Monthly Archives: April 2012

Telescope Thieves

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Mario De Los Santos, also known as Telescope Thieves, is a lo-fi, downbeat artist that oddly enough began his musical career as a rapper. The Miami native later segued into making his own music which he found to be much more creatively fulfilling. Santos currently plays keys for an Alternative Rock band, Morning War, and Telescope Thieves is his Sunday afternoon side project that incorporates his hip-hop influences with unconventional vocal and instrumental samples. He describes his music to be experimental lo-fi abstracted by trip-hop that creates original downtempo beats … MORE

Kindness

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< Adam Bainbridge (dude behind Kindness) has the right idea, his band name says it all and the title of their LP World You Need A Change of Mind reinforces their socially responsible mentality. Besides having a tender outlook, Kindness’ album is REALLY good. Female Energy/ Polydor released it back in March and it’s been getting some serious buzzing since then. This one is highly recommended … MORE

Maceo Plex

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Though this post might be a little late due to his surging popularity and worldwide acclaim, I think we need to take the time to cover him because, well, the beats are just too damned good. There are so many things I can say about Eric Estornel, known to the world as Maceo Plex , but for the sake of brevity I will say two words: prolific and genius. Signed to the distinguished record label Crosstown Rebels, Estronel is one of our very own, born and raised in Miami, Florida. … MORE

Free Magic & JKriv

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I love emails like this:

“Hey Laura — was down in Miami and caught your show, great stuff. So happy to hear good jamz on the radio among all the crap.”

I especially love messages like that when I’m already a fan of the person writing it. This email came from Free Magic and JKriv who we’ve posted about in the past and repeatedly rocked on your local dance floors. The guys are working on some great stuff, primarily on vinyl but you can preview it on their soundcloud page. I also LOVE the image they sent above to use for the post, they claim it’s their spirit animal. I naturally asked them for a bio but we had a lot more fun with a quick and basic Q & A which I will share with you now:

… MORE

This Heart Electric

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Another rising talent from Miami underground is psych/lo-fi extraordinaire Ricardo Guererro aka This Heart Electric.  Many locals may know him as 1/2 of the dance-rock duo Animals of the Arctic or 1/3 of ha ha help!, but his new solo project goes in a new and addictingly enjoyable direction.  Always a sucker for that gritty psych sound, Guererro has fashioned what he calls “broken pop” that, despite the intentional low production quality (recorded on cassette 8-track), will have you whistling to yourself for the foreseeable future … MORE

Midnight Runners

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After meeting Joakim last night at the Pickle and having a conversation about disco and music in general we both agreed the genre will never die. Yes, the kids are all over deep house these days (we like it as well) but those of us rooted in disco will never treat it as as a trend. It’s refreshing to hear quality acts keeping the genre alive. One group I’m really digging is Midnight Runners … MORE

Joakim

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Joakim‘s “Teenage Kiss” off of Kitsune’s 2004 compilation X was one of the first songs I ever played on Vamos a La Playa, I’ve been a fan for a bit. Dude’s released a shit ton of new material since then that sounds nothing like that track but is still as awesome (if not more awesome). “Forever Young” and “Find A Way” were great singles and his last full LP Nothing Gold is also noteworthy. His latest EP “Labyrinth” includes remixes from the likes of Todd Terje and Le Loup, good stuff … MORE

Blackbird Blackbird Contest

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Back in July of 2010 we featured an interview with an emerging project by San Francisco’s Mikey Maramag called Blackbird Blackbird.  This was in the heat of the so-called chillwave hype and during that balmy Miami summer, we were more than happy to let a little “chill” into our hearts.  Now with summer of 2012 quickly approaching, we finally have the opportunity to bring Blackbird Blackbird to the tropics.  Chillwave is alive and well. Haters take heed … MORE

iamamiwhoami

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iamamiwhoami are an enigmatic multimedia collective composed of woodland elves who create that innovative, dark electronic music we have grown to adore coming out of… guess? Yeah, Sweden. Again.

The members of the group aren’t so easily found except for Jonna Lee, a singer-songwriter who spends most of her time galavanting half naked in her Bjorn Born undies, strutting her goods while singing like a cute little elven goddess … MORE