Week #5: Beat Connection / My Little Pony / MF/MB/ / Lanu / Hannah Peel

'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'.