The Playlist: Lushlife / Foals / Haim / Earl Sweatshirt / Rudimental (ft Angel Haze) / Soley

Lushlife - Magnolia

LUSHLIFE "MAGNOLIA" [DIR. LAMAR+NIK] from LAMAR+NIK on Vimeo.

Foals - My Number



Haim - Don't Save Me



Earl Sweatshirt - Chum



Rudimental - Hell Could Freeze Feat. Angel Haze



Sóley - I'll Drown Moritz Guhling's Tränen Remix

Los Angeles By R.E.M & James Franco

The world's greatest multi-tasker James Franco has recently popped up directing R.E.M's latest music video for their song Blue. Full of LA and Hollywood's glam trash, the inclusion of Terry Richardson's photoshoot of Linsay Lohan feels perfect. Vintage shots of neon lights, nighttime streets and photoshoots feel as if they mirror everything LA is about, or at least to be perceived to be about. Even if it is not the most flattering, it's a great tribute to the city.

The Playlist: Jay-Z / Toro Y Moi / Disclosure / Kanye West

Jay-Z - December 4th (Sourface Remix)



Toro Y Moi - So Many Details (Remix Feat. Hodgy Beats)



Disclosure - Latch



Kanye West - White Dress

Obama 2012: Four More Years

Sometimes words just aren't enough.

Solange Knowles: Losing You.

This past week I've become a bit obsessed with Solange Knowles. Yeah, Knowles is in Beyonce, Queen of everything Knowles. Solange is her slightly quirkier, just as beautiful, just as talented, younger sister. With some bizarre moves and a completely different sound, Solange looks like she might one day creep on the throne. Love the video too:

The Playlist: Destiny's Child / Bondax / Stealing Sheep / Bondax / Trimbal / Frank Ocean / Sky Ferreira

Destiny's Child - Say My Name (Cyril Hahn Remix)



Stealing Sheep - Genevieve



Bondax - Baby I Got That



TRIMBAL - Confidence Boost



Frank Ocean - Blue Whale



Sky Ferreira - Everything is Embarrassing

Bon Iver: Live at Radio CIty Music Hall

Justin Vernon is a cruel man. First he delights fans by providing a 97 minute HD video of his Radio City Music Hall performance for fans on Youtube. The next day, he says he may be "walking away" from Bon Iver for a while. Devastating news. Either way, I couldn't be more excited to see them perform in November. Judging by the video above their live performances are as strong as ever.

All Frank Ocean Everything.

Frank Ocean - Pyramids - SNL 9-15-12 by IdolxMuzic

There has been no one faster rising in the past year or so than Frank Ocean. From the most hyped hip-hop group of recent years, Odd Future, Frank Ocean has created his own and deserved presence. This presence has seen a critically acclaimed mixtape, followed by an equally acclaimed debut album and collaborations with Jay Z and Kanye West. He notably also was perhaps the first R&B/hip-hop to come out as bi-sexual, a massive step for the industry. His rise seems to have hit new heights the past 24 hours as he was given the honor of the opening show of Saturday Night Live's latest season, performing with John Mayer, smashing it. And then releasing his latest, in a string of amazing videos, for Pyramids.


Frank Ocean - Thinkin Bout You - SNL 9-15-12 by IdolxMuzic

See his performance on SNL of Pyramids (top) and Thinkin' About You (above). And then below is the video for Pyramids, which see a rather trippy Frank ride across the desert and into a strip club, full of some very bootilicious, yet slightly creepy girls.

frank ocean [pyramids] from christopher francis ocean on Vimeo.

Alt-J: Fitzpleasure.

ALT-J "Fitzpleasure" from COSA on Vimeo.

Scenes of gothic and relgiious undertones that wouldn't look out of place in a Kanye (or some other supposed Illumanti-related) video, form much of Alt-J's Fitzpleasure. It's create to see that the band's artistic visual spreads from their songs - forming one of my favourite bands of the year - to their videos. (Directed by Guillaume Caignard)

G.O.O.D. Music “Cruel Summer” Commercial.

For what seems like an age, the G.O.O.D album is almost here. There's a huge amount of anticipation for Cruel Summer to be avaliable but personally I've got mixed reactions on what I've heard. Nevertheless, it will definitely be worth a listen, and I'm liking the look of this 'commercial'.

Azealia Banks: 1991

Azealia Banks continues to tread the ever so thin line between confidence and douchbaggery. But while she tip toes the tightrope, she has managed to create an brilliant new videos. As she fully channels 90s pop videos, plays around with magnifying glasses and weird chairs, there's no doubt that Azealia does what she does best, struts, pouts and spits.

The Playlist: Japandroids / Steve Aoki ft Iggy Azalea / Hot Chip / Action Bronson

Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built



Steve Aoki & Angger Dimas feat. Iggy Azalea - Beat Down (Devolution Remix)



Hot Chip - These Chains



Action Bronson - SHIRAZ

Grimes: Genesis.

I don't think there's really anything you can say about this. Other than, strangely, it's just what I expected.

Talib Kweli, Curren$y and Kendrick Lamar: Push Thru

With a lot of hip-hop getting dark and dirty these days (see A$AP Rocky, OF, Kanye) it's real nice to get a breath of fresh air. This track feels really nice and airy, despite some pretty mean vocals from the master Talib Kweli, Curren$y and the up and coming master Kendrick Lamar.



The track is matched by some really clean and crisp visuals as each rapper takes you around their hometown New York, Louisiana and LA respectively.

Sigur Rós: Varúd.

For those that have been following the Sigur Ros Valtari Mystery Film Experiment, it's been varied and bizarre to say the least. From seeing Shia LaBeouf naked whilst playing with butterflies in an underwater world to an educational video on how to perform the heimlich manoeuvre, it's an odd collection. But I imagine this is exactly what Sigur Ros wanted when they decided to allocate small budgets to various film directors to interpret their album Valtari.

Sigur Rós: Varúð from Sigur Rós Valtari Mystery Films on Vimeo.

The latest video, for my favourite song off the album Varúd, is perhaps my favourite video so far too. It's far more straight forward and less surreal than the others, as you follow a girl with gold hair casually skipping through the streets of New York. It has a mixture of normality, oddness and magic that I think director Ryan McGinley pulls off so well.

Dan Harris - A Dedication.

Having received some bad news today, it really felt right to me that Washed Out brought out a video to A Dedication.



A beautiful video for a beautiful song. Make sure you appreciated what you've got.

RIP Dan.

The Playlist.

It's been a while...

The Notorious B.I.G. - Machine Gun Funk [Woody Remix]



Frank Ocean - Lost



Nas vs Massive Attack



Pusha T & Kanye West -- New God Flow



SBTRKT - Gloss



Shad - It Ain't Over



Flying Lotus - Between Friends (Feat Earl Sweatshirt And Captain Murphy)



Nas feat Amy Winehouse – Cherry Wine



Bat For Lashes - Laura

The XX: Angels.

On The Days We Were Together, Time Would Glide.

Frank Ocean, of Odd Future fame, came out today. A huge step for hip-hop and gay rights. But what intrigued me the most was how beautifully he did it. Frank used all the tools in his songwriting quota to put together an elequent and vivid explanation.

Danny Brown: Grown Up.

I can't quite work out if I like Danny Brown yet, I've got a feeling he's a grower. But what I know I do like is his new song and video Grown Up. Despite not having especially unqiue lyrics, it's got a lovely beat and a great video to go with it. Mini-DB is incredible. He nails pretty much every line and manages to pull off being cute and badass all at the same time.