Formerly known as the singer of cult wonder David Devant and His Spirit Wife, Mr. Solo likens his forthcoming album to a road trip set to bizarre pop music. The album is a gaudy junction between glamour and camp. The tone is mellow and as subtle as my acclamation of it.
Mr. Solo - It Makes You WonderDownload MP3 or Listen on MySpace (alternate title “Someone Up There Doesn't Like Me”)
Buy it: “It Makes You Wonder” is from Mr. Solo's forthcoming release Wonders Never Cease. No release date has been announced.
Josh Martinez latest album The World Famous Sex Buffet is glamorously dirty. The beats have more one-two punch than usual, but all is complete with his signature methodical madness and charming sarcasm.
Skratch Bastid devises a hard-hitting old school beat for “Going Back to Hali” that starts with Josh's trademark skin trumpet and is saturated with Bastid's killer scratches. Josh and Classified play off each other flawlessly, despite their usually opposite M.O.'s.
The music video, like the song, is a brilliant Canadian twist on old school homage.
Rob Jones, brilliant young man behind the veneer of The Voluntary Butler Scheme, writes colourful pop songs with a vintage 60s sound. The music flaunts sunshine and bubblegum but with clever lyrics like “You can't go treatin' my heart like bagpipes anymore”.
The single releases March 2 on Split Records. There is also a remix contest for “Multiplayer” at the Split Records site.
If you like: Strawberry Alarm Clock, Connie Francis, Bobby Darin, of Montreal, Mika
In celebration of Shrove Tuesday, Brighton's The Leisure Society is taking pre-orders starting today for their new single, A Matter of Time. The three-track single features an extra b-side, “Pancake Day”.
The single releases March 16 as a digital download via iTunes, Amazon, eMusic & Napster. Their self-produced album The Sleeper will be released on March 23 online and in stores across the UK.
Calm is a Japanese artist described as ambient electronica, but his latest album is more of a mismatched collection of individual songs, spanning many genres, that complement but do not correlate. Each song contains varying degrees of ambient grooves that are unconsensually forced to couple with normal instruments like acoustic guitar and piano. It's perplexing to hear, but somehow the result is fantastic.
This is the acoustic folk song, fronted by proper vocals and backed by a great piano riff.
Sometimes when I listen to music, I hear instruments and elements that aren't really there. I listen to a song while adjusting bits and pieces in my head until I imagine what would have made the song perfect—not that I have the skills to correct it.
On the other hand, there are only a few songs I can listen to endlessly while never even thinking of changing them.
I tend to single out a select few tracks when I listen to electronic club music. It's great to have a few remixes to choose from on a single, but it often feels like I'm listening to the same six remixes from the last single, and the one before that. But then maybe it's my short attention span.
One of the most innovative and talented DJ/producers today that has really caught my attention is Morgan Page. If you listen closely to the sounds you hear in his music, they might sound familiar, but he mysteriously twists them just the right way so the synths catch your ear, the drums hit that spot in your chest that connects the bass to your ear, and it doesn't let go until it's over.
If you like: Mylo, The Chemical Brothers, Deep Zone & Balthazar
Pop Levi has just announced a new double A-side single, Police $ign/Terrifying. If you liked his previous unconventional pop album Never Never Love, this is nothing like it. Both halves of the single turn back from pop to his rock roots. There's no sign of the pop from his previous work but the new direction he takes is fresh and unique as always.
Melody takes the lead for Danish indie pop trio No and the Maybes. Mix a bright sunny tune with 60s europop vocals, then add what the trio calls “the sparrow”—a sound or instrument that captures your ear. Warm up your ears while you anxiously await summer.
The phenomenon has been discussed to death by every music publication, but 80s fever is showing no signs of stopping. If you're not a music freak, I'm referring to the wave of artists, new and old, producing 80s-inspired albums. A few of these artists are clever enough to extract the best bits of that decade's music and create something that sounds new, old and awesome.
French electropop duo La Roux takes their influence from Synthpop, New Wave's dreamy electronic nephew. The music is great but what really caught my attention is singer and synth player Elly Jackson's voice, which is extraordinary. Her voice is sharp and intense, and it's how La Roux will hook you.
Clocking in at over eight minutes, “Dark/Light” from John Frusciante's new album The Empyrean is an experiment of epic proportions. Describing it would also be an epic spoiler.
Kid, You'll Move Mountains craft their songs with subtle nonconformity. Jim Hanke and Nina Lanthrum alternate vocal duties while electric guitar riffs change from smooth to grinding and back again without disturbing the atmosphere of the song. During all this, a soft piano flows in the background. Every element of the music is dissolved together like a perfect dish that doesn't let any taste overpower or distract from the others.
Buy it: You can't buy this. It's been out of print since the 70s and it wasn't well known to begin with. I've only found evidence of the existence of two copies that are owned by collectors.
Aie! Oh! C'est bon! Allez bois ton huile de ricin... (Baaah! C'est gras!) Termine ce litre fillette... (Oui mais pas plus, hein?) Et brûle moi le bout des seins... (Avec quoaaaa?) Au tison de ta cigarette! (Ça sent l'cochon grillé!) Pour avaler une araignée... Tu nous en fais bien des histoires... (Toujours des araignées!) Pour terminer ta bouchée... (Oui mais la dernière!) Tu vois c'est pas la mer à boire! (C'est toi qui l'dis!)
(Sado maso, sado maso) Aaaaah! Oh! C'est bon! (Sado...)
C'est ton heure d'être fouettée... (Oh chic alors!) Apporte moi vite la badine... (Ah! c'que j'aime ça!) Après tu pourras m'enfoncer... (Quoi, mon Amour?) Toutes ces punaises dans la poitrine! (Ça va être formidable!) Il te faut manger ta purée... De gros cafards et des limaces! (J'préfère les hannetons) Ne prends pas cet air dégoûté... (J'voudrais t'y voir!) Non je t'en prie, pas de grimace! (Elles sont pas fraîches tes limaces!)
AaaaAAAgh! C'est boooon! Je n'arrive pas à couper... (Ben Qu'est-ce qui s'passe!) Avec mes ciseaux ton oreille... (C'est pas d'chance alors!) Tant pis allons nous recoucher... (T'as raison!) Parmi nos tessons de bouteilles! (Oui perdons pas d'temps!) Laisse moi taillader ton dos... Avec un épluche légume! (Un peu plus bas!) Puis refais moi ton numéro... (Lequel, chéri?) De tatouage au porte plume! (T'en raffoles, hein?)
AaaaaaaAAAaaah! C'est bon!
AaaaAAAAaah! Oh! C'est trop bon ça!
Ah! c'est formidable! Ah! c'est terrible!
Sado Maso, English Translation
Ouch! Oh! That's good! Come on, drink your castor oil.. (Baaah! It's fatty!) Finish this litre, little girl... (Yes, but no more, OK?) And then burn my chest... (With whaaaat?) With the tip of your cigarette! (It smells like roast pork!) To swallow a spider... You're always getting into trouble... (Always spiders!) To finish your mouthful... (OK, but this is the last one!) You see, it's not that bad! (That's what you think!)
It's your turn to be whipped... (Oh, yes!) Quickly, bring me the switch... (Ah! How I love that!) After that, you can stick me... (What, my love?) With all these pins in my chest! (That will be tremendous!) You need to eat your purée... Of fat cockroaches and slugs! (I prefer beetles) Don't look so disgusted... (I'd like to see you try!) Please, I beg you, no grimacing! (Your slugs ain't fresh!)
AaaaAAAgh! It's good! I cannot cut... (What's the problem?) Your ear with my scissors... (Not a chance!) Too bad, we'll go back our bed... (That's right!) Of broken bottles! (There's no time to lose!) Let me slash your back... With a vegetable peeler! (A little lower!) Then write me your number again... (With what, my dear?) With a pen and ink tattoo! (You're crazy, eh?)
Former member of The Broken Beats, is about all the information available on Denmark's Maria Timm. She's not even well-known in her home country yet. It's not quite electropop, but rather pop and electro, shaken but not stirred.
Charming songs about blue skies and young love are sung in natural lo-fi, then layered with fuzz, distortion and feedback. Add a slide guitar solo and the result is near-perfection. Wax Poetics' Jon Kirby says The Love Language writes songs he wishes he wrote. This is music for headphones. Put them on, turn it on and turn everything else off.
If you like: The Raveonettes, Wavves, M83, The Magnetic Fields
Buy it: Insound Amazon The stores above seem unsure of the details of the album. It officially releases in March on St. Patrick's Day, but some stores may already be selling it.
These Russian supervillains have laid waste to clubs across their home country and are now devising plans to expand their empire to the discotheques of Europe. Here's a post electro disco punk tune you can play while you get your berserker on.
If you like: Daft Punk, YMCK, Hot Chip, The Prodigy
Buy it: Soundkey.ruRussian language site, $2 At least until their album is more widely available, they encourage downloading pirated copies. After all, supervillains and pirates can often have mutually beneficial relationships.
Britpop has been, in my past experiences, too mellow and boring for my taste. But then, I never ventured far beyond the Oasis. Starsailor's new single Tell Me It's Not Over from their upcoming album All the Plans finds itself on the rock side of Britpop and draws closer comparisons to recent Keane and The Killers.
Back towards the standard side of Britpop, All the Plans finishes with “Safe at Home”. The dark and electric ballad completes the killer combo of Britpop and indie rock, making it one of my top albums of 2009 so far.
Tell Me It's Not Over releases March 2, a week before their new album All the Plans. You can pre-order both now from Starsailor's online store, linked below.
SOUNDS LIKE The Killers, Keane, Travis, Stereophonics, Coldplay
Occasionally, a record company realizes when an average song is turned into a potential hit by a great remixer. UK grime artist Tinchy Stryder's new single Take Me Back was released January 19 but failed to attract attention, as the first promo single only contained the original song. The new 7-track single starts rightfully with Sunship's extended remix, while the original version takes its deserving back seat at the end of track list.
If you like: Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Mylo, Morgan Page, Toby Emerson
Tinchy Stryder - Take Me Back (Sunship Extended Mix)Download MP3 or Listen on MySpace
As my first recommendation, here's a brand new electropop band from New York City. Unless you're reading this in the future, you haven't heard of them yet.
If you like: MGMT, Klaxons, CSS, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
The explosion of music online in recent years has forced me into a downward spiral of despair and depravity, known as OCD. Obsessive compulsive downloading has led me to enjoy some of the greatest bands that you have and haven't heard of. One day, my number one source for discovering new music (not a blog) was shut down.
The music blog scene has grown as fast as anything new does on the internet, so I was reluctant at first to start one of my own. I thought there must already be a music blog I could rely on for great new music. Instead, I found something of a void: No one reports on only the best music, the artists and songs that almost anyone would agree are a cut above the rest, no matter the genre.
This isn't a blog for bloggers. The music blog scene is just that, a scene. For those outside of the scene, it seems like an overwhelming mess of popular and unpopular blogs, all reporting on either the same music, or music in some niche no one really cares about. The bands that blaze across the blogosphere become top sellers at major retailers, even though they know they'll never be nominated for a Grammy, because that's for mainstream artists.
Much of the general public is frustrated with the lack of selection and sub-par music that's forced upon them by the only sources they know: radio, iTunes and friends who recommend more of the same. The record industry as we know it is dying, which only makes it worse for ordinary people who don't know where to find quality independent music. I can recommend a band to a friend and know that they'll not only enjoy it, but also express their gratitude for helping them find something great that they don't hear on the radio eight times a day.
