Analog Edition Sampler

Everybody Taste is going on break for a week. While we're out, check in with our imprint Analog Edition's free label sampler, which features a gorgeous ocean-slapping instrumental from Blake Mills; an alternate take of Stone Darling's "Baby Come Home" that has J. Tillman (Father John Misty) on drums and Joel Morales (Babies On Acid) on bass; a giant swelling beauty of experimental pop from Lands & Peoples; the hushed previously vinyl-only Breakfast In Fur track "Ghost Story"; and a tease at our next release with DC fuzz-pop extraordinaires, Teen Mom.

Premiere: Floating Action - "Cheers" (Blake Mills)

One of our very favorite artists— Black Mountain, North Carolina's Seth Kauffman—is gearing up for the release of his fifth LP and third under the nom de plume Floating Action on September 4th with Fake Blood. Kauffman's home-brewed, laid-back output revels in loose swinging rhythms, raw analog blasts of organ and guitar, and subtle yet entirely irresistible ear-worming melodies. Floating Action albums may not race up any charts, but Kauffman's coastal blend of dub and funk with rock and soul music is a timeless one. It now appears My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James shares that feeling, as he recently signed the band to his personal imprint, Removador. Perhaps that's what makes Kauffman's cover of the Blake Mills song "Cheers" such a perfect pairing: the name "Blake Mills" may not jump out of the average music fan's mouth, but amongst fellow musicians, he's revered. Kauffman's ace version of "Cheers" plugs Mills' cutting reflective narration into a hollowed-out cavern of cooing background vocals, the signature behind-the-beat Floating Action drums, and a faithful interpretation of Mills' swirling guitar work.

Floating Action - "Cheers" (Blake Mills cover)

Below, check out "Seized," the excellent first single from Fake Blood. Then make sure to snag the record—a co-release by Removador and Asheville's Harvest Records—on vinyl here.

Floating Action - "Seized" (from Fake Blood)

Sound & Vision 004: Blake Mills

Our bud Blake Mills is featured on the newest installment of the web documentary series Sound & Vision. Mills released ET's favorite record of 2010 via Break Mirrors and is the very first artist to press a record with our vinyl imprint, Analog Edition. So you might say we're pretty stoked on the music he's been putting out. Now, thanks to an appearance on Conan and an endless list of high profile collaborations (including Sara Watkins' beautiful new record Sun Midnight Sun, which he produced), the rest of the world seems to finally be catching up. Sound & Vision's video is an artfully shot and cut portrait of Mills: you get to see him eat breakfast with his awesomely talented girlfriend Danielle Haim, meet the parents, practice with the Goldsmith bros, and hear legends like Jackson Browne and The Heartbreakers' Benmont Tench wax philosophical about just what it is that makes Blake so unbelievably great. Oh yeah, he also plays the guitar pretty decently. Check it out after the jump. (Photo)

Record Store Day Giveaway

In honor of every music nerd's favorite holiday, Record Store Day, we're giving away two complete sets of Analog Edition vinyl. To get a shot at the goods, all you need to do is head to your favorite record store tomorrow and purchase a piece of holiday wax. Send proof of your purchase via a photograph on your mobile device, a receipt, or a detailed textual description to matt@analogedition.com with "RSD Giveaway" in the subject line, and we'll pick two winners from there.

Here's what you're getting: Lands & Peoples' freshly pressed debut Pop Guilt (limited to 300 hand-numbered copies), 7"s from Blake Mills and Stone Darling, a 10" EP from Breakfast In Fur, and one of the last four copies of our inaugural Analog Edition Zine. Find your participating neighborhood record stores here.

Lands & Peoples - "Ghosts" (from Pop Guilt)
Lands & Peoples - "I Tried" (from Pop Guilt)

HAIM - "Forever"

Forever, the new three-track EP from the Los Angeles sisters known as HAIM, has been releasing some seriously funky Kate Bush vibes into the atmosphere of late. Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim gracefully step from layers of jumpy R&B flavored harmonies on opener "Better Off" to the sensual call-and-response burn of "Go Slow" and the epic closer and title-track, "Forever"—a sharp and masterful cut of bass-driven grooves and dance floor candy. "Forever" is a song you can't just play once. In fact, it's hard to stop playing. That handclap and synth breakdown near the 3:20 mark? Hips will move and mountains will shake. If you dig, last month we wrote about Danielle Haim's excellent collabs with her beau, guitar extraordinaire Blake Mills. Danielle also recently classed it up on Conan with Mills in what is easily the best musical performance I've ever seen on late night television.

Enter your email below to download the Forever EP.

HAIM - "Forever" (from Forever EP)

Blake Mills & Danielle Haim cover The Beatles & Bob Dylan

Los Angles shredder and songwriter extraordinaire Blake Mills—whose 2010 record Break Mirrors inspired the creation of our own Analog imprint—has been keeping busy touring with and opening for Lucinda Williams, playing shows with his former bandmates in Dawes, and recording a few exceptionally sharp covers with fellow musician (and girlfriend) Danielle Haim. Over on Mills' new website, you can snag an ace rendition of The Beatles' "Come Together," which features some killer guitar and percussive work by the pair. For Amnesty International's Chimes of Freedom compilation—which features 76 Bob Dylan covers by artists as varied as Patti Smith, Pete Seeger, and My Morning Jacket—Mills and Haim contributed an even more stunning cover in the form of Dylan's "Heart of Mine," an overlooked track culled from the 1981 born-again era record Shot of Love. Fuck She & Him, it's Haim and Mills time. It's not easy taking on behemoths like The Beatles and Dylan, and these two seemingly do it with ease: artful, confidant, and classy every step of the way.

Purchase Amnesty International's Chimes of Freedom compilation here. 

Blake Mills & Danielle Haim - "Come Together"

Blake Mills & Danielle Haim - "Heart of Mine"

Best of 2011: Analog Edition Records

We couldn't really recap 2011 without mentioning Everybody Taste's venture into the world of vinyl pressing with our very own imprint, Analog Edition Records. Analog Edition started out of a desire to press what we still consider to be the best record of 2010 onto vinyl: Los Angeles guitarist Blake Mills' spectacular Break Mirrors. Thanks to the folks at Blake's label Record Collection, we ended up with a double A-side 7" featuring two of Break Mirrors' best tracks, the two-chord foot-stomper "Hey Lover" and the Fleetwood Mac-tinged "Winter Song." From there, Analog Edition teamed up with promising New Paltz, New York band Breakfast In Fur to release its warm and dreamy debut EP—a collection of songs colored with washes of psychedelia and a sense of child-like wonder—onto 10" vinyl. The third release of the year came again from Los Angeles, this time with Stone Darling's "I Stopped Missing You Today" 7": while the A-side pop-informed break-up single hammers away with deep fuzzy guitars and sledgehammer drums, the flip side "Angeline" is a wash of wide-open harmonies, tumbleweed rolling drums, and vintage heartache-riddled country storytelling. Analog Edition also released its first music zine with contributions from some of our favorite bloggers, labels, and artists, including Infinity Cat, Mississippi Records, Rollo Grady, Aquarium Drunkard, Sonny Smith, Lord Huron, and Levek.

Mixtape #17: Snacking On The 7-inch

The latest installment of our mixtape series highlights the 7" vinyl single—a format that was introduced in 1949 by RCA and is still alive and thriving today. The tracklist below features 21 different 7"s put out by some of our favorite artists and labels.*

Analog Edition's First Two Releases Out Now

The first two releases from Analog Edition—Everybody Taste's vinyl imprint—are officially out as of last Tuesday: Breakfast In Fur's stunning debut EP on 10" wax with artwork by the band's own Kaitlin Van Pelt and the "Hey Lover" and "Winter Song" double A-side 7" by guitar wizard turned songwriter Blake Mills, which features artwork by collage artist Sage Vaughn.

You can snag both records now from the Analog Edition store.

Breakfast In Fur - "Shine" 

Blake Mills - "Hey Lover" (Daytrotter version)

Check out videos for Breakfast In Fur's "Shine" and Blake Mills' "Hey Lover" after the jump.

Video: Blake Mills - "Hey Lover"

Blake Mills' "Hey Lover"—one of of Everybody Taste's favorite songs of 2010, off our pick for album of the year, Break Mirrors—finally gets a well-deserved music video. Directed by Nick Darmstaedter and shot on what looks like VHS tape, much of the low key video takes place in a Los Angeles ice skating rink with Mills—dressed in a Canadian tuxedo and cowboy hat—sauntering about with his acoustic guitar, shooting up some bad guys at the arcade, and even taking a few laps around the rink. Hello early 1990s.

Watch the video after the jump. Then make sure to order that "Hey Lover" 7" you've been lusting after from our Analog Edition imprint.

Review: Middle Brother:: Middle Brother

Cream were dubbed the world's first supergroup; The Highwaymen were country’s; and then there was the Traveling Wilburys, perhaps the greatest of them all: a band comprised of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison. Harrison, one of the Fab Four, once admitted that he never knew what it felt like to play in a band until the Traveling Wilburys. Supergroups were once something to behold, but the magic and allure faded with bands like Velvet Revolver and Audioslave acting more as life rafts for aging rock stars than outlets born of creative desire. Monsters of Folk—three of folk rock’s brightest stars rekindling the magic of a shared tour—sounded so promising on paper, but the record came out flat and contrived. Save for the single "Say Yes," the album was three songwriters trading songs with no discernable input from one another.

The Best Albums of 2010 :: 15-1

Robyn - Body Talk
The culmination of the Body Talk series, this is mainstream pop music that anyone can get behind: smart lyrics, vibrant production, fast tempos and the charismatic personality of Robyn, who lends an intimate touch and relatability to each song.
Sample: "Call Your Girlfriend"

Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
Drenched in the blues, country, gospel and bluegrass, this son and namesake of legendary figures Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt records his move from the South to New York City with a slew of whip-smart songs about Brooklyn, the MTA and a baptism/suicide in the Harlem River.
Sample: "Harlem River Blues"

Dr. Dog - Shame, Shame
One of the more consistent roots-inclined rock bands of the past decade, Dr. Dog seem to grow only stronger with each release, especially here on Shame, Shame—their first recording experience outside of their own home studio.
Sample: "Stranger" 

The National - High Violet
Intensely belabored over and carefully constructed, always strained and always subtle, this densely packed record takes time and repeated listens to unravel—but when it finally does it's nothing short of masterful.
Sample: "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

Review: Blake Mills - Break Mirrors

Blake Mills' career is sort of mind-boggling. He's toured with Jenny Lewis, Band of Horses, and Cass McCombs; recorded as a session musician with Julian Casablancas, Weezer, and Kid Rock; and was a founding member of the band Simon Dawes (now Dawes). Yet Mills is just a mere 23 years-old. That age is even more shocking after listening to Mills' debut record, Break Mirrors, set for release on July 6th. To call it a strong, thoughtful and wholly original debut would be an understatement. It's one of the year's best and most complete albums, easily holding its own alongside more veteran folk and roots rock albums like Josh Ritter's So Runs The World Away and Phophorescent's Here's To Taking It Easy.

At just 9 songs, Break Mirrors is certainly a short record, but its also absurdly consistent and detailed. From the airy background of quietly-plucked guitars in slow opener "Cheers" to the experimental echoed-bass drum and wall-of-guitars soundscape in "Under The Underground," Mills never simply settles for telling a straight lyrics-and-guitar story. The talented session player and Youtube-praised shredder has too much talent at his disposal to fit into the traditional singer/songwriter mold, with many of the songs on Break Mirrors instead veering into more exploratory territory, complicating themselves into fully-articulated and dynamic compositions. No song hits that mark more than "Winter Song," from its contemplative first minute-and-a-half to the drum-kicking-in chorus and eventual chill-eliciting burst of overlapping male/female harmony. Mills' lyrics and voice—a compliment of wordy insights and injustices with a gravelly, achey tone—find a perfect world to exist in here amongst layers of fluttering and singing guitars and beautifully-produced drumming. I'll say that again, the drumming on this record— reminiscent of the Beatles and Dr. Dog with its use of delay and echo—is expertly performed and remarkably satisfying. I wouldn't be surprised if Break Mirrors is my favorite record of 2010. It's just that good.

Stream: Blake Mills - "Hey Lover" (from Break Mirrors)

Stream: Blake Mills - "Winter Song" (from Break Mirrors)

Blake Mills - "Hey Lover" (Daytrotter session)

Blake Mills - "The Woman Knows (Demo)" (from Live From Shanghai EP)

Mixtape #5: Six Degrees of Jonathan Wilson

"We met this fellow playing bass for the lovely Jenny Lewis at V Festival, and he gave me one of the best albums I've ever heard, called Gentle Spirit, by him." - Nick Allbrook, Tame Impala guitarist

The internet is such a heavily mapped out place that it's hard for a band to retain any level of mystique or privacy. Yet somehow Jonathan Wilson remains a mystery. His fingerprints can be seen everywhere from Jenny Lewis's Acid Tongue to Elvis Costello's Momofuku and former Jayhawks Gary Louris' Vagabonds. The jam sessions held at his former Laurel Canyon residence have been documented in both the Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone. Somehow though, whether on purpose or not, the public acclaim has evaded Wilson. Search for a review of his masterful 2007 album Frankie Ray—his only solo work that's been officially released—and you'll find hardly a scrape outside of the local Los Angeles press. Rumors abound about the Emerald Triangle supergroup, the release date of Wilson's second solo record Gentle Spirit and other projects, including a tribute album to the legendary Roy Harper, but concrete release dates don't exist. But maybe it's just part of Wilson's behind-the-scenes strategy, as the work he's been able to help create as a producer, studio and touring musician has yielded some of the most beautiful and organic rock and roll since Joni Mitchell and company first immortalized the Canyon in the 1960s. In a musical era where computers and synthesizers rule, there's nothing more refreshing than the near-Luddite quality of Jonathan Wilson's analog recordings.

Directly or indirectly, these songs are all related to Jonathan Wilson and were chosen to reflect the spirit of his music. Download the mix in its entirety as a zip file below.

Jonathan Wilson - "Can We Really Party Today?" (from Gentle Spirit)

Kevin Barker - "You & Me" (from You & Me)

Gary Louris - "Black Grass" (from Vagabonds)

Jason Boesel - "Hand of God" (from Hustler's Son)

Jenny and Johnny - "Scissor Runner" (from Jenny and Johnny)

Elvis Costello & The Impostors - "Drum and Bone" (from Momofuku)
Vetiver - "Used To Be King" (from Be Yourself: A Tribute To Graham Nash's Songs For Beginners)
Benji Hughes - "Country Love" (from Sargent Singles: Vol. 2)
The Whispertown 2000 - "Done With Love" (from Done With Love EP)

Jonathan Wilson w/ Andy Cabic - "Desert Raven"

Blake Mills - "Hey Lover" (from Break Mirrors)

Dawes - "Love Is All I Am" (from North Hills)

Jonathan Wilson - "Your Ears Are Burning" (from Frankie Ray)

Jenny Lewis - "The Next Messiah" (from Acid Tongue)

Farmer Dave Scher - "Surf Out Sunset" (from Flash Forward To The Good Times)

Johnathan Rice - "The Middle of the Road" (from Further North)

Espers - "Caroline" (from III)
Jonathan Wilson - "WildFIRE" (from Far-Out B-Sides)
Roy Harper - "Hors d'Oeuvres" (from Stormcock)

Six Degrees of Jonathan Wilson.zip

(photo by Courtney Brooke)

Artist To Watch: Jenny O

Jenny O is currently on a mission: get enough cash to mix and release her Home EP for an August release. The LA-based songwriter and published photographer is spilling over with talent. With time spent building her chops at music college and in the studio with top-notch talent like Blake Mills and Jonathan Wilson, the only move left is to get the music to the people—and you can help. Via the art-backing website Kickstarter, Jenny is taking pledges and offering compensation in the form of a Home EP CD, hand-painted canvas bag, or even an original song. Below, preview the beautiful and engrossing piano ballad "Home" taken from the EP.

Stream: Jenny O - "Home" (from Home EP)

Blake Mills - "The Woman Knows"

I posted Blake Mills' free Live From Shanghai EP earlier this week, but this time around I wanted to call specific attention to one of its songs—the demo of "The Woman Knows." According to Blake, the song was recorded on a Jenny Lewis tour bus in Hamburg. This slowly mesmerizing, sparse and raw bit of finger-plucking and contemplative singing is a true late-night heart wringer. Also worth checking out is this video of former bandmates Dawes covering Blake's excellent "Hey Lover."

Blake Mills - "The Woman Knows" (from Live From Shanghai EP)

Blake Mills - Free Live From Shanghai EP

Blake Mills—who recently released his excellent "Hey Lover" single from his forthcoming Break Mirrors debut—released a free EP today titled Live From Shanghai. There are some seriously intimate and beautiful acoustic tracks here that are well worth your time. Just submit an email to the left and dig in—you won't regret it.

Blake Mills - "Hey Lover"

The single "Hey Lover" from Blake Mills has easily been this week's most impressive release. With a resume that includes time as a touring guitarist for Jenny Lewis, Band of Horses and Julian Casablancas as well as part of the band Simon Dawes (which split off into Dawes), Mills has fistfuls of experience that he transfers over to the rootsy "Hey Lover"— the second single from his forthcoming July 6th debut, Break Mirrors. "Hey Lover" proves to be more rock than folk as it punches along with fiery electric guitars and spitfire lyricism from Mills, whose casual cadence throws around lines like "I may be white but I don't like my people much" with confidence and ease. At one point, Mills sings, "sometimes I hate myself trying to be so bold, but nothing else seems to get the story told." When the cover art for your single is the Marlboro Man staring down a man's naked cock, a statement couldn't be more well put. Buy it below now via iTunes.

Blake Mills - "Hey Lover" (Daytrotter version)