:{IS LOVING…}:
GOTYE feat. KIMBRA: somebody that i used to know [eleven/island] //
listen: hypem.com //
album: making mirrors [released 13th february 2012] // gotye.com // kimbramusic.com //
26th January is Australia Day and the only way to celebrate is listening to :{ABC TRIPLE J}: Hottest 100:
“triple j’s hottest 100 is one of the largest public music polls in the world with millions of individual votes counted since it started in 1989.”
It’s just been revealed that this year’s number one is ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’. The song has a stripped down elegance which reveals itself gradually over the course of four minutes. If it sounds familiar, the main guitar figure puts me in mind of the opening to XTC’s ‘Senses Working Overtime’:
And, the strategic bleeps and bloops could be an understated ‘Bongo Bong’ by Manu Chao:
After initially hearing the GRIMES track, ‘Oblivion’, courtesy of NME’s 100 New Bands For 2012, ‘Genesis’ jumped out of the radio. On first listen, it feels like a fascinating, jostling alliance of Cocteau Twins vocals, Boards Of Canada synths and beats familiar from the leftfield pop of Robyn and Little Boots.
:{4AD}:
“Grimes is the inventive work of Claire Boucher, a project that has gained notoriety since its inception back in early-2010. Moving to Montreal from Vancouver in 2006, she developed Grimes among the city’s burgeoning DIY scene; a scene where both punk ethos and pop music collide, resulting in a distinct sense of community, religiosity and psychedelic revelry. Also a prolific force, her 4AD debut Visions will be her fourth release in less than two years and countless shows have been performed in this time, both helping to build much intrigue as to what’s next - “She’s blossoming and developing almost more quickly than we can keep track of… (She) could very well be poised for a meteoric rise with the release of her next full length.” (Pitchfork).
With her creative bent being both musical and visual, her second self embodies the arts of 2D, performance, dance, video and sound, weaving them all together to strong rhythmic effect. Subsequent records have sharpened her production skills and each one has tackled different influences and styles. This new set incorporates influences as wide as Enya, TLC and Aphex Twin, whilst drawing from genres like New Jack Swing, IDM, New Age, K-pop, Industrial and glitch resulting in a record that is both otherworldly and futuristic.
Claire describes her work as, “the only means through which I can be fully expressive. It is both an ethereal escape from, and a violent embrace of, my experience. The creative process is a quest for the ultimate sensual, mystical and cathartic experience and the vehicle for my psychic purging. Visions was conceived in a period of self-imposed cloistering during which time I did not see daylight.””
:{IS LOVING…}:
ORBITAL: never [acp recordings] //
FREE download: soundcloud.com //
album: wonky [released 2nd april 2012] // orbitalofficial.com //
I can imagine that the news of another band reforming is often met with the same weary resignation and indignation as a favourite film being pointlessly remade. There are exceptions, however, and I will always give Orbital a second chance. If nothing else, a reunion of the brothers Hartnoll afforded me the opportunity to witness their blistering performance on the banks of Hungary’s Lake Balaton in 2009.
With the exception of ‘In Sides’, Orbital have never been an album group but, selectively, they have produced more than several pieces of my favourite electronic music ever. It was with cautious excitement, then, I read John Mulvey claim on the Uncut Magazine website that ‘Wonky’, their first studio album for eight years, is “a more or less magnificent return to form”.
With breath firmly bated, Phil and Paul have generously offered a free taster in the shape of ‘Never’, which succeeds in being identifiably Orbital, without obviously re-treading old ground. That said, there is a luminous quality familiar from ‘The Girl With The Sun In Her Head’:
Plus, a gentle steal from the glacial ‘Monday Paracetamol’ by Ulrich Schnauss:
“Orbital will release their new album, ‘Wonky’ on the 1st April in the UK. The first studio album for eight years features vocals by Lady Lesurr and Zola Jesus. Wonky was recorded in a small studio in Orbital’s Brighton home base, then mixed in London with help from internationally acclaimed producer Mark ‘Flood’ Ellis, whose stellar list of previous collaborators includes PJ Harvey, U2, Nine Inch Nails and The Killers. Paul credits Flood with giving the album a more rounded, holistic sound.
‘I mostly remember Flood from all the electronic stuff like Cabaret Voltaire, Depeche Mode and Renegade Soundwave,’ Paul says. ‘One of his first and greatest loves is electronic music. He’s actually got a bigger synthesizer collection than us. He also has a good structural overview of music, because he’s not just a dance producer, he comes from a more holistic song viewpoint, which is how we like to approach it. I didn’t want to work with just a dance producer because I don¹t think this is a dance album, it¹s an electronic album.’”
:{IS LOVING…}:
REN HARVIEU: through the night [kid gloves/island] //
listen: hypem.com //
album: through the night [released 2nd april 2012] // www.renharvieu.com //
Insert Dusty Springfield comparison here:
“_______________________________”
:{BBC}: Sound Of 2012
“She’s just 21 years old but Lancashire born Ren Harvieu’s musical inspirations seem to come from three decades before her birth - the string-soaked white soul of Dusty Springfield or the cinematic melancholic MOR of The Walker Brothers, to name just two.
After a childhood peppered with talent show disasters, she was discovered through a demo on MySpace by manager Paul Harrison. Harvieu was paired with producer/writer Jimmy Hogarth (Duffy, Amy Winehouse, Suzanne Vega) and given a year or so to come up with some material. A tour in support of Glasvegas led to an invitation from BBC Introducing to play Glastonbury, and a trip to the US resulted in an invitation to collaborate with superstar hip hop type Nas. Neither of those things happened though - a freak accident in a London park led to two months in hospital and facing up to the possibility she might never walk again.
Luckily that wasn’t the case and Harvieu has most recently been treading the boards in support of James Morrison. Rumours abound of a possible collaboration with Johnny Marr, and following in the footsteps of Duffy, Rumer or even Adele, Harvieu looks likely to become one of the most talked about singing voices of the next few years.”
:{IS LOVING…}:
TENNIS: origins [fat possum/atp] //
listen: hypem.com //
watch live version: youtu.be //
album: young & old [released 13th february 2012] // tennis-music.com //
:{ATP RECORDINGS}:
“ATP Recordings are delighted to announce that we have signed Denver-based band Tennis for their highly anticipated second album, ‘Young & Old’ out February 13th 2012. Their widely praised debut Cape Dory, which The Wall Street Journal called “a winsome set of breezy pop songs,” was released earlier this year. For their forthcoming album guitarist Patrick Riley, vocalist Aliana Moore and drummer James Barone headed to Nashville to work with The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney. The first single from these sessions, “Origins,” is out now as a Digital Download on ATP Recordings, a double A-side release accompanied by another new track “Deep In The Woods”.
After the success of their first album and touring for the better part of a year that included shows as far away as Moscow, Riley and Moore returned home and realized what was initially a bedroom-recording project had quickly evolved into a band. The challenge of a second record was upon them, but songwriting came quickly and in three months the duo had most of the material for their new album. The goal this time was to mature and vary their sound. Riley describes the new direction as “Stevie Nicks going through a Motown phase.” By the time they hooked up with Carney, they had fleshed out most of the songs that would comprise Young and Old. With their friend and mentor at the producer helm, the recording progressed naturally and within 3 weeks the album was done. While their debut was written with a third touring member in mind, the new album is written and recorded with the addition of a fourth. Over the last few months, Tennis has also released a series of covers as free downloads including “Is It True” by Brenda Lee and their take of “Tell Her No” by The Zombies.
Tennis was born of Riley and Moore’s nearly 7-month sailing trip, which consisted of selling all their possessions, purchasing an old sailboat, repairing it, and cruising up and down the eastern seaboard. Upon returning home, the duo began writing music together as a way to document the history of their shared experience. The result was Cape Dory, an intimate and concise recollection of life on a 30-foot sloop.”
:{IS LOVING…}:
AIR feat. VICTORIA LEGRAND out of BEACH HOUSE: seven stars [aircheology/virgin] //
listen: hypem.com //
album: le voyage dans la lune [released 6th february 2012] // aircheology.com // www.beachhousebaltimore.com //
“’Seven Stars’ features the luminous vocals of Victoria Legrand, of Brooklyn band Beach House, set over rolling drums and combined with the unique starry (the astrological kind) sounds that have come to instantly distinguish AIR a step apart from their contemporaries.
The new album ‘Le Voyage Dans La Lune’, inspired by the film ‘A Trip To The Moon’ originally released in 1902 but has been painstakingly restored, is out on 6th February. Be quick if you want to guarantee a limited edition version which will include a copy of the film plus the band’s original soundtrack score. You can find out more about the fascinating story behind the film in this clip from the BBC.”
:{HOMEBREAKIN RECORDS}:
“U-Tern’s latest comes via our sister label, Bigfoot. The release features last year’s smash “Style, Class, Flair”, along with 3 remixes from some of electronic music’s most fashionable movers and shakers, including LA’s Cosmic Kids (Throne of Blood), toronto’s (via Montreal) Nautuliss (Turbo, Hemlock), and Finish club kings, Top Billin. With 4 such differing styles, there’s something here for everyone.”
Keeping it in the family, the two bands share a lineage, as their respective bassists are brothers Huw and Rhys Webb. Glossing over singer Thomas Cohen’s engagement to Peaches Geldof, more interesting is keyboardist, Sam Kilcoyne, the organiser of the Underage Club and Festival, and son of Barry 7 from Add N To (X). Which is all the excuse I need to remind you of the splendid filth that is ‘Metal Fingers in My Body’, coincidentally released by Mute, the label which is also home to S.C.U.M. :{ACHTUNG}: NSFW
:{MUTE}: An Independent Record Label Born In 1978
“S.C.U.M released their eagerly awaited debut album Again Into Eyes on Mute on 12 September 2011. A genuinely triumphant arrival, the album features ten stunning tracks including the singles ‘Amber Hands’ and ‘Whitechapel’, that reel from glorious carnival-esque euphoria to a sound that occasionally flirts at melancholy and utter despair. Again Into Eyes was recorded in London with producers Ken and Jolyon Thomas (whose credits individually and together include Sigur Ros, M83, David Bowie, Psychic TV), the album standouts include ‘Faith Unfolds’, ‘Summon The Sound’, which featured on Mute’s recent exclusive Record Store Day vinyl release Vorwarts and the utopian, future-disco monolith that is ‘Whitechapel’. Indeed, the band’s individual listening habits in psychedelia, space-rock, avant-garde and ambient soundtracks collide to form a pop trip that neatly balances the innovative with the rapturously danceable to great effect.
Based in London, S.C.U.M exploded onto the music scene two years ago with their exciting and intense live shows which quickly grabbed the imagination of fans and critics alike. Since then band have toured extensively across the UK and Europe to a growing fan base. The S.C.U.M line up of Thomas Cohen (vocal), Bradley Baker (machines), Samuel Kilcoyne (moog), Melissa Rigby (drums) and Huw Webb (Bass) have recently completed a UK tour with The Kills and announce a tour in July that includes Electrowerkz, London on the 13 July. The evening, ‘In The Hall Of Amber Hands’, features live music from S.C.U.M, The History Of Apple Pie and Advert, alongside film screenings from S.C.U.M collaborators Matthew Stone, Ivana Bobic and Gavin Bennett and DJs The She Set, Matthew Stone and Andy Fraser.”