The love affair between the indie scene and bygone eras of popular culture provides enough juicy material to write your dissertation on (trust me), but it never seems to get old to my ears to hear how new musicians are coming to the scene and identifying with genres and recording styles that had their time in the mainstream spotlight and have since been outmoded. It’s a lot like fashion trends, but it never seems to be out of style to know how to translate what used to get everyone groovin’ into something modern, fresh from re-discovery and re-interpretation.

Chad Valley – Ensoniq Funk – Chad Valley EP

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It’s CMJ in NYC, and accordingly, I am trying to break off my non-stop work/study loop to take in some new performances. While it’s off-putting not to recognize more than a handful of the bands who are taking the stage, I was reminded that this is what CMJ is really all about. One of the bands I knew, and was blown away to hear live, was Oxford’s Chad Valley. This guy’s voice is surprisingly incredible live, the kind of true talent we are disappointed to miss a lot these days with indie musicians in this specific space.

Kindness – Cyan

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Speaking of good voices, I’d like to know how Kindness‘ undeniably catchy track, Cyan, would sound live. I don’t think it’s possible to sound bad, the chorus’ melody almost invites the listener to sing along. With a music video of Kindness walking aimlessly around New York that, while not poorly-filmed or produced, is cliche and does nothing for his sound, this track stands on its own, and I predict that it will do good things for this young musician. Looking forward to hearing more.

Jensen Sportag – Everything Good – Pure Wet

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I have been meaning to post up something from Cascine, the American spiritual brother-label of Swedish imprint, Service. These guys did a remix swap with Moodgadget‘s Teeel, and the resulting Jensen Sportag remix of Ojai Valley had me floored and drooling for more. I’m hoping we’ll hear more soon from the Jensen brothers– their Cascine-debut EP is called Pure Wet, which includes this sexy track, Everything Good.

18 Carat Affair – Iced – Gorgeous / Fantasy

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Seriously, I cannot get enough of 18 Carat Affair. Denys Parker has really gone off the deep end with his intoxicating, alluring new age funk. You can discover the sources of his inspiration if you dig deeply and obsessively enough, this track has me wondering where he draws the line between his unique sampling methods and carefully-programmed instrumentals (even though he already told me in his interview here). It’s astounding how much material 18K can generate, and how much of that material will cover your soul like honey on top of melted wax.

Posted in Music Posted by Alex on Oct 21 2011 12:00 pm

Tags: 18 Carat Affair, 18k, Cascine, Chad Valley, CMJ, Disco, Indie Dance, Jensen Sportag, Kindness, New Age Funk, Pop