Photo by Frank Varni

Happy 5th of July! This pic was from the Bottlerock festival, this last May in Napa, CA. I’ll be doing a late review next week, complete with recommendations. This is a shorter entry today, because of the holiday weekend. But in the meantime….

Albums Currently Spinning

Mikkel Cloud – Transistor_1

Thom Yorke – Anima (Still spinning!) Also, if you have Netflix, check out the Paul Thomas Anderson collaboration.

Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works Volume II

Tracks Currently Spinning

Leo Soul – Hard To Get (another jam from “Always Be My Maybe).

Great catchy Tycho remix of this Portugal. The Man cut.

Heartfelt tribute cover of this Prince cut.

Two weeks in a row, I’ve featured a cut by Channel Tres. That means something. Follow him NOW, and I’ll be sure to catch him live when I get a chance. (I first heard about him following the Instragram page for the FORM festival).

Lastly, Delacey is someone you should probably keep an eye on too. This song is catchy (I’m thinking in the Lana Del Rey realm), and she’s also written/co-written for other artists, namely Halsey).

Peeps to Follow

This week, I want to highlight Mikkel Cloud, and their new release, Transistor_1. This is a new collection of three Radiohead covers: Kid A‘s “How To Disappear Completely,” Amnesiac‘s “Pyramid Song,” and A Moon Shaped Pool’s “True Love Waits.” (YouTube teaser below).

I’m a huge Radiohead fan. And I can safely admit I wasn’t a fan in the beginning. It wasn’t until I got into In Rainbows, that I decided to submerge myself in their entire catalog. Since then, I count myself in that group of fans that is skeptical anytime I hear a new cover of their music.

Enter Mikkel Cloud. I’ve known one half of the duo (Whittney Mikkel) for years, having written about some of her music in the past. Additionally, I know she is also a major Radiohead fan, having covered one of their songs in her own recital in college. Combined with their collective fascination with electronic music and jazz, they turn out three moving covers. My personal favorite is “Pyramid Song,” with its electronic opening, fusing Mikkel’s voice into the building of the song. But if we’re going to talk about building, we can’t ignore the first track, “How To Disappear Completely.” This is one of my favorite tracks in the Radiohead catalog, and Mikkel Cloud begin theirs with a sole vocal lead, which crescendos into chaos by the end. Thom Yorke would be proud. Closing out the trio, as Radiohead does on their album, is “True Love Waits.” Mikkel Cloud’s version is similar in arrangement to Radiohead’s 2016 version, and not the one Thom Yorke used to perform on his acoustic guitar many years ago. Mikkel Cloud add their own blessing, with the subtle electronic touches and harmonies throughout.

Give the three tracks a listen through the links below, or check out their Instagram (see the link above).

Soundcloud

Also, be sure to check out her other work below:

Here’s my ongoing playlist, updated weekly with both new and old tracks I’m listening to.