Hipster House Playlist

This genre may or may not be a joke but despite this, it somehow passes an acceptable level of plausibility. At least for this blog anyway. As always it is a playlist so don't expect fancy mixing.



Tracklist

Tracklist:
1) Nicolas Jaar - Materials
2) Innergaze - Way of Life
3) Octo Octa - High Reflection
4) SFV Acid - Library
5) Walls - Heat Haze
6) Ital - Only For Tonight (Original Instrumental Mix)
7) Art Department - Without You (Jamie Jones On The Fly Rework)
8) Factory Floor - Two Different Ways
9) The Miracles Club - Church Song
10) Blondes - Pleasure
11) Lana Del Ray - Blue Jeans (Penguin Prison Remix)
12) CFCF - Come Closer (Azari & III Remix)
13) Ital - First Wave
14) CFCF - Exercise 3

Review: Feist - Metals

Regarding her second album, the eminent The Reminder, there are songs that make me love Leslie Feist, namely I Feel It All and My Moon My Man and there are songs that make me want to use the record as a Frisbee, the kind that gets chewed to shreds by your dog. Ok, maybe it’s not her fault that 1,2,3,4 is synonymous with about ten advertisements as it undoubtedly aided in her popularity, reaching a demographic from indie kids to middle-aged housewives i.e. Question Time and Corrie viewers alike. I am of course being overly abrasive to make the point that I hope her latest album consists of songs of the same caliber as The Limit To Your Love and is vacant of tracks in the same vein as “that song from that advert”. However, the question is, how will this affect its popularity with the masses when it comes to a middle-class dinner party?

I first call to the stand the single from the album, How Come You Never Go There?, which indeed is the most similar to 1,2,3,4 in terms of its potential as an obvious hit. However this would be an overstatement as in honesty, there are few parallels to be drawn between the two. In fact, the whole album seems like it has been recorded far from commercial TV and indeed civilization itself, possibly in a Canadian Forest with surrounding Centaurs. There are no hints that Feist is trying to please her current following, it appears as more of an album for her own consumption. Her approach is refreshing even in a world not lacking in female vocalists that can be described by referencing Billie Holliday, moreover its lack-of-influences originality exudes modernity. This is odd considering the album is more lo-fi and rough around the edges than its predecessor.

The singles title rhetoric followed by the line “How come I’m so alone there”, describes the morose tone of the album. The song is jerky and has a strange time signature compared to its flowing, upbeat forerunner. Undiscovered First sounds like a Robert Plant country song that was conceived around a campfire. It is probably the most uplifting song on the album but so is the case with country music, there is still a thread of Macabre. By the end of the song, it has progressed into a head-banging loud stomp where Feist flourishes out of subtlety and really lets loose. It is remarkable how much different she sounds without the jazz kookiness. Feist is also a lot louder on Comfort Me where she explores her vocal range. A Commotion is pretty much a garage rock tune that meets shabby chic (Black Keys Vs Cath Kidston?) that turns out as another welcome addition to the already multi-faceted album. There are a few songs that are just a bit too subtle and indistinct from each other so that you can play each one back to back and you won’t notice the change.

To conclude I think that if Feist tried to recreate the pop songs of The Reminder, it would have seemed like a bit of a carry on. Her back-to-nature where the charts don’t exist attitude was definitely the right decision and she has turned out an exceptional album.

Soundclash ft. Daedelus @ KOKO 17-09-11

Set the scene, the grand former Victorian theatre, with stalls rammed and the circles lined with people and taking centre stage is a menacing figure lurching vigorously as if conducting some demoniac ritual. Daedelus looks like he’s from the same era as the venue, dressed in a tatty three-piece suit complete with muttonchops. In front of him, at his mercy, is a medley of complex control interfaces which have backlit buttons arranged in a grid that flash like a 2001 space odyssey computer. He systematically toggles the appropriate buttons, which adds a new sample to the already manic ensemble. This occurs in rapid succession and each time he does it, he gesticulates like an orchestral conductor and pulls an ominous facial expression, similar to Jack Nicolson in The Shining. Behind him are stacks of convex mirrors which move independently, reflecting the projected light behind Daedelus, silhouetting him. The music is a mash-up of the highest complexity, chopping and changing every other bar. Although it is hard to say, I would describe it as having a constant up-tempo minimal tech undercurrent with massive dubstep-esque synths, hip-hop breaks along with Daedelus’ own brand of glitch. Clearly his technical production abilities translate well into an intricate and diverse live show. However, he definitely geared the set up to be filthier and more danceable but not necessarily more accessible. I’m not saying he was playing to the crowd at all, it was still abstract, but his album material is more down-tempo and atmospheric. Oh and it was a lot, lot louder. It looked as though Deadelus thoroughly enjoyed rattling everyone’s innards almost to the point of vomiting. On the contrary, everyone including myself enjoyed his set and if you get a chance, make sure you go and see him.

A Tribute to CANADA

Not the country silly, although what an interesting article that would make, no, the extremely inventive, abstract video production company from Barcelona. You can spot their style a mile off, identifiable by numerous short cuts of surreal footage, none of which seem to follow the same theme. A man shooting the head off a toy panda bear, women licking pine-cones, roller skates, lamps, flowers and doorknobs. Half of it does seem heavily influenced by the sexploitation films of the 70’s. Clearly, most of it is too strange to describe with any degree of credibility. Although it sounds like pretentious, overly arty for the sake of being overly arty rubbish, a lot of it is actually very clever. The composition of the shots is genius, as well thought out as a piece of fine art (As the camera is usually still and the length of each is clip is so short). I would love to be at their meeting brainstorming ideas for the next video, as I have no idea where they get it from or what drugs they are doing. You’d have to ask them about what the overall theme or meaning of each video is but I’m sure there is one. I think a lot of it is to do with just being aesthetically pleasing, each video is just so sexy. Also, I’m a big fan of the landscapes they use in combination with whatever camera and filter they have which give it that nostalgic tinge. The latest video was released a few weeks ago for Holy Ghost by White Lies. Check out this and CANADA’s other videos and then you can see what I mean by all of the above.

White Lies – Holy Ghost

White Lies - Holy Ghost from CANADA on Vimeo.

Battles – Ice Cream

BATTLES - Ice Cream from CANADA on Vimeo.

El Guincho – Bombay (NSFW)

El Guincho - Bombay from CANADA on Vimeo.

Review: Neon Indian - Era Extraña

Neon Indian is a pioneer in that infectious, poorly named genre called Chillwave that swept the indie world in synchrony with the likes of Washed Out and Toro Y Moi. Although retro is as popular as ever, it is remarkable how such a mushy, drowned out, synth heavy sound ever made it out alive. Its nostalgia inducing tone evokes emotions that are as vague and as blurry as the dreamy music videos. Allow yourself to get lost in that pensive, slightly melancholy sound: It’s self-indulgent music for self-indulgent people. I think due to the prolific rise, we all expected an imminent and not very dramtic fizzling out. However, haters think again. This summer Washed Out released his first LP and both Toro Y Moi and Memory Tapes released their second, so it seems against the odds Chillwave is still making, err, waves.

Whereas all three of the aforementioned have kept it terminally chill, Neon Indian has gone for a tighter sound on his new album Era Extraña. Yes, you still have massive synths, layer upon layer with strange space noises to accompany, but it seems more intricate and accomplished than Psychic Chasms. The song Polish Girl is far more danceable than anything on the previous album and is quite poppy. There are of course the down-tempo numbers, namely the title track, where all the various synths blend into something that has a lot of atmosphere with the power to entrance. I think that this latest release shows that Chillwave has credibility and should continue to be pursued. Although the change is subtle, it may be a step towards the evolvement of Chillwave into the next sub genre. I think they called it blue wave or something stupid. The album is available to buy now.

R.I.P. DJ Mehdi

Mehdi Favéris-Essadi is “Somebody, somebody, somebody” as his lyrics repeat in one of his singles. Much to the dismay of the whole of the hip-hop world, the electronic music world and indeed all those who knew him, Mehdi was fatally injured in a tragic accident at his home in Paris last night. The artist bridged hip-hop and disco, which seems an awkward combination but he made it appear seamless. It pains me to write in the past tense, but such are the regrettable circumstances, so I must continue. He was an integral member in that Parisian-discotheque-come-dirty-electro-club movement that was made popular in the mid 00’s by Justice, Simian Mobile Disco, Chromeo and SebastiAn among others. The Ed Banger culture (Ed Banger Records is the label that supported the most of the aforementioned artists including Mehdi) swept the electro clubs of the world and Paris was seen as the epicenter of dance. A new fashion was spawned, it accelerated the rise of electro and yet it was different from your usual grimy dance music scene. It was light-hearted, jovial and it had a retro feel such has been developed by Breakbot. Please note I am not continuing to write in the past tense because this culture is over with Mehdi’s death, as I am sure it will carry on, but I am doing so merely out of respect.

I personally was excited to hear the fruits of Mehdi’s and DJ Riton’s collaboration as Carte Blanche. The initial release from which sounded very promising, especially the filthy banger Gare Du Nord. It turns out that the party where the accident occurred was in celebration of Riton’s birthday. I also had the pleasure of seeing Mehdi perform a few times, once solo and once collectively with friends Cassius, Busy P and Xavier de Rosnay (From Justice) who called themselves Club 75. Both nights we’re spectacular, displaying Mehdi’s profound DJing ability which he enjoyed so much.

The freak accident was caused by the collapse of a plexiglass mezzanine floor at Mehdi’s house, fatally wounding him and sending three of his friends to hospital for treatment. Mehdi was aged 34. Rest in peace.

I will leave you with some Tweets from fellow musicians:

“We lost our brother. No Words.” – Chromeo

“R.I.P. Dj MEHDI. The void he has left behind is unbearable. Love you, Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo” – Bob Cornelius of the Bloody Beetroots

“Rest in peace to my brother forever here and in the after life djmehdi. i love u and miss u.” – Steve Aoki

[Video] NOIR CŒUR - TOTAL NIRVANA

NOIR CŒUR - TOTAL NIRVANA from ANTIHERØES COLLECTIVE on Vimeo.

So, I was sent this via e-mail the other day by French collective NOIR CŒUR which to my understanding translates to "Black Heart". No way did I expect it to sound anything as good as this. If anyone else would like to send me stuff up to this standard then seriously, I don't mind. The video is super rad aswell. Hot on the heels of Toro Y Moi, these guys are ones to watch for their debut EP later this year.

Twinsistermoon - Desert Prophecy

A haunting, morose lo-fi song from a Twinsistermoon, the side project of Mehdi Ameziane, 1/2 of Natural Snow Buildings. Tripped out folk that borders on post-rock, which has a tinge of macabre throughout. Most of the album is instrumental, unusually for folk, save Mehdi's ghostly wailings. Check it out if you're suffering from mild depression.

Twinsistermoon, "Desert Prophecy" by primary-numbers