Got A Girl "I Love You, But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now"

Dan Nakamura, or Dan The Automator as he's known to educated hip-hopologists and beat-worshippers worldwide, is a man with many pots on the stove. Half of the hip hop journeymen Handsome Boy Modeling School (with Prince Paul), producer extraordinaire to the likes of Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Kasabian, Dr. Octagon, and a menagerie of others, and a frequent collaborator with Mike Patton, DJ Shadow and most recently- Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Yes. The actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The two struck up an unlikely friendship while Winstead was filming Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (which Nakamura scored) and managed to produce an album worthy of giving Lana Del Rey's gloom and doom-fused "Ultraviolence" a run for the sunnier side of affairs.

Nakamura's penchant for collaborating with female vocalists comes from a seamless ability to showcase his respective collaborator's delivery while peppering in modern flourishes of his hip hop instrumentalists roots. This being his second outing as the backbeat for a vocalist in the last year (he previously released an album with singer-songwriter Emily Wells under the moniker, Pillowfight), "I Love You..." holds steady common ground French film scores of the sixties or Nakamura's collaboration with Mike Patton, "Lovage". Lush and effortless (like most of Dan The Automator's work), the producer managers to continuously remind us why he's one of the most sought-after soundsmiths in the business. More surprisingly is Winstead, who manages to hold her own amidst it all as both a songbird and lyricist- echoing the sentiments of an era passed as if it was her own.

FKA twigs "LP1"

There are some things in this universe rarer than an oxymoron; for example, multiple music-related periodicals AGREEING on something. Case in point: the buzzworthy, now-championed debut full-length of newcomer FKA twigs. The British-born Tahliah Barnett paid her dues early as a pop video back-up dancer; a career which the glitch-songstress quickly dismisses in interviews, as she is seemingly more mindful of her future rather than her past. It's this forward-thinking that becomes so evident on "LP1"- FKA twigs (short for "Formerly Known As" twigs after a cease and desist order from an artist of the same name rendered her rebranded) employs somber immediacy throughout her album, weaving a tangible intimacy with her listener.

The 10 songs that encompass "LP1" are massive in form; not bombastic, but emotive and vulnerable without shedding an ounce of control. Barnett's strength comes from her delivery, the closest comparison would be Flying Lotus as channeled through Kate Bush, performed by Little Dragon (and even that dissection would prove to be a disservice, as she often rises above expectations). Never straying far from her R&B-tinged, pillow-talk vocals, the instrumentation she employs is endlessly a contradiction of glitch and electronica juxtaposed against an eclectic tapestry of organic, acoustic sounds; setting the tone for her lyrics on the forefront. The results are an oxymoron; strangely beautiful.



You can get YOUR copy of FKA twigs' "LP1" HERE!

The Raveonettes- "Pe'ahi"

The Raveonettes unassumingly stepped into the ring amidst the great rock revival of the early 2000's; the summer that spawned a myriad of guitar-totting "THE" bands (see: THE Strokes, THE Hives, etc.) Champing at the bit to reignite the rebel without a cause lonerism of James Dean, the Danish duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo unashamedly embraced the camp of the teenage kicks with 2003's Chain Gang Of Love.

Five albums and a decade later, The Raveonettes remain and the "new-rock" revolution is all but an ill-fated memory- the survivors of which have dithered into obscurity or attempted to remain relevant while still rehashing the same album (see: THE Strokes, THE Hives, etc.) Their latest album "Pe'ahi", whose name is derived from a big wave surfing break in Hawaii where Wagner had a near-drowning experience a few years prior, could serve as a lesson to those other bands. How does a band remain relevant and exciting? REINVENTION.

The Raveonettes latest outing echoes the strong resilience of 90's alt acts, employing breakbeats and UK nu-raver intuitions peppered throughout the mix (thanks in part to producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, whose resume includes M83, Beck, and Air), raising their songwriting to a new level of cool.

Grab your copy of The Raveonettes' "Pe'ahi" RIGHT HERE!