You might remember Vivek Shraya from a post on this very blog a long time ago. Well, our favorite Canadian indie/electro upstart is back with his sophomore album “Keys and Machines” and it’s set for a release this November! So hold onto your hat and enjoy this funky preview track “In Out” featuring Meghan Toohey.
As if they ever left, Horse Shoes the prodigious band out of Brooklyn is set to release their Imperial School EP very soon, and the EP is a twinkling nastolgia dance party. The band (Composed of Drew Diver and Jacob Graham) lets all of their influences show featuring some songs that emulate the Smiths self deprecating intelligence and others emulate New Orders restless longing. Throw in a bit of twangy surf guitar and some gentle vocals and you’ve got the overall flavor of Horse Shoes new EP. Surely a delieght for the ears.
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.
NYC band Murder Mystery are back with a new single entitled “The World” that is a nice mellow tune that draws on the best of the Psychedelic Furs, The Cure and the Strokes. Above all the chiming guitars and pulsing synth is vocalist Jeremy Coleman’s charming vocals and lyrics. If you’re starving for some new Strokes material, this will definitely hold you over.
Well here it is, the wrap of the best albums of 2008. Here are the links to part one and part two.
30. Black Kids – Partie Traumatic
Black Kids were kind of the Gnarls Barkley of this year, except… without the high powered up and coming producer and and dependable veteran performer. They did however come out of nowhere with a killer single named I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You, despite the title being ridiculously long and well… ridiculous as well, it caught on like wildfire and the kids ate it up like hot cakes. The band uses a bag of tricks including funky guitar solos, warbly synths, cowbells and a Robert Smith-like warble. The rest of the album is full of rich pop tunes and a Robert Smith-esque warble detailing tales of adolescent woes and throes of passion. If you’re looking for a non-stop androgynous dance party look no further than Jacksonville Florida’s own Black Kids.
The Black Kids Myspace
29. Beck – Modern Guilt
Speaking of Gnarls Barkley, Beck teamed up with that prodigious producer DJ Danger Mouse for his latest release Modern Guilt. The atmosphere that Danger Mouse brings to the album fits perfectly with the multi-layered stylings of Beck. In fact, many are calling this album Beck’s first album that’s moved forward stylistically since his seminal release “Sea Change”. While “Guerro” and “The Information” did look back back for inspiration I felt that there was some innovative work there that marked progression. The fact that Modern Guilt doesn’t use too much superfluous instrumentation or loops and for the most is composed with ample reverb and less is more composition makes the album Beck’s most raw and intimate release since Sea Change.
28. Bloc Party – Intimacy
Bloc Party’s latest release Intimacy is something of a return to form for the band from their experimental conceptual sophomore album A Weekend in the City. Its like the catchy tunes off of Banquet fused with the jarring emotional content from A Weekend in the City with a pinch of electronic wizardry that can be traced back to the Chemical Brothers and even the Bravery in some spots. There are arpeggios fueling ultra fast ticking drum beats, and even keyboard horns fueling stuttering vocals. There are a few songs where the formula works out a delicate balance of ferocity and melody like the perfect song for the subway Your Visits are getting Shorter and the Cure influenced melody of Letter to My Son. This is the most aggressive collection of songs Bloc Party has ever released. I could see many of these songs playing over loudspeakers during heated UK Soccer games.
Bloc Party Myspace
27. Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords
Think “Tenacious D” for the indie rock crowd. Brett and Jermaine bring something special to the table here with their high low harmonies and clever songwriting. All the songs here have been played before on their hit HBO series, but they’re here with renewed vigor. Some songs even have new parts. Like on the homage-hit “Bowie” the end of the song explodes in a “Let’s Dance!” fashion. Likewise, “Robots” puts on it’s dancing shoes for a “Robo-Boogie” segment. They rifle through a lof different genres and crazy ideas and are talented enough to pull them off musicall and lyrically. If you’ve never heard of the before, prepare to listen to nothing but them for an entire month. For real.
Flight of the Conchords Myspace
26.
Ruby Isle – Ruby Isle
Ruby Isle is the flagship property of the Kindercore record label. The lineup is composed of the all-star cast of former beat maker for “We are the World Trade Center”, Dan Geller, rock wild man Mark Mallman, and drummer Aaron Lemay. If you’re looking for an album to get the party started regardless of the crowd Ruby Isle has something for everbody. It’s true it’s dance music, but the ever present guitar riffs and and crazy synth is enough to even get grandma to do the twist. There’s a couple uses of great guest vocals, like the uber low voiced youtube phenomenon Tay Zonday, and the powerful reworking of “Solsbury Hill” featuring Amy Dykes. If you’re looking for a band to play a kicking set during the apocalypse, look no further than Ruby Isle.
Ruby Isle – Hey Hey Hey (That Kid’s Okay) La Chanson Remix
25.
Desmond & The Tutus – Tuckshop
I recieved Desmond & The Tutus album “Tuckshop” in my inbox and was immediately intrigued. First off they are named after a famous African holy man that I was not aware of (Thanks Wikipedia!). Secondly, the band is from South Africa. Although all the members are white. This was kind of a let down until I listened to their music. There are few releases that I listen to all the way through beginning all at one time, but the uplifting nature of their guitar rock compositions and borderline satirical lyrics made me listen to this thing the whole way through. From criticizing electro loving geeks (hm) to the best song about swimming I have heard ever. There’s a lot to love here.
24. The Kindness Kind – The Kindness Kind
The Kindness Kind is a new band out of Seattle, Washington who employs careful guitar work over beautiful piano melodies topped off with the excellent vocals by Alessandra Rose and a pinch of electronica to make some of the most listenable indie pop this year. The Highlight of their self titled album “Houndstooth” starts off with gentle feedback before the jazzy keys and bendy synths are rocketed forward by the paced drums, that navigate the song through several soaring melodies. If you’re looking for a complex but extremely listenable new indie rock band to love, The Kindness Kind should be first on your plate.
The Kindness Kind – Houndstooth
23.
Unicycle Loves You – Unicycle Loves You
If you’re looking for an album released this year that was as filled with youthful elation as much as it was filled with talented instrumentalists and vocalists, look no further, Unicycle Loves You is for you. Each one of their songs explodes in catchy accessible pop with layers of guitars and keyboards atop bangin’ beats. If I had to use other bands to describe their sound I would say they’re like all the fun songs by the Arcade Fire, channeled through The Cars and the Stokes all peppered with a pinch of Lou Reed. That said, there are so many rocking pop songs here that it would be a crime if these guys didn’t get more popular. Long live Unicycle Loves You!
Unicycle Loves You – Highway Robbery
22. Microfilm – The Slingshot Orchestra
The Slingshot Orchestra has made a distinct progression from their previous release. This time opting for a more lush sound rather than the minimalist german techno sound that people might know them better for. But fear not, there are beats and synths galore here. In addition to those glorious tones, there are also strings, piano, and plethora of other instruments that might sound completely natural but are actually synthesized and played by the band, but you’d be hard pressed to know that just by listening to them. In short, if you’re looking for a tasty slice of electro/synth pop pie, you better order up The Slingshot Orchestra.
Microfilm – Teenage Symphonies
21. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Cut Copy’s 2004 release “Bright Like Neon Love”, became one of the sleeper hits for me in the year following. Which led me to be really anticipating their new release “In Ghost Colours”. On “Neon Love”, they showed that they were capable of combining garage rock and electro in a powerful way, but on “In Ghost Colours” they’ve somewhat abandoned that idea in favor of some really poppy electro songs. It marks their progression as a band that they use guitar more for melody than for a slamming riff. All this talk about style changes and guitar might confuse you as to whether or not you can dance to the album. The overwhelming answer is “Yes!”.
Cut Copy – Far Away (Ruby Isle Mix) <-- A Convenient Tie In!
Gold seems to be a fashionable color for up and coming electro artists. First MSTRKRFT, then Heads We Dance, and now Truly Beautiful Disaster. The band is composed of one member from Greece and one from London. Combined they make the kind of electronica that makes me want to put on a cape and mask and fight crime with Hong Kong inspired impossible martial arts.
Since I can’t be everywhere at once, I’ve decided to start outsourcing some articles to some of my friends if they feel like writing. Don’t worry there’s no India tech support in the pipeline, but there is a review and photos of El Ten Eleven’s performance at the Bug Jar, courtesy of my congenial cohort, miss Sarah Heppel.
“So, I made the trip to Rochester Sunday morning with the main purpose to go to the Bug Jar and see El Ten Eleven.
We had about an hour to kill before doors opened, but we wanted to go there even later than that so we headed to a coffee shop that a friend recommended. Turns out it was closed so we ended up going to this other diner to get coffee. It wasn’t as fun and we weren’t there very long. We headed to the Bug Jar, but the show wasn’t going to start until like 10:30 or later so we were confused about what to do next. Soooo, we ended up going to another coffee house, Boulder Coffee. It was interesting because it was open mic comedy night! It was Semi-entertaining. We hung out for a while.. I didn’t get anything there because I just had coffee at our previous stop.
Finally, when we arrived @ the Bug Jar, the first band was about to start. My boyfriend Tim and I took a shot and had a beer to warm up. We went outside and stood for a while. We didn’t really care for the first band, The Cheetah Whores, at all. The second band, The Ideas, (?) were good but I felt the electric violin in the band wasn’t as prominent as it could have been. They still were good, though.
A few beers later, El Ten Eleven starts piling their stuff on stage. If you remember my post a month or so ago, I promoted this band, and when I saw the documentary Helvetica, there was a band I fell in love with who had a bunch of songs on the documentaries soundtrack.. Well this is them.
They have quite the gear load for a duo. The bassist/guitarist has a pedal board as long as I am tall, or so it seemed. He has 2 double neck bass/guitars and a few other guitars he uses. He was mainly lovin’ on the double neck and his single bass. He uses a loop pedal and manages to make the tunes sound not repetitive. He’s constantly tapping his feet on different pedals. He is the busiest guitarist I’ve ever seen. Their music was dead on and their attitudes showed they were loving Rochester.”
El Ten Eleven – I Like van Halen Because My Sister Says They are Cool
For more from my amicable alcoholic amigo (JK!) check out her blog here.
Mr. Vega returns yet again with another remix of a blog beloved band, this time Death From Above 1979 is on the table. The track? “Little Girl”, fueled by the original bass riff and a bit of an answering machine, this is the kind of song I’d want to see drunk guys swinging on vines, headed to a dance party in the Jungle. Think about it, I feel the closed caption subtitles would be something like, “Waaaoooohhh!” *Thunk* (Drunk man crashes in the PA system). A lot of fun for sure.
death from above 1979 – little girl – mr vega remix
In addition to this fine remix, here is some more work by the elusive Mr. Vega.
Are you ready for more modest cutesy female vocals over thumping beats and stuttering synth arpeggios? Of course you are. Dada Life transforms the slowly sashaying original into an old school dancefloor storm. It might take a full minute before you recognize those gentle vocals, but the synth riff that drops and the use of the reverb on the vocals that creates a kind of”Pull Away” effect adds some serious velocity.
Lykke Li – Dance, Dance, Dance (Dada Life Guerilla Fart #4)
Synth pop group Plastic Operator have released the emotionally charged “Home 0207″ as a new single off of their excellent 2007 album Different Places. With this release comes a superbly animated video and a plethora of remixes.
Plastic Operator – Home 0207
Plastic Operator – Home 0207 – Hermanos Inglesos Remix Part 1
Plastic Operator – Home 0207 – Chewy Chocolate Cookies Remix
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