Hello my loves - 

I’m through with apologizing for delays between mixtapes (though I do still feel bad), so consider this a pre-pre-SXSW mix. It unintentionally highlights several artists I’m excited to see, like Acrylics, Evan Voytas, Mr. Little Jeans, and Alex Winston. Who’s gonna go dance with me?

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1. Mean Lady - “Lonely”

Talk about great music from a dorm room! The Mean Lady EP “Kid Friendly” impressed me plenty before finding out it’s the debut effort from two kids from University of Delaware. They gave it away free at one record store, a Mediterranean Grill in Newark, and at their shows. This deserves WAY more attention.

2. Aloe Blacc - “I Need A Dollar”

My homies at Yours Truly turned me on to this one, but apparently I’m way behind the times — Aloe is already playing 600+ person venues and one hipster friend noted that he was “sooooo sick of him and all the remixes.” Man, I’m just not cool enough these days. But hey, this song is good, and sorry if you’ve heard it too much :)

3. Foster The People - “Pumped Up Kicks”

Joe from A B & The Sea insisted I check this track out, calling it the best chorus of the year. I gotta give it to him, it’s mighty catchy. Definitely will want to catch them at SXSW.

4. The Western States Motel - “Country and Western Song”

I will admit to mixed feelings on this song. It’s so simple it’s frustrating, but it’s also quite beautiful and the simplicity matches the song so well.

5. Mr. Little Jeans - “Rescue Song”

I think I’m in love. Monica Berkenes is an LA resident originally from Norway with a stop in London in between. She likes La Sera and has an incredible voice of her own (she covers Beyonce with ease and grace).

6. Blood Diamonds - “Aires”

I wish I could tell you more about Blood Diamonds, but all I know is they’re from Vancouver and make some groovy beats and blips.

7. Teen Daze - “Let’s Fall Asleep Together”

Teen Daze seems to be following Toro y Moi’s lead somewhat by leaving the pure electronics behind in favor of more real instrumentation. And, perhaps the bigger surprise considering his laptop-and-a-mic live show, he pulls it off!

8. Evan Voytas - “Tomorrow Night We’ll Go Anywhere”

Evan continues to crank out amazing tracks.  

9. Acrylics - “Nightwatch”

This is hands-down the most played new album of my last month. It’s at once cheesy and brilliant enough to play that cheesiness off as mere fun. It’s an homage to the best indie rock of the last decade and a step forward, seeming to say “I see what you did there, now check this out!”

10. Alex Winston - “Sister Wife”

Alex Winston has been incessantly running through my skull for the last week. She has a new EP that you should probably get, even though it will drive you mad.

11. The Crystals - “He’s A Rebel”

The Crystals were one of Phil Spector’s great successes, and this track is my favorite of their triumphs. It was originally offered to The Shirelles, but they turned it down because of the anti-establishment lyrics. Interestingly, even this version wasn’t sung by The Crystals — Phil was in such a hurry to record the song that he got The Blossoms to back up Darlene Love before The Crystals could fly to LA from NYC, but released the song under The Crystals name.

12. Onra - “The Anthem”

Onra is french DJ and beat maker Arnaud Bernard. That’s about all I got.

13. Mount Righteous - “We’re All Going Crazy”

Mount Righteous is from Grapevine, TX and has nine(-ish) members & tons of energy. Definitely a modern form of marching band.

14. Clive Tanaka y su orquesta - “Neu Chicago”

Clive Tanaka hails from Japan and collaborates with a group called su orquesta (whom I know nothing about).

15. Micah Smith and mirF - “Touch”

DJ Micah Smith hails from Chicago and teamed up with Spokane, WA based beat maker mirF for the album Kosmos, which is equal parts soul, jazz, and Chinese hip-hop.

16. Love Lake - “Things U Did”

Love Lake’s debut was recorded in various bedrooms of Minneapolis, MN by Anders Carlson (with help from a few friends).

17. Toro y Moi - “Still Sound”

Toro y Moi is back with a new, more decidedly live-instrumented record Underneath The Pine. This is very clearly the single, but the rest of the record has lots of solid tracks as well, and it’s fun to hear him break out of pure chillwave.

18. Persianettes - “Call On Me”

I got this track from a 60s Philly Soul Girls sampler I picked up off homie yvyvynl’s blog. This track was a b-side on a 1965 single that wound up getting released by three different labels between 1965 and 1969.

19. Jonny - “Continental”

Jonny is the collaboration between Norman Blake of Teenage Fancluband (ex-Gorky’s) Welsh musician Euros Childs. They put this track out with four others on a Free EP last fall, and now have a full record out. They also have some of the worst SEO in the business.

20. Fishing - “OOOO” 

Speaking of terrible SEO, I’m not even going to try to find out much about this band. Just kick back and enjoy :)