music for spreadsheets

MelonTropics- Open Secrets

My spreadsheet days are done, but I'd feel bad shutting down a blog that has no readers. I will be brief. 

Melontropics_open_secrets

Download from their bandcamp here!

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Animal Collective- Animal Collective Radio (Panda Bear)

( Before the highly anticipated release of Centipede Hz, Animal Collective is launching a weekly radio show that airs on Sunday nights and is streamable for 24 hours after, providing me with some free and highly relevant Monday spreadsheet music.)

Panda Bear has some pretty weird friends. This week's broadcast starts out with Panda Bear's own mix- a trippy whirlwind of hip hop, electro and what can only be dubbed as "world" that also features the first single from Centipede, the surprisingly rock-y  "Today's Supernatural". But as soon as Panda Bear steps out, things get obscenely hipster. One of the sets is exlusively loopy foreign radio hits(think: Thailand and Azerbaijan). Another features the cheesiest and most ridiculous retro tracks imaginable that render all those " music was better back in the day"arguments completely irrelevant.A good listen if you're into ironic self-ridicule.

Centipede_hz

Listen quickly!

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A.N.D.Y- Tapes Two and Four

A.N.D.Y’s lively, 120bpm tapes are great for walking with purpose- careful, though, you might find yourself dancing! Despite the forty minute runtimes, A.N.D.Y doesn’t dilly dally, moving to the next track right before the current one gets dull. And, most importantly, A.N.D.Y is unashamed of his allegiance to disco- there’s even an “I’ve Got The Power” sampler tucked in near the end.

Tape Four is holistically more interesting and cohesive, but Tape Two holds the shining star- A.N.D.Y’s very own remix of Jupiter’s  retro-fabulous One O Six(Not surprisingly, the track I found on Fantastic Fox’s Spring Mix that led me to seek out more of A.N.D.Y’s music). French accents add a dash of spice to disco, and hearing Jupiter’s Amelie talk about her One O Seeks is wonderfully charming. (I imagine Amelie as a Monte Carlo Socialite wearing a white romper and peach colored lipgloss at a beachside nightclub). Listen closely for an excellent slow down and the skillful way that A.N.D.Y climbs back out of it.

 

Andy

Listen to all of A.N.D.Y’s tapes here.

 

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Cocaine80s- Erxpress_og

I was listening to Erxpress_og when I realized that I had started making 333 copies of the same page. I caught my error in the weirdly lyrically perfect transition between Queentobe and Takemykeys and had to punchallthekeys to make it stop. This was all because Erxpress_og was probably the most interesting and confusing thing I've listened to--the mixtape moves from straight hip-hop to r&b to what I could best describe as guitar driven jazzpop. A summery sonic smoothie, if you will. Track by track, Erxpress_og avoided my attempts at categorization, and I only realized why after a quick google search- Cocaine80s is a collective. Although I can't say that any particular track stood out on that frantic first listen, Erxpress_og was light, soulful, and worth returning to when far away from a copier. 

Tilt

Available here: http://www.datpiff.com/Cocaine-80s-Express-Og-Ep-mixtape.357036.html

 

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jj- High Summer

If Owl City was drugged... 

Between the bland, space-pop instrumentation and the recycled raptruisms, there's not a whole lot of substance on High Summer, and despite the 14 minute runtime, I found myself bored. The sleepiness is not ameliorated by Elin, who is frustratingly softspoken, and I'm not sure if this is function of her natural voice or some sort of shock value gimmick she's trying to create as she stunts and cusses."I've got cameras in my face/ and i guess the revolution will be televised", she whispers unconvincingly, and I get the feeling that they've never really listened to Gil Scott-Heron.

Highsummer

Download here (or maybe don't): 

http://www.sincerelyyours.se/yours0184.php

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Matthewdavid- Jewelry

Thinking back on my first Matthewdavid experience the next day, I panic- I can't really remember anything about Jewelry! I vaguely recall some distorted voices and dialogue samples peppered throughout, but nothing jumps out. I have to go back and flip through the tracks (is that what a flip is supposed to be?) to jog my memory, oh right, some really dirty bass here, a cool lick here. I can imagine Jewelry playing over a dramatic gossip girl scene as the cast check their blackberries at an upscale bistro before it cuts to a pan of the New York skyline. I can't be sure if that is what Matthewdavid intended. 

Jewelry

Download here:

http://leavingrecords.com/releases/lrf011-jewelry/

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Tiger Bones- When You Die

There is a translucent film on my brain after listening to Tiger Bones-- a case study in lo-fi surf rock, When You Die felt lazy and sandy. With minimalist guitar and sloppy vocals, Tiger Bones created a sound I could imagine falling asleep on the beach to.That being said, I haven’t decided if this attention to mood was skillful and planned or a happenstance result of un-imaginativeness.  Towards the middle of the EP Tiger Bones missteps and falls into a Tarantino Western, but the last track crawls back into the pocket and has me missing the sea again.

 

Tigerbones

Download from Candy Dinner here:

http://www.candydinner.com/album/tiger-bones-when-you-die/ 

 

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Fantastic Mr. Fox- Spring Tape 12

Sorry Mr. Fox- your sunny mix was eclipsed by the stylings of Soulwax and Regine Chassagne. There I was, bobbing my head to some funky slap bass when at 32:16 I was catapulted out of my cubicle. “They heard me singing and they told me to stop” Regine sings, and Soulwax unleashes some fabulous sonic grime onto the world. Arcade Fire has always excelled at visual narrative, and Regine's queer, shrill little voice is perfect for the story she tells on Sprawl II. Eliminating the cheesy galloping drumbeat of the original track, Soulwax really brings out the suburban darkness that Arcade Fire had wanted to capture.

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Check out the mix here:

http://soundcloud.com/fantasticfoxmusic/springmix-2012

 

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The Magician- Magic Tape Twenty

The bass drops on Magic Tape Twenty and for a second or ten I think I must be listening to Calvin Harris.  But then comes the sensual vocal "ayy" and I know that I'm in for a gentler ride. The Magician takes the smoothest ideas in house and disco and rides each groove for six or seven minutes. What made Twenty greatly conducive to what I was doing was the predictability of the Magician's game- bait the listener with a catchy synth line or vocal lick, build to a pleasant but not ecstatic high, let the track settle, and switch it out for the next. Repeat nine times; works like a charm. 

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Listen here: 

http://soundcloud.com/themagician/magic-tape-twenty

 

 

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Born Gold- BODYSONGS

Ten seconds into the opening track Land Knives, I realized that Born Gold was not planning to ease me into the morning. BODYSONGS combines Passion Pit arpeggios, Discovery synth and Panic!ed vocals to create an explosive 30 minute dance album that would be incredibly hard to dance to. Born Gold called their debut effort a 'singles collection', and rightfully so- the songs are loosely tied together by a dedication to bubble-pop and probably an affinity for strobe lights and boys in skinny jeans. The density of some of the tracks rendered it a little busy for some of the more involved data entry, but I feel that on second or third listen BODYSONGS would have just the right sugary kick. 

 

Borngold

Listen and download on their very own site: 

http://borngold.us/bodysongs.html

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