///▲▲▲\\\


Beta Tape Warp // ///▲▲▲\\\

///▲▲▲\\\, also known as VOID, actually recently changed their name to HORSE MACGUYVER, and I can’t decide if that’s an improvement. But regardless of whether you call them ///▲▲▲\\\, VOID, or The StupidNames, they make some great music. Their real strength lies in their commitment to building a solid foundation for each song. Too many tracks in this and other experimental genres forget to lay a meaningful foundation for their songs, leaving their experiments and those listening with nothing to grab onto. ///▲▲▲\\\ ‘s tracks always have a simple drum pattern and either bassline or melody that the listener can nod along to while the track gains complexity.
How They Kill You begins with rusty sounding drums that anchor the haunted house organ and ghostly moaning. Beta Tape Warp similarly introduces itself with a primitve clap and bass thump, and rather than depending on the drums as an anchor it employs a simple ascending synth pattern that closes the track, as if to highlight its role. Finally Tetanus Wine employs the now expected clattering drums as an anchor, but drops them for the last minute of the track, making the listener feel lost, floating in static.

†‡†

gOth bb // †‡†

This band, who on their soundcloud refer to themselves as rrritualzzz(which I will be abbreviating to rituals for the rest of the post) lean heavier on the goth/industrial side of things than any of the groups I’ve mentioned previously. They frequently employ jarring synth stabs that contrast with rumbling war drums to heighten the drama of their tracks. “g0th bb” uses a basic bass and kick pattern whose distant rumble makes the synth stabs and screams drill into the listener’s skull when the occur. >>>>▲<<<<< is a remix of HEALTH’s "USA Boys", but because it emphasizes the melodrama hidden within the original with the addition of a distant, reverbed vocal sample, I prefer it to the original. Finally "Initiation" wins the award for most appropriately named track, not that it was a tough race. It starts slow, with a delicate chime, gradually chugging drums encroach on the chime, threatening it until the bass and more mechanical percussion overwhelm it. The track builds, speeding up into a full scale synth nightmare, annihilating any trace of the restrained delicate chime with screeching synths, an otherworldly drone, and surprisingly speedy drums. This track in particular highlights what good Witch House does: create fear by overwhelming and destroying the familiar, the pretty. Initiation, although melodramatic, is my favorite rituals track.

GR†LL GR†LL
They All // GR†LL GR†LL

Honestly these guys didn’t stand out to me that much, aside from this track, “They All”, which completely grabbed me. It barely fits the genre, with nothing but a subtle background drone and a fondness for claps suggesting Witch House. But those drums and that chopped up vocal sample just bang. This is driving music. I’m burning a CD with just this on it, cranking the bass, and listening to nothing else while I still have a car. Seriously, just listen.

Truth be told , ‘God Willin’ is one of the few albums in recent memory that has ‘shrunk’ on me rather than growing. Thats not to say that I don’t like the album – I probably wouldn’t be posting this if I didn’t, and individually, the songs on the album are pretty great. The thing is, at first I was extremely happy to hear Ray returning to the folk stylings of ‘Trouble,’ his first album and possibly my favorite – I have been slightly hesitant to like 2008′s ‘Gossip in the Grain’ because of how much of an exploration it was for Mr. LaMontagne. As compared to ‘Trouble’, the new album has better production and a lot of good jams – a sign of more maturity and Ray having a little more money to spend on producing the album. However, after  a few listens, it has become apparent to me that ‘God Willin’ is a little flat – single dimensional. With the exception of the first track, Repo Man, almost all the tracks are interchangeable within the album and they sound awfully similar.

That said, it might be hard to communicate my disappointment with the album via the blog. Posting a few songs won’t get the point across, as each of the songs individually are impressive works of music. Because of this I’m in a bit of a conflict – I can’t recommend just a few songs to buy, yet I’m hesitant to recommend purchasing the album unless you’re already a Ray LaMontagne fan because it might not be a record that sticks. Oh well, just listen to the tracks below, buy a few songs, and if you like them, buy some more.

Old Before Your Time// God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise

Seemingly a spinoff of an Allman Brothers track, Ray’s song is lyrically more impressive than the classic ‘Old Before My Time.’ The guitar and steel string guitar and banjo are typical folk fare and not particularly inventive, but are certainly enough to keep your toe tappin. Honestly, I listen to Ray for his voice anyway, so the instrumentation could barely bother me.

Like Rock & Roll and Radio// God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise

This song is delightfully bare. The lyrics are elegantly written, but centered around the almost cliché chorus ‘Are we strangers now/like rock & roll in the radio?,’ they don’t aim to impress, they are just honest and heartfelt. The simple guitar riff is repeated throughout the six-minute song, without much development but somehow it works. For me, what steals the my attention on this track is the harmonica – it is fleeting, not too embellished, and stands out very clearly where it appears.

Honestly though, one of the most promising things about this album is what it means. It is the first album Ray has produced himself. As I was discussing with Madison DuPree of Predictably Me, after releasing this album, Ray seems poised to release a masterpiece next time around. It seems like Ray has stuck to a strict 2 year timetable for album releases, with a solid goal with each. For 2004′s Trouble, Ray defined his own sounds as an emerging artist, cementing himself as a powerful folk voice. With 2006′s Till the Sun Turns Black, Ray developed his baroque sensibilities and getting a little more upbeat. In 2008′s Gossip in the Grain, Ray seems to have gotten in touch with his roots, exploring funk, soul, and many genres and paying homage to them. God Willin’ in the Creek Don’t Rise has Ray sinking back into his beard musically – into his comfort zone – so as to allow him to exercise more command over his backing band and to cement his abilities as a producer. I’m excited for whatever is next.

The question of the hour seems to be ‘Who is Jon Black?’ Turns out he is a singer-songwriter based out of Alabama. Story has it that Jon started his music career after the fire alarm went off at his software corporation and he realized how much corporate America wasn’t for him. Whatever the deal is, I’m glad he made the decision to focus his life on music. Though I was too out of it to give him a good listen last night, I’ve revisited him over the past couple of hours and I like what I hear. He has a voice that could fit in an indie pop band as well as indie folk. It is one of those rather marketable voices – it reminds me of Wilco sometimes, Damien Rice others, and even has a hint of City and Colour in it.

As far as the instrumentals and lyrics go, he’s got a pretty diverse blend of stuff. His solo stuff is typical (but well written) indie folk. When with his band (The Winter Hearts), things get a little more diverse –  sometimes they’ve got a bit of a country twist (I would say twang, but I wouldn’t describe Jon’s vocals as twangy), and sometimes they launch into ballads assisted by piano and some nice bubbly or flowing synths. Very very accessible stuff – I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten more recognition yet.

Drove To Knoxville// You’re Welcome (Free Sampler)

I really like the build in the intro of this song – quick and clean, the instruments come in one at a time, and then Jon’s voice soars over all of them. His backup singer makes a great contribution that gives some good body to the song. While the lyrics aren’t groundbreaking, there are some clever lines. All in all, the song almost makes me want autumn to come a little sooner. The one thing that bothers me about the track is how abruptly it ends… the final line seems to be begging for a different melodic structure.  But truth be told, it continues on the next track – it’s not something that I’d expect on a sampler, but I guess its alright.

Gravity (Don’t Let Me Go)// Dining Room Sessions Vol. 1

I don’t know what it is about this track, but it stands out. I haven’t been listening to Jon long enough to call it a favorite, but I could certainly see it getting there. I think it might be the driving guitar riff in the solo version, or the way Jon’s voice swells and recedes. It has me tapping my feet even this minute. To be honest, the full band version sounds a little crowded and noisy – the drums and the guitar aren’t clean-cut, and they way the piano is layered with the guitar isn’t perfect. That said, I’m glad he released the acoustic version – I’d be missing a great song otherwise.

Either way, Jon has a lot of promise. I can see it getting to the point where people are no longer asking ‘Who is Jon Black?’ in the not too distant future. If you like what you’ve heard, be sure to check out his download site powered by bandcamp. He’s got some free stuff there, but while you’re at it, you should probably pony up a few bucks and grab some of the paid stuff.

4HJ8GE2FEP2C

Thinking Plague

I have two albums by Thinking Plague; their third album, In This Life, and their fourth album, In Extremis. I wish I could talk about each song on each album in great detail, because they are all so different, both from each other, and from any other music I’ve heard. However, that would take up too much space, and it would be a little sketchy of me to post entire albums on this blog. So, I’m going to pick a couple songs from each album, and talk about them for a little bit.

Lycanthrope//In This Life//Thinking Plague

This is the first song off In This Life, which was released in 1989. It begins with a rhythmically asymmetric guitar riff, one which which wouldn’t be out of place in your average prog-rock song. But just as you’re growing accustomed to the riff, the guitar drops out and the rest of the band comes in with a completely different, almost atonal riff in another meter. The drums and bass then drop out and begin a sort of call-and-response with an eerie vocal melody. Suddenly, the song breaks down to the original guitar riff, this time accompanied by what sounds like a synth lead and a melodica playing a melody and counter-melody. The vaguely-atonal riff then comes back with the first vocal melody over it, which somehow works.

Of course, that was only about the first minute-and-a-half of the song. If I went on in this much detail about the next 6 minutes of the song this would be a very long post. But I think you get the idea. The point is that this is very eclectic music, but in my opinion, despite its constant changes in meter, key, and tempo, it works. They continue with several more variations on the themes introduced in the beginning of the song, before devolving into strange noises for the last minute or so.

The Gaurdian//In This Life//Thinking Plague

This is another song from In This Life. It begins with a Middle Eastern-sounding ostinato played by the guitar and bass over a psuedo-march on the drums. The vocals come in, eerie as usually, a bit reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit in inflection, but much creepier in my opinion. The next riff, in an odd meter of course, sounds like a cross between Schoenberg and the chorus of Roy Orbison’s Crying. And I’ve got to say, it sounds pretty awesome. Structurally, this is one of Thinking Plague’s simpler songs, as it mostly alternates between those two sections with small variations. It’s almost as if the song has a verse and a chorus. While I chose the previous song I discussed for how all-over-the-place it is, this song is repetitive to the point of being hypnotic.

Dead Silence// In Extremis// Thinking Plague

This is possibly my favorite Thinking Plague song, the first track off their fourth album, In Extremis. It beings with the unlikely combination of odd-metered power chords with an atonal synth line. The vocals then come in, panning from left to right between each line, creating the illusion of a call-and-response. Next comes a twelve-tone section that sounds like Stefan Wolpe tried to write music for a rock band. Back to the original riff, now with some really intense intense guitar and bass hits, which lead into a heavier section that sounds like prog rock, except creepier, especially with the ultra-fast dissonant arpeggios on the guitar. They then repeat that form, except with a tempo fluctuation that seems like it would be impossible to pull off as a band, but they do. The rest of the song is part jazz fusion, part math rock, part evil circus clown music, and all ridiculously technical. And yet somehow it seems to work. At least I think so…

Maelstrom// In Extremis// Thinking Plague

I had to include this track just for how intense and schizophrenic it is it is. It’s also from In Extremis, and actually may not be the weirdest song on the album, believe it or not. But it is appropriately titled. It begins with a super dissonant guitar riff that nevertheless has some structure to it, and their vocalist at the height of creepiness. The song alternates between this guitar-and-vocals creepiness and a painfully complex prog riff, before coming in with what sounds like a glockenspiel solo. Then the heavy shit comes in. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you get to thus part, because it is essentially atonal heavy metal. Then everything cuts out except a 20th century-esque string section, which segues into a guitar riff, which in turn becomes more evil clown music until the song abruptly ends.

If you’re wondering, it indeed has occurred to me that after listening to these songs you may be staring at your computer in bewilderment, wondering why anyone would want to listen to Thinking Plague, let alone write about them. But I counter that this is some of the most original music out there; it refuses to conform to genres, or stay in one place in any sense, even within songs. These are musicians who are essentially doing whatever the fuck they feel like – like small children playing with blocks, except instead of blocks they have instruments of which they happen to be virtuosic players. I respect them for their ability to make whimsical music that actually has some musical merit to it (keep in mind that compared to some avant-garde music Thinking Plague sounds absolutely in-the-box), and I’ve grown to genuinely enjoy listening to them. If you think I’m full of shit and have terrible taste in music right now, all I can say is give them a few more tries, and see if you can acquire a taste for Thinking Plague.

I love jam bands. This fact makes me somewhat of a pariah in elitist music communities. It is puzzling to me because I think that all music lovers should appreciate live improvisational music in proportion to its skill. But some of my elitist friends say to me: “Jake, how do you listen to such long songs?!” Well, I jam out when I’m working on the computer; I jam out in the car when I’m on the go; and sometimes I just jam out when I’m on the toilet, taking a shit.

I understand some people’s objections to jam bands, but I think I have a knockdown argument here: I mean, what else are you going to do while you’re on the toilet, if not listen to long, live, improvisational music?

In the spirit of this question, I’d like to show you a shit-length jam from the first Phish concert I ever attended – Red Rocks, Colorado, in August 2009. If you are not a fan of jam bands, I ask that you suspend judgment until all seventeen minutes and fifty-four seconds are up, or until you are done shitting.

The highlights include: piano bliss (3:15 – 3:50), rising action (4:30 – 5:00), energetic transition to the funk (6:30 – 7:00), bass jam (13:25 – 14:30), a cappella jam (14:30 – end, although gets pretty weird).

Phish - You Enjoy Myself (2009-08-02 Red Rocks, CO)

Enjoy, don’t cramp up, and wipe well!

There are a lot of acts that could be called witch house, so I’m going to do quick profiles on the ones that stood out to me. This certainly isn’t a comprehensive survey, and new groups are springing up all the time, so I’ll try to post on some of the better ones if I can.

The biggest names in witch house right now are Salem and Balam Acab.

Salem

King Night// Salem

Asia// Salem

Redlights// Salem (EP Version)

Although essentially all of these groups owe major debts to hip hop, particularly the syrup-screwed sounds of South Houston, Salem in particular wear this influence proudly on their sleeves. “Bury My Heart Inna Wounded Knee”, a recently released mixtape, shows Salem screwing and pitchshifting vocals and instrumentals until they’re cold molasses slow. “King Knight”, Salem’s most well know release so far, begins with an eerily slowed sample before they let loose the drum machines. The drums are classic southern 808s, frequently employing snare rolls that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Weezy track.

Having released “Water” and “Yes I Smoke Crack” in 2008, Salem are considered the founders of the genre, but they only began to blow up when imitators arrived on the scene in late 2009. “King Night” is not only Salem’s debut album, but actually the first true Witch House album. Fortunately for fans of the music, the tracks that have been released are promising. The titular “King Knight” employs powerful drum machines, chopped up synths and some traditionally spooky vocals to produce an overwhelming atmosphere. Redlights, a track originally on “Yes I Smoke Crack” again features a hip hop beat combined with contrasting vocals, but it adds an industrial sounding distorted guitar that add weight to the track. Finally, Asia sounds the most industrial of all, featuring mechanical percussion, dissonant, buzzing synths, and reverbed-into-oblivion vocals. Salem’s hip hop heavy approach makes them one of the most approachable bands in this genre, and I think one of the best.

Balam Acab

See Birds// Balam Acab

Heavy Living Things// Balam Acab

There is (relatively) considerable debate over whether Balam Acabs music even constitutes witch house. For many, Balam Acab is too dubstep influenced, too danceable, too fucking fun to truly be witchhouse. I disagree. While Balam Acab may not be as slow as Salem or Mater Suspiria Vision, they still manage to create a dark, oppressive atmosphere. Consider a track like Heavy Living Things. The beat grinds and creaks more than a haunted house door, and the vocals sounds plenty ghostly. See Birds is certainly faster, but it too creates an oppressive atmosphere with sparse, overdriven bass and an otherworldly moan that mutates into a ghostly chorus. Like Salem, Balam Acab have less of an industrial influence than some witch house artists, but they certainly don’t suffer because of it.

Be sure to read my next post Wednesday, when I’ll discuss the bands †‡†, ///▲▲▲\\\
and why this genre’s naming conventions are fucking idiotic!

Entitled ‘Things You Think’, the new song/VideoSong features some extremely complex layering, but is executed almost perfectly. Some people might be a little turned off by Nick Hornby’s role in the song – he reads interesting statistics, cutting away from the musical aspects of the collaboration. Personally, I’m a fan – Nick has a comforting, but intelligent voice, and it just works. Really exciting to me is the fact that both Nataly and Jack sing along with Ben, bringing together some really great voices. The chorus ‘smoke your little smoke/ drink your little drink/ try to make sense of the things that you think’ is unimaginably catchy, especially since it is Ben Folds singing it repeatedly. After the jump, the other single from Ben Folds’ new album.

As mentioned above, Ben Folds and Nick Hornby have released one of the songs from the album Lonely Avenue (out Sept. 28). What is most striking about it is how it still seems so… Ben Folds… despite Hornby having written the lyrics. That said, the lyrics are great.

From Above// Lonely Avenue

By the way… if you surf the web a little, you might be able to find demos like ‘Levi Johnston’s Blues’ and ‘Picture Window.’ And for Pomplamoose fans… keep in mind the announcement that “If you’re a Pomplamoose fan, the next eight weeks are going to a little crazy…” We’ll see what that means, if it gets any crazier than this, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m extremely glad they’re getting this kind of recognition.

To be honest, I’m not sure if I like the song more for the video or the actual song itself. While Example’s original version has its own merits, it is Bar9′s remix that really shines. The heavy dubstep lends a more serious air to the song and just makes me want to move (I just wish I knew how to pop properly). At the same time, the video is really impressive. It is somehow cute and romantic despite being almost entirely fight scenes. It is bad ass, despite the fact that it is completely unrealistic. Basically, I wish I was as kickass as the dude in the video, but that I never had to deal with what he has to deal with in the video. Whatever, just watch it (after the jump).

Kickstarts (Bar9 Remix) – Example

And as a bonus, a track from Example’s 2007 Mixtape ‘We didn’t Invent the Remix,’ a remix of Toxic by Britney Spears entitled ‘Toxic Breath’. Enjoy the lyrics.

Toxic Breath// We Didn’t Invent the Remix

Filed under: Dubstep, Electronic, Hip Hop Tagged: Bar9, Britney Spears, Example ]]> http://malleusincus.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/make-an-example/feed/ 2 jurbanik example http://malleusincus.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/the-gospel-of-the-coen-brothers/ http://malleusincus.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/the-gospel-of-the-coen-brothers/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 05:23:28 +0000 Sam http://malleusincus.com/?p=1355 ]]>

The Coen Brothers are my current thing (along with Scrabble). I spent the summer scouring the public library’s DVD collection for any of their movies I could find. I was even willing to shell out a few bucks for the ones that weren’t readily available by means of a library card. One thing that always interested me about them is how music seems to play a larger role in their films than in most. Along with the uniformly-superb scores of Carter Burwell, they like to utilize musical genres to firmly plant their movies in a certain place or time (e.g. O Brother, Where Art Thou? with its folk music or A Serious Man with Jefferson Airplane). What I’m posting are two of my favorite movie-music moments of all time. While The Ladykillers isn’t generally considered to be one of the Coens’ best efforts, it holds a special place in my heart for two reasons: it was my first Coen Brothers film, and the music is amazing. Here we go:

Shine On Me // Abbot Kinney Lighthouse Choir

Trouble of this World // Abbot Kinney Lighthouse Choir

These two songs made the movie for me. I hope you like them as much as I do. I’m usually not a fan of gospel-y music, but I seriously love these songs.

Of course this doesn’t include the few artists (like She and Him or Arcade Fire) that have both male and female vocalists, but that is six whole collaborations. I’m not saying there aren’t other good ones out there, but those are the only ones that have been particularly memorable for me. I really can’t understand why: male-female duets seem one of the promising musical possibilities out there. They appeal to audiences that like male and female vocalists, the multiple main voices gives the potential for more narrative lyrics, the male and female tonal ranges are typically different and a good match can create great harmonies, they’ve got the potential for extreme romanticism… the list goes on and on. I can understand that it might be hard to find artists that interface well in terms of rhythmic, vocal, stylistic, and lyrical tendencies, but I would think more artists would at least try to capitalize on this potentially vast marketability. Certainly Hip Hop and R&B artists seem to have no problem executing collaborations… I can’t understand why it is so different for singer-songwriters.

In a vain attempt to ameliorate this shortage – no, I’m not delusional enough to think that malleus&incus has the influence to actually control who collaborates – I went through my library and tried to pick out a few artists that might would pair well together in a duet. Don’t yell at me for not picking the best combinations possible – I wanted to blog a few artists and blog this post at the same time, so not all of the my picks are ‘optimal.’ I’ll be honest, I wrestled with how to go about this post for a long time – how long should it be, should I pick the artists that fit best or that I want to cover, how should I analyze a hypothetical duet? I’d appreciate any feedback or any suggested pairings you might think of. Just as a heads up, the female song will be first in each combination, though I’m sure you can figure that out by hitting the play button.

A Fine Frenzy & Alexi Murdoch

Think of You// One Cell In the Sea

Slow Revolution// Towards the Sun

Quite possibly the most gorgeous redhead in the world and the man with the sexiest voice currently alive, Allison Sudol (A Fine Frenzy) and Alexi Murdoch could make a very powerful duet. Between Allison’s proclivity toward more morose lyrics and Alexi’s deep voice that is sad yet empathetic, we’ve got the magic combination for a breakup duet. Whether it be an epic with a storyline or merely a conversation, I wouldn’t expect a duet between these two to feature much in the way of harmonies. Allison seems to have a smile on no matter how dark her lyrics are, and I imagine this would be great for some sassier verses in response to Alexi’s fruitless attempts at comforting. A Fine Frenzy’s chime and bells filled instrumentals are bright and sparkly, so I feel like Alexi’s acoustic guitar work might be more appropriate. While certainly not the best pairing, I feel like the slight discord might lend to an even more convincing result.

Laura Marling & Fink

I Speak Because I Can// I Speak Because I Can

Nothing Is Ever Finished// Sort of Revolution

Fin Greenall and Laura Marling are two criminally underrated singer-songwriters. While Laura’s fan base has exploded lately, Fink still hasn’t gotten the recognition he deserves. In case you were wondering, no they have not performed together; I just had a little fun in photoshop (not that it is actually that convincing). However, both hail from the southern side of England, something that may be partly responsible for their voices fitting so well together. Fink’s is certainly more husky and masculine, but both have an impressive range and a little bit of up-swinging twang to their voice, have deeper voices, and tend to resolve lines on a low note. Interestingly enough, this style seems to have grown on Laura – in songs like the older New Romantic, she has a more prototypical British female vocal style. The change is a good thing in my opinion. Honestly, the first riff in ‘I Speak Because I Can’ sounds exactly like a Fink song might. As far as the actual (well, hypothetical) duet goes, I would imagine that these two could sing about just about anything as long as they harmonize, and I would like it. Truth be told, Laura’s album does feature some male-female harmonization, but the male vocalists are unnamed and seem to act more as backup singers than a full-fledged duet. As far as instrumentation, I can see some somewhat complex guitar interplay and the mellowed out tempo typical of Fink’s songs going down. I honestly think if these two collaborated, they could have a breakout hit that might push both into the limelight.

Charlotte Gainsbourg and Oren Lavie

In The End// IRM

A Dream Within A Dream// The Opposite Side of the Sea

Honestly, these two are the reason for writing this post. I happened to have iTunes on shuffle only to find an Oren Lavie song followed by a Charlotte Gainsbourg song. It felt like fate had struck. I don’t doubt that a few of you recognize the Gainsbourg name – Charlotte is indeed the anglo-french daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, Serge being arguably one of the most influential popular musicians and Jane being nearly equally as influential in various respects (wiki them if you want to know more). The beautiful Charlotte has made a name for herself in acting and as a musician, with her most recent “IRM” calling Beck its producer. On the other hand, Oren Lavie is an Israeli who is arguably better known for his directing than his music. His play Sticks and Wheels and production thereof received prizes at the Israeli Acco festival, and his music video for ‘Her Morning Elegance‘ received a Grammy nomination in 2009. More important than their relative backgrounds, though, is how well the two could fit together. IRM makes it apparent that Charlotte is nearly as versatile as her father, especially when assisted in production by Beck. ‘In the End’ demonstrates a style that would fit in perfectly with Oren’s style – slow-paced, orchestrated like a film, full of gentle vocal melodies followed by a melodic bass line, and dream-like vocal qualities. If Charlotte tried to fit Oren’s styling, I feel like things would just click. Just give the songs a listen and you’ll know what I mean – to attempt to explain the compatibility of the two styles exceeds my limits of my descriptive ability. Honestly, they should make an entire album together. Please.

P.S. ‘A Dream Within A Dream’ absolutely should be in the Inception soundtrack, it would have worked perfectly for any number of slow motion scenes or scenes in limbo. I wish I had the video editing skills to make a fan music video using clips from the film…if anyone does, you know what to do.

Filed under: Indie, Singer-Songwiter Tagged: A Fine Frenzy, Alexi Murdoch, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Fink, Laura Marling, Oren Lavie ]]> http://malleusincus.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/a-plea-for-duets/feed/ 4 jurbanik collage alexi&allison laurafink charlotteoren http://malleusincus.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/sleeper/ http://malleusincus.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/sleeper/#comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:50:52 +0000 girrig http://malleusincus.com/?p=1309 ]]> In an album chock full of gold, the coolest track often lies unnoticed. Amidst all the perfect pop songs on Gorillaz’ Plastic Beach, and amidst all the high-profile cameos — from Snoop Dogg to Lou Reed — it’s easy to lose sight of the best one.

Gorillaz – Empire Ants feat. Little Dragon

What makes this song so striking is the unexpected metamorphosis halfway through. It’s two totally different songs smacked together, glued to one another with just a little crossfade — and somehow it all works. Starts with a swaying, islandy breeze and Damon Albarn singing pleasantly but sort of forgettably. Then out of nowhere, the temperature drops several hundred degrees and some club-worthy synths slink into the mix like a lynx. All of a sudden it’s a streamlined and shadowy and chromed-out beat, like something out of a car commercial if car commercials were fucking awesome. The guest appearance is Little Dragon, a Swedish band that works this electronic masterpiece like only the Swedish can [see: The Knife].  I would have trouble believing that frontwoman Yukimi Nagano is human, or that she is comprised of solid matter. She sings in clouds: her voice is less a concentrated discrete “voice” than a lazy vocal haze drifting in and out of the track at whim. Her cadence is crazy and unreadable as she sings over her own echoes, a spectral overlap effect that Albarn probably cooked up just like he cooked up every gorgeous little detail on this album. He is a genius.

Anyway, the two halves of the track meld together perfectly, and the end result is a full day on the (plastic) beach: sunny coconut sipping by day and some kind of super-sleek-chic dance party by night. The sun sets at 2:15 in this song.

If you, like me, couldn’t get that voice out of your head, here is some more Little Dragon for you. Featuring snails

But music heals all wounds. A few words from me to Emma via the Cee-lo Green (of Gnarls Barkley fame):

A Band of Horses cover

The new YouTube sensation from Cee-lo Green

obligatory crappy iPhone picture

Really, everything that happened before the encore is something of a blur: the set was excellent, in a satisfying, expected way. Old favorites were faithfully reproduced, fresh new Suburbs tracks were dutifully deployed, and we all nodded along. For obvious reasons, being in a stadium robs you — I’m speaking from an odd little perch in the box seats — of the intimacy of a smaller venue. There’s just a nagging feeling that there’s an elephant in the room, only the elephant is made out of several thousand cubic feet of air. An imposing hollowness, a barrier in itself. Frontman Win Butler at one point bravely attempted to perforate that barrier by plunging into the audience, but ended up just sort of walking through a devastatingly tame crowd and awkwardly crabwalking along a rail. Granted, that would’ve been a lot of fun had we been on the Terrace dance floor, but unfortunately these gestures don’t really translate to one of the world’s biggest stadiums. I thought they were at their best when they stood their ground, relegated their energies to the stage, and let the lights do the fancy tricks. Along the way, they got a few participatory yelps from the audience — a nice spattering of “Hey!”s during “No Cars Go” — but no real tremors. The set ended, strategically withholding some choice earth-shakers.

Arcade Fire – No Cars Go

And then the encore — but what is an encore really, anymore? it’s practically built-in to the set at this point. In any case they walked off the stage, walked back on the stage, brought in the heavy artillery, shattered the invisible barrier and got us on our feet.  Guaranteed crowd-pleasers, starting with this one.

Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

That piano was a jangling ghost, a bag full of ivory bones, rising and fading slowly folding into itself — the unmistakable mark of my favorite Arcade Fire song. Then the drum & guitar lurch, then Win Butler’s voice cracking in all the right places, strained taut with with that very special brand of Texan angst. Tunnels! Tunnels straight through everyone; floored.

Then came a Suburbs song that I don’t really recall because it was sandwiched by such glory. It was a laid-back track, and Win cut it off halfway, feeling a lukewarm audience response, then restarted it, urging us to get into it because didn’t we know that was his wife singing that beautiful song? So we got into it and she finished it. He wouldn’t have to ask twice to get the audience involved on the next one.

Arcade Fire – Wake Up

0000-OOOO-00-OO-00-oo oooo-OOOO 00-OO-00-oo oooo-OOOO oo-OO-oo-oo … everyone sang along because everyone knew the “words.” Never have vowel sounds been so roar-worthy. They whaled away at that bass drum, hammering all our heartbeats into one. This is not an exaggeration. This was the stuff of cliché: the weird, wide-eyed moment where you realize you’re acting out an unrealized ideal, something that should appear in movies and in cottony dreamscapes but could never be acted out in reality. Columns of noise extended from each throat, connecting us all in a thick web of communal howl. Any sentient being in that room had  at least one arm in the air and their dumbly smiling jaws splayed wide open with sound — that song seared itself onto our ears and throats, reminding us why people pay to watch other people play music. (I even spotted some security guards dancing along.) And when it was over it was like we had emptied all our remaining energies into the air; I was totally physically (and spiritually?) drained. Madison Square Garden suddenly became a weird kind of emotional/aural vacuum and I drifted off in a daze.

Leaving the stadium in droves, no less than 3 different groups of people tried to recreate that shout-a-long, and everyone else was happy to oblige. As I left I tried to think of someone else I would’ve loved to shout along to in concert. The answer was incredibly obvious.

TO BE CONTINUED…

I just happened across a track from a younger Ke$ha on my friend’s tumblr and I’m still in shock. The act responsible for my ‘Tik Tok’ and ‘Blah Blah Blah’ themed nightmares actually has a voice under all the glitzy synths, vocoders, and autotune.

Goodbye// Untitled Demo

In the words of my friend Leana (or as she’d like to be known, Leana the Great), “I don’t even understand. She doesn’t even sound like a scary gangster woman!” In fact, she has a pretty good voice, and was at one point capable of some natural vocal embellishments. Keep in mind this is Kesha Sebert seven years ago – don’t hope for this kind of material to come back. The song is still barely passable in the lyrics department, but the fact that she actually is able to sing made my jaw drop.

While I’m at it, I thought I would post some of the impressive acoustic versions of Lady Gaga songs (performed by Gaga herself). She has an amazing command of the keyboard, and really is quite talented despite all of her oddities. One of the few ‘pop’ artists that sounds good while live.

As if this wasn’t enough, it seems as though the Stevens brothers are very close. Whether it be recording things in their tape recorder at a young age, as in the clip Godzuki from Sufjan below, appearing in press photos together, Sufjan recording some of his early albums at the school Marzuki worked at, or Sufjan naming the band he was part of at Hope College after his older brother (more on this after the jump), it seems the brothers are good friends. As for Djohariah, it is very hard to know.

Godzuki// A Sun Came!

It seems as though many people have forgotten about Sufjan’s earliest public project. While enrolled at Hope College in Holland, MI, Sufjan and a few friends took to making music. His band mates include current label-mate Shannon Stephens (no relation), cellist Jamie Kempers, and Matthew Haseltine – the brother of Jars of Clay front-man Dan Haseltine. This mountain of talent went on to release two albums to a pretty sizable western Michigan fan base under the moniker ‘Marzuki.’ I think it is fair to assume that the shared name between the band and Sufjan’s brother isn’t coincidence.

Sufjan and Marzuki

In this band, Sufjan plays assorted instruments including guitar, percussion, and the recorder (I’ll admit, I love his recorder parts). It’s a little different to hear Shannon providing the vocals, but she has a wonderful voice. It hadn’t reached its full smokey potential by that time – instead it almost reminds me of something gypsy-like, even at times being evocative of medieval fireside Bacchanalia. Regardless, its interesting to see the beginnings of Sufjan’s development as a musician.

Interesting to me, though, is that the band is so obviously tied to Marzuki himelf – the first song of their début features a silly dialogue “This… this is Marzuki, it’s a good song. I like it too, I hope you enjoy it; it’s really good,” uttered by what sounds like a young Marzuki and Sufjan. Perhaps this is where his musical roots took hold – making home recordings on a voice recorder at an early age with his brother. Beyond this, the near omnipresence of the recorder across both albums gives me some sense that Sufjan is holding on to his adolescence – while the instrument was popular in medieval times, it is now typically thought of as a teaching instrument. Certainly, in Sufjan’s masterful hands it becomes something far more than that, but it still seems possible that the recorder was his instrument of choice while playing around with his brother.

Mouse// Marzuki

Three Days// No One Likes A Nervous Wreck

Skip ahead twelve years, and we come to ‘All Delighted People.’ The almost 60 minute, 8 track EP came down on the world a few days ago without any warning. A lot has changed in terms of Sufjan’s compositional style since the days of Marzuki’s existence, but I for one think that this EP is one of Sufjan’s most beautiful works yet. Sure, the long tracks and lush orchestration may not appeal to everyone, but the emotions and messages evoked by the EP are far easier to relate to than the somewhat strange ones portrayed in some tracks on Michigan and Illinois.

In my opinion, the most beautiful and best track on the EP is the heartrending Djohariah. Named after Sufjan’s sister, who has remained all but unmentioned in his other music until now, the seventeen minute epic goes through an incredible transformation over its duration – there isn’t a single moment in the song that isn’t worth paying attention to.

Djohariah// All Delighted People

Sufjan’s bandcamp describes the sprawling song as a ’17-minute guitar jam-for-single-mothers,’ but it is really so much more than that. Sure, the actual lyrics don’t come until 12 minutes into the song, but the elegiac nature of the song is apparent almost from the first note. The bass line just screams ‘apology’ in the first few bars. As the lead guitar begins to solo, it takes on the role of a silenced, stifled creature. The western ‘twang’ of the muted electric is not common in Sufjan’s pieces, and the dynamic interplay between the choral ‘ooh/ahhs’ and the guitar suggest that it has something to say, but can’t get it out above the background noise. Most of the time, the guitar goes quiet when the chorus becomes loud – but in those intervals when it breaks free, it soars over the rest of the music, and shows off what it is capable of. Eventually the chorus takes over, mesmerizing the listener with chants of “Djohari Djohariah.” This chant introduces the character of Djohariah to the music, but giving nothing more to latch on to.

As the guitar reenters, it takes on a more alien sound, scratchy and electronic, more noise than raw emotion as before. Here, the chorus continues its chant of “Djohari Djohariah,” lending more power and transforming the meaning of the guitar. The weakening guitar is Djohariah, fighting a losing battle against everyone else’s voices. It yearns to be unique, but never achieves the triumphant glory it once had. At times it conforms to the swells of the chorus, at other points, it seems to completely lose control and move nowhere but in circles. Around 11 minutes, the guitar dies off completely. The tempo increases, and the chorus begins to morph how it says Djohariah’s name – instead of enunciating the last few syllables, it becomes a question, “are ya?” questioning where the guitar’s presence has gone.

Finally, Sufjan’s vocals break free from the chorus, initially coming off as pessimistic: “I know you won’t get very far.” Sufjans modifies this insult after a short pause, blaming this lack of success on the “back seat driver carpetbagger” who stole Djohariah’s heart. The song gets very specific to Djohariah, rather than single mothers in general – she spends her money on a car in a twisted plot line that I still haven’t been able to unravel. Sufjan then proclaims that Djohariah doesn’t need the man who left her for dead in her life and that he is a “heart grabber back stabber double cheater wife beater.” Whether this laundry list of horrible things is actually the truth or just something lyrical is besides the point – the level of devastation is very salient and apparent. Either way, I wish to extend my apologies to Djohariah.

It is at this point that Sufjan changes his tone to an encouraging one: Djohariah works hard a single mother, and shouldn’t listen to the neighbors because they don’ t know what is best for her. Sufjan tells her to not be ashamed “For the woman is, woman is the glorious victorious/ The mother of the heart of the world.” This chorus transforms, and eventually a female voice joins Sufjan in repeating “Go on! Little sister! Go on! Little sister!/ For your world is yours, world is yours.” All in all, the song seems extremely personal. It seems as though it is addressed right to Djohariah, and I’m almost tempted to think that much of this EP is an attempt at making amends with her for something. Perhaps Sufjan feels as though he didn’t help her enough in her time of need, as she raised a daughter as a single mother, or perhaps he simply wants to encourage her to make a name for herself.

So much of me wants to believe that the female singing at the end is Djohariah – that she joins in with Sufjan, rising again and becoming the dominant voice as the EP comes to a close, but I really can’t do any more than hope.

However, of more relevance to this post (since I was nowhere near LA for the show) is the recently released EP ‘<3.’ It has tracks by Baths, Teen Daze, Light Pollution, Blackbird Blackbird, Gobble Gobble, and Kites Sail High. A lot of you would probably be interested to know that it is available completely free at HMG’s bandcamp (I love that website more and more every day). Because it is free, I’ll just embed the player, and link to some other tracks by each artist (gotta save some storage sometimes).

Nordic Laurel//Baths

First up on the EP is Nordic Laurel by Baths. Probably my favorite on the EP, Nordic Laurel is Baths at his best. Will Weisenfield specializes in an interesting lo-fi brand of glitch-hop that has made him all the rage these days. Whether creating hard bass beats with jams like Maximalist with its syncopated synth lines or a more chill track like Nordic Laurel that actually has vocals, the glitches keep you on edge and create some interesting rhythmic qualities.

June 2010// Teen Daze

The second track is June 2010 from Teen Daze. Teen Daze has recently skyrocketed in terms of my favorite new artists because of tracks like Saviour and Around. Their music seems to define the chillwave genre these days – synth arpeggios abound and along with glittery glo-fi melodic lines. In June 2010, however, they take a slightly different approach, with low bass and choral onomatopoeia dominating the intro until the drum machine steps in. The track almost develops like something out of Glu’s Beat It!. However, the track is great, and will get stuck in your head pretty much forever.

Magic Kingdoms Kick My Teeth In// Light Pollution

The wordy track title has some truth to it – Light Pollution’s contribution is a kicker. While most Light Pollution tracks are pretty chill, this track drives and drives all the way through to the last minute, where they resume their more mellow vibe and add the sound of wind chimes, harps, and various other instrument to a buzzing soundtrack – assuming that buzzing isn’t just the aftermath of the hammering bass. For more, check out a pretty extensive review at The Styrofoam Drone.

Left to Hurt// Blackbird Blackbird

I wish this track was longer. I swear my heart beats in time with the kickdrum while listening to the song – I’m left nearly gasping for air when it stops. As with most of the time when I listen to dream pop, I couldn’t tell you a single lyric from the song – I go into a daze by the third bar. The keys echo on and on lulling you into a debilitated state. I’d strongly recommend checking out Blackbird Blackbird on last.fm, they’ve got a bunch of free tracks.

Eat Sun, Son// Gobble Gobble

Not my favorite Gobble Gobble song, but sorta cool nonetheless. Gobble Gobble is one of those rare bands that you’ll hate at first, listen to a few times once someone recommends them enough, and then find yourself loving them 6 plays later with no idea why you like them. They’re an insane mix of noise, glitch, and turkeys. Sure, its innovative, but at least this track is just a little too much for me. If you’re into noise or glitch pop, take a stab at some more welcoming Gobble Gobble tracks like Meteor Eschat.

And Then What// Kites Sail High

An appropriate title for the ending track to a pretty great EP, Kites Sail High take the tempo down a few notches. They’re more of an ambient downtempo band than glitch, but And Then What features a hard drum beat where you might expect vocals, leaving you somewhere between being shocked and relaxed. Honestly, I don’t know much about Kites Sail High – they’re not as heavily blogged as the others. Maybe try Climbing Trees, it’s a pretty sweet track in the same vein as And Then What.

I haven’t talked about math much on this blog yet, probably because it’s a music blog. However, the 2010 winners of the Fields Medal were announced last night. One of them is former Princeton professor Elon Lindenstrauss, who many will remember from MAT 215 Fall 2009. For those not in the loop, the Fields Medal is a huge deal. Like…massive. Surprisingly, however, the award was not given for his formulation of analysis in terms of goblins giving you epsilons, but instead for his work in ergodic theory. In Dr. Lindenstrauss’ honor, and because this is Princeton and we fucking love a cappella, I now present the greatest math love song of all time, Finite Simple Group (of Order 2) by the Klein Four Group (with video!), after the jump.

The Klein Four Group are an a cappella group from the Northwestern Math Department. They’re named after the smallest non-cyclic group (The More You Know!). There’s not much more to say.

If you have any nerd in you at all, you’ve probably heard this, but whatever. It’s still a classic.

Two tracks have already leaked from the mixtape, including a track from Big K.R.I.T., who’s crispy southern rhymes were a fixture on my iPod this summer. This latest track, titled “My Interpretation”, shows K.R.I.T. in peak form, spitting over another smooth, self produced beat. The lush production’s classic soul elements make it ideal for slow summer driving; the subtle but powerful bass and brushed drumbeat could make anybody feel badass. Lyrically K.R.I.T. doesn’t break any new conceptual ground, but he spits the standard up-from-nothing cliches with creativity and passion. Although it doesn’t soar to the anthemic heights that “Country Shit” did, “My Interpretation” gives me high hopes for “Summer Sampler”.

Big Krit // My Interpretation

Tracklist after the jump:

Bonus: The other track that has been leaked, in case you’re too lazy to visit the other sites (they’re worth checking out though). Trippy synths and spacey vocals make for a nice chilly track.

Sonnymoon // Blast-Off

[via Pigeons&Planes]

Up until now, pretty much all of malleus&incus has been devoted to informing you about good music. For this post, though, I’m going to get a little silly – In fact I’m going to make a bit of a game of it. These songs are versions of songs that were with a program called PaulStretch, and your job is to identify what they actually are. There are a few rules: don’t cheat by looking at the soundcloud pages, and don’t scroll down and read what the originals are until you’ve listened to at least a few minutes of each track. There is a decent chance some of you may have seen these tracks online by this point – they’ve gone viral in the past couple of days.

Before we start, a little about PaulStretch. It is a program that was originally intended to slow tracks down or speed up tracks 50x or more to create audio textures. It uses several processes like spectral smoothing to take short ‘windows’ of music and stretch them , maintaining the qualities of the original song but essentially vectorizing and stretching the real audio.

However, some people have begun to use the program for other purposes – namely stretching audio 6-10x, usually resulting in something that sounds like a track by the bastard child of an artist like Dead Can Dance, Sigur Rós or M83 and a drone band like Sun O))). That said, quite a few of the tracks are pretty mesmerizing – a mix of droning instruments with waves and whale sounds and unintelligible, otherworldly vocals thrown in an ethereal stew. These soundscapes do end up being 30+ minutes, so I don’t expect you to listen to them all the way through. And because they’re so long, I’ll refrain from uploading them (they’re 30+ mb), and just embed the soundcloud pages.

Track 1// Shamantis (soundcloud)

By far the most well-known of this emergent ‘genre’ of music, Shamantis’ track has gotten publicity all over the internet. The sound of waves crashing and the gently singing guitars blend beautifully with the high-pitched voice that dominates the track. The track could easily be paired with footage from The Titanic or some other tragedy – I wouldn’t doubt that it would bring some to tears if that someone did.

Track 2// nikkif00 (soundcloud)

This track seems to have a backing track of soft synths and the occasional rain stick than waves or whales, but is even more relaxing for it. I could see a massage therapist using it as a mood track, if it weren’t for the string parts – they tend to give me the chills. I found this track via a subreddit called slow it up (don’t check this link until later).

Track 3// MadDefHerb (soundcloud)

The only one of these tracks with particularly snippets of understandable words, a female vocalist chants the mantra “Everybody needs a …” and then fades off to leave what is so needed up to imagination. There is a mix of synth strings, waves, and various other instruments in the background. Overall, one of the more listenable songs of this type – it is almost worth listening all the way through.

Track 4// unsignedhypenl (soundcloud)

With more baritone vocals, and more sparse instrumentals, this one evokes some sort of unsettling feeling. In some ways, the intro makes me thing of some sort of cultish chant echoing down a dark hallway. That said, this track has a little more development than the others – it is different in each section, with some sections featuring symphonic instrumentals that do absolutely nothing to settle the nerves.

That brings our little game to a close – if you can guess any of these correctly, I’ll be surprised. Hopefully you didn’t look down past this picture before listening!

Track 1: U Smile// Justin Bieber

Track 2: Every Time// Britney Spears

Track 3: When I Last Saw You// Miley Cyrus

Track 4: It Was A Very Good Year// Frank Sinatra

I’ll just go ahead and reserve my opinions on these tracks except to comment on how odd it is to hear one of music’s most romantic men (Sinatra) sound so creepy. Hopefully you got a laugh or a shock from this. Also, if you’re wondering where the tags are… I figured I’d keep them clean so I don’t ruin the surprise.

Related Articles

• Justin Bieber at snail’s pace actually sounds good (news.cnet.com)
• Daily Meditation: Justin Bieber’s ‘U Smile’ At 1/8th the Speed (crushable.com)
• Super Slowed-Down Justin Bieber Song Goes Viral (mashable.com)
• How to make Justin Bieber Sound Incredible (gawker.com)

Bronze Radio Return

A six piece from all over Connecticut (and parts of NY, but don’t let that ruin the illusion of purist Connecticut music I’m trying to establish here), Bronze Radio Return released their first full length album last year. Their first EP received pretty poor reviews, but they’ve improved a lot since then. Lead vocalist Chris Henderson is a graduate of the Hartt School – a pretty prestigious music/art academy in Connecticut (of course), but I’m not really sure where his voice developed from: the sound oscillates unpredictably from faux-reggae to jam band (think Augustana) to pure unadulterated alt rock (maybe a little like Blue October). The band has a pretty soulful sound at times, and has a rather impressive range in terms of styles they achieve. The occasional harmonica gives the music a bit of a folky feel, and some songs are laden with subtle synth parts.  Overall, the band achieves their goal of blending the old and the new, and even create some memorable lyrics and catchy hooks while at it. For a slightly more detailed review, check out absolutepunk or The Hartford Courant.

Pullin’ On the Reins// Old Time Speaker

Wolves// Old Time Speaker

Craig D’Andrea

In terms of fingerstyle guitar, Korea may have Sungha Jung, but Connecticut has its own relatively young fingerstyle prodigy. D’Andrea is 26, but won third place in the Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar championships, and first in 2007. It was in 2007 that D’Andrea released his first album, Crazy is Catching. Since then, he released another album, Getting Used to Isolation, via CandyRat (see, told you the label would come up again and again). His first effort was impressive technically, but seemed a little braggadocio at times – some of the arrangements were just strange and technically difficult for the sake of being technically difficult. However, Getting Used to Isolation is one of the better fingerstyle albums I own – and I own quite a few. While he hasn’t developed the sound that is characteristically his (as Leo Kottke, Don Ross, Michael Hedges, Antoine Dufour, or Andy McKee have), he shows a tremendous amount of maturity. He expertly uses hammer-ons and pull-offs and harmonics, using his fingers significantly less than the smoothness of his music would suggest. And while he may at times go overboard on the harmonics, the result is pretty undeniably beautiful.

In With the Purple and Out With the Blue// Getting Used to Isolation

…and then you moved to Jersey// Getting Used to Isolation

The Alternate Routes

If I didn’t know any better, I would have never guessed The Alternate Routes were from Connecticut. Tim Warren’s voice is a little reminiscent of Marc Roberge’s (O.A.R) while singing choruses, but seems even more versatile: sometimes he sounds a little more bluegrass/country inspired, whereas other times he just has a slightly smokey hint to his voice that might woo the Jason Mraz or David Gray fans out there. Another blogger claimed that they sound more like they’re from Biloxi than Connecticut, and I can’t really disagree. Regardless of where their style comes from, the Bridgeport based group has a good thing going. They use a mix of piano, acoustic guitar, slide guitar – the songs are varied in terms of instrumentation, but they still have a distinctive and cohesive sound. Though I haven’t listened through their two albums all that much, I’ve noticed a trend that their more chill jams seem to come later in the album. These are the songs that I personally prefer; in these, TAR seems more focused on songwriting and instrumentals. That’s not to say that the other songs aren’t good – in fact, a few of them are the kinds of songs that could sell out stadiums. I think these guys have a bright future ahead of them.

Toe The Line// A Sucker’s Dream

The Black and the White// Good and Reckless and True

As an update… I am back in Connecticut, and if it wasn’t for the music above, I might be a little sad. I came in to an overcast day and tons of humidity – two things foreign to Stanford. Beyond that, I’ve gotten very little sleep in the past few days – I apologize for the lackluster writing.

I think I’ll work in descending order of obscurity, starting with the relatively heavily hyped Shabazz Palaces (last.fm top listener woooooo).

Shabazz Palaces

Gunbeat Falls // Of Light

blastit at the homie rayzer’s… // Shabazz Palaces

32 Leaves Dipped in blackness… // Shabazz Palaces

So, Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, Shabazz’s MC, was one of the three MCs of the jazzy, Native Tongues influenced Digable Planets in the 90s. You may remember “Nickel Bag of Dimes” or the fact that they won a Grammy. Or you may not, because the Grammys are a joke. Either way, it really doesn’t matter, because Shabazz Palaces is almost nothing like that. 32 Leaves Dipped in Carbon, from their self titled second EP, was heavily promoted on blogs in the spring/early summer, probably because it condenses the Shabazz aesthetic into a neat 3:32. A stuttering beat supported by gentle but alien synth pattern provides a background for Butler to spit free associative, psychedelic gangsterisms. Butler proclaims “I rap order into this madness” and he means it. These beats would make even FlyLo scratch his head, but somehow Butler manages to seem in control. Despite this madness, the drums and bass hit with just the right amount of force to congeal into something that, although about as far from Dr. Dre as a beat could be and still be called hip hop, would probably sound excellent in an old Cadillac.

Blastit, the only track repeated on both EPs maintains the percussive force of 32 Leaves’ beat, but introduces a xylophone or windchime or something that creates a lighter tone. The lyrics mirror this lighter tone, focusing on the pleasure of blasting a good track. Other standouts include Gunbeat Falls, off of “Of Light” and Kill White T, off Shabazz Palaces, but every track on Shabazz’s two EPs deserves to be listened to.

Super Chron Flight Brothers

Strangers With Candy // Cape Verde

Golden Grams // Cape Verde

Reggie Miller // Cape Verde // Super Chron Flight Brothers

A friend of mine recommended Super Chron Flight Brothers to me, describing them as “Cannibal Ox produced by Madlib.” The track “Unsolved Mysteries” from their most recent album, Cape Verde, even features Cannibal Ox’s Vordul Mega. They’re good, but unfortunately not as good as that description suggests. They are strong lyrically, addressing both the mundane joys of breakfast cereal and the symptoms of widespread societal decay, but they lack the focus of Cannibal Ox. Their lyrics tend to wander too widely to have much of an impact, although they do come up with plenty of clever lines. The beats seem like their real strength to me. Many of the tracks open with sample collages that set a playful, semi-stoned sort of mood that gels nicely with the R&B and soul samples that make up most of the beats. My favorite tracks are the more lighthearted ones like Reggie Miller and Golden Grams, although the more downbeat, message focused tracks like Strangers With Candy have their virtue. But without more lyrical focus, the message tracks fail to make an impact.

Main Attrakionz

Legion of Doom // 808s and Dark Grapes

I picked up 808s and Dark Grapes, the Main Attrakionz mixtape after I saw the video for Legion of Doom. Unfortunately, while enjoyable, the rest of the mixtape doesn’t approach the quality of that track. The other tracks are standard mixtape fodder, disposable exercises in drum machine programming and flow biting. But Legion of Doom somehow exists on an entirely different level. It feels unique and developed, and if Main Attrationz keep going in this direction then they could really matter.

Legion of Doom sounds unlike any other hip-hop I’ve heard this year.  The beat is very sparse, composed of only a few high hat sample and a kick drum, which create a very light, relaxed feeling. Above the drums the beat features heavily manipulated vocal samples that remind me of Gold Panda or Mount Kimbie in their ability to wring emotion of of vocals by twisting them. The rapping maintains the low key, chilled out feeling by avoiding technical flourishes or overt punning. The MCs stick to relaxed boasting, allowing their voices to blend into the vocal samples that make up the beat.

The other day, I sat and listened through all of the This Day & Age songs I have, every single released The Reign of Kindo album/ep in chronological order, and Jeff Martin and Steve Padin’s album ‘The First Joke & Other Matters.’ I’ve waited several weeks and several listens before attempting to tackle judging this album, and yet I still don’t feel qualified to have a real opinion. Part of the problem is that the album keeps growing and morphing on me as I notice different subtleties, part of it is that I just don’t feel a little biased. But as it is, I’m tired of waiting, and I’ve finally decided ‘well, the time for a review is… now.’

Don’t expect this review to be track by track like my review of The MashoChist – I don’t think Joey, Steve, Kelly (or Danny, now), Michael, or Jeffrey would really appreciate me putting up all of their tracks somewhere where you can easily download. If you want to listen through the album, the guys have been gracious enough to use some clever YouTube linkage to let you listen to every song. But honestly, just buy the album, it is worth it.

Earlier, I made the claim that this might be album of the year for me. I’m still not sure, though – I’ll revisit at the end of the year. The record is still growing on me, and while it might soon be my most played album of the year, there have been some albums this year that might just bring that little extra bit new to the scene. I’ve heard two main complaints about This is What Happens: either that they’ve lost the prog-rock edge they had Rhythm Chord & Melody, or that they haven’t changed enough. I certainly don’t get the first complaint – on my first play through, I was shocked at how much they seemed to have changed. ‘Soon It Shall Be’ sounds a little more like music from a french cafe blended with Yann Tiersen than it does the jams heard on their eponymous EP. As I’ve given the album a few more listens, I’ve realized this change is what comes with a more mature The Reign of Kindo – they still have the loud, furious jams like the opener, ‘Thrill of the Fall,’ but they’ve learned to make better use of negative space and have diversified their styling. The songs are driven less by melodic guitar and more by subdued piano and richer vocals. I would describe many of the songs on the album as elegant or beautiful, tending away from the mind-boggling complexity of their old compositions.

Overall, I would say that the album has a much more urban feel than TRoK’s previous efforts. This metropolitan focus captures some of the most beautiful city moments I could imagine. Whether it be moonlit cafes or the distant city lights, TRoK captures the municipal scenes in a way that keeps me enraptured to a degree even greater than Sufjan Steven’s Wes Anderson-esque depiction of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway or Phillip Glass’ contributions to Koyaanisqatsi.

Flowers By the Moon

I want this song to play on the next dinner date I go on. “Tell me darling// Have we witnessed beauty’s gleaming?” The vocals in this track are some of the simplest in TRoK’s songs. If I’m not mistaken, only two vocal tracks are used – but this just adds to the romantic feel. The instrumentation and the lyrics perfectly paint a picture of a night at a cafe in a tropical city under bright moonlight – a scene that must be as fantastic for the Buffalo, NY natives as the girls that the group will inevitably woo with this track.

City Lights and Traffic Sounds

The narrative in this song is amazing. Very sparsely populated with lyrics, the band oohs and ahs their way through a masterfully painted anecdote. The simple words approach cliches on their own, but mesh together in a way that is completely unique. Two old lovers meet while waltzing through the background, one picks the other out hoping to patch things together, but there are still too many emotions and too much has changed. There isn’t one standout line, and the entire situation sounds like something out of an emo song – but there is something purely romantic about it, and TRoK make it work.

Bullets in the Air

While the song title certainly fits the lyrics sensibly (as is true of most TRoK songs), the sonic qualities of this song almost fit in better with the previous title. The discordance of the horns section and frantic descending piano scales remind me of a more stylized version of the traffic noises that reach your ears on a typical busy city street. On the other hands, these sections are interlaced with the complete opposite – the band jumps between tempos, key signatures, and just about every musical quality within the matter of seconds and still manages to pull it off smoothly. These softer sections bring to mind the mellow lambency of a streetlight or distant collection of lights seen through a soft focus filter, seen through droplets of rain, or even through your own eyes right after waking up – things are soft and warm, and nothing at all seems foreboding. Interestingly enough, almost all of the destructive and portentous lyrics come within these sections; Joey sings “There’s a storm inside your mind// Lightning never chooses where it will strike// But it can burn a bridge right to the ground” at one of the most peaceful moments in the song. For some reason this homospatiality brings to mind the dualism of some The Wall era Pink Floyd, a comparison that might be a little dangerous, but I’m willing to make.

Nightingale

This is The Reign of Kindo at their best. The lyricism in this song is brilliant, and the way the instruments and voice tie together is just brilliant Secchiaroli bellows “If I could muster a sound I’d sing this song out loud just like a Nightingale” in the chorus. The band continuously mentions how he they can’t make a sound while simultaneously producing complex orchestration – the drums fade in and out atmospherically, the instruments change tempos independently of one another, and switch time signatures in a highly jazzy fashion – this irony leaves the listener wondering what the actual mindset is in reference to the girl. This interpretation of the song gives an almost jaded feel to the line “If I could die// You bet your life I would,” remarking that everyone dies, but possibly hides some more aggressive thoughts behind it, as he says the line with a hint of sadistic joy. The music itself is a total jam – it’ll get stuck in your head.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Arguably the best track on the album, TRoK takes a pretty common idiom and their urban soundscape theme, fuses them together with some clever lyricism and comes out with a masterpiece. Djembe drums and latin-influenced vocals hooks make this have a bit of a ‘world music’ sound, while the band seems to have the optimal formula for making staying in bed seem exciting. A character looks out of their city window to see busy cars and busier people, stays in bed, and seals himself off from the external world. That is all there is to it, but somehow verses like “Seems we’ve all gone lost at sea without a compass// Yielding to the winds that blow into our sails” get tied in and create extremely vivid imagery. The loose rhyme scheme and rhythm give it an almost a poetic feel, but at the same time, this song shows off some of the most improvisational jazzy guitar, drums, and piano on the album. Ornamentation is almost omnipresent – you can tell the guys are having a lot of fun with this one, and the result is absolutely stunning.

Honestly, you need to listen to the album. Me picking out a few more songs for you to listen to won’t do much – you need to listen all the way through. Whether it be the intrepid jazz riffs of Thrill of the Fall, the purely chill-inducing swells of Blistered Hands, or the inexplicable despondency of Psalm, the album keeps you engaged. One turn off the album might provide for some people is that the album almost makes it feel as if the band is courting you – most of the songs are romantic stories or quixotic inquiries. But honestly, I don’t mind. It goes without saying that the album is distinctly theirs style, and I seriously become more impressed every time I listen. What the album may lack in technicality (as compared to previous material, not other bands), it makes up in charm and classiness.

9.3/10

Check out a review by Matthew Tsai if you want to see the opinion of someone who can write better than me. On another note, those who might be a little more familiar with TRoK may be interested to know that Kelly Sciandra left the band after this record, but that Danny Pizarro has been picked up already – he shows off what he’s got in the recently uploaded video of Flowers by the Moon. Finally, if you liked what you saw in my 8bit post, check out the sister album to This is What Happens – This is Also What Happens, a set of 8bit covers of all of the songs. Its pretty awesome. For a sample of what it might sound like, here is the remix of Needle & Thread (off the The Reign of Kindo EP) from the Japanese Edition of This is What Happens – I found it floating around on the web.

Sorry for the lack of posts on my part. I been mathin’ hard.

This post goes out to my friends Josh and Joe, because I probably would’ve never heard any of this stuff if it weren’t for them. Especially Josh, who gave me complete discographies of both of the artists in here, which totally ruled.

I honestly don’t know shit about electronic music. It took me a long time to even really get into the stuff I had. It took me ages to even listen to it. Now I really like it though. If you know anything about breakcore or IDM, these bands are probably old news to you. If you don’t know anything, though, they definitely need to be checked out.

Venetian Snares
Winnipeg is Fucking Over // Winnipeg is a Frozen Shithole

Plunging Hornets // Cavalcade of Glee and Dadaist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms

Hajnal // Rossz Csillag Alatt Szueletett

Venetian Snares aka Aaron Funk is probably my favorite IDM/Breakcore/whatever artist. His music can range from super chill to batshit insane, and I feel like on every recording his sound is just a little bit different. The first track is from his anti-ode to his hometown of Winnipeg, Winnipeg is a Frozen Shithole, featuring such classic tracks as “Winnipeg is a Dogshit Dildo”, “Winnipeg as Mandatory Scat Feed”, and one of my all-time favorite song titles, “Die Winnipeg Die Die Die Fuckers Die”. This is probably his angriest recording, and as a result I think it’s one of the hardest to really get into. Maybe I shouldn’t have led off with a track from it, but it’s my favorite of his albums. 45 minutes of Funk pounding into the listener’s head how much Winnipeg sucks.

The second track is from Cavalcade of Glee and Dadaist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms, whatever the hell that means. This one’s definitely a little more accessible. If I were going to put on a VSnares album for casual listening, this would be it. As a side note, I’m like 95% sure that the sample “Thank you, it’s been a wonderful evening.” is from an episode of The Brady Bunch. I was watching one day, and someone on there said that and it sounded exactly like the clip. However, I foolishly neglected to TiVo the episode, so perhaps I will never be certain.

The last track is from Rossz csillag alatt született. This was a weird album, and I’m not sure that I’ve ever just sat down and listened to it all the way though. It’s definitely on my list of things to do. This whole album consists of him mixing classical music with his normal brand of electronics, and I feel like it’s a really cool hybrid. The music aficionados reading will notice samples of Mahler, Bartok, and Paganini in the track I posted (according to Wikipedia). Also according to Wikipedia, the album was inspired by Funk thinking about being a pigeon in Hungary. Make of that what you will. Whatever the motivation, this is still a pretty cool piece of music, especially when his beats kick in around the halfway point.

Fun Fact: Although I didn’t post it, VSnares is also famous for releasing an album (Nymphomatriarch) with his girlfriend sampling their own sexual noises collected using both internal and external microphones. If you want a weird/interesting/disgusting listen, be sure and look that one up.

The Flashbulb
Lawn Wake IV (Black) // Lawn Funeral EP

If Trees Could Speak // Red Extensions of Me

Lucid Bass I // Red Extensions of Me

If you’re going to pick up one Flashbulb album, I’d recommend Red Extensions of Me. I feel like this is his best effort, and that’s why I posted two songs from it. First, making me sound like a damn liar, is “If Trees Could Speak”. I said that he’s pretty stylistically consistent, but this is an exception. Weird lyrics combined with guitar and very subtle (for the most part) electronic sounds aren’t exactly the norm for the Flashbulb, but I thought this was one of the standout tracks on the album. It gets stuck in my head all the time, and it’s just so pretty. Second is Lucid Bass I, part of the two-part closer to the album. Again, it’s a more on the lush, relaxing electronic music side, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The rest of the album is more “Lawn Wake IV (Black)”-esque. Maybe I didn’t do the best job of getting to the essence of the Flashbulb in this post, but these are some of my favorite tracks from him, so whatever.

B-B-B-BONUS TRACKKKKKK (that I’m not going to talk about and just post and that may not even be considered IDM/Breakcore but I don’t know because I don’t know anything about electronic genres)
m1dy
Tokyo Style Speedcore

Sequestered in Memphis // Stay Positive

Though they formed just six years ago, the Hold Steady has a sound that feels like it came straight from the ‘80’s. It’s a modernized, Midwestern Springstein with a classic rock feel. Such a strange strange sound.

Love Vigilantes // Around the Well

So folksy I wanna die. Sam Beam never sings above a whisper so his voice feels like it’s right up against your ear, like if you and him were stuck in a small room together and his  face was the only thing you could see in the dark.

Transmission // *single*

Incredible band from the ‘70’s that was part of the post-punk movement (if that means anything). They’ve got quite a doom-filled sense of recklessness going on in their music. Makes sense considering lead Ian Curtis’s drug problems and suicide. I’d definitely listen to this while driving over a bridge.

Sex on Fire // Only by the Night

Catchy rock band that blew up with their last album. Should be familiar, but I recommend their older albums for a fresh listen.

Sailing to Byzantium // Liars

Wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said I knew much about them (oh, oh, you see what I did there?). Their sound varies quite a bit, from their first album that reeks of punk to this self-titled one which is much more noisy.

Float On // Good News for People who Love Bad News

I backed my car into a copcar the other day. Well he just drove off, sometimes life’s ok. And sometimes indie bands are more than ok. Back in the days of Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and Nelly, Modest Mouse was the first indie band that I discovered back in the sixth grade. Thank god, although all three of those artists are still great in a nostalgic, I-want-to-relive-the-90’s kind of way.

In the Aeroplane over the Sea // In the Aeroplane over the Sea

Haunting, chilling, and frigid. This is the definition of chilly music that you don’t realize is cold until fifteen seconds into the song. As Jeff Mangum sings, the whole thing feels always a bit hopeless, even if the lyrics are meant to pick you up. Less bone chilling and more heart robbing. How’s that for emo?

Just in case though, I plan on keeping this post rather short and going in a completely different direction than has been gone on malleus&incus thus far: 8bit/chiptune. Yeah, its not the type of music that you can listen to all day, but its a lot of fun every now and then. That said, I do realize that there are people who can listen to solely chiptune, and I can’t pretend to claim any sort of expertise in comparison to these people. I can’t tell the difference between LSDJ and a vanilla NES and have no idea what famitracker is or how someone goes about making music like this on a video game console. But I do know that there is quite an impressive range and volume of music being made, and feel like it deserves a little coverage.

Almost everything I know and all the music I have in the chiptune genre comes from a little website called 8bitcollective (or 8bc). The site is an open chiptune media repository – it has upwards of 23000 songs at this point, both extremely impressive and barely mediocre. I can’t say I sorted through a fair portion of these songs, but over the past few weeks, I have found a few I think are worth posting.

Gemini by smiletron

I had no idea chips could make bass sound this dirty. The combination of dubstep wobbles, completely muddy bass, and a cheery synth lead on top is interesting to say the very least – its crazy that this combination makes for such a chill track overall. Certainly something to bob your head to, but not quite suitable for the dance floor, which is very weird considering the dubstep influences. I realize that dubstep is overplayed (and overhyped) these days, but I felt like this track was a fresh take. The buildup is pretty impressive, and it is hard to believe that everything but the drums is chiptune.

Superluminal Motion by little-scale

This is a really chill track… if not for the oddly arrhythmic drums (they may have some sort of meter, but one of the instruments certainly sounds like a creaking door), I would be tempted to call it dreamy. The way the different ‘instruments’ step in and out so smoothly is somewhat surreal – when listening, you don’t even notice the transition from one section to the next… and not because the blending is smooth, just because you get lost in the track. Either way, the intro and outro are certainly my favorite parts of this track.

A–nie Rabu Damon by chibi-tech

A–nie Rabu Damon is probably more of what you expect to hear when someone mentions 8bit – it would fit perfectly in some sort of retro video game. It even seems to have the end credit music and the occasional ‘jump for a coin’ sound. However, the track does have some really cool elements – it actually has more development and melody than a lot of music these days. I don’t think I can listen to this track all too many times – while it does exemplify the stereotype of the genre, it gets a little tiring after a while.

turkoid by coda & cancel

Danceable, but a little too short to be dance-worthy. coda admits to having being influenced by Justice in this track, and I can certainly see it; the groove sounds a little like their track Genesis. That said, this was made for the invitation to some sort of blockparty – I guess it is a jam with lots of competitions and other equally nerdy (but cool) happenings. Regardless, the bit-crusher bass blows my mind.

My Skateboard Will Go On by Anamanaguchi

Anamanaguchi is by far one of the most recognized chiptune bands. They describe themselves as chiptune punk, but all the high pitched noises make it hard for me to take that completely seriously. That said, they blend NES with real guitars extremely well. ‘My Skateboard’ is their second single of summer 2010 and “is about saying ‘eff it’ and skateboard by yourself on the bike path.” That’s chill, I guess. Whatever, the song is damn catchy.

Oh yeah… and:

P.S. It is likely that much of my impetus  posting about some 8 bit stuff comes from a little discussion I had with Tiana over at her album review of This is What Happens (by The Reign of Kindo) and my resulting stubbornness about the accompanying 8bit record, This is Also What Happens. Definitely check out the rest of Ride the Tempo – they’ve got some quality stuff. In other news, look out for my own review of This is What Happens – its in the works.

This past year, though, has brought about the rise of a duo that has the potential to be one of Princeton’s most successful acts. DJ Zesty (Lester Nare ’13) and Gudda Gallin (Max Gallin ’13) have been making mashups for nearly a year under the pseudonym The MashMaticians. They are rumored to be adding a third member soon, but honestly, with the tight production these guys have, I don’t know if they need it. Whether they’re mashing up songs you can’t stand alone (Owl City’s Fireflies and Lil Wayne’s Fireman here) and making it sound good or mashing two songs you’ve never heard before so well you can’t tell it isn’t the original song, it is obvious that they have some serious talent.

The big news with MashMaticians is that they just released their first mashup album, The MashoChist. Originally planned as an EP, it seems like the MashMaticians’ underestimated their productivity. Just yesterday, the pair released the 10 track album, clocking in at just over 41 minutes and freely available from bandcamp. I’m embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t heard quite a few of the tracks Zesty and Gudda drew from before deciding to review the album, but the more I listen to the original tracks, the more I’m impressed by The MashMaticians. Their selection of tracks to mash together is perhaps the best aspect of the album – the tracks just… fit… without all the chops and dubs most mashup artists these days are using to cram two songs together in one package.

While most of the songs cut in rather abruptly and the end of the tracks are simple fade outs (which would probably benefit from being a little more gradual), the album flows well. I can’t figure out why – maybe it’s that the instrumental parts of the track smoothly transition in terms of dance-ability, or maybe it is because the songs cut off so unusually… perhaps the suspense leaves you waiting for the next track. Regardless, it is pretty effective, arguably more so than other mashup albums I have heard.

1. Welcome To The MaschoChist – Fantasy Park (Moulinex Remix) – College Feat. Anoraak // Around My Way – Lloyd ft. Ludacris // Shawty Get Loose – Lil Mama ft. Chris Brown and T-Pain // Numb Encore – Jay-Z

The opening track to the MashoChist is by far the most complex in terms of pure production. It is the only track on the album to mashup more than two songs, but you would never know it. I almost wish there was a version of the song provided without the self-promoting track over it, but kudos to Zesty and Gallin on picking such a suitable voice over. As opposed to the overly crunched or robotic voices usually present, they choose a female voice that is soothing yet disturbing at the same time. I haven’t been able to find the Moulinex remix of Fantasy Park, but it provides a good driving beat. All in all, an excellent way to introduce the record.

2. Emotional Dream – Emotional Day – Stay Ali // Walking On A Dream – Empire of the Sun

Emotional Dream starts The MashMaticians’ habit of splicing the two names of the songs they’re mashing to come up with a new title. That said, I have no idea how they ever got the idea to mash-up these two songs. Empire of the Sun’s song is slow-paced (and has one weird video) – the australian synthpop band is very quirky to say the least, and I doubt they would ever be seen dancing like Emotional Dream makes me want to. Walking On a Dream is by far their most popular track, garnering comparisons to MGMT. On the other hand, Stay Ali are an obscure chiphouse band that sounds a little like Kraftwerk had an affair with an SNES. But once the MashMaticians put the songs together, you can’t even tell that they were ever apart. The mashup focuses mostly on Walking On A Dream’s chorus, which perfectly fits within one phrase of the backing track. This track is perhaps the one that has gotten stuck in my head the most as I’ve listened to the MashoChist.

3. Much About Dre  – Much Better (SymbolOne Remix) – DeadBots // Forgot About Dre – Dr. Dre ft. Eminem

I’m not usually one to hate on Dre, but this track is just a little too long. I feel like Eminem’s line is a little overused here, and in tandem with the DeadBots vocals, things get a little repetitive. Now, keep in mind that I only find this to be a problem for the sake of listening just for pleasure. I guess I could see it being good for dancing, but I haven’t had a chance to find out.

4.Lisztomania 2 – Round 2 – The Cataracs // Lisztomania – Phoenix

I thought I was sick of Lisztomania, but I was wrong. While Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a great album, Lisztomania is far overplayed. The inclusion of The Cataracs on this track make it fresh enough to deserve at least a few more listens. The syncopated synthbeat and driving backbeat seem to alter the character of the song completely, and the subtle inclusion of vocals from The Cataracs in the middle of the song helps to make the song build such that I find myself bobbing my head, even if it is a little bit against my will.

5. I Hate My Mama – Less Hate More Love – A-ux // I Got It From My Mama – Will.I.Am

The verdict is still up on whether I Hate My Mama is one of those tracks where The MashMaticians make me like a song I hate. While I certainly like this version better than the original, A-ux’s backing is a little too similar to it (despite the different instrumentation) to make it a completely new song. That said, I do like the final minute quite a bit, as it diverges more from the original song.

6. Will A G6 Roll – Head Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) – Yeah Yeah Yeahs // Like a G6 – Far East Movement ft The Cataracs & Dev

This hits HARD. I’m not quite sure why some of the deep bass seems to have been taken out of the A-Trak Remix (it doesn’t seem quite as punchy), but the electro scratches and synth keys make ‘Like A G6′ pop even more than the old dub-influenced beat. I’m not sure that this mash would be quite as fun to dance to, but it certainly is a lot of fun to listen to. The synchronization between the two tracks showcases The MashMatician’s production skills – the electro scratches match up with pauses in the track very well. However, my favorite part of the track might be the bridge that occurs around 2:11… it makes you think the track is closing down and then it comes back to smack you in the face.

7. QuickSwag Quicksand – La Roux // Pretty Boy Swag – Soulja Boy

It is a little hard for me to be objective here, as I only got turned on to La Roux recently. I probably appreciate Quicksand for a song as it is moreso than this mashup. Again, the production is tight, but I don’t feel like the songs fit together all too well. Unlike all of the other songs by the MashMaticians, it feels if they just layered some extra rapping on top of another song – the weighting between the two songs is very unbalanced. Not my favorite, but not horrible by any means either.

8. Dead Rockstar 101 – Rockstar 101 – Rihanna // Dead Wrong – Notorious B.I.G.

I barely recognized that this was sampling a Rihanna track – she sounds a little more like Justin Bieber than herself, especially with pretty much everything but the “Baby I’m a Rockstar” and “I told you baby, uh oh” lines being stripped out. That said, Biggie’s contribution to this mashup is awesome. The jagged distorted guitars compliment his raw sound, and makes me wish he was still around to teach some of the rappers today how it is done. This track is refreshing – it hits hard, flows smooth, and features enough complexity to make it stand out.

9. Sexy Jammin’ – Justin Timberlake – Sexy Back // Black Violin – Jammin’

I love Black Violin, and Jammin’ is one of my favorite tracks by them. The combination of violin and JT works surprisingly well. It does seem a little busy at times, but that is a feature of both tracks individually. It still works well, and the way that The MashMaticians blend the vocals from both songs is pretty cool. The breakdown around 2:16 is a great break to the incessant pounding violin work and pounding beat. There is a chance that I’ll listen to this track as much as the original Jammin’.

10. Roc Juice – Love Juice (Danger Remix) – SymbolOne // Roc Boys – Jay-Z

By far the standout track, Roc Juice is one of the best mashups I have heard in a long time, and I’m not the only one who feels this way – Vacay Wave chose it as one of their top 6 mashups of 2010 so far. I feel like Jay-Z is the ultimate rapper for mashups – as long as a mashup with Jay-Z has decently production, I’m pretty much guaranteed to like it. That said, Danger’s remix of Love Juice is a great track to begin with, and Roc Boys meshes extremely well with it. Each verse seems to develop in tandem with Danger’s remix, and Jay-Z’s smooth flow is perfect for the glitzy retro synth parts. I don’t know what to say about the track other than that The MashMaticians struck mashup gold here.

11. Nothin’ On Love – Nothin’ On You – B.o.B // Runaway Love – Ludacris ft. Mary J. Blige

You’ll just have to download the album and form your own opinion about this one.

Overall, The MashMaticians have crafted a solid first release. I’d argue that Emotional Dream, Will a G6 Roll, and Roc Juice are the standout tracks, but I can see myself coming back to listen to almost every single track. I’m also very fond of the album art for The MashoChist – the grungy and dark image is clever but it fits. It is almost as if some MashoChist blasted the album and danced until they died, getting pleasure the whole time. In the future, I’d like to see this talented duo showing off their skills a little more… perhaps making a foray into remixing or tackling some more complex multi-mashups à la The Hood Internet or DJ Earworm. But for a freshman release, this is downright impressive. I’m excited to see what else these two (and possibly three?) have in store for their next few years at Princeton.

7.5/10

P.S. Zesty and Gudda are also writers for another Princeton music blog, 7 Day Music Civilian. The premise of their blog is almost as clever as MashMatician’s mashups – 7 writers each assigned to a day, each with a different taste and writing style. I’d definitely recommend checking them out, and if you like what you see check out their facebook page or at the very least, ‘like’ MashMaticians.

What is so special about this scruffy man, you ask? Well, beyond being a very talented musician, he is the mind behind the VideoSong – something that I believe has the potential to develop into its own new (and niche, of course) genre of media. Whereas music videos today are all about unique filming, a clever story, bizarre imagery, or any number of other things that serve to cloud and distract from the music (or at the very most, complement it), the VideoSong is a medium that is all about honesty and transparency. In the words of Conte:

A VideoSong is a new medium with 2 rules:
1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice).
2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds).

I imagine some of you may at this point be thinking the concept seems boring – a man at a piano or a live recording. But this isn’t the point of the VideoSong. Instead, Conte and his contemporaries craft complex instrumental tracks and harmonized vocal layers, videotaping the recording of each separately. Dubbing and effects are synchronized with clips showing their visual equivalent. These are not live performances missing the nuances of the studio, but the studio recordings themselves with diptych-style videos. Time is even left for small, clever segments synchronized with the lyrics or showing goofy antics that occur during the recording. But, enough introduction – let’s get to it.

Jack Conte

You’ve already been introduced to the pioneer of the VideoSong, Jack Conte. In fact, many of you probably heard his voice long before knowing it was him – he supplied the voice for the teenage boy in The Sims 2. Besides this, the Bay Area native is a very talented multi-instrumentalist. He plays drums, guitar, piano, glockenspiel, accordion, and everything in between proficiently. I can’t place what his voice sounds like: sometimes he sounds like a smoothed out Thom Yorke shifted up a few steps, whereas other times he sounds as though he would fit in a pop punk band. Beyond this, the man is responsible for some wonderfully creative video editing – he gives the perception of 3d by alternating between several angles, and manipulates lighting almost as brilliantly as he uses effects in his production.

Pomplamoose

Another Jack Conte project, Pomplamoose (a play on the french word for grapefruit, pamplemousse) is the collaborative effort of Conte and Nataly Dawn, Conte’s girlfriend. The couple lives in the Bay Area and performs their videosongs in the same setting as Jack Conte’s solo stuff. Here, Nataly takes over on bass and provides some beautiful vocals. Jack layers up to 12 vocal layers, and Nataly’s versatile voice is capable of anything from cute and poppy to indie to completely retro. One of the most striking things about Pomplamoose’s videos are Nataly’s wild green eyes – she stares wide-eyed into the camera in a way that is almost awkward, but certainly endearing. Pomplamoose has become somewhat of a youtube phenomenon, with over 30 million views of their videos. However, most of these views come from their (awesome) covers… which you should definitely check out if you get the chance. But because of this, I have decided to include some of their original VideoSongs.

My Terrible Friend

My Terrible Friend continues the trend of adding in a new element to the formula. This time the new addition is Lauren O’Connell. Jack is absent, but Nataly continues her role with bass, claps, and vocals (and adds in keys) and the impressive Lauren provides guitar/banjo, harmonica, vocals, percussion, and video editing. While it might seem as if Lauren has simply replaced Jack, the sound has completely changed. My Terrible Friend has more of a folk sound, with Nataly’s classic voice primarily providing choral backup to Lauren’s far rougher voice – it seems to mix a little bit of an Irish folk twinge with just pure Midwestern goodness. The arrangements are very mature sounding – far less cutesy than those adopted by Pomplamoose. Correspondingly, the lyrics are a lot darker, saying ‘and when I decide to kill you// I’ll do it with my hands.’

Bonus round: State Shirt

State Shirt is the moniker of Ethan Tufts. He has a more atmospheric sound than any of the aforementioned projects, but proves that VideoSongs are catching on with other artists – YouTube certainly has the power to make the medium spread. This song in specific (‘Frostbite’) has a very rough and powerful sound, building from a soft piano whisper to a visceral scream. Ethan offers almost all of his music up in an open source format for remixing and mashing up. Tufts is also an active participant in a very cool community called SongFight, where internet musicians enter in ~biweekly songwriting contests and are voted on. Definitely check it out.

C-c-c-combo Breaker: LOUISGENEVIEVE

Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi pair up to make for one hipster combo. The artsy and quirky production they make out of recording VideoSongs is interesting to say the least. Genevieve obviously has a good voice, but seems not to use it to its full extent for the videos they record in favor of just sounding different. Despite being LA based, the pair would definitely fit in in Williamsburg or the Mission District. Seemingly just to be ironic, they have covered Coldplay, Britney Spears, and Justin Bieber. Yes, Justin Bieber. In this video, Genevieve is more focused on placing a magnifying glass in front of her made up eyes or her mouth than singing with a melody. Louis’ Anglerfish head is pretty damn cool though.

I have a problem with genres. When people make music that attempts to conform to x-genre, they really pigeonhole their music. While there are a lot of great bands that can be described with one genre label without doing them a grave disservice, I’ve come to believe that one characteristic many great bands share is their inability to be accurately described by a genre label. Maybe this has to do with my taste, as I gravitate towards things which are strange and different. But regardless, I’d like to share some bands which I think defy genre-categorization, and also happen to be awesome. For now, I’m going to talk about two genre-defying bands with a lot of similiraties, Rudder and Kneebody.

IMPORTANT: Listen to the sound clips, or you won’t get much out of this post.

Rudder

Rudder is a quartet comprised of Chris Cheek (tenor saxophone), Henry Hey (keyboards), Tim Lefebvre (electric bass), and Keith Carlock (drums). All four are trained and highly skilled jazz musicians, but don’t let that fool you. Calling “Rudder” jazz is like calling a cake flour. You don’t get anything out of only naming one ingredient in the mix. If I had to apply a genre label to Rudder, I would call it jazz-funk-rock-hiphop, but that would be silly. Which is why I’m counting Rudder as an “ungenrefiable” band. But one can clearly hear when listening to Rudder the influence of the four genres I mentioned. Take their song “Stablemaster,” one of my favorites:

Stablemaster// Rudder

The song starts with a 5-string fretless bass playing a line on the low C, a much lower note than the more common 4-string bass can reach. I point this out because such a low note to me invokes a hard rock or metal type of, shall we say, “crunchiness.” However, the way Tim Lefebvre feels the bassline, with ample shuffle, is more funky than anything else. When the drums come in, there is no better way for me to describe it than to say “shit gets real.” Keith Carlock comes in with a hard hitting backbeat, that evokes hip hop and funk with its swung 16ths. However, his kit sounds like a rock drumkit, with some alteration on the bass drum which makes it substantially more forceful. Carlock lines his bass drum hits up with Lefebvre’s bass notes, a staple quality of funk and hip hop. Henry Hey then comes in on what sounds like a Fender Rhodes with an auto-wah pedal, playing a funky riff that also, through the voicing of the chords, betrays his jazz influence. Chris Cheek, the final piece of the puzzle, then comes in with an unabashedly modern jazz line, also running his sax through some effects pedals, much as a rock guitarist would. As in this tune, Cheek also often takes jazz-style solos over Hey, Lefebvre, and Carlock’s myriad grooves.

Being that I ostensibly am talking about genre-defying bands right now, it may seem like I’ve spent a lot of time talking about genres in relation to Rudder. However, my goal is to show that while there are obvious funk, rock, jazz, and hip hop influence in Rudder’s music, it would be inaccurate to describe them as any one, or even any two of those genres. The other thing I find amazing is that while they don’t incorporate these influences particularly subtly, I don’t ever feel like Rudder’s music is a forced amalgamation of the different kinds of music they are influenced by, as can happen with many such bands. Rudder always sounds natural, and their wide range of influences come together without fail to great a unique sound which, in my opinion, defies genre.

Kneebody

A lot of similarities can be drawn between Rudder and Kneebody, and I think if there was something magical genre label I could use to describe Rudder, I might put Kneebody in there with them. But then again, I might not. Kneebody consists of Shane Endsley (trumpet), Ben Wendel (tenor saxophone), Adam Benjamin (keyboards), Kaveh Rastegar (electric bass), and Nate Wood (drums). Like Rudder, all the members of Kneebody are trained as jazz musicians. But Kneebody is not jazz.

Never Remember// Kneebody

This song is called Never Remember, and the first time I heard it I listened to about twenty times in a row, then proceeded to buy the album it’s on. Never Remember begins with a hypnotic harmony between Ben Wendel and Shane Endsley. The trumpet and tenor sax harmony suggests jazz, but this line doesn’t sound jazzy to me. In fact, it almost sounds like something that would be found in chamber music. When the main groove drops, it does so like a ton of bricks. Nate Wood comes in with a heavy rock sound, both in terms of the drum beat and the drum set, and Kaveh Rastegar achieves a similar effect on the bass. This time, Wendel and Endsley’s harmony sounds thoroughly like modern jazz due to the increased tension-building as well as the melodic contour. Their new line is also hypnotic, but now filled with emotion as well. Though there are no vocals or lyrics in the song, the combination of repetition and emotion-laden melodies evoke a rock song.

While this song has what I’m going to call for the sake of convenience a “rock feel”, Kneebody’s songs range in feel from hard rock to slow blues to hip hop shuffle. The harmonies also range from very simple and modal to complex jazz harmonies. This range of influences both within and between songs, a facet shared by both Kneebody and Rudder, is instrumental to being a “genre-less” band. The ability to incorporate elements of many genres without sounding like a crude Frankenstein of those influences makes for highly original and entertaining music. Both Kneebody and Rudder, I suppose, could have listed under the genre field, “jazz-rock-funk-hip-hop-etc.” But like I said before, that would be silly. And even that wouldn’t capture the essence of either band, just as I haven’t been able to do so with my cursory discussion of the music.

We here at the blog have so selfishly denied the site any color up until now, attempting to project a sense of self-importance at the expense of any cheerfulness. After a long wait, Technicolor has finally arrived at Malleus&Incus and along with it, youth.

Let me begin by promising that this will be the first book my kids will ever read. If anyone in Williamsburg, Brooklyn decided to quit getting high (or maybe while very high) and write a children’s book, it would be Paste’s Indie Rock Alphabet Book. The alphabet isn’t perfect and includes a few artists that make you scratch your head, but there are enough gems to merit a recap. It runs the musical gamut from Animal Collective to (spoiler) The Zombies in a wonderfully educational summary of some of indie’s best artists. Buy this book for your little brother or cousin; try to eradicate bad taste at its roots. No matter how you take it, kick it back toddler style and relearn your abc’s. Summertime Clothes // Merriweather Post Pavilion

Having blown up from humble indie roots (not unlike another A band), Animal Collective has become more accessible with each album release. Infectious electronic keyboards and poppy tunes make this the perfect introduction to the indie alphabet.  Princetonians might remember Deakin at lawn parties this last year.

Piazza, New York Catcher // Dear Catastrophe Waitress

“Twee as fuck” doesn’t even cut it. Bell and Sebastian are shameless kings and queens of poppy vocals. Sounds sugar sweet, like earcandy if ever there was any.

I Found a Reason // The Covers Record

Beautiful woman making beautiful music.

Nothing Ever Happened // Microcastle

Deerhunter expertly captures the contradiction of a life that is stationary and yet moving at the same time. The familiar beats of an up-tempo indie rock song make no sense as a backdrop to the disinterested lyrics but Deerhunter somehow manages to make it work. The sound isn’t quite electronic but hints constantly towards it, giving the impression that this song would be best listened to at night in some futuristic city.

No Name #3 // Roman Candle

There isn’t anyone else with more unedited emotional capability than Elliott Smith. An entire lifetime’s worth of disappointment and disillusionment can be heard in a few minutes of his music. Elliott’s voice sounds like cloudy Sunday afternoons when a wind chills your skin. His work has gotten me through many less than happy years and I feel as if I owe something to him. More later. Much more.

Lost at Sea // I’m Going Away

Girl and Guy from Brooklyn… sounds familiar. Same weirdness, different sound.

Didn’t Leave Nobody by the Baby // O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack

Poor choice given the other indie bands that easily top this folk singer (Gang of Four, Godspeed you Black Emperor, Grizzly Bear etc.). O Brother, Where Art Thou? However, is a quirky Clooney movie that most people should watch.

Hardcore is, by nature, an angry genre (<33 Giri). However, I don’t want that to be the first impression people get of it on the blog. So, here are some fun hardcore bands.

Knucklepuck

Ex-District Five // EP

We Are The Ducks // EP

Mighty Ducks-themed hardcore. There are two hardcore bands named Knucklepuck that I know of. This is the one from Virginia (the other one is from California I think…they’re also not Mighty Ducks-themed). I’m pretty sure they’re broken up now, but I don’t know that for a fact. I missed them playing in my town a few years ago. It still bums me out when I think about missing them playing live. They’re probably one of my all-time favorite bands, because of the mix of quality hardcore with nostalgia-inducing (and just plain fun) lyrics. I think all of my friends are at least somewhat familiar with this band, just because I play them so damn much. Almost all of the lyrics (to my knowledge) are either direct quotes or paraphrased quotes from the three Mighty Ducks movies (with the occasional “fuck” thrown in for good measure). My favorite part on the EP – “I’m Goldberg the goalie!” during the absurd breakdown in “We Are the Ducks”. It brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.

Good Clean Fun

Good Clean Fun // Positively Positive 1997-2002

On the Streets Saving the Scene From the Forces of Evil // Positively Positive 1997-2002

Good Clean Fun like to claim that they put the “Ha” in “Hardcore”, and I’d have to agree with them. They’re a straight edge, vegan, positive hardcore band from Washington, D.C. I’ll be the first to admit that almost every single one of their songs sounds exactly the same (blazing tempo & guy screaming as quickly as possible), but that’s not what this band’s about. Hardcore is a genre that can take itself way too seriously sometimes, and these guys have made it their mission to lighten the collective mood. I feel like to get the full effect of Good Clean Fun, you’d need to understand the hardcore scene a little bit. However, even if you don’t really get the jokes, that doesn’t make Good Clean Fun any less upbeat, catchy, and enjoyable to listen to. They also have the only hardcore song that I know of to feature whistling.

An Albatross

Lysergically Yours, My Psychedelic Bride // Blessphemy (of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear Warp Kumite)

You Can’t Take that Hot-Rod With You When You Go // Eat Lightning, Shit Thunder

While not exactly hardcore (spazzcore? grindcore? wtfcore?), I still wanted to include An Albatross in this post because they’re just so damn fun to listen to. They specialize in a brand of grindcore made their own with organs and some seriously weird lyrics. The lead vocalist calls himself a psychedelevangelist, and their lyrics are all about peace, love and Lazer Vikings. Grindcore is all about being fast, and An Albatross don’t disappoint. I feel like their quirky nature is what sets them apart from other grindcore bands. They somehow make grindcore seem danceable. Also, they put on a hell of a live show. I’ve only seen videos, but An Albatross is definitely on my shortlist of bands to see in the near future.

Florence + The Machine

If you haven’t heard of Florence + the Machine by now, you’ve probably been hiding under a rock. Though she doesn’t get all that much radio play stateside, her album Lungs was in the UK Top 40 for 52 consecutive weeks – a full year. The main power behind F+TM is Florence Welch, who combines rock and soul sounds with an eccentricity almost matching that of another popular female today (who I don’t think I need to name).

That said, Florence has a bit of an obsession with terror, doom, and some other oddities. In a seemingly normal song ‘I’m not calling you a liar,’ Welch says ‘There’s a ghost in my lungs/ and it sighs in my sleep/ wraps itself around my tongue/ as it softly speaks.’ This kind of oddly poetic imagery frequents F+TM’s lyricism. However, I honestly listen to F+TM for the interchanges made by Florence’s voice and the rest of the band. Newsom-esque harp-playing is paired with heavy drumbeats. A kick drum mimics a heartbeat when Florence speaks of a beating heart – these kind of subtleties that are only appreciated on a close listen makes F+TM that much more worth it.

I’m Not Calling You a Liar // Lungs

Cosmic Love // Lungs

Marina & The Diamonds

For Florence, the machine is her backup band. But for Marina, the diamonds are her fans. To some, this might come off as rather egocentric, but in reality the name is probably derived from Marina’s surname – Diamandis. Interestingly enough, Marina cites Daniel Johnston (who I may speak of later) as one of her major influences – his outsider influences allowed her to transcend the spoon-fed pop formula despite her limited musical knowledge. However, this lack of musical knowledge does show in her music; it is largely composed of simple (albeit extremely catchy) keys parts with some limited synth/guitar/drum thrown in. But don’t be mistaken – her music is by no means amateur. Marina’s voice takes over in her songs, offering a listening experience that I’m hard pushed to describe as anything less than endearing. Her voice is a little less soulful than Florence Welch’s, instead having a little big more of an edgy feel that lends to her slightly faster tempo songs.

Oh No!// The Family Jewels

I Am Not a Robot// The Family Jewels

Feist

Winning seven Juno awards with two albums is no small feat. Canadian Leslie Feist is quickly becoming one of the most recognized indie musicians performing today. Between offering vocals to (and becoming romantically involved with) Broken Social Scene, contributing to several other popular indie acts (Kings of Convenience, Peaches, Wilco), and doing her own solo work, she has become prolific and loved in the past decade. Interestingly enough, Feist started out as a punk vocalist – a far cry from the soothing, romantic voice used on her solo albums, though it certainly speaks to her versatility.

In addition, Feist is a capable guitarist, pianist, and drummer… though she often sticks to just vocals. I regret the fact that I have not yet been able to find her first album Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down), as what I have heard from it beautiful – simple production and soothing vocals. My desire to attain this album may reveal something about me: I tend to like Feist’s slower songs over her more catchy ones (I’m sure almost every one of you has had ’1234′ caught in your head at some point or another after it was in that iPod nano ad). After much debate, I selected one of her more retro songs along with a collaboration with Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie).

One Evening// Let It Die

Train Song// Dark Was the Night (w/ Ben Gibbard, originally by Vashti Bunyan)

Sara Jackson-Holman

Sara Jackson-Holman has been garnering all kinds of comparisons. Adele, Norah Jones, and Feist are among the many that have come up, but sara has her own distinct style in both songwriting and vocals. Perhaps she is a little less jazzy than Norah or a little more soulful than Feist. It really doesn’t matter; she is good. Certainly the trajectory for the relative newcomer onto the indie pop scene will reach pretty high. Her songs are largely driven by catchy little piano riffs that show an obviously classical background, while subtler strings, a few simple beats, and unexpected vocal harmonies add complexity to the music. Honestly, Sara has one of my favorite voices of any current female vocalists. It has complex undertones that are made even more beautiful by the clever small-interval harmonies and tight production – the resonant qualities are such that she gets the kind of intricacies many artists only get while belting it while remaining relaxed.

Cellophane// When You Dream

California Gold Rush// When You Dream

...frosty

Mos Def – “Umi Says”

Recently rediscovered the glory that is Black on Both Sides. This is also an apt description of how charred I felt recently after an ill-advised noontime tennis exploit. Anyway, the entire album is gold — Mos hasn’t been this good since — and this is my favorite track, despite being decidedly rap-free. Because this song is just massively, staggeringly chill. It’s a night breeze, full of stars, pinholes on black velvet. Airy snare drums; slinky bassline; hushed organs; some kind of pleasant recurring twinkle, ostensibly wind chimes; Mos crooning up something soulful. ATTN: Wind chimes. There is a lot going on here but the production is just masterful, leaving plenty of open space between all the pieces so that it all rings piercingly pure and clean. A breath of super-cool smooth jazzy air. If Heaven exists, and has elevator music on the way up, this is surely it.

Foals – “Spanish Sahara”

This tune is glacial. Rarely has a music video ever captured a song’s ethos so damn perfectly. It starts out slow, murmuring dude drifting in an arctic stream, then builds, like climbing a huge crag one frozen plink at a time. Foals have mastered that sort of sterile, angular guitar tone — a nice clean note bouncing off the walls of an ice cave, resonating, repeating. It’s a haunting sound to be sure, and there’s something cathartic about all these icy tones swelling to a kind of avalanche, as the guitar and synth echoes rebound off one another and the murmurs turn to spectral wails: “Choir of furies in your head / Choir of furies in your bed / I’m the ghost in the back of your head.” The shudders at the end are a nice touch; it’s as if even the song itself is shivering by the end of this cut.

Curren$y – “King Kong”

Anyone who’s been within a 10-foot radius of me the past few weeks is probably well aware that I love Curren$y’s new record. It has the ability to make you feel incredibly lazy: I mean, I get it, you like smoking a lot of drugs and going around in jet planes and stuff. He’s certainly going strong with the aerial theme on this one, issuing a favorable comparison to everyone’s favorite skyscraper-ascending primate. But this song doesn’t waste time with the angry Kong, instead focusing on his cool, ridiculously self-assured side that just didn’t get enough screen time.  When I hear those cold fluttering synths, his smugly sluggish flow, I don’t feel like I’m swatting “wannabe pilots” “out the sky.” I feel like I’m getting flown around in an air-conditioned plane, then being dropped of on a rooftop, then napping on said rooftop, even if I don’t own it, because I am the shit and I am a rapper and I can afford this extravagant napping lifestyle. Curren$y’s swagger is oddly refreshing, not because it’s he’s any more modest than the average rapper, but because he eschews the usual chest-thumping gat-blasting bravado in favor of this I’m-so-cool-I-don’t-even-want-to-waste-my-time-on-you aura. If not holier-than-thou, definitely higher-than-thou. He’s on a plane, and he’s on another plane.

Flying Lotus – “Drips// Auntie’s Harp”

Like watching an ice palace melt and refreeze in time-lapse. This guy is the (undisputed) master of atmospherics and this song carves out a strange frigid world I would like to visit some day. Crisp beats give you something to bob your head to as electro-zephyrs noodle in and out of the track in typical Flylo style. And the eponymous Auntie’s Harp swoops in occasionally to breathe a rimy cloud into the mix. And the strings. The strings are like shivers straight down the spine, waterfalling relentlessly into frozen glissandos — and when all the other sounds drop out, and you just hear that lush swoosh, you realize that this track has captured a self-contained chilly little peace of its own. I’m sure John Alan will back me up on this: I cannot overstate how important it is that you listen to Flying Lotus. I really cannot.

Lorn-Nothing Else
Lorn is signed to Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder label, but he sounds less like Flying Lotus and more like Nosaj Thing, which is fine by me. Basically what he makes is a heavier, darker, more industrial influenced version of Nosaj Thing’s music, and because I love Nosaj Thing, I also love this.

Nothing Else, Lorn’s first album, sounds like a cross between a horror movie soundtrack, the music in the haunted houses in Super Mario world(and that’s a good thing), and good old fashioned hip hop. The album hits hard, it isn’t trying to be jazzy like Cosmogramma or anything like that. Standouts include the scene setting Grandfather, the industrial Automaton, and Greatest Silence, which you just have to listen to. Really though every track, from the freaky carnival organ bounce of None an Island to the heavily Nosaj influenced Void 1 and Void 2 (even the names are like Nosaj thing), deserves a listen if you have any interest in Nosaj Thing or any of Brainfeeder’s stuff.

Grandfather//Nothing Else//Lorn

Automaton//Nothing Else//Lorn

Greatest Silence//Nothing Else/Lorn

Steve Albini, in addition to engineering some of my favorite albums (Surfer Rosa), writing in several ‘zines, and generally being an asshole, has fronted several bands. Although he was a member of both the adorably named Rapeman, and Shellac, which is still active, my favorite Steve Albini project by far is his work with his first band, Big Black.

Jordan, Minnesota // Atomizer //Big Black

Big Black’s first album, Atomizer, is the ideal starting point for anyone unfamiliar with Albini’s abrasive style. Jordan, Minnesota starts off running with Albini’s scratchy, metallic guitar tones over propulsive, proto-industrial drum beats. Oh, and the lyrics. The lyrics are horrifying in the best way possible. Exemplary gems include “This is Jordan/ and we do what we like” referring to the small Midwestern town infamous for the allegations of sexual abuse leveled against its citizens, and “I can pull on a rope/I can kill a cow/well as any other fucker can” in the slaughterhouse inspired Cables. Albini’s goal with Big Black was to be as confrontational as possible, and he succeed with both deliberately hyper-offensive lyrics and harsh instrumentation.

The Model // The Model 12″//Big Black

A few of my favorite non album tracks include Racer X, off of the Racer X 12 inch, The Model, off the He’s a Whore 7 inch, and a live version of Kerosene from 1986. Each track demonstrates the surprising versatility of the Big Black formula. A slight departure for the band, on The Model Albini does his best to mimic Kraftwerk’s iconic synths while generally easing up on the drums, allowing the harsh metallic tones to mingle in a way that isn’t possible on faster tracks. Racer X isn’t as interesting stylistically as The Model, but it was the first Big Black song I ever heard, so it has sentimental value. Also, it’s an ideal example of the absolutely perfect guttural growling bass that drew me into the band in the first place. Finally, the live version of Kerosene takes the best part of Atomizer, Kerosene, and stretches it out, adding interview samples and stretching that electric intro out even longer. The live recording adds another layer of grime and fuzz blends the sound into a terrifying morass that is really fun to listen to.

Precious Thing // Songs About Fucking//Big Black

The disappointingly inaccurately titled Songs About Fucking is Big Black’s final album, and while not a departure from the standard formula, it is absolutely worth listening to. L Dopa and Precious Thing together is as intense as four minutes of music can be. Basically they are more of the same Big Black maelstrom of noise, but better. The guitar seems even more metallic, the bass even lower, and Albini sounds even more unhinged on this album. Finally, a personal note: There is no better feeling than being a 10th grader and listening to Songs About Fucking after finishing your theology exam.

Big Black only made 2 albums during their five-year existence, but the influence both their music and their commitment to the DIY ethos of 1980s punk persists today. Big Black aren’t for everyone, but if you appreciate Albini’s outrage and sense of humor, and love some grimy metallic noise, then you’ll love it.

Bonus Round
If you like Big Black you may also enjoy:
The Jesus Lizard
Then Comes Dudley // Goat//The Jesus Lizard

Now the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do’s and don’ts. First of all you’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing.

There used to be a time when I always had some infatuation on my mind, a stupid sense of self-importance, and metal on my teeth (only one of those has since changed). But it was also a much simpler time, one where attitudes and feelings could fit neatly onto ten-song playlist. Honestly, the mixtape had this magical quality. Whenever you met someone significant you had to make them a mixtape. It was the ultimate expression of love for that girl, the most thoughtful gift for a friend. Those songs that you painstakingly selected and invested your emotional energy into really spoke to your identity or some shit like that. Mixtapes were the spiritual of our adolescent years.

Out of either nostalgia or childishness, I think we should bring the mixtape back. I found this unlikely gem on iTunes. With a cutesy title like “Folksy Indie Love” and the description “this playlist was my lifeline when I was writing my undergraduate thesis. I love it so much, it needs to be shared,” (Princetonian perhaps?) you couldn’t go wrong.

(song // album //artist)

1. You Must be Out of Your Mind // Realism //Magnetic Fields

2. Sigh No More // Sigh No More // Mumford & Sons

3. Furr // Furr // Blitzentrapper

4. Tear Down the House // The Second Gleam // The Avett Brothers

5. The Bitter End // 3 Rounds and a Sound // Blind Pilot

6. Belly of June // Thistled Spring // Horse Feathers

7. Airplanes // Gorilla Manor // Local Natives

8. Rocks and Daggers // Peaceful, the World Lays me Down // Noah and the Whale

9. One Red Thread // 3 Rounds and a Sound // Blind Pilot

10. Murder in the City // the Second Gleam // The Avett Brothers

11. Mary // Peaceful, the World Lays me Down // Noah and the Whale

12. Fewer Broken Pieces // Fewer Moving Parts // David Bazan

13. Vice Rag // American Hearts // A. A. Bondy

P.S. There is nothing wrong with your browser, you’ll have to explore to find the other songs.

However, I hope it is okay to assume that you’re here for the music, not the apologies. This time around, I’d like to draw some attention to one Mark Kozelek. The 43 year old singer-songwriter is no newcomer to indie, but is vastly under-appreciated. The Ohio native has been a contributor to the San Francisco indie folk scene since 1989, releasing albums as part of Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon, and as a solo artist.

Despite lots of favorable reviews, none of his projects have gained the kind of following that a band such as The National has, despite having music that is just as enjoyable and shares a lot of qualities (like the baritone vocals). To be fair, The National owes much of its popularity to the use of ‘Fake Empire’ throughout the Obama campaign.

Red House Painters

Kozelek’s first project released it’s first CD in 1992, but in my opinion didn’t reach full maturity until 1995′s album, Ocean Beach. Prior to this album, the band had a bit of a drone type sound and would more accurately be described as ‘slowcore’ than ‘folk.’  Though epic and appreciated by connoisseurs, the music is not nearly as accessible as the pastoral, folk-influenced style that characterizes almost all of Kozelek’s music since then. While listening, try to pay attention to the lyrics – highly introspective and autobiographical, the songs are extremely personal; they are filled with despair and the varying instrumentation in each song reflects what Kozelek believes to be appropriate for the story he depicts.

Shadows// Ocean Beach

All Mixed Up // Songs for a Blue Guitar

Mark Kozelek

Kozelek’s solo work is primarily collections and compilations of live recordings and covers. However, these covers are dramatically rearranged, often having little in common with the original song. To be honest, the main difference in sound between his solo work and the individual bands is almost entirely due to the fact that he does not have backup – the absence of drums and other backing instruments makes his songs seem even more personal, despite the fact that the covers are among the only songs that he doesn’t compose entirely on his own. Kozelek’s most interesting solo album is probably What’s Next to the Moon. The album is entirely comprised of covers of Bon Scott era AC/DC (1974-1980).

If You Want Blood// What’s Next to the Moon

Rock ‘n’ Roll Singer// What’s Next to the Moon

Sun Kil Moon

To be honest, I didn’t start listening to Kozelek’s other efforts until recently – Sun Kil Moon has been one of my favorite bands to listen to to relax over the past few months, but it wasn’t until recently that I learned of Kozelek’s legacy. That said, Sun Kil Moon is distinctively more focused on technical instrumentals than either of the aforementioned projects. Their newest album, Admiral Fell Promises, especially features long instrumental stretches of complex picking as Kozelek glides over his nylon strings. While fans of his older music may not appreciate the diminished importance of his entrancing vocals, the music is still extremely beautiful. Another thing worth noting is the fact that Sun Kil Moon is heavily acoustic guitar based – while Red House Painters features electric guitars, effects pedals, and pianos, all of the songs on Sun Kil Moon’s two most recent ablums are dominated by acoustic guitar.

Heron Blue// April

Sam Wong Hotel// Admiral Fell Promises

On a side note, some of you may be wondering the significance of ‘Bantamweight Boxing’ in this post’s title. The truth is that Sun Kil Moon’s name is not an prophetic statement about the possibility that the Sun may eventually swell large enough during a supernova phase so as to envelop the moon. Instead, it is a play on the Korean bantamweight boxer, Moon Sung-Kil. The amateur boxer took two world titles with 164 KOs over his career, but like Kozelek, recieved little attention for his achievements. In fact, Kozelek seems to have some sort of soft spot for Korean boxers – one of the songs off Ghosts of the Great Highway, Duk Koo Kim, is named after the lightweight Korean Boxer who died after a match with Ray ‘Boom Boom’ Mancini. The song exemplifies the transition from RHP to SKM – there is more mixed instrumentation, and the dual purpose of the song of paying tribute to Duk Koo Kim and telling an elaborate personal story.

Duk Koo Kim// Ghosts of the Great Highway

There are a few gems in my music collection, but for me none is as treasured as Ragni’s sole EP. To be honest, I found Ragni completely unintentionally: my discovery was the result of a random Google search for the word ‘somnambulist.’ A technical term for a sleepwalker, I had merely searched because the word seemed so cool. Since then, despite Ragni dropping off of Google’s front page, it has become one of my favorite words, mostly because ’The Somnambulist’ is the beautiful second song of the Ragni EP and I want as much as possible to do with that song.

The twenty-five minutes of music included on the EP may be all the recorded music of Ragni’s that the public ever gains access to, but in reality, it is enough. The EP is one where the songs can be listened to individually, but the recording really becomes its own when listened to collectively. Because of the importance of each part to the whole, I will post all five songs given that you promise to listen to them all.

While Ragni only surfaced for a brief time, creating their myspace in 2006, releasing their EP in 2007, and then vanishing after a short European tour, they certainly knew how to make music. The EP itself was recorded in vocalist Brenden Fletcher’s grandparents house, and suitably features hints of old home recordings, creaking floorboards, and the overall ambience of a shoreline home. Subtle melodic developments in the piano parts get to know Brenden’s peaceful yet somehow powerful voice. Together, piano, guitar, and voice dance under the candlelight accompaniment of beautiful strings and dream under the blanket of coastal fog.

Minden// Ragni EP

The first track, Minden (Hungarian for ‘everything’), is a short two minute intro defined by a high pitched tone that phases subtly throughout the song. The timbre of this tone is beautiful – as opposed to the grating sound of some drone music, it soothes. The cyclical building and sinking of the tone is almost indiscernable, but amplifies the building effect of the strings. Layers upon layers of strings add on over the jingling of bells, the tone, and a later on repetitive synth keys line. Overall, it creates an atmosphere that is completely entrancing and perfectly performs its task of getting the listener prepared to absorb the coming tracks.

The Somnambulist// Ragni EP

My favorite song on the EP, and one of my favorite songs of all time, The Somnambulist is absolutely haunting. It is important to realize that Fletcher’s choices with his vocals are entirely intentional: when you can’t understand the lyrics, he doesn’t want you to know exactly what they say. Instead, the vocals are muttered ambiguously, the musings of a sleepwalker. While you may be able to understand some of the words that are uttered, the meaning of the full sentence is left up to you as Fletcher trails off towards the end of each phrase. The only clearly articulated words in the song are the chorus “All alone everywhere/ I have no more control/ I have no self control.” This lamentation signals developments in the instrumentals both times it is repeated, suggesting that the dreamer has more control than they realize. But beyond the ethereality of the vocals, the way the strings and piano complement each other is simply sublime: themes are repeated by one instrument just a fraction after the other, adding a whole extra level of complexity and demonstrating artisan compositional skills.

Rather Be You// Ragni EP

Whereas Minden melts into The Somnambulist, Rather Be You strikes of in a completely different direction. Accompanied by alien noises – it is impossible to discern whether the sounds are from a record player, steam, electricity, or something completely foreign. While the piano begins are the dominant instrument again, it starts to share the spotlight with an acoustic guitar. The song is another building song – maracas and shakers enter the song along with some subtle drumming, and some of the melodic instrumentation becomes more synthetic. Here vocals play a minimal role again, becoming another layer of music while the other instruments speak.

The North Sea Epoch// Ragni EP

In Ragni’s longest song, the ambiance come from the sound of wind and waves. Here, the vocals finally become distinctive. Despite Fletcher’s claim that ‘The hardest part is saying goodbye,’ he is quick to repeat the word again and again. The epoch is to which Ragni is saying goodbye to is the one where the band is lost in dreams – instead, the music drifts out into the waves, taking its final rest at sea. Guitar gains a larger role in the beginning of the song, before the vocals are overwhelmed by the sea, at which point waves of sound become almost overwhelming, and whispers from unidentifiable sources are mixed in. In the outro, another voice says “I know the road to home/ it’s not so easy,” suggesting that the 22 year old character has the option, but ultimately chooses not to leave.

Kołysanka// Ragni EP

Polish for lullaby, I imagine Kołysanka to be the song that plays as the character is reflecting on their life as they sink deeper into the sea. Subtle hints of whale-like sounds and bubbles popping are interspersed with crickets, creating an illogical rift and showing yet another disconnect from reality. Though different voices speak throughout, the Polish lullaby only comes after the sounds begin to fade away – it is the lullaby that brings on the final sleep. Throughout the song, an atmospheric buzz develops and falls away only to return, and most of the melodic elements come from a disparate array of seemingly unrelated noises that nonetheless weave a beautiful sonic tapestry. The track slowly descends into silence for the perfect closing to what is in my opinion, a perfect EP.

10/10

My biggest regret with regards to Ragni is the fact that I was never able to purchase a physical copy of their record. It is accompanied by a 72 page graphic novella by Karl Kerschel, an artist who worked on Teen Titans and Superman as well as the amazing “The Abominable Charles Christopher” that you should check out here. Some of the novella can be seen in the above video… check it.

There’s plenty to criticize about Facebook. It voraciously devours time, convincing people that the mundane minutiae of their lives are apparently so interesting as to be worthy of broadcast. I know it keeps me from doing my homework, because hey, maybe somebody posted new pictures from their vacation? And ooh, I should post on their wall! But despite possibly destroying my ability to function as a human being, Facebook has supplied me with some excellent music.

Not just excellent music, I’ll go so far as to say it has supplied me with two of my favorite albums of whatever arbitrary time period you want to apply. Of course this is just another way Facebook destroys what little productivity I had before, but hey, at least this one is fun.

P.S. Elliot

Broken record//The Bike Wreck Demo

Entrendre//The Bike Wreck Demo

Like How You Are//The Bike Wreck Demo

Alright, so a while back, I’m gonna say something like mid January, Sam posts on my wall, “Check out P.S. Elliot. –The Bike Wreck Demo. I’ve been jamming to it a lot lately.” Now Sam and Giri are responsible for introducing me to Japanther, when they talk I listen, so I promptly download The Bike Wreck Demo. I turn it on and JESUS CHRIST it opens with the most shrill, painful tin whistle recorded through a rusty can sound. It physically hurts if you have your sound up too loud, but after that there’s real music. Good music.

I mentioned the whistle sound because while the album overall is great, really catchy and fun stuff, it isn’t exactly overproduced. If you want to hear the drums, and I did, you’ll have to deal with the vocals getting a bit shrill, but that incredibly low fidelity ultimately ends up working for the album. The low fidelity makes the music relatable; anyone who’s practiced in a garage, basement, or anywhere with concrete floors and tricycles will recognize the acoustics.

Broken Record, the first song on the EP, sums up what the band is all about. The music is simple, rough, but ultimately catchy. They slow down slightly for Entrendre, the second track, and basically oscillate between those two velocities for the entirety of the the EP’s 14.4 minutes. These guys aren’t technical, but that isn’t the point. They write perfect little pop punk songs, the sort of songs that sound like they’re written exactly for you and drag you in quickly but end before you have a chance to think. 5 real songs, every one under 3 minutes, there’s no reason not to listen at least once.

Good Luck

How To Live Hear//Into Lake Griffy

Stars Were Exploding//Into Lake Griffy

West Wind Ride//Into Lake Griffy

This one came to me courtesy of Dan, a man among men and true American hero. Sometime, mid-November probably, he posts a mediafire link and “You’re welcome”. That’s all he said because that’s all the man needed to say. It may be cliché, but I don’t care, the music speaks for itself.

Good Luck, from Bloomington, Indiana, write infectious, anthemic and surprisingly technical pop punk. Their debut album Into Lake Griffy contains 14  pop punk gems in 43 minutes. The energetic How To Live Here sets the tone for the album, introducing the technical but not ostentatious guitar work and lead singer Matt Tobey’s nasal yet emotive voice. The first lines, “Here we are in this world, I don’t know how we got here but somehow we learned how to live,” encapsulate the broad lyrical themes of the album. Good Luck explores the anxieties and fears that define everyday life, but they do so with an infectiously exuberant outlook. They conjure images of the moment “when the band plays everyone’s favorite song,” on Pajammin, “the beats you tap on the dash when you drum in your car” in Same Stories, and other scenes of the sublime among the everyday. Lyrically, they express their appreciation of the beautiful in life in a way that makes the anxieties and miseries of everyday life worthwhile.

Good Luck are technical for a punk band. The album features numerous solos, but never masturbatory prog garbage. If a song has a guitar solo or some other showy technical trick, its only because it contributes to the emotional impact of the song. I can’t say enough about this band, and every line I write is only going to distract from the music, so I’ll end with this: Buy or download or do whatever you have to to get Into Lake Griffy. You’re welcome.