The past month I’ve had in heavy rotation the debut album by Santogold (self-titled). From the first listening, I was a fan. The songs are catchy, diverse song to song, great to sing along to or party with, and have a maturity from her earlier punk band-Stiffed-that shows a song writer who’s been working on her craft for some time now and really beginning to hit her stride.

Vocally, she reminds me of a cross between Dale Bozzio from the Missing Persons & Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s—both whom are unique singers, talented & crowd-awing on their own. Musically, Santogold’s sound is a mixture of 80’s new wave & pop, reggae, 90’s era Pixie’s, electro-dance and current indie. Thrown together, mixed & baked, the sound is uniquely hers.

Santogold, otherwise known as Santi White, has been dating pro-snowboarder Trevor Andrew for some time, otherwise known as musician Trouble Andrew, and her previous music venture, Stiffed, was a featured band in the documentary film Afro-Punk which explores racial identity in the punk scene across America and abroad.

I have an inkling that we’ll be hearing a lot more of her in the years to come, especially since I’ve already caught her tunes as the backdrop for both Bud Light Lime & VO5 commercials, as well as in the soundtrack for an EA sports game my man plays. And for that, I am stoked.

More fun than a barrel of monkeys…on acid. Simian Mobile Disco.

I have felt the floor bounce at Neumo’s before, but not like a trampoline. I thought we might actually fall through, thankfully it held up to the massive boogie down party. Shades of Ibiza and crazy happy times. Such a good time dancing with rockers, nerds, hippies, emo kids & punks. I have never been to a show in Seattle where so many different people got together & got down. Huge wall of sound and LED light barrage that would have given Homer and Bart seizures. RAD!!!

The Black Angels are back with another album full of siren songs. Murky, tripped-out rock that will lure us back into captivity with its haunting, yet meditative discordant jams not unlike their first release Passover.

Still nodding heavy homage to their psychedelic, garage rock, and drone punk influences such as The Velvet Underground, The Doors, 13th Floor Elevators, Joy Division, The Jesus & Mary Chain, and Syd Barrett, they still remain modern sounding for today’s young ears.

The story behind this sophomore release is that while recording the album, the Black Angels lived in an old haunted mansion in Austin, TX and are claiming to have seen a girl frequently walking the mansion at night robed in a red dress, resulting in the inspiration for the album’s title, Directions to See a Ghost. It would also seem that it influenced the darker mood it evokes.

Though a tad on the ominous side, it is still an album full of multi-layered chords, smoky echoing vocals, vibrating noises, guitar fuzz that thrums like electricity under the skin and steady tempo’s pulsing back and forth like a slithering snake that sets one adrift in uncharted seas where the undertows are ones of pure Epicurean delight.

The songs are epic even when under five minutes, cascading within walls of golden sound as if moving languidly through honey, or reminiscent of adagio kisses in the dark with pulsing goose-flesh shivering against warm flesh, one side with a five-o-clock shadow; definitely music one can union to, eyes darkened with smoldering passion.

After listening from start to finish, I twitch with the silence hailing the end, leaving me with a feeling much like waking up unsure of where I am until my eyes land on a midnight sylvan scene rendered in acrylic paint on black velvet, the jarring fluorescent highlights of the moon’s glow cast on bark and rippling river water, bringing me back to the present. Or am I still lost in dreaming?

Album release date May 13th.

This past weekend I went to Neumos to see the musical stylings of Battles. I’d heard several of Battles’ previous albums and EPs over the past few years, consisting mainly of wacky sounds and time signatures to appeal mostly to the music nerd. This year Battles released their latest record “Mirrored” on Warp. It’s much jazzier with some new pop sensibilities that make it fun for anyone to listen to. These guys rule and have tons of fun while playing. It was very awesome to see a band like this fill the house at Neumos. Their music videos are totally killer as well.