Tom's SYFFAList

Palace Winter - MENTON: I read somewhere that these guys sound like The War On Drugs and that was all the description I needed. It's like somebody asking you if you want to see the palest parts of Johnny's anatomy. Well, duh, of course I do. Anyhoo, the description was pretty accurate: dreaminess polarized by steady cadenced drums, BUT the synth is a little more playful...almost dancey. 

Atlas Genius - A Perfect End: Dude. This song has it all. And on top of the 'all' they add in that part at 1.53 that forces you to intensely nod your head to the rhythm. It's like adding the cherry on top of whip cream that is on top of ice cream that is in a waffle bowl. Do you really need the cherry? No. But you enjoy it anyway. 

Thom Byles - The Great Outdoors: Random songs come across my computer speakers all day and I'm not sure what player (itunes, soundcloud, bandcamp,etc.) is playing what because I switch around a lot. When this song came on I was certain it came from my personal library because I asked myself 'Why haven't I heard this James Vincent McMorrow song?' BUT IT WAS THOM BYLES...whoever that is. All that I know is that I want to slow dance with his voice on thin ice. 

Luke Sital-Singh - Still: All I needed was that first guitar lick to know that this was my steeze. AND THEN when you hear Luke Sital-Singh's smooth voice, that has a twinge of innocence and frailty, you'd expect him to hold open the door for your Grammy and offer to carry her groceries to the car. He just sounds like such a nice young man. 

Jamie XX - Loud Places (Altered Tapes Re-mix): I don't normally listen to dancey remixes, but when I do they best add something other than a beefed up bass line and an extra tss tss tss on the high-hat. Altered Tapes fucking kills this; listen to it on a weekend night when you're a couple of vodka tonics deep.

ZOO - Bobby: Holly sweaty balls stain on my canvas beach chair; the chorus is a perfect blast of humid air that smells like burning metal. 

Sundrug - Wildman: In case you were living in a hole, Sundrug is the new name for Vanaprasta and for what they drop in syllables they gain in UV ray strength because this shit has potential to burn you in the most satisfying way. Listen with a tub of aloe. 

City Calm Down - Wandering: One of my favorite songs of the last 10 years is 'The Great Pan is Dead (GPID)' by Cold Cave and this song is up there in intensity and greatness. It's not going to kick you in the balls in the first few seconds like 'GPID' does, but don't worry, it will build to the point to where you'll want to start punching concrete with bare knuckles. This is possibly the best song of the year.

Nathaniel Rateliff - S.O.B.: If Edward Sharpe laid off the weed and started drinking whiskey and wearing flannels you'd get Nathaniel Rateliff. SON OF A BITCH....this song gets stuck in your head. 

Blackalicious - The Blow Up: I can feel Tim rolling his eyes at this next statement: I only know Blackalicious from 'Alphabet Aerobics'. Whether you can relate to the statement or not you will have the urge to wear a pair of white-washed Guess Jeans overalls with one strap unhooked when you list to 'The Blow Up'.