Brooklyn duo MGMT will release their 3rd full-length album, Congratulations, on April 13, 2010. They’ve offered a taste by making the track “Flash Delirium” available as a free download through their website. The adventurous Bowie-tinged exploration veers in a variety of mind-bending directions within its 4 minutes. The confusion it unleashes become more manageable with subsequent listens. Psychedelic lyrics offer this gorgeous sentiment: “Dance until the heart explodes and we’ll make this place ignite.” “Some will love it, some will hate it,” Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone of Congratulations‘ stylistic shift. “We want to freak people out.”
MGMT have so far debuted three other songs off the release, “Congratulations”, “It’s Working”, and “Song for Dan Tracey”, at recent shows. The album was recorded in Malibu by ex-Spacemen 3 Brit Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom) and mixed by Flaming Lips producer David Fridmann. The record is the follow-up to 2007’s Oracular Spectacular, which crushed with over 1 million copies sold worldwide. Upcoming U.S. tourdates include Coachella, Bamboozle, and Sasquatch in April and May.
Flash Delirium
Mild apprehension
Blank dreams of the coming fun
Distort the odds of a turnaround
Gut screams out next to none
So turn it on, tune it in
And stay inert
You say “I’ve got the backbone”
The back way to escape the gun
Climbing a tree with a missing limb
And not saving anyone
And now it hurts to stay at home
And see flash the mirror ball’s throwing mold
You can’t get a grip if there’s nothing to hold
See the flash catch a white lily laugh and wilt
But if you must smash a glass first fill it to the hilt
Plants, as far as i know are still,
Still bending toward the light
And if we dance until the heart explodes
It’ll make this place ignite
And even if this hall collapses
I can stand by my pillar of hope
It’s just a case of Flash delirium
Here’s a growing culture
Deep inside a corpse
Ages stuck together
Takin it to the source
Timeless desperation
Pictures on a screen scream
“Hey people, what does it mean?”
Comfort keeps us nice
So quick to donate everything
Die wolken drifting blinding smiles circling (einkreisen)
And time’s tingling spines
Attaching hands to floor
The rosy-tinted flash
The hot dog’s getting cold
And you’ll never be as good as the Rolling Stones
Watch the birds in the airport gathering dirt
Crowd the clean magazine chick lifting up her skirt
(Why close one eye and try to
Pledge allegiance to the sun
When plastic ghosts start terrorizing everyone
Geometric troops aligning
Carried up to the burial mounds
My earthbound heart is heavy
Your heartbeat keeps things light
With the violence forever threatening the night
And even if this hall collapses
I can stand by my pillar of hope and trust)
Lines when I close my eyes and just
Aim blindly at the sun
And hear love
When the ghosts start singing terrorizing everyone
Geometric troops aligning
Carried up to the burial mounds with gold
It’s a heavy time but your
You rhythm makes it light and explode
Like a violent star keeps threatening the night
And even if this hall collapses
I can stand by my pillar of hope and trust
That our heads won’t bust
66 55 red battleships
40 earthlike planets
3 holes 2 tits
1 fork in its side
Zero tears in their eyes
Eue the spiders
Sink the Welsh
Stab your facebook
Sell sell sell
Undercooked
Overdone
Mass adulation not so funny
Poisoned honey
Pseudo science
Silly money
You’re my honey
The buzz over the collaboration between Shins singer/guitarist James Mercer and producer/multi-instrumentalist Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) has been mighty. The pair announced the project in September of ‘09 and released their self-titled album this week. The two acclaimed musicians (Danger Mouse is half of Gnarls Barkley and produced the Gorillaz’s 2007 album Demon Days) were inspired to put their heads together after connecting at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival in 2004 when they discovered they were fans of each other’s work. They began recording in secret at Burton’s Los Angeles-based studio in March of ‘08 and the culmination of their efforts is now out on the table.
Take note that this is not just a “produced by Danger Mouse” one-off. The two are apparently in it for the long haul and have plans extending past this first album.
Eyes closed, this is a Shins album. The wonderous indie sensation expanded upon their sound throughout their 3 albums (2001, 2003, and 2007), and this feels like it could be the fruit of the next step in that progression. Due to Mercer’s distinct voice, the line between The Shins and Broken Bells is rather blurry. That is an exciting reality for Shins fans in that Mercer and his bandmates have had a sour parting. Burton’s contributions are somewhat restrained, but he seamlessly infuses his creativity and influences into a realm of music heavy with melody and sparse on beats. Overall, the partnership works well. The balance of styles, Burton’s hip-hop and soul and Mercer’s inventive song construction and lyricism, produce 37 minutes of pure quality. Other than string arrangements by composer Daniele Luppi, Danger and Mercer play every instrument on the 10-song album. Mercer sings and plays guitar and bass, while Danger tackles drums, organ, piano, synth, and bass. Danger also serves as producer.
“The Ghost Inside” is the standout track on the album and offers a clear illustration of Mercer and Burton getting their hands dirty together. It’s a fabulous synthesis of Mercer’s falsetto, warbly back up vocal overlays, handclaps and unforgettable synth melodies. Lyrically, the album is direct and insightful. “Vaporizer” delivers a potent message atop sanguine organ lines: Let go of fears and unrealized hopes and live without the squashing need to know where you are going. “The Waiting Game” speaks of the elusiveness of love among buzzy synths and spacey effects. Gone are Mercer’s cryptic lyrics. He speaks truthfully of loneliness, love, and dreams falling short. “Citizen” just punches with its beat and harsh chorus, encompassing the dark feel that pervades many of the tracks. The album is missing a tad of soul and doesn’t necessarily push the envelope, but it gets inside the head.
Vaporize
What amounts to a dream anymore?
A crude device; A veil on our eyes
A simple plan we’d be different from the rest
And never resign to a typical life
Common fears start to multiply
We realize we’re paralyzed
Where’d it go, All that precious time?
Did we even try to stem the tide?
Why should we waste it on
Buying into the same old lies?
The longer we wait around
The faster the years go by
It’s not too late
To feel a little more alive
Make an escape
Before we start to vaporize
Doubtless, we’ve been through this
So if you want to follow me you should know
I was lost then and I am lost now
And I doubt I’ll ever know which way to go
Now it’s time to figure out how Broken Bells sound live. The duo has performed 5 shows to date over the past four weeks in L.A., Paris, London, Brooklyn, and on Letterman. You can find Broken Bells in L.A. on March 14 and in the clubs of Austin at SXSW March 17-21. Stay tuned for more dates…
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
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