Listen: HEALTH – “DEATH MAGIC” LP

I’ve been praising HEALTH for years and come next week when the LA band releases their new LP, Death Magic, I’m fairly certain many others will finally take notice. Death Magic follows in stride with the direction the band has been moving towards for the better part of the last five years. The collection of songs is infinitely more poppy and the electronics are more prominent then on Get Color. This version of HEALTH probably has most in common with “USA Boys” or “Tears” and for better or worse tones down on the noise elements found on earlier works. I’ve heard the record a whole lot in the last five days and love it but my personal tastes wish a little bit more of the noise was retained or even sustained in the songs that do go down that road and from past recordings. The record is well sequenced with songs, not directly flowing into the next per say, but more so rhythmically or sonically. If you don’t like what you hear in the first four songs then this record isn’t for as it’s a killer lead-in as far as these things go and offers a good blend of poppy HEALTH vs. noisy HEALTH.

Studio engineering comes from the Haxan Cloak, Mars Volta engineer Lars Stalfors, and longtime Kanye West engineer Andrew Dawson which only adds list of things that will make the record more high profile then anything the band has done before. It’s well deserved, the record is great and they are always amazing live so do yourself a favor, if you like what you hear, make sure to catch them next time they are in your town.

On a final note I hope the band continue with their tradition of releasing a remix album for this record as well, they always have really interesting people tinkering with their songs, often to great results and possibly even acting as inspiration or a stepping stone for where the band sonically finds themselves today. DEATH MAGIC is out August 7th.

DEATH MAGIC Tracklist: 01. VICTIM 02. STONEFIST 03. MEN TODAY 04. FLESH WORLD (UK) 05. COURTSHIP II 06. DARK ENOUGH 07. LIFE 08. SALIVA 09. NEW COKE 11. L.A. LOOKS 11. HURT YOURSELF 12. DRUGS EXIST
 

Listen: Meow the Jewels - "Meowrly"

El-P and Killer Mike finally shared a full track from their Meow The Jewels Project last night via their Beats Radio 1 show, WRTJ. "Meowrly" is our first proper taste of the “joke campaign” that became a reality late last year. But the cat version of "Early", which features Boots, who also helped with the remix is definitely no joke; in fact I would say the production on this is even better than the original!

Meow The Jewels has no official release date at this point as it was originally scheduled to drop in December of 2014; but if the rest of the record sounds as good as this then it will be well worth the wait.

Onomatopoeia Exclusive Download: /ˈjedˌīak/ - “The Blank Beat” (LL Cool J Vs. Taylor Swift) & “Simply Magnifique” (Lynyrd Skynyrd Vs. Ratatat)

Some new live remix’s to share this evening, well technically something new and something old. I originally laid down “The Blank Beat” back in January of 2014 but sat on it; LL Cool J does his thing over Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.”  And just earlier tonight I threw Lynyrd Skynryrd together with Ratatat for “Simply Magnifique.” You can stream, share and download from the players below.

Soundcloud has gotten stricter with their policies so  sometimes they disappear without warning.

/ˈjedˌīak/ - The Blank Beat (LL Cool J Vs. Taylor Swift)
LL Cool J – “Feel The Beat” vs. Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
January 2014 in LIC, NY
99.89 BPM Key Fm
Art by Jediak

/ˈjedˌīak/ - Simply Magnifique (Lynyrd Skynyrd vs. Ratatat)

Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Simple Man” vs. Ratatat – “Magnifique”

Recorded July 2015 in LIC, NY

120.21 BPM Key C#m
Design by Jediak

Listen: Despot - "House Of Bricks"

Well this is a pleasant surprise right here; Despot, the Queens rapper and co-owner of NYC venue Santos Party House, dropped a studio single. For those who follow the elusive emcee “House of Bricks” should be a familiar live staple but with a solo album that’s long been in the works with little to no sign having been shared, HoB is a good indication that this thing might actually see the light of day. E*Vax of Ratatat fame, handles production duties.

Listen: Youth lagoon - "The Knower"

It’s been so long since I we have heard anything from YouthLagoon. Trevor Powers returned to the Internet this week with news of his first new music since 2013. “The Knower,” starts out simple enough with a somber barebones approach but then gets quite jittery and closes things off with some orchestration that would make Beirut proud; good stuff. Savage Hills Ballroom is due on September 25th.