Rafter

Found this firey-flamey haired reggaetonite on my shuffle play, and started to do a little shuffle me'self. Rafter Roberts hails from a nontraditional upbringing in Sebastopol, CA - I mean, obviously. His name is Rafter. And for the record I think it's total crap that I come from equally hippie-dippie parents and ended up with KATHRYN. Why couldn't I be Luna Sailcloth or something?

Roberts did all kinds of musical things to lead to his 6th and most recent release, Animal Feelings, and win the tip of the hat as "Best Alternative Album" at the San Diego Music Awards. A few items of note; playing instruments in-utero. Partnering to start the successful commercial music house, Singing Serpent, with whom I have worked in my illustrious advertising career (weird!). And getting signed to Asthmatic Kitty Records. He has a far wittier blog than mine, which I will not share with you so you can cross-compare and stop reading ES. And I'm hedging my bets that his shows are as fun as a steamer chest of lemurs.

{disclaimer: this may or may not be our man, but those bun-bun ears are pretty slick}

Rafter // Paper

Under the Covers Monday - Freedom or Death & Nas

An unsigned Toronto-based duality, Steve Fernandez and Sway are DIYers of production and songwriting. With classical training in piano, DJ creds, and band-fronting history, their self-titled debut takes them away from the major hitmaker machine so they can do whatever they like. Goddamn right, and as this 1820's Greek War for Independence war cry crows along for their namesake:

Its the way I want to live my life
Having the freedom to make my own decisions
and not adhere to the rules of others
To make art for my own well being, not for acceptance from the masses
To listen to what my heart beats to, not to slave for anothers
Give me the FREEDOM to make a life I choose - or hand me my DEATH

If you play the "sound-likes" game, you'll have a substantial list by the end of the album - Broken Bells, Radiohead, TVOTR, Massive Attack, maybe even a little Citizen Cope? But we're supposed to loathe the sound-likes game if we're one of those who knows the what-for, right? So we'll take that list, slice it into thirds and masticate it knowing it's not NEARLY as dirty as it reads on-screen.

After you've finished up, digest with some visual collaborations with Spike Jonze and a gorgeously synthed-out snowy lovestory. {warning: not everybody keeps their shearling loincloth on}

Freedom or Death // If I Ruled the World

the Daylights

Long distance relationships, for the majority, suck. Granted. Time zones, awkwardly long pauses on the phone, furrowed brows over the alternate lives each other is living, cathartic growling at each other.

Walter C. May, a LA-based commercial director, pondered on how to reach across the flyover zone to his gal Lex, slogging away on her MBA at Duke University. When your in the business of visuals, and your boys with an indie-trio, use your talents and DIY, right? Some shared pencil scratches with The Daylights, $100, an afternoon and some dexterous hands and you do the damn thing.

Rather than pinging her inbox, posting on her wall, or over-nighting a playable DVD - May got all social-media on your ass and tweeted it out last Tuesday. In hopes the vastly small virtual world would deliver it to her, he waited patiently for it to arrive as the constantly-connected saw fit.

3 guesses as to how this story ends.

Thanks to Josh Reese for keeping me connected since I continue to abstain from joining Twitter. And to my own bi-coastal manfriend, I accept love letters by snailmail, carrier pigeon and the Pony Express.



The Daylights // I Hope This Gets To You