BAGLY at the very same link (or make plans to attend the Out For Youth Event at the New England Aquarium on March 23rd).

Click through (or look below) for one of my personal faves from Cancer Killing Gemini:

CANCER KILLING GEMINI – ROOM SIX

We Have Band - Watertight
We Have Band - Where Are Your People? (Kinema Remix)

Though it appears to have been available digitally for the past month, We Have Band‘s sophomore effort Ternion was finally released today. I will admit that I had initially written off the trio as a blog-driven buzz band. If we’re being completely honest with one another, and we shall be, all I heard was a bunch of noise and excessive hullabaloo the first time I listened to Ternion.

Alas, the feeling didn’t last very long.

With each subsequent listen, I began to let my guard down and peel back the layers of the album. “What’s Mine, What’s Yours” (as heard in the video above) was my gateway drug, shortly followed by “Visionary” and “After All”. Even then, I wasn’t sold on the full package until the acceptance of these “softer” tracks led to an appreciation for the complexities of the project’s darker songs.

Eventually, light was seen in the dark on “River of Blood”. The noise from “Steel In The Groove” suddenly translated to “interesting percussion”. Weird Muppet-like breakdowns (see “Watertight”) added a charming element to an otherwise serious collection of songs. If anything, my only problem was left with the all-too-mellow closing track “Pressure On”. While it might be necessary to wind you down after the adventurous ride of Ternion, it doesn’t quite live up to the expert craftsmanship and fuller sound of the nine preceding offerings.

But, uh, nine out of ten ain’t bad, right? If you’re willing to exercise your patience and dedicate some time to Ternion, I’d highly recommend giving it a few spins. All ten songs (albeit, out of order) can be streamed on PureVolume, or you can take a chance and (gasp) order the album before you hear it.

I’ve told you what you need to know. Now, make the right decision.