Seattlest Soundcloud Sampler

Here at Seattlest Music, we've had a dilemma for some time. Our writers and editor obviously have a particular taste in music, which is the direction that a majority of our coverage leans. And we want to try to expand that.

Our minds are open wide to hear anything and everything we come across, but anyone that says they love everything is lying or doesn't really love anything. The real problem, then, is that we would have to be listening non-stop for days to give all the music that comes across our email the time it deserves.

That being said, we have even less time to write about what we do find. We have to pick and choose what really pops out at us and that adds up to about 10% of what we've heard--if that. This sampler is our way of throwing out music that we find interesting enough to share but may not float our personal boat. We're putting the choice in your hands, so you be the judge and delve farther into anything you like. We'd love to hear what you have to say: good, bad or ugly.

In the interest of full disclosure, not all these are on Soundcloud.com, but they are all streaming so you can listen to them without leaving the comfort of this post. Also, rest assured it won't be the last of its kind--you'll be seeing these weekly so keep your eyes (or maybe ears?) peeled.

Little Shalimar from Brooklyn, NY
Little Shalimar aka Torbitt Castleman Schwartz is a Lebanese/Jewish/W.A.S.P, Kentucky Colonel that grew up writing graffiti in Flatbush, Brooklyn and going to art rock shows in Louisville, KY.

"I wrote these songs while I was bed ridden with pneumonia in LA during the Winter of 2010. I had gone to Los Angeles to work on music and play in the sun with a bunch of friends. Instead, I wore a bathrobe and drank tons of codeine cough syrup and ate lots of weed. When I got back to NYC I recorded this album."

Dirty Projectors + Björk from Brooklyn, NY & Reykjavík, Iceland
Dirty Projectors and Björk met up after being asked to collaborate for a benefit concert and from that sprang a whole new set of songs they created together. The concept for this album came about after Amber of Dirty Projectors walked the ridge of Mt Wittenberg and saw a family of Orca whales. They're giving away all the money that Wittenberg generates to the project of creating international marine protected areas.

Dirty Projectors + Björk - On and Ever Onward by DominoRecordCo

Papa from Los Angeles, CA
According to the band, they're style is a fusion of hip hop (from the perspective of a punk kid) and old-school soul music. This group is out of New York and consists of a drummer and vocalist. That's a mashup we haven't really heard before, listen for yourself what it sounds like.

PAPA: A Good Woman Is Hard To Find by Hit City USA

James Blake from London, UK
First off, we have to say the video on Blake's site is sort of freaking us out. Particularly the section where everyone spits in a bowl and a girl drinks it. Eck. Moving past that, his airy, dreamy tone sets the mood for an evening in reading a book or stretching out in a warm bath (that goes for the fellas too).

James Blake - Enough Thunder (Live on KCRW) by Some Kind of Awesome

Levi Lowrey from Dacula, GA
With a good old fashioned country-folk sound Lowrey has true to life lyrics that are accessible to everyone, even if they haven't experienced the story being told. He's part of a musical legacy as well with great great grand father Gid Tanner's talent being passed down through the generations.

No Good Dreaming Kind by 'stache media