'Silver Screen', the latest offering from Seattle-based duo Beat Connection, is a sumptuous little IDM gem with gargantuan ideas glaring beneath its well-rounded sheen. The tinkling cymbals, the melodious 'ooooooh's and the dynamic beats commingle to make the track take the shape of a sublime avant-garde-pop tune. Think Vampire Weekend's shrill Afro-influenced harmonies chewing on Passion Pit's electronic fingertips.
Twee is definitely the ultimate genre. In fact, last year my younger self wrote a min-mini-thesis on it and its in relation to the definitive twee-ers, Belle & Sebastian, which you can read here. Anyway, now is 2011 and reigniting the twee torch this week are Oslo's My Little Pony, who have written one of the greatest, happy pop tunes in years. With its saccharine vocals and trumpeted serenade, it exudes merriment; if this were packaged as a Christmas song, no one would notice. Think I'm From Barcelona, but numbered down, and even cuter. Here is its super-sweet video:
Now onto a totally different, but just as thrilling kind of Scandinavian rock n roll. Picture this: a macabre scene comprising a deep hole and a blood-coated knife. That would be the physical representation of the music MF/MB/ create, in comparison to My Little Pony's fluffy bunny-esque antics.
They are hardly a new band (they released their debut album last year), so I'm sorry for that. The reason I am writing about 'The Big Machine' is because when I heard it I thought it was dark, flaring and hardcore, and so 100% worth sharing with you anyway. See if this tickles your fancy:
Lanu's 'Beautiful Trash' is the kind of brilliant and soulful, yet trendy and off-kilter pop belter which the UK chart show was so sorely lacking throughout the entirety of 2010, excluding Eliza Doolittle's various singles, obviously. From the simple but effective prevalent riff to the rolling drum beat to the sweet vocals courtesy of guest, Megan Washington, the talk of the town in Australia currently, this tune could prove to be a crossover hit. For those of you who don't know, Lanu is the pseudonym for ex-Bamboos guitarist-turned-producer, Lance Ferguson. An album is due in March time.
Finally, I introduce you to Hannah Peel, whose unique brand of 'wonky folk pop' is currently making waves. Following work with the likes of Tunng and The Unthanks, young Ms Peel is the new tour de force of British folk. Listen to her beguiling soundscapes of chiming keys and clattering guitars overlayed with her intriguing vocals and you will hear everyone from Joni Mitchell to Joanna Newsom. This is 'The Almond Tree', track no. 1 lifted from her new album 'The Broken Wave'.
Lo-fi production and impeccable harmonies form an all-encompassing mesh from the mellifluous through to the raucous: Vivian Girls' new single is typically, well, Vivian Girls-esque. Download 'I heard You Say' in exchange for your e-mail address here.
Peter, Bjorn & John (the ones who made that unforgettable whistle-tune, 'Young Folks') have craftily reinvented themselves as a surf-pop band on new album, 'Gimme Some'. Coruscating guitar riffage. Check. Obligatory 'oooh-oooh's. Check. Lovely. This is 'Second Chance':
New lineup. Darker, mellower sounds. Some shiny production. Joe Mount's Metronomy have returned on fine form. This is the first single from their forthcoming second LP, 'The English Riviera'. Backing vox from new band member, Anna Prior, stand out in particular. Can't wait for the album; I believe it's released in April.
Brooklyn’s Oberhofer make music most apt for the slowly maturing, jilted generation of indie kids whose first favourite band was The Drums. Brash garage sounds akin to Girls, rather ostentatious (but irresistible) whistling and their compression under a sheen of summery haziness combine to make these guys sound like Jonathan Pierce & co., but beef-ified and lo-fi-ified.
The band is soon to support hotly-tipped The Vaccines at their Brooklyn gig. Surely being a band tipped by probably the most talked about UK upstarts around makes you, like, super-tipped? I’d hope so. They’ve certainly got the tunes anyway.
Originally published @ Sucking Lemons. Check out a couple of free Oberhofer downloads there too.
Being a Swedish woman, Niki & the Dove's Malin Dahlström is inevitably going to reap in the comparisons to fellow Scandinavians Karen Dreijer Andersson and Lykke Li. Her voice sounds like theirs' too, which doesn't exactly detract from the similarity.
However, you will also find that N&tD's music is thoroughly spooky and extremely catchy (oh wait, the other two do the same too, nevermind). But just try listening to this song without its subtly invasive tune implant itself in your brain. 'Mother Protect''s effects-infused backdrop of panpipes and complex bongo'ed rhythms is rather perplexing and rather cool, you'll have to admit.
Balún are from Puerto Rico and create spaced out dream-pop; a fusion of chilled Passion Pit-esque synths, nonsensical (to us) ramblings reminiscent of Sigur Ros and bells and clicks like those employed many a time by Icelanders Amiina. It's lovely, lovely downtempo music. New single, 'Camila', is a free download at their myspace. Enjoy.
Cork's Zombie Computer conjure up mysterious, dark landscapes painted over with a sinister sheen of distortion, combining the two to create brilliant, hook-laden anthems, with their accents brought to the fore. Having only formed in June last year, the band are set to release debut full-length, 'Indian Summer', on June 21st on Psychonavigation records. Check out a free download of 'Honest Lies', a tune from the forthcoming LP, courtesy of their bandcamp:
The last time I banged on about Trophy Wife was back in September with my premature bands for 2011 feature. Since then they have become rather more prominent, but not as much as I would have hoped. New single, 'The Quiet Earth', is yet another danceable slice of songsmithery from the Oxford clan, and is released on double A-side alongside 'White Horses' on February 28th, on Moshi Moshi. If my maths is right, that gives them a month to get lots of publicity before they can get their number one.
Anna Calvi’s music is at times ear-splitting, on occasions unworldly, but always fine, beguiling and grandiose. She’s bloody cool too. But no one ever seems to notice these simple, unmitigated traits. Indeed, whenever the Italo-Anglo singer’s name crops up, what immediately springs to mind is the fact that she’s female, she’s hotly tipped (BBC Sound of 2011 – megawow!) and she’s signed to Domino (who apparently never ever ever ever sign female singers). In relation to the substance on this, her debut album, these lumpen minutiae are absolutely extraneous.....
Jai Paul, from Harrow, creates wonky funk pop freakouts, all blissful, miasmic and soulful. His warbling voice and throbbing dubsteppy bass are so overwhelming, so brilliant, that there is no way the charts shan't be his this year. This track, 'BTSU', has been circulating the blogs for a while now and is a free download on various sites such as The Fader. Download it.
White Fence is one guy, Tim Presley, from California. His music is what I, being a youth of today, would label 'well cool'. In his rambunctious ramblings, he fuses snappy, catchy droplets of blues with showers of fuzzy reverb and sounds a bit like Wavves, or the Babies, or *insert another American lo-fi rock n roll band here*.
But the point is he writes great, memorable tunes. The tune I'm most into at the moment is 'Lillian (Won't You Play Drums?):
Montreal's Gold Zebra are purveyors of ice-cool electro, emanating sass and smoothness. 'Back in the Dust' is the most simple but effective tune I have heard this year so far (albeit one of the first). Think The XX but funked up a little, smothered in sweet French-accented vocals reminiscent of Charlotte Gainsbourg.
File under: 'dark-disco', 'retro-futurist', 'new new wave' Purchase point? On their bandcamp. Cassette limited to 50 + digital download.
Seeräuber Jenny, from Manchester, features one member of Mint Royale. So, it will probably come as no surprise to you that they write really, really catchy tunes:
This is Purity Ring, a Gobble Gobble (above) side-project:
Ducktails, aka Matt Mondanile, creates hypnotic fuzz-pop at its best. This new tune is summery and hazy and lazy and lo-fi and cool. It features Animal Collective's Panda Bear and is entitled 'Killin' the Vibes'
Mount Kimbie, forefathers of the fledgling 'post-dubstep' genre, released one of the best albums of 2010 in the form of their debut, Crooks & Lovers.
The duo recently uploaded a sublime new video for the best song from it, 'Before I Move Off', feat. loads and loads and loads and loads of photos assembled immaculately. It's definitely worth a watch. You can't help but do a little jiggle to its clicks and thumps.
LA's Io Echo are primal, raging and gothic. They create hazy, minimalised sounds reflecting the darker side of 80s post-punk. Sounding remarkably like Echo & the Bunnymen but more shadowy and charged, they roughen up proceedings with a Vivian Girls-esque lo-fi edge and droning vox. Best Coast, this is how you do retro rawk.
