I was just writing a concert preview for Mogwai's show at the Commodore this Friday, when I stumbled upon the unfortunate announcement on their website. Apparently they had some visa problems. The band says they hope to be back in Vancouver as soon as they can.
The instrumental rock band holds legendary status in their scene, as one of the most influential post-rock bands of the 2000s. The band rejects the label post-rock though, which I have to agree, is an overanalytical name for such a broad genre. In many cases, I might rather just call it shoegaze, since there are a lot of identifiable similarities between post-rock and shoegaze, and shoegaze generally has more charm, in both nomenclature and musical stylings.
I have to admit, I had to push myself a little to understand why Mogwai chooses to leave vocals out of most their songs. Their guitarist, Stuart Braithwaite says, “I think most people are not used to having no lyrics to focus on. Lyrics are a real comfort to some people. I guess they like to sing along and when they can't do that with us they can get a bit upset.” You really have to just put on a Mogwai album for awhile and sit back; then suddenly it hits you that vocals would really just get in the way of their music.
Without further ado, here's a couple samples of what we'll all be missing this Friday. Keep an eye out in case they reschedule, because a Mogwai show in Vancouver is not to be missed. In the meantime, check out their new album Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, from which these two tracks were taken.
Architecture in Helsinki is back! In late 2008, just over a year after their last album, they released “That Beep”; it caught my attention as I kept hearing it in clothing stores everywhere (??) and I hoped it was the sign of a new album on the horizon. But, time went by and I thought maybe they did make a new album and it got lost in some record label's internal warfare or something, like I've seen happen to many a good album. I still have no idea what happened, but here's “Contact High”, the lead single (technically the second single) off their new album, Moment Bends. Which, by the way is amazing—see the preview below...
And here's the video, weird and modernist, a perfect fit for the song.
Album Preview
The new album, Moment Bends, plays like they brainstormed some ideas and settled on “let's make it sound like a greatest hits package, except all the songs will be new and ridiculously catchy.” It feels like almost everything on it could be a radio single, but at the same time, all the songs have a different feel, almost like they were from different eras. For example, I'm listening to “B4 3D” right now and it's kind of a mellow 80s ballad with synthy basso profundo vocals. Now I'm listening to “Escapee”, an almost excessively catchy twee-ish tune, despite the fact it has no real chorus. And now I'm listening to “Desert Island” which has dominating synths and an (obviously) tropical feel to it, with a surprising climactic build at the end.
There's enough catchy songs to spready over a decade of albums. They should have called it “Greatest Hits of This Album”. Moment Bends drops everywhere next week, on May 3!
Architecture in Helsinki is touring at home in Australia and then North America over the next couple months. They're stopping in Vancouver on June 5th and I can't wait!
This will not be a concert review of Foals, Freelance Whales and The Naked & Famous.
It's good to be back, Vancouver! I've been on a break, and I was going to return the other night with a (hopefully) fantastic review of one of the Commodore Ballroom's best lineup s this year: Foals, Freelance Whales and The Naked & Famous. But, the night before the show, I was informed that the people organizing the show had cut the entire guestlist. They gave me no explanation, so I imagine they had somehow determined that insulting the press was worth a few extra ticket sales. So, I got to miss one of my most anticipated shows of the year, while my friends, who bought tickets after I introduced them to the bands, went to the show without me. Them's the breaks when you're dealing with the jerks who run the music business. (Except publicists! I love publicists. Their job is literally to make everyone happy; bands, fans, record execs and journalists.)
Now that you know why I don't have a live review for you, there are still three bands that deserve your attention, so I'm going to give them some track reviews instead.
The Naked & Famous - Girls Like You(YSI) I really should be introducing you to this Kiwi indie rock band with “Punching in a Dream” or “Young Blood”, the two songs that earned them many fond comparisons to MGMT. But, I have played those songs to death, so here's one with a little less radio flavour and a little more beauty. “Girls Like You” builds slowly over three verses before it hits the epic chorus of Thom and Alisa harmonizing with “Don't you know people write songs about girls like you?”
And, here's the really random, low-budget video they made for “Punching in a Dream”.
Freelance Whales - Generator ^ First Floor(YSI) This band has a lot of variety, blending each song into a different ratio of electropop, indie synth-rock and folk. I suppose I would call them baroque pop—a rock band that likes to use tingly synths and folk instruments like a banjo, a harmonium and a glockenspiel. This song is famous from a Starbucks commercial, so not much more needs to be said. It's unique and it will stick in your head.
The sequel, “Generator ^ 2nd Floor” has a strange and enchanting video. Check it out.
Foals - Miami(YSI) I still have no clue what "math rock" means, but I'll speculate that the geniuses of Foals devised a secret formula for creating a raw, sexy beat. The “Miami” video is less than sexy, but in a cheeky way. But, I can't show you the video here, due to the bumbling executives at Warner Music Group, so you'll have to find it on your own.
Darwin Deez is best described by random YouTube comments. Watch one of his music videos and you'll find comments like “i feel so much more hipster after watching this video”, “hes so retardedly happy” and “This guy is definitely Moss of The IT Crowd.”
He has just started his first headlining tour in North America and we'll be seeing him on Monday at The Media Club in Vancouver. Before his tour kicked off, we wrote him to answer a few questions.
SK: Hey Darwin! Glad to have you here on Silence Killer, if only by email. I understand you're back home in North America for another tour. How was the UK tour with Little Comets? DD: Love those guys so much. They are so so so sweet. And manly. We had a good time prank calling their music biz contacts at 2 am in a Travelodge. And they rock.
SK: A lot of bands are terrible at describing their own music within traditional genres. Tell me about your music, using big and unusual words. DD: It's heliocentric and electrochemical...not. Ummm, it's minimal. If i say it's minimalistic is that a bigger word? It's simple and funkadociously fresh. I don't like big words, I guess. I like to be very clear and specific as much as possible! I always just call it homemade, authentic indie pop/rock.
SK: Math time. ____ + ____ = Darwin Deez. First things that come to mind. Don't say MGMT + Yo Gabba Gabba. Those are mine. DD: Thriller + Dismemberment Plan?
SK: Where do you go when your creative parts are in need of new inspiration? DD: I don't know. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, I guess. My parents' house, in other words.
SK: I think your jheri curl/pornstache combo is a perfect fit for the Deez steez. Do people ever make awkward comments about it, or tug your curls to see if they're real? DD: Thank you! It's something. I like the way they both frame my face so I've kept them. And it's good to be recognizable in this business. And yes comments, and yes tugging.
SK: What do you do in the "green room" to prepare yourself before your set? DD: Eat Asian food, I guess. And hope it doesn't sit too heavy in there while I'm dancing around like an idiot!
SK: Often when I go to a concert, the band says that they love the audience and it's their favourite place to play, but sometimes I think they just say that to every audience. What is your actual favourite place you've played? DD: Seattle. But Vancouver was also a great show (that's the stage persona talking). We were opening for Bishop Allen and Throw Me the Statue last year and we actually got encored. As an opener!
SK: Tell me one popular band/singer/musician you're into right now, and one not-popular one. Then tell me your favourite album of 2010. DD: One popular band I'm into is the Floyd. I'm having a moment for Dark Side of the Moon this week. A not popular one is my friend Jacob Ciocci's noise band, Extreme Animals. My favorite album of 2010 is Shut Up, Dude by Das Racist. Their first mixtape. Genius.
SK: I love your lyrics. You definitely stand out, lyrically, amongst the bands I'm into right now. What is the cleverest line you've written? DD: Sweet, thank you! I think it might have been this rap couplet: “Rayanne Graf takin' a spray tan bath with Ray Bans on / the gay man's gone / for Christmas / Ricki / chasin' Angela Chase / wish she / was my so-called wife.” But you have to be a My So-Called Life fan to get it. Maybe “You are a radar detector...[because] you are always looking out for me.” That one's for everybody, but again you have to be familiar with an uncommon piece of electronics to get it!
SK: That's all! Any parting words for my readers and your fans? DD: Please come to our show in Vancouver and check out myspace.com/friendsband and listen to “Friend Crush.” This band of our buddies will be gigging with us and it's one of my favorite songs of 2010. It's actually worth visiting myspace for!
Darwin will be at The Media Club in Vancouver on Monday, supported by Fol Chen, followed by twenty US dates, ending in New York City. Pick up his self-titled album anywhere or come see him live! I hear he likes dancing.
The last time we reviewed Cosmo Jarvis, he was singing a charming song about Melanie, the girl next door and the grimy-but-cute boy who is in love with her. Cosmo is back with a fiery new single “Gay Pirates”, which is well, a love song about gay pirates. He brings on the charm once again, turning whatever you'd expect from the title, into a tragic ballad of two swashbuckling lovers.
Buy the single on January 23rd or pre-order it now from Cosmo Jarvis, where you can also download an acoustic version of the song! The single is the first from his upcoming sophomore album Is the World Strange Or Am I Strange?, slated for late March 2011. If you're in the UK, he has a few upcoming live dates before Christmas!
“Close your eyes and imagine, if you will, the bastard son of the Misfits and Daft Punk. As gruesome as the act of conception may appear, the union would generate the most grandiose of offspring.” Normally I wouldn't copy and paste from the official artist bio, but I couldn't have said it any better.
I arrived early at the Commodore and had a delicious burger while the first DJ put on a smashing offering of dubstep, soulless like it should be. How many concert venues have food, right? Never mind good food! Congorock transitioned to his own fidget house sound, and by the time he was done the whole dancefloor was jumping. He was more than just a warmup; more like the icing on the cake for Bloody Beetroots fans who are probably all just as familiar with Congorock.
I didn't know what to expect from The Bloody Beetroots. I had only really listened to the album. Would they just transition into their set like most DJs, but with the interesting addition of the live drummer I had heard about? No. The music stopped and the lights dimmed, igniting the screams of the crowd until The Bloody Beetroots and their Death Crew 77 took the stage. And what an entrance.
The music began dramatically, lights flashing, and slowly built to a devastating climax. Of course, a climax implies that you have to come down from it shortly after. Not when you're dancing in front of a stage full of The Bloody Fucking Beetroots. I don't know how they do it, but their music peaks at the start of the first song and just keeps peaking.
The stage was manned by four masked men: one guitarist, one drummer, one synthesist and one DJ mixing it all live. People often put electronic music in a lower category because they think it can't be translated to a live show. Well, the Bloody Beetroots bloody well figured it out.
I haven't even described the actual sound of their music and I feel I've said enough. Tomorrow, November 6th, is part two of their double date with Vancouver, and the last stop in their North American tour. Then, with hardly a few days off, they start a massive European tour on November 10th in Paris.
Groove Armada recently announced the next phase of their career, saying farewell to their full band stage show. It's been a long road, from the early missteps of “I see you baby, shakin' that ass” to their breakthrough album with Richie Havens, up to the present with their last transcendent vocalist, Saint Saviour. Now that Groove Armada have finished their last-ever full band tour, Tom and Andy will have the time to work with Saint Saviour as a solo artist.
Saint Saviour began as Becky Jones, lead singer of an electro band from a few years back called The RGBs. The band shared management with Groove Armada, who took them on tour, and the rest is history.
Her first single debuted earlier this month, and it's a hell of a departure from the pop, electro and dance singles she has previously recorded. “Woman Scorned” is a scathing rock song that has put her high on my list of new artists to watch. The single is out now on iTunes and as a limited 7" vinyl. Here's the video:
It all begins tonight (Oct 23) as Saint Saviour plays her first solo show at Bush Hall in London. If that's anywhere near the place you call home, you can buy tickets for only £8.00 and see history in the making tonight!
Now that you've heard “Woman Scorned”, here's a banging remix to show you what it sounds like when you take Saint Saviour's new style back to her dance/house roots. Plus, I have included Becky's fantastic cover of Depeche Mode's “Enjoy the Silence”.
Fun, one of Silence Killer's most-hyped bands since we were one of the first to write about them in early 2009, finally brought their show to Vancouver last night. We said they were “about to be New York's latest indie pop sensation” and they've come a lot further than that in the past year and a half. Last winter they toured with Jack's Mannequin, then in spring with Paramore and Relient K. Now they're on their first headlining tour, with 9 dates left in North America before they head to the UK for 9 dates with Paramore and B.o.B, then back home for 11 more dates starting in New York.
The show really began with the opening act, New Jersey indie rock band Steel Train. I had no idea who they were, but within a few songs, the audience was having so much fun, I thought they might upstage the headliners. As it turns out, Steel Train's frontman Jack Antonoff is also Fun's guitarist. Earlier, I was wondering why the DJ had been playing Yo Gabba Gabba's “Party In My Tummy!” and one of the roadies was wearing their t-shirt. It turns out, Steel Train wrote Yo Gabba Gabba's song “It's Fun to Dance”, which they played for us, pushing the crowd over the edge of insanity.
Fun finally took the stage while everyone was calming down, driving the crowd back into an uproar with the song that caught everyone's attention in the first place—“At Least I'm Not As Sad (As I Used to Be)”. I love when a band plays their best song first. Saving it for later makes you look less than confident in the rest of your music, whereas opening with your best jumpstarts the crowd's excitement, which usually lasts til the end.
Fun's lead singer, Nate Ruess, has an amusing habit of lengthening the interludes in their songs so he can banter on a bit and hype up the audience for the climax of the song. Later in their set, he mentioned his appallingly patchy excuse for a beard, which I had noticed earlier, giggling to myself. “It looks like cockroach legs, growing out of my face,” he quipped, “I feel like I'm in Iron & Wine, but I'm no better than Justin Bieber!”
My favourite part of going to concerts is watching a band with fantastic showmanship. Steel Train did a great job of that, but Fun really takes the cake. They were wild, crazy and entertaining, joking with each other between songs and timing all the breaks and pauses in their songs perfectly to keep the audience in rapt attention. Nate addressed their almost overuse of unexpected interludes near the end of the show, saying, “I'm the king of anticlimaxes.” An audience member quickly said something back, and Nate laughed and replied, “Yes, that is what she said.”
When Fun left the stage, the crowd was almost too exhausted to continue cheering, but we managed to earn a one-song encore, the teasingly dramatic opening song off their album, “Be Calm”. As already mentioned, Fun still has 18 North American dates with Steel Train and 11 UK dates left, so don't miss them! It's the most fun you could possibly hope to have with a band called Fun!
“In the B.R.I.T., I say British Isles! The streets are bleak, the kids are running wild.” Everything about this song and its video, good or bad, is a steadfast tribute to Great Britain. The video is remarkable in its ability to make every scene, even if it's just a melancholy face, look like it could have only come from Britain.
Little Comets are on tour in the UK right now, accompanying Darwin Deez, and “The Isles” single is out now on iTunes.
Everyone knows how an electric guitar, a bass guitar and a drum kit go together. Alain Johannes' decades-long career has been intertwined with bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. He has worked and played with artists like Chris Cornell, Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures. Maybe it's why his new album Spark is so unconventional. It's like he crafted a brilliant double-stringed cigar box guitar and then set off to reinvent rock and roll.
Track one, “Endless Eyes”, is an amalgamation of noise. He sings with frightening passion to his late wife, “It's killing me that I must go on living”, while the eerie sound of a theremin backs the cigar box guitar. Then track two, “Return to You”, changes the pace with a more jingly strumming, like a mandolinesque, and almost-cheery backup vocals.
“Endless Eyes” and “Return to You” are both free to download, so have a listen or three and then pick up the album. Spark is out now on Rekords Rekords and Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings—always a boutique of hidden gems scraped off the floor of the American record biz.
Duck Sauce, better known as Armand Van Helden and A-Trak, are back with a brilliant followup to “aNYway”, one of the biggest club hits of 2009. Van Helden and A-Trak prove their pop prowess with their uncanny ability to turn anything into a catchy hook. Another tribute to New York, here's “Barbra Streisand”.
And here's the video, complete with a Streisand impersonator and some real celebs including Kanye West, Chromeo, Questlove and Pharrell. Watch this without getting it stuck in your head.
Miles Kane, co-frontman of The Last Shadow Puppets is doing a solo project. His debut single was premiered last night by Radio 1's Zane Lowe as his Hottest Record In The World!
This is just fantastic. Love at first listen. Here's Miles Kane's smashing new single, “Inhaler”.
Pre-order the limited edition and numbered gatefold 7" single from from Townsend Records. Miles Kane will be appearing live in the UK in November, then in December as a special guest to The Courteeners.
The stage is looking lonely. A set of motorcycle headlights are mounted on the bass drum, its beam piercing the fog. An assortment of cymbals are mounted on a rack behind the drum kits, like a memoir to drummers long forgotten.
Meet One eskimO. In early 2009, we discovered their now hit song “Kandi”, making me an instant fan. My love for them grew exponentially as I fell for song after song while they released various demo and previews of their (finally!) debut album, One eskimO.
I suppose they fall under the genre of shoegaze, which shows in the beauty and emotion of their songs, but it's at the mellow extreme of the genre. The archetypal electric guitar is changed for the wondrous sound of a shimmering acoustic. That, together with the unusual drum kit and Kristian Leontiou's stunning voice makes One eskimO exceptional.
They started with a triple punch of three favourites: “Hometime”—one of their first success, “Astronauts”—newer song and “Givin' Up”—popularised among clubgoers by Don Diablo. The crowd was small, especially with Broken Social Scene playing across the street, and the set was intimate. A few danced, while most of the audience just stared in awe, singing along with a surprising number of songs. Throughout the set, one guy kept yelling “Amazing!!!”, which got a bit annoying; I could see “Amazing” on the set list—last song. Nearing the end of their set, they played “Kandi”, extending the song so we could all sing it longer with them. They finished with “Amazing”, which honoured its title, then left the stage, only to return for the obligatory two-song encore. The encore was great, except for Miss Inappropriate Clapping and Screaming, who showed up for the encore to interrupt every 15 seconds. Lucky she didn't find her way to the front any sooner.
One eskimO's self-titled debut is out now on Shangri-La. They still have 20 more North American tour dates in the next several weeks. DO NOT MISS. Here are some MP3s and music vids, if you aren't already convinced.
Welcome to La Roux's second “In For The Kill” video, featuring more velvet vanity and less 80s driving down the highway at night with bad-ass sunglasses.
It's been 20 months since the first “In For The Kill” video dropped, so to add more buzz, the new video comes together with a brand new remix featuring Kanye West. The video and the Kanye West remix both feature brand new vocals by La Roux's Elly Jackson.
From DJ Fresh's new album Kryptonite, here's a drum and bass collaboration with Sigma, fused with house vocals. The music video is pretty sick, but the song definitely stands on its own.
The French electro popstar returns, backed by a thousand celebrities in her new video. The Hiltons (Paris & Perez) appear, as does Jacko and his monkey. Cats everywhere!
“I ain't representin' the projects, I'm makin' music to get the f**k out!” And so begins the barrage of sound that smashes your face when you press play on Dominique Young Unique. It's like Major Lazer or MIA, but with no repetition.
I was all set to see her last Friday at Vancouver's prime hip-hop venue, the Fortune Sound Club, but a friend from out of town showed up without warning, and the ensuing shenanigans of the night curbed all my attempts to catch the show. I hope she comes back soon.
Dominique is rising fast, having recently shared the stage with DMC (of Run DMC), Andrew WK, Doug E Fresh and The Cool Kids at this year's Jelly Pool Party in Brooklyn. Her music is raw, hitting fast and hard with breakneck electro beats on “Show My Ass” and slowing down to a leisurely dash in “The World Is Mine”. Dominique Young Unique's Domination mixtape is free to download from Art Jam Records and her Blaster EP is coming soon.
Jamiroquai, one of the UK's most prominent chart-topping acts, have spent the past eighteen years defying eras and turning the tables on pop music. They have spun out seven albums (greatest hits included) from disco and funk to jazz and soul, each one taking a #1, #2 or #3 spot on the charts. Jay Kay and his band are now preparing to release their seventh studio album, Rock Dust Light Star, which is slated for November 1, over five years since 2005's Dynamite.
The first teaser from the album is “White Knuckle Ride”, which starts as a solid disco track, but becomes massive once you hear the remixes, compliments of Monarchy, Penguin Prison and Seamus Haji. Jamiroquai's frontman Jay Kay lives by a few simple rules; one of them being, “if it doesn’t sound good with just a keyboard and a voice or a guitar and a voice, drop it.” And that's exactly how “White Knuckle Ride”, the first teaser from the album, starts as a stripped-down disco track but evolves into three elaborate remixes—compliments of Penguin Prison, Monarchy and Seamus Haji.
Monarchy twists the funk bassline into a synth-driven electro track. Penguin Prison adds even more disco to the track, making it irresistibly danceable and sprinkling his distinctive sound all over it. Seamus Haji draws back the disco reins and veers into his home territory, a smooth, entrancing house beat that builds into epic massiveness somewhere past the 4-minute mark.
Munk, German DJ spinning Italo-pop, is making waves in the Euro dance scene, supported by the likes of Erol Alkan, Mark Ronson and Busy P. His new EP, Mondo Vagabondo, is out October 18th on Gomma. Here's a peek at the lead single, “La Musica”, and it's video.
“La Musica” is a funky Italian disco song that is minimal, weird and is stuck on repeat right now. It's so subtle that it probably would not have caught my attention if I hadn't watched the video first—so do that.
The video is a seamless mash of modern and retro clips of people in clubs and at home, moving their feet to the music. Some of the best things in life happen amidst strobe lights and disco balls. I think I saw Brigitte Bardot a couple of times!
