I'm Gon Be Famos!

Hey sexys,

Good news! I'm featured in a new music video. I know, I can't believe it either. I mean, it's happened before. But this time it's for a song that's actually good.

First, I guess I should mention the time I was in a music video before. It all began when my friend Shelby brought me along to a frat party, but not just any frat party. No, this was a frat party thrown by a buncha black kids (and if I'm not mistaken, there was also a handful of Indian dudes too).

So yeah, this was like a regular frat party, but there weren't a bunch of douches in pastels listening to Old Crow Medicine Show. So far so good.

I handled myself the way I handle myself at any other fratastic event: I got nice and drunk and tried to avoid eye contact with those of the Greek persuasion while I danced too hard.

Fastforward to the next week or so where I discover that a music video for a Mr. T Fowler was being filmed that night. You can see the entire video for the song right here:



I showed up at around the 0:48 second mark, if you missed it.

Anyways, that song was called "Who's got the Keg?". And obviously from the YouTube page, we see that it is the "Official" video. Because I'm sure so many people are making their own versions to Mr. Fowler's ho-hum party track.

So yeah, that was my first experience in a music video (at least that I'm aware of). And this next one is a lot more exciting for several reasons:

• First off, I happen to think the musician making the track is much more talented than T Fowler
• Secondly, the video is much more pleasing visually; it's not just a bunch of hipsters getting drunk
• And finally, I'm in it for longer than two seconds.

And now, without further rambling on my part, I'd like you all to enjoy the new Daniel music video. It's for his new track, "dept. stores & dinos". It's a laid back, almost mournful, little gem that I can't get out of my head. Check it out, yo.

much love,

-Conway 

Cover Song of the Year?

Hey lovers,

I hope everyone's been having a bitching holiday brizzake. Mine's been off and on. First I spent a bunch of days sitting around reading and centering my chi, then my lady friend came and we had so much crazy sex that we seriously messed up my knees, her lower back, and I don't even know what else. (true story, bro)

But where was I? Oh, yes. I've been meaning to post this for a while now but I'm lazy and forgetful and whatever. It's a cover of Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" and if I'm not mistaken it's probably the best cover song of the year. It's by the mysteriously sexy and sexily mysterious Mr. Little Jeans and I believe my roommate Max summed up this track perfectly when it came on at a party about a month or so back.

This isn't an exact reproduction but the exchange went something like this:

Conway - Yo, Max, WTFuck is this awesome noise?!

Max - Mr. Little Jeans! It's a cover of "The Suburbs"!

Conway - No shit? This is off the chain.

Max - Yeah! Fuck Arcade Fire. This is way better.

And you know what? I agree. As much as I love the The Suburbs the album and "The Suburbs" the song coming out over Win Butler's hip lipz - and don't even get me started about how rad the Spike Jonze video/short film is - I think the dystopian lyrics and quiet desperation just "click" better with Monica Birkenes' haunting vocals and skittering synths swirling around the downtempo (but still very danceable) beats. 

Here's the excellent fan-made video by the High 5 Collective. Enjoy

Lemme know if you think any other cover song is better, so I can tell you you're wrong

Much love,

-Conway Stiles

My Key's Been Hanging Out with My Nose, My Nose Been Getting Down With My Key

Hey team,

I just now sobered up from Fun Fun Fun Fest this past weekend and hot DAMN was it fun. (get it??)

Lots of wonderful things happened this weekend: I watched Odd Future get all silly and violent or whatever. I witnessed what I believe is called "Fucking Slayer". I ate some chicken and waffles. I'm pretty sure I saw Flying Lotus walk on water at some point. That, and I drank a lot of whiskey.

All in all, I'd say it was a success. I may mention a few more highlights as I sober even further up but as for today I'd like to talk about one of the more enjoyable shows I had the pleasure to witness: Spank Rock.

Now, I don't know how the hell this happened but I had never sat down and listened to any Spank Rock before I saw the show on Friday. I suppose this is my fault, but I'm also going to place a fair amount of the blame on Global Warming.

Regardless of this fact, thanks to the fucking phenomenal live set I saw last Friday (featuring a special appearance from Big Freedia), as well bitching lyrics like "All you white girls shake it 'til my dick turn racist", Spank Rock is quickly becoming one of my favorite acts.

To bring home this point, I'd like to share with you kids probably my favorite party song in the last who knows how long. It's all about doing blow and being exclusive and doing cool shit. Fittingly, it's called "Cool Shit", and I can't stop playing it on repeat.



My new response to, "Hey Conway, where the hell were you?":

I was at the cool shit doing cool shit.
Much love

Loss of Innocence

Heyyo!

I don't have too much that is incredibly important to say today but I was messing around on the popular social networking site, "Facebook", (heard of it?) and I came across this little gem of a music video and I felt compelled to share it with y'all.

Apparently the music is the work of a solo project by one of the dudes from Joakim that's calling itself Dye. The track, "Fantasy", is off the debut album Taki 183, which upon first listening seems very much worth of checking out. The visuals are the work of the simultaneously incredible and ridiculous Jérémie Périn. I don't want to say too much about the video, it's kind of something you just have to experience. But I will say that it's definitely NSFW and it just might remind you of what being a young teenager was all about.

Props to Shelby for putting this on her man-friend's wall so I could see it. I love her, but she already knows this.


That should be enough crazy for one day,
-Conway Stiles

Future Islands "Give Us The Wind" Video

Hey lovers,

I apologize for not updating as much as I should. I've been balls deep in all sorts of nonsense. It sucks, but whatevers.

So anyone else a little disappointed by the new M83, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming?

I mean, it's not bad, but after watching this shit I was expecting a bit more. I don't know, I'm kind of depressed about it. I don't wanna talk about it anymore.


On the other hand, the new Future Islands, On The Water, is wonderful. Here's a video for one of the many good songs on there. It's not the coolest music video, but it's a pretty groovy song.


Much love,
-Conway Stiles

King Krule - The Noose of Jah City

Hey lovers,

So this came out a few weeks back but it's so goddamn good I couldn't help but put it on here. It's the track by King Krule (you may remember him as Zoo Kid) that's making its rounds on the interwebs to stir up hype for his new album coming out soon.

  King Krule- The Noose of Jah City by truepanther

It's great. If you enjoy, I'd recommend checking out his earlier stuff under the name Zoo Kid, particularly the incredible "Out Getting Ribs", which I have the video for here:


I've gotta run though so keep it real,

-Conway Stiles

Let's All Put on Masks and Do It or Whatever

Hey team,

So it's Halloween soonish and with this in mind let's check out the classic "Monster Mash":



If you're looking for something a little scarier here's Bill Clinton playing Incubus: 



But what I REALLY came here to talk about is the closing track off the new Mayer Hawthorne, How Do You Do. It's called "No Strings" and it's got all the baby-making soulfulness that I've come to expect from Mr. Hawthorne.



Mmmm, cuddling music. Much love, y'all

-Conway Stiles

DPS Guide to Music in 2011 so far #1

#1 The Weeknd - House of Balloons
So I've been slacking and kind of forgot about writing the number one album/mixtape of 2011 up until now. I'd like to say it's because I've been working this post for the better part of a month, but you and I both know that's bullshit. I've just gotten distracted by school and girls and the inevitable nonsense that follows both.

Regardless of whatever my excuses are for taking so long, here we are, at the number one spot on my list what was supposed to serve as a pseudo six-month report on the music of 2011.

Now, a lot of good music has come out since I started this list, but I've stuck with my initial lineup that I came up with when I started this son of a bitch because those are the rules I decided on. If I don't get too distracted I'll update more regularly and have a year-end list too.

But let's get to the music. Try to think back to March of this year. It was a different time. But as difficult as it is to imagine this strange and distant past, try and situate your imagination in that point in time. Now imagine coming across this incredible drugged-out r&b sex music and also realizing that no one knows where it came from:

A lot has been said by myself and others about the beneficial influence a certain degree of mystery can add to an aspiring artist (remember back when no one knew who Odd Future was?) so I'm not going to get into it now. But it's definitely worth noting that when The Weeknd first showed up on the scene, all I had to go off of was a Tumblr filled with black and white erotica (fine by me), a rumor of a connection to Drake (alright I guess), and a free mixtape filled with some of the best music to do drugs and have filthy dirty incredible sex to. (Fuck. Yes.)

Since this initial period of mystery, the all-knowing internet has come to figure out that The Weeknd is actually Canadian Abel Tesfaye, and he's even released another free mixtape called Thursday (although it pales in comparison to House of Balloons). But even without the admittedly very sexy appeal of being mysteriously unknown, House of Balloons still stands on its own as an incredible work.

It's dark and sensual. The hazy samples, heavy bass, and cooing vocals all swirl together to create a sensation that's not unlike feeling some good drugs start to kick in. There's this sense of recklessness that combines with a hedonistic ignorance to the idea that the sun will come up or that the coke will run out. This is music to have the best drunken sex you'll never remember to.

And that's why it's number one of the list so far. It's not just because I like getting drunk and having sex (even though it is true that I enjoy both of those things immensely) but because this collection of songs knows what it's trying to be and accomplishes this so fully, seamlessly, and eloquently that it's difficult to not be impressed.

From the opening track where he slips a girl some ecstasy because (trust him) she wants to be high for what's in store to the impeccable Beach House-sampling "Loft Music" towards the end, every second of this mixtape drips with a consistent sexiness unseen on any other album this year.

It's so good in fact that it set the bar too high for his follow up mixtape which could only disappoint me after having my world rocked by House of Balloons. They're both free to download from The Weeknd website here, but I'd definitely recommend starting with Balloons first.

It's all good, and if you're doing it right you'll be too distracted by your drugs and partner to hear individual songs but make sure to check out "What you Need" (video above) and the second half of "House of Balloons - Glass Table Girls" when the trip suddenly gets a little bit darker than expected and shit gets real. I don't want to go into too much detail because a lot of it speaks for itself. Put it on the next time you're faded and getting busy.

And there you have it, a comprehensive report on all the music the DPS has gotten into so far. We here at the DPS would like to thank you for your continued readership and encourage you to stay tuned for our evaluation of all the other shit we haven't gotten to yet.

Alright, well I'm outta here, much love
-Conway Stiles

DPS Guide to Music in 2011 so far #2

#2 Destroyer - Kaputt
I think Dan Bejar pretty much sums up Kaputt when he recounts some girl calling him aside in "Poor in Love".

This moment arrives about halfway through the album, after he's made sure you're listening with the opening gems like "Chinatown"(which you can download here) and "Blue Eyes", and just before he solidifies the eternal grooviness of the album with the epic "Kaputt"(download).

She calls him over, this mystery woman, and she bestows him with one of the best lyrics on the album: "...all you've got is style," effectively illuminating pretty much everything that makes Kaputt an incredible album.

Dan Bejar, for the uninitiated, is probably best known as "the dude from The New Pornographers". He's an undeniably talented musician. His work in Destroyer and indie-super-group Swan Lake can attest to that. But despite all of this, he also kind of gives me the vibe that he's an insufferable asshat.

Now, I've never met him, but his too-cool-for-school-itude seems to seep out of every pore of each of his musical projects. And while this kind of bugs me on some level, it never gets to the point where I can't just roll with it.

I attribute this to the fact that the music he makes happens to be pretty good. Or in the case of Kaputt, it's phenomenal. It's a cool, smooth, mysterious dream of sexy bass lines and sexier saxophones. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, there's a lot of style.

I could go into detail about how that style includes lots of retro-smooth-jazziness and whatnot, but what I'll do instead is post a link to what might be the best music video of the year so far and let sexy girls in leotards, flying whales, and thirsty desert men do the talking for me.


Go download this album if you're looking for something a bit classier to put on at your next coke party.
much love,
Conway Stiles