Who would've thought that Swedish darling of lo-fi pop ballads Jens Lekman (MySpace) would sound so good to disco instrumentals?
Rollerboys Recordings' Bogdan Irkük had the bright idea of setting Lekman's sweet vocals to spacey disco beats, with the resultant 12" being pretty awesome. Each edit is a heavy Balearic-infused slow jam that could easily fit in a Studio set or Prins Thomas Italo-disco mix. Check out the Love Nectar mix of "Sipping On the Sweet Nectar" below and buy the whole release on iTunes or at Service Records' online MP3 shop!
Jens Lekman - Sipping On the Sweet Nectar (Bogdan Irkük Love Nectar Mix)
You would think that Sweden's long past with utterly cheesy pop acts and botched disco efforts would catch up with the small nation again and everyone would go soft in the head, form Abba cover bands, perm their hair, and bring back bell-bottoms. Alas, the Swedes are still possibly the slickest people on this planet, and they refuse to release anything that might tarnish their collective identity and name.
TieDye is the latest entry to the sounds-like-Studio category, but the Italians Do It Better Records signees have something unique to their aesthetic, even if they initially sound like copycats. "Nothing Else Matters" is a Mettalica cover, for example, and TieDye's first remix, "I Feel Electric" by Rubies featuring Feist, is about as unorthodox as you can get.
Whatever TieDye's got up its sleeve, BBBD's curious. Very, very curious. A group this good can't just release one 12" (with no b-side!) and a remix and then disappear. TieDye has summer slow-jam wired into its DNA, so here's to hoping they're release more ...
It's a stupid name, sure, but Prins Thomas' forthcoming Full Pupp compilation, The Greatest Tits Vol. 1, is pretty spectacular.
The Norwegian space-disco innovator put together a twenty-five track two-disc release that is mesmerizing in its ability to keep you listening even though every song is ultra-slow, relaxed, and chilled out. The Italo-disco/space-disco/whatever-disco resurgence we've seen over the past couple of years is alluring and baffling for that very reason: listening to any good cut by the likes of DC Recordings folks or Lindström or Prins Thomas or Glass Candy or whomever is like listening to a jam band circa 1997. The stuff chills you out and is purely aesthetic ... something to facilitate your mind's wandering and sedate you like no drugs can. It's almost unfortunate that some critics and fanatics try to over-conceptualize the music -- there's just not a whole lot going on there!
"The spirit of a DJ bio is boring, self-centered, and egotistical. Prins Thomas knows that all too well and fears the result: someone who makes him sound like the best DJ in the world ... although most people would love such a comment on their skills." In short, Thomas is just trying to construct some tracks that'll ... get you jamming and nothing more. So ... sit back and indulge in these sultry, warm disco experiments and buy the deluxe compilation when it's out!
It's obvious to regular readers of BBBD and first-time newbies that this blog is undergoing a massive overhaul and reinvisioning of itself. Today, we present you a new column, Watch, that tries to make sense of the music hype machine. (So now we've three core columns: Watch, Reverse, and Don't Start A Band ... more features will be rolled out in the coming weeks and months.)
Music buzzwords pop up with extraordinary regularity -- like daffodils in Summer -- to the benefit of no one in particular. It's of no use to call Sonic Youth an "experimental No Wave drone- and/or noise-rock ensemble" unless you're Jack Black in High Fidelity or an especially compulsive CD store clerk who doesn't trust computers' ability to search for and find inventory. If we push aside our stack of Pitchforkmedia record reviews, click out of our Of Montreal Flickr photo set tab, and disregard the constant blogger feedback (which, in all honesty, sounds more like bickering that any sort of constructive writing), we'll remember that music is there to be enjoyed and -- first and foremost -- listened to.
Not everyone realizes this, though, and perhaps the people most likely to succumb to overly complex genre classifications and musical stylistic breakdowns are the musicians themselves. Once an old style is deemed cool again (the grunge of the 1990s, the trip-hop of the same era, the shoegaze of the 1980s, the old school punk of the 1970s, the garage of the 1960s), a few bands lead the way and respectfully reintroduce us to or remind us of the greatness of our musical forefathers. Then an uncanny number of hangers-on, copy-cats, and wannabes looking to make a buck hop onto the bandwagon, and voilà, we've hit critical mass!
Italo-disco is this year's buzzword, and we couldn't be sicker of it. First, let's figure out exactly what the heck Italo-disco is and then second, let's pull some goodies from the massive heaps of crap we've not got ourselves boogieing to in that super-embarrasing and definitely not ironic-in-a-funny-way Saturday Night Fever manner.
When one hears or says "disco" one immediately thinks of the early-1970s right on up until about 1977. No other duration of time was hit so hard by the sleazy guitar riffs and husky bassline funk jams of disco originators like the Blackbyrds, George McCrae, and the Sunshine Band. Europeans had the bright idea of perpetuating the genre (yay posterity!) for some odd reason in the early-1980s, and, to gloss over way too much history, Italo-disco was born. (OK, maybe it was the late-1970s, but who cares? The term itself comes from a 1983 megamix called Italo Boot Mix, so depending on how technical one wants to get, Italo-disco wasn't even brought into this world until a few years into Reagan's first term.) The style is markedly different from straight-up disco, though, in that it is noticeably (1) spacier, (2) synth-heavy, and (3) infested with vocoder choruses. Talk about something that didn't age well! A handful of producers including Cerrone, Giorgio Moroder, and Didier Marouani sort of set the bar for Italo-disco tracks, and honestly, that's all the world needed.
Because of the style's aesthetically clean, dancey, and genuinely fun appeal (but not for its heinous associated fashion and way, way too gimmicky videography style!), though, the movement has stayed alive in some way, shape, or form for the past couple of decades. There's nothing uniquely wrong with that. But really, we don't need the tradition of [anything]-disco to mount any higher, and a respectful laying to peace of the genre would make everyone happy. If we can't all agree on that, at least let's nix the sucky second wavers while we can.
A few people are doing some justice to the Italian-only-in-name music ... so, yea of little faith, don't lose all hope quite yet! BBBD's absolute favorites of the past few years have been Professor Genius, Padded Cell, Studio, Chromatics, Glass Candy, and Justin Miller. On a good day, we might throw Arthur Russell into the mix as he both helped start and revive the scene when he was still with us.
If you've not heard Professor Genius' extraterrestrial Space-/Italo-disco mix for This Is Not An Exit, grab it now! Padded Cell is coming back in a major way, adding fresh elements of kraut-rock to the otherwise staleing disco resurgence. Studio has a new the-Cure-cum-dub-outfit compilation of remix tracks coming out entitled Yearbook 2, and that's bound to be an absolute pleasure. Justin Miller (and all of the D.F.A. posse, for that matter) has been blowing our socks off with his mixes. If you weren't one of those lucky devils who actually got to attend the D.F.A.-DJ'd Dance Part in early-March, at least download the four-hour mix that MoMA was kind enough to make available. Your brain will be melted. BBBD always would like to endorse DC Recordings' forthcoming Death Before Distemper compilation at this point.
Now ... on to the bad stuff; the side of the Italo-disco rebirth that we wish never happened. When people try to specifically make money off a idiotic trend, you know you're in a bad place, and that's exactly what Strut Records did with its shot-in-the-dark, shameful release, Disco Italia: Essential Italo Disco Classics. Do not buy the disc! Strut Records -- bafflingly -- came out with a thirteen-track compilation that supposedly elevates the decaying Italo-disco style, but winds up only making it look and sound really, really stupid and bland. Five Letters' "hit" (?), "Tha Kee Tha Tha" is an embarrassing love song that makes my libido all but disappear. Easy Going's "Do It Again" ought to appear in Austin Powers Pumps Up the 1980s! ... or maybe used as the backing track to a cute "My Baby Can Dance!" video on YouTube. And whoever Firefly was, he deserves to spontaneously combust. Not kidding.
But enough with the Strut Records release. There are limitless groups today trying to compose their own Italo-disco hits ... and failing miserably. Hacks. I Guess I'm Floating's Hot Pick for 2009 is, confoundingly, Century's "Apachwalk." Just because they're labelmates with Studio and from Europe -- which always gets an artist way more Cool Cred than being from the States -- doesn't mean they're any better than these fools. (On a side note, this author's father showed him the "Apache" video while at home for the holidays several years ago ... and frankly, it never deserved to even leave the meme he discovered it in.)
While this first attempt at figuring out the trends that we immerse ourselves in is by no means complete -- and no future column will claim holistic knowledge, either -- it ought to stir you up a little. Just be conscious of what you're being fed by the hype machine you've inadvertently subscribed to. Until next time ... a little Arthur Russell (dudes -- if you think Hercules & Love Affair or Antony & the Johnsons came up with that vocal style ... think again).
I vividly remember first hearing two particular artists at some underground Turntable Lab-esque record boutique in the heart of Shibuya a few years back: Whitey and Padded Cell. As it always is in such a shop, there's a certain thrill that comes along with vinyl sampling ... pulling a 7" or 12" from it's sleeve, approaching a polished and well-kept turntable, flipping the disc on it, putting the headphone on, tweaking the bass, middle, and treble, and, finally, listening to the organic sound waves only a wax recording can produce. A sublime moment.
I wish I could hear Padded Cell's new stuff in such a fashion, but alas, my gear isn't up to snuff. I'm confined to sample the cuts on a mediocre pair of speakers sans the glamor of a posh Tokyo record distro. That being said, the new material is spectacular, and there will be a time that I hear this stuff in a more proper and reverential manner.
But what is the "new stuff" exactly? The London disco/funk/psychedelic/post-punk duo has a new dark, brooding, and spacey LP coming out on Monday, May 19 on DC Recordings. The label's been kind enough to make a pretty cool e-card for the forthcoming Night Must Fall full-length, so if the below freebie ("Faces Of the Forest") ain't enough to hold you over until the album's release, hop on over there and check out more material! The record is going to be great ... quite possibly their best yet.
Now this is a treat! DFA DJ'd a dance party at the MoMA in NYC a while back in conjunction with the opening night of Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today. The event was supposed to be really fun (the four DJ sets featured were by Juan Maclean, T&T [Tim Goldsworthy & Tim Sweeney], Holy Ghost!, and Justin Miller & Jacques Renault, after all!), and those of us who didn't attend felt hopelessly left out.
Fortunately, DFA and MoMA has the wherewithal and foresight to record the entire event (about four hours in total), and you can now grab the mixes right here for no charge! Quite a deal. The sets are really good ... exciting doses of funk, soul, disco -- the usual DFA madness -- prolonged for a stunning four hours. Be sure to download the MP3 files.
Junior Boys (MySpace) are busting back onto the scene in a slightly altered form in preparation of their forthcoming third long-player. They released "No Kind of Man," a slow and moody soulful R&B track and mixed the stellar Body Language Six for Get Physical Music, showing us that they mean business.
To further strengthen their reputation, they've contributed a remix to Sally Shapiro's (MySpace) Remix Romance Vol. 1. A mix of the phenomenal Italo disco slow jam "Jackie Jackie" cutely renamed "Jackie Junior." The new version maintains the original's pace, but adds that trademark throbbing Junior Boys synth bass line and sharp drum snaps (a la New Order), twisting the tune in a welcomely different manner.
Shapiro's got not one, but two remix albums out/coming out, and as we've said on these pages before, they're awesome and deserve your full attention. Lucky for us, we've a new freebie to sample before picking up the hard copies.
Can't wait to hear what Junior Boys've got in store, but, more importantly, you all can't wait to hear these two Shapiro remix records, right?
Sublime. Bot'Ox is DFA's imprint label, Death From Abroad's latest signing, and what a signing it is! The Italian electronic act sensually churns out these phenomenal long-playing club tracks that sound like some sort of heavenly Kraftwerk-meets-LCD-Soundsystem hybrid. Extraordinary stuff, really.
"Babylon By Car" is this subversive prog sort of dance tune that, over the course of nearly eight minutes, crescendos into at least a dozen different "sections." The track keeps you guessing -- with so many awesome layers and elements converging every second, how can you not!? -- and bobbing along to the steady, throbbing beat. Pure funk-infused dance music genius. "Tragedy Symphony" is a more robotic jam that reminds me a little bit of a darker Fujiya & Miyagi or something ...
Esoteric, dark, brooding disco prefab for the 21st century. This is boss stuff ... switch on that stereo, turn up the Bot'Ox jams, and be pulled into a hazy jam for a solid fifteen minutes. Better yet, pick up the vinyl when it's made available ... really, you need to hear this on some h-fi wax.
LCD Soundsystem, "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" (Live)
A while back I posted a live performance of LCD Soundsystem performing "Us Vs. Them" in Manchester at the Manchester Academy. A very good rendition, to say the least. Apparently, EMI is releasing one new song from that show (?) every week, so we'll have plenty of killer live LCD Soundsystem for the archives ...
I always thought James Murphy was old enough that he arrived on a standard style with the debut record, but wow, this version of the classic LCD "hit" is quite a long cry from the original. Really flexes his vocal talent, get the band ragin', turns the thing into a whole new beast. I love it.
Friendly Fires is what would happen if you combined fruity disco dance music with sharp and clean post-punk. A fantastic sound ... one that's instantly hooky, warm, and summery in cases, yet really to-the-point as well. No ridiculous guitar solos, no lengthy drum fills, no nonsense. "Paris" is a wonderful song, but really, all the British trio's tunes are ...
"On Board" is a funkier, LCD Soundsystem-inspired that was just remixed by Nic Nell, a London casio-obsessed singer/songwriter/DJ of sorts. Everything he makes on his own sounds introspective and a little tense, offset by jumpy drum machine generated beats and spastic melodies. I sort of like the stuff. Anyway, like I said, he just did a remix for Friendly Fire's "On Board" and it's pretty jumpy and glitchy, but that sultry bass line keeps the thing going real strong.
Kalle J. is this Swedish kid who has aspirations to become, as far as I'm concerned, the King of Swedish Dance. He composes these songs that sound at points like any other Swedish pop album you might stumble across -- Jens Lekman, Shout Out Louds, whatever -- but at others like an old disco tune or something more lounge-y and more old fashion like that (hey, "Vingslag" samples Burt Bacharach!)
You can pick up the 21-year-old's 7" over at Unga Hjartan, but supplies seem very limited, so good luck tyring to get your hands on a copy.
This guy's got the energy and musical curiosity of Zach Condon or someone of that age and caliber, but applied to a completely different genre of music and located in a totally opposite part of the Western Hemisphere ...
The video for "Vingslag" is pretty cool, too. It features colorful, random mirrored clips of lions lounging about, killing and eating things, and playing about with one another. Interesting theme ... check it out after the jump!
For San Francisco, Sugar & Gold's music sounds precisely like what one would expect from the city, based upon the place's sort of ... funky and naturalistic mannerisms. However, for some reason, there aren't a whole lot of musicians playing music like this -- a meticulous and contagious blend of Kraftwerk-esque robotic, hypnotic rhythms, Funkadelic funk sensibilities, and sleazy R&B hooks scattered throughout -- from the Golden Gate City.
On top of the killer, sexy instrumentals, vocally, they're channeling Curtis Mayfield or something. The six-piece truly pulls influences from all over the place, but in a timeless and intriguing way that will either make you want to dance like you're Travolta in Saturday Night Fever or else just smoothly shake your hips and uh ... comb your sideburns?
Sugar & Gold will be in L.A. twice in September ... first at the Knitting Factory on September 6 and then at the quirky, off-beat Mr. T's Bowl on September 27, so be sure to catch 'em live if you can!
The album, Creme, is out now on Antenna Farm Records. Check out a few tracks below and on their MySpace page.
Talk about a tease ... Portland's Glass Candy hasn't released a whole lot of anything official in some time now. The web's a flood with demos, remixes, unknown tracks, and appetite-whetting tunes, not to mention a few hot numbers from the recent Troubleman Unlimited imprint, Italians Do It Better, compilation, After Dark.
But the lead up to whatever it is that the New Wave/dark/dub disco/no-wave funk ensemble (led by the Ida No and Johnny Jewel, who also produces the group's work), it's guaranteed to be spectacular: with every new song, the band gets more confident, brings out more killer hooks and jams, and truly never ceases to amaze.
What more could you ask for?
Anyway. Below's an array of bogglingly good songs. Dig 'em again and again and again ...
Here's what I'm appreciating about 2007 in a nutshell: musically, people seem to be less ADD and nostalgic about uh ... ten years ago. Enough with the Cassette Playa-fueled Nu Rave, the spasmic artwork and garments of M.I.A. (I love you, M.I.A.!), and the lazy Pavement wannabes. I want some funk, some R&B, some ABBA throwbacks, so good ol' rock. That's what I want now, and it seems I'm gettin' it!
Sally Shapiro (MySpace) finally got around to releasing her spectacular Swedish disco-y -- and aptly titled! -- record, Disco Romance. It's been around for a little while, but hey, the whole idea of overseas releases is to breath a second, and absolutely worthwhile, second life into cool stuff! (I'm lookin' at you, Junior Senior.) The album will be released on October 30 via Paper Bag Records.
For fans of Annie (where'd she go!?) and St. Etienne, I present one of the best tunes on the LP, "He Keeps Me Alive"
The Millioners (MySpace) are a friggin' killer electro-pop dance group from Helsinki, Finland. I'm hooked hooked hooked on these four.
The band was formed in 2003, but didn't reach its current dance-y sound until a year or so back. Dance music with this spacey, disco-infused twist to it. There's this air of sleaze to this music that makes it's otherwise rather straightforward funky disco beats, bass lines, and synth melodies stick out all the more. I can imagine James Murphy/DFA signing these guys ... they've the potential to really work the dance floor -- and from a new and exciting angle -- all over the world.
The Millioners had some difficulty creating and releasing the album, Most Sexiest Music (the follow-up to the first 12", "Up to You") ... one of the members was stuck in Japan for seven months while the guitarist decided to move to the country for a year. (Uh ... bizarre!) But the wait was more than worth it ... the album, co-produced by Ercola (well known for helping Annie out in the studio, too), is dripping with sexy space disco tracks. A little bit New Order, a little Black Devil Disco Club, a bit Daft Punk ... they'll provide absolutely everything you're looking for in dance music. Gah ... I want more, more, more already and I've just gotten through the albuma couple times!
I cannot help but be all over concept albums, or any music release that's got some sort of conceptual footing.
SUMO (signed to the bizarre, quirky, and exceptionally tasteful Swedish label, Heyya Hifi), therefore, is a band after my own heart. Their latest release, The Danceband, is simply ... a tribute to dance music: "a tribute to rhythms and to the people who feel them." I'm really digging these funky beats, hard bass lines, and throwback disco vocals that aren't James Murphy's.
The group's technically just a two-piece, but The Danceband features one hell of a group of collaborators (primarily standing in for singing duties), and that only makes them sound all the more rad. So check out some of their songs, but the thing from Beatport, and be happy; get down.
LCD Soundsystem's Jame Murphy is absolutely genius. The guy has lyrically maintained his sarcastic, cynical edge, put killer kraut-rock, prog-rock, and thumpin' disco beatz and bass lines under it all, and topped it all off with this spectacularly compelling conceptual nature. He seamlessly supersedes "scenes" and genres and styles and then throws it all back at us as his own unique "scene" and style! I don't get it! He gets over the whole hipster, indie-kid dilemma by creating his own sub-culture for everyone else to jump on to. That's good, man. It's gotta be because he's in his 30s. He's ahead of the indie game ... he knows what he wants and how he's going to accomplish it. And no matter what he says, Murphy's no jaded ... much too much of a creative and ingenious dude.
Just listen to these songs! John Cale and Franz Ferdinand (some of James Murphy's friends I'm assuming!) covered "All My Friends" and boy do the two tracks kick hard! Cale's rendition is more experimental ... an ethereal, atmospheric sort of take on the prog sensibilities of the original track. Franz's is a little more straight-forward, but still an awesome achievement for the group who has never done a song that stretches over the 4-minute mark!
So maybe Torino is now not only "the place where the Winter Olympics" last occurred, but also a music scene focal point! Disco Drive is this tense, speedy, disco infused, dance-punk group from Torino, and they're pretty damn good! There's something very Gang of Four about these guys -- maybe it's the way the guitar accents the melodies and words or the mathematical, dancey drumming or the funk bass -- and it seems sincere and earnest. How could I ask for more!? Check out their MySpace page or download the below track!
In a similar vein, the Po Po. These dudes hail from Pennsylvania and sound like a bizarre bastard child of like, the Fall and Rage Against the Machine (in a very good way, believe me). An element of Liars in there, too (I feel chilly, haunted, listening to these guys). Definitely keep an eye out for them ... or at least head over to their MySpace page, too!
In quite a different vein, I present you ... Polytechnic, a cheery indie-pop group from Manchester (a place that has gotten much less grey since the days of Ian Curtis and Tony Wilson, it seems). This quintet seems totally confident and happy to be doing what they're doing, and they've the chops and hooks to support that! At times I feel like they get a tad too cliché, but hey, I've no problem with intense rhythm guitar and grandiose harmonies every once in a while. So again, go to their MySpace page and check it out for yourself!
I've said it before, I think, but the way I think of my musical preferences and how I judge if something is "good" or "bad" to myself is how far to one extreme the stuff goes. Joy Division is absolute depression and cold, cutting atmospheric post-punk ... Beach House (whom I saw a few days ago!) is chilling and eerie, and oh my, those are some haunting vocals and organ parts. New Young Pony Club (I'm jumping all over the place here!) is ridiculous cliche-addled disco-influence dance rock with more edge than most bands can ever hope for.
So yeah ... I tend to gravitate towards ends of the musical spectrum.
And that's why I'm digging Rong Music, a NYC-based group that sounds like what would happen if the DFA/LCD Soundsystem tried to make Stone Roses covers while channeling truly old-school disco. They've got a MySpace page where you can check out a few of their tunes.
Cajun Dance Party's what would happen if the Cure went uber lo-fi. Imagine another version of the Research or something. But man are these North Londeners sweet and charming. Lo-fi stuff often comes off as being cheesy and not sincere, but these guys are honest and have just enough grime and edge about them that they will compel all types of listeners to give 'em a try.
It's really difficult for me to place Wolf People's sound. It's psych-rock, but wait, no ... not really. It's psych-post-punk. Or something. There's an accessibility about this music that is not akin to normal psychedelic stuff, and I like that. Imagine Franz Ferdinand getting a little heavier or something ... that's sort of what Wolf People is. Maybe some later Kinks in there, too? Not too sure, but definitely worth a try ... head on over to their MySpace page.
