Quite some time has passed since I first mentioned Santigold as part of the Cougar Microbes 2008 end of year breakdown. Those were the early days of this blog (judging by my writing) and while the songstress has drifted in and out of the public eye, wetting our appetite with a hundred amazing collaboration, I think it’s about time to hear a new album.
Having recently dropped the track ‘Go‘, featuring none other than Karen O, my interest has peaked and while she keeps hinting through her twitter account I’m curious to hear what she has come up with.
In the meantime here are some recent and not so recent tracks with N.A.S.A and Cougar idols Beastie Boys as well as her the aforementioned Karen O collaboration.
At the tail end of last month I was lucky enough to witness self-described ‘ambient punk‘ band Deerhunter performing live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Famous for its use of eclectic genres vacillating between shoegaze, psych-pop, post punk, ‘ambient punk’ is definitely the best way to categorise the band. Indeed, the atmosphere that they create live is exceptional, close to a ‘religious experience’ as Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ Karen O once stated.
Seeing them live, the first words that came to my mind were eerie, magical, hypnotic, to the point where the enthusiastic crowd seems to gently turn into a trance. Furthermore, Deerhunter is unquestionably punk, with the rawness of their guitars and frontman Bradford Cox‘s pale and scrawny figure that vaguely resembles a young Thurston Moore.
Founded in 2001, the four-piece is well established as one of today’s leading indie bands, but what distinguishes them from others is their unique style and singular use of pain as the essence to their music. Having suffered the loss of a member in 2001 and with Cox‘s illness, Deerhunter is one those bands that manages to turn negative experiences and emotions, into lyrical, powerful and endearing music without ever becoming melodramatic.
The band mostly performed songs from their three biggest albums, ‘Microcastle‘, ‘Cryptograms‘ and the more recent ‘Halcyon Digest‘. The show began with the sorcerous ‘60 Cycle Hum‘ where the guitars slightly resembles those of Joy Division‘s ‘Transmission‘. To the great pleasure of the audience, the band then followed with ‘Desire Lines‘, surely one of their biggest hit, which definitely made us want to “come with [them], far away, everyday”. A few songs later, the band performed a prodigious version of ‘The Light Pours Out of Me‘ by British post-punk band Magazine, confirming where their roots lie.
The most striking aspect of the concert was probably the undeniable mastering of rhythm the members displayed. Seeing Deerhunter live means rediscovering classic songs such as ‘Agoraphobia‘, ‘Helicopter‘ or ‘Fluorescent Grey‘ with a different ear. A personal highlight was when they performed an absolutely breathtaking rendition of Patti Smith‘s ‘Horses‘, probably one of the most powerful and complex songs ever made. These guys absolutely mastered this iconic song and I was extremely pleased to find that same tense anxiety that is present in the original version.
By the end of the show, the crowd had been pummelled into submission. It seems that whatever Bradford Cox creates, he succeeds. His solo project as Atlas Sound is a masterpiece of both delicacy and ingeniosity. The man is from a different planet, with its own sounds, own rhythms, own rules and own feelings/ Every new album makes us leap a little bit more into this magical and bewitching world.
It seems that when it comes to devising these end of year lists a general question to be asked should be “Have the guys from TV On The Radio been involved in any music this year?”.
Whereas ‘Dear Science,’ marked a brilliant return for the Brooklyn experimentalists in 2008 last year we were treated to the lo-fi aesthetics of Iran, featuring KypMalone on guitar duty as well as DaveSitek manning the production.
This year is the turn of Dave Sitek’s own Maximum Balloon project to take flight. This being very much a studio project meant Sitek did not having to concern himself with how to recreate these songs live. As a result he was able to call up a whole host of talent on the album including KarenO, Theophilus London, DavidByrne as well as his bandmates TundeAdebimpe and the aforementioned KypMalone.
The result is an eccentric and luscious multi-layered album that sounds like it has evolved from the experimentation of ‘Dear Science,’ Whilst I eagerly await a new TVOTR release I am glad to say that MaximumBalloon was more than a suitable replacement in 2010.
Legendary Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O has a very special place in my Cougar heart so when I found out she has taken on the Jackass theme tune I knew I was going to love it.
Her version of ‘If You’re Gonna Be Dumb, You Gotta Be Tough‘ sounds like it wouldnt be out of place on the next Karen O and The Kids outing and the fun feeling that ecompases the recording is positively infectious.
Yeah Yeah Yeahsflirtation with synth-pop was one of the talking points of 2009. Seemingly everyone (with the possible exception of the Pope) praised the bands metamorphosis from angry art-rockers to dance floor conquerors.
It is hard to disagree with this assessment as ‘It’s Blitz‘ is superb. The decision to sacrifice Nick Zinner‘s guitars in favour of a catalogue of synth sounds has not meant abandoning the emotional strengths of their music. Rather, the occasions the guitar does make an appearance are always measured and powerful.
Karen O offers up cool as fuck attitude exorcising her inner Rizzo; complete with a leather coat emblazoned with the legendary KO initials. The lack of the habitual jangly guitars means it is up to her to create the sparks and she seems to cherish the opportunity. One minute she is intimately crooning and the next she is screaming like a banshee yet at no point are her theatrics at the expense of the tracks.
Perhaps the true strong point of this release is how well it works as an album. There is no denying that tracks like ‘Zero‘ and ‘Heads Will Roll‘ have “single material” written all over them but It’s Blitz is best enjoyed as a meandering collection of sparsely interlinked tracks, paced ideally to enjoy its numerous highlights.
Consider this a major statement of intent from a band who were willing to try a new direction and were rewarded for their cojones.
I have to mention the soundtrack for ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ considering Karen O And The Kids featured Brian Chase and Nick Zinner side by side yet again with the enigmatic singer. These songs sound like songs written by children for adults and then performed by adults for children.
The album’s fairytale exuberance is infectious and and Karen O may well have penned one of the last great releases of the last decade.
to feature an array of amazing releases and artists (past, present, old and new) with the goal of promoting them to anyone interested and anyone who stumbles across this site.
If you like any of the tracks, please go buy the albums and help finance the artists producing this great music.
If there are any issues with the tracks featured do not hesitate to contact: "team (AT) Cougar Microbes (DOT) com and we will happily oblige.
Quite some time has passed since I first mentioned Santigold as part of the Cougar Microbes 2008 end of year breakdown. Those were the early days of this blog (judging by my writing) and while the songstress has drifted in and out of the public eye, wetting our appetite with a hundred amazing collaboration, I think it’s about time to hear a new album.
