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FREE SONG DOWNLOAD of "Earwig Town" from Chairlift's album debut, Does You Inspire You. They're a band that's definitely been on our radar and their new record sees the Brooklyn, by way of Boulder, trio fully embracing the electronic elements that were bubbling under their folk-tinged live performances. On "Earwig Town," a brooding bass line holds together a soundscape fit for a road trip through New Mexico, with Kraftwerk in the tank and some lovely hushed harmonies behind the wheel. The full-length is also now available for download on Other Music Digital, and will be out in physical form on October 28.
One of the best new artists in the "nu-disco" genre doesn't come from NYC, Sweden, or Norway, and they aren't Glass Candy or Italians Do It Better-related. Hailing from Australia, they have come outta nowhere to drop one of the freshest sounding dance records of the year so far. The frenetic, frenzied bass lines, avant-retro synths and the stuff you'd normally associate with this music has been replaced with a more mature and, dare I say, sophisticated sound. The Canyons trade the synth arpeggiations, cowbells and handclaps with tropical percussion, warm keyboards and modern sounding electro bass lines and compressed snares. All four tracks here are impressive but my favorite is the opener "Apples and Pears," with its conga breakdowns, rich, yacht rock-esque Rhodes and vocal line. Imagine if Steely Dan ever produced a Sparks album, it would probably sound something like this...I hope. Overall, it's a very impressive debut and a much needed breath of fresh air into the "nu-disco" genre. One of my fave new releases of the year! -Duane Harriott
Speaking of Sparks...the brothers are back with album number 21, and against all odds Exotic Creatures of the Deep is a joyful and passionate bundle of witty, weird pop fun. If you heard 2006's infectious Hello Young Lovers LP, you inevitably have "Dick Around" permanently lodged in your brain, and you also have a pretty good idea of what the new album sounds like. Blissful, buzzing, totally bonkers electro-pop.
A loose collection of twenty-four pieces intended to be used as cell phone ringtones from composer Max Richter -- not the low-bit twee or quirky 'ambient' dronage one might expect (some of that, actually), but more or less just a bunch of short songs all connected by a distinct air of melancholia. Which is partially to say that, thankfully for some, these songs are supposed to be put to use as ringtones is rather ignorable -- it's just as easily appreciated as a good old fashioned record! Truth be told, if I had to hear half of these songs every time I received a call, I'd probably start picking up the phone sounding a little bit depressed. Such an effect, however, in part attests to Mr. Richter's talent as a composer. Heavy-hearted piano and strings, guitar-processing, subdued radio interference and stormy glitchery for your phone or stereo. -Aaron Kant
We know it's seems just unbelievably unlikely that three gay Tampa b-girls could get together with a UK electro-punk production team (HardFeelingsUK) to release a record of old-school hip-hop jams on Domino, and it would rule. Unlikely, maybe impossible, but if a track like "Kryptonite Pussy" won't convince you, you will never understand that odds are set to be flaunted. No joke, this record is too smart, too fun, and too freaking wild to miss out on.
Among the final releases from the super-prolific, recently defunct duo of (D) Yellow Swans, who are among America's greatest and most important psychedelic wrecking units. No hyperbole! Five blissed-out, blown-out songs of heavy droning, ethereal beauty, and serious psych-guitar wrangling recalling Earth's classic visions of the American west, alongside blacker and lower fidelity metals. Unidentified electronics and feedback arcs soar at fearsome altitudes. None do the sludgey, noisey, droney thing better. Familiarize yourself, if you're yet to; Yellow Swans were, and continue to be crucial figures in the recent American underground, and this is a psychically powerful and powerfully beautiful record frequently called one of their later masterworks. -Aaron Kant
A three-song preview for Rong's forthcoming full-length compilation, Notwave.Featured here are London's Striplight whose dubby, percussive stomper is one part Bush Tetras, one part Slits and one part Liquid Liquid. And speaking of, Liquid Liquid's own Sal Principato and Dennis Young turn in an even more dubbed-out club remix for Tussle's "Elephants" (which also includes Other Music's Gerald Hammill on guitar and trumpet, and Pocket turning the production knobs), along with a mid-tempo burner from Welcome Stranger, a/k/a Rub N Tug's Thomas Bullock.
Three decades ago, a hard rock band getting the disco treatment usually meant career suicide, or at very least would lead to some serious backlash from their diehard fans (e.g. KISS' Dynasty), but not in 2008. Holy Ghost's nine-minute dub of the Panthers' "Goblin City" is a first rate DFA production, with pulsing synths, sparkling bells and spacious, interplay between the keyboards. In other words...this rules! |
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