Red Hot Chili Peppers-Hard To Concentrate

Regardless of your opinion of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, it is undeniable that they will be one of the rock bands most commonly associated with these crazy times we live in.  That said, in my opinion, they deserve to be where they are.  They're an outstanding band, and if you don't believe me listen to Stadium Arcadium, the 30 song opus from the matured form of the RHCP's.  This song here is way too often overlooked and if you have never heard it, regardless of your prior prejudices or opinions on the band, I suggest you give it a try.  Its one of the most sweetly and differently written love songs I have ever heard.  Listen to the lyrics and tell me you don't get at least of a twinge of a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.  If only my girlfriend liked it...
Moistness Level: Syrupy
Listen to the song below:

Arcade Fire- Ocean of Noise

Over the course of my time here writing for Moist Melodies I will probably post every song off of this album at one point or another.  This one just happened to connect with me today.  On those cold rainy afternoons that are so common this time of the year, this whole album is perfect and I highly reccomend you find and listen to the entire album, beggining to end.  The Arcade Fire create a sound unlike any other band, both in terms of scope and sound.  These are big, dark songs, not light listening.  Listen to the album. But if not, enjoy this song! Its dark, moody, and incredibly moist.  Also check out my fellow editors opinion on the entire album here .
Moistness Level: Oceanic
Listen to the song below:

Danse Carribe by Andrew Bird

  

  Popular music has always been drawn to having a refrain, or a chorus; some familiar, repeated section of the song that you go back to after each verse, which is typically the part of the song that really draws a listener in. Andrew Bird is an example of an artist who isn't afraid to buck the tradition of the refrain, at least partially. In "Danse Carribe," we get a lot less repetition than you're going to hear on your local pop station. While he returns to a lyrical refrain, each time the musical accompaniment is slightly different. This song is made up of many distinct, interesting parts. What it lacks in a rousing, sing-a-long chorus, it makes up for with some undeniable musical coolness.
   I'm sure this is unnecessary  because MM readers aren't like the rest of the swarms of preteen music fans, but give this song a chance. It's not something that's going to jump out at you immediately. But if you can make it to the fiddle solo around the three minute mark (without skipping ahead!), I'm willing to put a Moist Melodies guarantee that you'll like it. You can take that to the bank. Just look at the picture up there, that guy is a boss. Listen after the break.

Atmosphere- The Waitress

Its been a rap kinda day here at MM with Kanye and Jay Z already making an appearance, so here is one of my personal favorite rappers (behind the Rediculous Flatbush Zombies).  Atmosphere makes great tracks but what really sets him apart is his lyrics.  This song is no exception.  Listen closely to the words and you'll realize that much like in poetry the speaker is not necessarily the rapper himself.  But nonetheless the song is personal, sad, funky and gritty.  It may just be perfect for all you southwesterners that are buried in snow right now.  And if you're a homeless person in Minnesota, man, I'm dropping some quarters in your extended plastic cup, that life has to be a rough one.

MOISTNESS LEVEL: Seeping

Listen to the song Below:

Chet Faker- No Diggity

I found this song a week or two ago on a competing music blog which shall remain nameless (Moist Melodies is the only music blog you will ever need) and the song was too good not to share with all of you.  Its so smooth, with smooth synths and keyboards giving way to to breathless vocals.  If you walk while listening to this song, your feet just might not be touching the ground.  Its that smooth.  Hope you all enjoy!
MOISTNESS LEVEL: Smooth & Slippery
Listen to the song below!

Fleet Foxes- White Winter Hymnal

Alright, I can't delay this one any longer.  While I am usually hesitant to post a band's most popular song as it will make me far too mainstream and will upset all our hipster readers (if we have them).  Also the band this is from is a well known one when it comes to the indie music scene.  Let it be known that these two things were the only thing keeping me from posting this song sooner.  Ask my fellow editor and he will attest to the fact that over the past week or so I have listened to this song almost countless times, at the very least multiple times a day. I don't know why other than I really, REALLY like that weird chorale thing they do at the beginning and between the apple commercial ready interludes.  So if you know this song already, listen again, you'll still like it, and if you haven't heard it before, buckle in, you may be in for a few listens.  Or maybe I'm just weird....
MOISTNESS LEVEL: Pouring
Song link below:

New Theory by Washed Out

It's hard when a band is seemingly defined by a single song. "Feel It All Around" by Washed Out is so ubiquitous, and so fucking good that it came to define the entire band. While nobody is trying to deny how great that song is, Washed Out has plenty of other, equally excellent music. One example of that is "New Theory," which retains the sound that made them popular, but is unique enough to be noteworthy. Listen after the break.

New Day by Jay-Z and Kanye West

   

   There is nothing quite like a good musical collaboration. When you see two prolific musicians jamming together, at the peak of their crafts, there is nothing quite like that in my mind. Whether it's Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris teaming up for "One More Cup of Coffee," or Elton John and Eminem sharing the stage for "Stan" at the Grammy's, I eat it up. (For a random little aside, I will say that in my opinion, this collaboration is the best part of the Grammy's; they've really emphasized the collaboration between great musicians.)

    We, as contemporary music fans, are spoiled with a generation of artists who appreciate the value of a good collaboration (see: Postal Service, Monsters of Folk, etc.). Perhaps the best example of this is the ongoing friendship between Jay-Z, one of, if not the best rapper of all time, and Kanye West, one of, if not the best, rap producers of all time. When they released Watch The Throne, everyone knew it would huge, and it was. Two musical giants, masters of their craft teaming up to make great music.

    No punches were pulled in this album, especially in the song "New Day." That song brings out some fuckin' demons, there are no two ways about it. When Kanye drops "I might even make him be Republican/ so everybody know he love white people," you know that this song isn't shying away from anything. Rapping about politics, family, fame, and love, Jay-Z and Kanye leave everything out there for the world to see, and the results are magnificent. Enjoy a contemporary example of musical giants at the peak of their careers, laying everything out for the world to hear.

Cat Meat-Prosthetic Wing & Album Download

This song is from a band who had contacted us on Twitter and asked us to listen to their album.  Cat-Meat, who we now consider to be close personal friends of ours are a folky bluesish band out of London, England.  We did and we really liked it.  Its very bluesy with hints of country and folk.  Their music swaggars in the sense that it sways slowly and confidently through rich melodies which, in turn are ornamented with plucky banjos and guitars.  So as a lesson to all you young bands out there, contact us! We want to hear new, good, stuff, and if we like it, you could be so lucky as to have your bands name grace our established ranks here at MM.
MOISTNESS LEVEL: Wet and Grimy (in a good way)
Listen Here or Download their album free below:

Happy 81st Birthday Johnny Cash

    

    There's simply no avoiding the influence of Johnny Cash. Everyone knows him, and has their own favorite songs of his. And they're usually all over the place. There's the comedy of "Boy Named Sue," the hungover musings in "Sunday Morning Coming Down," and the fire and brimstone message of "God's Gonna Cut You Down." While he was alive, his influence was not exclusive to the modern sense of country and western music; he influenced the likes of Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson,    the Rolling Stones, and even more modern acts, like The Band Perry, and any number of singer-songwriters.
    The man came to define outlaw-country, and recorded groundbreaking, top-notch music up until the day he died. His last hurrah so to speak, came in 2002. He recorded his final studio album before his death, and recorded a music video for his cover of the Nine Inch Nails song, "Hurt." The song reflects on the musical empire that Cash created, and the sacrifices that he made along the way. The video shows clips of Cash during his prime; young, energetic and at the peak of his musical career. He contrasts this with shots of his countless awards, gathering dust in his house, and a Cash who is clearly outside his prime; old and decrepit  he can hardly pluck his guitar comfortably. Johnny Cash died a year after recording this song, and it is by and large considered his epitaph. The song won a Grammy for Best Video, Cash's last in a long line of awards for his vast body of work. On what would have been his 81st birthday today, bust out some of your old Johnny Cash music, take a listen. The Man in Black is one of the all-time greats.

Don't Throw Me Away by The Mumlers

The Mumlers are a small band out of San Jose, California. When I listen to them, I can't help but be reminded of the Alabama Shakes; they've got relatively simple instrumentation (with plenty of brass, which is never a bad thing), accompanied by a strong, soulful voice. Interesting little tidbit about this band though, they came up with their name after the 6 band members put their hands on a Ouija Board, and they claim it spelled out their band name. So there's that. But otherwise, enjoy this folk/soul fusion after the break.

Que Onda Guero by Beck

You know this song. It's one of those unbelievably catchy songs that every music fan has heard at least once. The problem, at least for me, was that I could never figure out who it was by, or what it was called. Well, hopefully you were also having that problem, because here it is. Beck's outstanding example of what a musician can do. Is it hip-hop? Kinda, I guess. But when you think that this is the same guy who sang "Loser," you really start to understand how diverse this guy is. Listen to it after the break.

Lost in the Light by Bahamas

    

    Sometimes the best way to find new music is to just go search through Spotify related artists until you find something good. I was doing just that, and I stumbled upon this band called Bahamas. Don't let the name fool you, he's actually from Toronto. Despite that, he has created the perfect early morning summer song, in "Lost In The Light." You can hear the island influence, especially with a name like Bahamas, but it's not so much as to be inauthentic, especially since being from Toronto, he might not have as much experience with sunny beaches. This jam is pretty great, listen to it as the sun's starting to peek through your blinds in the morning, and I'm sure you'll get it. Watch and listen after the break.

Retina Television by Marika Hackman

The only noises that you hear in this song were made by Marika Hackman's body. No instruments, or electronic sounds were added, which makes it that much more impressive of a piece of music. Put some headphones in, turn it up, and just float to this song. It'll be worth it.

NEW SONG: Labor by Small Sur

Small Sur is a folk band out of Baltimore that have released two albums to date (I think. They don't have a wikipedia page, so I know nothing for certain), and have a new one coming out in the spring, exact date TBA. They have released four songs off of it on their Soundcloud page, and this one, the title track, definitely stood out. Enjoy.

Bottom of the River by Delta Rae

I've never been murdered. Keeping my fingers crossed, but so far I've been able to avoid it. If however,  I ever found myself in that situation, this is the song I'd want to be playing. And that's a pretty powerful endorsement. Delta Rae could easily have provided the soundtrack for the salem witch hunt, or any number of lynch mobs in the 60's, and this song would fit perfectly. It's not one you're gonna want to play at parties, but if you're in the "murderous mob" type of mentality today, you need look no further than this song. Also, if you're gonna get killed by an angry mob, they might as well have some cool choreography.
Moistness Level: Drowning

"Take Your Time (Coming Home)" by fun.

Fun. has had a whirlwind couple of months. It wasn't too long ago that fun.'s first album, Aim and Ignite came out, to great acclaim. Their second album, Some Nights, came out last year, and was immediately successful. And it's easy to see why, as it's filled with beautifully constructed vocal pop songs, without skipping out on any musical talent either. But somehow their success, both on the charts and at the Grammy's, has turned the general opinion against them. I'll avoid going on a rant about how album sales shouldn't affect how much you like a band, but basically, I think fun. is a great band. I'm happy they're seeing success. I don't think they should have won Best New Artist, mostly because they're not new artists at all. But, there are some gems in their discography that I think may have been overlooked. "Take You Time (Coming Home)" is off their first album, and is the kind of song that proves to me that they are much than just hit-producers. This type of lyricism is notably absent from some of their more popular songs (I'm looking at you, "We Are Young"), and is something that I hope they return to in their subsequent work.

Portugal. The Man

Portugal. The Man is one of the more eclectic bands I've encountered. Their style is completely all over the place. They range from hard-driving rock, to mellow, simple acoustic folk songs. The modern music fan doesn't focus on only one genre, and neither does Portugal. The Man. "People Say (Acoustic)" is an acoustic version of one of their more popular songs, "People Say." It's found on their album The Majestic Majesty, which consists of acoustic covers of the songs found on The Satanic Satanist. "All My People"is a little bit more typical of their style, a catchy, somewhat psychedelic song that's definitely worth a listen.
Sounds like: The Black Keys, Tame Impala

The Best Albums of All Time, According to Moist Melodies

    Moist Melodies is the brainchild of two musical luminaries, Colan and Pat. We have been the ones in charge of posting, Tweeting, and listening to great music for all of you wonderful people. We're trying to expand a little bit, so we can give you guys more great music, which is exciting stuff. I guess we've been doing this long enough now that we can have our own distinct identities as posters,  which is kinda cool. To help introduce ourselves, we thought it would helpful to share our favorite albums of all time, but with a twist.
    The two of us have always shared a good deal of musical common ground, but in terms of our favorite albums of all time, neither had given the other a chance. So one Sunday afternoon, we turned off TV's, computers, phones, etc. and played them both in their entirety. We then wrote about our first impressions of the other's pick. If you're into that kind of stuff (by stuff, we mean great music), read on.

Religious Songs by Withered Hand

Just another example in the storied history of songs that sing "La la la" in a really pleasing way. For that reason alone, this song is worthy of listening to, but there are actually much more complex lyrics, in between the all the "la la la"'s. It tells the story of a man's relationship with religious people, who typically aren't big fans of him. Whether it's because "my hair's getting too long" or because "he listens to death metal bands," we get the sense that alot of religious people aren't huge fans of him. Still, he gets the last laugh, because he goes to his ex-girlfriend's house and masturbates on her futon. In a putdown of religion that is absolutely one for the ages, he closes the song by saying: "if I happen to die tonight in my sleep, I'll cum and not blood on my hands." BOOM. ROASTED. And now we know why the Pope resigned. 

Moistness Level: Burnt at the Stake

The Memory Band-This is How We Walk on the Moon

This is MM's 100th post! Hooray! To celebrate here's a track thats one you'll remember, seeing as its by the Memory Band! This track blends jangling strings and percussion with wispy male-female vocal harmonies and the result is a slowly building set of patterns that blossom into a melodic vocal melody.  Sure its a tad intro heavy, but the buildup makes the song, and the entire things under four minutes so should not sway you away from this very cool track.
Moistness Level: Drizzly

Gin Blossoms - "Hey Jealousy" (acoustic)

An old 90's throwback, with some trademark MM acoustality (new word).  Anyways the lyrics are as good and the melody is as catchy as the day it was written, and may just be your perfect Valentines day eve song if you're single and motivated to rekindle an old flame.  Go ahead, drink some hard liquor alone, get emotional, listen to this song and then leave some voicemails.  It'll go great.
Moistness Level: Sauced
-C

All I Want by Kodaline

Kodaline is a band out of Dublin, Ireland, and though they have only released one EP, they are already making waves. They were nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2013, which if you don't know much about the BBC's music influences, is a huge honor. Some past musicians who have been nominated include Frank Ocean, Adele, James Blake, too many to list here. So I'm not the only one who likes this band, which I guess is a good sign. Anyway, I think you'll enjoy this quite a bit. Look for their first album, which is slated for a release in late March. 

Moistness Level: Drizzling

Down The Road by C2C

You tryna' get funky Moist Melodies reader? It may be 9am, but this may be the funkiest song we've posted on here. Other than funky, its hard to come up with a way to describe this sound; my best attempt is this: it's a bunch of blues and soul samples, mashed together to create some sort of funk-blues-dubstep hybrid. Whatever it is, bump that shit, and take a gander at the naked ladies on their album cover, which is always a classy touch. Way to go French people. 

Retrograde by James Blake

James Blake is outstanding. Part soul singer, part dubstep DJ, but neither of those things on their own. He's that guy who makes songs all your stoner friends love, with some haunting sounds coming from him. This song is the lead single off his next album, which comes out April 8th. As one of the MM editors said this weekend, "this song would be the walk up music if the devil was a boxer." Truer words may never have been spoken.

Splendor by M83

   

    This morning I realized that we have yet to post anything by M83 on here. Do not take this as a slight, because you should not get us wrong, we love M83. By now, you've probably heard some of their music, unless you've been living under a rock. "Midnight City," while a great song, is ubiquitous. "Splendor" is much less prevalent, but not any less awesome. It comes in the second half of M83's 2011 album, Hurry Up We're Dreaming, in that section of mostly instrumental songs that are all very good, but whose names are hard to remember. Most of you have probably heard this before, but maybe this song got lost in the shuffle. Regardless, it's always worth a second listen, and if you want to re-listen to the whole thing, the Spotify stream is below.

Kill For Love by Chromatics (Night Riders Version)

Good morning all you avid Moist Melodies readers out there. Hope you're enjoying your Saturday, and that you're not too buried in snow if you're living in the Northeast. Snow or no snow, this is a great song, one that isn't usually the style we post here. But that is no matter, because the only restriction on our posts is that the song has to be good, and this satisfies that. It's got some trippy beats in it, so if you have the opportunity to smoke a bowl of medical marijuana before you click this video, I would encourage it. Also, its free. Enjoy.

Patience by Nas & Damian Marley

Right after I posted the previous song, I noticed this in the related videos section on Youtube, and I was obligated to share it. It uses Sabali as the main sample in the beat, and Nas' smooth rapping complements it fantastically. This is a more accessible version of the original, and definitely worth a listen.

Sabali by Amadou & Mariam

    The great thing about music, is that it's universal; a great song is a great song no matter what language, or where in the world it came from. This duo, "Amadou & Mariam" is originally from Mali, and does most of their recording in the Ivory Coast. It's got some haunting vocals right in the beginning of the song (after the annoying phone conversation in the beginning), which you may recognize from a Miike Snow remix of this song, but that really set the tone for the whole song. There's alot of cool synth work throughout, and it picks up the tempo as it goes along, in a very pleasing way. I'm not going to give this one a moistness level, because, well they're from Mali and I don't want to make a douchey joke about their water quality. I'm not tryna go to hell over a blog post, forgive me.

Tunng- 'Hustle'

things have been getting a tad dreary around MM HQ and I think our recent music may have reflected this, so out of the cloudy day comes Tunng, a band whose name is almost as fun to attempt to pronounce as their music is to listen to.  The product of two ex porn soundtrack producers this band truly knows the meaning of moist melodies.  But despite what you may be thinking this song is not remotely good baby making music and is instead more of a happy go lucky tune to skip down the street to, if skipping down the street is socially acceptable in your neighborhood.
Moistness Level: Experienced
-C

Junip- Line of Fire + In Every Direction

  

Junip is a very cool group we at MM stumbled across a couple days ago.  There are two songs here because you should listen to both of them as they are both very different but more importantly they are both very moist.  The first song, "Line of Fire" is about as epic as slightly trippy pop folk alternative whatever you want to call it gets. The song builds consistently from the keyboards first chord to its last, and that keyboard part is what won me over on the song.  The second song is more of a bumper, maybe roll down the windows and feel the cool winter breeze while you listen to it.  Or just listen to it while you're here, on your laptop.  Dont surf the world wide web while operating a motor vehicle kids, although I have heard that if you tell the police officer who pulled you over that you're surfing Moist melodies while driving, that he'll let you off with a smile and a wink.
moistmelodies assumes no blame if you are dumb enough to drive your car while on your computer, although we would appreciate the dedication.

Moistness levels: In the line of fire- Glistening, In every Direction- Chunky
-C

The Tiger & Me- 'Til Sunrise

You may not know the name "The Tiger & Me" and until yesterday neither did I.  but you should learn who they are if you have not already.  they have a sound much larger than their popularity rating on itunes or Spotify I assure.  They have an awesome instrumentation with raw fiddle melodies, plucky guitars and mandolin, three lead singers who each bring something different and great to their sound, including great vocal harmonies, and most importantly a sweet accordian.  I was wondering what the music I've been listening to is lacking and now I know; its some sweet accordian.
Moistness Level: Flowing
-C

NEW ALBUM: Foxygen- "We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

 
   Foxygen is a diverse band, there's not really much more I can say. As I peruse their music, I'm trying to think of how to categorize them, and I'm not having much luck. I suppose if I had to try to pick a genre, it would be psychedelic rock. It's got all the trappings of all of your favorite psychedelic, with plenty of haunting twang, hard-driving guitar, and washed-out vocals. Their new album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, could have just as easily come out in 1969 as 2013. You can hear shades of The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, and a little bit of Bob Dylan, and yet, it is distinctly modern, joining Tame Impala, among others, in a modern re-working of the psychedelic genre.  It's an eclectic mix of music, but I think it works nicely.
Favorite Tracks: "On Blue Mountain," "No Destruction," and "Shuggie"
Favorite lyric: "There's no need to be an asshole, you're not in Brooklyn anymore." Truer words have never been spoken.

Also, beware of anyone who lists Bob Dylan as an influence for a band, its such a copout. The guy influenced everyone, c'mon Moist Melodies, we're better than that. Whatever, I heard some Dylan in there, sue me.

Click here for purchase information.

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Big Jet Plane by Angus and Julia Stone

I cannot even describe this song, its my fucking jam. I'm not usually a big fan of the spaced-out sounding voices, but this one has the perfect amount of substance to it, that you can turn it up and do a slow awkward dance in your room when you get out of the shower and your roommate's gone. I'm sure  most of you have probably heard it before, but hear it again, in all its fantasticness. 

2 Opus 44 by Dustin O'Halloran

This song is of the post-classical genre, which honestly, I'm only recently learning about. If you liked the Ólafur Arnalds post from last week, this is cut from about the same cloth. Nice, calming piano playing from Dustin O'Halloran, a German pianist, is all you get in this song, and for most of the album as well. He has composed the score to a couple of successful films, like Marie Antoinette in 2006, which is where most of his name recognition comes from. Still, his independent work is impressive on it's own. Try not to think too much about The Human Centipede while you listen to this, with his being German and all. Which unfortunately, yes, is the first thing I thought of when I saw he was German.

Thanks to Twitter user, and possibly our young blog's first real fan, @365daysoftrying for suggesting this song to us. The rest of you reading this, please send us any good songs you have been listening to, that your band made, or whatever, just send em to us!