Photo credit: Paige Farrow / Words: Ryan Getz

The Flats – Machinery: Wait a tic, I thought The Flats was a pop punk band. I can’t keep these projects from Dean Tartaglia straight. His dream pop meets alt rock project is putting out a split 7″ with his other new band Secret Space, very very soon, and this thing of beauty is on it. Listening to this song makes me nostalgic for an era of music I didn’t indulge in while it was actually popular… which doesn’t really make sense, but that’s okay. Stream the song at Substream.

Mike Rebel – Twisted & Laidback: The aesthetic of this new hip hop artist immediately takes me back the days of me listening to J-Remy’s “You Don’t Know Me” on RadioU. While I wouldn’t recommend this song to the same audience as J-Remy, there definitely is a down-home,   southern vibe that the two artists share. Plus, I have to give kudos to rhyming innuendo with Nintendo. This virtually unknown LA artist has already gotten press in The Source, so that’s cool.

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ES.P – Up to the Sun: I’m not well versed enough to know exactly what to call this style of EDM, but I know I love it and will probably be listening on repeat on the plane ride down to SXSW. I remember listening to Porter Robinson while walking through Austin Bergstrom airport, excitement in the air. Maybe I should do the same with that track. Dang! That drop just kicked in and its very fresh!

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New Madrid – “Knots”: Did you ever fool around with the visualizer mode in Windows Media Player when you were a kid? That’s what the music video for this song reminds me of. Also, I find it amusing that another music publication used the phrase “Darn good” to describe their music. Yay! We’re not the only blog to avoid profuse profanity! But in all seriousness, this song is fun, man.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tswMHbKLTA[/youtube]

Journalism – “Everywhere I Look”: The press release I received for this track includes a quote from The Fader (sidebar: hope to check out the Fader Fort showcase at SXSW) that describes the music as leading the listener into a “trance of good vibes.” Stole the words out of my mouth, man. Actually who am I kidding? That described the music better than I could have. The Brooklyn art rock group is set to release a nifty collection of tunes on Dead Stare Records come March 4th.

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