Words: Ryan Getz / Photo: Pat Johnson

J. Jaffe – “Dark Room”: Get ready people, this track is a warm up of sorts for the rest of this write up. If you’re older, maybe you’ll dig this and not the rest of what we talk about! Who knows! This blues rock artist from San Franscisco gives us a track that is busy in all of the right ways. Mr. Jaffe, where is your favorite bar to catch blues? I travel out there sometimes with the company I work for on my day job. I spend a lot of time around the Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf. Actually, I would love to see these guys set up near the entrance to Pier 39. Don’t be a dingus if you’re reading this – download the track (free!) below:

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Tim Muddiman and the Strange – “Rolling Stones”: I could say this song is dark and groovy and just be done with my reaction. Because that’s the trick these guys present. It’s a heckuva trick though. I have this mental image of the guitarist leering at me during a particular reverby effect that takes right before and right after the chorus.

NoMBe – “Miss Mirage”: Listening to this song is an interesting stream of consciousness experience. I feel like I should be watching the introduction to some weird TV show that is a hybrid of a Criss Angel special and MTV’s now defunct show TRL. The tempo changes in a way that’s slightly unsettling, yet that’s what makes this song most memorable. And that outro – now I’m just confused.

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dj.Kom – “Shifty (Original Mix)”: Have you ever watched The Lonely Island’s (that group with Andy Samberg) “When Will the BAss Drop?” Listening to this is kind of like that. In all seriousness though, I am awful at coming up with new adjectives to describe EDM, so I’m just going to tell you that this track is simultaneously amusing and enjoyable in a non-pretentious sort of way.

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Grizfolk – “Troublemaker”: So I totally confused this band with an EDM artist for a moment. And there are enough electronic elements to this song I was continuing in my delusion while listening to the song, only to be corrected when I actually read the press release. If this is alt-rock, this is a club ready band with more low end than Walk the Moon and Neon Trees, amongst other indie pop counterparts.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyFA4kDCvCI[/youtube]

Celldweller – “Precious One”: If you thought a gothic sounding industrial act couldn’t release uplifting music, you thought wrong. This song clocks in at almost seven minutes long, which is a shame because that makes it too long for most radio stations and a radio edit would feel lackluster. The lyric video (viewable below) is a trip, too.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=24&v=yFWugqVZXsM[/youtube]