Author: RayRay

Gimme 5 – Wild Moccasins

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After the great many successes of my Gimme 5 playlist feature, I thought it was nigh time we feature a Texas based artists on this thing. Imagine my luck, Houston based band Wild Moccasins are coming through town on January 17th at Stubbs Jr. and they were feeling the idea. Zahira Gutierrez, who fronts the band, chose five songs which truly inspire her and bring her joy as she creates her own music. To see what she came up with, hit the post for words, songs, and videos.

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Dreamy Pop From Sea Cycles

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After a somewhat down year in 2018 for music, I’m moving into 2019 with the hopes of finding some inspiration via new bands and tunes. Today I look no further than Jacksonville, FL based band Sea Cycles and their new single entitled “Quota”. It’s as if a band like Choir of Young Believers took their mellow pop and meshed with with the striking beats of a band like Grizzly Bear. Here’s to a new year, and new music.

Fun New Single From Jason Matu

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As many of us head back to work full time for the first time in awhile, it’s important to find some music to uplift your spirit and keep you focused. My new friend Mr. Jason Matu out of Brooklyn, NY has just the thing for you with his new single “I Don’t Wanna Do It”. His sound reminds me distinctly of a guy like Damien Jurado if he wrote more ironic/funny songs like David Bazan. Those are of course two artists I love so naturally this track is tailor made for me and I hope you enjoy it as well.

RayRay’s Top Songs – 2018

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When it comes to ATH and our areas of expertise, I like to think I’m the go to guy for song lists and bad ass playlists. If you’re doubting me, just ask anyone who used to attend our council meetings back in the day and they will assure you I know what’s up. So I spent some time going through my 2018 most played and most liked songs to create a playlist for you and your kin. Somehow I ended up with 45 songs… Why 45? I honestly have no idea, that’s just how it came out. After the jump you will find full song list and a few playlist streaming options.

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Gimme 5 – Lydia Luce

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I’ve enjoyed my ACL and SXSW Gimme 5 playlists from artists so much that I’ve decided to start running some at random times during the year. Well not totally random, as I plan to focus on artists coming through Austin soon to help build up some hype for their show. It’s also interesting for me to find our what other musicians are listening to before, or even after their show. Kicking off my newish feature is Nashville based songwriter Lydia Luce who is stopping through town on Friday at Mohawk. Hit the jump for some words from Lydia and her 5 song playlist.

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Drag Me To Hell OST – Waxwork Records

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Rating: ★★★½ ·

Though I’ve been hard pressed to afford the great many offerings from Waxwork Records, I have always admired their work and dreamed of owning everything in their discography. Part of it is the beautiful artwork and images the company creates for the re-releases and, of course, the other part is my fandom of horror movies and cult classics. So maybe you can imagine me geeking out when the company sent me a few records to review. Yeah, I nerded out a bit. With that said, I’m happy to announce my first ever Waxwork review is the creepy soundtrack from the amazing horror throwback Drag Me to Hell. Hit the jump for more.

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Stream The New EP From Harms

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Harms is the solo project from Brooklyn based songwriter Jake Harms who previously spent a majority of his time in indie band What Moon Things. To be honest, I am not super familiar with Jake’s work in his primary band, though my extreme love of his new solo EP will likely turn me on to all his work. The new EP, entitled Aquarium, is a loaded 6 song short player with highly emotional vocals and Gothic pop themes. In particular, lead single “Pop Song” is definitely one of my favorites of the year and has already reached 10 plays on my iTunes. Something about the unique and totally transparent songwriting, paired with the slick beats, has me putting this on the “highly recommended” list.

Aquarium is out now on Good Eye Records.

Promising New Single From Small Forward

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It’s a beautiful day in Austin, TX and I’d advise you to play some tunes which fit the current sunny skies and moderate temps. My new friends in Los Angeles based Small Forward have this new single called “Tearjerker” to perfectly fit the mood. Don’t let the track title mislead you, the song is full of bright, shoe gaze style pop music perfect for a morning drive on a crisp, lovely day. These guys are fairly new to the game right now and I’m told we will be hearing much more from them in the new year.

Promising Pop Number From Fiasco

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Sometimes it can be very refreshing to find a new band when you’ve felt like music has been pretty blah over the last week or so. Such is the case with this new single called “b(l)ack” from Paris based artist Fiasco. What starts as a clear bedroom pop number eventually builds into an almost R&B, hip hop track with hot beats and a sick bass line. It’s a true jam and I hope you’ll agree.

As I’m now hooked on the music, I’ll be sure to keep you posted as news some in on the band.

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