Mesita :: "XYXY"

A bit of downtown lounge-act veneer covers the surface of Mesita's latest single "XYXY". Following early 2012 LP , The Coyote, and its shimmering first song, "Ken Caryl", which recalled the better-than-the-best-of Loney, Dear, "XYXY" taps a different vein, though no less satisfying. The aesthetic here is loaded with splashy drums and little lyrical admonishments like, "you were not the thing I'm dreaming of," as Mesita sends a fuzzy melody against a sparse piano and watches the unfolding drama. Episodic in nature, "XYXY" pulls back into measures of isolated piano before unleashing itself again with a drum fill and James Cooley's signature warble. Think Tom Vek doing a lounge set, and then embrace the long, slow, outtro of keys and drums, a relaxed end to a spasmodic and mercurial arrangement of forces.

DJ Natty Heavy :: "32ft/second June/July Mix"

DJ Natty Heavy and I go back more than 10 years now. And though my career only took a weird and brief trip through the music industry, he made his life there. Currently you can find him producing a top-rated morning radio show in Charleston, South Carolina and spinning the hottest records (check his Fashion Week video above) at Charleston's most exclusive clubs. On a recent visit I asked Heavy if he'd be up for putting together mixes for the blog based on some recent and challenging songs I sent his way. Now, this kid spins hip-hop, freestyles against Common, but you're not exactly going to find the new Cults record in his whip. But he agreed to the challenge, and the first edition mixtape is hot off the decks and ready for stream and download below, along with a track list. This might be the least hip-hop thing he has ever done, and it is absolutely perfect for all your plug-and-play summer circumstances. He even threw in some extra fog horn for me. Check it up or check it down.

Tracks:
1. Cults - "You Know What I Mean"/Common - "The Corner"
2. The Vaccines - "Norgaard"
3. French Films - "Convict"
4. Gauntlet Hair - "I Was Thinking"/Lady Gaga - "LoveGame"
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - "An Ugly Person On A Movie Screen"/ Tupac - "Changes"
6. Coldplay - "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall"
7.Theme Park - "Milk"
8. Tom Vek - "A Chore"

Natty Heavy - "32ftsec July 2011 Mix" by 32feet

Tom Vek :: "A Chore"

It isn't worth putting Tom Vek's debut album We Have Sound in a cultural context. You were either paying attention in 2005 or you weren't. And, frankly, if you weren't and someone didn't make specific mention of the multi-instrumentalist between then and now, you would have missed it entirely. After all, the indie rock world moved on. But if you waited around for Tom Vek these last six years through two Strokes and Radiohead records and Arcade Fire winning a Grammy, he returns this June with a new album and a first single entitled, "A Chore". The video centers on an a easy but good gender-bending joke. If you were wondering where to find the modern record that TV On The Radio suddenly lost the ambition to make this year, it is here. It is still undeniably a solo show. Suitably, by the end, oscillating between televised black-and-white and real life color, Tom Vernon-Kell is left standing alone on stage like he'd been waiting there the whole time or it was us who left him, not the other way around.