"Sleepyhead" - Passion Pit

Generally I'm not a huge fan of most straight up electronica acts because I insist my music has lyricis. However, I've never had any problems with bands that can combine great electronic-driven instrumentals with even a semblance of a verse-chorus-verse structure. Passion Pit comes to us from Cambridge, MA, and released their first full length album, Manners, this past May. This is without a doubt the standout track off of the album, and I found myself listening to it over and over again this weekend while traveling through the Deep South. Combining what sounds like Chinese opera, hand claps, and a pulsating back beat -- the song is all over the radar, but great nevertheless.

"Hey Shorty" - E603

Not content to let Girl Talk hog the mash-up artist spotlight, meet the newest northeast based/skinny/Caucasian/male/hipster/who can work wonders with a MacBook and some sound editing software. Coming from Nashua, NH (a city put on the map by being the home of a Dunder Mifflin branch), E-603 (born Ethan Ward), displays a similar knack for putting a bunch of artists in a blender and creating something that exceeds the sum of its parts. Like other mash-up collaborations, all of his recordings are available to download for free under the creative commons license. E-603 currently has one album under his belt, 2008's 'Something for Everyone', while his newest album entitled 'Torn Up', is slated to be released this Friday. Both albums can be legally downloaded by visiting his site. The above track comes from the new album, and starts off strong with a great sample of Modest Mouse's timeless track, Float On. I'll take full responsibility for the sub-par audio quality.

"You're a Cad" - The Bird and the Bee

First off, let me quickly apologize for my hiatus from updating the site the past couple weeks. A west coast vacation combined with an emergency work-related trip to the magic kingdom prevented me from getting a post in last week. Fear not, for the time off gave me a chance to discover a little band by the name of The Bird and The Bee. This Los Angeles based duo plays the sort of breezy, jazzy pop that wouldn't be out of place in a Miami lounge circa 1971. Back in January they released their second full length album with the retro future title of "Ray Guns are not Just the Future." I listened to the album quite a bit while logging some serious hours in an uninspiring conference room over the weekend, and I kept coming back to this song. It might be the up tempo dixieland inspired melody, or I just like the notion of calling someone a 'cad'.

You're A Cad - the bird and th...