Listen to Benji B on BBC Radio 1 tonight (2am EST) for an exclusive listen at Burial's first single since 2007.
What we know: "The new single by Burial is ‘Street Halo’. The B-sides are ‘NYC’ and ‘Stolen Dog’. Their combined length is 20 minutes, 41 seconds," via Phonica.
Out March 28th on Hyperdub, pre-order it on Bookmat or Phonica.
Quite often, maybe daily, excellent music is broadcasted into the world by the collective blog culture at-hand, a development in music journalism that has the capacity to instantly make a talented nobody an indie-world star, all on the basis of a few tracks posted to Soundcloud. We don't dislike that, and, anyway, it would be ludicrous at this point to deny that the blogosphere has usurped the place of tastemaker from Rolling Stone and its fellow print publications. The downside, to some people, is that instantaneous exposure can lead to an artist becoming a headliner overnight, then inescapable in his yearlong hype parade, and forgotten entirely after the New Year. We don't mind that. We think great music is great music, whether it lasts or it doesn't--but it is nice, from time to time, to come across artists that really shatter the jaded feeling that deep investment in music blogs tends to create: The Weeknd, whose first tracks, "What You Need," and "Wicked Games," dropped less than a month ago.
"What You Need" has its own, very NSFW video which, if the crew's twitter is to be believed, they weren't extremely fond of. But if you want a look anyway...
The Weeknd comes out of the gate like the best R&B group the 90's never produced, and the quality of their sound, and the maturity of their House of Balloons mixtape, is much more than our generation deserves. We say this in part because the 00's haven't cultivated the kind of musical landscape you'd expect this kind of extremely honest sound to come from. The Weeknd, a collaboration between vocalist Abel Tesfaye and producer Jeremy Rose, may seem in line with the love of R&B sampling that is currently at its apogee, but the sincerity of the their lyrics--memorably, "They want want I'm sitting on, they don't want my love," from "The Party & The After Party"--and their celebration of love over lust mark them in opposition to what is increasingly a culture whose foundation is constructed exclusively on sex and money. Their songs ache with a soulfulness I can't remember registering on my radar since, unlikely enough, Tracy Chapman, who I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out they admired. This is not only good music, but heralds the first bugle of a lo-fi hip hop outfit with the potential to transform and refine musical taste, as well as raise the bar at-large:
Big leaguers, watch the fuck out. And while you're looking over your shoulder, pounding The Weeknd's Soundcloud, perusing their official website (where you can pick up the House of Balloons mixtape FREE), and twatting at them via Twitter, remember to enjoy yourselves a little as The Weeknd's big takeover begins.
Star Slinger knows he's one of the baddest artists in the game, and if he didn't, he could simply peruse the growing online catalogue of his accolades. Behind the roll-a-joint-and-smoke-it production that hazes over Star Slinger's body of work is twenty-four-year-old Damien from Manchester, whose style came fully formed, teeth and nails and all, at almost the same moment he exploded in worldwide exposure. His 2010 LP, Star Slinger Vol. 1 was an album that delivered the moment of music it was created in to its listeners perfectly. Capitalizing on the feel-good, in-the-ether sampling J Dilla made famous, this first effort hits everything from reggae to soul to mo-town, mesmerizing in its relentless fidelity to an older sound.
2011 saw the release of the well-loved Teams vs. Star Slinger EP, put out on the excellent Mexican Summer label, followed shortly by his remix of Gold Panda's Marriage EP. Now--approximately six hours ago, according to Soundcloud--he's dropped his remix of H-Town's "They Like It Slow," a four-minute working of the 90's-era R&B cut that, to date, Star Slinger has made two personal statements about: "I made this for my sets in Gothemburg & Stockholm specifically," he says, as well as, "The sun's shining, got the door propped open letting the outside in, rolling one up and gonna chill out and listen to some tunes for a while." What a plan--what a champ.
Check out his Myspace, follow him on Soundcloud, peruse his Tumblr, twat him on Twitter, and don't forget the official website either. This man is up to his eyeballs in social media--connect with him.
There is a certain stripe of electronic music, within which DRVGS is working, that crafts nostalgia through what is commonly referred to as a "chillwave" mode of production. It adds to a cut an almost cassette-tape graininess that, when combined with the downtempo smoothness of "Young Hearts," conjures a listening experience that is not unlike the effect old television shows sometimes have on us. The suggestibility of DRVGS' name hints, of course, at the stoned euphoria and daze that "Young Hearts" brings to mind, but--to me--this Houston producer, perhaps because he is from Texas, makes me think very distinctively of "Dazed and Confused," the 1993 stoner classic that depicts, among many other things, the breeziness and excitement of young people colliding in all the various social ways we young people tend to collide. Not much else is known about DRVGS, and we're okay with that. If it hasn't been noted yet, we appreciate the anonymous music-maker who drops free material, produces terrific stuff, and is in the game simply to raise the bar.
It's impossible for us to think of Kodak to Graph's music without using metaphor, perhaps because of his name, which harmonizes so well with his cuts that we can only think of them as time-beaten snapshots. Kodak to Graph is the stage name of Pensacola, Florida's Michael Maleki, whose musical leaps--within a few short months--have been both breathtaking and unexpected. "I Keep Holding On" calls on the post-Burial taste for ghostly, down-the-hallway vocals, but veers suddenly into an almost J-Dilla-like territory with the infectious sample from the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There." That's not to say Kodak to Graph is a pastiche of the two in any way--of course, with all artists, there are resemblances, but Maleki commits to a nostalgic take on tropical sounds that is scarce in this steel drum world we live in today:
"Diet Pills," another excellent, intelligently-constructed track, comes to us via his free December 2010 self-release, Darts--it also marks an extreme shift from his earlier release, Malayer Feet Make Beach Hands, which featured an electronic post-rock sound that, while also quite good, is somewhat eclipsed by the gorgeous, by-the-water half-light of his most recent works, including the very breezy, "ayandeh".
Keep Shelly in Athens made its first blissful mark on our frequencies sometime last summer, and since then, amidst a great shower of remixes and original material, this Balaeric clan of magic-makers have held an unforeseeably potent sway on our headphones. Not that they need more touting--physical copies of their releases are selling out, as they should be--but Keep Shelly in Athens has a unique dreamscape of a sound that is so singularly satisfying that it can't go without note on this humble blog. Self-described as "downtempo/ electronica," tracks from the Athenians' In Love with Dusk 12" EP (Forest Family Records, U.S.) began circulating around the blogosphere in mid-June; cuts like "Cremona Memories" and "Running Out of You" could be heard beaming sweet waves of ecstasy out of speakers everywhere:
Hot on those heels was their excellent mixtape for Warmer Climes, a half hour plus of nocturnal serenades interspersed with the sounds of celebration drifting in from a beach party.
Warmer Climes Mixtape #278 tracklist:
1. Chicane- Overture
2. Star Slinger- Elizabeth Fraser
3. Memoryhouse- Heirloom
4. Zola Jesus- Trust Me
5. Balam Acab- See Birds
6. SLEEP OVER- Outer Limits
7. Prize- Rumours
8. Body Language- You Can
9. CSD vs. Toro y Moi- Teach Me How to Dougie
10.Keep Shelly in Athens- Running Out of You
Their most recent release, Hauntin' Me (Transparent Records, U.K.), came out in late February, with an accompanying video. A slow building, romantic storm that carries us into the odd euphoria that being love-haunted can induce, "Hauntin' Me" lives up to its name without a doubt. Don't miss "Song to Cheer You Up," either:
Like most electronic-leaning acts with strong original material, Keep Shelly in Athens do a good deal of remixing, and they've been remixed themselves by a parade of accomplished bedfellows. The following are just a few of our favorites from both the remixed and remixing categories:
Visit Keep Shelly in Athens on their myspace, peruse their Blogspot, twat them on Twitter, scope them out on Soundcloud. We'll be hounding them, and we think you should too.
Purity Ring's "Ungirthed" has been out in the sonic stratosphere for some time now, the undiminished addictiveness of Megan James' "ears ringing, teeth clicking" vocal hook still as smooth and fresh as when it first dropped. Purity Ring is, from what we've gathered, a side project of hyper-pop, chiptune-lover Gobble Gobble, whose "Lawn Knife" and "Wrinklecarver" cuts from 2010 gathered a huge amount of blog play:
This remix comes via Bandcamp-signee Christian AIDS, an anonymous Manchester crew who like to put listeners in earshot of spectral divas howling through ghostly dancefloor delirium. For reference, check out "Fever" below:
Just A Number 05272011 is the self-effacing, mysterious moniker of some unknown individual, male or female, or perhaps a collective--the point is, nobody knows. It seems that every time we hear a haunted-sounding pop opus, we suspect Karin Dreijer Andersson (the lady behind Fever Ray, and one half of The Knife) of hiding beneath a witch's cloak, donning a new pseudonym under which she will reinvent her signature sounds that have, in her relatively short time, changed the electronic music scene. The high-pitched, moaning vocals on Just A Number 05272011's "He Didn't Want a Love Song," and "The Pain," certainly conjure Fever Ray's spooked atmosphere, but our mystery artist doesn't rest on simply imitating another musician. "He Didn't Want a Love Song" hovers between worlds of dark warbling and cosmic, almost tropical pop--the accompanying, simple video suggests nothing to the viewer, presenting only the nakedness of the song:
Equally as enjoying, if perhaps a more ambitiously pop-driven number, "The Pain" moves from rainy night sky gloom to island vacation with a sudden breeziness that propels the listener with an almost narcotic strength through the cut.
We'll be keeping track of this slippery, pronoun-resistant artist, and we suggest you do, too. For now, the only message we have from him/her/they is: "we are just a number 05272011"; we'll be waiting for more.
These days, it seems like FaltyDL is the hardest-working producer on the scene, pumping out quality offerings one after another, expanding his fan base with a signature, maybe designer sound: a New York-centric vibe, a chaos, a longing--an exacting precision in the architecture of every release. Who the fuck cares about the "structure of the modern dance album"? FaltyDL unapologetically strips the phrase of all its meaning to approach a deconstructive method of production, and from the remaining detritus he pieces together a sound by doing what many producers are afraid of doing: making music soulful. "You Stand Certain" is indeed an opportunity to peer into the soul of a native New Yorker from a very rare and singular perspective.
March 9th, he dropped the "You Stand Certain" Quietus Mix, which he accompanied with only the shortest and least pretentious of explanations:
"It’s all over the place! It’s exactly the sort of mix I’ve always wanted to do, where you just drop a load of tunes, and genre-wise go all over the place, just play things I love. It’s pretty funny, there are parts of it that are just an interview with Squarepusher on the phone, and I don’t even know where I got that. It’s weird stuff I find in my iTunes; when I come across something like that it’s as comforting to me as, say, a familiar book is to a really dedicated reader. I don’t read that much, I should do more, but I’ll come across an old track and it’ll bring back a lot of memories. It’s kind of an influences mix too. The music I’ve chosen here – there’s a RZA track, some Luke Vibert – it’s all stuff I’ve listened to many times and just love."
The mix plays like an exercise in the pleasure of the listener: each song, even the two previews from the upcoming LP ("You Stand Uncertain," and "Gospel of Opal"), have a nostalgic quality about them that leads anyone, croak-throated or born talent, to make a fool of themselves singing along, sometimes even to songs they'll realize, perhaps not all at once, that they've never heard. On the other hand, there are some you likely will have heard: Frank Zappa, RZA, Mariah Carey, Brian Eno, and Aphex Twin all get airtime--but the other tracks make you feel like you should have heard them a long time ago.
What's more, fast approaching is his full-length, "You Stand Uncertain," out today digitally, and out physically on Planet Mu on March 28th. Preview and pre-order the album in its entirety on FaltyDL's page at Planet Mu; the promotional blurb reads:
"Although at times it’s anchored in the familiar basslines and rhythm science of uk dance, as heard in his previous material, on this album it’s clear that Drew has been soaking up some of his native city’s musical past such as disco, house and hip hop. With this in mind the album moves at different tempos, the ghosts of dance music past are evoked but never allowed to take over, giving the whole album a decayed, dreamy abstraction that allows for comparisons with the current crop of ‘chillwave’ producers, were it not for the tight drums and basslines."
Tracklist 1. Gospel of Opal (ft. Anneka) 2. The Pacifist 3. Open Space 4. Brazil (ft. Lily McKenzie) 5. Eight Eighteen Ten 6. It's All Good 7. You Stand Uncertain 8. Lucky Luciano 9. Voyager 10. Tell Them Stories 11. Play With My Heart 12. Waited Patiently (ft. Lily McKenzie)
"For those who don't know yet, DIE ANTWOORD are a futuristic rap-rave crew from South Africa who represent a fresh new style called ZEF. DIE ANTWOORD crew is made up of zef rap master Ninja, fre$h futuristik rich bitch ¥O-LANDI VI$$ER and the mysterious beat monster DJ HI-TEK."
The "Rich Bitch" video was a long time coming but it came, and boy am I excited it did. Die Antwoord are not shock-jocks, but--it seems--performing artists masquerading as a "futuristic rap-rave crew," and the video above is more than a little evidence in that way. If you need more, check out their massively catchy "Evil Boy" song, and play the video if you're down with erections, rats, video-ho parodies, and so, so much more:
In my days as an intern over at FADER, it occurred to me not only that Fever Ray was an immense pleasure to listen to, but also a commercially viable artist whose manipulations of Grimm's Fairytale ghoulishness, eerie fashion, and icy electronics would someday hit a greater audience. "The Wolf," Fever Ray's contribution to the upcoming "Red Riding Hood" soundtrack, makes it clear: if we were expecting an upbeat, family remake of the children's classic, we'd better shift our expectations. The new tune picks up the elegiac control of Fever Ray's eponymous 2009 effort and cracks it apart. The sparse, rhythmically-disturbing percussions that characterize Karin Dreijer Andersson's music is present as always, but with "Wolf" we hear a more unhinged side of the artist: an almost PJ Harvey-esque howl bellows desperately through the song, like the haunted rattle of night wind in Halloween trees. If that wounded yelp is any indication of how Fever Ray's as-yet-unannounced sophomore LP will sound, an auspicious time is indeed before us.
According to IMDB, the soundtrack to "Red Riding Hood" also includes Fever Ray's dark-alley song, "Keep the Streets Empty for Me." The visually stunning video below blows away the pop world's artist-poseurs with plain old-school talent.
And, if the Andersson tracks didn't make it clear enough, stadium-anthem synthsters The Big Pink come in nearly at the soundtrack's close with an atypically spooky little number:
If "Red Riding Hood" proves as excellent as its soundtrack, we may be seeing one more kooky feather in Crazy Face Amanda Seyfried's blockbuster belt. Me and the bf might even be seeing it one of these days. Maybe. I mean, we really probably won't. We sure as hell--on the other hand--will be watching out for this soundtrack's odd, grim gems.
New York City Experimental troupe Gang Gang Dance, wizards of 2008's Saint Dymphna, have always skewed avant-garde; word on the street is that things have changed, that the band has gone pop, but this 11+ minute rabbit hole of a number should satisfy both electronic and pop fans aplenty. "Glass Jar," the lead cut off their fifth, upcoming LP, Eye Contact, shows off a sound-quality that feels, at times, as if it is materializing like a volatile gas inside a beaker, biding the right time to detonate under pressure. It's an ambitious move to toss a challenging, labyrinth of a song like this out there as the promotional tune--but the giant succeeds stupendously, borne up on great waves of tasteful house, delirious drumming, and of course Lizzi Bougatsos' bury-me-at-sea vocals.
For those of you who haven't been following Gang Gang Dance too much over the years, here's a taste of 2008's Saint Dymphna--the road that got us to "Glass Jar":
Eye Contact is set for a UK release date of May 9th, the U.S. May 10th, their freshman release on the notorious 4AD, home to Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Camera Obscura, and Twin Shadow, among others.
Via 4AD: "...Eye Contact features a guest appearance from Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, whose signature vocals take centre stage on the track ‘Romance Layers.' In advance of the album's release, a limited edition double A side 12" will be released on Monday 4th April.
Gang Gang Dance has also been flagged by indie superstar-darlings, Animal Collective, to play the All Tomorrow's Parties festival they're curating in May--a festival which, this year especially, is shaping up to be a sound feast.
Nobody can watch the iconic jabs and swings of a boxer without feeling somehow that flashbacks of the Rocky movies--whether you've seen them or not--are flooding in.Jamie xx andGil Scott-Heronbring the ring to their "I'll Take Care of U" video, a mini-movie-style narrative video directed by photographer Jaime-James Medina, which opens on a woman stating simply, "This is not cut out for everybody. It takes a lot of sacrifice and dedication. You're literally fighting. You get into a fight. Who wants to fight all the time, unless there's something wrong with you?" We don't know, but the bitch sure looks foxy in them gloves.
M.I.A, like Nicki Minaj, does it best when she's exposing her wacky, playground cheekiness. The very schizophrenic /\/\ /\ Y /\ dropped last year, dovetailing with her very embarrassing NYT profile, and it was around this time that a popular consensus formed that we were Done with Maya Arulpragasam. That said, the internet rang the New Year in with a collective party whoop at the showing of her free Vicki Leekx mixtape (cut after the jump if you haven't heard it yet, tsk tsk), and the PR recovery machine has not stopped spitting out bangers since. "Zig Zag," a /\/\ /\ Y /\ castoff, is just the sort of hiccupy, sing-song, nonsense insult anthem that made Arular and Kala contemporary classics. The jumprope song of a chorus, "You kiss me and I kiss you back, you zig me and I'll zag you back, you tic me and I'll tac you back," is just the kind of high-powered rhythmic pop that we were expecting from /\/\ /\ Y /\ . Were Barthes on the scene today, he might cite "Zig Zag" as an alarming incentive to explore the counterfactual--which would constitue, in this case, the realm of possibilities that were closed when /\/\ /\ Y /\ 's tracks were chosen--all the other possible tracks comprise a shadow world, a counterfactual that is now coming to light, hit-by-hit. The album we wanted is arriving piecemeal every month--methinks 2011 is looking up, folks.
Hwhat a bitch--and that's the way we love her best.
Edit: According to an anonymous commenter, "Zig Zag is a record that was made back in '03 and was cast out because Maya didn't really favour it. It was never made for /\/\ /\ Y /\."
