Drops From The Cloud: March 2014

April 1st. What are you fools up to? I'm excited to introduce a new segment here at Push Up Ya Lighter. Feed your ears with this two hour playlist of various Soundcloud gems that I discovered during March.

Every month, I listen to hours upon hours of music. It's absurd. It's my addiction and my therapy. It feels like work, but there's nothing else I'd rather do. Last year, I tried to abide by the policy of only listening to tracks that had a free download available. Unless a song was really hyped, or I knew we had a hit on our hands, I would pass as soon as I didn't see the download option. I'm also highly skilled at recognizing when the download will cost me a "like" and I didn't play that game (Hint: "FREE DOWNLOAD" is gonna cost you something).

The dawn of 2014 brought a few revelations for me, though. I looked at the past year and learned that I had grabbed over 7,000 songs from the Internet. That's in the neighborhood of 20 straight days of music. That doesn't seem unmanageable over the span of a year, but when you consider time spent replaying good songs, playing songs that weren't from 2013, and sleeping, it becomes obvious that I wasn't hearing every mp3. I therefore resolved to listen to everything I download this year which has caused me to be more selective. That's a good thing because I think more critically about music instead of passively hoarding it.

My other realization was that the ubiquity of Soundcloud has provided a perfect platform for exploring most everything I'd want to hear. Most every up-and-comer will have a Soundcloud account if they're trying to get noticed and adding songs to a playlist couldn't be easier. It made sense, then, that I could use monthly playlists as a way of collecting great tracks and sharing them with you.

PUYL March 2014:


I simply added the songs as I heard them, so there is no specific order. Also, a few tracks may be from earlier than March, but I found them just recently.

A few highlights:

• Mykki Blanco and Princess Nokia kick things off in raucous style
• Chromeo express their distress (this song will be massive this year, even if it is essentially a rehash of a lament that Cee Lo Green put more pointedly)
• Kygo's remix of Seinabo Sey may be a few months old, but I just found out about it and it's fantastic and really serves as a centerpiece to this mix
• New tracks from Frank Ocean, Little Dragon, and James Fauntleroy
• That OLD Danny Brown
• Remixes of Sky Ferreira, Daughter, and London Grammar
• Covers of Aaliyah, Christina Aguilera, and The XX
• JERSEY CLUB

Enjoy!

BANKS - Brain (Ta-ku Remix)

BANKS is never short of stunning. Since her emergence last year, she has been steadily amassing a catalog of songs that cement her as one of the best rising songstresses in the industry. Sometimes sultry, sometimes sorrowful, her tales can be alternately tender or love lorn, or even both at the same time. She has cultivated a dark aura about her, but somehow still comes across as relatable. Perhaps it is the mixed bag of emotions which she presents that feels so familiar. The intensity in her songs is palpable due in equal parts to her powerful voice and the stellar production she has garnered to accompany it.

Another breakout star from 2013, Ta-ku, was certainly a welcome presence for this remix of "Brain". The original features production from Shlohmo, a man who is no stranger to constructing swelling and haunting back beats. His linking with BANKS was almost a given. Usually, the syrupy yet forceful flow of her voice carries the track, but on "Brain" she shows less restraint and displays a little more range and volume. Ta-ku deftly highlighted these features in his remix, while also reworking Shlohmo's contributions into something of his own.

Listen/Download:

::M∆DE::IN::HEIGHTS:: - Skylark Interabang?!

This song is an old favorite of mine, partly because of the unique artist name. When I open my media player, those colons in the name place it near the top of the list alphabetically, so it naturally gets more attention. In addition, it fits all the criteria I have for sharing: it's a cool track, there's a free download, and you probably haven't heard it before. The only hitch is that it's several years old (in fact, it was released the day before I started this blog). The song holds some meaning for me because that was a time when I was still fresh to the world of music blogs, and I was still trying to figure out what 'dubstep' was. I know now that the drops in this track don't exactly qualify as face melting, but they were and are an unexpectedly pleasing twist.

My fondness runs deeper given that ::M∆DE::IN:HEIGHTS:: is a side project of  DJ Sabzi, the production half of Blue Scholars. His beats coupled with the lovely lilting voice of Kelsey Bulkin posed another challenge to my perception of what a hip-hop producer can do.

The reason I'm dredging it up now is that I've just recently learned some interesting facts relating to "Skylark Interabang?!".

Perhaps I was too enthralled with the instrumental, but I never gave a thought as to what the title meant. A skylark is a bird (among other things) but it turns out that the rest is redundant. "Interabang" or "interrobang" is the name of the punctuation mark which signifies an excited inquiry; it's a combination question mark and exclamation point. The word literally means "?!".

Perhaps I was not enthralled enough with the instrumental, because I shamefully missed which song it samples. Skylark Interabang Interabang borrows heavily from Sufjan Stevens's "Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois" from his acclaimed Illinois album. It's a pleasant piano line, but I posit that this sample was pulled with a plan in mind. In that particular chapter, Sufjan recounts a real incident "where several persons reported seeing a large triangular object with three lights flying at night". Suddenly, I'm drawn again to what has kept me listening to this song all these years, the strangely stylized name. The song's artwork seems to perfectly portray a reference to the sample's lyrical content and the group that so cleverly used it. How about that?!?!

Listen/Download:   

Nicolas Jaar - And I Say (Xinobi Edit)

This is the only song I've played today.

Enlisting a vocalist with famous parents and an Ivy League classmate for the saxophone sections, Jaar already had a sultry hit on his hands with the original. The lyrics tell a short tale of a divide between the dapper and disheveled being defeated "with just one glance".

Xinobi adds subtle changes, but somehow the song seems to take on a new focus. The bongos clear the murky fog of the original, and switching the title to a different lyric reveals the real climax of the story. It isn't the skirt tearing glance, but rather the likely gasp-accompanied reaction from our narrator.

Listen/Download:

PUYL Favorite Remix: Poliça - Tiff (Doc McKinney Remix)

Poliça made a song called "Tiff" with Justin Vernon this year. Doc McKinney, known for producing haunting tracks for The Weeknd, remixed the track. I can't say enough good things about it, yet at the same time, I don't want to say too much. When I first heard it in July, I knew I was hearing quite possibly the best remix if not song of the year. The replays continue to pile up, and it doesn't get old. Despite being released during the summer, these northern midwest artists manage to instill a bleak and somber tone, and the remixed instrumental complements that perfectly.

Listen:

PUYL Favorite Remix: James Blake - Life Round Here (Remix) (ft. Chance The Rapper)

Sometimes a remix doesn't require a drastic change from the original. James Blake recruited the young Chicago phenom, Chance The Rapper for a new twist on his own song, "Life Round Here". Blake stripped the drums away in the intro to make room for Chano to ease his way into the track before it opens into a raucous rap verse. Chance includes various musings concerning his recent travels and his life in general. "Life Round Here" is a fitting place for these two to join each other; both have garnered a great deal of acclaim in the past year, and are undoubtedly seeing their lives change in amazing ways.

Listen:

PUYL Favorite Remix: Dirty Projectors - The Socialites (Joe Goddard Remix)

Remixes provide many opportunities for musicians beyond simply twisting around someone else's song. Rising stars can gain a foothold by remixing a better known artist, and established artists can flex their creativity outside the bounds of their current fame.

Since I already wrote about one of my favorite remixes of the year, I was forced to dig for another to include on this list. I was more than happy to call up this remix of "The Socialites" by Dirty Projectors.  Joe Goddard, of Hot Chip, spins the dream-like original into a more focused and introspective sounding piece. Amber Coffman's angelic vocals remain untouched; Goddard is wisely aware that they can thrive in any setting. He takes great care to gently use an already great track to form another beautiful song.

Listen:

As a side note, we were saddened to learn today about the confirmed passing of Belgian singer The Child Of Lov. He released his excellent self titled debut earlier this year under an imprint of Dirty Projector's Domino Records. Take a listen to a couple of his songs below.

PUYL Favorite Cover Song: Purity Ring - Grammy

Purity Ring, one of my favorite new artists from last year, makes an appearance this year in the excellent cover songs department. A day after the 2013 Grammy Awards, the duo released their version of a 2010 deep cut from the venerable Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. The original features Ester Dean singing the beseeching chorus line and the young rapper expounding on why his contributions to music warrant the industry's most famous award. Megan and Corin molded that rough clay into what may be a more convincing finished product.

Listen:
Download: Purity Ring - Grammy (right click, Save link as...)

PUYL Favorite Cover Song: Anna Lunoe & AC Slater - All Night

Continuing with the cool covers, I've got this infectious version of J. Cole's "Power Trip". DJ AC Slater (not who you're thinking) pumped pulsing synths into a much more danceable beat than the original, and Anna Lunoe handled the vocals. She chose to stick with the sung lines, but drew lyrics from both J. Cole and his featured guest, Miguel. The result is an enlivened track that deftly demonstrates how one song can inspire and influence the creation of another.

Listen/Download:

PUYL FAVORITES & Cover Song: Elli Ingram - Poetic Justice

It’s that time of year again, when I finally share all the music that I neglected to post during the past twelve months under the guise of it being some carefully curated Best Of list. In reality, I’ve simply spent the last couple days scouring through the gigs upon gigs of music I downloaded this year, trying to find all the gems that I’ve been hoarding in my treasure hard drive. 2013 was another good year by my musical tastes. Many highly anticipated debut albums were released, surprise newcomers made their mark, and old favorites continued to impress.

I’m actually not a fan of year end lists; what does the end of the year signify in terms of music? Not much. Artists are constantly churning out content. For me, the best songs are the ones that engage me early on, AND still have meaning when I revisit them. Some songs are timeless works of art that can be appreciated even after countless listens. Others may take me back to what was going on in my life when the track came out, and have meaning for me in that way. It might take more than a year to truly define a favorite, so don’t be surprised if November and December releases don’t make as many appearances; there was certainly no lag in quality then.

I’m starting off with some awesome covers from 2013. Hip-hop songs naturally yield the best covers. The rhyme schemes can be reworked to fit any melody and they usually have a sung hook which can also be incorporated however the covering artist sees fit.

Elli Ingram put her spin on “Poetic Justice” by Kendrick Lamar. She closely matches the Janet Jackson sample, then branches off to cover the rapped parts as well.

Listen/Download: