Nouvelle Vague : Teenage Kicks

Nouvelle Vague is French for New Wave, a more than appropriate name for the musical artists as making covers of new wave tracks is clearly their forte, as well as post punk and punk rock. Their renditions of the songs absolutely do the originals justice, a rare talent in comparison with others’ not-so-successful attempts at covering bands. The French artists infuse jazz, bossanova, reggae, and even country and bluegrass influences creating beautiful interpretations that one would never guess to complement the originals so damn well. Their music would be most picturesque if ears could see. They’ve three albums of the “cover” sort and it is a hard decision if asked to choose a favorite – Nouvelle Vague (their self-titled debut album) released in 2004, Bande à Part released in 2006, and 3 released in 2009. Teenage Kicks from Nouvelle Vague’s first album is a playful, cheerful, female take on the original Undertones version; perfect for a sunny, laze-about-on-the-hammock day.

Listen to ‘Teenage Kicks’ Here

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Little Dragon : Test

A good portion of the universe should know about Little Dragon by now; they are far from little. The city of Gothenburg in Sweden [well, Sweden in general] seems to be the mother that births all catchy loveable music. The Knife, Jose Gonzalez, and Jens Lekman to name a few others. The lead singer of Little Dragon, Yukimi, has a jazz vocal background which is evident in her highly addictive soulful voice; the perfect main ingredient for such a musical meal. There are girls that sound black but are actually white, but this femme sounds black but is actually Japanese! Listen to one single song one single time and you’re hooked, no matter the mood you’re currently in or attempting to channel in the near future. This particular song speaks of the obstacle course we call life that stresses us then rests us, tests us and depresses us. Emotions darken and lighten as minds get lost over and over again just to find another way back with an entirely different view. Test is actually from their 2007 self titled [and first] album but don’t think they broke up and went solo like all the rest; they released a new album recently by the name of Machine Dreams.

Listen to “Test” Here

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Fat Freddy’s Drop : Flashback (Jazzanova’s Breathe Easy Mix)

Fat Freddy’s Drop need no introduction but let me give you a bit of background on the collab between FFD and Jazzanova. They wanted to create a new feeling. “Flashback” is a heavily dub drenched souler, Jazzanova wanted something light, a house tune for club peak times but also for mediterranean after hours. In one word: something “easy” .
The metamorphosis started, “Flashback” became more and more lifting and driving and in the end a real house burner which is also released on the CD version of the “Worldwide Compilation Of The Year”, “Jazzanova – Remixes 2002-2005″. Jazzanova deliver the proof that the outstanding voice and charme of FAT FREDDYS DROP´s vocalist Joe Dukie shows its unique flavor in way more than only one context. There´s nearly nothing left of the original mix besides some snippets of the FFD´s brass section.

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