Dance Parties On the Major Down-Low

Today I was randomly perusing music websites while at my internship, as is my job, and I came upon (a little late, as what seems to be the usual case with bands I end up being really obsessed with) a Brooklyn duo called Tanlines, who are signed to True Panther Sounds, the savvy purveyors of other bands like Girls, Lemonade and the Morning Benders.

They're a pair of production geeks who have fronted other bands like Professor Murder and Don Caballero, but I don't really care about those at the moment. What grabbed me was their tune "Real Life", off their upcoming Settings EP--it's a full on afro dance jam cloaked in hazy, tropical glittering licks of sound. It was hard to listen to trapped in an office chair because it's not made to sit still to. It was like I was having a legs-only dance party under my desk. What's more, is that it's as beautiful as it is fun. The rest of their tracks cultivate the same sunny euphoria, but this is the one that's caught my ears, because it seems to have a touch of bittersweet underneath the layers of funky beats. The lyrics lament the feeling of being of momentarily lost--something I can definitely relate to at this moment. I only wish Tanlines was hitting up a San Francisco venue in the near future.


Tanlines Myspace.
Tanlines Q&A.
"Real Life" mp3.

Best Coast Blows Up

2010 is the year for West Coast darlings Best Coast. Bethany Cosentino and her BFF Bobb Bruno tirelessly churned out single after single, 7-inch after 7-inch for most of 2009 (the band was started in April!) to capture their mutual obsession with both the LA sunshine and the glittering pop of the 1960s. Their first proper album will drop either this summer or this fall, depending on how fast she finds a good label (which will probaby happen as soon as she bats her eyelashes at them). For a hefty scoop on this rapidly rising band, peep this piece that came out in the SF Bay Guardian today. And for some laughs and insight into the quirked-out mind of Bethany, visit her blog.

When I'm With You
Sun Was High (So Was I)