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FREE SONG DOWNLOAD of "Old Skin" from Young Widows' upcoming Old Wounds album (out September 9 on Temporary Residence). This Louisville trio, and former hardcore band, have created one of the best euphoric, energetic, and abrasive rock albums of the year, taking cues from Jesus Lizard (those basslines, oh maaaan), Melvins, and even something as unhip as Nirvana. Who knew they made them like this anymore!?
Although his debut EP was entitled Battle Times, Koushik makes some of the most sultry music you'll find in our hip-hop section. You may recognize Koushik's name as a member of the Stones Throw collective from one of his critically revered projects like the "Cold Beats" collaboration with legendary MC Percee P or his Madvillain remix record, but his unique sound is unlike the blunted beatsmiths he's liable to get bunched in with. He basically channels '60s psychedelic sunshine pop through Primo-inspired beats in a markedly trip-hop style, and he often interweaves his own mumble-pop vocals deep within the mix. On his first full-length, Out My Window, he has crafted some dense yet touching lullaby-esque tracks that feature ferocious breakbeats where the folk records he references would feature sorrow-laden guitar. The whole album seamlessly bounces from triumph to defeat to downright nonchalance without ever losing its air of boom bap. Present here are moments of the rawest funk, the most relaxing ambient, the densest electronica, and the most saccharine pop that you have heard or will hear in one place for a long time. A definite contender for debut album of the year. (Currently available only as a download, out on CD September 30, 2008.) -Max Gray
It used to be that we could only hand the occasional, random used copy of these CDs or LPs to lucky customers. And usually they had little idea how good the two dating (now married) members of Throbbing Gristle could be while making music that influenced everything from acid house in the '80s to Adult in the '90s and STILL sounds dope today. Maybe you don't even think about vocal, synth-y electronic stuff and are over it. But don't let that stop you from checking this music out. Everyone from fans of the most-friendly electro-pop to the coldest, grimmest, most obscure coldwave to enthusiasts of modern day minimal techno need to get with Chris & Cosey. The best two albums to start with would be Songs of Love and Lust and Techno Primitiv, while the other essential one is Trance. Songs of Love and Techno Primitiv embody the whole romance of two young lovers making jams together, basking in the afterglow of the genius of Throbbing Gristle's United and Hot on the Heels of Love. There's something so naive, innocent but still compelling about Cosey Fanni Tutti's vocals. As an icon, you'd have to put Cosey up there with Siouxsie. You have to realize that the overtly sexual themes in Chris & Cosey's music was a reaction against the ultra serious/boring industrial scene that they were surrounded by. Then there's the synth and drum programming. Strip the vocals off and you have a classic moody Detroit or Chicago house track but with more song structure. And if you really want to get cavernous and dark go with Trance. Absolutely subterranean, probing and claustrophobic earth dub. From there this dynamic duo weaved in and out of more and less engaging records. Synaesthesia was sensual and poppy while the CTI releases/compilations were like the Mingus Jazz Workshop of the synthwave underground. Utterly essential stuff that, if you haven't heard, will make you wonder why you've missed out for so long. -Scott Mou
What we have here is an unreleased soundtrack of a blaxploitation film that was never made. As the story goes, the Final Solution was a four-piece vocal group from Chicago who, along with guitarist-songwriter Carl Wolfolk, were commissioned to compose and perform a soundtrack to a film about a pusher who becomes a preacher. Sensing their break, the band immediately starts to write and record the soundtrack before the film's script was even written. Eventually, the whole project was dropped and the songs were permanently shelved...until now. As a whole, Brotherman is a rather solid collection of sweet Delfonics/Mayfield-style urban '70s soul. The Final Solution boasted tight four-part vocal harmonies, with Wolfolk providing the group with some awesome arrangements that were recorded really well, considering that they were to serve as only working demos. But what really makes this set memorable is Wolfolk's tight, economical rhythm guitar leads over the trio that backs the Final Solution on these tracks. The liner notes describe his playing as "flamenco meets funk," which might be a bit confusing. In reality, it's closer to the slinky, loose, strumming of Ike Turner, Chic's Nile Rodgers, or Keith Richards for that matter. The shimmery intro to "I'm Ready for Love" and the title track are great songs that highlight his unusual style of playing. All in all, another great release from the Numero Group and another great testament to the unparalleled richness of the soul music from this era. -Duane Harriott
The debut full-length by new Matador signing Jaguar Love, featuring ex-members of the Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves, reveals they have next-big-thing potential. The androgynous vocals combined with glam rock guitars equal something resembling David Bowie on 45, making the single "Highways of Gold" completely irresistible. Perfect summer music, and a great new discovery.
The team behind the world-famous animated pop sensation Gorillaz is back with a...Chinese opera. On soundtrack duty, Damon Albarn has created perhaps the furthest imaginable music from the Brit-pop that made him famous. By melding traditional far-east instrumentation with futuristic electronica in a traditional pentatonic scale, this score of sorts is like nothing you've ever heard before on a single record.
The Royal We comes out of the same Glasgow scene that spawned both Belle & Sebastian and Franz Ferdinand, and this self-titled 8-track EP proves that the city isn't about to run out of pop hopefuls anytime soon. Sometimes spunky, and glammy (some of the songs remind us of the Long Blondes just a tad) and violin-laden, almost Dexy's-esque at others, this is 21 brief minutes of sharp, thrilling pop.
Jennifer O'Connor is one of the lesser-known artists on taste-making Matador Records, and her music is not hip; she writes and performs beautiful folk-pop, and why would that call for any apologies? With melancholy songwriting, straightforward arrangements that lay back or rock with equal ease, and O'Connor's clear and husky singing, Here With Me is an album that should far outlive any flavor-of-the moment. |
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