Are you guys watching Portlandia? In the most recent episode, Portland's mayor, played by Kyle MacLachlan, briefly goes missing before he's found by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein at some bar, playing bass in a roots reggae band. Not gonna do one of those play-by-plays of an episode because that's like telling people about your dreams and no one cares, but basically they realize that they really like it and believe in MacLachlan because he so clearly loves reggae SO MUCH and gets it, even though he has a soul patch. As far as we know, no one in Korallreven has a soul patch, but they do have that same intense purpose about them. Like they know exactly what they're doing and have always believed in it so heavily that it doesn't really matter how it appears to anyone else. It's why "Shine On" works so well. Normally, it'd be hard to swallow how serious the song is but the layers of strings and minimal vocals are intensely sappy in the best way imaginable. "Shine On" by itself is a beautiful listen, but then Memoryhouse stepped in for a remix of "Honey Mine" that deepens the Sade-vibes of the original, a ballsy move that ends up working fine because of their intense dedication to maintaining the mood of the original. You might not be able to get the original 7-inch anymore (sold out! Good job Acephale), but the remix EP, featuring the Memoryhouse track, as well as other remixes from Lissvik and Nacho Lovers is available right now on iTunes.
Download: Korallreven, "Shine On" (via GvsB)