Memory Tapes Messes With Your Mind

Memory Tapes is a puzzler.  His songs kind of have a Caribou-y Hot Chip-y feel but then throw in a little Neon Indian and season with 80s pop.  It’s an interesting concoction and it’s been a chore to try to pin it to a genre.  I guess the term is glo-fi or “chillwave.”  Toro y Moi are in the same camp.  In this case I think the genre isn’t important.  The sound is diverse weaving from post-dilla beats, to weird Flylo-esque samples, to indie pop, to world music, to house and electronic.  Part of the fun is tracing the songs as they morph and evolve over their duration.  Listen to “Bicycles” and “Stop Talking” and see for yourself. 

Bicycle-Memory Tapes by TheBoyandColors

Stop Talking-Memory Tapes by TheBoyandColors

Magic Kids Keep the Endorphin Levels High with "Summer" Jam

“Summertime is for sweethearts” croons Bennett Foster in a velvety voice that sounds low but isn’t really before eventually launching into a Brian Wilson falsetto accompanied by orchestral strings which then fade away, allowing a wavering organ to slip in and out of tune and warble in playful youth and insanity. This track is a phenomenal ode to masters Van Dyke Parks and Brian Wilson.  Magic Kids are doing for orchestral pop what Sufjan Stevens did for orchestral folk: inventing it.  And it really is some of the freshest most interesting music I’ve heard lately.  Check out their single “Summer” and keep your eyes peeled when their album drops later this year.  

Summer-Magic Kids by TheBoyandColors