Eclectic Vibes

by Andrew Frey

Reviews From: Year 2013
Spiral Rhythm - Rise Up

Spiral Rhythm - Rise Up

Spiral Rhythm
Rise Up
Label: self-released

Rise Up is the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign and so it sparkles and shines from community involvement. In fact, they were a favorite at the spirit festival (PSG) we attended over Summer Solstice. Their multifaceted pro-Goddess a capella pagan chants will warm your heart and soothe your soul as they are caressed with gentle percussion and the vibrancy of the many Goddessy voices that make up this 7 member group. Experience what these sacred space makers have to offer! 

Spiral Rhythm WebsiteSpiral Rhythm Facebook

Valient Thorr - Our Own Masters

Valient Thorr - Our Own Masters

Valient Thorr
Our Own Masters
Label: Volcom Entertainment

Balls-to-the-wall slip sliding stoner sludge metal from North Carolina has never sounded so good! Pulsing and pounding riffs and rhythms spiral and surge, blistering with unvarnished intensity and brilliance. Grab hold! 

Valient Thorr WebsiteValient Thorr FacebookValient Thorr Wiki

The Green - Hawai’i 13

The Green - Hawai’i 13

The Green
Hawai’i 13
Label: Easy Star Records

After chart-topping success (#1 Billboard and iTunes Reggae) and high profile awards (iTunes Best Reggae Album 2010), The Green’s third release focuses on their homeland by charting a journey through Hawaiian life and music in 2013. Boasting 4 singers amid the 5 separate song writers in a 6 member group results in grand diversity amongst the stability of their reggae roots. 

The The Green WebsiteThe The Green FacebookThe The Green Wiki

Michael Franti and Spearhead - All People

Michael Franti and Spearhead - All People

Michael Franti and Spearhead
All People
Label: Universal

Celebrating the beauty of diversity through peaceful, loving melodies and lyrics is a trademark of Franti and crew. Now, 8 studio albums in, Franti has still managed to cling to the peace-loving, socially active principals that propelled him to this point. Supremely danceable grooves and compelling anthemic pop delights will again and again have you on your feet and shaking your wild thang. See them on 9/25 at the Orpheum Theater in Madison, WI. 

Michael Franti and Spearhead WebsiteMichael Franti and Spearhead FacebookMichael Franti and Spearhead Wiki

Pretty Lights - A Color Map of the Sun

Pretty Lights - A Color Map of the Sun

Pretty Lights
A Color Map of the Sun
Label: Pretty Lights Music

After three years of gestation, experimentation, and community-building, Derek Vincent Smith, AKA Pretty Lights, has unfurled one of the most anticipated releases of 2013. Over the last year he collaborated with fellow musicians of all ages and genres, creating a musical journal of their activities (and made a video of it) that emulated time periods spanning the last century, which were then pressed to vinyl and used in conjunction with a custom built analog synth to create his latest masterpiece, with the title inspired by Isaac Newton.

On first listen, the release might blend into a jungle of glitch-ridden jazzy atmospheres, but soon your mind will decipher and unravel the many layers of depth and beauty hidden in each track. Ear candy of the highest order! Like all of his music the entire thing available completely for FREE. But he has also printed hard copies on CD and Vinyl which along with an enormous amount of other fantastic and fashionable PL goodies are available at the PL web page.

Pretty Lights WebsitePretty Lights FacebookPretty Lights Wiki

Tal National - Kaani

Tal National - Kaani

Tal National
Kaani
Label: FatCat

Before becoming the national treasure and pop phenomenon of the West African country of Niger, Tal National honed their craft for 6 long years before recording their first release. Known for their playing all-night-long shows five nights a week in their native country, the band rose to huge success and are in high demand.

Kaani, their first international release, is sung all in Zarma, Haossa (Niger’s main languages), and French. It is a non-stop flurry of Afropop with dancing guitar melodies combined with traditional regional inflections and percussion plus touches of desert blues and soukous that deftly combines the traditional with the modern. Their first international tour stops on 9/21 in Milwaukee, WI at Global Union Festival: Humbolt Park Bandshell.

Tal National WebsiteTal National Facebook

Legendary Pink Dots - The Gethsemane Option

Legendary Pink Dots - The Gethsemane Option

Legendary Pink Dots
The Gethsemane Option
Label: Metropolis

Dark numbing droning rhythms intersect warbling dissonances and copulate with the soured Jesus thematics of the release. After 32 studio albums in 33 years the LPDs still retain the reins on unsettling minimalism that draws listeners in via some creepy beauty and psychological titillations.

The Legendary Pink Dots WebsiteThe Legendary Pink Dots FacebookThe Legendary Pink Dots Wiki

Snoop Lion - Reincarnated

Snoop Lion - Reincarnated

Snoop Lion
Reincarnated
Label: RCA/Red

“The only way to get love is to give love,” states Snoop Lion (the reggae version of rap icon Snoop Dogg) at the beginning of Reincarnated, his chart-topping first musical venture into reggae. Embracing a change of perspective in addition to lifestyle, he traveled to Jamaica to immerse himself in the Rasta of it all. In conjunction with the album, Snoop released an acclaimed feature-length documentary of his journey and career, explaining his change of perspective as well as how the songs on this release came into being. Maybe not be best reggae or dancehall album ever, but this release contains some big name guest appearances and a couple unbelievably catchy songs that will be retained in your brain for many days to come. But with 1.7 billion views on YouTube alone, this may be nothing new to you.

Snoop Lion WebsiteSnoop Lion FacebookSnoop Lion Wiki

Shpongle - Museum of Consciousness

Shpongle - Museum of Consciousness

Shpongle
Museum of Consciousness
Label: Twisted Records Ltd

Consciousness is what our lives are all about and this heartily psychedelic and pro DMT group certainly has allowed a grand consciousness perception to evolve in their music and performances. Tribal dance grooves are flooded with mystical ambiance and quirky electronic infiltrations are met with space warbles of mind jarring ascent. Invitations are sent out to pierce the veil of reality and get a glimpse of what else is out there (and in there). Are you experienced?

Shpongle WebsiteShpongle FacebookShpongle Wiki

Boban and Marko Markovic Orchestra - Gipsy Manifesto

Boban and Marko Markovic Orchestra - Gipsy Manifesto

Boban and Marko Markovic Orchestra
Gipsy Manifesto
Label: piranha

The Balkan brass band movement has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding musical uprisings of the past several years and the Markovic’s have been unabashedly at the forefront of things. This legendary father and son virtuoso trumpet duo hail from Southern Serbia, but thanks to the saturation of multicultural elements into their music, they have been penning numerous genre-defining and explosive Balkan Gypsy Brass dance hits over the years while seeing their popularity skyrocket thanks to DJs around the world remixing all things Balkan into their electronica. Balkan beats get the dance floor percolating and there is a lot of fantastic percolation happening on Gipsy Manifesto!

Boban and Marko Markovic Orchestra WebsiteBoban and Marko Markovic Orchestra FacebookBoban and Marko Markovic Orchestra Wiki

Bombay Dub Orchestra - Tales From The Grand Bazaar

Bombay Dub Orchestra - Tales From The Grand Bazaar

Bombay Dub Orchestra
Tales From The Grand Bazaar
Label: Six Degrees

Inspired by stories that traders and denizens of the cafes and stalls of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul have been telling since it was established in 1461, this release matches beautiful and entrancing multi-ethnic rhythms with cool dub and electronica in a dynamic soundtrack environment. Recorded in Jamaica, Turkey, India, US and UK, the myriad of global inflections and nuances will have you conjuring your own stories of grand adventuring. 

Bombay Dub Orchestra WebsiteBombay Dub Orchestra FacebookBombay Dub Orchestra Wiki

Various Artists - Mycelium Music Compilation Vol 2

Various Artists - Mycelium Music Compilation Vol 2

Various Artists
Mycelium Music Compilation Vol 2
Label: Mycelium Music

Making music for a cause is always admirable, and the cause here is of utmost global importance. This collection of 13 downtempo, dub, idm, glitch and psychedelic electronic producers from around the world have been inspired by the mycelial networks of the Pacific Northwest. In turn 100% of proceeds from this compilation go to the Amazon Mycorenewal Project which educates people about how fungi can (among many other amazing things) clean up industrial pollution caused by petroleum extraction.  amazonmycorenewal.org

Various Artists WebsiteVarious Artists Facebook

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