Hospitality -- “Friends Of Friends”

Hospitality is a band that puts a smile on my face. They are just plain fun, simple, and, unlike many artists, to the point. Their songs bring you right to the hook with no bullshit in between. This Brooklyn band's self titled debut album is really one of the finds of the year thus far. Plus, I love the video, which features Maeby Fünke.


Hospitality - "Friends Of Friends" from stereogum on Vimeo.

Punch Brothers -- "Movement and Location"

Chris Thile, vocalist and mandolinist for Punch Brothers, has really caught my eye in the last few months. First, for brilliant performances on The Colbert Report and NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, in which he performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Stuart Duncan (a quartet that goes by The Goat Rodeo Sessions). More recently, Thile has put out his third record with Punch Brothers, an almost Americanized Mumford & Sons. I don't want to compare these bands, but the instrumentation is very similar. However, this band, I feel, blows away Mumford's little children. This song, "Movement and Location," kicks off Punch Brothers' newest album, Who's Feeling Young Now?. It is absolutely hypnotic. While there are certainly songs on the album that I think are catchier, this song really grabbed me from the get-go. It actually gives me goosebumps. I totally suggest giving this a listen and checking the rest of the album out. It's my early favorite for top album of the year      ... I am a nerd...


Punch Brothers -- "Movement and Location"

John Talabot -- "Destiny feat. Pional"

Like a great deal of the world's great electronica music, there are literal and figurative mysteries to a DJ/Musician/Producer's music. For example, I know very little about John Talabot. I can tell you that he is a producer from Barcelona, who just putt out his first album, but interestingly enough this isn't his first time around. Talabot has been around since the mid-2000s, under a different alias of course, as just another "resident DJ," as pitchfork writer Philip Sherburne describes it. Moreover, over the last few years Talabot has crafted a very new and interesting sound. His slow, often brooding, builds can leave listeners hypnotized. While many of the tones on this debut album, ƒIN, are rather ominous, there is a certain enchanting and charming quality to Talabot's productions. I feel that this song, "Destiny," in which Talabot teamed up with another Spanish native (Madrid), Pional, really captures the sound I am trying to describe to you. This song is simply infectious and again, like I did with The Weeknd's House of Balloons, I am going out on a limb and I 'm going to say that this song and album is going to clean up on "end of year" lists. If you dig this, I highly suggest checking out the whole rest of the album.

Andrew Bird -- "Eyeoneye"

Okay, so it's like... um... February and I have certainly not posted enough, but that isn't because of lack of good music. Graduate school applications and school has kicked my ass, but I am back now for a brief while. That being said, this song hasn't left my head since the first time I heard it. It's just nauseatingly good. Andrew Bird, for those of you who haven't heard him, is a Baroque pop multi-instrumentalist who also loves to whistle.. really no other way to describe him. Anyhow, his newest record, Break It Yourself, will be out in March and based on this song, "Eyeoneye," I am absolutely floured to hear the rest of the album. This song has everything I could ask for, it's got great lyrics, super catchy, and most importantly... IT HAS ENERGY! I just love the sound that Bird captures on this song... can't get enough of this guy!


Eyeoneye by Andrew Bird