Words by Scott Curtis.
When PMA asked me to create a mix for them I immediately started putting something together that was all encompassing, a mix to show what Living Ears was about in the past, the present and where I see the future of the site going. I put together a playlist that had just over 40 songs. As I started playing through it what quickly stood out was the number of incredibly strong tracks from the past 3 months or so that stood up to much of what I was pulling from the past. Personal favorites from Panda Bear, The Streets, !!!, LCD Soundsystem and No Age were quickly cut and the list whittled down to a really strong 17.
These are 17 songs –all from this year, some still unreleased– that represent where I think the future of the site, and popular independent music are headed. From woozy dubstep, chillwave, and melodic lofi to pure pop, clouded bloops+bleeps+noise before closing with one of the most direct and beautiful pieces of straightforward indie rock I’ve heard all year.
It’s only a mix but it’s probably my favorite thing I’ve done as a blogger. Much of this music is still relatively undiscovered even by the big blogs and sites out there and I think that most of these tracks are going to be stepping stones for bigger movements that will emerge from their respective genres.
Put on a pair of really good headphones, turn it up and get lost.
Pretty Much Perfect by LivingEars 3980 downloads
Pretty Much Perfect: Tracklist Continue reading →
“The Swelly Express” is the true story of two college kids (Chidera Anamege and Xaphoon Jones) from Philly who rocked some parties at Drexel and quickly gained the attention of “the industry”. The music and lyrics were inspired by many boring trips on the Chinatown bus (they have wifi now!) on the way to meet “big wigs” in NYC. After a bunch of nice dinners and some free drinks for these 2 underage kids, Chiddy Bang decided to make a mixtape. PMA is proud to present this mixtape with OnSMASH and Crooks & Castles.
