Kimono Kops once again capture and release an excellent remix, this time of M.I.A.’s current “Boyz”. The vocals are chopped up and put over a steady bass line that peaks and troughs with plenty of synth accompaniment. Usually I don’t particularly care for M.I.A.’s music but this reworked track with it’s electro flavor is to my liking. It’s going on my running mix.
July 18, 2007
Kimono Cops Catch M.I.A. and Remix Her
July 16, 2007
I Got Mine
So my copy of Spoon’s latest “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” arrived in my mailbox today, and hearing the flow of the songs from the real CD makes all of the songs somehow fresh and exhilarating again. Plus there’s this neat bonus disk called “Get Nice” that came with it with a bunch of lo-fi rockers and atmospheric soundtrack type numbers. I’m starting to think that if Spoon were limited to some obscure combination of objects they could still make a compelling track, like if they were to use only a flute and a trash can lid I bet they could somehow churn out a hit pop song. Such is the power of Spoon.
Buy “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!)
MP3 – I Got Mine – Spoon (Get Nice!)
MP3 – You Got Yr Cherry Bomb – Spoon (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)
The Underdog Music Video:
July 15, 2007
Are You Lonely? Do You Have a Credit Card?
Heads We Dance is a fledging synth pop band hailing from Leeds, England. That place seems to be churning out several notable bands lately; like The Lodger and Dead Disco with whom Heads We Dance made their live debut with in 2006. Heads We Dance engineers dynamic synth pop that could easily lay waste to any dance floor. Their aesthetic includes inspiration from the work of Philip K. Dick, Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”, love connections via the internet, and an occasional Robert Palmer shout out.
In fact the vocals and the clean blippy synths have the same earnest charm of Robert Palmer’s “Johnny and Mary“. “Love in the Digital Age” discusses relationships in the information age where love is only a click away with the line “Are you lonely? Do you have a credit card?”, giving the Palmer adage “I can’t sleep at night, I’m addicted to love” an unsettling new depth. “My Heart is Set on You” bounces with the stark determination of a resolute man in love while gliding on washes of sparkling keyboards. If you’re looking for something new to love in the digital age, Heads We Dance is for you. Better start looking for your credit card.
MP3 – My Heart is Set On You – Heads We Dance
July 13, 2007
Ivy Keeps Moving
So earlier today I was walking through Big Lots, of all places, killing time on my day off, and listening to the vintage muzak they pump through their speakers while I was browsing through enticing items like pillows and notebooks. When Moby’s Porcelain came on the radio, my ears perked up and I began thinking about how heavily licensed Play was, but then as soon as that track ended, another one which sounded shockingly good for in store radio came on. I wrote fragments of lyrics on my hand, including some key phrases like ;”I can’t sleep at night” and “keep moving”.
When I got home, I googled the lyrics and found out that the music was not some lost late 70′s mellow disco gem but the work of critically acclaimed New York City trio Ivy. Their breezy brand of bouncy electro pop is addictive, this is due to the recipe of near perfect instrumentation and the beautifully sensual vocals of Dominique Durand. If you’re a fan of Air or Blonde Redhead you’ll find something to like here. Give them a try, I bet you’ll be hooked.
SMD on the Move
There’s something raw and aggressive about Simian Mobile Disco’s tracks despite their stark minimalism. Whether it’s the highly processed beats and synths or the choppy vocal samples mined just for a single hook, Simian Mobile Disco create a sound that’s as much old school as it is new. They sound like a collaboration between Justice and the Chemical Brothers on vintage keyboards, needless to say, it’s pretty darn good.
Their debut album “Attack Sustain Decay Release” was released on June 25, and it’s full of glitchy driving beats that are sure to please Nu Ravers and Old Ravers alike. The sinister stomp of “Hustler” along with its break dance inducing arpeggio is sure to become an album favorite. The first single, “It’s the Beat” combines mechanical rhythms with old school club melodies and vocals from the Go Team’s Ninja. The track that gets my vote for having the most potential to get noticed is the anthematic “I Believe”, with it’s soaring hook and slow thumping beat. The other tracks are definitely fun exercises in electro dance structure and yield some absolutely fantastic breakdowns that call to mind Nintendo as much as they do disco. If their first full length and new EP released later this month are any indication, SMD is proving that they are something we can believe in.
MP3 – I Believe – Simian Mobile Disco
MP3 – Hustler – Simian Mobile Disco
Simian Mobile Disco Myspace
July 12, 2007
The Velocet Go To War
Lead singer and guitarist of the Velocet Michael Davison openly states that he was an army brat growing up and that he must have moved 20 times before graduating from high school. This gives the title of the bands debut album, “A Quick and Dirty Guide to War” a deeper meaning rather than just another band on an incoherent “I hate Bush” musical rant. In fact, the album itself has less to do with politics more to do with the emotions of moving through the military and dealing with the baggage of disillusionment.
As for the sound of the band, the guitars are relentless, the vocals alternate between crooning and a fevered rasp, and the drums propel the tracks to the speed of pure rock bliss. For the uninitiated, I’d say that they sound like a tempered mix of the Foo Fighters, The Strokes, and The Cure. Borrowing accessible riffs and singing style from the first, intricate guitar tricks and occasional new wave indulgences from the second, and the feeling and atmosphere of the reverb from the third.
One album highlight is the blistering opener “Chinatown”, which features the line “I’m not hurt, sell me love again.” Although it’s not clear who he’s trying to convince, himself or an unknown woman. Either way the song reaches through organized chaos and yields some vital emotional content. Another standout is “The Turnstiles” for it’s almost shoegaze-y layered guitar effects and spare keyboard that break out into a full on Strokes-esque jam. “Coronation” sounds like it would fit perfectly on a later Cure album, especially on the breakdown following the line “The Queen is dead, long live the Queen.” Overall, The Velocet combine post punk influences with rock radio aspirations and the result is not only listenable, it’s downright good.
July 11, 2007
The Health of Crystal Castles
L.A. based noise band Health and Toronto based glitch band Crystal Castles are set to release a self titled split 7″ from Lovepump United. A well devised team up since both bands provide an assault on the ears that just rides the outer realm of listenable music, be it due to garbled electronics drowning out vocals or pounding beats and stabbing guitars. Health’s track “Crimewave” sounds like a gothed out Klaxons scoring a horror movie, while Crystal Castles’ “Mother Knows Best” is an 8-Bit assault that is at once violent and captivating and it ends far too soon. Anyway, this dual attack of raw artists creates that car wreck in slow motion kind of feel and I can’t turn away.
July 10, 2007
Immerse yourself in Emulsion
Nathan Koch of Chicago Illinois is the brainchild behind the electronica project Emulsion. Using 8-bit synthesizers and subtle sweeping melodies he’s crafted some truly wondrous ambient songs. Fans of electro and IDM will find something to like here. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just need some simple deep music to relax too. The songs evoke the kind of feeling that something important is about to happen, like a drug test ala Firestarter where people get extraordinary abilities like telepathy from a drug that may or may not kill them.
I’d really like to see these songs with some visuals, each time I listen to a song I imagine a new thing, like right now the track “King of 1998″ off of the new album “Blue Sky Objective” might call to mind a patch of flowers sprouting, growing, flowering, dying, and decomposing on loop over the course of 3 years or a city street done in stop motion photography for a week with people blurring past. Try thinking of your own visuals, it’s fun. The synths, handclaps, and spare garbled over processed vocals combine to make some truly ethereal and above all honest sounds. Even though all of the sounds are electronic, there is a stark sincerity to them. I’m not sure if the masterful production or the hauntingly simple melodies that evoke the feelings of childlike wonder, but they both work together to make a surprisingly satisfying result.
July 8, 2007
La Nuit Commence Ici
So the famed Montreal based electro chamber pop quintet is set to release a new album. In Our Bedroom after the War will be released on September 25th, and if the track that’s been floating around the net (The Night Starts Here) is any indication, we’re going to be hit up with more achingly beautiful catchy pop. The ambient beginning and trade off between Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan leading into the beat is sure to make you go nuts and assure you, that “yes”, Stars are back.
Tracklist:
1. The Beginning After The End
2. The Night Starts Here
3. Take Me To The Riot
4. My Favourite Book
5. Midnight Coward
6. The Ghost Of Genova Heights
7. Personal
8. Barricade
9. Window Bird
10. Bitches In Tokyo
11. Life 2: The Unhappy Ending
12. Today Will Be Better, I Swear!
13. In Our Bedroom After The War
July 7, 2007
Acceptable in the 80′s
Calvin Harris is a fly spectacled up and coming electro dance/funk musician that recently was a featured artist on Myspace, and rightly so, since his infectious dance anthems echo the late Rick James while seeming to inhabit the space between power pop slams and twinkling electro funk jams. I don’t know what it is about music in 2007, but there’s so much of it that’s so good, especially the new artists like Calvin Harris. The resurgence in electro-dance music this year is as much quality as it is quality.
Anyway, back to Mr. Harris, his music glides on 80′s inspired nostalgia and a variety of electronic instrumentation like computer voices and a virtual bunker full of synthesizers. The bass in particular rises and falls to induce maximum dancefloor accessibility. What stands out the most though is the intense personality that he conveys through his alternating classy British singing voice and flirtatious falsetto. The track “The Girls” features some of that flirtatiousness as he describes all of the different types of women he likes, needless to say the list is quite complete. Another song that explodes with woozy dancefloor drive is the nostalgic “Acceptable in 80′s” which utilizes the awkward hits and backwards synths that might remind you of Thomas Dolby. Calvin Harris isn’t just a nonstop party monster, he takes the time to slow it down and play some jams for the ladies like smooth, smooth “Love Souvenir” that could easily be mistaken for Beck when he’s seducing Jenny and her sister. The sweeping rhythmic ballad “Electro Man” shows how much range an electro artist can have while still inhabiting that precious space we like to call “Electro”. That and it sounds like a David Bowie techno remix, so how can you go wrong? You can say what you want about Calvin Harris, but the man knows how to harness the power of the 808 cowbell, and that power is mighty.
The Girls Video (Best Video since the Rakes’ “22 Grand Job”):
MP3 – Acceptable in the 80′s – Calvin Harris
MP3 – The Girls – Calvin Harris
