My first band has been a long time favorite of mine: Coconut Records. I'm sure most of you reading this are familiar with the work of Coconut Records but lately I've fallen in love with their laid back, nonchalant style all over again. Coconut Records is a solo indie rock project by Jason Schwartzman. In a few specific songs Schartzman collaborates with several different artists, my favorite being Zooey Deschanel. It's surprising how little information the internet has on Coconut Records. Basically all you need to know is that listening to Coconut Records will make you want to drop everything and go do something like longboard down the west coast for a month.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugx9r_bgl2Y
Artist #2 - Julian Casablancas
Julian Casablancas specializes in Alternative/Indie rock. He is best known for his work in in the popular alternative rock band The Strokes. His most recent release came early this year in the form of a solo album entitled "Phrazes for the Youth". This album is arguably his best work to date. Casablancas composed and wrote everything you hear in the album. Julian Casablancas is a perfectionist and it shows in his music. The effortless feel and sound of his music are the result of much attention given to the most minute of details. My favorite thing about Julian Casablancas is his passion for music which translates into the quality of his songs. In interviews Julian explains the major impact that different groups have had on shaping the type of person he is today and he explains that he writes his music with the hopes that he might have a similar impact on somebody someday. I could write paragraphs about why Julian is awesome but I think it's best that I just let his music speak for him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_h5DMHh5_M
Artist #3 - MGMT
Everyone has heard a few of MGMT's catchy smash hit songs that made their first album both a critical as well as commercial success, but most people you talk to don't even know MGMT released a new album this past spring. The few people I've talked to that have listened to the new album seem to have quickly dismissed it as a failed attempt at MGMT's sophomore album. To end today's post I'd like to give MGMT a little more credit than most people have afforded them. Before I get started I should probably admit that upon first listening to the new album I was somewhat disappointed. It wasn't at all the MGMT I fell in love with and so I set it aside and didn't give it another try for at least a few months. Eventually I got around to listening to it again and found a few songs I began to like. After several listens I was hooked. But why was I so pessimistic after the first listen? I think the problem was that I was expecting the same catchy radio hits that the first few songs of the debut album offered. What I didn't realize was that the second half of the debut album that I so often skipped over was the real MGMT. I realized that songs like "Weekend Wars" and "Electric Feel" (the songs that got MGMT so popular) were more of the exception than the rule. In their second album MGMT seems to be showing us what they're really like. If viewed with no expectations based on the first album, MGMT's second album is a masterpiece. I find their new style refreshing and inventive as well as fantastically original. I can't guarantee that even if viewed from the right perspective you'll love the album the first time, but I can say that after several fair listens you'll begin to enjoy their second album and may even find that you like it more than it's predecessor. I guess all I'm saying is MGMT's new album is awesome and deserves more props than it's been given. Oh by the way, their new album is called "Congratulations"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_GvVnPsUeg
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