Cougar Microbes

For a band based in Birmingham, an hour and a half away from the nearest beach, there is an uncanny undercurrent of connotations relating Swim Deep to water, as their recently released video shows.

The flickering of the bands logo ‘≈’ (yet another mathematical symbol embraced by a band for its aesthetic appeal) appears before establishing shots of the two characters, in a restful, safe state on a tube home where the boy seems to be reflecting on the mesmerizing contortions in the allure of the water, where anything was possible, yet also there seems to be an trace of melancholia as if what has happened, won’t happen again due to a breakup. For a few brief moments, the band appear as delicate forms in the pool, neither sinking nor floating, simply existing in the empyrean water, before the ‘≈’ once again appears to signify yet another switch into the unknown.

The video has been released at an important time in Swim Deep’s career, just weeks after good friends Peace released “In Love” to massive critical success, showing what is possible for the new age of bands from Birmingham, or B-town as they call it. The video also comes just weeks before Swim Deep set sail on their trans-European headline tour which will quickly be followed by a flotilla of festival appearances during which their debut album ”Where The Heaven Are We” will be released in late July.

As the sign gradually fades, an epic instrumental intro builds anticipation whilst cinematic shots depict a life of discontent and restlessness in a world full of industrial estates and grey and brown bleak backdrops. A deep longing for the soothing blue water is characterised by savouring the times spent making ripples in puddles and long wistful stares out to the river. When the boy makes his way to the pool the girl is already in it, and when the boy jumps in there is a brief sense of serene happiness, yet the girl then looks away simultaneously crushing the boy’s spirit and suggesting that maybe the water is not the idyllic heaven the boy had been expecting. Such subtle moments with big implications reflect the nature of teenage relationships and the angst of categorising life into boxes, a sentiment that has been portrayed well by Georgia Hudson, the video’s director.

The ending shots comprise mainly of the girls figure being blurred by swells in the pool, drawing neat parallels with the idea that the boy was unable to clearly see what was going on in the relationship, the camera then cuts to a shot of the devastated boy lying down as an image of the blue pool fades over the top of him, representing how enticing the sea can be, even if one of the fish were not right for you.

The final image of the video is of the ‘≈’ symbol reaffirming the connection to the water and the waves but also ensuring the image has been burned to the back of your retina so many times that you won’t forget Swim Deep, as if that was at risk.

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Post by Sam

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As the release date for the new Daft Punk record approaches, preceded by the horrible excellent “Get Lucky” single, ‘ I feel the need to celebrate and promote my compatriot French artists.

Here are two remixes of SOHN‘s “The Wheel” and Wild Belle‘s “It’s Too Late” by parisian duo Employee Of The Year. Edouard and Romain have been making music together for a year and describe their sound as ‘slow French‘. That description works for their sound as their slowed down beat, groovy bass-lines and melodic voices are effective and highly enjoyable.

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Post by Olivia

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Last week we featured Lucille and their single ‘Deep In Da Mudd‘ on these pages. It’s worth mentioning I caught the 9-piece live a few weeks back and it was excellent and almost spiritual; as the above video shows.

While the collective may call Tel Aviv their home there is a sense that they could easily be transplanted anywhere in the world and still be killing it live.

Check out these other tracks from their previous EP as we await the results of the album they are currently in the process of recording.

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As reported by our friends over at Fried My Little Brain (as well as pretty much everyone else with an internet connection) Daft Punk dropped a couple of teasers on us both on SNL as well as during their Coachella set.

the robotic French duo are revealing just enough to keep us all on edge without actually showing their cards yet. Still, interest in ‘Random Access Memories‘ continues to reach new heights as guest spots by the likes of Pharrell, Julian Casablancas, Nile Rodgers, Panda Bear and Giorgio Moroder (!!!) have been revealed.

‘Random Access Memories‘ is out in May… we want it now!

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Back in January Tycho played a pair of back-to-back shows at The Troubadour in West Hollywood.

And just so you don’t make the same mistake I did, let me clarify — though both are from San Francisco and both start with “Ty“, Tycho and Ty Segall put on two very different shows.

Yes, admittedly, I thought I was going to see a garage punk band, but ended up with possibly the furthest thing from that: Tycho‘s subdued mix of ambient tunes.

What can I say? There’s a lot of music out there that I’m ever-exploring and my wires got crossed.

No harm, no foul though.

While it was far less aggressive than the punk rock attitude I was expecting, Tycho made up for it in their extremely polished performance and chilled out vibes.

Scott Hansen, a.k.a. Tycho, is also well-known for his graphic design work. His blog, ISO50, was featured on Paste‘s Best Design Blogs of the 2012 list. For Tycho that means developing dreamy visuals of rolling surf and sand dunes, and projecting them on stage. A perfect pairing with the spacious, instrumental music: the two become natural companions, so that one informs the other.

The unexpected star of the night was Rory O’Connor, the drummer, who’s super dynamic and tight rhythms elevated the entire outfit. And it turns out Tycho isn’t the only group benefiting from his mad skills either – he also plays drums in Com Truise.

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Post by @nikki_redhead/ Nicole

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Whether it is solo or as part of his Odd Future it seems Tyler, The Creator is unable to sit still for a minute. In the buildup to the recently released ‘Wolf‘ album Tyler dropped a video for “IFHY“, continuing his streak of ludicrously brilliant vids.

Having just proclaimed (rightfully) to be “dope as fuck” on last year’s “The OF Tape Vol.2” it’s exciting to see what the talented LA madman will pull out of his magic hat next.

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It’s been a whole while since we heard some hip hop that delivers positive vibes while remaining fiercely independent; Lucille seem to have managed just that.

Starting off as a solo project for Argentinean guitarist Izzy the band slowly grew into a veritable family; the 8-piece collective literally showing strength in numbers.

The high all round level of musicianship (particularly a horn section that sparkles stardust on everything it touches) allows for the tracks ideas to take off in multiple exciting directions. With a revolving door of talented guest female vocalists setting the tone Baltimore native MC Rebel Sun spits his confident stream of consciousness rhymes.

Picking up from where The Roots, Jurassic 5 and Dangermouse left off and adding The Gorillaz flair for surprises and dynamic changes means that no two Lucille tracks sound exactly alike.

Following the release of their “Smokin’ Soul” EP last year the band are gearing up for the release of their first full length album due next month.

Could it be that to find the heirs to The Roots throne we were supposed to look to Tel Aviv of all places? Lucille would have you believe so.

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It’s always hard for me to review the Strokes because I’m conscious of being far from objective when it comes to them and that, to counteract my innate subjectivity, I tend to become far too critical. I openly admit to putting them on a pedestal that is so high that even Kanye West‘s ego wouldn’t reach.

The higher the pedestal, the steeper the climb, and with ‘Comedown Machine‘ it feels like The Strokes have failed to achieve previous peaks. To be honest it might even have been acclaimed if it was the work of some new indie band. However, therein lies the problem; The Strokes aren’t just some indie the band, they are… The Strokes; the best thing that happened to NYC garage rock since The Velvet Underground, and most importantly they are the guys behind that revolutionary masterpiece called ‘Is This It‘.

The Strokes are part of a group of bands and artists that have changed the face of music with their debut album, but never managed to attain that level subsequently. ‘Room on Fire‘, their second album was definitely great but not as meticulous, ‘First Impressions of Earth‘ completely divided their fans ( personally, I loved it) and even though ‘Angles‘ was rather innovative, the chaotic relationship between members during the recording process seemed to impact on the overall consistency of the album.

My first reaction when I listened to ‘Comedown Machine‘ was to think ‘where on earth has Julian‘s voice gone? ‘ and ‘Why the Falsetto ? He sounds like the Bee Gees‘. Of course I have nothing against falsettos, but when Julian Casablancas gives up his unique baritone to sing like Tom Yorke‘s little sister…I cannot help but think of this as wrong. It’s just plain wrong. Furthermore it’s not only the tone of his voice that irritates me ( particularly on ‘Tap Out‘, ‘One Way Trigger‘, and ‘50 50‘), but also the fact that he just sounds half asleep and is sometimes barely understandable.

My second reaction was to think that with this album, The Strokes seem to have sadly completely abandoned that special trademark beat, led by Fabrizio Moretti‘s drums that made them so instantly recognizable, and oh so rock ‘n’ roll.

‘Comedown Machine‘ is obviously heavily influenced by 80s sounds, with a lot of synths and electronic beats, and in that way is overall very similar to ‘Angles‘ and Casablancas‘ solo album ‘Phrazes For The Young‘. With this album they make it clear that their sound has significantly changed since they went from a dictatorship to a democracy after ‘First Impressions Of Earth’, and that they’ve moved away from their nervous style towards a much cleaner and funkier one.

I guess anyone who doesn’t know The Strokes well enough would tend to enjoy this new aspect to their music. I don’t. I like the dark, twisted and nervous Strokes. I like The Strokes that make me jump around every time I hear ‘Last Nite‘, lose my breath on ‘Take It Or Leave It‘, and break my voice on ‘Reptilia‘ or ‘Juicebox‘. Most importantly I miss the The Strokes that were everything but funky.

That said, there is this another side to this album which I quite enjoy as it feels like they are trying to go back to basics ( afterall bassist Nikolai Fraiture did say that it was their aim with this album), and it’s quite nice to have songs such as ‘Partners in Crime‘, ‘All the Time‘ or ‘Happy Ending‘ ( by far my favourite song of the album) that have a much ‘Strokes-y‘ feel to them. I was quite taken aback by how ‘Call it Fate, Call it Karma‘ sounds like Fabrizio Moretti‘s side project called Little Joy.

One thing that you can give The Strokes credit for is trying different styles of music and looking for possible evolutions to their own sound. Also it does sound like they finally had fun creating this album. So if there is one band that never sounds the same it’s them, and yes, a lot of people would see this as great.

Personally, I consider this constant vacillation as the identity crisis of a band that was abruptly chosen as the saviours of indie rock, and are now constantly trying to play the part.

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Post by @OliviaScopes / Olivia
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