The BBC ‘Sound of 2010’ long list is up and we can now all breathe easy knowing who and what will be big in the coming year. The list is 15 acts long and is a good indicator of the coming year in music (or at least the first six months). Looking at it and comparing to my own (which is essentially why I did my own in the first place), then 6 out of my 10 made the long list. A ratio of 60%, which is acceptable.
The Long List (in alpabetical order)
Daisy Dares You
Delphic [got it]
Devlin
The Drums [got it]
Everything Everything
Giggs
Gold Panda
Ellie Goulding [got it]
Hurts
Joy Orbison [got it]
Marina and the Diamonds [got it]
Owl City
Rox
Stornoway [got it]
Two Door Cinema Club
The list is pretty much the usual mix of landfill- indie rockers (The Drums and Two Door Cinema Club), token rapper (Giggs), post-punkers á la Joy Division (Delphic), new folkers (Stornoway), synth poppers (Hurts and Ellie Goulding), etc.. This time though, they have thrown in a few leftfield electronic acts who probably won’t be huge commercial successes, but will probably strike a chord critically (Gold Panda and Joy Orbison). Still, to be honest, some of the acts featured are kinda… well, shit. Three in particular are really shit.
It is that time of year again. The leaves are falling off the trees, the weather is getting cold(er) and soon all kinds of music magazines, blogs and the like will publish their end-of-year lists as well as their predictions for what is going to make it big in the next year. Trying to predict what is going to be big "next year" is always going to be sketchy business, especially as most lists act as selffulfilling prophecies as the journalists themselves have much to say in who will "make it". Luckily, my blog is small and insignificant so I have no such worries. I win again! No? Damn...
This year has seen some excellent hiphop releases with personal hightlights being Mos Def’s The Ecstatic, Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Part II and Lushlife’s Cassette City. The latter has especially struck a chord with me, mixing chamber pop with old school early 90’s east coast hiphop influences. Taking influence as much from DJ Premier as Burt Bacharach. The album has an impressively cohesive feel and it is obvious that a lot of thought and heart has gone in to the making of the record. A great album that really deserves wider recognition.
The song that ignited my interest for Lushlife was The Kindness. The song sounds like a J Dilla production – which is quite a compliment in my book – and immediately caught my attention. From the weaving soul sample to the chopped strings and harp, it is extremely well produced and executed.
Lushlife – The Kindness
Another song that really deserves a mention is Meridian Sound [Part Three], which combines a Beach Boys sample with a drum beat heavily influenced by The Ronettes' Be My Baby. Your average piece of hiphop it is not. What it is though is really clever and I love it.
My two favorite songs at the moment are both songs of overblown proportions. Songs that are drenched in massive big synth, bubbly bass and soft-the-hard-way drums. I don't know if it says something about my current state of mind, but these songs are just on constant repeat at the moment.
VEGA - No Reasons
VEGA (spelled all capitals) is Alan Palomo. VEGA is great. Succinct and to the point.
VEGA is also the guy behind the first of my two current favorite songs. No Reasons is unashamedly catchy and just bounces happily along. I love how it sounds like the french touch house of yore, such as Mojo and Stardust (and more recently The Phantom's Revenge and Louis la Roché), but in an edgier post-Justice less polished sort of way. It sounds like an old soul song has been sampled and chopped for the song (the gorgeous and so-simple-yet-so-effective "can't live without you"), and yet it blends so well with his own voice that I'm not sure. The song in itself is not too complex with the bass and drums pretty much just bouncing along together, but that is also what I love about it. It does not try to hide the fact that in essence it's just a great pop song. The sort of song that just makes you smile.
Siriusmo - High Together
Similarly, but even more explicit, High Together is clearly new wave french touch house. I love french touch, because it's such a feel-good genre. Most of the music (bar Justice) is filled with these great warm sounds, which feels like being hugged by this big blanket of synth.
Siriusmo (a name I was always forget how to spell) has thus far gone under my radar in favor of other acts such as MSTRKRFT, Yuksek, LifeLike, Pilooski, etc., but this song just grabbed my attention instantly. How could it not? The way it opens up with the faded and chopped salsa beat, which suddenly breaks and explodes into an amazingly lush sounding synth and bass. Once it explodes, it does not pause for a break - it just goes on and on. It is relentless. It is euphoric. I have no idea what the voice says and I really do not care. Just listen to that synth. Can you say aural orgasm?
James Brown & The JB's - Give It Up, Turn It Loose
That is so tight. Damn! Kinda makes you wish you were alive back then so you could have danced along. Then again, what's stopping you from dancing now? Turn it loose!
Sounding like a cross between Arcade Fire and Langley School Music Project (great music and great story) this is the perfect song for Halloween. My Body Is A Zombie For You (song title of the year?) is just one of those great songs that remind you that music does not have to be complicated to be great.
Dead Man's Bones is a band consisting of Ryan Gosling (yup... that guy) and Zach Shields. Two guys who actually can't play instruments. This is not hard to hear, but that has not stopped from making great songs. The music is simple yet very effectful. Some of it is down to Gosling's great trembling voice, but what really does it is L.A.’s Silverlake Conservatory Childrens Choir. There is just something endeeringly creepy about a whole choir of children singing about zombies. A gem of a song.
Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest has been universally lauded since its release and rightly so. It's a terrific album with great melodies, harmonies and pretty everything you could want. Definitely one of the albums of the year, but that is really not a surprise.
Having had the album for a while now I'm glad to see that the choice for second single is also my personal favorite track (well, one of two fav's with Ready, Able being the other). Good on you, Grizzly Bear.
While You Wait For The Others is a true break-up song filled with heartbreak and big emotions. The song builds terrifically and hits you right where it hurts. Right where you want it to hurt. Something we all can relate to now and then.
“YACHT is about group consciousness. YACHT is about the individual man or woman. If you believe these assertions to be contradictory, consider the Triangle: it is both a collection of points and a shape.” (YACHT mission statement)
YACHT makes electronic dance-y music in the classic DFA vein (which incidentally also happens to be their label). Their songs have the spoken vocals over dance-y music á la LCD Soundsystem, which just seems to work really well and projects a sort of effortless cool.
The Afterlife is, to me, their best song to date. The song is jampacked with little details and really showcase their ability to mix all kinds of weird (for lack of better words) sounds to create what is essentially a party/pop song. Not your conventional pop song, but a pop song nonetheless. I am particularly partial to the lyrics of the song as, with a subject such as death, it could easily become cheesy and contrived. Rather, on this song the lyrics come off almost, well, insightful. Sample lyric: "It's not a place you go It's a place that comes to you And it's not about who you know or who is in your heart It may come as a surprise, but you are not alone All that you have is not what you own"
Internet hype is a weird thing. Bands seem to come out of nowhere to be the next OMFG-this-is-better-than-if-Jesus-played-in-the-Beatles. The XX are one of those bands and who am I not to rave about them? Exactly. So I'm just gonna go ahead and jump on the bandwagon. They are awesome! Like like like... like Jesus featuring Hot Chip doing indie-ish rock with an R'n'B twist. Now strike the Jesus-reference. Better.
I haven't actually heard the full album yet - creatively titled XX - , but judging from reviews then it looks really interesting. Not being one to jump the gun (right) I'm just gonna go out on a limb and claim this to be one of my favorite albums so far this year... sometimes you just know, okay. Presumptious as I clearly am.
I've had a really hard time (read: scratched my head a few times) trying to pick between their two singles/videos so I took an executive decision and now I'm posting both. Yup, that's a class in Decision-Making 101 for you there.
The songs are called Crystallised and Basic Space, and they're minimalistic pieces of indie-pop brilliance. It's bare-bones kind of stuff with no superfluous effects or anything. Timid voices singing deeply intimate lyrics, sterile sampled drums played live and then great warmth from the weaving dual guitar play. Suffice to say that on the evidence of these songs, I like this band. *Hype Alert*
Wild Beasts released one of last years best albums in Limbo, Panto and they seemed to have followed it up with an even better one in Two Dancers. Marvelous. The first single of the album is called Hooting and Howling and it is truly one of the best songs of the year so far.
Personally I'm big lyrics kind'o'guy, and in the case of this song the lyrics are mindblowingly good. Hayden Thorpe not only possesses a great voice and impressively nuanced falsetto (which he puts to great and often use), but also some serious writing chops. Every line is genius, beautifully describing a late night brawl as if it were - to quote the song - "a bovver boot ballet".
It's like reading something by Fitzgerald - simply awesome. Enjoy the lyrics in their entirity below the video. Wild Beasts - Hooting and Howling
Carry me hooting and howling to the river to wash off my hands of the hot blood, the sweat and the sand Any rival who goes for our girls will be left thumb sucking in terror and bereft of all coffin bearers
A crude art, a bovver boot ballet - equally elegant and ugly I was as thrilled as I was appalled, courting him in fisticuffing waltz. Now I'm not saying the lads always deserve a braying. And I'm not saying the girls are worth the fines I'm paying.
We're just brutes bored in our bovver boots. We're just brutes clowning 'round in cahoots. We're just brutes looking for shops to loot. We're just brutes hoping to have a hoot
Nike knows a thing or two about shoes, athletics wear... and ads. I recently saw the full ad for Nike SB (Nike Skateboarding for those not in the know... aka moi until, uhm, recently...), which I immediately fell for. Well, as much as you can fall for an ad. Hard.
Anywho, the ad features some great panoramic shots and a skateboarder called P-Rod (yeah, I don't know him either), but most importantly it evokes memories of Mike Mills awesome video for Air's All I Need. It's that great feeling of serenity that the skating freely and the laidback music gives off. In the case of the ad, Ice Cube's classic Today Was A Good Day (re-mixed to fit the ad... leaving out the AK47 reference was probably wise) provides the musical and storytelling backdrop, which works marvelously. Kudos Nike... now, do I get a free pair of sneakers for this? Pretty please.
Going away on holiday without phone or internet so this will be the last post for the next three or four weeks... Gonna get my tan on [and the crowd goes wild].
Anywho, on to more serious matters. The music.
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson not only has the longest name in music ever (it is so long that you actually remember it just because it is so long), but also writes great songs. Buriedfed is a dramatic and rousing song that builds and builds in a really captivating manner. It starts out slowly with just the guitar and his raspy-ish voice (great voice too). Slowly and steadily more instruments and other effects are added and it becomes this great big song. It really drags you in.
If I was to do a comparison - and I have to - then I'd say that it sounds a bit like if Bright Eyes and Grizzly Bear had a love child... not only a great visual, but sonically amazing too. I really like this song, and I'm sure you will too.
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - Buriedfed
The song is available for free and legal download here.
The Horrors released their sophmore album, Primary Colours, this spring and it really surprised me (as it did most others, I suspect). I liked their first album (read: tolerated... I mean, it wasn't great), but this second album is really truly great. From beginning to end a great album, and one I'm quite sure will end up ranking very high on my end-of-year list (my beloved list... Mmmmmm).
I realize this post is slightly (read: very) belated and overdue, but I forgot to write back when I first heard the album (cue: sympathy). I could have just not written anything, but I haven't been able to stop listening to the album since I got it... so naturally a post was needed (yes, life is full of hard choices).
Sea Within A Sea was the first single from the album and still very much a standout track for me. It is one of the best songs, if not the best, I've heard all year and I just can't get enough. The song reminds me of krautrock á la NEU! (which is a massive compliment), while also borrowing from one of last years best songs; The Rip (by Portishead). This is probably much down to Geoff Barrows (of Portishead) producing the album.
Longwinded ramblings aside, this is a great great song which I love love. Yes yes.
The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea
I also heavily recommend listening to second single Who Can Say, which draws a bit more on personal fave's Joy Division. Again, awesome song.
Summer is here! Which means that it is time to pause with winter records for a while and start listening to some happy and summer-y music... well, at least to some extent... Right now there are two songs that, for me, really sum up that summer is here. Those two are; Camp Lo'sLuchini and The Very Best'sWarm Heart of Africa.
How can you fail with a beat like this? Luchini has that breezy Dynasty"Adventures In The Land Of Music"-sample that to me just screams summer. I just want to lay back with something cold in my hand and chill in the sun... yup, I chill. [Stop laughing...]
I really really really really like this song.
Camp Lo - Luchini aka. This Is It (What?)
Next song...
The Very Best released a mixtape-y sort of thing last year ( FYI, it is free and legal here) where they did semi-covers... that is, they rearranged, remixed and re-did songs, such as their cover of Architecture in Helsinki's Heart it Races called Kamphoho (one word; awesome). The group consists of Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and French- Swedish electronic duo Radioclit and have in my opinion made one of the best songs of the summer so far. The beat actually surprised the first time I heard it and I had to hear it twice before I really got it. But then it really got me. I'm already a sucker for Esau's voice so with the sunny and happy backdrop it was sure be an instant hit avec moi... oh yeah, the song also features Monsieur Koenig from Vampire Weekend (we like his voice too...).
The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa (feat. Ezra Koenig)
I really like this song. The simple use of the keyboard obviously does it for the song, but I have to say that the video really helps me along too. The whole aloofness of the singer (Morrissey fan much?) really adds to the lyrics and the whole feeling of the song. The sepia-tinged colours also says all you need to know about what decade these guys want to look/sound like they're from... I'm still confused by the leadsinger's hair though... but maybe that's just me.
... finally, I really like the backing vocals. Especially the "Zoooh Zoooh"s (or is it "Sue Sue"?), which makes me think of Sympathy for Devil.
Speaking of all time favorite songs... I could write endlessly about why this is one of the best songs ever, but I'll just let the song speak for itself. Love it.
I recently bought Jacques Brel's 4 on vinyl and it's been on pretty much constant rotation ever since. The undying classic on the album is of course Ne Me Quitte Pas, which is one of my all time favorite songs. The song is intense and - despite the actual meaning behind the song - very romantic. Really one of my all time favorite songs...
Jacques Brel is cooler than cool. His croon is unlike most others and you can definitely see how others like Scott Walker took inspiration from him.
New video from The Clipse featuring Kanye West from their forthcoming album. I gotta say I love this. The video is pretty bleh, but the song is awesome. The Clipse are lyrically always vicious, but Kanye actually kills on this song. Great stuff... and the beat is lovely too (yup, am down with the ghetto terminology).
The Clipse - I'm Kinda Like A Big Deal (feat. Kanye West)
Staff Benda Bilili are from Kinshasa, Congo, and they make some of the most beautiful music around at the moment. It's like a blues-y afrobeat with lovely soulful harmonies. Their story is quite special too, as they're basically a group of paraplegic street musicians... which only makes me like them more.
A personal favorite of mine is their song Polio (video below). The song has a great melody with that previously mentioned mix of soulfulness and harmonies. Enjoy!
Staff Benda Bilili - Polio
A movie about the band will be out sometime soon and you can see the trailer below...
Their myspace can be found here and their album Trés Trés Fort is out on Crammed Discs/Belle Kinoise.
A classic... the laidback piano loop sample over the beat is - to me - RZA at his very best. Hiphop fan or not, it's just great.
Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M
Choice Quote:
"But I'm still depressed, and I ask what's it worth? Ready to give up so I seek the Old Earth Who explained working hard may help you maintain to learn to overcome the heartaches and pain"
From their debut and absolute classic Enter the Wu (36 Chambers)
Your new favorite band is called Japandroids and here's why you're going to love them...
1. They're called Japandroids for crying out loud.
2. They make awesome lo-fi noisy garage rock.
3. This is how they describe themselves on their myspace; "imagine GUNS N ROSES meets IGGY & THE STOOGES meets THE SONICS meets THE ROLLING STONES!!!! that's the band we wish we were. we're not though. not even close." So you know they're cool guys too...
4. They might be lo-fi and only two, but they're not minimal... they're maximal.
This should be a huge song... you know, U2 huge with that almost stadium rock sound (definitely not MOR though). It reminds of all that was great of 80's indie rock (which is a sentence I don't say often). It has that Siouxsie and The Banshees/ The Cure pop sensibility and sounds eerily a lot like Arcade Fire (maybe they're fans). Great song.
So about a year ago French Kicks made their single Abandon available for download and now (yes, now... 1 year later) the video is out.... Better late than never, I guess.
The song was one of my definite favorites from last year and it was pretty much a constant feature on my iPod. The only reason it didn't make my year-end list was that I wasn't sure it was from 2008 (how cool am I?). Definitely one of the very best indie rock songs 0f 2008.
French Kicks - Abandon
The song can still be downloaded (legally) from stereogum here. Do it!
I've been loving Dinosaur Pile- Up for a while now and I thought it was about time that I gave them some bloglove too. Their music is a mix of the indie rock á la The Strokes and grunge. Remember grunge? Yeah, it's become a much maligned term, but who cares when the music sounds great... and worry not, I haven't seen any flannel shirts. Yet.
"Love is a Boat and We're Sinking" is great indie rock (almost poppy), while "My Rock'n'Roll" is very reminiscent of Foo Fighters circa The Color and The Shape (an album I'm especially partial to). Enjoy!
Dinosaur Pile- Up - Love Is a Boat and We're Sinking
The first song and video from Kasabian's forthcoming album has just been revealed and it's quite something. The song is a return to the more electronic- feel of the first album. Heavy bass-y sound (as on both their albums), but less of a indie rock sound - which you sort of had on the last album. I really like this song, but you can't really say that it's a radio hit pop song.
... the excellent video with Noel Fielding (Mighty Boosh remains one of my favorite tv shows... eels eels!) should however give them plenty of views.
You can download the song for free at Kasabian's website... in exchange for your email... here!
... and why do people feel the need to write malicious things under videos on youtube? They're a bunch of eff's and cee's those people, if you ask me...
Just that synth-y fuzz and the lovely swirling guitar riff alone make it brilliant. Love it!
Heartless Bastards - The Mountain
Loving Erika Wennerström's great voice and the way it becomes increasingly intense. I'm also really partial to the pace of the song. Great song.
Winter Gloves - Let Me Drive
Reminds me of Elle s'appelle who I really really liked... why do great bands have to split so early? Not to take anything away from this song... just another reason why I like it.
Afropop and afrobeat have been around ever since Fela Kuti and Tony Allen sat down together and produced those wonderful songs way back when... Talking Heads and Paul Simon then took influence from it and created some fantastic music on their respective albums Remain in Light and Graceland album. However, since then there have been scant with pop bands referencing afrobeat. Yes, Manu Chao and Amadou & Mariam* have had a fair amount of success, but it wasn't really until Vampire Weekend last year - and to some extent TV on the Radio, The Foals and Yeasayer - that there were succesful indie bands who explicitly pointed to afrobeat as a direct influence.
* Amadou & Mariam's Damon Albarn produced Sabali is by the way one of 2008's definite highlights
Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Lo and behold, now it seems that afrobeat influences are cropping up in pop and it's great. Afrobeat has such a happy sound to it which really fits pop and makes for great infectious happy music. Two recent examples - and personal favorites, of course - are Slow Club and Jack Peñate's recent singles.
Sidebar: Knowing Peñate's last output this new direction is markedly different and so much better than the Wham!-inspired pop he did before (Wham! as inspiration... Wtf?).
Sonic Youth - Eternal (left) and Choir of Young Believers - Burn the Flag EP (right)
Now chances are very slight that Sonic Youth was inspired by Choir of Young Believers, but you have to agree with me that the concepts of the album art are not entirely dissimilar. Actually, the concepts are close to identical - the fonts even look the same... so maaaaaybe...
...naaah...
This is as good an excuse as any to put this up though:
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing("on post-modern MTV"... simply brilliant)
Michael Hann of the Guardian thinks so... and I see his point (though I like my pop songs longer than 1:20... but that's just me). It is great intricate pop, without sounding contrived or pretentious. I couldn't even start to try and deconstruct the song to tell what instruments (or household-items-turned-instrument) have been used. It's just lovely... and short.
First single, of the Jewellery (Rough Trade) album, Golden Phone is equally brilliant by the way (and 2:49 long, hooray!).
Micachu - Golden Phone
Other gems (get it? get it?) include Calculator, Just In Case and Curly Teeth... actually, just go out and buy the album! It's the best pop you'll hear all year.
You know when you hear a song for the first time and you're just blown away by how great it is? So great that it makes you sit down and just listen. Bliss... well, I got that with The Entrance Band (or according to some, Entrance). I was listening to the always excellent NPR All Song Consideredpodcast when Carrie Brownstein (of Sleater Kinney fame) recommended them as one to see at SXSW.
The Entrance Band - Grim Reaper Blues
That opening of the song immediately caught me and from then on it's sheer awesomeness. The sound is old hard blues-y psych rock - there can be no doubt about that. Reminiscent of fellow revivalists Wolfmother, but much more psych. The leadsinger's voice is perfect and if someone had told me that it was actually a song from the 1970's I would have believed it.
And don't get me started on the song title, Grim Reaper Blues... You have to love that.
I haven't actually listened to more of their stuff, but if it's as good as this then I'm a fan... actually, strike that. I'm already a fan.
Dancing is good excersise - Fact - and having been out all weekend for better or for worse I've had my fair share of it. Now, enough about me... There's a lot of good electronic music being made at the moment, which might mostly be down to me being a fan of french touch house and anything with distortion, heavy bass and/or tons of synth. In any case, I like it.
So here are three videos with some of the latest and greatest for you to bust a move to on the dancefloor or simply pull a muscle to in your bedroom. Whatever tickles your fancy.
Simian Mobile Disco - 10,000 Horses Can't Be Wrong
Simian Mobile Disco's debut album was jam packed with great songs and the signs are that the next will equally great. However, while the last one was more soft-ish house-ish (eg. Believe) this next one sounds more like Berlin minimal (I guess the signs were there with Sleep Deprivation). An odd, yet awesome move, seeing as the rest of the electronic scene seems to be favoring french touch house at the moment. In any case I'm loving this song. Also check out Synthesise while you're at it, which has an almost identical video (lazy buggers) and features a Todd Rundgren sample (awesome). Born to synthesise since 1975.
Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone
Now I'm not a huge fan of this song, but I've put it up mostly because it's as obvious a dancefloor smash hit as any. You just know that kids all over the place will be dancing away to this one. And why not? It has a sweeping sort of synth (lovely filter on it) and some very cheesy lyrics that are easy to remember. I predict: Summer hit. Easy... okay, so maybe I do kinda like it as a guilty pleasure.
AC Slater - Rock It Out
I said I liked bass, right? AC Slater has been around for a while now and joining the Trouble & Bass crew is a perfect match. I quite like this song (even though it is very bassline-y, which can get a bit much sometimes admittedly) and from what I hear people have been litterally rocking out to on the dancefloor when he plays it. Fact.
I am a huge fan of this band and this is a particular favorite. I realise it's old by now, but I've loved it for too long not to post it... The song, "Heart of Chambers", is perfect for that time just before you fall asleep. A soothing and relaxing song with a great melody. Lovely.
... I also have a slight crush on Ms. Legrand, but that's another thing... and who wouldn't?
The SXSW festival is just around the corner and final details about the line-up of bands playing official showcases has been released. Among the many fine artists and bands that will attend SXSW this year are The Sonics, GoldieLocks, Abe Vigoda, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Snake and Jet’s Amazing Bullit Band, Soft Pack, School of Seven Bells, Vetiver, Vivian Girls and many many more... heck, I don't even know half.
One of the coolthings about the SXSW festival is that every year, simultaneously with announcing the full list of performing artists and bands, they make a song available for download for many of the bands. It’s a great way of getting new and free songs for your collection as well discovering some of the many up and coming acts.
Here are a few of my select favorites of the available downloads... and since they're all free I don't see why you shouldn't give them all a listen.
GoldieLocks – Cold Sweat (here), Abe Vigoda – Don’t Lie (here), School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep (here), PowerSolo - Pirates of the Oblivion (here), Hatcham Social – So So Happy Making (here), Au Revoir Simone – A Violent Yet Flammable World (here), We Have Band – Hear It In Cans (here), The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday (here), Port O’Brien – I Woke Up Today (here), Dananananaykroyd - Pink Sabbath (here), The Von Bondies - This Is Our Perfect Crime (here), Futurecop! - NASA (here), HEALTH - Crimewave (here), The Forms - Red Gun (here), Snake and Jet's Amazing Bullit Band - Ten Cities Beyond (here), and many many more (all here)… you should really check them all out. So much great music, so little time.
I love the fast and repetitive vocals on this one. The voice and the early '90s-ish electro work really well together. A really great track with an early-90's arcade game inspired video to match.
Filthy Dukes – This Rhythm (feat. Sam Eastgate)
Sam Eastgate from Late of the Pier fills in on vocals, which sort of makes it sound like a "simple" and danceable song LotP just made after hearing some Daft Punk... I like it.
Ra Ra Riot – Ghost Under Rocks (Passion Pit Remix)
By themselves Ra Ra Riot and Passion Pit are two very hyped up'n'coming indie bands. Put them together and you get an awesome synth-house indie anthem. Something for your next hipster-party DJ set. (You can get it at Stereogum.com)
This is just one of those cases where the audio and the visual blend perfectly. The two compliment each other so well and just sets the mood excellently... It's redundant to say that I like it, right?
Two current favorites are Salem and School of Seven Bells. They each represent a brand of electro-shoegaze meets distorted psych meets noisepop, but with very different results. For reasons unknow I see these two bands as related despite their obvious differences in sound. Then again, who cares when the music is this great?
School of Seven Bells features sisters and identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza and Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines. They're by far the most accessible of the two and make lovely pop bliss (within the organic electro-shoegaze-whatchmacall it). Their songs fit all moods and should be a mandatory listen for these cold times.
Peek School of Seven Bells:
Salem on the other hand make evil and twisted electro-shoegaze that is far less accessible, but equally lovely. Distorted vocals over distorted bass with stabbing synths and southern hip hop style beats makes for something completely new and all great. It's definitely not for everyone, but in any case it should be checked out just so you know how evil music really sounds... that's "good" evil of course.
Peek Salem (NSFW by the way... slight nudity involved):
