electronic

Electric Green

alicia — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Fiddler Cady Finlayson and guitarist Vita Tanga bring two disparate locations (Brooklyn and Paris) and musical styles (traditional Celtic music and world music/electronica) together on Electric Green, a ten-song collection of mostly traditional Irish songs, with a distinctive modern twist. In most cases the violin carries the melody while the guitar, acoustic or electric, adds depth and texture. On the best numbers Tanga’s guitar seems to urge on Finlayson’s violin with a contrapuntal effect.

The electric version of “Itchy Fingers” has a funky guitar groove and vibrant fiddle. It’s a lively tune, but abruptly slows down at the end, switching from a fast twirling jig to a slow, courtly waltz. “March Set” is a moderately-paced dance, with fast bowing from Finlayson on the break and muted percussive sounds from the guitar. “Bordeaux Set” has a different feel than most other numbers; it’s slower and more reflective, with a plucked guitar that simulates chimes. The guitar anchors the high-flying fiddle part on “Heavy Metal,” which starts off fast and then takes it up a notch.

“Bass Rock” has very gentle guitar and a moderately-paced violin part. The notes are held longer, lending it a more somber tone. It is among the most lyrical tracks, a love poem of sorts, with the soft chiming of the guitar evoking images of a small waterfall or brook. “All Set for St. Pat’s”—a medley of two traditional Irish songs, “Wearing of the Green” and “Sean South,” and the original piece “Pumpkin’s Fancy”—features bagpipes and snare and is a fitting ending for the album.

While the music on Electric Green is certainly enjoyable, the lack of varied instrumentation makes the songs less distinguishable from each other; the inclusion of the Irish whistle or more bagpipes and percussion would have done a lot to vary the music. Still, while the electric component may be hard for hard-core Celtic music fans to swallow, it adds an interesting dimension to a genre with a long history.

Written by: Karen Duda, November 9th 2010

Monica Droga: Indie Musician, Bollywood Star, Feminist

mandy — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Interview with Monica Dogra

Gone are the times when people would migrate only to the West to find better lives. Now we witness a reversal of sorts, with NRIs going back to India to seek the same opportunities that their parents or grandparents had left India to find. Monica Dogra is one such NRI who is rocking the independent music scene in the homeland. She’s one half of what is arguably the most successful indie music band in India, Shaa’ir n Func, and is also making her film debut as one of the leads in Aamir Khan's upcoming Dhobi Ghat, directed by Kiran Rao. Here’s her exclusive interview:

Tell me a bit about your background. American born confused desi?

American born desi, definitely not confused. I was born and brought up in Maryland, just outside of Baltimore. My parents had migrated to the U.S. from India. I was always a super active performer from a really young age.

How did you get into music in the first place?

My mom is a singer as well so I grew up around Hindustani classical music, going to classical concerts when I was young. And then my parents split up when I was twelve and I was raised by my dad. He was the opposite, like, be a doctor, go to business school, etc. But I still had such a deep-rooted love for music that I couldn’t deny it.

How do you balance being American with being Indian?

I think kids today are much more aware of other cultures because of examples in the media. But we were reminded of being different every single step of the way. People would ask, “Where are you from? What’s your ethnicity? Why don’t you have a red dot on your head?” Those are things that we grew up with, even though you’d have an American accent and you were born and raised in the U.S. We would reply with, “Do you mean where are my parents from? Or where I was born?” What box should I check today? I am American, but I am also through and through Indian.

What sparked the move to India?

I just decided to go to Bombay for five days to check it out and I ended up falling in love with the city, the culture, with the monetary freedom I had there. My savings could take me so far. In those five days I was free writing for hours every day. Stuff was just pouring out of me in real time. So I went back. I just had a feeling that I needed to be there.

How did you meet Randolph and how was Shaa’ir n Func born?

In those first five days, Randolph came to a party. It was a room of twenty people with no smoking, no drinking allowed. There was a saxophonist, a bansuri player, I’m a singer and a poet. There was a girl doing interpretive dance. It was so tripped out. It felt like a scene from a movie. So Randolph walked in, he had a guitar, and he started playing. I liked his vibe a lot. Our music is a combination of influences. We do heavy doses of rock, electronic music, spoken word and funk. We call it conscious dance music.

When I went back to Bombay I bumped into him and I asked him to play with me. I wrote the record, he and I recorded it, we got a distribution deal, we were getting paid to do shows, and it all kicked off. Sometimes when you do the right thing, life is like “good job, I’ll give you this.” And that just kept happening, not without a lot of sweat and hard work though.

Most of your fans are young women, which is a surprising demographic to be so supportive of alternative music in India.

I pride myself on having such a big female following. I’m a feminist and seeing these beautiful women loving our kind of music is empowering, especially in a country where it’s not easy being a woman. Every day, before I walk out of my house in Bombay, think about how I’m going to get reacted to on the streets, “Oh I need to cover this, I need to cover my legs.” My friend got her butt grabbed in the middle of the street. Those are things that are not okay. There’s still a need for feminism. I’m going talk about how there are only ten female directors in Indian cinema because it’s true. We still need to work on that. It bothers me how feminism is a dirty word. I see myself as an empowered, intelligent, sexual female. I find intelligence to be sexy. I put that into my music and everything that I do.

Do you think there’s a divide between the mainstream film-centric world in Mumbai and the indie scene?

The indie scene is so anti-Bollywood, but I’m not like that. In order to change the system you have to change it from within. Most bands are English-speaking and completely anti-traditional anything. I’ve never seen things that way. I grew up watching Bollywood movies and for me that was my only reference point for India. Another reason for this divide is the dependence on connections. “Who’s your mom? Who’s your dad? Why should I pay attention to you?” That kind of vibe is off-putting. But things are changing, more rapidly now than ever before.

That brings us to your film debut. Tell us about Dhobi Ghat and working with Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao.

It came out of nowhere. Kiran saw me in a magazine and wanted me to audition. I was touring at the time in London. When I got an email from her production house I was like “Thanks, but that’s okay.” They emailed me a couple of times. So out of curiosity, I auditioned. For my second screen test they said, “You have to come tomorrow but we just wanted to give you a heads up that you have to do your screen test with Aamir Khan!” Deep breath. Freaking out. I prepared as much as I could. I walked in, he introduced himself and then said, “Let’s begin” without giving me the chance to be struck by his star presence. The reading went well. I got the role the very next day.

What was it like working with the Kiran and Aamir duo?

Kiran is such an amazing woman. She’s so talented, so beautiful and truly unique. There’s no one like her in the industry. Aamir Khan is such a normal guy with such normal desires. I admire him because he uses his star power and does something with it. He is the only one who is really doing it and doing it well. The film has turned out beautiful and I can’t wait for it to be released.

What do you see in your future? And the future of indie music in India?

There’s a powerhouse of talent in India, a huge range. It’s my firm belief that if people are given the platform to get their talents out there, the arts scene would seriously just explode in ways that we’ve never imagined. Shaa’ir n Func is three albums old and our audience is constantly growing. We’ve done shows all over India and hopefully we’ll make more music and reach out to more people. Actually, the real goal is to write a song that I wouldn’t mind playing twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I want to write that song.

As a NRI who’s returned to the homeland, do you see India as your land of opportunity?

It’s odd that both my mom and dad struggled to provide me with the opportunity to grow up in the U.S. and have access to everything, and then I would have to go back to India to emancipate myself, to feel comfortable with who I am. India has become my land of opportunity because I made it that. I created my opportunities. I was willing to give up a lot of things to achieve my dreams. India, for me, has a kind of freedom that the U.S. lacks. I love that chaos, I needed that chaos. And it has helped me thrive.

Cross-posted from The NRI

Written by: Pulkit Datta, November 6th 2010

Sharanam

priyanka — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000

By Sharon Gannon

White Swan Records

With the release of Sharanam Sharon Gannon adds another dimension to her body of work as a yogi, inspirational figure, and advocate of compassionate lifestyles. I have encountered Gannon’s philosophy and teachings in YouTube videos, web and magazine articles, on her website, and in a documentary on raw foods, and have always found myself appreciative of the contribution she makes towards a more peaceful and spiritually grounded world. This musical dimension, unfortunately, fell flat for this eager listener.

Being a frequent listener of sacred mantras set to modern beats, I fully expected to adore Sharanam. The cover artwork was done in sepia tones and portrays a tree-hugging Gannon looking very fairytale goth, with long black hair and ground-sweeping lacy white dress. My hopes for edgy renditions of mantras "Lokah Samastah," "Hare Krishna," and "Om Shantih" were further raised. Yet three of the eight tracks are different mixes of "Lokah Samastah," and even the upbeat version, for which I had the highest hopes, didn’t quite transcend the tranquilizing New Age tempo and high-pitched breathy vocal quality that has earned the genre a somewhat marginalized status among contemporary music.

The first rendition of "Lokah Samastah" begins with a compelling intro: spare, electronic, heartbeat-style percussion overlays Gannon’s voice heartfully calling out. I felt some tingles of excitement and anticipation here. Background vocals (belonging to David Life, Gannon’s partner and Jivamukti co-founder) are introduced along with keyboard-generated effects, which are referred to in the liner notes as "High Techo Sound"). The entire mantra "Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhav Antu" (which roughly translates to “may all beings be happy and free”) is repeated by both vocalists as an upbeat drum track is added in. The nearly seven-minute track totally loses me after the five-minute mark when the mix dissolves into a very slow duet. My interest is lost not for poor composition or performance, but slow, dreamy songs, especially with slow dreamy vocals, have never been my thing.

I wish I could say it got better for me from here. Track two, "Guruji," is a mix of keyboard, drum tracks, and the swirling sounds of a theremin. The more than fourteen-minute soprano rendition of "Hare Krishna" was also a deal-breaker for my ears. Never once was I inspired to dance, nor did I feel elevated to a higher spiritual plane, relaxed into a meditative state, or carried away in musical appreciation.

The healing and peaceful intention that Gannon evidently puts forth with Sharanam, and the meaning behind the lyrics used in each song, are powerful, beautiful, and positive. Mantras are said to open the heart and mind and to exert both healing and enlightening powers. Unfortunately for this seeker of peace, love, and awareness, the aesthetic of Sharanam turned me off so that the meaning behind the songs was lost.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, November 5th 2010

Old Punch Card

beth — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000

By Sam Prekop

Thrill Jockey

Over the past few years, Chicago-based singer, songwriter, photographer, and painter Sam Prekop has dabbled in all sorts of music. He’s collaborated with Broken Social Scene, Prefuse 73, and even had his work sampled in a toilet paper commercial. Most well known as frontman for The Sea and Cake, he set out to make a brand new kind of record, in no way resembling anything he’s ever done. On that count, he succeeds.

When I put on Old Punch Card, I expected an album filled with pop rock tunes about nostalgia. What I got was a record that literally sounds like an old punch card machine: whirring, screeching, and clunking as it choked on a metaphorical train ticket. My partner glanced over and said, “Was the download corrupted?” “This is electronic avant garde,” I deadpanned. He waited for me to call bullshit.

Prekop himself explains, “I've left the confines of ‘song’ structure.” Created in his home studio, the album of only synthesizer music—none of Prekop’s mellow, pop vocals are heard; no lyrics written, no words uttered—composed in mostly winter months. The chilling effect is present and reminds us all that autumn is coming but winter will fiercely follow. I live up north; it’s August and I’m already wearing sweaters and wool socks. I dread the official season change.

“The Silhouettes,” the first official single from the album, is one of the more pleasant mixes. It fades in and out, just pop enough to bring to mind Dntel. “Knitting Needles” sounds like the soundtrack to an indie film interlude. Others, I found difficult, near unlistenable.

An artistic offering from a man of many mediums, the album covers are hand painted. I hope Prekop returns to what he does best and leaves the experimental noise for people with less enjoyable vocal stylings.

Written by: Brittany Shoot, October 1st 2010

/\/\/\Y/\ (Maya)

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:22:00 +0000

By M.I.A.

Interscope Records

A week prior to its July 13th release, M.I.A.’s new album, /\/\/\Y/_ (or _Maya), was made available streaming on the artist's MySpace page. The agitprop-meets-cyberpunk video for “Born Free” is the most inspiring thing I’ve seen all year (a clear indication that M.I.A.’s message is as much visual as it is aural), and my guess was that her latest effort would be the most overtly conceptual album that M.I.A. has recorded.

The first track, "The Message," begins with the sound of keyboard strokes that reminded me of early alternative rock heroes R.E.M. and experimental musician John Cage. It creates a rhythmic paranoid beat laid over a mechanical nursery rhyme. A male voice suggests that the body is no longer private property, and spells it out for the “connected” listener: “Headbone connects to the headphone/Headphones connect to the iPhone/iPhone connected to the internet/Connected to the Google/Connected to the government.”

“Steppin Up” will appeal to fans of Kala. It mixes laser and power drill sound effects with a melodic reggae pace while asserting an increasingly cyborgian identity. “Teqkilla” recalls “Boyz” for its hyperactive layers of hip-hop hooks and fluctuating vocals. This is a sexy club song, and would be the closest that M.I.A. settles into mood music.

Although she is stretching choruses and pressing the temporal limits of pop music, M.I.A. still has a knack for constructing tighter melodies, and proves it on “XXXO.” This track is about unrequited love, and calls a potential lover out for his down-low tweets. It’s a beat-heavy examination of familiar odes to obsessive love.

_/\/\/\Y/_ is definitely weirder than M.I.A.'s previous recordings, and it will be interesting to see where critics of her ability to balance political and aesthetic ambitions go with this album. Will the media continue to castigate M.I.A. for going too far beyond the pop star galaxy with her overt political agenda? If so, I just hope M.I.A. doesn't go the way of pop feminist icon Madonna and, in the words of bell hooks, "return to patriarchy."

Cross-posted at Gender Across Borders

Written by: Maria Guzman, July 14th 2010

The Theory of Tides

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0000

By The Theory of Tides

Oceans and tides have served as artistic muses for centuries, and I was curious to listen to music inspired by a scientific theory that explains "the dynamics of fluidity, the pull of bodies in motion, the ebb and flow of attraction." Upon first and second listen, The Theory of Tides didn’t grab me, but the third time around was a charm, and I found myself appreciating the music more.

Lead singer Mirana has the kind of voice that can sound almost dissonant at times, but it suits The Theory of Tides' style of music, which has the feel of urban techno pop. The first track, “Unsure,” is probably my favorite lyrically, as I find the words repeating in my head hours later. In the chorus of the song Mirana asks, “When did I become so unsure, of you, of me, of everything?” The question is posed against a backdrop of pulsating electronic sound. Another favorite track is “Corner” because of its sophisticated, jazzy, Latin quality that serves Mirana’s voice well.

On “Elated,” the vocals have a sultry, chanteuse-like quality that wouldn’t be out of place in a French cabaret, but the electro-pop background is straight out of the twenty-first century. This may not be my favorite album, but I play it on days when I feel slightly out of sorts and disconnected from my surroundings. It's music that matches my mood.

Written by: Gita Tewari, March 14th 2010

What Day Is It Tonight? (Live 1993-2008)

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Trans Am

Thrill Jockey

Hipster culture exists and sustains itself on a continuous loop, a vicious never-ending cycle, like a Möbius strip or an Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail. Take something once mainstream and now uncool, adopt it with tongue planted firmly in cheek as “so bad it's good,” deem said sound/product/style “cool,” and watch as it is co-opted by a broader audience and becomes mainstream. Later, rinse and repeat. Every once in a while such a revival of the old dredges up some long-lost gem, but most of the time it's just masturbatory. It's hard to know which of these – true appreciative nostalgia or hipsterdom – motivates Trans Am.

When it comes to culture, it seems very likely that people can revive punk or disco or New Wave from now until the end of time. Trans Am has based their entire musical careers on revivalism, specializing in the recording and performance of original music that sounds like it was originally made by someone else. Much like British band Primal Scream, Trans Am are professional genre hoppers. The group is definitely possessed of the musical alacrity it takes to convince the casual listener that Trans Am is serious about the songs Trans Am makes. They've undergone a number of different sonic incarnations over the years, including krautrock and electro-funk. It's a point made plain by their December 2009 release, What Day Is It Tonight? (Although given a limited release of 1500 copies – and now listed as discontinued by the manufacturers on Amazon.com – the live album is still available as an MP3 download.)

The group's sense of humor permeates every song, from titles to instrument choices, from rhythms to how they use reverb. Vocals are filtered through vocoders and synthesziers. Opening track “Conspiracy of the Gods” is bombastic wankery from first note to last. Frantic '80s car-chase-scene guitars and a rolling surge of drums accompany that classic unmistakable '80s keyboard warble. It's a track played with genuine passion in the midst of the group's supposedly mocking interest; it even ends with the classic boom drum wind down. "Tesco v. Sainsbury's" is inexplicably about two British supermarket chains. Because their music is predominantly instrumental, there are no lyrics to explain why Trans Am chose to record a song that supposedly pits two grocery stores against one another. They just recorded the song, and perform it quickly and efficiently.

As a listener with a deep-seated disdain for noodling and a longtime appreciation for synthy rock mishmashes, my own aesthetic sensibilities mean I'm personally more inclined to like the blippy and the bloopy tracks, although “Play In The Summer” (from 2000's “The Red Line”) is a good guitar-driven track. There are two things that strike me as odd about this live album. First of all, although the album claims to cover the band's career from 1993 through 2008, the group's Allmusic.com biography states that the band formed in 1990, but didn't record until 1995. Secondly, while there are seventeen songs on What Day Is It Tonight?, none of those songs come from their first three albums. Trans Am released an album a year from 1996 through 2000, but the first album whose live songs are on “What Day Is It Tonight?” is the 1999 release “Futureworld.”

Maybe this is all part of their self-awareness of the clichés of popular music.

Written by: M. Brianna Stallings, March 9th 2010

Fabriclive 48

admin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:00:00 +0000

By Filthy Dukes

Fabric Records

I was excited to review this album because I'm fascinated by the creative endeavor of mixing existing music together to create something entirely new. I'm a musician, but I know very little about being a DJ—I had heard that no one mixes like the Filthy Dukes, and that their albums were the next best thing to being at one of their events. So, I was intrigued—but I have to say that I expected more.

Fabriclive 48 sounds like a night of London clubbing minus the sense of discovery that often accompanies listening to talented DJs mixing it up. These guys are known as DJ demi-gods, but the album lacked the originality I expected from artists who are adept at creating "in the moment." Maybe the guys got a little lost without the dancing crowds to guide them. Or, perhaps the creativity of DJs and the energy of the dance floor share a symbiotic relationship that just can't be replicated on a recorded album.

I was a bit disappointed by the lack of what I consider to be an important aspect of a DJ's craft—discovering deserving underground groups to introduce a fresh sound to the club masses. There's not much surprise here; the Dukes rely on what could be called a "standards" list of the genre. Maybe I'm being harsh, as few would complain about the stellar list of artists included on Fabriclive 48. I just expected a few uncovered gems to be sprinkled among a group of artists that even I—a music fan with an admittedly meager understanding of the new disco genre—am already acquainted with. I was expecting some exposure to some up-and-coming groups or even artists who have created a new sound.

Even though the playlist felt a bit redundant, it does offer a wide variety of artists. From disco to techno, the lineup includes Popof, Zombie Nation, Muzaja, Daft Punk, Aphex Twin, and WhoMadeWho. On a more positive note, the album does provide a studied example of the electronic indie genre. Fabriclive 48 would make an awesome soundtrack to most any party, but the musical adventurer may want to look elsewhere.

Written by: Meg Rayford, December 31st 2009

Sing Along to Songs You Don’t Know

admin — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:59:00 +0000

By Múm

Euphono Records

I have never been one to accept iTunes’ genre classifications of the music I purchase. Yes, the categories can be useful, but they never quite fit with my personal interests. As soon as the tracks are downloaded, I quickly listen to the album and decide where it fits amongst my feisty feminist punk rock, hipster late-night sing-alongs, or classical acoustic sleep inducers (to name a few). Admittedly, I am a little bit of a control freak and perhaps a tad obsessive.

On the other hand, the reductionist labeling of ‘indie’ or ‘pop’ is nowhere near as maddening as the genre given to Múm’s recently-released fifth studio album Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know: “unclassifiable.” What does that mean? Is it insulting, or perhaps, empowering by the very lack of constraints? The queer equivalent of music labeling?

Either way, the group’s new album has clearly demonstrated their ability to evolve with their effortless intermixing of guitar, rhythmic percussion, bizarre electronic grooves and eerie, smooth vocals that produces something within and above the genres of pop, folk and electronica. Arguably their most accessible album, Múm has moved away from their original pure, electronic sound to a more folksy-experimental style. Reading some of the reviews, it is clear that some fans of the original ethereal vocals of the Valtýsdóttir twins (replaced in 2007) have been resistant to the change and the group’s new whimsical, romantic sound. However, while the album definitely has a childish element, the lyrics and vocals are far from cute, with repetitive lines like: “You are so beautiful to us. We want to keep you as our pet.”

Definitely listen to the album and decide for yourself. If you are interested in exploring their earlier albums, you can stream some of the tracks on their MySpace page. While you are online, also check out their webpage to find out about tour dates, watch the music video of their track “Sing Along,” and more. Their new album has something refreshing for both new listeners and old fans alike, especially for those that are willing to grow with the group in their constantly evolving, “unclassifiable” experimental sound.

Written by: Abigail Chance, December 19th 2009

Hung Like A Horse

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:00:00 +0000

By All Leather

Dim Mak Records

Members of The Locust and Some Girls make up the edgy electro-punk industrial outfit All Leather, mixing angelic screeching over electro beats and spastic hardcore pummeling, which are all packed tight into ten glorious minutes of the Hung Like a Horse EP. All Leather consists of guitarist Nathan Joyner, Jung Sing on drums, and Justin Pearson doing vocals. They collectively rail against all that is decent with dirty synths and lyrics to match. Indulging in their playful hedonism, Hung Like a Horse isn’t as much decadent as it is audibly interesting. There is a pounding undercurrent that consents to headbanging while allowing itself to delightfully canoodle with the bouncy elements of electro-dance.

Colorful song titles will relay the story before even hitting play. The music itself almost garners more cred by combining earnest raw energy with their unfettered sense of humor. “As The Hog Pisseth” opens the record with a sledgehammer of metronome beats dripping in “Miller-Lite fantasies,” as the amusing lyrics suggest. Next up, “We’re Skrewed.” Pearson punches the lyrics hard enough to match the intensity of Sing’s beats. Drums and lyrics work in tandem throughout like a diabolic tag team as Pearson belts, “Civilization… vs none.” The kinetic “I Don’t Hate Fags, God Does” has you dancing in place amongst the hippest of hipsters, while gleefully throwing elbows left and right, reveling in the thrash curveball thrown. “Audios mi Amoebas” works the industrial magic with pulsating white noise. The aggressive fusion builds and accelerates until the very last note.

Post-punk bliss, albeit thrashy and brash, Hung Like a Horse works on many levels. It delivers the goods if you appreciate heavy spastic rock made interesting and fun, thanks to spirited electronic dance grooves. The EP gets to the point pretty quick, clamps down hard, and draws a little blood between minutes six and seven. They know how to replace the pop with the sludge all while staying true to the raucous energy that defines it.

Written by: Cat Veit, December 8th 2009

Scars

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:03:00 +0000

By Basement Jaxx

XL Recordings

I am not a house head, as some enthusiasts of electronic music might insist. I am, however, deeply rooted in my musical past, a history punctuated by middle-American rave culture, pre-emo indie shows in Ohio clubs, and stints at several of the top college radio stations in the U.S. They say it’s bad for a woman’s roots to show, but as one who sports natural color, I have nothing else to hide. Basement Jaxx, a duo of house DJs from the UK, show their own roots with stylish flair on their latest studio album, Scars.

The Jaxx have an impressive track record of incorporating strong female vocals into their funky traxx. Title track “Scars” features Kelis, and no doubt due to her extraordinary harmony on Kish Kash hit “Good Luck,” Lisa Kekaula is back to impress on “Stay Close.” “What’s a girl got to do/To get your attention?” asks British singer Paloma Faith on “What’s A Girl Got To Do?” Indeed, how many angst-ridden times did I scream some variant at my college boyfriend? Again, we circle back without feeling tedious. It isn’t as though I contemplate failed relationships daily, but I do think closure is a bit of a myth.

“Day of the Sunflowers (We March On)” features Yoko Ono. Doesn’t Yoko strike many as a feminist icon? Renowned yet hated for existing. Blamed for the downfall of a great man, of great men in a group. There are more blatant examples of misogyny at the intersection of popular music and popular culture, but instead of listing my grievances, I will take this opportunity to praise Ono.

While not exactly related to femininity unless the song conjures images of a gyrating Jennifer Beals a la Flashdance, the BJ reappropriation of Michael Sembello’s lyrics from the ‘80s hit “Maniac” for “Twerk” is a more manic, production-heavy take on a classic. It’s just enough of a detour from the original to make it interesting without feeling repetitious.

Perhaps most notable is radio hit “Raindrops.” While it doesn’t feature cameos from any famous pop stars, it does offer a classic Basement Jaxx blend of random screeches and computerized voices over an addictive dance beat. I have it on my regular rotation for the trudge into work. It adds a spring to my otherwise clunky step.

I was a slightly neurotic high school student when I picked up Rooty, mostly due to my love of their giant white gorilla on the album cover. Yet because of my queer best friend’s insatiable love of booty-shaking techno, the once impulse buy became a mainstay. I don’t mind looking back—and I’m looking forward to more Basement Jaxx.

Written by: Brittany Shoot, November 11th 2009

Abnormally Attracted to Sin

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:44:00 +0000

By Tori Amos

Universal Republic Records

It’s a sinful world out there, and Tori Amos wants to talk about a few sins not included in the Ten Commandments. Her tenth studio album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, tackles themes of oppression, shame, intolerance, and abuse of power. It’s a record aimed at exploring ways in which governments, organizations, and people degrade each other.

Abnormally Attracted to Sin is an eclectic mix of musical styles that range from classic piano-driven ballads to electronic, jazz, and cabaret-inspired tunes. With nearly every album Amos has put out over the past decade, she seems to take a step further away from being the “piano girl.” The result with Abnormally Attracted to Sin, is that Amos has achieved a more integrated band sound and continues to explore the world of keys. In addition to her beloved Bosendorfer piano, this album features Amos on synths, Rhodes electric piano, and organ. She’s also joined by longtime collaborators Matt Chamberlain on drums and Jon Evans on bass.

The opening song for Abnormally Attracted to Sin, “Give,” sets the mood with its message of giving instead of taking. But this is no rainbow and butterflies ballad. It’s a dark, electronic-tinged track, on which Amos’ voice is at times husky and at times soaring. She sings, “There are some, some whose give, twists itself to take, they mis-take, who, what made up the line, some say it was pain, or was it shame?”

From there, this seventeen-track album spans topics of religious intolerance in “Strong Black Vine,” infidelity in “Fire to Your Plain,” and the cycle of abuse in “Ophelia.” Some of the standout tracks on Abnormally Attracted to Sin include the jazzy “Lady in Blue,” the twangy “Fast Horse,” and “Flavor,” a spacey trip where the narrator asks what it would it be like to look down on the destructive forces of man at work on Earth. The track where Amos shows her musical ability at its best is the title track. It’s a haunting song where Amos warns “pussy willow calls there by the church, ‘don’t go in if you are abnormally attracted to sin.’”

Amos continues to garner an increasing amount of criticism for producing albums like Abnormally Attracted to Sin that some deem “bloated” and “self-indulgent” for passing the seventy-minute mark. For some, it might prove a tedious listening experience, but it seems, as Amos sings in the opening track, that she’s more interested in giving abundance than taking away. What does seem to suffer, however, is the quality of writing. The record has more duds than usual for Amos. On “Welcome to England,” she writes the clunker “bang a tango but do not get tangled...if your heart explodes, is it deathly cold?” On “Police Me,” it’s hard not to laugh when Amos sings “to get off he cries ‘slutty goth’, but I’m a brightly colored person.” Amos may have hit an all-time low with “Not Dying Today,” a cacophonous, embarrassing mess.

What is most disappointing about Abnormally Attracted to Sin, though, is that it feels like Amos is pushing fewer boundaries. Her music feels safer. And, she continues to deal with the same themes she has built her career on: religion, trust in relationships, and women reclaiming themselves from the patriarchy. But one can’t fault Amos for passionately and tirelessly pursuing topics that will not be solved overnight. It’s a worthy battle and one that she does well.

Written by: Beverly Jenkins-Crockett, August 13th 2009

Detroit /Fabric 45 and Fabric 46

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:41:00 +0000

By Omar S and Claude Von Stroke

Fabric Records

These two albums are the products of London’s Fabric nightclub’s monthly CD series. Fabric’s musical offerings span the electronic dance spectrum, and while they are super club with three distinct dance spaces, the sounds of Omar S on Detroit/Fabric 45 are refreshingly minimal. Referencing the famed early 1980s Detroit House scene, the album’s beats are loaded with reverb and recall the work of groups from the 1980s such as Liquid Liquid and ESG. It’s hard to imagine the tracks of this record reverberating on a huge dance floor, as the beats are accented with melodic electronic bleeps that sound like they could have been produced by a Nintendo Gameboy circa 1990.

In contrast to Omar S’ minimalism, Claude Von Stroke takes a more upbeat approach with his remixes, combining vocals and a variety of instrument and percussion samples which he layers over simple, danceable house beats. The album’s tracks flow together seamlessly, and each carries Claude Von Stroke’s distinctive techno touch. The disc could be a club-worthy dance party in itself if one wanted to recreate the Fabric experience at home. While neither album appears especially innovative, they are solid samplings of what is happening in contemporary, electronic dance music. As part of Fabric’s CD series and its FabricFirst program, where members get the monthly CD’s weeks before they arrive in stores, as well as discounts on club entry and a chance to skip the queue, club–bound Londoners should take note.

Written by: Eleanor Whitney, June 17th 2009

Allbums

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:46:00 +0000

By Jeans Team

Louisville Records

Jeans Team started life as a Berlin-based video art performance group, but they soon evolved into making electronic music for the masses. On Allbums, a collection of their best songs and previously unreleased material, I got a chance to sample almost ten years of Jeans Team’s IDM that is as suitable for the club as for dancing by yourself in your bedroom.

“Faul 2” stars out the sampler with a very good, almost minimal beat, with Kraftwerk-esque vocal samples in the background and calm German vocals. It’s clear from this track that Kraftwerk is an influence on Jeans Team, but they’re not copying the German masters, either. This is something different, something very contemporary while still understanding the history of electronic music. On “Baby 3,” a funky bass and '70s funk guitar lick start the song, and blend with synthesizer beats and an array of different little noises to make a quietly funky little dance song that stays in your head long after it’s over.

“Keine Melodien,” the best song on the sampler, has a pumping groove throughout that definitely made me want to get up and dance. I couldn’t understand the literal meaning of the German lyrics, but when the talk-singing turns into a yell, the song gets intense in a way that you don’t need to understand the words. I could definitely see dancing like crazy to this song at a party.

Thanks to Allbums, I discovered not only another band to put on my party playlists, but one to search out for everyday listens. The spirit of Kraftwerk is alive and well in Jeans Team, but they’re giving the legends a run for their money when it comes to pure dancing grooves.

Written by: Dana Reinoos, May 28th 2009

Fabric 40

admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:58:00 +0000

By Mark Farina

Fabric Records

Mark Farina, a San Francisco-based DJ, is a mainstay on the electronic scene. What began as an exploration of the house genre has now become Farina’s inimitable musical echo. The globetrotting performer is known for his genre versatility, but also his distinctive cocktail of Chicago urban, jazzy reverberation with San Francisco sound. While he’s also known for his down tempo grooves, Fabric 40 is nothing of the sort. Fabric is a series of compilation albums produced by the eponymous London nightclub, with the most recent mix by Chile’s Luciano.

I am sucker for anything that presents itself as a non-stop party, and Fabric 40, initially, is a generally bouncy invitation to dance, but I found a few of the transitions clumsy and forced. Farina’s compilation possessed a slightly anti-climactic feel to it, making it perfectly suitable for ambient music, but at times, I felt uninterested, or, unfortunately, like I had just tuned out 10 minutes of heaving drum n’ bass.

I grew weary about half-way through, and I wish that it better showcased the DJ’s versatility and musical creativity. Farina clearly didn’t strive for this compilation to be tuned out, but to excite the dancing shoes of his loyal fans. Regrettably, it fell short of his intent to keep the party bumpin’.

Written by: Erin K. Murphy, July 28th 2008