PARADIS - Toi et Moi

A: PARADIS
S: Toi et Moi

Nothing beats winter better than some sleek French beats. Here to take you to paradise and back is a duo that proves it's not that said destination is the journey. So kick back those winter boots and ease into something more comfortable.

... emmènes moi vers le grand soir.

Bing & Ruth - The Towns We Love Is Our Town

A: Bing & Ruth
S: The Towns We Love Is Our Town

It’s easy to connect Bing & Ruth’s music to minimalist forebears like Terry Riley and Steve Reich, but there’s no resisting the almost devotional quality in their mesmerizing drifts of piano, woodwind, upright bass, and tape delay.

...

Sampha - Blood On Me

A: Sampha
S: Blood On Me

Long a scene-stealer for others—from Jessie Ware and Drake early on to Kanye West and Solange more recently—Sampha has kept fans waiting for a proper solo follow-up to 2013’s Dual EP. Finally, the London artist’s debut album, Process, is due out next month. 

... I hear them coming for me.

LIV - Wings of Love

A: LIV
S: Wings of Love

LIV is a new group with Lykke Li and Miike Snow’s Andrew Wyatt sharing vocals, plus Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John, and Miike Snow's Pontus Winnberg. Describing their sound, Li says, “it has this Swedish melancholy in the melodies, but the soundscape was really influenced by Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk or Crosby, Stills & Nash."

... someone take me higher.

Dirty Projectors - Keep Your Name

A: Dirty Projectors
S: Keep Your Name

Late last year, Dirty Projectors shared some snippets of new music, along with this new track. The glitchy ballad seems to herald another reinvention for Dave Longstreth’s ever-morphing project. The upcoming record will be their follow-up to 2012’s Swing Lo Magellan.

... fear is a manacle but love is unchained.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

A: Neutral Milk Hotel
S: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

In case you didn't know In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, the song or the album, let me tell you that the former is beautiful and the latter was the sixth-best-selling vinyl album in 2008 and NME named it the 98th greatest album of all time.

... and count every beautiful thing we can see.

Wham! - Young Guns (Go For It!)

A: Wham!
S: Young Guns (Go For It!)

Young Guns wasn’t the way George Michael presented himself or his music for very long, but it deserves to be recalled that Wham! burst into British pop as a dose of aural sunshine – their blinding white teeth, their lustrous tans, their penchant for dressing like it was summer in St Tropez even if it was winter in Watford – selling a dream, which is what great pop has always done.

... but you're here, and you're there.