Coffee and Bars

joy for your ears

Posts Tagged Japayork

Best of 2010 (a little late)

Jan 14

Posted by Josh in Best of, Music, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Penguins



To me, it was a year of singles, not so much complete albums. There were a few good ones released, no doubt, however there wasn’t really one that I could play all the way through on repeat. However, there were more than enough single tracks to keep me happy. It’s interesting to note that I had four different artists repeat in the top 25. Not sure what that means, maybe I didn’t branch out enough or maybe there just wasn’t anything worth branching out to. But all in all, I’m content with my selection. With that, I bring you my favorite songs of 2010:


25. The Radio Dept. – Heaven’s On Fire

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…i’m a little like you | ugly on the inside | but while I dive into the gritty | you just stand by…”


24. NightBus – Guys Like You

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…but i’m not with you for material things | you know i’m the modern girl | and as long as daddy doesn’t find out i’ll take you all over the world…”


23. Bruno Mars – Marry You

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…cause it’s a beautiful night | we’re looking for something dumb to do | hey baby | i think i wanna marry you…”


22. Yeasayer – I Remember

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…i remember making out on an airplane | still afraid of flying, but with you i’d die today…”


21. Sun Airway – Put the Days Away

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…but you’re gonna find something to hold close | in the moonless night I wait for your ghost…”


20. Hanson – Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

…”cause the love i’ve got is better than what you gave…”
(Whatever, the song made me happy. Shut up.)


19. Sia – I’m In Here

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…i’m fearing it all | stuck inside these walls | tell me there is hope for me…”


18. Japayork – Teenagers

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…we feel great taking too much and some more we feel alive | the bright lights take us where we’ve never been before…”


17. Robyn – Dancing On My Own

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…stilettos on broken bottles | i’m spinning around in circles…”


16. Kanye West – Monster (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…now look at what you just saw | this is what you live for | aaaahhhh i’m a motherfucking monster”
(the reason this song is on here instead of “Power” or “Runaway” is because of ms. minaj. her wicked 1 minute and 20 second verse is by far the hottest thing to hit my eardrums in 2010. period.)


15. Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…they heard me singing and they told me to stop | quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock | these days my life, i feel it has no purpose | but late at night the feelings swim to the surface |
’cause on the surface the city lights shine | they’re calling at me, come and find your kind…”
(the opening lines from this song have my vote as the best lyrics of the year. And this song needs to be the soundtrack to Freedom.)


14. Cee-Lo Green – Please

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…but with all the wrong i’ve done | how could love ever love me…”


13. Dirty Gold – California Sunrise

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…i’ve been sleeping far too long | hibernating from your love | i need some summer sun to come and wake me up…”


12. How to Dress Well – Decisions

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…don’t forget to check your cell phone…”
(they’re really the only lyrics i can make out in this song)


11. Vampire Weekend – California English, Pt. 2

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“…this girl was smarter than television scripts | this girl wasn’t damaged her jeans were just ripped | this girl was the girl that the girls in your world thought about when the night was cold…”


10. Sara Bareilles – Bluebird

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Unlike “Gravity” which ended Bareilles’ last album, her sophomore closer brings a message of new beginnings however lonely they may be. It’s one of those sad-happy songs that after coming to a close make you think that just maybe this bluebird, too, will have this chance fly over the rainbow.


09. Alphabeat – DJ

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This was Wes’ song of the year and, weirdly enough, my most played song on iTunes. No matter where I was or what mood I was in, whenever I heard it I smiled and started dancing…all night.


08. Mumford & Sons – After the Storm

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I wrote about this hauntingly beautiful song here and I can’t really say anything more about it.


07. Rufus Wainwright – Zebulon

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Rufus has always sung with bravado and drama backed usually with a full band, a reason why so many love his music. But here, it’s just his voice and a piano. There are not many things that are more beautiful sounding than this. It’s tender, sweeping, haunting, emotional. The output of feeling he has in this song is almost tangible. This song further solidifies that Rufus’ voice is a perfect instrument, and one that continues to amaze me.


06. Cee-Lo Green – F**k You

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This song topped many 2010 lists and for good reason. It was super catchy, had retro 70s swag that felt fresh, and everyone likes a good fuck you song. It also had some of the best lyrics in a track this year including, “i guess he’s an x-box and i’m more atari”. Being an Atari myself, I readily hopped on the f**k you bandwagon.


05. Robyn – Fembots

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Robyn was a force in the music scene this year. With an ambitious three album project, hot videos, and a tour, I’m not sure how she had time to keep her teeth so nicely filed. It seemed every time I put on my headphones a new slammin new Robyn song was playing. It was hard to choose which song would crack my top 10, but “Fembots” (off of Body Talk Pt. 1) grabbed me from the start and never let go. It’s effortlessly smooth chorus was one of the best this year and paired perfectly with the robotic verses and blips and bleeps throughout the track. It was the perfect start to an awesome year from Robyn.


04. Yeasayer – O.N.E.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

After Animal Collective’s monster album last year there has been a definite swing to the style that they perfected. Yeasayer has piggybacked on this, and, in their own right, has created more of a pop version of a similar sound. The roots are there, the bad isn’t going anywhere, they just need to tighten up and edit a bit more. For me, O.N.E. is the best on the Odd Blood, an 80′s electro throwback with killer verses and awesomely heave beat drops. And if you haven’t seen the video, it’s quite a trip.


03. Martin Solveig – Hello

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

French electronic music DJ and producer Martin Solveig featured Canadian electropop group Dragonette for this ridiculously amazing work. The video for the song was recorded at Roland Garros where Martin Solveig faces Bob Sinclar, another DJ, in a tennis match…during a real match. Sweet. It’s such a great, fun, summer song. And hand claps! You know how I love hand claps. And when the beat drops. Oh. So. Nice. Hello Martin and Dragonette, thanks for coming to play. Game, set, match.


02. Arcade Fire – We Used to Wait

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Oh, C minor chord. Your haunting, persistant, continuous keys. You make this song move. From the opening to the closing you are there. I can’t really think of a song that has the same chord played with such a determined purpose over the course of the entire track. It’s almost as if the chord is the sound of the runner’s footfall with each stride he takes. If you haven’t played around with the interactive video, it’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time…and makes me love the song that much more. It’s a massive album with some great standout singles, but “We Used to Wait” is special. It has that thing that only Arcade Fire can do. That thing where you are in the song, where it’s about you, not anyone else on the metro or on the sidewalk, but you. And, as Win Butler sings, it’s strange how something so small (like a song) can keep you alive.


01. LCD Soundsystem – I Can Change

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I’m not sure there are many things better than LCD Soundsystem recording a great song. It can be a complete work of art, in my opinion. From lyrics like “love is a murderer | but if she calls you tonight, everything is alright” to “I can change | if it helps you fall in love”, the emotional baring and stripping that James Murphy goes through is remarkable, almost cringe worthy at times if we ourselves had never felt the same way. With it’s quirky little 70′s blips permeating the track to Murphy actually using that smooth voice of his (even going into falsetto) to infect lyrics that get stuck in your head well after the song has ended. Please, please don’t change. This is why I fell love with LCD Soundsystem.


Get the Best of 2010 .zip file here (179MB so be patient, it’s be worth it)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Best Songs of 2010

Dec 31

Posted by Wes in Best of | No Comments

It is that time of year again. The “Best Of” season, the best singles, best album and best artists of the year. The lists are all over the internet, magazines and TV shows. I am sure that everyone of these lists use very scientific calculations and means to decide their rankings, and the list below is no exception. I used various facts, figures and statistics to compile my list of top 25 songs of 2010. (Who am I kidding, this is all opinion based somewhat on my musical whim, fancies and other highly unscientific reasons.)

You may ask why 25? Well first Josh and I tried to create our top ten lists, and well this was an utter failure on all accounts. It was impossible to whittle down our favorites to just ten. And twenty, too easy, lets add five more into the whole mess and together you will get the top 50 songs as seen by C&B.

After the Top Ten, number order really loses nearly all meaning, just an FYI.

1. Alphabeat – DJ (I Could be Dancing)

This is hands the best song of 2010. ‘DJ’ is what Pop music should be, infectiously fun, campy, and really doesn’t take it self too seriously. With a perfect tip to 90′s Euro dance-pop and something all their own, Alphabeat is something special in the world of Pop music. ‘DJ’ has done more to make me smile this year alone than maybe any other song.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

2. Robyn – Hang With Me

Robyn truly one of music’s most masterful writers, my good friend DJ MAJR sums it up the best, “[Robyn] is catchy without being vapid.” Honest, sincere and beautiful, Robyn is able to tell a story like very few in music can.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

3. HURTS – Better Than Love

From Theo’s enthralling voice, to rich full synths that ebb and flow creating a whirlwind of sound, to brooding lyrics that cut straight through it all, ‘Better Than Love’ is a song that stands out from everything else in Pop.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

4. Example – Kickstarts

Completely new and unique is the way to describe ‘Kickstarts’ and anything Example creates. ‘Kickstarts’ really is an endearingly sweet love song about the highs and lows of every relationship; expertly paired with explosive beats and high energy synths that are the perfect embodiment of all the excitement love brings. Plan and simple its quite brilliant!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

5.  Kylie Minogue – Get Outta My Way

Her want to live to the fullest and her lust for life is contagious and passed through her music to everyone who listens to it. ‘Get Outta My Way’ is no exception, full of spunk and sass with that ever present exuberant joy.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

6. Japayork – Teenagers

For me there is a visceral reaction/connection to this song that I feel every time the chorus hits. The urge to escape; to leave the problems, pain and strife of the world behind and enjoy the now. Revel the moment you are in, to love life and the people you are sharing it with.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

7. Penguin Prison – The Worse It Gets

Penguin Prison has created the perfect musical embodiment of the yearning I get to leave the noise of the world behind and get away from it all.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

8. Chew Lips – Slick

Cool synth beats paired with piano chords and deep bass that build excitement through the whole song. Tig’s voice perfectly floats over the beats telling the story of memories and life gone by.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

9. Goldfrapp – Alive

Disco is alive! Glam and glitter. I would say more but it would only cheapen it.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

10. Bright Light Bright Light – Love, Pt 2.

‘Love Pt. 2′ overwhelms you with the carefree exuberance that comes with realizing you are able to feel love’s faint flutter in your heart again.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

11. Florence and The Machine – Dog Days Are Over

12. Joe McElderry – Real Late Starter

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

13. Cassette Kids – Spin

14. Delphic – Doubt

15.  Moneypenny – Destroy

16. Gorillaz – Doncamatic

17. Aeroplane – Without Lies (ft. Sky Ferreira)

18. Sia – I’m In Here

19. Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

20. Frankmusik & Computer Club – Losing Streak

21. The Ting Tings – Hands

22. Kaskade – Fire In Your New Shows (ft. Dragonette)

23. Ellie Goulding – Lights

24. Lights – My Boots

25. Hyper Crush – Keep Up

Get the Top 10

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Japayork – Teenagers (video)

Nov 29

Posted by Wes in Videos | No Comments

I properly introduced you to Japayork at the beginning of October and since then ‘Teenagers’ has become one of my songs of the fall. Keeping me upbeat and providing the soundtrack for nights out with friends. Finally the video has arrived, and it captures the free spirit, exuberance and slight dark twinge of the song nearly perfect. Think Lady Gaga ‘Just Dance’ video, but with some actual edge and grit.

The best bit is from the 2:23 mark on. (and any shot with the girl in the panda suit)

Tags:

Work! – Fall Gym Mix Tape

Nov 21

Posted by Wes in Playlist | 4 Comments

We at C&B take the health and well-being of our readers very seriously. As the holidays approach so do those dreaded holiday pounds. To help keep off those pesky pounds during holiday frivolity we are happy to offer Work!, our first Fall Mixtape. Thirty tracks sure to motivate you to put down that turkey leg and head to the gym (Or at least get up and dance). Enjoy!

01. Kaskade – Fire In Your New Shoes (Feat. Dragonette)

02. The Ting Tings – Hands

03. Girls Aloud – Something Kinda Ooooh

04. Robyn – Stars 4-Ever

05. BG5 (The BeachGirl5) – Scratch

06. Example – Girl Can’t Dance (Radio Edit)

07. The Saturdays – Karma

08. Hyper Crush – Kick Us Out

09. Kylie Minogue – Aphrodite

10. Moneypenny – Cool & The Gang

11. Sneaky Sound System – I Want Everything

12. Florrie – You Wanna Start Something

13. Sugababes (with Keisha Buchanan) – Thank You For The Heartbreak

14. Katy Perry – E.T.

15. Blake McGrath – Relax

16. Rihanna – Only Girl (In The World)

17. Japayork – Teenagers

18. Just Jack – Doctor Doctor

19. Starsmith – Give Me A Break

20. Christian TV – When She Turns 18 (LA Riots Remix)

21. Far East Movement – Like a G6 (Feat. Cataracs & Dev)

22. Martin Solveig – Hello (Feat. Martina of Dragonette)

23. Rihanna – S&M

24. Cheryl Cole – Promise This

25. Don Diablo – Animale (Feat. Dragonette)

26. Jessie J – Do It Like A Dude

27. Ke$ha – We R Who We R

28. Sky Ferreira – Obsession

29. Kylie Minogue – Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)

30. Ocelot – Beating Hearts

Download it Here (Link is fixed! ENJOY)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fresh Brewed: Japayork

Oct 7

Posted by Wes in Music | 1 Comment

“We’re releasing ‘Teenagers‘ by Japayork due to it being amazing” – Popjustic Hi-Fi

Really there is not much more to say about that, now is there? The 22 year old really doesn’t hail from just one place, having lived on 4 continents, though as can clearly be seen Japan and New York have had some influence, as has living in London for the past year and a half. Absorbing the movement and vitality of this incredible place like a sponge and turning it into brilliant pop music.

‘Teenagers’ is a great reminder to enjoy the now, live in the moment, love the life you are living and the people you are sharing it with.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

One of my favorite things (there are a few, but who is counting) about Japayork is his ability to slip in lyrical surprises to all of his songs. ‘So New’ is no exception, supremely upbeat music and driving beat, with lyrics that examine and dissect growing up. “I know it’s dangerous/ making changes growing up/And I know it’s dangerous/ trusting in strangers/trusting in strangers/So very new to me.” A very deep, albeit brief, glimpse into learning to enjoy the surprises that come with becoming who and what you are.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I must say, if Popjsutice Hi-Fi keeps it up they will be vying with Fascination Records for my favorite pop label.

Tags: ,

Guest Post by Wesley Della Volla

Apr 7

Posted by Josh in Guest Post, Music | 5 Comments




I’m a simple man, two things make me happy – cute boys and good music. Both for me usually seem to come from the U.K. And really there is nothing better than a cute British boy making good music. Thankfully there are plenty of both right now. (Though if you are making good music AND cute, I won’t slight you for not being British.) So below, I give you some of the boys that are keeping my interests piqued at the moment.


Preston – Dressed To Kill
I will be honest, this is the 2nd most played song in my iTunes, and the best song of 2009 you have never heard of. Months after first hearing it, I still play it, and it’s on all my latest monthly playlists. (Much to my boyfriend’s chagrin) Indie band frontman turned pop star Preston has created the perfect re-invention of 80′s dance. Oh, and he is very easy on the eyes.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.



Fabio Lendrum – New Romantics
If stranded on a desert island and only allowed to take one Fabio Lendrum song with you, which would it be? This is it. (Though if I had my way, I would take them all.) Young love, synthy beats, and summer right around the corner.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.



Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – These New Knights
Synth, synth, and bass beats. Trust me, you will love it, and there is more where this comes from – their first single, “Dance the Way I Feel” is equally as good. If only their album would come out soon.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.



FrankMusik vs. Computer Club – Losing Streak
It’s not news to anyone that I have quite a large crush on Vincent Frank aka Frankmusik, and his newest song only reinforces my obsession. There’s not much more to say about it other than I cannot sit still while it’s playing. You can hear the dubstep influence on this song, and it’s nothing like his last album, which only makes me more excited for the next.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.



Example – Won’t Go Quietly (radio edit)
Get up off your ass and dance. I will let the artist speak for himself. “Won’t Go Quietly” is my take on the 80′s femme fatale vibe. I wanted to take a little bit of “Dirty Diana” and blend it with a flavour of Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and Chromeo all on top of a Justice-y beat. Well that was my brief anyway. It’s about mad mad dark women who are just such incredible sexual animals that you find it hard to leave them – even though you know they’re not good for you.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.



Mika – Kick ass (We Are Young)
So what happens when you pair Mika with Lady GaGa super-producer RedOne? Pop perfection. If you want to buy this song I recommend going to Amazon, as iTunes has it as part of the album only, and who really wants to buy a whole movie soundtrack?

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.



Japayork – Our Now
I end with this song for a particular reason: It has been on loop, on my playlist, and DJ sets since I first heard it. The beats are great, yes, but there is something stronger about this song. If you have ever had a bad day, bad week, or bad few months, it is in the past and you have to embrace where you are right now. Live in the moment and not let things already past and unchangeable hold you back. Oh, and did I mention he not only made the song, but its music video as well?

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.



Zip download: The playlist


A big thank you to Wes for bringing a bit of international flavor to the guest post this week! I’m definitely counting on him to keep me updated on the electro brit pop scene. Hopefully you all enjoyed some new sounds from across the pond. These artists don’t get much commercial support over here, so make sure to buy their albums if you like what you’ve heard.





Tags: , , , , , ,