From the category archives:
Back in 2007 (woa, yes, when Bush was still President and you may have had more money) A-Trak dropped a game-changing mixtape he called Dirty South Dance. Now, in dubiously better but definitely more modern times, comes volume 2. Cop the new collection below, and if you look carefully you can see Shepard Fairey’s depiction of an animated chicken setting a house on fire. Get it, chicken, you pull a Left Eye on that house.
Tracklisting after the jump.
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Booka Shade has had somewhat of a charmed career. The success of “Body Language,” their breakthrough 2005 single with M.A.N.D.Y., gave them entre into disco techno university; they’ve never had trouble getting a gig since. Still, there’s room to grow into Hot Chip status, and on More! we get the impression they just might go for it… someday. Instead of pop songs fitted into a dance context, we hear a duo stretching their skills and experience around a song, with sleight of hand (and push of buttons). Booka Shade instills confidence in the album format for dance artists, delivering a composed sonic story from start to finish, keeping each song at five and a half minutes or less, and offering a variety of sound and sensibility to make a compelling case for their continued relevance.
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Most electropop lovers know Timo Kaukolampi from his work with Annie. He collaborated on her debut and toured with her as well. Now, the Finish DJ/musician/producer is synth-deep in K-X-P, a “drum, bass, and synth trio” that makes the kind of noisey experimental music Scandinavians should make more often. This project has actually been in the works since 2006, they even had a deal with Smalltown Supersound in place (in fact, Timo brought Annie to STSS for her recent Don’t Stop). There’s something Bauhaus-y about this Scanda noise rock, including on the lead single “18 Hours (Of Love).” The album drops this July.
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It has been a full three years since Chromeo unleashed their debut and the flurry of vocoder/keytar sing-a-longs that followed. Though, it’s not like we haven’t heard from them since. They’ve toured relentlessly, and within the last six months, released a DJ Kicks compilation as well as the single “Night by Night.” This summer, Fancy Footwork’s proper successor, Business Casual, drops on Atlantic (yes, a major), amid a season of touring for the Canadian duo. Fans of their first album and its remix companion will be pleased to know Casual doesn’t alter the formula. Chromeo are here to party. “Night by Night” appears, as well as our favorite indie-loving pop star, Solange, who guests on one track (“When The Night Falls”), and it wouldn’t be surprising to find a Hall and/or Oates collabo up in their either. Chromeo joins Hall at Bonnaroo in June for a joint performance. The subject-to-change tracklist for the album is below. Also below, a little video from The Fader of the band in the studio. […keep reading…]
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One of my favorite mixes from last year was Trentemøller‘s Harbour Boat Trips 01: Copenhagen. It threw down chill wave, downtempo electro, and of course some techno. The collection not only showed the musician’s taste, but the evolution of his sound. That evolution is coming to fruition on the second Trentemøller artist album, Into The Great Wide Yonder, due this June on his own In My Room label. Video artist and fellow Dane, Jesper Just directed the video for Yonder’s debut single, “Sycamore Feeling.” As you can imagine, there are some trees. But there’s also a woman in a fur coat, played both by an actress (Diana Wagner) and a drag queen (Princess Diandra). Shot entirely in rural Pennsylvania (we’re talking small town coal country here), the clip has a dramatic and dark palette, matching the lush vibrations of the tune itself. It’s pretty captivating. Aside from two dates in Copenhagen this fall, Trente has no booked live shows at this point. Video below. […keep reading…]
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By the time OMNI, the fourth album from Minus the Bear, is released on May 4, you will have been able to hear it all. “Into the Mirror” was the album’s first single, now followed by “My Time,” both available on iTunes, etc. But the album will stream in its entirety starting Monday as part of KCRW’s album preview feature. The band kicks off a continental tour on Monday, leading them to their kindred festival, Sasquatch, at the end of May. (Wait, are bears and sasquatchs friends? They def should be). If you haven’t been won over before, this album is so full of melodic hooks and original arrangements and instrumentation, if you don’t love it, that’s probably because you don’t actually like rock music at all. “My Time” can be copped here. Preview the album starting Monday here. Tour dates below. […keep reading…]
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