Category Archives: Album Review

Album Review: Coyote Kisses – Thundercolor EP + “Changing Guard” FREE DL!! [Glitch-Hop//Electrofunk]

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Coyote Kisses - Thundercolor EP

This release has seen the light of day for a bit now, but it’s been looping periodically on my computer almost for a week now, so I feel it still warrants a post. And while some of you have already stumbled upon the new Thundercolor EP from Virginia-based production team Coyote Kisses, I am sure there are a few of you, at least, out there who will be very pleased after giving this album a listen. The style is mellow, yet far from minimal, and psychedelic in a dreamy and melodic, yet welcoming way. Comparable to artists like Seven Lions, Ghostland Observatory, and Michal Menert – I know that sounds like a confusion fusion- the group still remains far removed from anything I can say I have yet to hear. 5 out of 5 stars, this is freaking awesome.

Coyote Kisses - Soundcloud  // Facebook // Twitter

Coyote Kisses - Thundercolor EP – Buy on Beatport

Funkadelphia Pick: “This Is How You Know”

[BONUS!]

Tack #4 – “Changing Guard — FREE Download!!

Album Review: Paper Diamond – Paragon (FREE DL!!) [Glitch-Hop//Trap]

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Paper Diamond - Paragon

Versatile is a very important word to use when talking about hometown Colorado producer Alex B. He’s most well-known probably for his work as electronic music producer Paper Diamond. After years of work, he released an the Levitate EP through Pretty Lights Music, before his Wavesight EP through MadDecent, all ultimately leading up to this, his latest album: Paragon. But it’s absolutely impossible to define Paper Diamond’s music career to a single genre; unless maybe you simply used the word “bass” or “electronic”. But the PL release featured a much more slow, deep dubby sound, which progressed into a radical change to his next EP, which featured an almost moombahcore/electro sound. Now he returns somewhat to his roots with Paragon, an album that features a huge amount of influence from the recent glitch-hop and trap music genre takeovers. I know these sounds have a strong presence in Colorado, so it’s easy to see why they might show through on this new Paper Diamond release.  The album starts off slower and more on the mellow side, but give it time, it builds into some really intense and scratched out glitch and glitch-hop that’ll leave your head spinning, before delving into some more chill beats to close out. “Paperhype” is a definite winner for you bass heads though! No matter what, it’s definitely a winner!

Paper Diamond - Soundcloud // Facebook // Twitter

Paper Diamond - Paragon – FREE Download!!

Funkadelphia Picks: “Paperhype”, “Temple Run”, “Waste My Time”, and “Buku”

https://www.facebook.com/PAPERDIAMOND

Album Review: Cold War Kids – Dear Miss Lonelyhearts [Rock//Indie]

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Cold War Kids - Dear Miss Lonelyhearts

There’s a side of Funkadelphia music love that we don’t show off too often here on the site, and that is our love for some great non-electronic based music, whether it be some form of rock, pop or about anything else. If the tunes are good, we’re tuning our ears in. So Cold War Kids have been a band that have been our radars for a while. Their early career, which included Robbers & Cowards and Loyalty to Loyalty, was impressive to say the least. The album’s had a dark undertone with a harsh rock vibe that took grip of your soul. But their last album, Mine Is Yours, veered off in a strange direction that left many of the band’s fans, and ourselves, a bit confused. The album was good, but very untrue to the California bands roots in their first two albums. Now, just a few days ago, Cold War Kids have unveiled their latest album, Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, to the world. It certainly shows off a lot of progression, once again, from their first two albums, but it strays from the poppy vocals and instrumental lines that seemed to plague Mine Is Yours. With seemingly more of an electronic influence on this album, the band certainly still flexes an appreciation for their early work and lets their songs delve into the same deep rhythms that held grasp on on those albums. In summary, we could not be more pleased with this new album. Cold War Kids seemed to have fallen back into stride.

Cold War Kids - Website // Soundcloud // Facebook // Twitter

Cold War Kids - Dear Miss Lonelyhearts – Buy Album

Funkadelphia Picks: “Fear and Trembling” and “Tuxedos”

Album Review: Lusine – The Waiting Room [Trip-Hop//Downtempo]

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Lusine - The Waiting Room

Ghostly International (view the label’s Soundcloud HERE) is a small artist collective run by Matthew Dear out of New York. It’s a tight nit collective, and an intimidating list of names, including Shigeto, Phantogram, Tycho, Gold Panda, Com Truise, and of course, Lusine. The Washington musician’s music mixes elements of trip-hop, downtempo, minimal, lounge, microhouse and even sometimes darkwave and other similar sounds. His new album, The Waiting Room, touches down hard, chocked full of dreamy grooves and spacey trip-hop tracks, it’s sure to satisfy even the biggest skeptic. It seems almost like a descent into madness as the album seems to almost degrade musically as it continues, starting off melodic and interpretative before slowly breaking away from traditional music elements and gaining a sense of discomfort. Please, enjoy, Lusine.

Lusine - Website // Facebook

Lusine - The Waiting Room – Buy Album

Funkadelphia Pick: “Without a Plan”

Album Review: Lotus – Build (+ “Kodiak” FREE DL!!) [Rock//Jamtronica]

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Lotus - Build

Sometimes I have these difficult, intense internal struggles with myself over whether I enjoy heavy bass or jammy rhythms  more; so it’s not hard to understand why a band like Lotus essentially can’t do wrong. They kick out the jams but have plenty of that electronic influence, especially in more recent years. Their new album, Build, is certainly a testament to this, breaking out hard with “Break Build Burn” slamming down some heavy guitar lines, but also providing plenty of whirling synth grooves as well. From there the album only gets better; and while it’s no stretch to say that this album has a stronger electronic focus than Lotus’ previous works, it also exists in a time when the world seems to be obsessed with electronic music. You can’t blame a band like Lotus for getting involved, especially when their music remains so true to it’s nature, roots and style. I could even say this album reminds me a bit of some of STS9‘s work; but at the same time, Lotus still brings their sound cascading through the bleeps and bloops that echo throughout Build.

Lotus - Website // Soundcloud // Bandcamp // Facebook // Twitter

Lotus - Build – Buy Album (Digitial/CD/Vinyl)

Funkadelphia Picks: “What Did I Do Wrong”, “Neon Tubes Pt. 2″,  ”Middle Road” & “Cutinuo”

06) “Kodiak” –FREE Download!!

Album Review: Blink-182 – Dogs Eating Dogs EP [Punk//Alternative]

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blink_182_final_dogs_eating_dogs.600x600-75

This will most likely be met with strange looks from some of our fans, but hey, give us a minute to explain. First off, may I say that if you grew up in or around my time, Blink-182 is undeniably a part of your childhood (and if you try to deny it, then I will call you a liar sir!).  When the band got together for a reunion tour a few years ago, it was the greatest moment in the hearts of many Blink fans; and I must admit I caught them on that tour, which was an experience I remain pleased with. But when the pop punk originators announced a new album, it was definitely a questionable moment in  the hearts of many of these same fans– including my own. Unfortunately, the worst we feared was the result, and Neighborhoods became the album we all wanted to deny even happened. So it is with great, great enthusiasm that I present to you this little 5-track gem that sort of slipped through the cracks for a lot of us: the Dogs Eating Dogs EP. That’s right, there’s ANOTHER new release from the famed three-piece band, and it’s damn good enough to maybe even make you forget that last album even happened. The album gets back to a lot more of the band’s roots sounds; it demonstrates influence of maturity and definitely a time lapse in these guys’ careers, but at the same time it’s just like hearing three 20 year-olds jamming on their guitars in their parents garage all over again.

Blink-182 - Website // YouTube // Facebook // Twitter

Blink-182 - Dogs Eating Dogs EP – Buy on iTunes

Funkadelphia Picks: “Boxing Day” and “When I Was Young”

*You can skip/browse through tracks by pressing the “Next” button on the bottom left of the player

Album Review: Local Natives – Hummingbird [Indie//Rock]

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Local Natives - Hummingbird

This is definitely diverting from our typical path of posts; but that’s something I actually enjoy doing and have been trying to incorporate more of. It’s always good to have a wide spread of amazing music in your life. So if you don’t know Local Natives by now, I would strongly recommend that you give them a listen. After encountering them at Bonnaroo almost four years ago now, soon after the release of their amazing first record Gorilla Manor, I was completely amazed. A few months ago we saw the release of the first single from the new album,  titled “Breakers”, and it showed a more mature and developed sound from the band that remained loyal to their debut. Now the complete Hummingbird album is here, and it’s dreamy guitar and vocals lines have been drifting through my speakers and headphones almost non-stop the passed few days. E-mails with new tunes to give a listen-over almost seem like a chore, as it would stepping my ears away from Local Natives. I can fully recognize that this might not reside with all our followers and listeners, but whether you are familiar with the Los Angeles based group or not, at least give this album a chance. You just might find your ears easily persuaded.

Local Natives - Website // Soundcloud // Facebook

Local Natives - Hummingbird – Buy Album (Digital) // Deluxe (Digitial) // Vinyl+CD Pre-Order

Funkadelphia Picks; “Colombia”, “Black Spot”, “Three Months”, “Ingrid” and “Wooly Mammoth”

Album Review: Getter – I Want More [Dubstep//Grime]

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Getter - I Want More

Getter might not be theost recognizable name on Firepower Records, but that’s absolutely no good reason to discount the mighty California DJ’s production skills. He’s been on our radars for quite some time now, with a series of monstrous EP’s and he even accompanied Datsik on many of his last tour’s West Coast dates. But finally, Getter’s debut full album release, the I Want More LP is upon us, and it’s blazing in full glory. We keep it no secret how filthy we like our music, and it’s almost seems as if Getter heard our cries for disgusting bass when putting this album together. And while he keeps it grimey all the time, Getter doesn’t keep himself constrained to a small sound sample set or a typical formula for his songs. “Papercuts” starts the LP off with a completely dark and sinister feel, before tracks like “Crack That” and “I Want More” bring in the high pitches; meanwhile, “Fallout” features that old school deep dub feel if that’s your thing, and all I can say about “Aggravate” is it’s something totally new, and you need to hear it NOW! This whole album deserves a good listen over though definitely; Funkadelphia stamp of approval: yes, absolutely.

Getter - Soundcloud // Facebook // Twitter

Getter - I Want More – Buy on Beatport

Funkadelphia Picks: “Aggravate” & “Papercuts”

Album Review: Run DMT – Union of Opposites (FREE DL!!) [Dubstep//Grime]

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Run DMT - Union of Opposites

Alright this one is definitely a bit late admittedly, but I still can’t deny it from seeing the light of day here on Funkadelphia because it’s simply too freaking amazing. Run DMT has been on the forefront of the bass music scene for quite sometime now; he’s a clear veteran. And he’s torn up Philadelphia at least twice now, both this year at The Blockley and SoundGarden Hall. Over the passed month or so, the Texas producer has been releasing the tracks to his new Union of Opposites album (which you can scoop TOTALLY FREE!!) one by one through his soundcloud. And dead seriously, everytime he released a new track, it left my jaw a bit closer to the floor at the drop. This album is ABSOLUTELY KILLER!! Get at it!!

Run DMT - Website // Soundcloud // Facebook // Twitter

Run DMT - Union of Opposites – *FREE Downloads are available by individual tracks below

Funkadelphia Picks: “Leave With Us”, “Into the Sun”, “Sugarcube”, “Curse of the Mummy”, “Union of Opposites”, “Polarity” and “Epilogue”

Album Review: Emancipator: Dusk to Dawn [Downtempo//Beats]

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Emancipator - Dusk to Dawn

The day is finally here, and I really couldn’t be more pleased. Emancipator has had an enormous impact on the downtempo music world, and their new album Dusk to Dawn, out today, continues their string of (for lack of a better world) beautiful releases. It’s rather difficult to classify the Oregon two-piece act within a single genre; “downtempo” doesn’t even begin to capture the smooth beating rhythms, accompanied by almost mesmerizing guitar, violin and harp lines, among other live instrumentation. Dusk to Dawn will creep into your soul and take you on a journey through beautiful landscapes; it will take you to the stony beaches of a misty lake, to the top of snow-capped mountains, and through lush valleys. And if the album isn’t enough, Emancipator will be playing HERE in Philadelphia, this Thursday at The Trocadero Theatre! But for now, just enjoy this new, incredible release from Emancipator.

Emancipator - Website // Soundcloud // Bandcamp // Facebook // Twitter

Emancipator - Dusk to Dawn – Buy Album

Funkadelphia Picks: “Afterglow”, “Dusk to Dawn”, “Minor Cause”, and “Merlion”