I fell in love this year. No, it wasn’t with a girl, because my mom was right when she told me they were nothing but trouble. Instead I fell in love with a little band from Brooklyn called The Drums. And while I hope that band is good to me in the forthcoming year and visits Phoenix, I’ll just have to be satisfied with our relationship as it stands now. Which is mostly just me playing their record on repeat and anxiously awaiting anything new the band does. Luckily they were considerate and gave me a Christmas present in the form of the new video for their track “I Felt Stupid.” I suppose I’ll let you in on the enjoyment as well.

Here’s a shock! Clipse delivers another gritty video showing the guts and the glory of being involved in the cocaine trade. Well, actually it would probably be shocking if I told you the duo didn’t write another song about the illicit white powder. Luckily these guys still aren’t running out of metaphors or insightful things to say while discussing one of the world’s oldest dirty secrets, drug trafficking. “Doorman” was produced by The Neptunes and is featured on the bands upcoming album called Til The Casket Drops. The album is going to be released on December 8th and I’ve posted the full tracklist below.

Til the Casket Drops:

01 Freedom [produced by Sean C & LV]
02 Popular Demand (Popeyes) [ft. Cam'ron] [produced by the Neptunes]
03 Kinda Like a Big Deal [ft. Kanye West] [produced by DJ Khalil]
04 Showing Out [ft. Yo Gotti] [produced by the Neptunes]
05 I’m Good [ft. Pharrell] [produced by the Neptunes]
06 There Was a Murder [produced by DJ Khalil]
07 Doorman [produced by the Neptunes]
08 Never Will It Stop [ft. Ab-Liva] [produced by Sean C & LV]
09 All Eyes on Me [ft. Keri Hilson] [produced by the Neptunes]
10 Counseling [produced by the Neptunes]
11 Champion [produced by the Neptunes]
12 Footsteps [produced by DJ Khalil]
13 Life Change [produced by the Neptunes]
14 I’m Good (Remix) [ft. Rick Ross] *

* bonus track

Animal Collective’s 2009 release Merriweather Post Pavilion is an album that I absolutely love. The album has remained part of the soundtrack throughout this year. I’ve experienced some of the best and worst moments of my life this past year, with the album there to guide me through it all. You could say I’m a bit of a fan of it. “In The Flowers” is one of the standout tracks on the album and one I’ve been hoping they’d release a visual companion to. Luckily that wish has been grant with this video directed by Avery Tare’s sister Abigail Portner. The band will be releasing a new EP next month.

Around the FMF headquarters, we’re rushing to make final plans and get everything ready in time to leave for Austin to cover Fun Fun Fun Fest this weekend. The event is so crammed full of incredible bands, that I’m anticipating we get little sleep on the trip. One of the bands I’m most eagerly awaiting seeing perform is No Age. The last time I caught them was at the Stinkweeds in store when they were just demoing a few of the songs on the recently released Losing Feeling. Here’s one of the songs from the EP that adds a whole new dimension to their sound, along with a music video that is out of the ordinary as well. We’ll be front and center on Saturday!

Hello FMF readers, I’m Jake Goldsmith and this is my first post. As a DJ, I spend a lot of time gathering and listening to music. My taste is specific and varied, I don’t like everything and I don’t hate anything. I feel that music is both an art form and a science, and when listened to with this in mind, a basic appreciation for all music is possible. Some of you may know me, or know of me as a local DJ that plays primarily dance records. While this is true, it is also true that I love Jazz, Soul, Funk, Indie-Rock, Folk, Experimental, Blues, Hip-Hop, Reggae, Classical, and yes, even a little Country. I may not have the platform for playing all of these genres while out gigging, but I can certainly share some of them with you here.

Today I would like to highlight an artist that has taken a little bit of everything and combined it into one amazing body of work. This may sound premature, as he only has about ten songs released, but to me this guy has taken inspiration from all over the musical landscape and produced songs that are rich and ephemeral. His style includes Broken-Beat, Hip-Hop, Deep House, Dub-Step, Space-Disco, Nu-Jazz, Classical, Funk and Soul. I’m honored to share with you (for those that haven’t heard this already) Sam Shepard’s project FLOATING POINTS. His debut EP Vacuum has the compositional elegance of Classical music and the carte blanche of Experimental. He also has a few singles out that I think are must haves. Here are two of my favorites.

P.O.S (aka Stefon Alexa) and Rhymesayers have put out a new video for his album title track “Never Better.” Appropriately released a day before Halloween, the video features some great camera work and more ghouls than your friend’s Halloween party. Never Better is one of the best rap albums to come out this year and boasts fantastic writing and songs that will constantly deliver a welcomed surprise. I highly recommend spending some time with this album if your looking for something truly unique. – Posted by Jordan Walker

Here’s the third video from Land of Talk’s recent album Some Are Lakes. The Montreal-based band enlisted WeWereMonkeys to direct the video for “It’s Okay” and they delivered a beautiful clip. This was one of the tracks that immediately lodged itself in my brain after the first listen of the album, and remains a favorite after many future listens. This video, and two others, are on the new Fun & Laughter EP along with four new songs. Saddle Creek is giving away one of the tracks for free. You can find it below.





Download: Land Of Talk- May You Never (Via Saddle Creek)

Since I’m unfortunately missing Mayer Hawthorne’s set at The Clubhouse tonight, I am at least happy for the premiere of the new video from the artist today. “Green Eyed Love” is a very fresh video and remains captivating throughout. The video was released to celebrate the launch of the preorder for the new green vinyl EP that they’re releasing for the track, complete with remixes and instrumentals. The vinyl ships December 13th.