The New Wine / Erlend Øye (Whitest Boy Alive)

During another round of exploration, I found a some sparkle in dance music. I discovered two really fun bands thanks to headphonesex . I've been a fan of music like the Juan MacLean , LCD Soundsystem and various other DFA names that are catching on like Yacht . Most of them are probably categorized as dance punk, similar but all with alot of variance from each other.

A friend had told me about Whitest Boy Alive a week or two ago but I didn't take the time to listen until today. What got me hooked in this madness? This:

It's really funky, and give that cheesy dance sound that makes your head wiggle and heart flutter. What got me is the synth part, it's a contagious hook, I'll admit it.

On to learning about Whitest Boy Alive, a little less funky, but more dreamy and I definitely feel that. Give this a spin:

Lastly, The New Wine, completely unknown to me, but so hip. Their music makes me want to eat glitter and bread just so I can get sick from dancing to their tunes. It would give me a funk driven puke frenzy, and everyone would just keep dancing in that sparkly vomit. Enjoy:

Hauschka

Prepared instruments are weird, but I like experimental stuff that keeps some format. So tonight, some prepared instrumentation. I decided to use Hauschka, a German pianist, since I picked up an EP or LP of his a few months ago, it's really relaxing piano based stuff, with a very contemporary feel. He builds songs that appear to be simple, yet develop into complex compositions that make new possibly limitless boundaries of the piano.

Hauschka uses what looks like some paint stirrers to add an unexpected result. It's another variable in the experience. The other worldly sounds that just some extra wood on the strings makes the music so much more captivating. Enjoy:

The Von Bondies

These guys rode the initial wave of the garage rock revival in the early 2000's. Thanks to bands like the White Stripes and the Strokes, the Von Bondies are somewhat popular. I caught them earlier this year live, apparently everyone in their home town of Detroit hates them. They got alot of heat from the crowd at the Grog Shop over their new album Love, Hate, and Then There's You. I didn't enjoy it as much as their other albums so I'm here to talk about their old music today.

Off the first album Lack of Communication comes a lot of hard blues rock. I'm a huge fan of the bass lines from many of them, all with a very mopey feel topped with angry and frustrated guitars and vocals. I really dig on songs like Cass and Henry that have very narrative dialogue style of lyrics. I thoroughly enjoy the nice bluesy jam that is Rock and Roll Nurse, and even better you can hear it too.

Pelican

With a new EP that's only available at shows, I was super excited about finding this. Pelican pulls off some really heavy jamming very well. They flow through ideas, but I think their transitions are a bit weak. Either way, Embedding Moss, the first song from their Ephermal EP is a solid track. Go ahead, and head bang. 

If you're lucky enough to catch them live, enjoy, and buy their merch. 

[right click new page/tab to listen]

Grizzly Bear

For a few weeks I've been seeing various references to Grizzly Bear, with a bunch of hype about their new album Veckatimest. I wasn't really sure on what to expect from it other than something folksy. I was extremely pleased with it. They remind me of a very psychedelic Simon and Garfunkle. With soft, but very powerful vocals and extremely interesting intrumentation, I can't believe I hadn't found them earlier. 

To find out about them, I first hit last.fm. The most popular song from the new album "Two Weeks" has very suiting tags. People describe the song as "motherfuckin rabbits ejaculating sunshine" , "heart shivers", and "makes me want to shout it from a rooftop". I'll let the unnamed masses speak for this song. Give it a listen here:

Phoenix

A while back these french guys released a high quality teaser track, "1901," from their new album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. It had a really deep growl to it, and an extremely contagious beat. I guess releasing some of their best work made sense. I downloaded it, it was free on their site. I enjoyed it, but forgot about it for 2 months. 

But what happened? Their album was finally released. There is so much material on youtube it's insane. So I found an acoustic version of a track that is obviously catchy enough that fans would appreciate it. Listen to the whole thing, it's actually very pretty.

Now, turn up your speakers and pretend no one is watching you dance in your chair when you listen to this:

Japandroids

I think everyone has a certain spot in their hearts for indie rock. It's hard to find your favorite flavor though. I previously covered Cymbals Eat Guitars, which was edgy, new, and really noisy. 

Through some careful searching I found something quite similar. It's got alot more energy, and a certain level of obnoxiousness but I think it's the perfect mixture. With lyrics like,  "I don't wanna worry about dying, I just wanna worry about those sunshine girls," the song Young Hearts Spark Fires seems to be the perfect super-happy-positive summer time song. Give it a listen:

Also, maybe check out some of their other tunes, just as raw, canadian, and indie rock as this song. They have just released a new record called "Post-Nothing" that actually drew me in because I think it's funny how overused the post- prefix is.

Friendly Fires / Au Revoir Simone

Yeah, I figured today would need something very foreign sounding. Part of me imagines this song being played in a german gay bar. It's very fruity and so electro- it's disguisting. I like this track though.  

Au Revoir Simone is fantastic, their new album is supposedely very good. I like them, they're pretty. After some quick Youtube action, I found this track very nice and peaceful. 

Booker T. Jones - Potato Hole

I found out this CD came out through metacritic.  I wasn't really certain about who Booker T. even was. Either way, I got it and decided to put it on my iPod when I went out with my friends on last Friday. Windows down, 70 degree warm breezes flowing, and this awesome soul music playing felt perfect. It's good enough that when you focus on it you remember how good the music is, but you don't have to pay attention to enjoy it. 

Anyways, Booker T was the creator of this classic riff you've probably heard before. An unforgettable organ riff : Green Onions

And back to Potato Hole, there's an interesting cover of "Hey Ya". It's nothing like the Obadiah Parker Cover, there are no vocals, it's more like a real open jam that just slightly sounds like the original. (Jump to 4.00, there's an interview first)

Cymbals Eat Guitars

This music travels through dimensions. It sounds like Pavement, Modest Mouse, Built to Spill and oh yeah, it's still good. There's alot of movement to their tunes. At parts, it's very relaxed, then explodes with emotion. You can feel so much emotion in the songs as their playing style shifts multiple times throughout the song.

They recently released "Why There Are Mountains" on their own. Find it, listen to it, enjoy it.

The xx

These kids are going to catch on. It seems like they aren't even enjoying playing, but it's so groovy. Their sound is kind of dark, with a male and female vocalists to eludes to some shoegaze with an eletro touch. Apparently an album is in the works, or should be atleast. They released a single that's amazing.

Crystalised is chilled out and extremely listenable

Passion Pit

I don't really know how many bands are trying to sound like Animal Collective, but Passion Pitt works for me. It's pleasant mix of pop hooks and indie rock. Their debut album Manners is set to release in a few days, it's full of corny riffs, but extremely happy bits of pop.

Track Highlights include "The Reeling" where they took advantage of the PS 22 children's choir for the chorus. It's beautiful and dancable.

also, Sleepyhead

on hold.

I guess I have to chill out on posting all of my old articles. I'll be doing 2 a day until they're all up. Then onto the frontier of new music.

Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On

I was certain that all of the indie kids, the ones claiming that Eagles of Death Metal are super rad and whatever terms they use for “cool”, were wrong.  I figured that with their recent release it would be time for me to diversify my resentment towards another band.  I mean, when their lead singer Jesse Hughes stated, “EODM's latest fabulous weapon, a top-secret music missile, a sonic warhead sexually tipped for her pleasure, shot from the deck of USS EODM Mantastic Fantastic.”, on Spin.com about their new album “Heart On”, I had to hate it. First step, I made sure I didn’t pay for it.

I sit down on Thursday afternoon and take a deep breath thinking to myself, “Finally, I’m going to get some closure.”

To ensure I find as many reasons to dislike it as possible, I put on my noise cancelling headphones so I can pick out everything. I double click the first song “Anything ‘cept the Truth”, and the standard rock beat and clap starts. Something went wrong. This guitar solo is sweet, actually it rocks. Jesse Hughes chimes in with, “Ask me why I came so late, ask me why I made you wait.” I feel like he’s singing to me. I feel like I should be telling to him ask me why I came so late… so late to this band that is great. This song is really good to get me pumped to listen to the rest. My expectations are high now.

The idea behind the band is that one day Jesse Hughes was inspired by a polish death metal band to make music that sounded like The Eagles playing death metal.  “(I Used To Couldn’t Dance) Tight Pants” starts off just like this. The riff sounds like it was ripped from an Eagles song and the rock-hard-o-meter was turned up by 80 percent. It’s basically hard garage rock, and by the 3^rd song on the album, I’m digging it.  As more songs go by, the album looses its intensity. The songs get more of a stoner rock feel as things progress.  The last song to catch my attention is “Cheap Thrills” which is at most a blaring jam.

Eagles of Death Metal seem to me to be a band that you’d want to have just in case.  Their music seems to be suitable to put on a party playlist and play really loud.  The lyrics focused on dancing, boogying, partying, and sex aren’t really too deep to interpret. I could imagine being able to just sit and appreciate their music for what it is. What I haven’t touched on is how danceable their music is. He’s not just singing about dancing and boogying, he wants you to because the beat of the songs are perfect. Overall, I’ll give “Heart On” a 1 out of 5 disapproval points. Their music is definitely good and deserves to be heard and listened to, plus I might actually buy their album now.

Ratatat

After the walls between rock, electronic, and hip-hop are destroyed, Ratatat of New York City, appears out of the debris.  Ratatat was formed in 2001 by Mike Stroud (guitar) and Evan Mast (synthesizer/producer) when they were students at Skidmore College. Yes, their sound really is a fusion of rock, electronic, and hip-hop. As Mast lays down beats and synthesizer melodies, Stroud plays guitar riffs and solos over it.

Their first self titled album, “Ratatat”, is by far their best. The name of the opening song, “Seventeen Years”, comes from a dialogue from MC Young Churf who says, “I've been rapping for about seventeen years, okay? I don't write my stuff anymore, I just kick it from my head, y'know what I'm sayin', I can do that. No disrespect, but that's how I am.” This song epitomizes everything I like about Ratatat. It’s catchy, and very danceable. It’s so danceable it was actually played at the party scene in the film Cloverfield.  The mood of the song goes through several changes starting very happy and upbeat, with simple and blissful guitar soloing. It quickly gets frantic, but soon after it cools down to a soothing synthesizer harmony. The ending makes it my favorite chill-out song. You really need to listen to this song to get a feel for Ratatat. The rest of the album follows suite with similar songs weaving rock and electronic blankets over hip-hop beats that give it texture.

Sometime last fall I went to hang out with my friend Zack and his roommate, Andy, was around. Since we were pretty much in the mood to chill, Andy decided to play some appropriate music.  The song started out with a creepy echoing synthesizer riff overlapping a guitar twang, with an underlying beat. I thought to myself, “Oh this is pretty chill.” A second later a wild cat’s roar chimed in. After that the song evolved and I became really interested, and it turns out the name of the song is “Wildcat” off of “Classics”, their second album. “Classics” does some of the same things as “Ratatat”; however, there is a very noticeable touch of experimentation.  I really enjoy this album as well because all of the songs are intriguing. I say intriguing because there is so much variance on them that I still don’t know when a song is going to develop more.  

In early June, I was cruising on the internet looking for music at the speed of light. Something caught my eye and I had to slam on the breaks and peel my face off the monitor. Ratatat was planning on releasing another album, appropriate titled “LP3”. I got really excited about it and grabbed a copy as soon as I could. At first, it seemed really fun to listen to. They were now experimenting with their percussion and a lot more programmed sounds.  After a few runs through the album, I decided I didn’t like it. It’s a really big turn from their previous work. It’s got a psychedelic feel to it, and does have some crazy melodies. Overall though, it isn’t the same Ratatat I loved. If you’re really interested though, “Brulee” is a nice and mellow song that still has an old Ratatat sound.

LCD Soundsystem

A project of producer James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem aims to merge punk and dance music.  Somehow, James Murphy effectively forged his project to become very listenable and catchy.  Hardly known in the United States, LCD Soundsystem has two albums that have been on the UK top 40.

However, I’d say that it might be an emerging sound in the USA.  I remember when my roommate, Sam, was playing Forza 2 early last spring; a dance beat lured me into asking more about it immediately after hearing it. It turns out it was “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” by LCD Soundsystem. It was funky, had a really dirty electronic feel, and a ridiculously satisfying cowbell solo.

Then in early May, after Grand Theft Auto 4 was released, I found out another LCD Soundsystem song was featured in one of the advertisements.  This time it was “Get Innocuous!” , a song with a groovy cooing synth playing along with an aggressive and maniacal riff. James sings along in a creepy, almost condescending tone as keyboard chords chime in.  I guess it was a good choice for the game, but I was also very excited to find out it was used.

I figured the madness of this coming up was over, but if you’re good at picking up on commentary you can see the irony of where this is going. Step Brothers was released in the end of July.  As much as I was laughing, I almost cheered “Huzzah!” when the title sequence actually began.  A familiar keyboard tone and a wooden block riff were introduced as Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly confront each other. I heard an “Uhhh, yeah yeah,” and knew it was “North American Scum”.  After the movie I must have talked my friends’ ears off about that happening, and all they wanted to do is reminisce about all of the hilarious one-liners.

Besides all of this pop culture exposure in the United States, some companies are seeing profitability in LCD Soundsystem. For example, Nike contracted a deal with James to compose a track for them. What came out of it was,”45:33: Nike Original Run,” an album originally released on iTunes only as a mix created to accompany jogging workouts.  Now referred to simply as “45:33,” the whole album is actually just one gapless track.  Honestly, it’s become my new favorite song to jam to.  It lures you in so subtlety, just a synth roll picking up speed, as it dies down a dance clap and keyboard jingle comes in. It takes almost 2 minutes for it to have any substance, but at that point you can’t help but bob your head.  It get really funky, after this you don’t care what comes next, yet it is all so appropriate and works as one long mix. James has actually taken various parts of this song and mastered them as songs on the album “Sound of Silver.”

I’m pretty sure you’ll be hearing more of LCD Soundsystem in the future, and I’m not going out on a limb at all coming to this conclusion. James is currently doing a lot of DJing, but according to the forums, he’s planning on working on another release soon.  If you haven’t already, give LCD Soundsystem a listen, and I think you’ll be pleased with the decision. 

The American Dollar - A Memory Stream

The United States economy may be floundering, but the band The American Dollar’s recent release A Memory Stream released in August 2008 is as solid as a rock.  The band was started as a project by two friends, John Emanuele (drum, keyboard, bass, and guitar) and Rich Cupolo (guitar, keyboard, bass, and percussion) in 2005.

As partial as I am towards instrumental music with little or no lyrics, I can still say that this band has surpassed my expectations of what music can be. A Memory Stream has pretty much become a pleasant soundtrack to mellow me out no matter what I’m doing. The music paints a calming portrait in your mind, putting you at ease to think about whatever you may.  All of the American Dollar’s music is like this, delicate guitar or keyboard melodies blanketed by satisfying beats and splotched with some ambient tones.  It’s great to listen to whenever I study, walk to class, relax, or even sleep.

Let me get back to the new album, A Memory Stream.  Generally, the sound and overall feeling of the song reflects an abstract theme from its title.  The opening two part song, “The Slow Wait” starts with a very ghostly ambience, then brings in a peaceful sounding keyboard melody.  It slowly develops building up with guitars and other mystical tones. The songs climaxes with a vibrant and smooth guitar solo, quickly drying up all of the progression. Part 2 brings in an upbeat percussion, while the background ambience from the previous song keeps things moving.  More and more of these parts develop and it gets very intense, as if “The Slow Wait” is over and something has begun.  Try listening to this song as you leave home for class, oddly enough the progression will get you amped for the day.

You may be thinking this sounds boring, but it really isn’t. The reason I like this band so much is because your day gives context to the music. Another awesome song, for any moment is “Starscapes”.  It’s ethereal at first, building the soundscape for the rest of the song.  Right as you don’t expect it, the billowing patterns fade as ambient tones play, before you’re used to this calmness it builds right back up.  An intense and catchy drumbeat pops up making you want to tap your toes.  I forgot to mention this song is 9 minutes long. Things finish up eventually, after the band playfully tweaks their dynamics like you’d never expect.

The American Dollar falls into the somewhat obscure and hidden genre of post-rock.  It’s almost like music from a movie, but interesting enough that it surely isn’t.  I get just as much pleasure out not really paying attention as I do out of focusing intently on a song. There are no words, just rich textures of sound that slowly evolve to keep your interest. If they sound intriguing to you, check out their last.fm or myspace page, all of their songs are free to listen to.