Videos

Every cabbie in Brooklyn was playing reggaeton chart topper, Daddy Yankee, while there on the weekend...we're hooked.  Check it out...

Dropped earlier this month, One Life Stand is the latest release of British electro pop sensation, Hot Chip. You might recall their album from 2008, Made in the Dark, which includes one of their most well known singles to date, Ready for the Floor. Hot Chip is striking with their catchy synthpop beats and wonderfully bizarre music videos consisting of band members, Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke and Felix Martin (who actually look like they work in a room mixing formaldehyde and testing lab rats). The combination of their "blip-blop" tunes with the soothing, effeminate vocals of Taylor and Goddard, make up the distinct sounds of the band. The first four tracks of this album are extremely catchy with infectious dance beats, and then it moves into slower, more mellow and poetic tunes. We find this particular album to be positively uplifting and thus, our personal favourites are the title track, One Life Stand and I Feel Better (which really picks up after the minute mark). Also, for the Hot Chip fans in Toronto - be sure to catch them at Kool Haus on April 20.

The Antlers is a band from Brooklyn, New York formed in 2006. The first two albums, Uprooted and In th Attic of the Universe, were written alone by Peter Silberman (the frontman of the band) alone. Orginally, The Antlers was meant to be a solo project by Silberman, but he later recruited Michael Lerner and Darby Cicci, forming the band.

Their latest album, Hospice, chronicles the story of man losing a loved one to cancer. The conceptual album is filled with heartaches, regrets, and emotionally powerful songs dealing with heavy subject matters. It is an album like no others. Released in March 2009 independently, Hospice was immediately sold out, clearing all available stock. It was later re-released in August 2009 when the band was signed to French Kissed Records. It received very positive reviews, including being ranked at #1 for Top Album of 2009 by NPR Music and onethirtybpm. Standouts from Hospice include Bear, Two, and Wake.

Ever since Empire of the Sun's album, Walking on a Dream, debuted in October 2008, their tracks have continuously been at the top of our playlists. Although their band name may sound familiar to some (might we recall the novel by J.G. Ballard, taken to the big screen by Steven Spielberg in 1984 starring Christian Bale and John Malkovich), their name actually comes from the idea of "traveling the world going to all the places of empires of the civilization where the sun has been the theme of worship." We are not entirely sure if this is true, or if their name actually comes from the title of the book, but what's important is that they deem themselves superheroes, and we agree. Dynamic duo, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore, otherwise known as Emperor Steele and Lord Littlemore make up electronic synth-pop sensation Empire of the Sun. Their music is similar to to the likes of MGMT, La Roux, and Cut Copy. We've recently discovered that they have done a new version of Without You, which is now their fourth single release of their album. It came out in September 2009 and I'm not sure why we hadn't come across sooner since it is that much better than the original. Let's face it, the dance version is beats the mellow original any day. It reminds us of a modern David Bowie meets New Order. We love the 80s electro-pop sounds of the band. It gives us a sense of nostalgia. Kudos to them for remaking Without You. Another track added to the playlist.

We listen to a lot of various styles and artists in the Juma studio, and recently one of our fave new songs is Quicksand by English Electropop duo La Roux. The music is heavily influenced by 1980s synthpop, including artists like Yahoo and Depeche Mode. 

We just can't stop listening to this catchy tune. Check out this video of Elly Jackson from La Roux playing this song acoustically.