[Soul] Shy Girls – I Am Only A Man

Shy Girls
I Am Only A Man

While living in Portland, the unofficial American home of counterculture, Daniel Vidmar made his big splash in 2013. How so? In countering the counterculture of course. While his Portland contemporaries rose to fame on the back of a very particular type of sound – bands like The Decemberists, Blitzen Trapper, The Dandy Warhols, She & Him, Starfucker, Ages & Ages, Langhorne Slim, and The Shins – Vidmar took to his bedroom and set out to break the trend. Under the stage name of Shy Girls, he has crafted an alternative R&B sound that remains a novelty, despite the oversaturated landscape of today. Continue reading

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[Event Review] ODESZA’s Dazzling Victory Lap at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium–SF, 12/10

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ODESZA
Memories That You Call (feat. Monsoonsiren)

Since the release of their 2014 album, ODESZA have grown into an omnipresent force in dance music appearing at nearly every major music festival and making their way across the globe on an extensive headlining tour. This year has been particularly pivotal for the Seattle duo—they’ve dropped several massive remixes, continued to expand their live set (including a full marching band at Lollapalooza) and launched the Foreign Family Collective. Through Foreign Fam, they’ve helped introduce like-minded artists such as Big Wild and Jai Wolf to larger audiences. As huge fans, the Ninja staff have had the pleasure of covering the Seattle duo’s upward trajectory and interviewing them a couple times along the way. 

In the last two years alone, the TMN writers have probably seen ODESZA a combined 20 times—my best guess for myself is 6. So, going into their show last week, I frankly wasn’t sure there was much more to see and, even if their performance hadn’t evolved, I would’ve admittedly left happy. Once again, though, ODESZA put together an awe-inspiring set fit for Bill Graham Auditorium’s grand stature. As the set began, members Harrison and Clayton emerged with their parallel MIDI and drum setup offering some words about their admiration for the SF crowd, who have shown out every time they’ve come to town. Musically, “Koto,” a gorgeous and low-key track, set the tone before the first high point hit with their remix of Sia’s “Big Girls Cry.” Granted a nearly 2-hour set, ODESZA was able to dig deep in their catalogue playing standouts from their oft-overlooked debut, Summer’s Gone, such as ”Above the Middle” all the way through the fan-favorite remixes of opener Hayden James’ “Something About You” and Zhu’s “Faded.”  DNP_9124 Continue reading

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[NEW] Odesza – Light (feat. Little Dragon)

ODESZA
Light (feat. Little Dragon)

It feels like every week Odesza have exciting new material to set the interwebs ablaze–whether it be enormous remixes, releases through their Foreign Family Collective or even fan videos of yet-to-be-released songs from their acclaimed live sets. This week proves no different as the Seattle production duo announce the upcoming release of a deluxe edition of their 2014 album In Return. Along with that announcement, they let loose a brand new original track featuring the Swedish electro-pop geniuses of Little Dragon.

The unconventional, yet enticing, crooning of Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano feels like a natural pairing with the shimmering instrumentation of Odesza. “Light” slightly tones down the intense percussion we’re used to from the duo, though, rather gliding beautifully and relying more on the radiant elements of their sound. Even with a more stripped down approach, the chorus proves irresistible as Odesza inject just enough of the enormity we’ve come to expect from them. It’s a truly mesmerizing collaboration that we hope results in more new music between the two pioneering acts.

The deluxe edition of In Return is out on September 18th via Counter Records and can be pre-ordered here.

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Lollapalooza 2015: Our Top Takeaways [Event Review]

Lollapalooza-2015

As with any music festival, after Lollapalooza is over, it always takes us a few days to digest everything and snap back to reality. For locals, the festival serves as a three day escape within our own city. For outsiders, it provides them with a completely unique way to experience Chicago. The magic of Lollapalooza is simply unmatched, and despite a weather scare on the final day, Lollapalooza 2015 turned out to be just as memorable as years past. On the next few pages we’ve broken down some of our lasting impressions from Lolla.

Continue reading

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[NEW] Hayden James – Something About You (ODESZA Remix)

Hayden James
Something About You (ODESZA Remix)

Hayden James‘s “Something About You” was undoubtedly one of the best songs to come out in 2014–a gorgeously smooth cut featuring silky vocals from James himself alongside the always amazing, fellow-Future Classic member George Maple. The seemingly, and welcomingly, omni-present ODESZA have been teasing a remix of the jam both on social media and during live sets–today it has officially arrived.

In typical fashion, ODESZA truly make the track their own utilizing the vocals perfectly building into an absolutely beautiful eruption that simultaneously evokes deep emotions and makes you want to frolic in a field of feels. In a way, the talented duo are returning the favor after James’ fantastic 2014 rendition of “Say My Name.” Bask in this glorious tune above and keep your eye out for Hayden James in 2015–we caught him at Audio in San Francisco recently and were blown away by his set.

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[Electronic] Emancipator – Eve II (Odesza Remix)

Emancipator
Eve II (ODESZA Remix)

Those of you who have been fans of Odesza from the start might remember that they toured with fellow Pacific Northwest-native Emancipator three years ago or so. Since that time, both acts have continued to expand on their sounds having broad influences on electronic music in their own ways. Although their styles are distinctly separate, there’s an organic nature to their approaches that are very much in line–in other words, if you dig Odesza you’d also like Emancipator and visa versa.

A week from today, Emancipator will be putting out the remix EP from his stellar 2013 album, Dusk to Dawn–if you haven’t checked out the original yet we’d highly recommend it. Today, Odesza unleashed their contribution to that taking on the glimmering, chilled-out “Eve II.” It’s really the perfect canvas for the talented duo as they utilize its shininess to build out a steady house groove all the while maintaining their always-phenomenal percussive aesthetic.

Give it a listen above and look out for the Dusk to Dawn remixes, due out on July 10th, on Emancipator’s Bandcamp page. In the meantime, you can grab a free download of this gem here.

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[Beautiful] Odesza – Memories That You Call (Blackbird Blackbird Remix)

ODESZA
Memories That You Call (BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD Remix)

It wouldn’t be entirely accurate to say that any track on Odesza‘s In Return has been overlooked considering it was one of the most popular electronic albums of 2014. That being said, I’ve always felt “Memories That You Call,” especially after hearing it live, was the most powerful cut slipping through the cracks amongst radio hits like “Say My Name” and “Sun Models.” As a result, few producers, besides Henry Krinkle, have elected to remix it rather choosing to focus on the tracks offered up for Odesza’s official remix competitions.

Just a few minutes ago, though, San Francisco producer Blackbird Blackbird dropped an absolutely gorgeous, dynamic take on “Memories That You Call.” His re-imagination opens with the original’s ethereal vocal samples accompanied by glistening sonic elements before building up in a similar fashion as Odesza’s composition but dropping into a tropical groove. Rather than constrain the style to that genre, though, Blackbird brings back the original’s enormous chorus around the 2:49 mark re-layering and re-pitching vocals along the way. That transition drowns back into a beautiful house culmination of the song’s broad-ranged moving parts.

Blackbird’s rendition of “Memories That You Call” proves the perfect example of retaining the best of a song while adding a completely new flavor and cadence. Take a break from your mid-week stresses and soak in the radiance of this fantastic remix. You can grab a free download here.

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