[SONG OF THE DAY] Mayer Hawthorne - "The Game"

photo credit: Yana Yatsuk

Cali-based crooner cutie Mayer Hawthorne is really on a creative spree at the moment and I am ALL FOR IT.

He’s been making the rounds in recent months with new bops from Tuxedo, his project with producer extraordinaire Jake One, but Hawthorne has decided to release some solo music as well. I can’t believe it’s been a little over 3 years since he dropped Man About Town. Time certainly flies! At any rate, his first offering in too many moons, “The Game”, is a slow jam that feels a lot like a more mature version of his Strange Arrangement days. As he’s spent time exploring the depths of his solo sound, it’s simply showcased his vocal prowess all the more. He’s really one of those dudes who can literally sing the phonebook. I’d be like, “ok and how much did you say it was gonna be to have him sing 3 pages of people with K last names? $500? cool I’ll Venmo you now”.

The song is the first of what is supposedly more to come. It’s wild that we’ll likely be getting Tuxedo and solo Hawthorne stuff simultaneously. What a time to be alive! The next Tuxedo album, titled Tuxedo III, will be dropping on July 19th just in time for their upcoming 21-day North American tour. Dude certainly likes to keep himself busy!

[SONG OF THE DAY] Yung Bae - "Bad Boy (feat. bbno$ & Billy Marchiafava)

As of yesterday the future funk sensation that’s sweeping across the nation, Portland’s Yung Bae dropped his latest album, Bae 5. His latest single, “Bad Boy”, has been on repeat a good bit in the week leading up to the release so of course I gotta make sure you have a listen.

Bae enlisted some extra help from rappers bbno$ and Billy Marchiafava to get the party going on this one. You can really tell that the yungest of baes had so much fun making this record. It really comes through on tracks like this one.

If you haven’t snatched tickets yet to his upcoming North American tour, then clearly you’re not into having any fun and imma pray 4 u.

YUNG BAE TOUR DATES

Fri Oct 11 - Austin, TX @ Parish
Sat Oct 12 - Dallas, TX @ Trees
Sun Oct 13 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
Tue Oct 15 - Atlanta, GA @Aisle 5"
Thu Oct 17 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl
Fri Oct 18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Foundry
Sat Oct 19 - Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall
Sun Oct 20 - Boston, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
Tue Oct 22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
Wed Oct 23 - Columbus, OH @ Basement
Thu Oct 24 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
Fri Oct 25 - Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground
Sat Oct 26 - Detroit, MI @El Club
Tue Oct 29 - Kansas City, MO @ RecordBar
Fri Nov 01 - Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
Sat Nov 02 - Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
Mon Nov 04 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Thu Nov 07 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
Fri Nov 08 - Vancouver, BC @ Celebrities Underground
Sat Nov 09 - Portland, OR (Night 1) @ Holocene
Sun Nov 10 - Portland, OR (Night 2) @ Holocene

YUNG BAE FESTIVAL APPEARANCES

7/14 @ High Seas West
7/20 @ Camp Bisco
8/2 @ Summer Meltdown
8/30 @ North Coast
9/21 @ Life Is Beautiful
9/29 @ CRSSD
11/17 @ Corona Capital

[SONG OF THE DAY] Joywave - "Like A Kennedy"

Rochester indie pop rockers Joywave have announced that their forthcoming 3rd LP is on the way.

Hell the fuck yes.

While they wrap up the record, the band have released a new single, “Like A Kennedy”.

This is a track that absolutely captivating from the very first second that singer Daniel Armbruster opens his mouth. As he explains, “It's a song about complete exhaustion and media burnout. It's an anti-chaos song.”

Although the choice of words here paint the unsightly picture that is media burnout quite vividly, I’m sure a lot of folks will interpret it to be politically driven as he practically whimpers things like “Do they think they’ll bomb us all?. I don’t know.”, “Do you think they’ll build the wall? I don’t know.”

I believe I am required by law to take as much time as is needed to talk about Daniel’s performance on this song because y’all his choice of phrasing will literally knock the wind out of you if you’re not careful. His voice is notorious for being such a powerful instrument, but his decision to be very tender with these words will punch you right smack dab in the feels. There was a clear decision to be made with these lyrics that they could either demonstrate the chaos that exhausts us all or to deliver one of the most powerful universally relatable songs I’ve heard in a very long time. The latter was undoubtedly the right decision in my opinion as I have been on the verge of tears by the end of this song more times than I’d like to admit since this dropped on Friday. This one really sits deep in your soul. I haven’t been this deeply moved by something in a minute.

Daniel adds, “I don't think people should check out, but I think it's beneficial to at least zoom out and not take the bait every time. It feels like everything is designed to keep us enraged 24 hours a day,

We deserve a little bit of sanity.”

💖

[SONG OF THE DAY] Bronze Whale - "Slowing Down"

Austin duo Bronze Whale have returned after dropping their debut LP, The Shape Of Things with a brand new track, “Slowing Down”. The duo teamed up with Joe Pincus, known to the rest of the world as Aire Atlantica during a writing trip to Los Angeles. In true Bronze Whale fashion where they just keep churning out feel good vibes, the band are prepping to release a remix EP in July. Speaking of remixes, their sneak peeks from that EP might have passed you by, but as per usual I gotchu fam. Def wanna give these a whirl. Charlie Crown’s rework of “Cruising” has this fun new energy that builds quite nicely and Cloudchord’s edit of “Gold Grain” takes the song to a more downtempo/relaxed vibe.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Blood Cultures - "Best For You"

New Jersey’s four-piece anon-act Blood Cultures have returned with their second single from their forthcoming sophomore album Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs, which is slated for a September release. “Best For You” is a hazy hypnotic little number full of glitchy vocal slices sampled throughout. This one’s a definite earworm that has the ability to keep you awake with it ringing through your head even though you only played in a couple of times, and of course I mean that in the best possible way.

The band has very strong convictions about remaining anonymous, which they have detailed in a recent manifesto that they’ve shared (and I’ve included below as well). On the one hand, I totally get their intentions here, but as much as it’s nice to just get really invested in a piece of art, there is a communal aspect of it too when it comes to connecting to the artists who made the thing you like.

Perhaps this is something I should hop on the phone and discuss with them soon. 🤔

THE BLOOD CULTURES MANIFESTO
Our hope is to create genuine, emotive art for individuals to connect with in a unique way. We choose to not publicly reveal any information about the project and ourselves in order to effectively carry out this mission: We believe that disclosing our personalities, politics, alignments, intentions, orientations, etc could detach the listener further from the personal connection that they have made with the music.

We must support and respect the unique truths and individual meanings that the listeners generate themselves from the tracks and the visuals. Art is not what the artist intends it to be, but rather what you make of it. If we are simply the vessels, who are we to take meaning away from something by imposing our own views, biasis, intentions, etc?

We choose to be the blank canvas. We want our listeners to find their own significance in the pieces by looking inwardly and seeking the answers within themselves rather than from us: disclosing the context of the work could shatter the individual’s distinct value of the piece that they have created for themselves. There is only one true meaning, and it is that which the listener has concluded is their truth.

Despite not sharing ourselves in the traditional and physical sense, we instead exclusively share our raw emotional selves by exposing our most personal thoughts, moments, and feelings in the music. Anonymity allows us the freedom to be candid and void of restraint, repercussions and fear. This music is the most personal thing I have ever done, so the relationship we have with our listeners through this channel is an extremely intimate one.

If you feel the music, you understand it, you understand us, and just like that, we are connected. Regardless of our potential differences, we are there together, in the same emotional landscape, through this music. And that is worth preserving.

Though we're seen, we will never be seen: just like you

Though we’re heard, we will never be heard: just like you

Though we're known, we will never be known: just like you

Love,

Blood Cultures

[SONG OF THE DAY] The Goods - "Let's Roll (feat. Touch Sensitive)"

We know I’ve been scrambling to assemble the sounds of the summer for this year but imma need to take a minute with this latest track from Sydney trio The Goods because good fucking Lorde this is so damn smoooooooove.

Building on their reputation for funky synth-stacked jams, the fellas enlisted my #1 professional nu-disco crush, none other than Touch Sensitive, for their follow up to last year’s Make Your Move EP. “Let’s Roll” is one of those songs that your brain will wander to when you’re looking back on a perfect night out. It’s a song that when it comes on you’re going to find yourself unable to hold still. Even if you’re sitting on a crowded subway train you’re always gonna realize that your shoulders are bouncing just a bit. It sounds like every incredible night I’ve ever had. You know those nights that started off all unassuming and ended up at a really amazing place where everything just felt perfect? Yeah, they bottled that. I don’t know how, but they did.

Literally me rn listening to this song:

Y’all are you ready to strap in with me and The Goods? I can tell already it’s gonna be a good fucking summer.

And this is gonna be the soundtrack to every last good vibe.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Pat Lok - "Fearless (feat. Luke Burr)"

photo credit: Nina Krupa

VIBE OCLOCK ON NEW MUSIC FRIDAYYYYYYYYYY!

On the heels of his Corazón EP dropping today, Vancouver born turned recent Los Angeles resident Pat Lok has preemptively shared a cut from the EP, “Fearless” featuring Essex soul singer Luke Burr. The song is a lovely little motivational moment both for us and Pat himself. “In my weaker moments, I often compare my life path to the friends and family I left behind in Canada, and wonder if I'm doing the right thing,” Pat shares speaking on the track, “so this is sort of me in the mirror saying get off your butt. It can be difficult for others to believe in you if you don't believe in yourself first and I hope this might reach anyone else out there who needs to hear it.”

Twitter fam so wise with the heartfelt advice! We loveee!

Go have a listen to the rest of Corazón, dude has delivered a deluge of bops yet again. Bravo, homey!

[WATCH] Brit Daniels - "Deja Vu (Official Video)"

Nashville area pop artist Brit Daniels has unveiled the video for her most recent single, “Deja Vu”, a song that delves into the trials and tribulations of modern dating culture. After going through yet another failed attempt at a relationship, Daniels was inspired to get in touch with her feelings and explore what went wrong. Through writing the song, Daniels realized all the red flags she ignored and noticed a pattern in her dating life. The accompanying video reflects it in a minimally powerful way by repeatedly showcasing a handful of scenes throughout.

Looking forward to hearing more of what the singer-songwriter has in store in the coming months. For now I plan getting better acquainted with her previous releases.