You know that thing when you hear a song on TV or film and you think: ‘Fuck that sounds good‘! Then you go out and buy it and it sounds like a goose farting in the fog?
This isn’t one of them. It happens to me frequently, but I can safely say with or without the effective medium of moving image, Deaf Club‘s ‘Lull EP‘ sounds as epic and evocative by itself, even without gaping landscapes or raucous lovemaking.
‘Forest/Shore‘, although clearly lending itself to images of forests and shores, takes you to the peak of emotion through it’s subtle use of Sigur Ros style guitar and Foals off-high-hat energies.
‘Hana‘ is as apocalyptic as it is a dramatic dawn, it’s rimshots like a tribal dance to a sparse use of bass and relentless twinkling guitar.
‘It, She‘ darkens the mood slightly to a hypnotic drone, reminiscant of Joy Division’s ‘Transmission‘ before a more melodic and couragous chorus kicks in, and the fantastic backing vocals scream from a distant continant.
With or without a David Attenborough TV advert for awesome wildlife, ‘Lull EP‘ will shake your booty whilst you either ball into your jack and coke in ecstasy or give you the unshakable urge to make passionate sexy time to whoever is shaking their fist in the air like a lunatic too.
Melvins had already achieved cult status before some of their fans were even born. Still, the ‘Godfathers of Grunge‘ continue releasing albums and touring prolifically putting many of today’s artist to shame.
The band are currently winding down their European date and are due to play the final show of this tour at Bristol‘s sweet Thekla venue on the 4th of November for what should be an explosive night
Personally, I have a good bond with the venue having played a couple of shows there in my “rockstar” days. Back then I remember crashing on these cute little leather corner sofas whilst the rest of the band where loading the gear. To date some of the best sleep I’ve ever had before the rest of the band dumped a bucket full of water on me!
Presumably the lovable sofas are now gone and there will be no dumping of water this time. Still, it will certainly be great to see Buzz Osborne and co gracing this intimate venue and tearing it’s roof off.
Another Nordic alert from yours trully! Zebra & Snake are from a small town in rural Finland and already quite big in their homeland. I have known od them for quite a while and seen one of their extraordinary live performances.
I am happy to present their latest single ‘Empty Love Song‘ appearing on their first album ‘Healing Music‘ which will be expected in Spring 2012. You can tell their music embodies the cold, serene and rural atmosphere of Finland; perfectly echoing the sound of their home land “ a beautiful open landscape spotted with silent darkness” .
Zebra & Snake are quite difficult to categorise in terms of a specific genre, but they do tend to go towards something that would be along the lines of synth-heavy gothic pop with a voice that slightly resembles Interpol‘s Paul Banks.
I particularly enjoyed this new track as it represents the bands aesthetic perfectly: pure and uncluttered, dramatic and strange, and mostly, innovative. I do think that their music is unique and does not resemble that of anyone else at the moment.
I could not describe this song better than the already uttered “’Empty Love Song‘ is a huge, heartfelt call out to a lost love, building from whispering octaves to an epic conclusion”.
Here is the official video for M83‘s ubiquitous summer hit ‘Midnight City‘ coinciding with the release of the album ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming‘ this week.
directed by French duo Fleur & Manu; the video follows a group of gifted children running away from their captors with Los Angeles acting as a backdrop. Anthony Gonzalez‘s recent relocation to LA may have played a part on the choosing of a location.
Keep your eyes peeled for a NovemberUS tour as well as UK Dates come December but hurry up because tickets are selling out fast.
Here is the new video for Friends‘ infectious ‘I’m His Girl’ track co-directed by by Aurora Halal and lead singer Samantha Urbani.
It’s the perfect companion piece boasting a good dose of retro flair thanks to some lo-fi camera work and 80′s transitions and coming across equally as sassy, cool and confident as the track itself.
If you were at CMJ this week then you may have caught Brooklyn band at one of their numerous performances over the week. If you missed that there’s a bunch of upcoming US and UK dates for you to get your posterior shaking at.
I’ve had this on repeat for a bit and it never gets old. There is a possibility that next time you ask someone ‘hey, have your heard that Friends track?‘ they won’t think you are referring to the sitcom’s theme tune.
Originally Emilywas going to write a ‘Weekend Videos’ installment for Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know‘. Instead we liked her post so much we ended up turning it into a full album review. Here is what she had to say about the video:
‘Somebody That I Used To Know‘ has been the belle of the YouTube ball lately with almost 9 million views in the past 3 months (97 are from me). The clip reminded me of what a music video should be: a visually stunning accompaniment that enhances but doesn’t explain or narrate the song. The track itself is deliciously simple, with minimal instrumentation and vocals that alternate between bare confessional in the verses, and heavily layered harmonies in the refrain.
‘Making Mirrors‘ is the third studio album by Melbourne act Gotye, released in August. Gotye (pronounced gore-ti-yeah) is really one-man wonder Wally De Backer, armed with a sampler and the kind of home studio set up any musician would kill for. When he’s not drumming for indie rock trio The Basics, De Backer builds catchy songs on and around his own recorded samples.
But before you throw him in with Girl Talk (though who doesn’t love Girl Talk), it’s worth mentioning that the hook samples are obscure and generally brief, not the sort of recognisable licks that find their way onto a Kanye West album. Legend has it that De Backer began sampling after he inherited a hefty collection of old LPs from an elderly neighbour, which explains why most of the samples aren’t immediately identifiable. With this newest album, De Backer relied heavily on live recording drums and acoustic instruments, and then sampling and manipulating them for the desired effect.
The album has already supplied 3 impressive singles—the most recent, “Somebody That I Used To Know” is deliciously simple, with minimal instrumentation and vocals that alternate between bare confessional in the verses, and heavily layered harmonies in the refrain. It’s a formula that also works in the album’s first single; “Hearts a Mess” is catchy and powerful, more uptempo than “Somebody” but more haunting as well.
Every track on ‘Making Mirrors‘ showcases De Backer’s talent for crafting enjoyable and ear-grabbing tunes, but one track stands out above the others lyrically: “Eyes Wide Open,” the second single to be released. Even with a fairly complex instrumentation (including the catchiest gallop beat ever recorded), it’s still the vocals and lyrics that project the most. The song, which De Backer describes as a “dystopian vision” of the world’s future, is the first that he wrote in what we might consider the ‘traditional’ way—he constructed the song and then worked samples and live recordings into it, as opposed to building the song up from samples.
The rest of the album is a surprising mix of light and dark, with a few heavy songs interspersed between upbeat jams. But the real magic in this album is the pure joy that comes through most of the songs—they have the magnetic delight of motown, that tambourine clap-happy energy that has always made the Golden Oldies so irresistible. “I Feel Better” is the best example of this, since it could probably pass for a Four Tops song, with a twist.
De Backer records, produces, and mixes all the music for Gotye, and recorded ‘Making Mirrors‘ in his parents’ barn. I should probably pretend that it is his ingenious use of original samples, or his knack for production, that makes this album so solid, and the songs so dynamic. But truthfully, the songs stand on their own as well-constructed and memorable tracks, regardless of the recording methods.
As most music snobs, I profess to love analog and sniff at all things digital; but it is a more and more irrelevant point of reference these days, when even ‘live’ recordings are manipulated to fit modern standards of perfection. ‘Making Mirrors‘ is a pleasing combination of both, with layers that blend live and sampled tracks in a way that pop music hasn’t seen yet.
Fresh off the back of a successful nationwide tour Matt & Kimhave just announced a special New Years Eve show.
The Brooklyn mischief makers will be playing at the Hammersmith Ballroom on December 31st for what is set to be an electrifying way to end the year and usher in 2012.
For those of you who are interested tickets are available today at noon EST.
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