Happy Friday, y’all! Overall, it’s been an uplifting week. I’ve been thinking about Spider-Man: Homecoming since I saw it last Saturday (please go see it ASAP if you haven’t yet), Raf Simons dropped a Blade Runner meets Joy Division/New Order inspired collection (which, if you know me, it's the most high key on brand fashion collection practically made for me of all time), and I finally booked my trip to Portland for my friend’s wedding next month! It’s been two years since I’ve been in the Pacific Northwest – looking forward to having Marionberry flavored everything the entire weekend, and hopefully I’ll get through a few rolls of film while I’m there.
Please reach out to me via the handy dandy contact page on the cmd+f website, or on Twitter with your thoughts about any of the tracks I’ve selected this week. I love chatting about music. Let me in on your new favorite band; they’re looking for new fans, too.
As always, you know the drill: if you like what you hear, spread the cheer. Tell your friends about the songs you liked in this letter, but most importantly, let the artists know. There’s a good chance they’ll see your comments. Let them know how good their tunes are, and they’ll crank out even more magic.
P.S. If you would like to have this letter sent to your email every Friday, please head over to this link right here to subscribe to never miss a weekly roundup!
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“Summer Sound” - ROMES | This right here: the content we truly deserve. This is the second time ROMES have made an appearance on cmd+f – this week, I’ve been OBSESSED with their new single “Summer Sound.” Absolute BOP! When their self-directed music video for the tune dropped Monday, I had this song on repeat for hours at work. The day coasted by much more quickly as I started singing along with the chorus at my desk [cue me bopping along to “Say ‘Oooh, I’m good!’ The rhythm is here to stay!!!!!!” like, YES IT DAMN WELL IS]. Ultimate result: my spirits were lifted, crops were watered, skin cleared, etc. Listen here / Watch here
“We Dance” - Crush Club | As a staunch disco never died advocate, Crush Club are giving me LIFE. “We Dance” is a classic disco tune, loaded with an easy to groove 4/4 fiesta, bursting with smooth piano stabs and liberating vocals. I almost guarantee you’ll want to rip your clothes off and bathe in glitter on a dancefloor by the second chorus. Listen here
“I Wish I Was A Bird” - Luke Rathborne | This tune came my way through a press email, and I was delightfully surprised. “Don’t Call Me Baby” is one of two new releases from Luke this week after the new announcement of his signing to Ribbon Music. Full well knowing Ribbon Music’s roster of artists (most notably John Maus, whom I’m still low key obsessed with), I instantly knew Luke’d be a special addition. From the first note of “Don’t Call Me Baby,” I was warmed by the jovial nature of the tune, but the real star is the 8 and a half minute monster ballad “I WIsh I Was A Bird.” Don’t let anyone fool you that long songs are a waste of your time – I’m here to tell you that this one is very special. Listen here
“anemona” - slenderbodies | If Glass Animals whispered over a Foals instrumental with Alt-J levels of harmonizing, then you’d get something sounding very close to “anemona.” The guitar picking and sonic flourishes are insane, to the point I’m convinced the song is actually 3-dimensional. It builds on so many layers compressed down onto the same notes at about five separate angles. What I’m describing make me sound insane, but once you give it a spin, you’ll hear exactly what I mean. Listen here
“Rush” - Lauren Faith | My first thought when I heard “Rush” was that JLo’s team would have snatched this song up in a heartbeat if it was written during her prime reign in the era of velour track suits. Trop-house lite production at the start of “Rush” aside, once the drums kick in 30 seconds in, the grooving only goes up from there. While I haven’t found much info about Lauren Faith, and only seeing this is her second official single, I can get behind this sound. Listen here
BONUS
cmd+f alumna San Mei has released her debut EP, and it’s top notch hazy rock goodness Listen here
The new Arcade Fire track “Electric Blue” is a hypnotic masterpiece Listen here
Mura Masa’s debut album is FINALLY HERE!!! Listen here
Rising pop darling Billie Eilish dropped “COPYCAT” - vibes are reminiscent of early, early Lana Del Rey Listen here
Speaking of Lana Del Rey: Listen here
More evidence 2017 has been a fever dream: Coldplay have a new EP and Big Sean is one on of their tracks. Listen here
With Soundcloud being on its DEATHBED, there’s an even more horrific story looming in the background: one of my favorite sites I visited religiously throughout high school, Hype Machine, is facing a rough patch in this stream-heavy culture. If you’re unfamiliar with HypeM, it’s a website that helped track and prioritize the most “hyped” about tracks during the height of the independent music blogging era circa 2007-2012. I would spend hours scrolling through HypeM discovering new artists, glistening disco-fied remixes, and tricked out bootlegs from all over the net. It was my number one new music source for a solid 5 years, all through Uni, up until, erm, Spotify came around. HypeM runs on humanized data, not computerized algorithms, and it’s one of the last honest places in music to offer such a service. They keep the opinions of little guys (like me!!) at the forefront. Unfortunately, the three-person independent team is asking for our help to keep them afloat. Think of HypeM as your local indie bookstore - they’re helping curate honest opinions of music consumption without influence of a PR team. HypeM is formative to my personal music tastes, and helped blossom me into the tastemaker I am today. If HypeM has touched you and your love for music over the years, please consider pledging your support to help keep the future of HypeM up and running. Support here
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If you’re interested in hearing what else I’ve been rinsing this month (aside from the tracks listed above), peep my personal July 2017 playlist. There I will be dumping in new (and occasionally throw back) tracks as the month carries on. You can dive into the cmd+f archive to hear what I’ve been listening to in previous months this year.
A(lmost a)ll of the tracks I’ve shared this week and past cmd+f newsletters are archived into a single playlist on Spotify for you to follow here. You’re welcome.
See you next week!