Young Rebellion

Last summer Canadian indie pop trio, Young Empires, helped me out with my Internet marketing skills. This month the Internet darlings are back with a remix for "Rain of Gold." This is where I'd usually say they have an exciting new album on the way out on an exciting new label, but to tell you the truth, these guys still aren't signed... and I think that's how they like it.

One look at their MySpace reveals that this is a band made for the Internet age. High quality music videos adorn the site with newsletter sign-ups that lead to "MP3 bundles."

There's a lot to see and hear from Young Empires -- from the dark 808 State grooves in "Glory of the Night," to the dance-punk "Against the Wall" and the popular "Rain of Gold," today's featured track (below) remixed by Brooklyn's French Horn Rebellion, who recently played Toledo.

French Horn Rebellion vs Database - Beaches and Friends (Hey Champ Remix) by French Horn Rebellion

Although it may seem as if Young Empires is in a perpetual Demo mode, an LP is highly anticipated by both Entertainment Weekly and NME so look for it -- along with a possible interview with yours truly -- soon. Also, someone give these guys a deal. Kitsune?

Young Empires - Rain of Gold (French Horn Rebellion Remix) by French Horn Rebellion

U.S.E.

In the summer or fall of 2005 United State of Electronica (better known as U.S.E.) rolled into Cleveland's Beachland Tavern. They sort of took over the place -- with their opener of choice, Seattle's The Sleepers, and a merch table sponsored by KEXP, a Seattle mecca of indie rock.

I had been bumpin this album for a few months in my iPod. Songs included "It Is On!", "Emerald City" and "Open Your Eyes" -- they were punk, indie but retro, glam but genuine, indie with a sound that booms to stadiums. Cathy, a collecrive tightly knit with a neon-tinged yarn. Adorable -- the two guitarist, the two broads, the robot crooner and the beat man -- playing to a huge beat that doesn't indulge in drum machines and plays a mean snare/high-hat combo. Cosmic. A Daft Punk lovechild? All band members hyped in a hype-drug induced anthemic sex pots while clean R&B guitars take things to epic heights -- all resulting in one party them one right after another.

Well, they seem to be back in the news -- some six years later -- with the recently released "Dance With Me," a joint-shaking, over-the-top epic anthem for a generation perhaps we have yet to see. I'm talking about in the future where robot crooners broadcast to masses of rainbow-clad aliens across the universe.

Make-Out Music is VERY excited for LP2.

The Top 25 Songs of 2010

Well, here we are on the last day of 2010. Another year, another buzzband, another blog's year-end list all come and gone.

2010's big hitters like Kanye West, The Arcade Fire and Beach House delivered as expected, but what I particularly found interesting about this year were two things: the lo-fi aesthetic and electronics that continued to reign over independent music and the renaissance, which has been brewing for a while, in underground hip-hop.

Releases by Caribou, Ariel Pink, Mac Miller and the LA hip-hop collective, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, proved to be worthy contenders of defining this year's sound. Each was a little familiar, but also really fucking weird. So without spoiling my #1 selection, read on to see what these, and the rest of the tracks on this list, did for my ears this year.

And here's to you, 2011 ... another year of blog abandonment? I think not. Follow Make-Out Music on Twitter or comment down below to let me know what you thought of the music released this year.

25. Glasser – “Home”

I first saw Glasser's name on a bill with Delorean this summer and then seemingly saw the name everywhere one day later. Without a doubt, LA native Cameron Mesirow blew up this year with her debut LP, Ring, and while it was an interesting first listen, Glasser's songs lacked the structure/catchiness of which I felt were lost opportunities. But that wasn't the case with "Home," which perfectly summarizes what Glasser is all about: songs that build to a blissful climax in world drums, cinematic synths and Mesirow's sweeping vocals.

24. Big Boi – “Daddy Fat Sax”

Outkast's Big Boi finally got his due this year. As the less notable half of the soon-to-be legendary Atlanta hip-hop duo, it was hard to pick just one track from his debut, Sir Lucious Left Foot...The Son of Chico Dusty, but "Daddy Fat Sax" nails it: "With my ears to the streets and my eyes to the sky / I'm on another planet my nigga and you just fly"

23. Flight Facilities – “Crave You” (Bxentric Remix)

22. Jamiroquai - "White Knuckle Ride"

"White Knuckle Ride" was a grand return from Britain's Jamiroquai, who had seemingly went into hiding after their 2005 spacey disco LP, Dynamite. It's hard to believe that most Americans only know Jay Kay and Co. for 1996's "Virtual Insanity" when this track marks the band's quadrilogy of consistently funky and immaculately produced string of albums.

21. Mecanico - "Barcelona"

(Read #20-#1...)

Hoodie Allen: Happy people levels ahead like a cheat code

Turns out those week-long, in-your-face viral ads plastered all over the Hype Machine work. And with an album cover emitting such staged school spirit, it was hard to ignore Hoodie Allen's plea for my clicks.

Long Island's Hoodie Allen is a white rapper rhyming somewhere between Asher Roth's fetishized college days and Kid Cudi's fetishized sampling. Allen's eclectic sampling puts him more in Cudi's camp, where Allen takes nods from everyone from Flight Facilities to the Black Keys to Beach House.

"Words of Wisdom" uses the vocal hook from Two Door Cinema Club's "Undercover Martyn" and throws a big, live hip-hop beat behind it. The album, Pep Rally, which is available as a free download, is a bit too light and dumb for even my tastes, but its wide range of samples and production is impressive, making it worth at least one listen if you're a fan of those sampled.

New home

Welcome to the new Make-Out Music. With a new layout. A new host. And most exciting, new posts. Make-Out Music was previously hosted by tumblr, but after a year I found it to be too cumbersome: be it the comments, the posting or just my obsessive compulsive need to design everything myself. Put simply, it wasn't for me. So here we are at Blogger, the de-facto host for most bloggers, and for good reason. It's easy and quick and that means I'll be posting several times a week as long as Google doesn't erase me from existence.

Some things may eventually be carried over from the old location, but for now let's look to the future together. If tumblr was the experiment, then this is the research paper. If you've had enough metaphors, then rest assured that was the last one. New interviews, videos, a possible podcast and, of course, great pop music shall be quickly filling up these pages so please keep in touch (via RSS/Twitter/commenting/telepathy/etc.). Also, if you have any music of your own you'd like featured, please send it in to ryan.makeoutmusic@gmail.com. All submissions are welcome.