You’ve already had a topical heatwave mix, so this week’s download is a slightly airier, tropical one you can listen to while you’re outside getting color or cooling off in front of the AC. We have some sounds from new bands (Jump Jump Dance Dance, Caged Animals), new sounds from familiar bands (The Drums, Au Revoir Simone), and just some cheeky remixes that go with any summer locale. Be sure to Right Click + Save As after the cut.
1. The Drums – “Let’s Go Surfing (The Raveonettes Remix)” Our favorite Brooklyn foursome get the surfwax treatment from Danish duo The Raveonettes, and the remix just washes right over you. The alternating distorted frequencies serve as the a beachy backdrop, with guitar riffs that coast on the shoulders of giants.
2. Cults – “Oh My God” Cults threaten to evaporate on “Oh My God,” as their washed out reverb disappears in the summer heat. To think, the last time we mentioned the power of Cults, Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin were still just a mysterious fever that snuck its way into your soundsystem.
3. The Concretes – “Good Evening (Blackbird Blackbird Remix)” Blackbird Blackbird, the dreamweaving alter ego of Mikey Sanders, doctors the Concretes’ recently released single in anticipation of their upcoming release, WYWH. The result is a different sort of deliriously spacey, night-lit jam.
4. LES∆NDS – “Pretenders” The opening track on LES∆NDS’ newest EP goes down like a chilly wave. Even without the delta in their name, the San Diego four-piece certainly know how to make your body move with their island punch of drums and shakers.
5. Au Revoir Simone – “Shadows (Jens Lekman Remix)” Lekman steps out of the shadows of 2007’s Night Falls Over Kortedala to contribute to Au Revoir Simone’s remix album, Night Light. The Swedish pop mastermind unplugs the synths and, instead, goes symphonic.
6. Radio Dept. vs Trey Songz – “Trey-dio Departmentz” Only mash-up gurus the Hood Internet could have skillfully spliced one our recent favorite tracks from the Radio Dept. with “Say Aah” by Trey Songz. It’s unexpected, to say the least, but it does manage to make the latter surprisingly bearable.
7. Jump Jump Dance Dance – “Modern Eyes” This is exactly what a “modernized” guitar-driven pop gem from Australia-via-L.A. should sound like. This emphatically playful dance-off is one of those songs that still outshines its two stellar remixes.
8. Caged Animals – “This Summer I’ll Make It Up To You” This third track from the solo project of Brooklyn’s Vincent Cioffe Cacchione relies on a bouncy, surf-ready guitar lick. This is sunbaked psychedelica, complete with whirling dervishes.
9. Local Natives – “Wide Eyes (Teen Daze Remix)” Vancouver’s native Teen Daze tuck the Local Natives’ guitars under a blanket of lush reverb, in a track reminiscent of their dreamy, wide-eyed reworking of Twin Sister’s blow-away single. He’s been floating on a boatload of blog love, and between this track and his own material, it seems the hype is well deserved.
10. The Wild Mercury Sound – “Chemistry” These four kids from London make some of the best harmonious indie pop on the other side of the ocean. It’s exactly what a compound of Kate Bush and Bombay Bicycle Club might sound like, with a bit of Los Campesinos! in the mix.
Download the mix all in one here.
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