A new Casino Versus Japan was recently released on Freescha’sAttacknine label, I looped this interlude about 15 times the other night, it made falling asleep easier than ever, such a rich sound.
One of the most underrated Warp artists has to be Gravenhurst, She Dances veers off into more of a darker tone that’s less folk which I know them for and its more like early Broadcast with a hint of Pavement like guitars.
Time for crowd friendly indie, a youthful pick me up and Sister Crayon is the band behind it.
I’ve only heard 2 songs by Keepaway, both have been impressive and so was their live show, again there is the Animal Collective comparisons in the sound but they wear them proudly i’m sure. I do really enjoy the way these guys sing “and I got 5 rings” i’ve been saying it over and over all weekend long.
2 of the most talented unsigned bands right now I know are ARMS and Perfume Genius, both cover their respective sounds in very graceful ways. ARMS has plenty of excitement coming from each track that will hopefully kick off a few outdoor parties with friends this summer, preferably at a summer cabin by the lake. Todd puts the right amount of drive behind Emily Sue Pt. 2, it excites me the same way as when I first heard Broken Social Scene. If you like it then you should definitely download it here for FREE, the band is giving away their EP today as a nice prep for SXSW.
Perfume Genius touches on a Red House Painters sadness, really tells a story nicely though. You see songs like this don’t make it to the radio and I don’t get why, so much more there to enjoy that has character over someone else writing a song like this thats in a professional studio with the best equipment ever surrounding them.
The Sight Below makes beauty and misery work on a pristine level, he makes a grey day rich and a loner feel powerful I bet. If you’re a high end dark art boutique and don’t have this playing in the store then you might as well be selling rainbows and playing Lady Gaga club mixes.
When I saw Noveller play last month I was very impressed not only by her sound but how she creates it on stage, she has more pedals than some girls have shoes and gently loops her sound while playing her 2 guitars with bows, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SEEING LIVE.
Warp Records new signing Gonjasufi has a noticeable mindset that is screw whats trending i’m going to make something special that is my sound. With the soul filled song Duet he does wonderful additions/effects that sets him apart from just a one genre track. I personally love the effected guitar and the vocal echo, it really makes me want the song not to end.
New single from Neon Indian, I saw him this weekend perform live, he’s a rock star already, the whole package to entertain live and if he makes more music like this then he’ll definitely outlast the sound he leads. In Sleep Paralysist I hear abit of Human League and spot on synth melodies being layered, definitely a nice teaser for anything new he’s brewing up.
I found The Advisory Circle by just scrolling thru eMusic, its nothing new but nothing that’s broken either. Sometimes its nice to hear calming synth solos for a couple minutes, perfect for a quick daydream in the middle of the work day.
Jon Hopkins’Light Through The Veins is the lighter side of even what M83 makes on his happiest days in the studio, it certainly has a cinematic sound especially the way the song ends. I’m just more of a fan of the build and layering I guess but the song gets a bit too long.
One of the best tracklistings and mixes i’ve seen and heard in a while is this one from St. Louis’ Phaseone that Pitchfork posted yesterday, download it here. Check the tracklist out to see if your interested, i’m sure many of you will be very pleased:
TRACKLIST Slowdive – Miranda Curren$y – I’m just dope Aphex Twin – Fingerbib Nite Jewel – Want you back (phaseone remix) Lukid – Hair of the dog Talking Heads – Listening wind Tricky – Bad dream Polanski – punked out J Dilla – Oxtopus boom boom Falty DL – Made me feel so right James Pants – Shower party Fleetwood Mac – Isn’t it midnight Teebs – Humming birds Actress vs. Zomby – Aazz2 Phaseone – Sandra
This Bluebrain’s song takes a second to kick in, it has such unique production, vocals remind me a bit of TV On The Radio and the music makes me feel like how I felt after hearing The Dirty Projectors for the first time which they don’t sound the same at all but both album hit me off guard where the music wasn’t something i’d usually listen to but composition wise it was very fresh feeling and I wanted know if they could pull that feeling off thru the whole album.
This isn’t the only Prins Thomas song i’ll be posting from his new album thats for sure, I think it comes out next week in the US and i’m geeking over it. I think after the first few minutes in I wrote to him and said “epic! country space jams touching the disco gods” and thats a good thing in my mind.
Dayve Hawk aka Memory Cassette aka Memory Tapes aka Weird Tapes has recently made his way thru many of the cracks of sub genres and made a great name for himself which is well deserving since his music is top notch. I saw him open for Atlas Sound as Memory Tapes, he did his Memory Tapes sound really well plus added a hint of his disco-ish Weird Tapes sound into it all too, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED you check his work out.
A long groover from Motor City Drum Ensemble, these keys could loop forever in my head and i’d never get sick of them.
I’m pretty proud of this music selection today because its so diverse on the electronic end, we have a track from the potentially Top 40 worldwide Gorillaz, a summer track from Birds & Souls, a hip Yeasayers like song from Tanlines and one of the most beautiful ambient tracks that has come out this year from Loscil.
So glad to hear this track Stylo on the new Gorillaz tracks, I was going thru the album trying to find a song I liked plus one to share and it seems that this was my jam. It really reminds me of INXS – Mediate at times especially when the synth lead chord is being held down. I can see this song being played at clubs and also the more hip private parties, I hope it spreads like wild fire to people’s ears.
Birds & Souls are new and their first single is what i’m going to call 2010 summer’s jam for the festival circuit in the dance world(WMC, DEMF, Sonar, etc.). The track builds from what sounds like friends experimenting making a song into where they find a groove then after around the 4 minute mark it starts blooming into one of the more catchy songs i’ve heard in a while. Its definitely one of those songs to lose yourself in, you can’t even judge a 3 minute section of the song since the song completely transforms if you stick with it, really looking forward to hearing this on some big speakers.
This back to back with the Birds & Souls track you might like i’m a world music nut when it comes to percussion which I am but this song from Tanlines goes a completely different direction which is this sound that is seeping into the indie rock world. I think the unraveling of it started with Animal Collective > Yeasayers > to someone like Tanlines, the added synths morph it into something a bit more poppy and youthful and less experimental.
Time to shift gears and slowly dip into the calm water, let me paint you a picture in your mind: you’ve canoed around a mile off the coast its about 4:55am on a foggy rainy night where its almost dawn, you grab your goggles and put them on, they’re your favorite ones with an oval face and vintage leather strap that doesn’t match and somehow has made it thru all your early morning solo dives. You drop in the water backwards and go exploring like you always do, part of the thrill is people don’t know your out or know that you even do this, its your small kept secret that you take very serious yet when you come up from the water and you see the tiny bit of sun starting to peak out you can’t seem to never hold back your smile. Thats how this Loscil song is for me.
I’ve been bored with dance music for a bit now when it comes to the more upbeat stuff(the slow groove stuff has been amazing though). I use to play these kind of records and it was a ton of fun to dj out but its pretty much been harsh cut up remixes of Top 40, newbies that haven’t heard much of what was going back in the day and fusions of trending whatever. In Part 1 I went on this small rant:
“No matter how much you might hate certain kinds of music you can always find something that appeals to you unless you have a one track mind or prefer a safe and conservative lifestyle. So you’re definitely not looking for trance, you definitely don’t want what’s playing at Crunch gym, and your sick of what your friends are suggesting because the vocals make you uncomfortable or there are too many snare rolls or it gets too cheesy dreamy sounding. Maybe you just want one dancey anthem for the week, well i’m gonna do my best to help steer you in the right direction before you have a bad club remix of Pet Shop Boys on your hands.”
I hope these kind of posts show that there was some melodic dance cuts at one point that worked both in the underground and mainstream dancefloor, I hope we come back to this driving catchy sound where the synths are warmer and the instrumentals could hold their own without a vox.
Mark E’s works 2005 -2009 selected tracks and edits is a must have in my mind, I only wish I had collected all these tracks on vinyl but here it is in an easy to swoop CD over at Phonica.
Mark E’s production is very groove based a slow burn if you will, its definitely for fans of Pilooski, Studio, Marvin Gaye, or Moodymann.This music for a dance floor that’s in it for the long haul and not looking to tire themselves out at some club. You might notice his edits touch on slow house and disco and classic soul, nothing in your face, to be honest I could put a song on repeat and have it going for 40 minutes+ and just keep trekkin’ along my work day completely enjoying doing anything while every once in a while dance in my chair.
