Watch: The Golden Filter - “Voluspa”

What a surprise! The Golden Filter has put yet another enigmatic music video on the internet. Well, at least this one is a whole lot longer than the teaser we’ve seen before. Though, that leads us to think, maybe this is actually from their forthcoming debut album, Voluspa. The audio has all the qualities an album intro should, complete with swirling ambiance, slow-burning intensity, and a hushed monologue, and it all sounds just like the increasingly cryptic style that we’ve been hearing from the Brooklyn duo. Consider our anticipations piqued to the peak!

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Shy ChildLiquid LoveWall of Sound (2010) Genre: IndieRating: C- Shy Child’s Liquid Love is ten songs that aren’t necessarily ground breaking, as synth-pop duos seem to be a dime a dozen these days, but they aren’t necessarily offensive either. The songs that make up the band’s fourth album are fun and easy to listen to, even if we have basically heard them before. Where Shy Child falls short, in comparison to its long list of peers like MGMT, Passion Pit, and Cut Copy, is in its failure to combine the dynamic highs with any palpable lows. There are spots where a song has the potential to open up, hit hard, and cross over that threshold into a truly great pop song, but the band holds back. “Esp,” a song that could have the potential to stand next to the output of Shy Child’s hugely successful radio-friendly peers, tends to merely drift along into the next track, rather than begging to be replayed immediately. Liquid Love has a good deal of high moments to contrast, and occasionally trump, a few of its unfortunate lows. Yet it seems that wherever the band does succeed, a misstep is close to follow. The album’s first single, “Disconnected,” features a great chorus. It’s memorable, catchy, and just about everything a good chorus should be. Though, in the end, the song doesn’t go anywhere different from where it began—something that could be said for much of Love. “Criss Cross” is an almost perfect song, and features a groove that can’t be ignored. It could have been the best on the record. The song’s potential is killed, however, by an unnecessary voicemail recording that lasts for a minute-and-a-half and takes the wind completely out of the sails of a song that could have traversed much further unencumbered by it. While Liquid Love may not be bursting at the seams with songs that are obvious sing/dance-along numbers suited for massive outdoor music festival audiences, and while it has some problems in focus and dynamic, it isn’t an overall failure. Shy Child’s songs are mostly listenable, relatively enjoyable, and they deserve to be heard and not forgotten, at least not immediately. -Todd Miller Listen:“Disconnected” Shy Child on Last.fm

Shy Child
Liquid Love
Wall of Sound (2010)

Genre: Indie
Rating: C-

Shy Child’s Liquid Love is ten songs that aren’t necessarily ground breaking, as synth-pop duos seem to be a dime a dozen these days, but they aren’t necessarily offensive either. The songs that make up the band’s fourth album are fun and easy to listen to, even if we have basically heard them before. Where Shy Child falls short, in comparison to its long list of peers like MGMT, Passion Pit, and Cut Copy, is in its failure to combine the dynamic highs with any palpable lows. There are spots where a song has the potential to open up, hit hard, and cross over that threshold into a truly great pop song, but the band holds back. “Esp,” a song that could have the potential to stand next to the output of Shy Child’s hugely successful radio-friendly peers, tends to merely drift along into the next track, rather than begging to be replayed immediately.

Liquid Love has a good deal of high moments to contrast, and occasionally trump, a few of its unfortunate lows. Yet it seems that wherever the band does succeed, a misstep is close to follow. The album’s first single, “Disconnected,” features a great chorus. It’s memorable, catchy, and just about everything a good chorus should be. Though, in the end, the song doesn’t go anywhere different from where it began—something that could be said for much of Love. “Criss Cross” is an almost perfect song, and features a groove that can’t be ignored. It could have been the best on the record. The song’s potential is killed, however, by an unnecessary voicemail recording that lasts for a minute-and-a-half and takes the wind completely out of the sails of a song that could have traversed much further unencumbered by it.

While Liquid Love may not be bursting at the seams with songs that are obvious sing/dance-along numbers suited for massive outdoor music festival audiences, and while it has some problems in focus and dynamic, it isn’t an overall failure. Shy Child’s songs are mostly listenable, relatively enjoyable, and they deserve to be heard and not forgotten, at least not immediately.

-Todd Miller

Listen:
“Disconnected”

Shy Child on Last.fm

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Premiere: Ninjasonik - “Toe Wop”

Not that anyone was really looking for someone to replace Spank Rock and Plastic Little, but, regardless, Ninjasonik is here—in full effect—and ready to claim the hipster-hop crown. From the forthcoming debut album, Art School Girls, comes this WTF booty-jam, “Toe Wop.” Reverend McFly spits some sort of stream of consciousness flow, like a Dadaist E-40 directing club traffic over a banging electro-hop beat, on this short cut. It ain’t the new Animal Collective single, but it’s sure to move some asses when it drops April 20 on Green Owl Records.

Listen:
“Toe Wop”

Download as MP3 (Removed at label’s request.)

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RuskoWoo-Boost EPMad Decent (2010) Genre: ElectronicRating: B- If it’s not fully apparent in his random stage antics or by his smushed face adorning the cover of his debut EP for Mad Decent, entitled Woo-Boost, Rusko is a joker in a scene of straight-faced producers. With “Woo Boost,” the LA-based DJ/producer (born Christopher Mercer) has assumed the same role taken by The Bloody Beetroots in the nu-electro world, but within his crowd of clubstep/future-house patrons. Rusko effectively boils down the elements of contemporary UK club music (those being beat, bass, melody, and wonky noise), and redraws its portrait with a big black Sharpie and plenty of bright colors. Mercer’s intent is obvious from the start. In under 20 seconds, someone yells “Woo,” a glass is broken, and a siren is sounded multiple times before the buzzing synths kick the track into gear. It’s all a big, playful joke, and Rusko expects us to laugh—not to mention dance—along with him. “Woo Boost” is a parody, yes, but it’s also a step into new territory. With the bright synth melody piercing the foreground, the distorted wobbling bass cranked into the red, and the plethora of ridiculous sound effects exploding from his single, Rusko asks his peers, “Why so serious?” The original track is followed by remixes from Subskrpt, Borgore, Douster, and Toadally Krossed Out; the former of which sound more like unfocused filler, and the latter of which provide new and interesting takes on the bombastic sounds in “Woo Boost.” Another side to Rusko may be fully evidenced when his album, O.M.G!, surfaces on Mad Decent, but for now, he’ll remain a welcome court jester in a chamber full of monks. -Patric Fallon Rusko on Last.fm

Rusko
Woo-Boost EP
Mad Decent (2010)

Genre: Electronic
Rating: B-

If it’s not fully apparent in his random stage antics or by his smushed face adorning the cover of his debut EP for Mad Decent, entitled Woo-Boost, Rusko is a joker in a scene of straight-faced producers. With “Woo Boost,” the LA-based DJ/producer (born Christopher Mercer) has assumed the same role taken by The Bloody Beetroots in the nu-electro world, but within his crowd of clubstep/future-house patrons. Rusko effectively boils down the elements of contemporary UK club music (those being beat, bass, melody, and wonky noise), and redraws its portrait with a big black Sharpie and plenty of bright colors.

Mercer’s intent is obvious from the start. In under 20 seconds, someone yells “Woo,” a glass is broken, and a siren is sounded multiple times before the buzzing synths kick the track into gear. It’s all a big, playful joke, and Rusko expects us to laugh—not to mention dance—along with him. “Woo Boost” is a parody, yes, but it’s also a step into new territory. With the bright synth melody piercing the foreground, the distorted wobbling bass cranked into the red, and the plethora of ridiculous sound effects exploding from his single, Rusko asks his peers, “Why so serious?”

The original track is followed by remixes from Subskrpt, Borgore, Douster, and Toadally Krossed Out; the former of which sound more like unfocused filler, and the latter of which provide new and interesting takes on the bombastic sounds in “Woo Boost.” Another side to Rusko may be fully evidenced when his album, O.M.G!, surfaces on Mad Decent, but for now, he’ll remain a welcome court jester in a chamber full of monks.

-Patric Fallon

Rusko on Last.fm

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To-Do List: Grow Up

It may not be apparent from the serious tone of our album critiques or our dedication to all things online, but music writers do like to have fun too. Every once in a while, keyCMND will be posting an event going on in the near future that we think is worth checking out. That is, if you live within a 20-mile radius of the club, concert, or what-have-you. We are based in San Francisco, so most of these posts will be pertinent to the 415, but feel free to suggest anything you’d like to see covered via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

Call us shameless self-promoters, call us bad journalists, or just call us plain unoriginal, but none of that will change how awesome the next Grow Up party is going to be. Sure, a couple of the resident DJs for the monthly disco write for keyCMND, but that shouldn’t overshadow the two special guests appearing with them. DFA’s Altair Nouveau will be taking the decks for his final performance as a San Francisco resident before hauling his arsenal of vintage synths to New York. Beforehand, local producer The Beat Broker will set the stage with his own kind of groove-heavy cosmic disco. To get you pumped for this upcoming Wednesday, they’ve offered a live mix from a past Grow Up party by resident DJ Hotthobo. You can stream and download it here.

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LiarsSisterworldMute Records (2010) Genre: IndieRating: C With Sisterworld, the fifth full-length album from Liars, the band continues in its shape-shifting ways, and delivers a collection of songs that sound unlike anything else it has previously released. The massive percussion of Drum’s Not Dead is there, though a few steps out of the spotlight, and the angular bite of They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top still lingers about in certain places. Sisterworld is a moody, hazy, and occasionally dense album, and, as per usual, serves as the band’s next sidestep in a strange direction. No matter what musical style Liars adopt, the trio consistently concoct themes and stories that serve as the backbone for each record. When making They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, an album based on the stories of German witch trials, the band secluded themselves in a cabin in the woods of rural New Jersey. They wrote and recorded Sisterworld entirely in their current hometown of Los Angeles, and attempted to capture and express a realm of their own making. The album’s press release mentions “discarded dreams amassed in LA,” and, at the core of it, that is exactly what it sounds like; a collection of dreams. Whether the songs are jarringly abrasive (like in the murderous paranoia of “Scarecrows on a Killer Slant” and on proto-punk anthem “The Overachievers”) or eerily muted (like the awkwardly off-key sounds of “Drop Dead” and haunting piano melody in “Drip”), there is a murky quality in all of them that mirrors a dizzying montage in some art-house film. The constant back and forth between loud and quiet, along with the droning qualities of Angus Andrew’s vocals, creates an unnerving atmosphere that exists somewhere between this world and another plane. At times, this other realm can be an interesting place, but it can also be the worst place for a song—or an entire album, for that matter—to reside. Sisterworld could never suffice as background noise. If you put it on while working, or cooking, or doing anything besides only listening to the album, you could easily forget it’s there. The whole album is detached from the usual realities of contemporary music, and exists in a strange and somewhat uninviting world where melody is second to mood. It demands your full attention, which is no easy feat without hooks, verses, or choruses to keep you interested. Liars accomplished what it set out to do on its new album, and created its own place. It just may not be inhabitable by many. -Todd Miller Listen:“Scissor” Liars on Last.fm

Liars
Sisterworld
Mute Records (2010)

Genre: Indie
Rating: C

With Sisterworld, the fifth full-length album from Liars, the band continues in its shape-shifting ways, and delivers a collection of songs that sound unlike anything else it has previously released. The massive percussion of Drum’s Not Dead is there, though a few steps out of the spotlight, and the angular bite of They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top still lingers about in certain places. Sisterworld is a moody, hazy, and occasionally dense album, and, as per usual, serves as the band’s next sidestep in a strange direction.

No matter what musical style Liars adopt, the trio consistently concoct themes and stories that serve as the backbone for each record. When making They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, an album based on the stories of German witch trials, the band secluded themselves in a cabin in the woods of rural New Jersey. They wrote and recorded Sisterworld entirely in their current hometown of Los Angeles, and attempted to capture and express a realm of their own making. The album’s press release mentions “discarded dreams amassed in LA,” and, at the core of it, that is exactly what it sounds like; a collection of dreams.

Whether the songs are jarringly abrasive (like in the murderous paranoia of “Scarecrows on a Killer Slant” and on proto-punk anthem “The Overachievers”) or eerily muted (like the awkwardly off-key sounds of “Drop Dead” and haunting piano melody in “Drip”), there is a murky quality in all of them that mirrors a dizzying montage in some art-house film. The constant back and forth between loud and quiet, along with the droning qualities of Angus Andrew’s vocals, creates an unnerving atmosphere that exists somewhere between this world and another plane. At times, this other realm can be an interesting place, but it can also be the worst place for a song—or an entire album, for that matter—to reside.

Sisterworld could never suffice as background noise. If you put it on while working, or cooking, or doing anything besides only listening to the album, you could easily forget it’s there. The whole album is detached from the usual realities of contemporary music, and exists in a strange and somewhat uninviting world where melody is second to mood. It demands your full attention, which is no easy feat without hooks, verses, or choruses to keep you interested. Liars accomplished what it set out to do on its new album, and created its own place. It just may not be inhabitable by many.

-Todd Miller

Listen:
“Scissor”

Liars on Last.fm

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Watch: Thom Yorke Plays a Bunch of Solo Songs

Thom Yorke has been kicking his game into high-gear lately. There have been rumors of a possibly finished new Radiohead album, a now-named backing band will be performing with him at Coachella and aborad, and then there was this solo performance in Cambridge recently.

At a Green Party benefit, um, party, Yorke hopped is little frame on stage with an acoustic guitar and serenaded the environmentally conscious audience with his all-too-familiar croon. With these fairly high-quality videos, thanks to AtEaseWeb.com, you can experience the whole affair from the comfort of your own home. We’ve put a few below, and the rest can be found here.

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B. Bravo Computa Love EPFrite Nite (2010) Genre: ElectronicRating: B- If anything is true of Computa Love, the second EP from San Francisco producer B. Bravo, it’s that the four tracks within are wholly consistent. More or less the same palette of vintage synth tones and drum machine samples are used to carve out the lovelorn melodies and funky rhythms heard throughout. It’s that dedication to style which makes Bravo’s EP a solid addition to the future-boogie repertoire propagated by the likes of Dâm-Funk, Nite Jewel, and James Pants, but the same trait also makes Computa Love sound like the work of a one-dimensional artist. “Cascades” and the EP’s title-track are easily the fullest compositions of the four, with each flexing their own slow-grooving basslines, electronic atmospheres, head-nodding beats, and poignant vocal sampling, and stand out immediately on first listen. The following track, “Shook,” follows in suit, but picks things up a bit tempo wise and sets the tone for Love’s only true change of pace, “Orfeo (Will You Stay).” It’s understandable—what with the title and all—that B. Bravo keep his jams more bedroom friendly than dancefloor ready. However, when you’re dealing with a four-song release, it’s best to introduce your other style early on to avoid seeming like a one-trick pony. “Orfeo” waylays such notions with its upbeat grooves and vocoder vocals, but, as Computa Love’s closer, it leaves you wishing Bravo had explored this other side of his music earlier on. -Patric Fallon Listen:“Cascades” B. Bravo on Last.fm

B. Bravo
Computa Love EP
Frite Nite (2010)

Genre: Electronic
Rating: B-

If anything is true of Computa Love, the second EP from San Francisco producer B. Bravo, it’s that the four tracks within are wholly consistent. More or less the same palette of vintage synth tones and drum machine samples are used to carve out the lovelorn melodies and funky rhythms heard throughout. It’s that dedication to style which makes Bravo’s EP a solid addition to the future-boogie repertoire propagated by the likes of Dâm-Funk, Nite Jewel, and James Pants, but the same trait also makes Computa Love sound like the work of a one-dimensional artist.

“Cascades” and the EP’s title-track are easily the fullest compositions of the four, with each flexing their own slow-grooving basslines, electronic atmospheres, head-nodding beats, and poignant vocal sampling, and stand out immediately on first listen. The following track, “Shook,” follows in suit, but picks things up a bit tempo wise and sets the tone for Love’s only true change of pace, “Orfeo (Will You Stay).” It’s understandable—what with the title and all—that B. Bravo keep his jams more bedroom friendly than dancefloor ready. However, when you’re dealing with a four-song release, it’s best to introduce your other style early on to avoid seeming like a one-trick pony. “Orfeo” waylays such notions with its upbeat grooves and vocoder vocals, but, as Computa Love’s closer, it leaves you wishing Bravo had explored this other side of his music earlier on.

-Patric Fallon

Listen:
“Cascades”

B. Bravo on Last.fm

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Little Dragon to Tour Stateside

There’s always been something a little special about the electronic pop crafted by the four Swedes in Little Dragon. Maybe it’s the way they mix the kind of enigmatic atmospheres reminiscent of The Knife and TV on the Radio with Tom Tom Club-esque dance jams, or maybe it’s the reservedly soulful nature of singer Yukimi Nagano’s feathery voice. Regardless, the songs on their latest album, ‘09’s Machine Dreams, warrant today’s ever-escalating ticket prices, and now Little Dragon is giving you the chance to prove your love.

Following the recent studio time spent writing two tracks for the forthcoming new Gorillaz album, Little Dragon are coming to North America for a full spring tour. We’ve posted those dates below, along with a taste from their last album to remind you of exactly what kind of sounds you’ll be hearing at these shows. Enjoy!

Listen:
“Blinking Pigs”

Download as MP3

03/11/2010 Windish Agency CMW Showcase @ Lee’s Palace - Toronto, ON
03/13/2010 Club Congress - Tucson, AZ
03/15/2010 Emos Jr. -  Austin, TX
03/16/2010 One Eyed Jacks - New Orleans, LA
03/17/2010 Club Downunder -Tallahassee, FL
03/18/2010 Crowbar - Tampa, FL
03/19/2010 Backbooth - Orlando, FL
03/20/2010 Masquerade (Hell Stage) - Atlanta, GA
03/21/2010 The Milestone - Charlotte , NC *
03/22/2010 Rapture / R2 - Charlottesville, VA *
03/23/2010 Johnny Brendas - Philadelphia, PA *
03/24/2010 Liv Nightclub - Washington, DC *
03/25/2010 Music Hall Of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY *
03/28/2010 Great Scott - Allston, MA
03/29/2010 Lamb - Montreal, QC *
03/31/2010 Grog Shop - Cleveland Heights, OH
04/01/2010 Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL *
04/02/2010 Mission Creek Midwest Festival @ Blue Moose Tap House - Iowa City, IA
04/03/2010 Slowdown - Omaha, NE *
04/05/2010 Walnut Room - Denver, CO *
04/06/2010 Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT *
04/09/2010 Nectar Lounge - Seattle, WA *
04/10/2010 Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, BC
04/11/2010 The Wild Buffalo - Bellingham, WA *
04/12/2010 Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR *
04/13/2010 The Independent - San Francisco, CA *
04/14/2010 The Independent - San Francisco, CA *
04/16/2010 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
04/21/2010 Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros - Mexico City
04/23/2010 Teatro Metro - Bogota

*w/ VV Brown supporting

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Past LivesTapestry of WebsSuicide Squeeze Records (2010) Genre: IndieRating: A- Time and experience typically lead to the rise of maturity with all facets of life. Tapestry of Webs, the homecoming full-length debut from Seattle’s Past Lives, sweats evolution considering the acts which chiseled the finely tuned musicians that make up the quartet—most notably, that little post-punkcore, game-changing explosion known as The Blood Brothers. The eccentric musical upbringing that coalesced into Past Lives was seminal for pockets of Generation Y that quickly got over nu-metal and/or didn’t care too much for after school activities. To those kids who kept their ears perked whilst lusting for the time when Jordan Blilie and co. would once again grace a loud soundsystem or snug set of headphones, Tapestry of Webs is for you. “Paralyzer” opens the 12-track ordeal by rewarding those whose musical tastes matured as they impatiently waited for the bands that kept pace to surface. Blilie’s familiar voice vigorously draws those listeners in without a sassy yowl from his former Blood Brothers counterpart to be heard. He can still hit the rafters with his shriek, but Webs melts through your fingers with an arsenal of undistorted grooving sounds, which renders that higher register a bit less prudent. Before launching into track two, Blilie lyrically creates the woman that walks your dreams. You can’t even blink twice to make sure she’s real before her hooks are sunk in deep: “White heart crucifixion eyes / Gonna nail you into place.” The song’s slow-building percussion rises in intensity with each brash pluck of the guitar, and eventually bursts into crashing drums flanked by a wall of doo-wop-indebted “oohs” as the song climaxes. It all adds up to a completely unfamiliar and perfectly executed musical statement. As this train of an album chugs along to each of its stops, we nod our heads with the syncopated beats, recline along with the calming choruses, and tear through our closets looking to bust out our dancing shoes with each burst of unbridled rhythms. Tracks like “K Hole” remind us of Past Lives’ frantic roots, but that nostalgia is now played with their degree from the school of graduated words and sounds. “Vanishing Twin” is a prime example of the cryptic lyricism left behind and traded for clear verses that pull much from the depths:  “When you were young, you felt so old / Held a lifetime in your bones.” Tapestry of Webs’ closing track, “There Is a Light So Bright it Blinds,” is a redemptive finale that soaringly sums up what is sure to stand as one of the great albums to be released this year. And for all those Gen Y-ers that waited patiently for the return of their heroes, enjoy. -Sean McCoy Listen:“Paralyzer” Past Lives on Last.fm

Past Lives
Tapestry of Webs
Suicide Squeeze Records (2010)

Genre: Indie
Rating: A-

Time and experience typically lead to the rise of maturity with all facets of life. Tapestry of Webs, the homecoming full-length debut from Seattle’s Past Lives, sweats evolution considering the acts which chiseled the finely tuned musicians that make up the quartet—most notably, that little post-punkcore, game-changing explosion known as The Blood Brothers. The eccentric musical upbringing that coalesced into Past Lives was seminal for pockets of Generation Y that quickly got over nu-metal and/or didn’t care too much for after school activities. To those kids who kept their ears perked whilst lusting for the time when Jordan Blilie and co. would once again grace a loud soundsystem or snug set of headphones, Tapestry of Webs is for you.

“Paralyzer” opens the 12-track ordeal by rewarding those whose musical tastes matured as they impatiently waited for the bands that kept pace to surface. Blilie’s familiar voice vigorously draws those listeners in without a sassy yowl from his former Blood Brothers counterpart to be heard. He can still hit the rafters with his shriek, but Webs melts through your fingers with an arsenal of undistorted grooving sounds, which renders that higher register a bit less prudent. Before launching into track two, Blilie lyrically creates the woman that walks your dreams. You can’t even blink twice to make sure she’s real before her hooks are sunk in deep: “White heart crucifixion eyes / Gonna nail you into place.” The song’s slow-building percussion rises in intensity with each brash pluck of the guitar, and eventually bursts into crashing drums flanked by a wall of doo-wop-indebted “oohs” as the song climaxes. It all adds up to a completely unfamiliar and perfectly executed musical statement.

As this train of an album chugs along to each of its stops, we nod our heads with the syncopated beats, recline along with the calming choruses, and tear through our closets looking to bust out our dancing shoes with each burst of unbridled rhythms. Tracks like “K Hole” remind us of Past Lives’ frantic roots, but that nostalgia is now played with their degree from the school of graduated words and sounds. “Vanishing Twin” is a prime example of the cryptic lyricism left behind and traded for clear verses that pull much from the depths:  “When you were young, you felt so old / Held a lifetime in your bones.” Tapestry of Webs’ closing track, “There Is a Light So Bright it Blinds,” is a redemptive finale that soaringly sums up what is sure to stand as one of the great albums to be released this year. And for all those Gen Y-ers that waited patiently for the return of their heroes, enjoy.

-Sean McCoy

Listen:
“Paralyzer”

Past Lives on Last.fm

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Watch: Pantha du Prince - “Stick to My Side (feat. Panda Bear)”

A music video from our current favorite album of 2010, Pantha du Prince’s Black Noise, gets its official premiere today. Probably the catchiest track from the album, thanks to Panda Bear’s inimitable voice, “Stick to my Side” was treated to an edit that cuts straight to the chase for this video, though we’re glad to have the extended original version on producer Hendrik Weber’s full-length album.

Instead of telling you what you’ll see in Pantha’s video, we’ll just say that it comes off like a bad dream Weber surely had whilst isolated in the Swiss countryside during the creation of Black Noise. A small price to pay for such a gorgeous work of art.

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AutechreOverstepsWarp Records (2010)Genre: ElectronicRating: BIf you had some worry that Autechre was going to sacrifice any of their tech-fuzz oddities with the new decade, Oversteps should be a reassurance. Always one to attract the far-fringed contingent of the dance music scene, Sean Booth and Rob Brown’s new record is just as crooked as before; mystifying breakbeats, big washes of austere strings, bubbly, bare-bone synths consistently hovering just below the crackly beat. This is Autechre alright. Like the rest of their career, Oversteps is inherently focused on album aesthetics, transmitting a dark, unfriendly environment over its hour-long trajectory. The unbridled ferocity of the noise freakouts (“r ess,” “O=0,” and the like) poke their head through the rave quite a few times, never letting the listener get complacent with the coma-throb shimmying beats—always having far more in common with Aphex Twin than Daft Punk. When they do allow everyone to get on the floor (as on “known(1),” “qplay,” and “see on see”), it’s through the cerebral urging of counterpoint bass-trembles and gravedigging keyboard plunks. It’s actually pretty amazing how, nearly two decades after its inception, Autechre continue to be the one of the most forward-thinking electronic acts on the scene. They still make dancing to thunderstorms, coral-reef chimes, and twisted, inside-out time signatures seem second nature. You couldn’t say Booth and Brown are as fresh as they once were, but you’re unlikely to hear many 2010 producers mustering up much better. -Luke Winkie Autechre on Last.fm

Autechre
Oversteps
Warp Records (2010)

Genre: Electronic
Rating: B

If you had some worry that Autechre was going to sacrifice any of their tech-fuzz oddities with the new decade, Oversteps should be a reassurance. Always one to attract the far-fringed contingent of the dance music scene, Sean Booth and Rob Brown’s new record is just as crooked as before; mystifying breakbeats, big washes of austere strings, bubbly, bare-bone synths consistently hovering just below the crackly beat. This is Autechre alright.

Like the rest of their career, Oversteps is inherently focused on album aesthetics, transmitting a dark, unfriendly environment over its hour-long trajectory. The unbridled ferocity of the noise freakouts (“r ess,” “O=0,” and the like) poke their head through the rave quite a few times, never letting the listener get complacent with the coma-throb shimmying beats—always having far more in common with Aphex Twin than Daft Punk. When they do allow everyone to get on the floor (as on “known(1),” “qplay,” and “see on see”), it’s through the cerebral urging of counterpoint bass-trembles and gravedigging keyboard plunks.

It’s actually pretty amazing how, nearly two decades after its inception, Autechre continue to be the one of the most forward-thinking electronic acts on the scene. They still make dancing to thunderstorms, coral-reef chimes, and twisted, inside-out time signatures seem second nature. You couldn’t say Booth and Brown are as fresh as they once were, but you’re unlikely to hear many 2010 producers mustering up much better.

-Luke Winkie

Autechre on Last.fm

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Listen: CANT - “Ghosts (Class Actress Remix)”

One of the more exciting releases heard so far this month, Journal of Ardency by Class Actress, piqued our interest in the Brooklyn disco-pop duo, and it has yet to wane. Their debut was released on Chris Taylor’s (of Grizzly Bear) label, Terrible Records, who also performs solo under the moniker CANT. Here, Elizabeth Harper and Mark Richardson remix “Ghosts” by CANT, with unlikely results.

Most of Journal was filled with sugary pop hooks smoothed out even more by Harper’s silky voice, but this remix seems to take their less-traveled sinister route. The track kicks in with huge bass thumps and industrial percussion that wouldn’t be out of place in any Nine Inch Nails number, but slowly transforms into more of a melodic affair. If nothing else, it’s an interesting sidestep for a group that seems to refuse any kind of simple classification. Listen and download Class Actress’ remix below, and check out a live acoustic rendition of “Let Me Take You Out” from the Journal of Ardency EP up top.

Listen:
“Ghosts (Class Actress Remix)”

Download as MP3

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Xiu XiuDear God, I Hate MyselfKill Rock Stars (2010) Genre: IndieRating: B Jamie Stewart is relentless. Somewhere amidst relocating to Brooklyn from the San Francisco Bay Area, losing longtime band mate Caralee McElroy—a fixture of Xiu Xiu since Fabulous Muscles—to Philly’s Cold Cave, and touring as part of Freddy Ruppert’s Former Ghost project this past summer, Stewart somehow found the time to craft his most entertaining and ear-catching Xiu Xiu album in years. The provocatively titled Dear God, I Hate Myself returns to Stewart’s experimental roots—pushing listeners to screech and squirm about with delight while asking themselves, “Did he really just say that?” Dear God contains all the classic elements from past Xiu Xiu records that Women As Lovers, their last effort recorded as a full band, very much lacked. These attributes show up especially in songs like “The Fabrizio Palumbo Retaliation”; a shuffling piano diddy that will have you screaming along with Stewart’s reiterations of “Pink, pink, pink, pink, pink, pink, pink!” Other stand-outs include the lovable singsong of “Chocolate Makes You Happy,” which is complimented with an equally strange video featuring Xiu Xiu youngblood Angela Seo vomiting on Stewart as he eats a piece of chocolate. “Hyunhye’s Theme,” a song about a girl frightened by the ‘correct’ choices she thought she had to make to achieve happiness, lilts about with the band’s signature distorted electronics serving as a backdrop for acoustic guitars and sparse string arrangements, and sounds like something that would’ve fit perfectly on the esoteric ‘03 masterpiece A Promise. The title-track could be the most honest and introspective of the album. Lyrics like “I will always be nicer to the cat than I am to you” could drive one to wonder, “What kind of relationship would I have with Jamie Stewart?” Key Xiu Xiu players Ches Smith and Greg Saunier, along with his Deerhoof band mate John Dieterich, return to give Stewart’s fractured pop a thick and fully realized sound. Most tracks on Dear God, I Hate Myself were made in-part on an unlikely gadget: a Nintendo DS. The familiar bleeps and bloops might be the reason why even seven-year olds can sing along to the chorus of “Chocolate Makes You Happy.” Though, maybe these new songs are just that forthright and lovable. Better yet, it could be that Dear God sticks to the constants of classic Xiu Xiu albums, which could be argued are brutal honesty and evolving musical ideas matched with discomforting sentiments, lovely nostalgia, and, most importantly, constant jabs of dark humor. -Giovanni De La Cruz Listen:“Gray Death” Xiu Xiu on Last.fm

Xiu Xiu
Dear God, I Hate Myself
Kill Rock Stars (2010)

Genre: Indie
Rating: B

Jamie Stewart is relentless. Somewhere amidst relocating to Brooklyn from the San Francisco Bay Area, losing longtime band mate Caralee McElroy—a fixture of Xiu Xiu since Fabulous Muscles—to Philly’s Cold Cave, and touring as part of Freddy Ruppert’s Former Ghost project this past summer, Stewart somehow found the time to craft his most entertaining and ear-catching Xiu Xiu album in years. The provocatively titled Dear God, I Hate Myself returns to Stewart’s experimental roots—pushing listeners to screech and squirm about with delight while asking themselves, “Did he really just say that?”

Dear God contains all the classic elements from past Xiu Xiu records that Women As Lovers, their last effort recorded as a full band, very much lacked. These attributes show up especially in songs like “The Fabrizio Palumbo Retaliation”; a shuffling piano diddy that will have you screaming along with Stewart’s reiterations of “Pink, pink, pink, pink, pink, pink, pink!” Other stand-outs include the lovable singsong of “Chocolate Makes You Happy,” which is complimented with an equally strange video featuring Xiu Xiu youngblood Angela Seo vomiting on Stewart as he eats a piece of chocolate. “Hyunhye’s Theme,” a song about a girl frightened by the ‘correct’ choices she thought she had to make to achieve happiness, lilts about with the band’s signature distorted electronics serving as a backdrop for acoustic guitars and sparse string arrangements, and sounds like something that would’ve fit perfectly on the esoteric ‘03 masterpiece A Promise. The title-track could be the most honest and introspective of the album. Lyrics like “I will always be nicer to the cat than I am to you” could drive one to wonder, “What kind of relationship would I have with Jamie Stewart?”

Key Xiu Xiu players Ches Smith and Greg Saunier, along with his Deerhoof band mate John Dieterich, return to give Stewart’s fractured pop a thick and fully realized sound. Most tracks on Dear God, I Hate Myself were made in-part on an unlikely gadget: a Nintendo DS. The familiar bleeps and bloops might be the reason why even seven-year olds can sing along to the chorus of “Chocolate Makes You Happy.” Though, maybe these new songs are just that forthright and lovable. Better yet, it could be that Dear God sticks to the constants of classic Xiu Xiu albums, which could be argued are brutal honesty and evolving musical ideas matched with discomforting sentiments, lovely nostalgia, and, most importantly, constant jabs of dark humor.

-Giovanni De La Cruz

Listen:
“Gray Death”

Xiu Xiu on Last.fm

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Listen: Beach House - “The Arrangement (Live)”

It’s no secret how we gush over Beach House. The Baltimore duo revel in the subtleties of its basic instrumental arrangements, which allow Victoria Legrand’s voice to overtake any song its placed in, as well they should. Here, we have a song that didn’t make it on Teen Dream, Beach House’s breath-taking third album which was reviewed so lovingly by Luke Winkie here, called “The Arrangement.”

This recording was performed live for an upcoming Sirius XMU radio show, but the song itself will be officially released April 17 (Record Store Day) on the exclusive Zebra EP, along with another brand new track and reworked Teen Dream cuts. You can stream Beach House’s live performance of “The Arrangement” below.

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Listen: CANT - “Ghosts (Class Actress Remix)”
Listen: Beach House - “The Arrangement (Live)”

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