Warm Welcome

For a band that you can like after just one listen, Hospitality made a relatively small splash in their initial debut. The band will spend most of 2012 touring small venues like the Doug Fir in Portland and the Echo in LA. So did the invite get lost in the mail? This is the kind of indie album that would fit in on any playlist. The music has real chemistry; sounds melt together, lyrics seem to come easy and thanks to producers Karl Blau and Shane Stoneback the band’s natural charm remains intact. Even-keeled, the lyrics are playful and cynical; "I'd rather be home, my presidents there," is wonderfully reminiscent of the age old, "I can't come to the party tonight, I have to wash my hair," line.  In a refreshingly honest moment, lead singer, Amber Papini told Interview Magazine, the band found their namesake by constantly spitting out different ideas until one stuck, spending a whole week with the name "Shoulder" and "Trumpet" before deciding on Hospitality. The self-titled LP traverses a plane of everyday normalcy, remaining upbeat and yet still profound.  The trio formed in Brooklyn, NY circa 2007 with Papini on vocals, Brian Betancourt on Bass, and Nathan Michel handling percussion. The album's track list has all the necessary components, the story song: "Betty Wang," the break-up-make-up song: "Friends of Friends," and the ever-reflective: "Liberal Arts." Recently signed by Merge Records, Hospitality deserves a warm welcome.

Check Out: All Day Today, Eighth Avenue, Friends of Friends.

Sounds Like: Tennis, Sea Lions, Regina Spektor.

Friends of Friends:

Betty Wang:

Eighth Avenue:

All Day Today:

Lovin' "Thrift Shop"

I love shopping. I love shopping at thrift stores. In fact, donating to and shopping at thrift stores is very American! This country has always been great at recycling used clothing and knick-knacks. Seriously, most countries didn't (and many still don't) have recycling clothing/home goods in their culture - why do you think Japanese and British buyers come here to find old Levi's and worn shoes to take home and sell in their shops? Anyways...

This hilarious little goodie by Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis is for all of you out there who, like me, enjoy spending hours sifting through racks of polyester, scouring shelves for old mugs and hunting for the perfect suede jacket with fringe. Turn the volume up and enjoy!

Office Tunes: Grimes

We're technically on vacation but we spent all day preparing for our movie night (we're watching Boogie Nights). Grimes' trippy new song "Genesis" has been on repeat all day and although I can't understand a single word from the song I must admit that its fantastic!

Songs of Summer

Let's try a test. Turn on your radio, flip through five stations if you haven't heard Gotye, F.U.N. or "Call Me Maybe", then I know you are listening to a Seashell.

I also know what you are thinking, "I don't listen to the radio," That would make me grossly unsatisfied with a thing called variety. Now that we are on the same page, I can ask you, why is Maroon 5 singing about pay phones past 1999?

Surely, they can afford cell phones. So toss the flavor of the week, these songs aren't played on the radio but should be on heavy rotation by July.

Eighth Avenue - Hospitality

The first song on every warm weather day - refreshingly honest lyrics that never compromise the sound.

This Head I Hold - Electric Guest

Better than Foster The People, more soulful, and lyrics that have nothing to do with school shootings. Oh you didn't know that's what "Pumped Up Kicks" was about? Oh spoiler.

Caught Me Thinking - Bahamas

A slightly rougher Jack Johnson type that probably can't surf because he's from Canada.

Cults - Go Outside

A little late on the trigger, their album was released in 2011 but it's far from being stale.

Morning Kisses - Theophilus London

A bit of hip hop born out of Brooklyn that is all the rage in Europe, off his latest Rose Island mix tape.  Quite the fashionista, Theophilus is known for being a true international artist that can sell out shows across the globe.

Alex Winston - Velvet Elvis

She's been remixed by Lady Hawke, compared to Chuck Berry, and is classically trained in Opera. She hails from Detroit and sounds like a groovier version of Joanna Newsom.

Vacationer: Band of The Week

Time to get down to some up-beat music by Philadelphia-based band, Vacationer. The music echoes the sounds of beach holidays and summer flings in tracks like 'Trip' and 'Summers End'. A tad like Vampire Weekend crossed with a lucid dream, Kenny Vasoli of Vacationer lays down lyrics worth a listen. The multi-instrumentalist and singer was born of the band the Starting Line, but has since departed to more experimental sounds. Shortly after Vacationer played in a backyard at SXSW, the band released their first full length album 'Gone'.

Office Tunes - The Internet

By now, most of you have already heard of the overly aggressive new kings of shock rap - Odd Future, but I'm sure few of you have heard of the subgroup of the infamous OFWGKTA simply named The Internet. It consists of Odd Future's 19 -year-old resident DJ/engineer/producer Syd the Kyd and Matt Martians.

Their music isn't anything you would expect to hear, especially if you've heard Tyler the Creator's monstrous voice, or Left Brain's even deeper murmur. The Internet sounds like a crazy mix of psychedelia, soul, funk, electro on acid (if that's even possible). Anyway, take a listen and excuse us for the violent visuals.

Kimbra: My new crush

For 30 minutes a day I'm in my car, which means I blast my radio to drown out the rest of the city. One of my favorite new songs is Gotye's heart-breaking and extremely catchy "Somebody I Used to Know". The amazing female singer on the track is Kimbra, my new crush. And yours too... Thanks to YouTube, I have become obsessed with her - not only does she have interesting style and a voice of gold but she's extremely innovative and ecclectic. Many compare her to Nina Simone and Bjork, and in fact she covers Simone's "Plain Gold Ring". However since I lived in Toronto and watched many talented friends become famous musicians (Broken Social Scene, Feist, Metric, Peaches), I totally see parts of Leslie Feist, Peaches and Emily Haines of Metric within Kimbra - fearless, vulnerable, odd, sexy and fucking talented. She's a force to be rekoned with. Born in 1990 (!) her musical arrangements and influences seem to be all over the place, which definitely speaks to her generation (who have grown up with endless creative inspiration and musical history a mouse-click away). You'll see what I mean in the videos below, especially when she mixes a Tears for Fears song with a Grizzly Bear one. Enjoy!

Live Mashup of Tears for Fears & Grizzly Bear

"Settle Down"

"Plain Gold Ring", a Nina Simone cover

"Cameo Lover", her dance/pop track

Office Tunes - Mayer Hawthorne

Recently, I've been listening to a lot of Mayer Hawthorne. His music is timeless, fun and soulful.

Born in Detroit, lives in Los Angeles; mixes old Motown sound with J-Dilla beats and creates something unique, new and "retro" at the same time. This song is so fun and light, but what's really amazing is the dance routine in this video. It makes me want to dance around the office in a very silly manner :D