Jan 7 - Petite Noir

I heard this guy today who's put out 4 songs since 2012, which kind of reminds me of Jai Paul (except with twice the output). Although he sounds nothing like Jai Paul. He sounds more like TV on the Radio, which is also great. And supposedly he's putting out an album this year. And he's from South Africa and I'm in the middle of planning a trip back to South Africa for a friend's wedding in March. So this all just works out great, doesn't it?

So here's Petite Noir, with his 2014 single Chess. I actually prefer his 2013 single, Noirse, but I can't seem to find it on Youtube or Soundcloud. But you can listen on Spotify, along with his other 2 songs and some remixes and whatnot.

Jan 6 - Jaymes Young

To continue yesterday's Sufjan and UFO themed blog post, we have the second song I found last week that samples him. Habits Of My Heart, the opening track on Jaymes Young's second EP, also titled Habits Of My Heart, samples the same song and really confused me when I heard it because it's a pretty obscure sample and finding two songs that both sample it in the same week is rather unexpected.

I know very little about this guy, but he's got 2 EPs under his belt and I'll be keeping an eye on him to see if there isn't an album or other new music in 2015.




And if you are so inclined, you can actually listen to both of his full EPs Soundcloud. Or also on Spotify. Whatever you want. The first one, Dark Star, might actually be better, but both are pretty good, although maybe a bit too poppy overall.

Jan 5 - Made in Heights

Since just before New Year the pollution in Shanghai has been pretty bad. Generally it's ok, especially compared to other cities in China. But every morning when I wake up I gauge the pollution by how clearly I can see the Shanghai Financial Center and Shanghai Tower, or whether I can see them at all. Today was a not at all day. And then I got outside and it smelled funny. If I'm being honest, I was a little concerned that I'm probably breathing in noxious chemicals. Fun.

For those of you who are interested, the towers I mentioned are the two taller ones on the right (the SFC is the one they call the bottle opener. That should help you figure out which is which). Actually, the tallest looking one on the left, the Orient Pearl TV Tower, is much shorter than the other two. Also, Shanghai does have a beautiful skyline. I can't see it all from my apartment, I'm too far for that, but I can see the two tall ones.

But enough about pollution. On the bright side, I have a bunch of new music to share, which should keep me busy over the next few days. Today and tomorrow I'll be sharing two songs by two different artists/groups that both sample the same Sufjan Stevens song (that song being Concerning the UFO sighting near Highland, Illinois , the opening track off of the wonderful Illinois album, back when Sufjan was wonderful). Today it's Made in Heights, with the amazingly titled Skylark Interbang?!. Actually this band first caught my attention with their new single, Murakami, due to my love of Haruki Murakami, but you can go find that one for yourself. And while you're at it, also find Viices. One song a day here, sorry guys. You have to do some work, too.

Jan 4 - Junius Meyvant

I guess now that I'm doing a song a day, I can put more stuff by people who only have one song, or only one song I like. I normally like to do 2 when I introduce an artist, but that's not always possible. I also wanted to do something new today, since the last two days were not new artists, so I'm choosing Color Decay, the first song from Icelandic artist Junius Meyvant.

Jan 3 - Daughter

Today I realized that I need a friend who works at the embassy so I can take advantage of their drop shipment privileges. I want a wireless hard drive and they're cheaper in the States, and don't ship to China. It's very annoying. I'm passing through Hong Kong in a few weeks on my way to Singapore, though, so I may check duty free there, or even try to get into the city where electronics are cheap. Or just check an electronics market here, but then there's no guarantee it's real. Anyway, if you know someone who works at the US Consulate in Shanghai, let me know. That'd be great.

And today we get Daughter, another band that I fell in love with and blogged about a while back. But I haven't ever shared my favorite song by them, The Woods, off of their first EP, His Young Heart. It wasn't my favorite at first, but the more I listened the more I fell in love, and now it is my favorite. Even more so than the fan favorite (and also incredible) Youth. This is total speculation at this point, but they did put out their album in 2013, and have recently finished up all kinds of tours, so I'm hopeful they're working on new music and maybe a new album for this year. But no word on that yet. Luckily we have many pretty things from them to tide us over for the time being.

Jan 2 - Hiatus Kaiyote

Day 2 and I haven't forgotten already. That's a good sign. Especially considering that I technically forgot on day 1. But actually if you ask my blog, it seems to think I posted that at like 9am. So don't tell anyone.

If you're reading this, then you've noticed that I didn't share it to facebook as I usually do. I'll probably only do that when I have an actual story or something very exciting to share. But not every day. So check back if you're interested.

Today was pretty uneventful. It's a public holiday in China, so I have to work Sunday to "make up" for it. Pretty dumb, but that's what they do here. Anyway, I finished season 1 of Transparent, which is great. And one of the elevators in my building had a carpet installed while I was out at lunch. Totally random, but then this is China.

Today's song is from Hiatus Kaiyote, who I wrote about here when they put out their first album, Tawk Tomahawk. Their first album which was absolutely amazing and one of my favorite albums of 2012. And they should be releasing a new one this year. So last month they put out an EP, By Fire, which is actually only 3 songs so in my mind it's a single, but then I don't actually know what the difference is. This band's first album blew me away, and sadly the EP isn't as good as the album, but it's still nothing to complain about. They've gotten a bit more funky and a bit less neo-souly, but I love the last track on the EP, Molasses, so that's what you get today.

Jan 1 - Klo

I've decided to try something new this year. I know someone who posted a picture for every day of the year last year, and I like that idea. So then I thought, maybe I'd try to do it with a song for this year. So I'm going to try (and fail, I'm sure. In fact I've technically already failed because it's 12:45 and officially January 2, but it's still January 1 at home so I'll count it).

I gave some thought to whether I should pick a meaningful song for special days such as this. Maybe the first day of the new year should have a song which reflects that. But then I don't care so much. If I have a song that I think is particularly fitting for a day then I'll share it on that day. But if not, then I'll just share whatever I feel like. So today you get whatever I feel like. Nothing meaningful.

This also means I'll probably have a bunch of posts which are just a song and a couple sentences about it. No stories or photos for the most part. If I have something to share I will, but I can't be bothered to write a full post every day.

So my first song for 2015 is a group that I'm hoping to hear more of in 2015, Klo. The Australian duo put out an EP last year, Cusp, which I just bought and enjoy a lot. I listened to it a few times before realizing they remind me of Little Dragon, which is probably part of the reason I like them a lot and am hopeful there will be more music. So here's my favorite song by them, Under Lie.



And with that, hopefully we're on to something new for the year which I won't fail too miserably at.