--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
Showing posts with label Vampire Weekend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vampire Weekend. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
HYPE
I still can't make my mind up about Annie. There's no denying that Anthonio was amazing, and the Fred Falke remix made a nigh on perfect pop song even better, but I think as a whole her collected body of work is rather hit and miss.
Of course anything I think or feel about an artist is instantly reset when I see the words "Produced by Paul Epworth", a man I have almost as much respect for as the lead singer of the band he helped create the perfect album with. You know exactly what I'm talking about.
Anyway Epworth has co-produced with a bunch of other people that I couldn't care less about Annie's new album, Can't Stop. He took the reigns for one such track, All Night.
All Night is roughly about as poppy as it can get before I switch off and disregard it, but Annie has always had this widespread indie appeal, something impossibly hard to attain for a pop artist but invaluable once it's there. As immediate as her work is, she'll never be a Gaga or a Minogue.
Also, I'll include her upcoming single Songs Remind Me Of You. Stop me if i'm wrong but the instrumentals sound almost identical to New Order's Blue Monday, minus the earth shaking bass. Bit dodgy that.
All Night - Annie
--
Now for something completely different, Cage The Elephant. An Indie-Rock band from Texas, their track; Ain't No Rest For The Wicked has this iconic blue-grassy quality that would sound perfect during the opening for the movie in your mind you've always planned on making. Truly an amazing song.
--
LCD Soundsystem created this track; Big Ideas, for the card-counting casino heist film, 21. It's classic James Murphy, who clearly has the recipe for brewing and bottling triple distilled cool. This song is all rise.
--
Here's a track from Hey Today! called If I Was Wonderman. Recently Featured on the Bang Gang 12 Inches compilation. Reminds me of Daft Punk before they switched from space-disco-loving-party-throwing-future-robots to inevitable-machine-uprising-human-race-ending-psycho-robots. Robots that refuse to release any new material! Getting real sick of waiting.
Hopefully this will ease the pain.
--
Diminishing Returns is a new song by Ali Love, channeling 80's power ballad heartbreak induced love songs. Has a really smooth, laid back feel to it. Very cool.
--
Ra Ra Riot's album; The Rhumb Line, is hardly new. If you don't have it go out and get it. This track, Ghost Under Rocks, is probably the best I have heard from them so far. At times you can see how comparisons can be drawn to Vampire Weekend, but this song sounds so much more textured than the stripped down sound the other is known for. The strings that kick in near the end are a really great touch.
Ghost Under Rocks - Ra Ra Riot
--
Buy the music that these people slave over. They don't do it for the love of it, they do it to get money, power and chicks, so help them out.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
HORCHATA
Tell you what, I'm really liking this new Vampire Weekend. Horchata is the first single from their upcoming sophomore album, Contra, and it takes a very chill, laid-back approach. It has a very tropical holiday feel to it, and while at first it may seem like a strange departure from their usual sound, by the end of the song you can't help but want to play it again. Rubbish album cover though, this chick looks well scary.
Horchata - Vampire Weekend
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
TOP 100 SONGS OF THE 2000's (89-80)
The 2000's are really one of the best eras to be in musically. Of course both the very wise and the very ignorant will argue against this statement, but no other point in time before this has it been both so easy to create music and share it with the world, and so possible to have it sound like whatever the hell takes your fancy.
I've always described the 2000's as an amalgamation of all of the best parts that have come before it. Whether it's fashion, design or music, all of it cuts and pastes from trends of the 60's, 70's, 80's and (thankfully least of all) the 90's. However due to the wonderful power of hindsight, we can trim off all those ugly fads that took the world by storm when we knew no better, and what we're left with is the best of the best.
And what better way to celebrate the versatility of this great time we live in (creatively at least), than to count down the top 100 songs of the 2000's.
100 - 90
--
NUMBER 89
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Gnarls Barkley, the combination of Cee-Loo Green and Danger Mouse, has been one of the most successful projects of the 2000's so far. Crazy, their breakthrough single, served to characterise their unique sound, a modern spin on Soul and Funk, infused with a strong instrumental focus. Crazy took the world by storm, catapulting Gnarls Barkley into stardom. The music video is well worth a look as well for anyone with even a passing interest in graphic design or motion graphics.
NUMBER 88
How Near How Far - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead seem to receive consistent 10/10s from Pitchfork Media when it comes to album reviews. I never really understood what the draw was for a lot of their work, most of it came across to me as noisy, unrefined and entirely too long. That all changed when I heard How Near How Far, I really couldn't get enough of it and many years on it's still of those tracks I never skip when party shuffle throws it my way.
NUMBER 87
A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
Angular, brash, and strangely tribal, A-Punk is definitely the strongest song in Vampire Weekend's repertoire, and their most popular song to date. The upbeat tempo and fast-paced delivery of the lyrics achieves that rare quality of being a rock song that possesses real danceability. At only just over 2 minutes long, A-Punk is a kinetic and shortlived, but ultimately memorable affair.
NUMBER 86
Embrace - PNAU
I think part of the reason Embrace worked so well is that PNAU had the genius idea of crafting a truly awful album around it. After hearing most of the unintelligent, poorly arranged and ultimately jarring LP before reaching the epic dancefloor-filler, we can really come to appreciate how amazing this track really is. Although it has suffered from overplay to the nth degree, Embrace captured everyone's hearts and helped vocalist Pip Brown boost the hype for her upcoming solo project, Ladyhawke.
NUMBER 85
Space And The Woods - Late Of The Pier
The Gary Numan-esque debut single from Late Of The Pier was definitely one of the most interesting releases of 2007. Sounding like a crazy eclectic variation of Numan's Cars, and crafting its character around the highly popular Nu-Rave genre and scene made popular by Klaxons; Space And The Woods ended up being Late Of The Pier at their most restrained. Fantasy Black Channel took the Trippy-Electro-Rave sound established by the song to a whole new level.
NUMBER 84
Half Full Glass Of Wine - Tame Impala
Tame Impala are one of the latest in a series of exceptional talent coming out of Australia at the moment, along with Cut Copy, Van She, The Presets and many others, all of whom appear to by flying the Modular flag. Something about that label knows quality when it hears it, and these guys are no different. Sounding like a psychedelic flashback to the 60's and 70's, Tame Impala really do stand out against most music you will hear these days. Half Full Glass Of Wine is a furious plan hatched against an unfaithful lover, laced with both loathing and longing, concocted from too many nights spent waiting alone.
NUMBER 83
I'm Not Alone - Calvin Harris
Possibly the most inspired Calvin Harris effort to date, I'm Not Alone starts slow and sombre, then explodes into a 90's trance throwback synth line that will have you hooked from the first listen. Sing-along lyrics and catchy instrumental work, rapidly becoming somewhat of a Harris trademark, are definitely here. This is the sort of pop music everyone should be listening to.
NUMBER 82
Believe - The Chemical Brothers
The Chemical Brothers have become a name synonymous with exceptionally crafted electronic music. With an incredibly long resume of superstar collaborations, chart topping hits and nigh universal acclaim, their reputation very much precedes them. Believe is a dark and brooding club track featuring guest vocals from none other than Bloc Party's Kele Okereke. The lyrics repeat over and over until they are drilled into your head in the very best way possible, and it's left up to the viewer whether they want to find the music video hilarious or frightening. All of it makes for a very memorable and intriguing concoction.
NUMBER 81
C'mon C'mon - The Von Bondies
The incredibly addictive and ingeniously short indie hit from The Von Bondies wrenches from you your complete attention for a mere two minutes and thirteen seconds, then leaves as abruptly as it burst forth. And then you hit repeat for the 30th time and the whole process starts all over again. That's the amazing thing about C'mon C'mon, it's like an old childhood friend you haven't seen in days, months or even years, as soon as you meet it again you just pick up right where you left off.
NUMBER 80
Club Foot - Kasabian
In every time capsule buried in 2004 for future generations to uncover, you will find an MP3 of Club Foot. So strong was the opening riff, so riveting the backing vocal chant and so adaptable to any EA Sports video game tracklist was the song that you'd have a better chance winning the lottery than meeting a person who hadn't yet heard it. One of the strongest examples of Indie-Dance/Stadium Rock fusion this decade.
More Tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
HYPE
Here's a few tracks, new and not so new, to check out.
Gloves, the electronic solo project from (the now defunct) Damn Arms' Yama Indra, is finally delivering some original material for us all. Gloves has been very busy touring and remixing for a whole bunch of artists, including huge names such as Van She. Seems like Modular's recent acquisition of Bang Gang 12 Inches has really got the ball rolling for the artists involved, with both Ted & Francis and now Gloves releasing singles within a month of each other. Either way I'd be lying if i said I haven't been watching everything Indra has been doing since i first heard the Damn Arms' epic swan song, Destination, last year.
This track, Too Much To Dream, is the b-side from his new single PYX. If you liked Destination this song is very much in a similar vein, chill electronic with catchy vocals.
Too Much To Dream - Gloves
Here's a track from Lupe Fiasco's upcoming album, said to be due December this year. The album, titled Lasers, is reportedly part one of a 3 album project, and by the sounds of it, is going to carry on exactly where The Cool left off, lyricism focused Hip-Hop with a strong focus on great collaborations. As such, this song, Shining Down, features Matthew Santos, who is best known for his guest vocals in Fiasco's hit single from The Cool; Superstar. Fiasco seems to have gone the auto-tune route here, with parts of the song sounding uncannily like Kanye West's latest LP, 808s & Heartbreak.
Shining Down - Lupe Fiasco
Discovery is a collaboration between Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles and Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend. Unlike both of their regular stuff, Discovery takes a very electronic, vocoded approach. I must admit I picked this album up without actually knowing any of this, having only heard their cover of the Jackson 5's I Want You Back. It was one of those times when the album cover and artwork really sold it to me, with the inside booklet featuring a really cool graphic direction, colourful pixel art and interesting typographic work.
This track is called Osaka Loop Line, from their debut album, LP, juxtaposes distorted beats with very delicate vocals. It's definitely an interesting sound.
Osaka Loop Line - Discovery
And finally, a song from Cut Copy's first EP, which, if memory serves, was back when it was just Dan Whitford. The EP, titled I Thought Of Numbers, is a pretty interesting indication of how far Cut Copy have come from those early days. The song is Rendezvous, definitely a stand out on the release.
Rendezvous - Cut Copy
More to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
