Music

Forget the fact that singer-songwriter Trevor “Trouble” Andrew’s forthcoming record, set to drop March 28, is titled Dreams of a Troubled Man. By all accounts this former Olympic snowboarder with the freshest sound in town is living the dream. Between festival appearances (the latest of which is today’s SXSW performance with Wu-Tang Clan), loyal fans and friends (the latter collectively called the Trouble Gang) and a wife we know as Santigold, Andrew leads a charmed life. Continue…

It’s been nearly two years since Peter Bjorn and John has graced the airwaves with a new EP, so it’s a perfect #MusicMonday sort of preview to catch a listen of the new album Gimme Some slated to drop on March 29 via StarTime International. The tracks are Pop Rocks sunny with ebullient guitar strumming found in “Dig a Little Deeper” and the already fan fave “Breaker Breaker.” It’s also noteworthy that working with outside producers, Per Sunding at Tambourine Studios, for the first time  – Peter Moren, Bjorn Yttling and John Eriksson usually tinker with their own sounds –  has brought out a new decisively pop roundabout. (More in the vein of the trio’s 2006 album Writer’s Block than 2009′s moodier Living Thing.) “Second Chance” is downright enthusiastic. Continue…

Ever find yourself at the end of trying work week in need of some hardcore tunage? Me too. Especially since it’s Winter Music Conference right now in Miami (more for the hot weather setting and less about the debaucherous barely-dressed fist-pumping), my office cubicle is a downright allergen come Fridays at 5 p.m. My new go-to is Milkman’s mash-up CD, Algorithms. Released in Jan. earlier this year (and after two years of work), it’s a free-handed mix of the latest pop tracks over hits from the ’70s and ’80s, and the Milkman delivers. Mashup CDs have been something of a trend du jour ever since  the genius Danger Mouse toyed with Jay-Z and The Beatles tracks. But rather than treading on possibly stale ground, Milkman cuts through with seamless transitions from song to song without it feeling awkward . Continue…

It’s not everyday you come across Asian sisters that combine rap alongside gorgeous live violin melodies.  All of which is exactly why you should pay attention to Korean American duo Knewdles + Sos of Misnomer(S). Springing up from the Buffalo suburbs and now based out of cool brownstone-heavy hood Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, the twosome throws down a deadly combo of lyrics and classical training. You might have already spotted them in Converse One Star ads or caught Knewdles taking down the mic at Def Jam Poetry Slams. In any case, hear a track off of their album American I(s) that dropped this past fall and you’ll have this MP3 download (gratis, of course) of their single “Too Many Things” to add to your bands-to-watch music collection. Continue…