Snotty brainwaves and drunken disgruntled employees live in San Cristobal

Ellinor Olovsdotter also known by her stage name Elliphant was discovered by chance one night at a party. She explained in an interview with Billboard, "It’s just coincidences that made me into this — a friend who needed help" She was at a party in Paris when producer Tim Deneve was playing some of his beats and a quite inebriated Olovsdotter started singing over the music. Deneve was caught off guard by her voice and was looking for a singer to flush out his demos. He recruited Olovsdotter and six months later Elliphant was signed to Swedish independent label TEN Music Group. Previous to getting signed Ellinor had worked as a kitchen worker and server in the food industry for over a decade. “The whole thing is super random and I think that’s my secret weapon in this: I don’t have anything to lose." she said. Not a bad deal for going to a party, getting hammered and singing a little bit. Since being signed in 2011 she has released 2 full albums, numerous EP's and has been featured in many songs from other artists. One of my particular favorite songs she is featured in, and where I first heard of Elliphant, was on the song "Too Original" by Major Lazer, who I am a huge fan of. Those who are familiar with Major Lazer's sound know what they are in for, but for the uninitiated you can expect a raucous heavy electronic Jamaican fused dance track that is pure energy. I highly suggest on first listen to crank up the volume and get ready to dance. Make sure to watch the video too. It looks like it was a blast to make. While that song is amazing at showcasing her hypnotic flow, her soothing raspy singing voice is not shown, so as a bonus I am going to also post a live performance of the song "Loves Me Badder" form Baeble Music. Make sure to check out her music, there is some really great stuff there.

Major Lazer - Too Original (Feat. Elliphant & Jovi Rockwell)


Elliephant - Loves Me Badder (Live)



I can't believe that I have never posted about the amazing Mal Blum! I have loved their music from the first time I heard it. It's emotional, sometimes folky sometimes rocky and the perfect type of music for those moody days when you just want to have someone to relate to, but also need a little pick me up. They have a new album set to drop on July 12 titled Pitty Boy and it looks as if they are touring quite a bit this summer in support of the new album. If you can, make sure to catch a show. Meanwhile enjoy this song! It's an older song from their 2011 album titled "Every Time You Go Somewhere". A quick note though, not all of their songs are quite this moody sounding, I just really really love the pacing of this song. And as an added bonus I will put up a song from the new album, that is giving me heavy Dinosaur Jr. vibes and that is a very good thing.

Mal Blum - San Cristobal

Mal Blum - I Don't Want To


I realize that I haven't updated this blog recently, which means that all my adoring fans who so graciously read this don't get to keep up on the events in my life. Trust me you're really not missing out on much unless you are interested in daily visits to what I call the "thrift store circuit" and hours of collecting everything that isn't nailed down in Skyrim. About 6 months ago I started a new job working in the transportation industry. I basically managed orders for multiple delivery agents. I want to start this out by saying that the people I worked with were pretty cool for the most part, in fact that was probably the only thing about the job that I really liked. Everything else was awful. There was barely any training or training documentation, the workload was really heavy and quite stressful, and communication was severely lacking on the corporate side of things. It was definitely a job where you felt like a number instead of a person that was heard and acknowledged. Every morning I would spend 15 minutes giving myself a locker room pep talk like you see in sports movies and when I left at the end of the day, I so tense and frustrated that I wanted to sit in my car and cry while blasting "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. I can honestly say that it was the worst job I ever had. Thankfully I realized that it was not for me early on and rambled on to another job that I like very much. This is a song about feeling trapped in career stagnation and feeling like a zombified corporate shill. If there is anything that my punk rock roots taught me it's that working for the man is a soulless endeavor. I'd like to say that I learned that early on, but truthfully I don't think it sunk in until recently. I respect those who can just switch off that part of their brain and go all auto pilot and let all the bullshit roll off their backs. It takes an iron will and Teflon skin to deal with that most of the time. I also feel really bad for them. I feel bad for those that never get the credit for their ideas, those that are never heard, those that get told they aren't good enough at what they do everyday by some entitled prick. I could write an entire book here but I need to end this ranting and I believe that I have done my due diligence in setting up this next song. With that being said I will quote the best line of this song and encourage everyone in a shitty job to shout along with it. "I AM NOT A PRODUCTION UNIT, I AM A HUMAN BEING!"

Cable Ties - Say What You Mean


Whew! That was pretty intense. Let's cool down a bit and get a little geeky with this next song, "Weightless" by Marconi Union. This song was created in collaboration with the British Academy of Sound Therapy. It is said to be one of the world's most relaxing songs and was created with exactly that intention. It's goal is to lower the listeners blood pressure, stress levels and heart rate and there is scientific data to back that claim up. Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson from the research group Mindlab International states that ""Brain imaging studies have shown that music works at a very deep level within the brain, stimulating not only those regions responsible for processing sound but also ones associated with emotions.” The data collected found that the song reduces anxiety by 65% and a 35% reduction in usual physiological resting rates. The song contains a sustaining rhythm that starts at 60 beats per minute and gradually moves to 50 beats per minute. The listeners heartbeat naturally slows to match the tracks BPM. The length is also critical in the science of the song. Lyz Cooper, the founder of the British Academy of Sound Therapy explains, “It takes about five minutes for this process, known as entrainment, to occur. And there is no repeating melody, which allows your brain to completely switch off because you are no longer trying to predict what is coming next.” The song is composed of a mix of piano, guitar and electronic samples of natural soundscapes all written in a slow moving dream like melody. This is the first song I have on my "Sleepy Time" playlist and I have listened to this track quite often. I can attest that it works very very well. I often times find that I am asleep before the song is even over, however I will admit that I do tend to fall asleep rather quickly. Why not try it out for yourself, just make sure you aren't driving or operating heavy machinery...and if you are, you probably shouldn't be reading this right now. P.S. There is also a 10 hour version on YouTube if you're into that sort of thing.

Marconi Union - Weightless


Now I am too sleepy. I can not let this post end like that. We need to get this back to proper Rop Bop levels before departing and I think I have just the right song to get us there. This band is on one of my all time favorite punk labels Fat Wreck Chords, founded my Fat Mike of the band NOFX. This all girl power pop punk band from San Pedro California bring sugary, fast, hook laden 3 part harmonies that will keep you jumping around for hours. It's snotty, it's fun and it's tough...everything punk should be. This is a live version of the song "Cheers" from their album Not Sorry. While the songs lyrics might not convey my feelings to you dear reader and I think that song title is the perfect way to end this post. Enjoy and keep rocking until next time. Seacrest, out!

Bad Cop/ Bad Cop - Cheers (Live from The Rock Room)