Toro Y Moi has a new 7 inch coming out on Carpark Records, he went with a new recording style which included leaving all the electronics out, definitely on a 50’s pop tip, i’m interested in hearing the rest of it.
I saw Janelle Monae on David Letterman the other night, she blew me away and usually I don’t care for lyricists, anyone have any thoughts on her? I think she’s the prettiest top 40 artist i’ve seen in awhile with great taste. I’m not a Outkast fan so the Big Boi guest spot doesn’t do anything for me, it’s disappointing that that’s the way major labels have to break new artists.
This Teen Daze song should just be the Toro Y Moi song, am I right?
Oh Ellen Allien, I want to love you but what are you doing? guitars? really? just do what you do and if you experiment maybe pick a new moniker because if you grab a guitar then your in a whole new world of good guitar music coming out and this just doesn’t seem to hold up next to them.
I’ve sort of had my head down for the past couple months really digging into the recording of my next album so I thought I’d post up some shots from various sessions. Recently, guitarist Zac Brown (of Dusty Brown and DoomBird) has been coming in and contributing parts to some songs. It’s one of the first times I’ve collaborated with another musician and it’s been a great experience. It’s also been fun to wrap my head around recording guitar amps, something I had limited experience with before as most of my songs are written and recorded on my acoustic guitar with the keyboard and drum parts added later. It’s always exciting to find a new sonic texture to work with and it’s definitely an inspiring process to see your vision for a song expanded on by someone else.
If you’ve been following along with the album’s progress, you might have noticed the somewhat protracted nature of the whole thing. It’s been a test to say the least trying to keep on track with music while staying on top of the ISO50 side of things. There was definitely a long period where all I wanted to do was write new songs but not finish them, which is the hardest part for me. The good news is that because of this I now have a few albums of solid material, but the bad news is that it delayed the process of this one getting out. But that’s all behind me now and the past couple months have been the most productive of my musical life. The only problem is that I now have this self-imposed feeling that I’m behind and when I’m feeling that way I can sometimes forget to relax and enjoy the process of creating. It’s funny how much design and music differ in this way for me. While I see the processes of creating both as very similar, I don’t feel I can really sit down and just get music done in the same way as my visual work. It’s easy to say I’m going to devote three nights to a poster and be pretty confident it will get done and I’ll be happy with it. With music it’s always a much longer and drawn out process with more intangible milestones along the way.
The beauty of this entire process and the time devoted to it is that I’ve been allowed the luxury of perspective, something that’s very hard for me when I have to be neck-deep in a project from beginning to end with no breaks. The time has allowed me to continually reevaluate what the work is supposed to be and how best to do the material justice. Most of my songs start out as very small sketches, usually a guitar part and a keyboard part recorded quickly. I then set it aside and move on to something else. When I finally come back to an idea to develop it into a full composition my biggest fear is that I will somehow lose the meaning or the soul of it in the process. The problem is that as I’m adding new parts I start to go on tangents and the song can become something completely different. Sometimes this can be a good thing, but in other cases it takes time to be able to look back and realize that the original idea has been muddled in some way by the initial excitement of discovery. Problems like this tend to disappear when I allow myself to revisit work over time.
Overall, I feel close to wrapping up the production/arrangement phase but then comes mixing and mastering which can be time consuming. My goal is to have things sewn up by, at the very latest, end of summer. But putting time-lines on things doesn’t exactly serve the artistic process, at least not mine anyways, so I’m trying my best to pretend that goal doesn’t exist.
I’ll try to post some more pics / videos as things progress. And on a related note, Yourstru.ly has been filming a piece on the making of the album so there should be some interesting stuff by the time that’s done.
I don’t know if you’ve been to the Electronic Page on iTunes this morning but its all things LCD Soundsystem everywhere. The new record sets a new pace for indie dance rocks every changing style. After giving this record a listen I trust James Murphy to the point i’ll just click buy on his next lp without sampling.
Talib… Kweli…
Dust off those subwoofers for this Skream cut, its dubstep in a more 8 bit world without the wobble but plenty of low end.
It warms my heart to here raw recordings these days, this track by Terror Bird melts like a goth candle over a Crow DVD with passion and enjoyment. The harmonies aren’t the bee’s knees here but these efforts can’t be denied, had to share.
I can see Tame Impala being a very free spirited band, their love for lively psychedelic sounds is present in every song i’ve heard. Their cover art grabbed my eye but their music made me want to share the song with you, hope you enjoy, this one is on a crazy Caribou tip.
Brooklyn’s Weed is a lo-fi bedroom rocker that lays down easy to listen to guitars that are perfect for dry summer days, grab his free EP here, i’ve had it on repeat.
I’ve posted Charles Trees before on the blog but nothing like this before, if you were a bit disappoint by the Flying Lotus LP for not being chunky and rough enough well then this should feed your need.
I found Hooray! out on a whim and i’m so happy I did, I hope more indie rockers can hear some of this lush 4/4 material because what is being fused together here is exactly what I love. Keep checking Wonder Beard Tapes for a release date of the LTD 100 tape release.
The Hundred In The Hands play next week in Brooklyn, i’m really looking forward to hear how this girls vocals translate live, this song is soo sugary and a perfect blend of electronic and rock, almost up there with School Of Seven Bells but without the sonic guitar work and twin vocal love.
House Of House was a big summer DJ duo last year here in Brooklyn, I hope they kick up some dirt this year and maybe even dish out a few more tracks like this, I always love the long edits.
A pleasant surprise signing for the B-Pitch label, Jahcoozi sometimes ride on that Bug LP tip that we all loved, liking this track Msoto Millions because of its hypnotic elements and that bit of wobble.
New InterpolFREE download, takes awhile to get to the meat and potatoes but once its going you remember why you loved Interpol in the first place.
Before I get to the Funki Porcini song I want to talk about JDSY because this song keeps popping up in my head and i’m trying to give it justice. Imagine all the experimental avant pop that has been made and what usually turns you off, is it because of harsh sounds? or is it some style that your not familiar with? I think most avant pop even in the indie world doesn’t surface because the artist might go too far off and makes something too effect driven or messes around too much, well I want you to hear me out on this JDSY song because I think its an important piece of music because 1. Its not trendy, not one song he makes is what you might hear on Pandora or Last.fm 2. he isn’t reinventing anything but instrument choices together aren’t like anything i’ve heard before, its like Bjork leaving the Sugarcubes and instead of writing debut she writes a love song disguised as a children television theme songs for the 1990’s but at the 2 minute mark the melody hits me like a ton of bricks, I get this feeling he’s done it he has made a true avant pop for 2010 and i’m comfortable saying it. Here is the song Telluride for free.
Sorry for that tangent I just felt like I needed to get it out of me but now its going to be hard to describe all these other great songs. First off, I was geeked to hear a Funki Porcini song that i’ve wanted to hear over and over, its been awhile, probably close to 5 years. It’s on a dark tip with slow breaks but keeps my attention with the synth work, nice one Ninja Tune for supporting some of the guys that really got me into darker electronic music.
The new Ratatat isn’t anything new, you can feel its a Ratatat song right away when it sounds like a fake electronic guitar is playing a great melody, don’t break something that isn’t broken, looking forward to the rest of this record.
I’m embarrassed to say this is the first Javelin song i’ve ever heard, i’ve seen the name nearly 50+ times in my life and i’m from their home state Michigan so that makes me feel even worse, I just thought they were going to be a lot harsher but instead they give me that wonderful feeling of when I first heard Jacknuggeted by Caribou.
Today I have some fresh picks, starting off with the very buzzworthy Baths who recently signed to Anticon. We need more Baths in the beat world so that the point of shows isn’t just all about playing the most hype track but more into the pleasure of hearing the artist perform their music, Baths definitely has some potential to help push this along if he hits the road hard, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
I’ve heard Lorn’s name thrown around a bit by Mux Mool, this track Cherry Moon reminds me of a more mellowed out Ratatat track with strings, spot on production.
Bronze was recommended to listeners by DFA‘s Free Energy, their giving away their EP on bandcamp for free.
This last track is the video below, I love how the director did so much with a still piece, which brings me back to the point of it doesn’t matter the size of your budget you just need the right creatives.
A selection of raw analog-synthesizer music, from noisy lo-fi industrial to melodic synthpop, courtesy of Ghostly’s resident expert on the subject Solvent.
TRACKLIST
“Attack Warning Red” [excerpt] – Civil Defence Program
“Entry” – November Növelet
“Open & Shut” – Martial Canterel
“Blank Clocks” – The Future
“Riot Squad” – Vice Versa
“Step in Time” – Psychic Youth
“Rabies” – Naked Lunch
“Speed” – Daily Fauli
“F.U. Klaxon” – Beau Wanzer
“The Tale of Bernie Woodstein” – Legowelt
“Attack Warning Red” [transition] – Civil Defence Program
“Wellengenerator” – Im Namen Des Volkes
“Protect and Survive” – Civil Defence Program
“Automation” – Robert Lawrence & Mark Phillips
“33a1” [edit] – John Bender
“Television Set” – Television Set
“Solarize” – The Rorschach Garden
“U?berbeast” – Medio Mutante
“It’s About Now” [excerpt] – Cabaret Voltaire
