AVAN LAVA

I AM SO EXCITED. Last night I accidentally stumbled upon my new favourite band of life. I went to meet some friends from the UK for a Little Boots gig at The Music Hall of Williamsburg. We were all tired from a heavy weekend and were busy drinking copious amounts of free tap water and looking like the collective anti-party stood at the back of the room.

 

Then all of a sudden this band burst on to the stage. Avan Lava. Brooklyn locals. Glitter cannons, synchronised dance routines, infectious electronic pop/ r’n’b jams that made the entire room go crazy.

This video of the band live from a year or so ago doesn’t even do them justice, go go go see them live if you can. Absolutely the best live band I have seen this year and probably in my top 3 gigs ever.

1000 cool points x 1000 cool points. Cool points squared.

 

Fryars ‘On Your Own’

Full credit for this discovery to YVYNYL, one of my fave Tumblrs of life and purveyor of the world’s most beautiful/ heartbreaking songs.

This is just gorgeous, as is the video. 

Oof.

Clams Casino ‘Bookfiend’ ft. DOOM


I’m sitting in a cafe in New York where they are blasting out Michael Buble  and everyone is sitting too close to me and all I can see outside is the bloody rain, so thank God for this.  Clams Casino bring those signature strung out disco beats, pulled along by a lazy, deep hip hop bass, all under DOOM’s no nonsense bars.

This feels easy and old school but still a bit like ‘f*ck you Buble cafe/ rain/ Monday morning’, so it’s really an ideal combo.

1000 first cool points of the week cool points. 

Nimmo and The Gauntletts ‘Change’

Directed by Agyness Deyn after the band got in touch with her on Twitter, here is the video for NATG’s wonderful latest offering, ‘Change’. 

1000 Cool Points has been championing this Brighton band for a while now, and momentum around them is building. Think- female fronted Two Door Cinema Club but with even more soul. Exactly. Pretty ideal.

I bet you a million quid these guys are massive by the end of the year. Watch this space.

Shy Girls ‘Under Attack’

F*ck yeaaaah, proper 90’s make out school disco slow dance R’n’B is coming back hard! First The 1975, then Shy Girls. This is fast becoming an unstoppable comeback wave, but this time with deeper, slicker, more serious production making this the coolest R’n’B you ever heard.

Get ready to be obsessed with this. Mad love to Layla for introducing me to Shy Girls.

Source: SoundCloud / yourstrulysf

Rhye ‘Open’ (Ryan Hemsworth Remix)

This will ease you into Monday quite nicely, especially for those of you who were Oscars partying last night. Actually the whole easing you into Monday thing really only applies to my friends on the West Coast. The rest of you have been up for hours already, apologies. This is still gorgeous though, whatever time zone you’re in.

1000 global cool points. 

Youth Lagoon ‘Dropla’

Normally I find a 6min track a little self indulgent unless I can dance to it, but not in the case of this gorgeous number from Youth Lagoon.

Warm, fuzzy, beachy, hazy. You’ll never die.

1000 welldoneforholdingmyattentionformorethan3minutes cool points 

Source: SoundCloud / FatPossum

Tegan and Sara ‘Now I’m All Messed Up’

No one makes a big electro pop ballad like these guys, and they do it so damn well. The new album ‘Heartthrob’ is due out at the end of this month, expect it to be brilliant. 

1000 stillgettingitrighteverytime cool points

Source: SoundCloud / Tegan and Sara

Wolf Alice ‘Fluffy’

Yessssss. To make up for the fact that last week I only posted songs that will pretty much break your heart, here’s this. North London’s Wolf Alice emerged towards the tail end of last year, and they are already making an impact on 2013.

‘Fluffy’ is an ideal showcase for the band’s unique sound, and gives vocalist Ellie’s husky tones a real chance to shine, right from the off. It’s sultry, it’s loud, it’s catchy as hell. 

Welcome to 2013.

1000 cool points.

Source: SoundCloud / Wolf Alice

Mikky Ekko ‘Pull Me Down’

Wow. OK I am really sorry that it is Jan 5th and everyone is miserable and all I am doing today is posting emo, gorgeous vocally stuff when I should probs be going in on psychadelia and rap or something for the greater good, but listen to this guy! His voice is glorious.

The production on this is hip-hop esque, if that helps…atmospheric and dreamy, look out for Mikky Ekko in 2013. Apparently his debut album is due out this year featuring collabs with some major producers, so he’s kind of a big deal. 

Source: SoundCloud / Mikky Ekko