If you dig this too, I recommend heading over to TeamCoco for the full stream of the entire record. Be the Void officially drops on Feb 7th (on Anti Records).

Artist Website: DrDogMusic.com

Tycho’s sound hits on this perfect mellow but moody vibe, and I love the way that the core electronic beats and blips are mixed with more traditional analog guitars and bass.

Support Tycho directly–>TychoMusic.com.

I still like their Trust EP the best, but their full release Astro-Caster is also quite solid. It has been steadily growing on me since I grabbed it a few months back.

James Brown – “Blind Man Can See It”

While the intro had a nice vamp, what really caught my ear was the groove that kicked in after a minute or two…a nice little jangly guitar riff combined with some soul-stirring keys. The sound literally brought my ears back to the early 90s to what was probably one of my 1st CDs…Das EFX’s Dead Serious. After a couple of measures, I was waiting for that unforgettable opening line to drop in….”bum skiggiddy bum skiggiddy bump!”

Check out the sample in use:

Das EFX – “They Want EFX”

Ha, awesome. I liggidy love the lawless early 90s of hip-hop samples.

Very cool and innovative.

Their new album is really solid too. It’s a mix of beautiful acoustic gems (like the one I flagged here recently) along with a couple bluesy romps and some African-influenced world grooves reminiscent of Tinariwen.

Can’t wait to catch the Barr Brothers next time they’re in NYC.

It’s called “Born Alone.” I also highly recommend checking out the album in its entirety over on NPR Music. Really solid all around. I especially love that last track.

Wilco starts a two-night stand at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park tonight.

Slave Ambient, by the War on Drugs, was another recent emusic download that took only a couple listens to win me over.

The overall sound of the album is fresh but familiar. The instrumentals are a mix of propulsive rhythms, interesting background synths, and multiple guitars that are layered, sweep-filtered, and perfectly jangle-y. But even with a good amount of experimental, psychedelic haziness, their music is all based in a well-known melodic framework reminiscent of artists like Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire and even U2. But it’s probably frontman Adam Granduciel’s vocals that really provide the familiar sonic pallete. It’s almost like someone took a little bit of Dylan, Springsteen, Petty and Westerberg and wrapped them all up into a younger, mellower vocal doppelganger.

“Baby Missiles’ is a great cut, but it’s only one of many standout tracks. In fact, I can’t really just choose one “song of the day” for this, so we’re going to include a couple more:

“Best Night”

“Original Slave”

I highly recommend digging into the entire album.

I caught up with my buddy Burke recently and he made a point to say how much he liked my live improv mixes, even though I don’t think he really considers himself a big live music/improv guy. In honor of summer, I recently put together two different all-improv, all-instrumental mixes around a “summer bliss” theme. I’m pretty darn happy with the final products, so I thought I should probably flag the new material on my site before the summer’s over!

Check ‘em out:

#1
Podcast #069: Bisco Bliss Mix:

Live Music Blog Podcast #069 – Bisco Bliss Mix by whitperson

#2
Podcast #70: Phish Summer Bliss Mix:

Podcast #070 – Phish Summer 2011 Bliss Mix by livemusicblog

By the way, I typically post most of my mixes over on Live Music Blog to add to our ongoing podcast series (which you can subscribe to via iTunes if you’re so inclined).

Check it out:

These guys put together a nice mellow style of instrumental music using drums, double-neck bass/guitar, a loop pedal and lots of effects. In that way, their music is actually somewhat similar to some of the mellow, lullaby-esque sounds I’ve been laying down on my loop pedal lately (though mine aren’t nearly as good and don’t include drums, double-neck guitar or nearly as many toys).

Side note: I like to think that if my blogging buddy Justin and I ever started a band, we’d probably play something like this.