Articles

bent squares, Ben T. Squarez
Soundcloud

Bent Squares - Ben T. Sqauarez

Joel Frieders | August 13, 2015
"I wanna ruin love for you..."  That's fucking awesome. BUT THEN THERE'S THIS SNL TYPE SAX SHIT HAPPENING AND I HAVE TO START THE SONG OVER... Whoever the hell Bent Squares is, the dude just got my attention and I've been listening to this fucking Ben T. Squarez EP all morning. I'm so popped up on Bent Squares pop shit I'm bound to gaily skip around the office as opposed to generic, bitch ass walking and shit. I'm not sure I fully understand the angle Bent Squares is anglin' from, but this shit has me happy balls. With a vocal that's both adorably shrill and oddly sentimental, I'm finding dude's instrumentation is the perfect complement to them pipes bro. It's like Bruno Mars meets Weezer meets those episodes of Saved By The Bell where they all had jobs at the beach club...
Linafornia - brownies
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One Song: Linafornia - brownies

Brandon Backhaus | August 12, 2015
I saw Linafornia blow the fucking stage up! She was all whipping hair and head bangs. She was a whirring goddess of emotion, deep and soulful, jazzy fingers banging drum buttons with a purpose of a master maestra instructing us dummies on WHAT THE FUCK IS UP!... and then pause. Then slam back in that way only a true beatsmith on some teach shit knows how. Her set made me want to vibrate out myself and leave my pale skin sac in a crumbled mess on the bar's sticky floor while my spirit soared.  GIVE ME MORE!  Linafornia is from LA, the mecca of Leimert Park to be more precise. I feel like I owe it to her to be precise, because precision is Linafornia's forte. She's prodigiously making her way to the tip top of beat peeps with Beat Cinema, Project Blowed, and Low End Theory. Her fuzzed out...
alaska, words hurt
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One Song: Alaska - Words Hurt (feat. Elsphinx)

Joel Frieders | August 11, 2015
Say what you want about our little blog here, but our fearless (pssst, he's totes afraid of condiments bro) founder Alaska is fucking balls. With his latest drop we see Alaska side by side, neck to neck, arm in arm, man flesh to man flesh with SYFFAL favorite Elsphinx, and not only do their voices meld deliciously together, but they're a perfect demonstration of super old guy rapping super dope and super young guy on his way to being super old and super dope. YES, I just called Alaska old, but I also mentioned the dopeness of the dude. If you don't hear that, you're a dickknuckle in need of some serious fondling. While I've been best friends with Tim for almost ten years, I've never heard him sit back in a track like on "Killers" and I'm fucking digging the fact that there's no...
future elevators, modern world
Soundcloud

One Song: Future Elevators - Modern World

Joel Frieders | August 11, 2015
Sometimes I shimmy. Normally my shimmying is quite energetic. People get out of the way when they see bro shimmying all energentically bro. But when the bro Jimerlis sent over the new new from whoeverthefuckfuck Future Elevators are, BRO, MY SHIMMIES, THEY WENT ALL SLOWBRO.  "Modern World" sounds like I just made us martinis bro. I'm crossing the threshold from the wetbar area of my bachelor pad onto the patio and I'm wearing a kimono my friend Bruce Bruce bought for me on his travels while he was abroad in French Lick. Indiana. Not only is this martini sporting a deliciously ripe blue cheese stuffed olive, I tossed in a spurtzle of fennel and a dash of black pepper. YOUR TASTE BOODS, THEY BELONGS TO MOI! WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? IT MEANS THIS FUCKING SONG IS EVERYTHING YOU...
Sin Fin | Volver | Los Angeles | Instrumental
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One Song: Sin Fin - Volver

Del LeFevre | August 10, 2015
Life lesson: When it comes to new music recommendations always give your coworkers the benefit of the doubt. Generally they all mean well and deserve your ear’s attention. Except for that one ahole that insists on doing multiple stop-n-chats in your office when you're clearly busy and asks you to play Train during meetings. They deserve nothing but extreme disdain. Get bent, Gina! Serenity now! Where was I? Oh yeah, I mention all of this because I’ve been mesmerized by a co-worker’s recommendation for a little while now. BTW Did I say a little while? I lied. Sin Fin released their debut EP, Volver, way back in January, which in internet time is just about 500 years, but I needed all that time to myself. Del time is very important. I had to come to grips with the swirling sounds...
Sound Minds Music Festival
Article

Announcements: Sound Minds Music Festival - Sunday August 16, Brooklyn - Sound Minds Music Festival

Tim Baker | August 10, 2015
Friends of SYFFAL, Josh Sinton, Adam Hopkins & Threes Brewing present the Sound Minds Music Festival in Brooklyn NY. For details on this exciting day of booze and music check the information provided be the satchel of sensh himself, Josh Sinton. Love, Tim New York City’s vibrant musical culture is as rich and varied as it’s ever been. It’s also become uncompromisingly crowded and competitive. In a city of over eight million people (many of whom are striving artists), it’s shocking and untenable that there are only a handful of annual festivals for creative music and jazz. Brooklyn-based musicians Josh Sinton and Adam Hopkins decided to remedy this situation. This August, they are teaming up with Threes Brewing to present some of their favorite music and musicians in the first Sound...
Diane Coffee, Everyday, western vinyl
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One Song: Diane Coffee - Everyday

Tom Doz | August 10, 2015
In case you need some updating, Diane Coffee is Shaun Flemming and Shaun Flemming is also the drummer in Foxygen. And as I'm fact checking my info on Wikipedia I'm learning that he was also a former Disney voice actor (Kim Possible) and a didgeridoo crafter????? I'd normally call bullshit on those tidbits, but it's Wikipedia and Wikipedia is the ultimate authority on facts.  Anyhoo, I wrote about Diane Coffee a couple of years ago because his song "Green" made my grundle as moist as an under-baked cookie dipped in milk...it was so doo-woppy and strange and retro. Even when I hear that song today I still get full of the swoonz and need to drop a Dramamine.  This may explain the overwhelming joy I felt this morning when my bro, Doug, played a new track by Diane Coffee called 'Everyday'....
Kutmah - BLK/SMR
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Kutmah - BLK/SMR

Brandon Backhaus | August 10, 2015
Kutmah's BLK/SMR is your anti-BBQ soundtrack. It's your summer is over, back to school funeral march. I meant that as a compliment.  I don't think I've ever covered anything by Kutmah on Syffal. He hardly needs the press. But this surprise beat record was just too good to not toss into the lion cage. Feast! In case you don't know, Kutmah was a staple in the early beat scene that would become the prolific Low End Theory and spawn international artists such as Daedalus and Flying Lotus and Gaslamp Killer. Basically he had a ham sammich in putting bass music on everybody's gay-dar. I'm pretty sure I don't have to break it down for you, but if you didn't know any of this, go do your homework, kid.  After being deported to the UK in 2010, Kutmah has continued touring and producing...
guante, white people on twitter
Soundcloud

One Song: Guante - White People On Twitter

Joel Frieders | August 9, 2015
This is exactly what I needed to hear on repeat today. Nothing musically jarring, but completely fucking socially stabbing; Guante and Katrah-Quey are calmly delivering the message so many fucking people who I share a skin color with need to hear, repeatedly.  Dear musicians of 2015: Please keep this sort of delivery in your arsenal. Not only is it slow enough for the non-rap fans to process, it's non-confrontational while putting the fucking mirror up, and while I'd love to incite some confrontation with a few people I share bloodlines with, this method of dialogue seems the least likely to cause white people to cry and run away.Thank you Guante for doing this, like this, because this is more than needed.  Play this for your inlaws. Here's the blurb from Guante and Katrah-Quey: “...
calan mai, black box
Soundcloud

One Song: Calan Mai - Black Box

Joel Frieders | August 8, 2015
I hit play and then walked away.  Fuck. Twenty minutes later I've listened to the song four times and I'm onto my fifth. This sounds like There Will Be Fireworks meets Leo Wyndham (Palace) and it's unreal. I have no idea who this is, what dude's other shit sounds like, or what the rest of the day's feels will feel like after this song sinks into my psyche, alls I know is this shit is gorgeous. Gorgeous in this innocently introverted manner that's both disarming and disturbing, but completely fucking appreciated. I hope Calan Mai understands how important the patience in his songwriting is, because the gentle build that "Black Box" demonstrates is absolutely fucking huge, and I'm in fucking lust.  Join me in stalking this dude immediately.

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