Mayer Hawthorne has been rocking it everywhere recently, both Justin Timberlake and John Mayer have said over twitter that they love the record. The funny thing is that its on Stones Throw and I think it was just suppose to be a fun/joke record at the beginning. All the smaller hype started when he released a clear red 7 inch heart shaped record that was a great unique merch piece that definitely caught my eye then the major hype hit when iTunes picked him up as the free single of the week and then everything just spun out of control for him in a good way. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and I love this “Maybe So, Maybe No” song, its so catchy and I can probably sing it after only hearing it 3 times, just such a ballsy record to make, I can’t even imagine making a whole motown record today, definitely takes some guts and Hawthorne couldn’t of done a better job in my opinion.
The man behind Midwest Product and PostPrior has kept the torch lit for us instrumental electronic indie rock fans by making music under the name Ben Benjamin. The sound of his song Sideways Cerebus is pretty fascinating to me because the beginning sounds like Midwest Product or an electronic version Mercury Program to me busting thru the ceiling of what they use to do and taking it to another level when the piano comes in, it almost has this Telefon Tel Aviv feel after awhile but without the huge lovely whale sized synths surrounding you, just for the record “huge lovely whale sized synths” are a good thing I just couldn’t think of a bigger sized object, i’ve already used Ocean liner recently.
I probably will never stop posting IDM on this blog, it always takes me to a fantastic and aesthetically pleasing place in my head. One of the guys that I do keep posting about is o9, he was a pretty big unsung hero even among the IDM followers, probably because he never released on a netlabel which was a pretty popular thing to do for an IDM producer back then which was just a label giving your music away for free on their site. Notice the precisely placed static in this song, is that intentional?
What a name to pick Porn Sword Tobacco, its like he was choosing his name out of a hat that contained key words from an old Monty Python script, if you like this song collaboration of piano and guitar than check out older Bibio or Canyon Country.
[audio:sono.mp3] [audio:cerebus.mp3] [audio:millisec.mp3] [audio:spccamp.mp3]
I much prefer Raphael Saadiq.
I just might believe that this record did start out as a joke. To me Hawthorn sounds like a caricature of the Motown soul – not only b/c his vocal is lacking but b/c even the music sounds rather hollow.
Saadiq on the other hand sounds genuine and of the period. Like a lost record from the hay days of Motown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI_7VRY1DRI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udPZwivhERY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuCpet4UKE8
huge Mayer fan. i just picked up the heart shaped vinyl release. good stuff indeed.
Where do you constantly manage to find such amazing music? The techno stuff Im not as big on, but the instrumental rock is a must for me. Continue spreading the sound over the airwaves.
abstractconformity –
I dig thru demos, iTunes, blogs, ask labels for promos, ask artists on myspace, pandora radio, viva radio, go to shows, watch my dj friends, etc
I think I read on Last FMs wiki entry that Porn Sword Tobacco chose his name from a shop that was called exactly this and they sold exactly that ! GOLD.
i got onto mayer from the ‘just ain’t gonna work out’ thing…
and i still can’t deny what a fat ass track that is. that said, when i got a strange arrangement i had some pretty big expectations and honestly it fell a little flat for me. i should probably give it another proper listen though. his stuff as haircut is pretty decent as well.
hawthorne’s track is pretty much a direct cover of the new holiday’s version. it’s catchy nonetheless, but definitely not as soulful.
Mayer’s design site
http://www.colorblindcreative.com
just a quick thank you to jin kim for his comments and bringing raphael to my attention. i had heard of him, but never really knew anything about him. i’ve been getting down to his myspace the last couple of days and letting his flavour marinate. dude is amazing!
wow Raphael Saadiq is serious
Nice Ben Benjamin track – what a huge build up.