Sportsday Megaphone is a one-man radical 8-bit pop party monster, driven by Hugh Frost, hailing from London, England. The sound of Sportsday Megaphone is an elixir of addictive Nintendo blips and squeals and matter of fact Streets style vocals. Just because the music is heavy on keyboards doesn’t mean that it’s all synthetic, there is an almost ever present guitar latent in the mix that drives each song. Like on the fantastic “Less and Less”, the gliding riffs kick off a number that sounds like Ratatat on coke inside a giant tiger costume. “One More Page” explodes with youthful vigor that’s equal parts heartfelt as it is completely nuts on keyboards. There’s a new 7 inch single due out in a few weeks, but until then here’s a new remix that Hugh did for UK band The Rumblestrips.
Nashville natives The Clutters are a rock band in every sense of the word. Everything in their alternative retro sound hits as hard as it can in it’s own fuzzed out Pixies meet the B-52′s kind of way. Their new album, “Don’t Believe a Word”, is a collection of earth shattering riffs, squealing vocals and keys that sound like Midnight Movies mating with the White Stripes. Where other hard rocking bands fall into rut of repetitive theatrics and all too thin song structure, The Clutters provide a violent thrashy affair that is at the same time earnest and fully formed.
I’ve been doing lots of running lately, and what I’m finding is that the best tunes to run to aren’t the hyper energetic lightning fast electro songs, but rather the rich mid-tempo alternative pop songs. Now when I say “rich” I mean that the song has to have some kind of unique instrumentation, some kind of trademark or texture. It’s not easy to create that kind of sprawling texture and I certainly wouldn’t think that a single woman and a guitar could do it, it’s too easy for them to be just another hippie with a guitar, but Feist’s vocals are so distinct and her lyrics are so heartfelt that they put any thoughts of pretentious hippies out of mind.
The cool thing about Feist’s songs on “The Reminder”, are that the instrumentation more or less feels like stepping stones for her voice to carry over. The spare guitar, xylophone or whatever instrument that happens to be played accents her voice perfectly and it’s just enough to keep the song going. She even exercises this principle in the surprisingly dance-y “Sealion Woman”(6) where she essentially makes a dance song devoid of a beat except for handclaps. The bass prods the song along until a guitar drops in and liberates the drum kit, but when everything drops back to the claps, that’s when the song really cooks.
While Feist makes some great departures on the album her real strength is in the ballads. There’s so many excellent songs presented here that are sure to be classics in the years to come. There’s so much music that’s just done right, the music just does all the right things at the right times and comes together to hit at just the right points. From the flawless piano ballad “The Limit to Your Love” (9), to the jangly emotional powerhouse that is “1,2,3,4″ (9), to the inspiring bounce of “I Feel It All” (2), Feist embodies so much of what I look for in new music. Flawless, timeless instrumentation that is unique and new but at the same time you could play it for anyone and they would be forced to admit it’s inherent beauty.
Coyote Bones, the band made up of former members of Tilly and the Wall and various other Saddle Creek projects recently had not one but two tracks featured as the “Song of the Day” at the separate institutions of both NPR and Spin. At NPR the song “39 Forever” (My favorite track on the album) was chosen, and at Spin, the more dramatic “Grand Eclipse” was chosen as the track of the day. I really have to hand it to NPR, they really cover a wide variety of music and topics, I remember hearing a segment on Interpol back when they released Turn on the Bright Lights and they played NYC on the air which was super cool, because in those days the college radio station around here didn’t play such good music. Anyway, I wrote a favorable review of Coyote Bones back in April and if you’re feeling ambitious you can read it here. Coyote Bones have been busy since the release of their album “Gentleman on the Rocks”, working on both their acting and modeling careers by performing in the extremely low budget video for “Living Breathing Demons” and modeling for the Threadless T-Shirt “Tiny Toy Talons” It’s good to see those rocky gents (and lady) get some well deserved attention.
Today, Thomas Dören who is the German brains behind the brawn of techno project Kimono Kops, sent me two new remixes to review, and lo’ and behold one of them was Sally Shapiro who was featured on my Summer Dance Mix 2007 Mix. Not only that, but the remix of “Hold Me So Tight” features some slamming bass and synth reworks that would mix just fine with anyone’s weekend dance party mix CD. If this remix wets your appetite, head on over to the Kimono Kops Myspace to stream more tracks.
Also, it’s been brought to my attention that the band Great Northern is in a competition at Yahoo! to make an exclusive single for all on the internet to enjoy. Now, the last time I was involved in one of these online band competitions I was crushed that Elefant lost out to Eisley (So it’s been a while) but seeing as how there’s a mall close by me with the name “Great Northern” I feel a bit of home team camaraderie with the band. If you’re not familiar with the ethereal pop of Great Northern, now is the perfect time get acquainted. Plus, there’s this whole behind the scenes making of the “Home” music video that you can watch here. Most important of all, please click on the below graphic to go and vote for Great Northern.
And a reward for tolerating my coercion, here is the MP3 of the soon to be voted on video.
The Lodger are an energetic boy-boy-girl three-piece that hail from the bustling scene in North England that spawned both the Kaiser Chiefs and the Arctic Monkeys. Their new album “Grown Ups” sounds like a modern day Buzzcocks with the lyrical style of incorporating social/relationship commentary into pop songs that bands like Maximo Park, and to a greater extent The Smiths, have made their trademark. While their songs are poppy and fun, after repeated listenings they reveal themselves to be more than fun freak outs. There is significant substance underneath their shimmery surface. For example, the song “Kicking Sand” buzzes along with a clean sound that is immediately dance-able, but the song itself is about not taking those little trip ups that happen to us all too seriously and getting back at it, whatever it is. The band uses a carefully calculated variety of instrumentation that includes guitars, bass, drums and the occasional nudge from a synthesizer or piano. The Lodger provide perhaps the best example of unruly punk fun that possesses a dignified stateliness at the same time. This is due to the uniquely calm and composed vocals of Ben and the consistently fun inventive beats from Katie. I usually take hyped up bands from England with a grain of salt, but these guys really have that special spark, that heart, that makes them more than just another British rock band. Their drummer is cute too, so that’s also a plus.
Bryan Scary is an artist that hails from the town of Scaryville, where he and his band the Shredding Tears work to create timeless piano driven retro pop with a slight macabre edge. These guys sound like what The Fever would have sounded like if they had been obsessed with timeless pop instead of jittery post-punk. The glam stomps featured on their Shredding Tears EP, are reminiscent of David Bowie and T-Rex’s early work with Beatles and Queen size hooks. The sound is expansive and airy but at the same time there’s a sinister feeling that prevents it from being a sunny day pop number. Like the tune, “Misery Loves Company”, that bounces along with a catchy piano riff but the vocoder and Air-like breakdown adds an ethereal extra element that will have you looking over your shoulder while you skip down the road.
I remember in High School I was having a conversation with someone who loved classic rock, and they were telling me that no new music would ever compare to the classics, you know, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Beatles, all the standard bands you find on T-shirts even the most obscure department stores, but I strongly disagreed with him. I said that there is new music that compares and there will continue to be. For a long time though, it seemed like no one wanted to even touch the genre of power rock because the artists from back then are held to such a standard. I am glad that musicians no longer have that fear of being caught in the shadow of the music of the past. If all people thought that Led Zeppelin reached the pinnacle of music, a height never to be reached again, and decided to not make music ever again the world would be an extremely boring place. I mean, what would I write about then?
Anyway, I think it’s great that since Jet and the Darkness hit up a revival of the “classic rock” sound back in 2003 with a few memorable singles, other bands are still unafraid to step into the arena with the commercial giants of old. Wolfmother took a stab and came out with a bangin’ bongo led fuzzed out bass-fest with “Love Train”. Another band that put out their debut in 2000 entitled The Subversive Sounds of Love, Frisbie, who hail from Chicago, have completed work on their newest album New Debut, which also enters the arena of huge sounding pop rock music. The song “S.F.B.” calls to mind a purée of the greatest hits of Journey and the Who. While album namesake “New Debut” sounds like the thumping slow burning child of Van Halen and Rush complete with cowbell. The album is being released on August 17th, so until then enjoy these two tracks at high volume in the residential area or open highway of your choice.
Jeremy is an up and coming dynamic folk duo comprised of Lars Christian Olsen (age 19) and Øivind Hatleskog (age 21) from the Norwegian town of Stavinger. They play a soft jazzy pop sound that is in the same vein as folk-pop masters Simon and Garfunkle. I don’t know what they put in the water up there in Norway, but they just keep producing more and more excellent folk-pop groups.
The gentle vocals and breezy light melodies evoke Belle & Sebastian at times. The Jazzy thump of “You’re Alright” is thoroughly enjoyable from it’s opening melodic salvo and you can hear the Kings of Convenience influence almost immediately. I have no problem with this, because, really, is there a better template for young bands to use than Kings of Convenience? I don’t think so. Their EP has a few great surprises, but my favorite tune would have to be the beautifully bell accented “Someday With You”, it’s just a fantastic song. Jeremy released their EP, conveniently titled, the “Jeremy EP” on May 29 in the United States. I couldn’t think of anything better to start off the day than listening to some nice bouncy folk-pop.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is summer, that means that I will soon be driving to and from a sweet job lifeguarding at a state park. Since I will be driving this means that I must have a series of the sweetest bass-tastic supergrooves. I have dedicated the better part of a day to compiling some bangin’ (In my opinion) dance tracks that should sound great blasting out of your car stereo. So without further ado, I give you the first annual AZLTRON Summer Dance Mix.
Sportsday Megaphone is a one-man radical 8-bit pop party monster, driven by Hugh Frost, hailing from London, England. The sound of Sportsday Megaphone is an elixir of addictive Nintendo blips and squeals and matter of fact Streets style vocals. Just because the music is heavy on keyboards doesn’t mean that it’s all synthetic, there is an almost ever present guitar latent in the mix that drives each song. Like on the fantastic “Less and Less”, the gliding riffs kick off a number that sounds like Ratatat on coke inside a giant tiger costume. “One More Page” explodes with youthful vigor that’s equal parts heartfelt as it is completely nuts on keyboards. There’s a new 7 inch single due out in a few weeks, but until then here’s a new remix that Hugh did for UK band The Rumblestrips.
