Memory Tapes / Toro Y Moi / Washed Out

Seek Magic by Memory Tapes


Well magic was sought and magic was found. I, like all people interested in music, trawl through every method possible to find that song that makes you think, 'yes'. Unfortunately you then over play that song and the excitement wears so you have to go hunting for a new one to get your hit: its our crack. However, the play count of 'Green Knight' on my iTunes has increased more rapidly then any song before and shows no sign of slowing.

The song has a very psychedelic feel, the funky 70's guitar riff with psychedelic rock vocals with psychedelic 'aaaaahhhhss'. I didn't even know I was into that shit. 'Pink Stones' is a faster tempo instrumental number that gets your feet tapping when the beat kicks in after a long ambient intro. It resides back into ambience but some Japanese guitar comes in and you realise the whole feel of the song is oriental.

'Stop Talking' has an up tempo 80's beat with some funky guitar which suddenly breaks into a dramatic chorus. And its this that I think is the trend with alot of the songs; sudden breaks from downbeat interludes into psychedelic dream pop chorus's. This gives the songs a great sense of theatre. I don't know if its because theatre is something that is a dying in popularity that it has been idealized by some bands today like Empire of the Sun or because its just part of synthpop. Probably the latter. Maybe its because the world needs to take a journey away from economic crisis and iPads. Memory Tapes does just that.

9/10

Memory Tapes - Green
Knight

Causers Of This by Toro Y Moi


More hectic than the chillwave of aforementioned Memory Tapes but chilled nonetheless. Its glitchy and messy but still manages to soothe. Its busy too with a multitude of little synth shots especially in 'Lissoms'. I think it is the airy vocals that maintain the chill and are heavily side chain compressed in most cases. This is Chazwick Bundick's first full length album and I think its a magnificent debut.

Its quite varied aswell. I really like a song called 'You Hid' which is nice and chilled with a lazy electric piano and slooowww hip hop beat. But the title track is much more upbeat and dancey.

Chazwick also has a side dance music project where he goes my the moniker 'Les Sins' and I definately recommend you check some of that shit out, its good.

8/10


Toro Y Moi - Lissoms

Life of Leisure by Washed Out


Another psychedelic, dreamy, 'chillwave' heavyweight is the marvelous Washed Out. I'm being taken to a place that everyones going, I'm sure I like it but I'm not sure if I'm invited. That's the vibe I get anyway, ya get me? The American Ernest Green has produced some emotive and powerful works with 'Life of Leisure'. If you have problems dreaming, stick on 'Feel it all Around' whilst trying to sleep. The concise album is mostly chilled, different from the glitchy feel of Toro Y Moi.

8/10

Washed Out - Feel it all Around

13 Great Disco Hots

Faze Action
I Wanna Dancer (Disco Rock

Dub Mix)









Metro Area
Miura








Tensnake
Around the House









Lindstrøm & Solale
Baby I can't Stop

(Aeroplane Remix)










Alan Braxe & Fred Falke
Chrystal City













Sneaky Sound System
When We Were Young (Shazam Remix)













1gnition
Secret Sunday Lover

(Greg Wilson Edit)











Geyster


Under the Fuse of Love (Lifelike Remix)

Teddybears
Black Belt









Russ Chimes
Mulsanne









Atmosphere

Swede's Scandal







S.O.S. Band
Just Be Good To Me










Moodymann
I Can't Kick This Feeling

When it Hits

Beast Rest In Heaven

Never Eat Shredded Wheat, well thats how I remember it anyway. Bear in Heaven's second album is a play on North South East West, entitled Beast Rest Forth Mouth. I have only stumbled across them recently but only due to a recent release which is the same album, remixed. I particularly like the Studio Remix of 'You Do You' which is a much funkier version of the original.

Bear In Heaven - You Do You (Studio Remix)

I checked out the original which I don't actually prefer, but still really rate. It is more dream pop and much more dramatic, a totally different ball game. However I then tried listening to the rest of the original album and found it too much, over dramatised in parts but maybe I'm just being boring. Although I do like the shoegaze feel of 'Wholehearted Mess' and 'Dust Cloud' is a nice Chilled one.

Bear in Heaven - Wholehearted Mess

I would recommend instead the new Remixed album. Obviously it is varied as each song is remixed by a different person but there are some great songs. The Fields remix of 'Ultimate Satisfaction' is a dark, demonaic reconstruction which I actually quite like (Even if it is ultimate satisfaction from, oh i dunno, brutally eating someone alive). Its very progressive and is very effective when the drums come in. It's almost, by the end, refreshing as it is a well earned break from all that hipster Yeasayer shit. Well worth a listen.

Bear in Heaven - Ultimate Satisfaction (The Field Remix)

Bibio / Baths

Last summer Bibio made his debut on Warp records with Ambivalence Avenue. Glitch Hop with folk thrown in, or is it the other way round? Kind of like he's take abit from Warp residents Flying Lotus and Grizzly Bear and put it in the mixer. Although not entirely because the album is very varied. 'Fire Ant' is very glitchy and choppy with a hip hop beat where as Lover's Carvings is straight up folky. And then 'Jealous of Roses' sounds abit like a 70's funk disco. A very original, almost organic album that entertains too.


Bibio - Fire Ants



This July saw the release of Cerulean by Baths. Parallels can be made with this and Bibio with the glitch hop feel and Flying Lotus connotations. However Baths ditch the folk and replace it with the much raved about Chillwave, but more from the Toro Y Moi spectrum. 'It's not Chillwave though, Chillwaves been rinsed, its gay blah blah' I hear you say. Ok it's not Chillwave. It is however dripping with beauty, the shimmering melodies of 'Animals' dance around your ears whilst you can hear the kids play in a distant Eutopia. But the glitchy snares mean that you can never be fully immersed in the dream. It hovers on the horizon but you can never quite get there, always one step behind. This album makes me feel a kind of scared that I can't get enough of, hope it does the same for you.

Baths - Animals

Baths - Hall

BESTIE FESTIE

Bestival 2010 was, like last year, an absolute stonker. Lot's of strange (not necessarily good) fancy dress and enough gurned messes to chew up every bit of grass on the site. It seemed more hectic this year, I think due to increasing popularity and the rain on saturday fucked everyones shit up abit. As always there was a good stomp to be had in Bollywood tent and as always it was a sauna. Here I sweated to the likes of electro master Jack Beats and drum and bass legend High Contrast. Arcadia was banging, Joker and Audio Bullys were memorable, just. Prodigy on the main stage (Which was in a far better location) was class, Keith Flint being his usual terrifying self and a visual display to match. I was very happy to hear them play tunes from 'Fat of the Land' and 'The Jilted Generation' such as 'Their Law', 'Voodoo People' and 'Breathe'. Anyway I'm not going to do a full review as I'm sure if you didn't go, you're bored to shit of hearing about it from your mates.

I am however going to write about my 3 favorite acts that I saw over the weekend.

3. Submotion Orchestra



SO, Sunday midday, thought it would be nice to start the days proceedings off with some jazz and wondered down to Chai Wallah tent to see Portico Quartet. After waiting ages for them to set up I noticed that there was a female vocalist. This seemed to be a bit strange as on their albums I had never heard singing. Then they started playing and it was definitely NOT jazz . But still I thought, oh great Portico Quartet are playing a dubby trip hop set with a guest singer. Nono, it was infact Submotion Orchestra and what a lovely surprise they turned out to be.

The song started out very ambient with a heavily vibrato-ed  electric piano and loose hi-hat work, with singer Ruby Wood soulfully playing with the songs lyrics. Then a break and then a very simple but hugely effective 'sub' bass plays along with full drums and added trumpet forming a crescendo that made everybody sway like they were having spiritually uplifting moment. Anyway check them out, I reckon they will be playing with the likes of Thievery Corporation in no time.

All Night by Submotion Orchestra by Ranking Records

2. Mount Kimbie



WHATGODS, unfortunately only saw the last 20 minutes from the back but what I witnessed took me too that 'other place' that hippies keep going on about. If you haven't checked out Kimbie's LP Crooks and Lovers, do, it's a must. The duo perform a live act, so its not just like being played your iTunes library back to you. The somewhat distant sounding long synth chords, intricate percussion which sounds like dripping water and heavily modulated vocals make for a euphoric experience. When they played 'Maybes' everyone was definetaly up in their head, probably close to the point of tears. An ambient journey away from the muddy field outside. I don't know where this magical place is but I know I want to visit Mount Kimbie again.

Mount Kimbie - Before I Move Off

1. Fever Ray

I LOVE YOU KARIN ANDERSSON. I made sure I was right at the front for this one, copious amounts of dry ice and tens of living room table lamps make the eery stage. The mist clears as the music builds and there is a silhouette of a very disguised Karin as a big, well, Totem Pole. The other musicians also wore frightening masks and lurched aggressively at you as if in a mosh pit. Opened with Triangle Walks and let me tell you, there is nothing as heart wrenching, as boner inducing as when you hear her voice live for the first time. Karin fucked my ears and she fucked them good. I love the 80's feel of this song with the claps and poppy synth. Those synthesized drums with her dreamy pitch-shifting voice remind me of a Cocteau Twins number. Also Karin and Liz sound similar no? The dark male sounding vocals are even more haunting live as on the record. This combined with the stage set and universal appreciation of the audience made a deeply moving, theatrical performance that I will never forget. If you have the opportunity to go and see Fever Ray, do everything in your power to get that ticket. Unfortunately this will be difficult seeing as Karin has put an end to the project. Gutted.

Fever Ray - Concrete Walls

SEEGAAAAAAAAAA

Ok it is the antithesis of a Mozart Concerto, it sounds cheap and well it's called Skweee but I really thought it would take off more than it did. There was alot of hype like a flash in the pan but where did it go? It was born in those wacky Nordic countries and consists of simple synth leads like that from your Sega Megadrive and then combined with funky, choppy beats and a bassline and hey youve got err...something.

When you start your hunt for Skweee, first you'll come across an attempt by Rusko and actually, it's a banger. Its a remix of Kotchy - Sing What you Want and I dare you not to be happy listening to it. Dig a little deeper and you'll get to the Icelandic/Norwegian stuff which takes more getting used to. Check out a compilation called Skweee Tooth and Volume 1 from the Norwegian record label Dodpop and your all set.



I think the main problem with Skweee is it all gets a bit much after a few songs and lets be honest, it's a bit weird for the standard dub wobble junkies. And well basically its for people who like to take alot of Ketamine.

Young At Love and Life

Sun Airway's "Waiting On You" visuals

This video makes me feel nostalgic about love. Maybe in another life could romance be as idillic as this. Goosebumps am I right? Anyway, effective filming, very dreamy reminiscent of Classixx 'I'll Get You' by Cobrasnake but better. Gives the impression she will never be close enough, just floating before your eyes but the sea and clouds keep her away.