I’ve never been much of an Of Montreal fan, but I’m currently in love with their video for “Wraith Pinned To The Mist & Other Games”. It follows the psychedelic, Yellow Submarine-esque, slightly violent journey of little square-bodied cartoon characters and friends. Love the purple one’s dance moves at the end (3rd from the right!).
The style of their music still doesn’t entirely capture me, but… as it often seems to be, there can be things you quite like hiding around the corner from a band you thought you disliked.
Said style is theatrical techno-pop glam, one that seems to have changed over the years from a more quirky, indie pop sound. They also tend to fuse gloomy lyrics speaking to apathy, loneliness and death, with bouncy, upbeat melodies and hooks. Certainly, the music is catchy in some bizarre, deranged, and fantastical way.
One more tune. Listen to “She’s a Rejector”, just to hear Kevin Barnes sing the following:
There’s the girl that left me bitter
Want to pay some other girl
To walk up to her and hit her
It seems the Swedes have cornered the market on innovative, ambient electro pop. The intentionally cryptic new group jj are another example of this breath of fresh air. The group fuses lushly atmospheric electro-pop and world music with sultry female vocals to create a rather exotic sound. What results is irresistibly beautiful and blissful.
The duo released their debut single jj n° 1 in early 2009 and several months later released their stylistically brilliant debut album jj n° 2. It’s a short opus of nine tracks of island infused synth pop, akin to the music of fellow label mates The Tough Alliance. But the duo emerges on the softer side due to the pervasive lush vocals of Elin Kastlander. Like their peers, jj show a propensity towards sampling, irritable pop hooks, and stylistic diversity to create something gorgeously intricate that shows admiration for both the expansive realms of world music and minimalistic electro-pop. jj sit aside The Tough Alliance and Air France, on one of Sweden’s best and most consistent labels, Sincerely Yours, founded by TTA in 2006.
jj’s dance pop is built on ethereal string and synth samples along with exquisite vocals that float freely through their tracks. The songs are deceptively simple, incorporating a vast array of musical influences from reggae to electronica, new age to hip-hop. The dream-like quality of Elin’s voice is lusciously smooth and textured taking the music even further.
The group’s full-length debut jj n° 2 changes styles slightly with every song, which makes listening to the 27 minute album an unpredictable yet alluring experience. Even when they explore 90’s ambient-house, they still allow emotion to flood through the textures. jj expand on the reach of ambient music — defined, as Brian Eno once did, as music that “suggests, a place, a landscape, a soundworld which you inhabit” — offering it a new essence .
“Things Will Never Be Again” opens jj nº 2 sounding much like The Tough Alliance, tying together synth samples of steel drums and MIDI Strings, with Elin’s low vocal tones and harmonies. “From Africa to Malaga” is by far my favorite track with Elin’s celestial, reverb-effected vocals riding atop synthy Caribbean percussion. The sounds wash over you and the winds referenced sweep you up into a blissful state of ecstasy. “Ecstasy” unexpectedly drops a sample of Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” creating a track that is trippy and drug-hazy, turning the sound of the album drastically on a pin. (jj released another track with a Weezy sample in January, titled “My Way”. ) Later the album moves into more lilting folk-pop, and further into the laughing and hammer-dulcimer sampling “Intermezzo”. With jj nº 2, the duo created a visionary new sound that is bound to generate more buzz in 2010.
Fascinatingly, jj has kept to almost absolute internet silence. Seriously, not even a MySpace. Info on jj was literally nonexistent until recently, save for a few cryptic sentences, download links, and blood-splattered album artwork on their label’s site. It seems to have made the music all the more endearing and enchanting. Quite a surge of conversation has lived surrounding the identity of jj. Some rightly thought that it might be a side project of The Tough Alliance or Air France, but the mystery quickly unfolded. The enigmatic jj consists of multi-instrumentalist Joakim Benon and vocalist Elin Kastlander. The story almost ends there for now, although I did come across a fabulous interview with jj published on the Drumming On Tabletops blog several weeks ago. Here are a few excerpts.
Where does the name “jj” come from?
jag & joakim. joakim & jag. (”jag” means me or myself in Swedish)
What’s the plan for live shows? Did you originally ever expect to perform live? I ask that because it seems (from the various YouTube videos I’ve watched anyways) that the stage show is really based around the recorded music and projected images rather than the typical “live performance”.
We have grand plans for our public executions, it will be magic, soon enough. Now when we’re out there Elin is just trying to get over her social phobia and anxiety. She sings for her life, as always. And I’m (Joakim) trying to learn everything I recorded, and decide if I should play the guitar solo or the piano, the drums or the flute, or maybe get someone else to do it; so many decisions. Maybe we’ll get James Cameron to do the visuals, and perhaps Kanye will have some ideas. Whatever we do I hope people will understand that being on stage is a fucked up situation in the first place, where everything can happen: you can live more than you’ve ever lived or be wanting to die, feeling things will never be the same again.
The newest album, jj nº 3 has already leaked online. What does it feel like to have to deal with a leak? Do you mind it considering that almost every album leaks online now before the release date?
Beautiful, sad, scary, nice, confusing. It (jj nº 3) should’ve been released in September though, so it’s all good. A slightly fairer chance for anyone to keep up with us.
How much are drugs involved with your music (the song ecstasy, the pot leaf on the cover of jj nº 2)? Do you feel like the two can be separated or are they intertwined?
Our music is dope, you know that.
In December, jj signed with the indie label Secretly Canadian who will release the duo’s next LP, jj nº 3, in the U.S on March 9th in conjunction with the release on Sincerely Yours in Sweden. Following, they are set to perform 14 American dates with fellow lowercase, double-lettered electro group, The xx. These shows, along with SXSW, mark the first U.S. live appearances ever for jj.
JJ tour dates:
3/22 – Spanish Moon, Baton Rouge, LA w/ The xx
3/23 – Bottletree, Birmingham, AL
3/24 – Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA w/ The xx
3/25 – Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC w/ The xx
3/28 – Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, Washington, DC w/ The xx
3/29 – First Unitarian Church Sanctuary, Philadelphia, PA w/ The xx
3/30 – Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY
3/31 – Webster Hall, New York, NY
4/2 – Paradise, Boston, MA w/ The xx
4/3 – Le National, Montreal, QC w/ The xx
4/4 – Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON
4/5 – Wexner Center, Columbus, OH w/ The xx
4/6 – Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Bloomington, IN w/ The xx
4/8 – Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL w/ The xx
4/9 – Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN w/ The xx
4/12 – The Nightlight Lounge, Bellingham, WA w/ The xx
4/13 – Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC w/ The xx
4/14 – Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR w/ The xx
4/16 – Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
The energetic, Swede pop perfection of The Tough Alliance immediately entangled me when I first heard “Neo Violence”. It’s spring loaded, synth heavy, techno-tropic and gets you giddily dancing. I adore their wry humor at the end. I finally dove into their last two releases and got turned on to more TTA. The songs are bright, emphatic, and uplifting, buoyant with constant explosions of sounds. I’m surprised they haven’t yet hit the scene harder in the U.S.
Check out the rad video for “Simple Games” from the New Waves EP (2006). It’s got girls jumping rope in the breathtaking, sun-dappled outdoors and projections of breaking waves (a recurring visual motif of theirs).
Childhood friends Henning Fürst and Eric Berglund formed The Tough Alliance in 2003. The Göthenburg, Sweden duo have polished their glammy blend of pop and electronica through a series of EP and album releases, first on the locally based Service label (home to Jens Lekman and Studio) and then on their own label, Sincerely Yours, beginning in 2006. Each critically acclaimed creation helped to establish them as a central force within the Swedish indie music scene. TTA began attracting greater international attention in 2007 due to outstanding reviews for A New Chance (2007) and American distribution.
Adding some color to their story, The Tough Alliance amusingly have an infamous reputation for their live appearances and receive frequent attention in the Swedish media for lip-synching to their backing tracks while ambiguously wielding baseball bats. The resulting accusations of glorifying violence and hooliganism haven’t gone unnoticed. TTA directly confronts all detractors in the lyrics of “Neo Violence”, which ascended to number 13 on the Swedish album charts in 2007.
No U.S. dates at the moment, but keep your eyes out for The Tough Alliance.
Neo Violence
No no need for a baseball bat
Don’t need no knife for a sharp attack
No excuses, no looking back
We think too much about the things we lack
This neo violence
Pure self-defiance
This neo violence
The Tough Alliance
I hardly noticed your short romance
Your careless manners and your anxious glance
Kissed and telled, got paid in advance
You’re far behind now love you missed your chance
This neo violence
Pure self-defiance
This neo violence
The Tough Alliance
Truly sorry thought you’d get the wink, it’s in our nature to be out of sync
Truly sorry thought you’d get the wink, it’s in our nature to be out of sync
This neo violence
Pure self-defiance
This neo violence
The Tough Alliance
This neo violence
Can’t stand the silence
This neo violence
The Tough Alliance
Panda Bear – Person Pitch (2007)
This album delicately led me by the arm towards Animal Collective, when I was confounded by how strange it was. 2007 saw me doing yoga to Person Pitch almost every day, allowing me to sink into what Panda Bear and, as a result, what the whole AC crew had to offer. Person Pitch is simultaneously poppy and abstract, winsome and deranging, creating elaborate and magnificent convoluted sonic collages. mp3: Panda Bear – Comfy in Nautica mp3: Panda Bear – Bros mp3: Panda Bear – Good Girl/Carrots Download Person Pitch MySpace | Website
Lily Allen – Alright, Still (2007)
This album had me rocking out in my car during many of those 2007 summer months. Allen’s smart alec, sassy attitude is emphatic. Her explosion on the scene as one of Britain’s superstars might put off some, but it’s hard not fall for her well produced brand of bouncy, horn heavy, ska-inspired pop.
Check out “Smile”, “LDN”, “Nan You’re A Window Shopper” – explicit! (can’t post!) Download Alright, Still MySpace | Website
Brett Dennen – Hope for the Hopeless (2008)
Brett Dennen inspires me. His lyrics are entirely well considered and thought provoking, and his positive, dynamic melodies are hard to deny. “Make You Crazy”, featuring Femi Kuti, is the true gem here, gorgeous in it’s entirety, speaking about our untrustable government, prisons, child soldiers, and how people treat each other to get ahead. The songs soar, speaking of love, hope, home and peace. “San Francisco” is thoroughly nostalgic especially if you’ve taken any time to get to know Dennen’s amazing city. mp3: Brett Dennen – Make You Crazy mp3: Brett Dennen – Wrong About Me mp3: Brett Dennen – San Francisco Download Hope For The Hopeless MySpace | Website
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
By far my favorite release of the year. Since their inception, Animal Collective has wandered the territorial edges of music, seeking out boundaries previously erected and looking beyond them. They’ve imbued gorgeous indie songs with peculiar vocals and irritating noises, contrasted West African rhythms with British folk melodies, and have hung on a single chord for what seems like eternity. Merriweather feels like a culmination of all of these explorations, achieving a sound that is both accessible and thoroughly innovative. Finally an Animal Collective album that I’m moved to listen to all the way through -hooky and pop drenched in swirls of psychedelia, heavy with sonic texture. mp3: Animal Collective – My Girls mp3: Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes mp3: Animal Collective – Brothersport Download Merriweather Post Pavilion MySpace | Website
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)
The danceable, catching indie rock of Phoenix is perfectly featured on their newest release. The tight grooves of the band’s electrifying synth pop flow loudly behind Thomas Mars’ smooth and all the while urgent vocals. Wolfgang is brilliantly sleek with sonic texture, putting the band on the map as one of the most exciting groups to blow up stateside this year. mp3: Phoenix – Lisztomania mp3: Phoenix – 1901 mp3: Phoenix – Lasso Download Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix MySpace | Website
Built to Spill – There Is No Enemy (2009)
On There is No Enemy, Built to Spill investigates an aesthetic they’ve created and honed over the years, revolving around Doug Martsch’s soft, yet penetrating vocals swimming in a bath of refracting guitar tones. The band again finds a new and interesting way to approach their sound making this my favorite BTS album since 1999’s Keep It Like A Secret. mp3: Built to Spill – Aisle 13 mp3: Built to Spill – Hindsight mp3: Built to Spill – Nowhere Lullaby Download There Is No Enemy MySpace | Website
Ray LaMontagne – Trouble (2003)
When Trouble came out it was hard not to become overwhelmed by the power and depth of Ray LaMontagne. The title track is entirely timeless, instantly bringing on comparisons to Van Morrison and Otis Redding, with Ray’s rich and impassioned vocals rising above perfectly nuanced guitars and strings, echoing his quietly devastating meditations on life and love which is the soul of this release. mp3: Ray LaMontagne – Trouble mp3: Ray LaMontagne – Forever My Friend mp3: Ray LaMontagne – How Come Download Trouble MySpace | Website
My Morning Jacket – Z (2005)
When Z came out all I wanted was wrap myself in the sonic blissfulness of “Wordless Chorus”. MMJ’s 4th album sees the band proceeding forward without fear or shame, shaping a sound distinctly their own. Fiery guitar, folk-inspired melodies, soaring rock passages, and psychedelic flashes marry sublimely with Jim James’ legendary vocals. mp3: My Morning Jacket – Wordless Chorus mp3: My Morning Jacket – It Beats 4 U mp3: My Morning Jacket – Off The Record Buy Z MySpace | Website
I’m late on getting you my list of the best albums of the decade, but it’s taken some time to dig through all of the incredible pieces of work that we’ve been hit with over the past 10 years. Since 2000, my ears have become keen to the inner workings of song and sound and it is partly due to the music below that I listen the way that I do. This decade has been an exhilarating one with bands like Animal Collective, Modest Mouse, Broken Social Scene, Death Cab For Cutie, and Sigur Ros solidifying their reach with monumental releases, and acts like Amy Winehouse, Norah Jones, Ray LaMontagne, Vampire Weekend and Bon Iver astonishing listeners with their debuts. I can’t resist including a few albums from smaller artists that are personal favorites, those of Leslie Helpert and The Slip. Dive in.
Zero 7 – Simple Things (2001)
The album combines an alluring mixture of sounds – electronica, jazz, soul, world music – featuring three talented vocalists (Mozez, Sia Furler, and Sophie Baker) to ride the top of these Air-like waves amid deep compositional swirls. mp3: Zero 7 – I Have Seen mp3: Zero 7 – Destiny mp3: Zero 7 – Likufanele Download Simple Things MySpace | Website
I saw Imogen Heap on Sunday for the first time since she performed at the Fox Theatre in Colorado back in 2006. I was blown away then by the eccentric ingenuity and musical explosion that is Imogen Heap, and last night was no different. Imogen performed as part of the live radio show, E-Town, which gives viewers an intimate look at featured artists. Musicians perform 5-6 songs and are interviewed by the host in front of a live audience. Imogen connected immediately with fans both with her quirky humor and by revealing unfiltered thoughts, whether it be her nervousness or how she commands her various gadgets, all with that alluring English accent.
Here are some tracks off Imogen’s latest album, Ellipse(2009), recorded in the basement studio of her elliptically shaped family home, which she bought several years ago. Coincidentally, the studio used to be her old play room! Love it.
Her music is gorgeously layered, atmospheric, electro pop filled with sound effects, bizarre instruments, and Imogen’s achingly ethereal voice. Her vocals, with the use of layering, become a shimmering orchestra of breathy coos, chirps, whispers and hums. Each song is heavily produced, incorporating elements of dance, rock and electronica, all with a feminine edge. In addition to manipulating electronic sounds, she works with organic ones, maybe water dripping or the sonorous ring induced by spinning her finger around the top of wine glass. Imogen constantly pushes her own sonic limits, which makes the music so endlessly captivating and mesmerizing, sending you adrift into a land of her own invention. You can feel her perfectionism and the pressure she places upon herself within each masterfully crafted sonic masterpiece.
Sunday evening, she played barefoot among an array of keyboards, laptops, gongs, a keytar, an Array mbira (based on the African thumb piano), and the curious “hang” – a flying saucer shaped, harmonically tuned steel idiophone. This quote from a 2005 interview, perfectly describes the soul behind the sounds. “I just love crafting and shaping sounds. Actually, many of the sounds that I work with start off as organic instruments – guitar, piano, clarinet, etc. But I do love the rigidity of electronic drums… I would record live drums, and then I would spend a day editing them to take the life out of them. I like to breathe my own life into these sounds, and I do try to keep the ‘air’ in the music. Some people think electronic music is cold, but I think that has more to do with the people listening than the actual music itself.”
The London songstress did not get on well with the music teacher at her boarding school, so she resorted to teaching herself sequencing, music engineering, sampling and production on Atari computers. She went on to study at the BRIT School of Performing Arts & Technology. Imogen made her solo debut at the celebrated Prince’s Trust Concert in Hyde Park in 1996, during which she performed four songs between sets by none other than The Who and Eric Clapton. i Megaphone came out in 1998, but she didn’t hit the spotlight until her electronic duo Frou Frou found itself with a song on Garden State soundtrack in 2004. 2005’s Speak for Yourself was inspired by her recent divorce and features the intoxicating single, Hide and Seek. I actually found out about Imogen from my 16-year-old cousin who told me that playing Hide and Seek during dance performances was all the rage. Both “Goodnight and Go” and “Hide and Seek” were featured on the O.C., after which “Hide and Seek” made its way to #1 on the itunes download chart. In 2006, Heap was nominated for two Grammy Awards and made a legendary appearance at Coachella.
The genius of Imogen Heap was ever-present on Sunday. Catch her on remaining U.S. dates if you can. Otherwise, start listening and don’t miss the next time she works her way through the U.S.
Nov 17 – Granda Theatre, Dallas, Texas (SOLD OUT)
Nov 18 – La Zona Rosa, Austin, Texas
Nov 20 – Exit In, Nashville, Tennessee (SOLD OUT)
Nov 21 – Square Room, Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 22 – Variety Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia (SOLD OUT)
Nov 24 – Vic Theatre, Chicago, Illinois
Nov 26 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto, Ontario
Nov 28 – Higher Ground, Burlington, Vermont
Nov 30 – Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, Washington, Washington DC (SOLD OUT)
Dec 1 – Theatre Of Living Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 2 – Webster Hall, New York, New York
Dec 3 – Music Hall of Williamsburg, New York, New York
Made it out to both days of the Monolith Festival. Crushing acts were Phoenix, Passion Pit, and Chromeo. Sets were packed and dance heavy. Phoenix’s electrifying Sunday performance on the main stage set them up to be huge in Colorado and beyond. Chance had it that MSTRKRFT cancelled, leaving the 2nd to last main stage slot open. Certainly feels fated that Phoenix played for the most sizeable audience of the weekend. Their lightning speed rise has been incredible to follow. Passion Pit’s surging set confirmed that the eletro pop craze is on. And Chromeo’s sex-saturated synth funk throw down triggered a dance freak-out from the crowd and had everyone smiling hard.
New favorites included OK Go (finally saw them live after all that YouTube hype), Health, The Walkmen, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Woodhands, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and The Royal Bangs. Great to see Stars of Track and Field again after they took most of 2008 off. Other sweet catches included Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, Gregory Alan Isakov, The Grates, Tigercity, and Danielle Ate The Sandwich. The eletronica was also pumping with choice acts The Glitch Mob, Savoy, and Beats Antique.
The setting of Red Rocks couldn’t have been more beautiful and the bands knew and recognized it.
Ever since SXSW, I can’t stop thinking about Passion Pit. One of the best acts I saw that week by far. The band’s live performance is nothing less than electrifying. Their sound is a fine example of where indie rock has been going. Combining digital effects (2 keyboards, synth, and samples) with 80’s pop and falsetto vocals into decidedly current electro pop. I’m susceptible for falling for these types of bands as they get me on all sides of what I’m into. Love this comparison from Audio Muffin – “… (Imagine) if MGMT got together with Postal Service for a few drinks and decided to create music that balanced out batshit crazy with bespectacled yearning, the result might sound something like Passion Pit.” The band is also becoming known for remixing groups like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Ra Ra Riot, but I think their memorable originals is where it’s at.
Currently based in Cambridge, MA, Passion Pit formed in late 2007. The blogosphere lit up over their infectious single ‘Sleepyhead’ off their-debt, dorm room-recorded EP, “Chunk of Change” (2008). Michael Angelakos (lead vocalist) created Passion Pit in order to write a few songs as a Valentine’s Day gift for his girlfriend. Four of those songs plus ‘Sleepyhead’ and ‘Better Things’ make up the disc, which quickly made it around the Emerson campus where Angelakos was studying. The band released their first full-length album “Manners” this past May. Appearances include almost all the major fests including Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza this summer and Austin City Limits, Monolith, and Treasure Island this fall. Catch them.
Sleepyhead
And everything is going to the beat
And everything is going to the beat
And everything is going
And you say it was like fire around the brim
Burning solid burning thin the burning rim
Like stars burning holes right through the dark
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes
You were one inch from the edge of this bed
I dragged you back a sleepyhead
They couldn’t think of something to say the day you burst
With all their lions and all their might and all their thirst
They crowd your bedroom like some thoughts wearing thin
Against the walls against your rules against your skin
My beard grew down to the floor and out through the doors
Of your eyes, begonia skies like a sleepyhead
Your head
The Reeling
We dug these holes we crawled into now they’re my home
Now here I cannot feel the wind, cant feel the rain oh no
And I believe in gentle harmony
Well how I loathe all this obscenity
Is this the way my life has got to be?
Have I a single opportunity?
Look at me oh look at me is this the way i’ll always be
Oh no, oh no
Now I pray that somebody will quickly come and kidnap me
Oh no, oh no
Everyday I lie awake and pray to god today’s the day
Oh no, oh no
Here I am oh here I am oh when will someone understand?
Oh no, oh no
And all at once I feel this, oh how it clings to me
It reels and calls me towards it, confounding destiny
And I can feel the madness inch by inch
The more I run the more I am convinced
A color all these like the branches glimpse
Just like the saddle in the foggy mist
Look at me oh look at me is this the way i’ll always be
Oh no, oh no
Now I pray that somebody will quickly come and kidnap me
Oh no, oh no
And everyday I lie awake and pray to god today’s the day
Oh no, oh no
Here I am oh here I am oh when will someone understand?
Oh no, oh no
Look at me oh look at me is this the way i’ll always be
Oh no, oh no
Now I pray that somebody will quickly come and kidnap me
Oh no, oh no
And everyday I lie awake and pray to god today’s the day
Oh no, oh no
Here I am oh here I am oh when will someone understand?
Oh no, oh no
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