Portland Oregon’s Hockey hits with the grooves of the Rapture, the raw edge and nuance of the White Stripes wrapped in a Prince funk wrapper. If you’re looking for some irresistible dance rock, look no further.
January 29, 2009
Portland Oregon’s "Hockey" Plays some Hard Hitting Funk!
January 28, 2009
James Yuill is a Sonic Scientist! No Surprise!
What’s the deal? There’s been a bunch of solo artists that have been releasing full length albums of electro-folk-rockery that have been excellent. Granted Mr. James Yuill from London, UK released his excellent debut “Turning Down Water For Air” last year, but that doesn’t stop it from being new to me. He effectively combines intimate guitar folk/pop with catchy keyboards and dancy glitch beats that are sure to have you nostalgically bopping your head with watery eyes. 2009 has some talented artists making the scene. Keep ‘em coming!
James Yuill – No Surprise
I wish this was the future of coffee shops everywhere.
I wish this was the future of coffee shops everywhere.
January 27, 2009
January 26, 2009
Franz Ferdinand Get Down on Their New Album "Tonight"!
Franz Ferdinand is back (as if they ever left) and they have a new album coming out on the 27th of January. The disc is entitled “Tonight”, and embodies the feelings that come from a night time of elation and debauchery according to Kapranos and company. The new disc shows off the bands progression; the guitars are less brash, the bass funkiness is cranked up and keyboards add to the slinky grooves of each song. This song unabashedly activates some of those latent disco tendencies that Franz have been flirting with since their smash hit self titled album in 2004. Don’t think for a second that this album has a neutered sound, there is more swagger on “Tonight” than perhaps anything else they’ve done.
There’s always been an air of class and timelessness in the world that they create musically. Even when they delve into darker themes, there’s a quirky nobility that oozes out of Kapranos’ croon, which was addictive on their first album and I think wore somewhat thin on their second album “You Could Have It So Much Better”. On “Tonight”, there’s a clash between the idealized world of that the Franz crew has created and reality. This comes out in songs like “Ulysses”, where singer Kapranos mumbles about whether or not he is Ulysses and where his next high is coming from. A little dirtier and muddled than their usual polished sound, but not too off the mark for the subject of one of their songs, it’s the tone that differs more. The tone is more like a combination of their previous sound and the dancier songs of The Kills from their recent “Midnight Boom” album. One song even abandons guitar totally for several minutes and focuses on a full out bass synth assault. Franz Ferdinand have added some danger to their sound and it’s just what the doctor ordered. The flurry of funk from song to song will have you reeling, like a night out free of responsibity, not totally aware of what’s happening, but focusing on any and all opportunities to keep the party going and chasing them until they end. If you have Franz Ferdinand’s “Tonight” as your guide you might find yourself still partying even as the sun comes up.
Franz Ferdinand – Ulysses
Franz Ferdinand – Outsiders (Isolee Remix)
Franz Ferdinand – Outsiders (Isolee Remix)
Franz Ferdinand – Ulysses (Mr. Vega Extended Mix)
Franz Ferdinand – Ulysses (Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve Remix)
There’s also an excellent remix of “No You Girls” over at We Like It Indie.
Listen to “Tonight” @ Franz Ferdinand’s Myspace
January 25, 2009
Whitest Boy Alive Retuns with New Single "Island"!
Erlend Oye and the rest of Whitest Boy Alive have returned this year with an album called “Rules” to follow up their excellent debut “Dreams”. The first single off of the new album is entitled “Island” and features some funky Rhodes keyboard, Erlend Oye’s gentle croon, and even some cowbell. Are you ready for the classiest dance party ever? I am.
January 21, 2009
State Shirt Provides Some Fiery Indie Rock For a Cold Season!
Ethan Tufts of California (AKA State Shirt) has crafted some fiery indie rock in the sessions he’s spent in his room devoted to writing some epic tunes. These songs are expansive, longing, and sparklingly hopeful. It also sounds remarkably human for being just one guy. Imagine for a second The Stills, U2, and the Postal Service caught in a blender, that’s roughly the appeal that State Shirt has. Except it’s just one guy. Nuts, I know.
State Shirt – Fell Out of the Sky
January 19, 2009
Red Light Company Covers The Ting Tings! & Remixed By School of Seven Bells!
The Red Light Company is a rising band from England whose line-up consists of 4 British guys and one American bassist who sold everything to play with the band in London. With that kind of dedication their music is bound to turn some heads. Their music springs forth with anthematic hooks that the Arcade Fire or Stars would be proud of and a classic rock fervor that Sebastien Grainger would surely throw up the infamous “Rock Hand Sign” for. Their new single “Arts & Crafts” has just as much emotion and passion behind it as well as a cover of The Ting Ting’s “Be The One” and a remix by The School of Seven Bells. Pretty cool.
January 18, 2009
Muke’s "Shutterspeed Lullabies" are an Otherworldly Bedtime Hymn!
Muke is the project of Madeline Liebowitz and Luke Kuzava who met in the dorms their freshman year at the University of Oregon. Out of boredom one day they decided to record a song into an iBook and lo and behold, something fresh and new was born out of the disparate influences of each member. Their sound is something like if Lykke Li was backed with acoustic guitar with the “shoegaze rock filter” on high accompanied by toy store percussion. With a sound this cute and strange, it’s only a matter of time before they get some love from Pitchfork.
January 16, 2009
Svelt St. Provides some Indie Flavored Rap
Svelt St. is a married dynamic duo who consist of vocalist Feelmore and Emcee Bang! Cheeto. together they craft inventive dance/rap/pop. The track “Po’ Boy” kicks off like a track by an indie songstress like Lykke Li or Maybe Robyn with a bouncy electro beat and soft female vocals before Bang! Cheeto starts rapping about “99 bottles”. Bang! Cheeto has some interesting credentials, having worked with several groups and releasing critically acclaimed EPs and having worked with Del the Funky Homosapien, but his fuzzed out telephone raps seem out of place. Svelt St. have a sound that’s akin to cough syrup, thick, sweet, but because of those raps it leaves a weird taste in your mouth.
January 15, 2009
Mason Proper Covers Kanye West & LCD Soundsystem… At the SAME TIME!
Mason Proper, who in some way shape or form are always on the move somehow have released a new free cover of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown” and LCD Soundsystem’s “Get Innocuous”, not as two separate tracks, but as one whole entity. It sounds like the plot of some funky mad scientist, but the result is irresistably infectious. Could this be the future of the mashup? A live mashup/remix/cover? Either way Mason Proper continue to deliver quality.
This was originally published here as part of Coke Machine Glow’s fantasy covers of 2008.
