Hercules and Love Affair / Feed the Animals

Double review this week! Yay!

The first album for the week is almost a year old, but having recently been named best album of the year by Pitchfork (who get it right more often than most music magazines/sites, i think at least) I thought it might be cool to go back and revisit the magic that is Hercules and Love Affair.

The lead single Blind made it into my top songs list for its perfect mix of reappropriated disco and contemporary dance rock, coupled with flawless vocals by Antony Hegarty (who, for those who are so inclined, has a new album out with his band Antony and the Johnsons). The song's strength relies not only on the catchy vocal hooks of Hegarty, but also on the carefully measured and slightly unhinged arrangement of samples and live instruments.

The majority of other songs on the album follow this formula, though switching out vocalists and instruments ensures the songs are never dull or repetitive. Hercules Theme, for instance, borrows disco's horns and strings and layers them over some vaguely minimalist electronic tracks.

While not a concept album as such, there seems to be an irredeemably melancholic undercurrent running through the record, which, while never made explicit, taints the otherwise upbeat, happy songs with a deeper emotion which allows them to resonate long after the discothèque is closed.

Highlights: Blind, obviously, which is my favourite track on the album. The album's bookends, True False/ Fake Real and Time Will are again perfectly constructed writhing rhythmic dance songs made stronger by Hegarty's finely-tuned vocals.

Album 2 this week, Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk's third album Feed the Animals gets a feature due to the amazing awesomeness of his show last week!

This (really, really impressive) video sorta tells you everything you need to know about Girl Talk. Combining rap, hip-hop, pop, rock, soul, etc, etc, etc, he creates perfectly balanced dance songs constructed from nothing more than short samples of as many as 30 different songs per track. 

Listening to the album (which is available free online, he did a Radiohead release) gets more and more satisfying every time you hear it, as you pick up more and more of the samples, though for those too impatient to deconstruct the songs themselves, Wikipedia has a comprehensive list of the samples used. For instance:

0:00 Rihanna featuring Jay-Z - "Umbrella"
0:01 Ying Yang Twins - "Jigglin'"
0:05 Swizz Beatz - "Take a Picture"
0:05 Vanilla Ice - "Havin' a Roni"
0:06 Eric B. & Rakim - "Eric B. Is President"
0:20 Jay-Z - "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..."
0:20 Kelly Rowland featuring Eve - "Like This"
0:21 Radiohead - "Paranoid Android"
1:00 GZA - "Liquid Swords"
1:25 Mary J. Blige featuring The Notorious B.I.G. - "Real Love"
1:26 The Guess Who - "These Eyes"
2:04 Aerosmith - "Sweet Emotion"
2:09 Ice Cube featuring Das EFX - "Check Yo Self"
2:09 Young Gunz featuring Swizz Beatz - "Set It Off"
2:11 Tom Tom Club - "Genius of Love"
2:35 DJ Kool - "Let Me Clear My Throat"
2:36 Mistah F.A.B. featuring Turf Talk and E-40 - "Super Sic wit' It"
2:36 George Clinton - "R&B Skeletons in the Closet"
2:38 The Spinners - "The Rubberband Man"
2:38 Fine Young Cannibals - "She Drives Me Crazy"
2:47 Bubba Sparxxx featuring Ying Yang Twins and Mr. Collipark - "Ms. New Booty"
2:55 Dexys Midnight Runners - "Come On Eileen"
2:57 Bubba Sparxxx - "Heat It Up"
3:33 Eddie Floyd - "Knock on Wood"
3:40 The Crooklyn Clan - "Bounce to the Beat"

(my favourite song :D)

His live show is just as rewarding as his albums. Taking not only the songs from his album but samples from new and more relevant music he creates a seamless 90-minute set on the fly, bent over his laptop, mouth agape, dancing along with the masses he allows on stage with him. 

And all his amazing music and partying antics are made all the more spectacular by the fact that he has a degree in Biomedical Engineering. Wow.

omgawsh!

2 posts in one day, unprecedented I know! But I found this amazing amazing amazing team-up vid on youtube and had to share it!

So if you've been keeping up you'll know who Bon Iver are (they've expanded into a 4-piece since the debut), and Lykke Li is bound to get a bigger mention when I get around to her, but here are the two of them together performing an acoustic version of one of Li's songs, Dance Dance Dance.

Enjoy! Omgawsh!

Alas, I Cannot Swim

So acoustic music is hard to get right. Its hard to be awful, but very easy to be very average. And it seems like every year critics simultaneously jump on one new guitar player with shaggy hair and a nice accent and label him "the next big thing". Meanwhile, artists like Laura Marling often slip under the radar. So, to recognise one of the great young talents in acoustic singing/songwriting, here's a brief look at the 18 year old's debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim.

The opening track and first single of the album, Ghosts, is like most of Marling's tracks, simply arranged and understated. Lyric-driven, like much of her music, the song's rawness opens her up to far greater scrutiny than other pubescent musicians who choose to play in less introverted genres. But, like Conor Oberst and Patrick Wolf before her, the risk pays off and Marling shows herself to be every bit the prodigal genius that her predecessors were.

While it may sound reductive, on the other hand, she is at her best when she focusses on ideas like teenage romance and uncertain love, rather than diving beyond her depth with more universal themes. The swelling melancholy of Tap At My Window, for instance, shows how truly powerful her cynical lyrics and unfaltering command of the instrumentation can be. Indeed, it is in the album's first half that Marling is at her strongest - serious, cynical, but fun, youthful. In the album's second half the songs delve into the vague symbolism and excessive wordiness, and while her phrasing is certainly inventive, some of the strength of the songs is lost where the music seems to grind to a halt to allow her to finish a sentence.

On one hand, Marling's prowess is clearly a product of her youth (no army of middle-aged songwriters could channel the sense of first love the way she effortlessly does), yet perhaps the gaining of age and experience will enable her to work the kinks out of her writing style. Either way, Alas, I Cannot Swim is by far the best album of its kind to be released in recent years.

Take that, Damien Rice.

Interesting news! Bon Iver has just released a new EP, will let you know what it's like!

The Final Cut

Ok, so now that I've got 2 lists under my belt, I figure I can start talking about individual songs again, and iTunes has helpfully reminded me of one of my favourite tracks by my favourite bands...Coheed & Cambria - The Final Cut (well, technically, The Willing Well IV - The Final Cut)...check it out: http://www.deezer.com/track/2242449

This song was the finale at their first nz show last year, and as epic as the album edit is, the improv solos by Claudio Sanchez et al. were amazing, as were their performances (playing the guitar behind his back, over his head, etc). This video is pretty similar, though I swear the solos I saw were even sweeter.

More soon!

The Flipside: 2008's Worst Songs

What's a best-of list without an accompanying worst-of list? After all, how can you truly appreciate the genius of the great songs without comparing them to....well, these songs:

(also, sorry if i hate your favourite song. it's not personal, you just have awful taste :P (im kidding (sorta)))

9. I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry

Everyone's favourite bi-curious pop star scored a ridiculous number 1 this year with this awful, awful, song. Uninspired and unoriginal instrumentation, an average-at-best voice and mindless lyrics...another reason to never ever listen to ZM. Friggin' ZM.

8. Shake It - Metro Station

Couldn't embed the video...it was disabled at the band/labels request? Although given their target audience (the bebo boppers), all I'm getting is that they have ridiculous delusions of grandeur. In the same year that bands like Fall Out Boy, Lady Gaga, even Britney Spears try to take pop in new directions, Metro Station comes along and reminds us that to be successful, you don't need talent, or a good lyricist, or appeal to anyone over the age of 13. Just a good producer and an angular fringe. AwesomeRC, from the Youtube page, sums it up perfectly:
       AwesomeRC (3 days ago)   
       OMG R U LYKE.. SERIOUZ?!!?! YOU DONT KNOW WHO THE LYKE LEAD SINGER IS?          LYKE OMGOMGOMG. TRACE, MILEYZ OLDER BROTHER,                                                    DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. 
       seriously, shut up. not everybody gives a shit.

7. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon

Again embedding was disabled, but really you're not missing much. So okay, Kings of Leon used to be decent; I first saw them play in 2006 and they were still cool indie kids making awesome rock and roll. The new album is by far their weakest material to date, consisting of typical trashy stadium rock. Maybe their success is starting to go to their heads? I'll concede that Use Somebody is pretty decent, but Sex on Fire? Really? That's what you're gonna lead with? I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and hypothesise that their talent was contained within their recently-removed beards, and hope that when their facial hair returns, I'll be able to like KOL once more...

6. When I Grow Up - The Pussycat Dolls

On each of the few occassions this year I went clubbing, this song would always play at least once, and everyone (everyone) would sing along to the chorus, and I'd just be kinda standing there, mouth agape, wondering why people knew the words to this song...for the (fortunate) uninitiated, the song is about what the Pussycat Dolls imagine they'll have when they grow up: fame, travel, nice cars, boobies. No kidding. And ok, so the bridge is all "be careful what you wish for cuz you jus might get it"....but c'mon, they clearly don't mean that. But hey, if they float you're boat, you can go see their boobies for yourself when they come to Auckland! (With Lady Gaga, who is cool :D)

5. Rehab - Rihanna

Rihanna's kinda cool. Umbrella, Unfaithful, Disturbia....she has enough good singles to maintain her credibility....but Rehab? It worked for Amy Winehouse, right? Unfortunately, this is yet another tired song about bad boyfriends, with Timbaland-esque production (is anyone else really over the same formula being used in every single R&B/hip-hop song released?) and lacks her usual vocal strength and energy. For someone capable of so much, one of the year's biggest disappointments.

4. Ur So Gay - Katy Perry

I tried not to put Katy Perry on this list twice....but oh my god. Musically it's as bad as I Kissed a Girl (if not far, far worse), but what really irks me is the ridiculous hypocrisy between the two songs...on one hand, guys have to act really straight all the time (lest they be flamed by whiny Katy, whose voice is weaker here than on any of her other singles) but then it's ok for her to experiment with kissing girls? I mean, if the song was good, maybe I could forgive her bizarre contradictions, but she even manages to screw up the singer-songwriter acoustic pop formula, which as countless average bands have shown us over the years, is very difficult to do.

3. The Day That Never Comes - Metallica

To be fair, I've never been a Metallica fan, but I could at least appreciate the ways in which their earlier music influenced bands that I do like. But in the decades they've been around, metal has evolved into a varied and interesting genre. Metallica seem to have lost their way somewhere between Enter Sandman  and their latest album, Death Magnetic. Uninspired guitar riffs, almost painful vocals and vague, meaningless lyrics (even the big-budget video refuses to make any definite political statement despite summoning images of the war in the Middle East). If you want to hear some good metal, listen to Fortress by Protest the Hero, my favourite metal album of the year.

2. Soulja Boy Tellem

After the good times I've had laughing about this song, I almost didn't put it on the list. I think everyone has some awesome memory of either trying (and failing) to do this dance, or watching someone else hilariously attempt it, but really, the closest thing to the 21st century Macarena cannot go unpunished. The production is awful (steel drums? really? ok...) and he can't rap (if you thought Lil Wayne was bad...) but since most people thought it was a joke anyway, I guess it doesn't really matter?

1. (and I apologise for bringing this to your attention...truly I do...) Stupid S**t - Girlicious

What can I possibly say? Just watch the video...

9 Songs for 2009

Ok so I'm back, and kicking the year off with a best-of-08 of sorts...9 amazing singles sure to satisfy...so, in no particular order, here's the list!

9. Oh My God - Ida Maria

If Lovefoxxx was Norwegian and grew up on a diet of PJ Harvey and garage rock, she would be Ida Maria. Never has an existential crisis been so much fun. Interesting sidenote: she has synesthesia, and says her music is as black as hell.

8. Your English Is Good - Tokyo Police Club

Elephant Shell, released in April, was one of the most highly anticipated indie releases of the year (an anticipation frustratingly teased out with the release of a 3-song, 8-minute EP released less than 6 months prior) and its lead single, Your English is Good, vindicates the overly long wait. The infectiously energetic chorus (which sounds like a sample from The Strokes) is a mini masterpiece and to top it all of, they're Canadian! Another reason to love Canada.

7. Parachute - Shugo Tokumaru 

I heart Shugo Tokumaru. Channelling The Velevet Underground via Jap-Folk, Tokumaru brings an international range of influences together into seamless, even-keel pop songs. Recorded in his bedroom on his Mac, Exit is what bedroom musos all over the world strive for - intimate, imaginative, endearing and understated. And that animation...*melts*

6. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes

Ever taken a sleighride through upstate New York in the dead of winter? Me neither, but I think White Winter Hymnal comes pretty close. The bells, the thundering percussion and the lush vocal harmonies perfectly complement the references to 60's folk groups and Romantic poets, and the result is a perfectly crystalline two minutes of winter reflection. What's more, it's not too late to get tickets to their Auckland show on the 7th!

5. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend

Coolest. Video. Ever. Well, not ever....but on this list at least...
So everyone says MGMT is the band of 2008, but their homage to the 80's just doesn't stack up against Vampire Weekend's first full-length LP (from which this song, obviously, is taken). The sharp, angular approach of New York indie rock takes a vacation in West Africa, Cape Cod via Cape Town. The result? The coolest band of 2008. And one of the best singles.

4. Re: Stacks - Bon Iver

(sorry about the lack of an official video)
The creation of this album has become something of a modern myth: a man breaks up with his band and his girlfriend, retreats to his father's cabin in the woods of Wisconsin for 3 months with an acoustic guitar and some basic recording equipment and emerges with the most beautiful album anyone's heard in years. And while the song's been slaughtered (to some extent) by countless montage scenes in countless tv shows, it's still the warmest, most intimate and heartbreaking song I've heard all year. 

3. L.E.S. Artistes - Santogold

Another amazing video! Another amazing song! Again out of New York, Santogold takes the taut guitar standard of NY indie rock and revisits the New Wave vibe of the 80s, incorporating 60's rock and roll, reggae and power pop. The song itself is a rejection of the pretentiousness of the NY scene (L.E.S. stands for Lower East Side, by the way; as she says, "it's not a French thing"). Also worth mentioning is Diplo's re-mixtape of the album, which is equally perfect, only in another way.

2. Blind - Hercules and Love Affair

Probably my favourite dance track of 2008 (#$&% the Potbelleez), a perfect blend of disco throwback and contemporary floorfilling dance-punk. With Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons, who also did a couple of duets with Bjork on Volta)'s Alison Moyet impression added to the mix....dancefloor gold. 

1. Ready for the Floor - Hot Chip

You've heard Hot Chip coming for years now...but in 2008, they finally arrived. Ready for the Floor, the second single from 2008's Made in the Dark, is essentially 3 or 4 killer hooks flowing into each other, any one of which would make a great track on its own. All brushed electro and countermelodies, the song is as at home amongst the great house songs of the 90s as it is with the sophisticated pop of the mid-2000s. And as if that's not enough, they're referencing Tim Burton's Batman. What more could anyone possibly need?

Honourable Mentions:
Kim And Jessie - M83
Out There on the Ice - Cut Copy
MGMT - Time to Pretend