Good ol’ fashioned electro-tinged music night in Tucson last night. First up on the bill was new kids on the block French Horn Rebellion from Williamsburg, New York. I heard they produced MGMT’s first EP and you can definitely hear the resemblance in their music.

Like MGMT with a sense of humor, they play a mix of electro-pop music that is extremely ridiculous but also insanely radio friendly. Not only were their tunes infectious but their stage presence/performance was full of energy. One minute they would be tickling the synth keys while singing and the next one member would be balancing between the railings and ceiling while the other played an actual french horn (pictured above) to keep the party going. I even got invited up on stage to play a keyboard solo while one of the FHR guys tore up the dance floor for a little too long.

They set it up nicely for Brazilian DJ duo Database. They played a pretty technical set of their signature hard disco-house. The D-floor was packed and everyone seemed to be enjoying the harder edge of music after a long night of waiting for them to hit the stage. Unfortunately a long night of drinking caught up around the middle of their set and I wasn’t able to catch the latter half.

Overall, a great night to be introduced to a rising talent and finally see Database after hearing about them for so long. Check the songs.

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DOWNLOAD: French Horn Rebellion – Up All Night

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DOWNLOAD: French Horn Rebellion – Up All Night (Database Remix)

BONUS: French Horn Rebellion made a pretty hilarious little video for “Up All Night”. Worth taking a few minutes to check it out.

We got a new remix for everyone looking for something to get them hyped up to party this weekend. This song is set to destroy dance floors. Seriously, the first half is a little slow but it’s all to set up for the break that happens at the 1:35 mark. Once those dark space synths start grinding away, things get a bit hectic (in the good way). It’s made for that special time at the club when everyone goes “Ohhhh!!”, spills their drink, then start dancing aggressively.

Grab it and if you’re in the Toronto area make sure to check out the Fragglerock DJ’s MySpace (Yalefox’s DJ duo with Jonesian) to see when their heading to a club near you.

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DOWNLOAD: The Midnight State – Never Again (Yalefox Electro Remix)

This post is pretty late (especially if you live in Toronto and you hear a Drake song every 3 minutes) but we enjoy giving proper attention to acts that come out of our hometown city.

Drake’s music is definitely different from what we usually post (I don’t think we’ve posted ANY song that could be described as R&B) but it definitely warrants some recognition. One of the better songs he’s dropped is a eerie and sparsely produced (but ingeniously – a la The Neptunes produced Snoop tune “Drop It Like It’s Hot”) treatise on the basic human want/need for success. Where Drake earns originality points in the rap game is that he understands that money, cars, clothes, and ho’s have little to do with actual success.

This goes against everything that Notorious BIG started and 50 Cent seems to have ended…as he says “The game needs change and I’m the motherfucking cashier”. It’s a bought time someone realized how stale rap has become and is injecting some thought back into the scene. Check the song out below as well as his other single “Best I Ever Had” that could hold the auspicious title of being the only rap song with a better radio edit than the uncensored version.

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DOWNLOAD: Drake – Successful (feat. Trey Songz & Lil’ Wayne)

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DOWNLOAD: Drake – Best I Ever Had

BONUS: Apparently Elephant Man didn’t like how complimentary “Best I Ever Had” was towards women and decided to make a remix about those bad kills everyone had to go through to become the man they are today. Also, Mase gets live on his own little remix.

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DOWNLOAD: Drake & Elephant Man – Worst I Ever Had (Best I Ever Had Remix)

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DOWNLOAD: Drake – Best I Ever Had (Remix) feat Mase

One of our favourite artists has got himself some press. He’s been posted on Handsome for his work with Pharrell and The Clipse, now here’s a Complex  interview with KAWS for your reading pleasure.

“Starting with his street graffiti work in the ’90s, and evolving to clothing collaborations and toys, the Jersey-raised Brooklyn rep has managed to walk the line between art and commercialism and still be respected. Over the past year he’s created the cover for Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak, debuted exhibitions at major NYC and L.A. galleries, and seen his clothing line, Original Fake, kill it globally. In short, the man is Style and Design. Check out the extended online cut of the Complex magazine interview…“

We live in a pretty amazing time for music. It seems that almost everyday I find a completely new and exciting band that blows me away. I give you my latest finding, The Nextdoor Neighbors.

The all-girl duo from the state of Washington make dynamic electro-pop that’s heavily influenced by the blips & blops old-school arcade games and, let me tell you, it’s fantastic. For some the saccharine sweet vocals might be a little much, however, to me they are perfect for the youthful sounds that back them up.

The song “Anti-Lullaby” (posted below) has one of the best breakdowns I have ever heard at the 1:52 mark. So even if you think the beginning is a little slow, do yourself a favor and check out the later half of the song. I wish my next-door neighbors sounded like this instead of deciding to have Wrestlemania every day at 4 AM.

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DOWNLOAD: The Nextdoor Neighbors – Anti-Lullaby

This song is the new hotness, real talk. I should have known when I heard Maluca was the new signing to Mad Decent (Diplo’s record label) that this was going to be fire.

Maluca is a 27 year old dominicana from New York City that is adding a ridiculous latin flare to her genre defying music. Imagine classic hip-hop, big city club music, and a tad of that previously mentioned latina mambo sound. Yea it’s that crazy.

Word on the street is that Diplo discovered the former sufferer of stage fright at a chance meeting in a karaoke club. “El Tigeraso” is the first single and it’s some of that next level ish. Check it and make sure you check out some of the amazing remixes of it by Feadz (Uffie’s producer), and Sticky K (who turns it into one of the hardest club bangers in recent history).

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DOWNLOAD: Maluca – El Tigeraso

Download the song from our previous post about The Big Pink’s “Dominos”.

We have a new love over here at Handsome HQ and it should be no surprise that they’re from the T dot O dot (Toronto). Madrid are an electronic duo that have been making some waves opening for the big names like M83 and most recently, Friendly Fires.

Their sound is similar to their Canadian brethren The Junior Boys but, dare I say, less repetitive. Their mix of glistening atmospherics, electronic beats, and marshmallow soft vocals is appropriate to play when getting ready to party, during the party, and even the next day when you’re nursing the inevitable hangover. No wonder our favorite label (YYZ Records) snatched them up so quick.

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DOWNLOAD: Madrid – Reply (To Everyone)

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DOWNLOAD: Madrid – Iron Ways

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DOWNLOAD: Madrid – Bam Bam Brother (Estate Remix)

Yesterday was just one of those awesome days in the “luxury casual-wear” world that Handsome is enveloped in. Fashion blogs were looking awesome, featuring new pieces that made me slow my scroll, click and read. Here’s my three favourite pieces of fashion news that I came across yesterday.

1. French designer JC de Castelbajac dropped a few designs from his Fall/Winter 2009 Collection. One of the pieces includes this Kermit the frog sweater. It’s so grown up and available at Colette.

2. Robert Geller teamed up with Levi’s for a collaborative collection. It’s gonna drop at select Bloomingdales Levi’s locations. Lots of denim; lots of awesome.

3. Kaikai Kiki has expanded into the world of jewelery and it looks amazing. They dropped the Dokuro ring which features some phenomenal details in silver, white gold and yellow gold. Gotta love the classic combination of smiley flowers and skulls. Irony is the best. You can get these pieces at Honeyee.com

Recently, there’s been a celebration of some of the details behind albums that were not appreciated in the past. In the last few years producers have become more celebrated than ever before. These previously anonymous creators have gained celebrity status, which has enabled them to launch their solo careers for better or for worse.

Another aspect of the album that is getting more attention is album artwork. The artwork alone will drop before the accompanying tracks and people care. Kid Cudi and Jay-Z both have dropped the album covers to their upcoming albums. You guys can decide which one you’re feeling more. I gotta give it to Jay for aesthetics and Cudi for bravery on this one.

Jigga explains his artwork : “These things are like the forgotten pieces in hip-hop. It’s still about music. It’s not about radio, making gimmicks — it’s still about making music. Those things are piled in the corner. These are the forgotten things about music. The three stripes that everybody is asking about is made from the original [number] three. The first three they made on the wall was someone carving. If you look at [the number] 3, all they did was connect lines. The whole thing about this album, how I approached it, is that I wanted to make a new classic to start that all over again — to go back to making classic albums like the ones we grew up listening to.”