So, we had a staff meeting this week. One of those dramatic, soul-searching kind of meetings where you check your ego at the door, take stock of your portfolio, establish goals and commit your heart and soul to the project. Each member of the HDJz team came out feeling like we'd been through the wringer, but we also left with a re-determination to grow the business, explode the brand, and capitalize on the market in order to increase the customers happiness index. Or we just kind of remembered to do the Jammz this week. Your choice....

Papa Topo
This duo from Spain plays cute and simple synth-pop that seems rather twee on the surface, but judging from their video (NSFPL) (Not Safe for Panda Lovers), a current of gleeful violence runs just below.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hleYkbSfjeg[/youtube]

The Doldrums
Slow-motion, experimental post-rock for rainy days or watching dust motes in a sunbeam.

Coasting
Lo-fi garagey girl-rock with muscle and edge! The Vivian Girls might want to watch their backs.

Kendl Winter
Banjo pickin' indie folker on K Records.

The Cyanide Pills
Perhaps the rockin'-est band to come out of Leeds since Whitesnake. Oh, Chumbawumba came from there? I stand corrected.

The Samps
Psychedelic, lo-fi electronics is the medicine that The Samps prescribe for your groove “problem.”

railcars
Scratchy 8Tz pop attack! Railcars bust off the tracks into your melon.

Evan Voytas
He tells his story on his website better than we ever could: "At age 18, he moved to Harlem where he immersed himself in various religious texts and '70s New Age paperbacks. He grew a beard, moved to the desert, moved back, shaved the beard, played lead guitar for a few pop acts, toured the world, moved to a farmhouse on a dirt road in Pennsylvania, started recording music, and finally ended up in Los Angeles." Now playing with Flying Lotus but also recording dreamed-out pop songs like "I Took a Trip on a Plane" (which you can download here.)

Bare Wires
It sucks all kind of rocks that Jay Reatard isn't around anymore, but on their new record Seeking Love, these guys help fill the musical void with their high-energy, low-fidelity sound that owes a lot to Jay's influence.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnl4MajUWcc[/youtube]


Blondes
This duo from Brooklyn makes dance music that makes you want to lie underneath a tree contemplating the wonders of life. Their sound is melancholic pastoral in some places, late night streetlights on wet pavement in others; it makes their new EP Touched some of the most well-rounded and interesting electronic music on the scene.

Infinite Body
Sometimes dirty, sometimes soft, but always a nice soundscape from California’s Infinite Body.