In the course of dj-ing, there are certain songs that just never get old, no matter how many times you spin them. The Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition” (of 500 Days of Summer fame) is definitely one of those. Never mind that its recurring use in the typical indie playlist has pushed the limits of its shelf life a bit. I enjoy a cliche from time to time.

Also, if every New York Times article were like this one, Americans would be the most informed people on the planet.

WMXM is going to start giving links to tracks that we think are particularly cool every month.

First off is Dr. Dog’s The Way the Lazy Do. Click here to experience this track, or don’t–free will is a beautiful thing.

After Delorean’s rushing success with their 2009 Ayrton Senna EP and a handful of stunning remixes of artists you might have heard about – Franz Ferdinand, the xx, and Cold Cave – The Spanish quartet drops Subiza via True Panther Sounds just in time for all the summer fun down at the local beach. Delorean combines the best of today’s in-fashion musical panache and ends up with a polished, original sound all their own.
Subiza offers all the indie dance-pop you can shake a pair of wayfarers at. Comparatively to Ayrton Senna, not much has changed in the sonic formula. Club-oriented beats layered with native percussion drive the dance pulse through each track – while lead singer/bassist Ekhi Lopetegi sweetly lavishes out simple and sunny lyrics. Couple Lopetegi’s singing with the vocal sample bits and the reverb-drenched synthesizers that litter each song and Delorean creates this lush and shimmering texture found nowhere else in music today.
The first single off the album is “Stay Close,” and boy do theses Spaniards know how to make a summer hit. Huge reverb, melodic vocal samples, glimmering synthesizer lines stacked upon straight keyboard, heavy bass, and washed out filter build-ups that bring the club and the beach together – everything needed to drive those hipsters wild. Interestingly enough, a revving alarm sample found throughout “Stay Close” is eerily similar to a noise located in the latter half of “Brothersport” by Animal Collective. Sharing is caring I suppose.
Another stand out track, “Infinite Desert,” screams indie gold as the song opens with filters, transitions to pitch-shifted vocal samples tied together with a four-to-the-floor bass drum, flamenco handclaps, and Grizzly-Bear-good harmonies. It is almost as if Delorean went to the four corners of the independent music scene and took the best parts from each destination – tribal percussion with dance beats, unique samples, lo-fi harmonies, and synthesizer progressions that would make Cut Copy proud.
Subiza as a whole is lacking in sonic diversity – each song recycles the same Delorean recipe and mix process – and lucky for us this is not a bad thing. Subiza offers a handful of catchy, lo-fi, electro-pop goodness sure to make your summer dance party never end. This album is a little over forty-two minutes of solid, well-produced compositions that point to a long and bright future for Delorean. So grab your beach towel, sun block, and head down to the beach where you and this album belong.

-C.W. Keck