Swedish nostalgia

It's really been forever since I've last posted something here, I guess this semester has just been busier for me than I expected!



Since we're heading into spring, I thought I'd highlight one of my favorite 'feel good' bands, the Shout Out Louds. I was first introduced to this amazing Swedish indie band through a German friend while living in Sweden last year, and she (fortunately) convinced me to go see them live with her and some other international students. It was honestly one of the funnest and best shows I've ever been to, and I've been to more than I'd care to count at this point.

Their singer has been compared to Robert Smith (the Cure) but I really think the Shout Out Louds are much more upbeat, and they have a faster, more melodic approach to guitar and keyboard parts which I love. By comparison, I would say that the Cure are more textural in their guitar work. Of course there are bound to be many differing opinions on this point.

But I've gotta say, what really does it for me is the Shout Out Louds willingness to take the melody away from the traditional indie rock choices of guitar or keyboards and lay that on instruments such as strings, horns, woodwinds or even xylophones or bells. The tracks "Tonight I Have To Leave It" and "Impossible" are perfect examples of this, with the main melody in the former handled by a group of strings and and the one in the latter hammered out via bells before the guitars come in with a great chordal accompaniment.

This band always reminds me of the good times I had in Sweden and the awesome people I met, so in a way they will always hold a special place in my heart.

Here are some tracks which are good insights into their sound, and I hope you enjoy them!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MVlPV7AF7k "Tonight I Have To Leave It"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAifrFAJIw4 "Impossible"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZPSyI4Zybo "Fall Hard"

Thanks for reading!

"Swoon"

For this post I'm going to focus on an album that I've been thoroughly impressed with lately, Silversun Pickups' "Swoon".

My friend Cameron originally showed this band to me and since I trust his musical opinion greatly I checked them out and immediately I developed an infatuation.

Their music is distinctly reminiscent of the 90s alt-rock musings put forth by Smashing Pumpkins; the guitars and even the vocals are definitely channeling that band in many ways. Hell, they also have a talented female bassist. It could be more than easy to write these gents (and lady) off as a mere Pumpkins rip-off.

Nevertheless, Silversun Pickups pay much more attention to the subtlety of highs and lows in music than Smashing Pumpkins ever did. The hard and fast guitar runs of the intro track, "There's No Secrets This Year" flow effortlessly into numbers such as the glacial "Growing Old Is Getting Old" and the slow burner "Substitution".

It's post-grunge alt-rock for those who were either too young to enjoy the prime of the genre in the mid 90s or too oblivious to care.

Jack Peñate

For this week's post, I've got to declare my love for Jack Peñate, an absolutely amazing British singer/songwriter who's been on my radar in the last few weeks. Interestingly, I first heard him on the Current while driving with my uncle (Minnesota Public Radio, 89.3, a really fantastic station).




The first comparison bound to come to mind when listening to his vocal style is Robert Smith of the Cure and while I feel that's legitimate as there's no doubt Jack counts Smith among his influences (if he doesn't he's just kidding himself), he really has his own style.

His music has elements of funk, retro pop, and soul, a good combination in my opinion. Here are some particularly great tracks of his:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Zi4AyzRC4 "Pull My Heart Away" - my favorite song of his.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFQDsH3DRKo "Torn On The Platform" - a track with liberal doses of ska, good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SfrVnYsu1c "Tonight's Today" - the first single from his newest album, "Everything Is New"

Check this guy out if you haven't heard of him already!! And I apologize for not being able to make the links to songs work directly, you'll just have to copy and paste into your URL for now until I can figure out how to make that work.

Thanks for reading!

On My Radar

2009 is reaching an end and as always I have the urge (perhaps the necessity) to really figure out where I'm at in my life and of course I've gotta do that musically as well as more personally. It's been a crazy year for me, coming back from a year abroad, leaving some great friends I met in Europe behind (for the time being), working with some great kids over the summer as a counselor, and starting my work as a Linguistics major.

My experiences in Europe had a huge impact on me, and one of those was that my love for electronic music in general skyrocketed. So here are my top club bangers and overall addictive grooves that consistently stay on my radar week after week, month after month.

1.) Boys Noize - "Oh!" (A-Trak Remix) At first listen, one might mistake the electro stylings of Boys Noize as a purely French creation, but this Hamburg, Germany born producer and DJ proves that Deutschland really is a melting pot for great electronic music, be it techno, trance or electro.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXnYam540hw


2.) Deadmau5 - "Strobe" This is a newer release from the perennially popular Toronto, Canada producer, and it's totally off the hook. It's hard to write a catchy beat, but even harder to write a catchy melody in my opinion, but Deadmau5 does both amazingly well, flirting with the boundaries between progressive and electro house. He's remixed artists up and down the musical spectrum so check him out if you not familiar with his work, just do it!!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUmvPgH5iD0 "Strobe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xo8At6XEqE "I Remember" (feat. Kaskade)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-HKheGzAOo "Ghosts and Stuff"

3.) Empire of the Sun



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAH8DSBTndw "We Are The People" (Sam La More Mix)

- something about Australia is getting the dance floors heated, and this duo are certainly helping in that department. Along with Cut Copy, Bag Raiders and Cassian, they're creating a new niche for the country in addictive dance music, infecting ears, hearts and minds in the process! This track is always in my rotation but this is also great (Sam La More also remixes this one but I prefer the Van She Tech one more, it's just got more disco and funk!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMvq17FcIf8 "Walking on a Dream" (Van She Tech Remix)

4.) Freemasons - "Zap Me Lovely"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuHt5PC3j-4

Two British producers, Russell Small and James Wiltshire, form this dance band who have been rocking the club charts for several years now. Their transformation of Tina Turner's 2000 track "When The Heartache Is Over" into "Love On My Mind" was an international club hit and to be honest everything they touch seems to turn to gold. I haven't heard a release or remix of theirs that I don't enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgmtRHv_Ihc "Love On My Mind"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epb6SLHnydM "Deja Vu" Remix, a great remix of the Beyonce track.

A Different Side of Me

I never used to be into hip-hop and rap, I always generalized what I heard on the radio as encompassing the whole of both genres. I also grew up in a very rural environment and in the U.S. good hip-hop doesn't really have a chance in places like that. I was fortunate when I got to college in that I was introduced to artists that rapped about social issues, the everyday struggles of normal people, and things that I could really grasp on to.

I think it's hard in the U.S. for legitimate hip-hop to find a place on the radio or on mainstream media in general, and because of that I think it's easy for a lot of young people to think that any artist that doesn't rap about bling or cars or sex is a real prodigy. I try not to fall into that trap but it does happen from time to time.

To me, the essence of hip-hop is a sense of social consciousness as well as experimentation and I admire the following artists a great deal because I feel that they express and possess such a consciousness in the ways that they write and perform, or really push the boundaries of the genre musically and stylistically.

1.) Nas - "America" This song really knocked me flat when I first heard it (I gotta thank my friend Adam B. for first showing it to me), the deftness and intensity of his lyrics was really mesmerizing. I think he's really underrated to be honest.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92ENePFBIdw

2.) The Roots - One of the most innovative hip-hop bands out there, and one of the few that has stuck around for so long, and at the same time remained both critically acclaimed and loved by fans. Here are some great tracks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI4D1QOLGuM&feature=fvst

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIVzt_vGyr8

3.) Gnarls Barkley - it's hard to classify or pin-point these guys as they've done everything from cover Radiohead to drawing on 60s soul and 70s R&B to craft their amazing sound. Even though everyone knows "Crazy", they have a lot of other great tracks. Here are a couple:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GA3a15xF0c&feature=fvsr (The fact that Justin Timberlake both makes a cameo and pokes quite a bit of fun at himself in the process is definitely a winning combination in this video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lomNiMATjk (an absolutely amazing live performance from Abbey Road studios)

I really should be studying more for my Arabic exam tomorrow, but blogging calls . . .

You fans of indie and dance music alike surely already know about Phoenix, that Parisian foursome (ok, Versaille technically) who have been rocking the critical waves for years now. Their newest album, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix", is definitely a contender for album of the year for 2009. It's my pick, that's for sure.

I first heard them on Erlend Øye's work on one of the annual DJ-Kicks compilations. These are always great compilations (and Øye is a fantastic Norwegian producer, DJ and indie pop star in his own right). It was the track "If I Ever Feel Better" and I immediately fell in love with its funky bass and guitar coupling and Thomas Mars' unique brand of vocals.

That being said I was quite surprised when I first listened to their new record. It was definitely very mature in its songwriting and of course I had heard "Lisztomania" remixed like crazy in Europe prior to heading back to the U.S. this last summer (They are French after all). Every track on this album is single worthy, which is really saying something. The heavy synths of "1901", the almost U2-esque stylings of "Love Like A Sunset", and the overpowering addictiveness and charm of "Girlfriend" sealed the deal for me. This is a record I will listen to over and over again (and already have!)

Professing my love for Phoenix is something I need to do, and I hope I've done them justice!

So, if you haven't checked them out already, get on that shit!



Here are some essential tracks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhwufCg7THM "If I Ever Feel Better"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgN5jPns0tE "Liztomania"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8tGNe4ygrY&feature=fvw "Everything is Everything"

Enjoy! And thanks so much for reading!

Post #1: "Dark Danish Dancing"

So, I've decided to start a new blog since coming back to the U.S. in June after a crazy year in Sweden.

I've been really inspired by a friend to start writing a regular, primarily music-based blog (props to you Lauren if you're reading this!). Since it's pretty common for young people to bond over music, I think being able to see what other people are listening to is always a great way to expand one's own tastes. As much as I love Hype Machine, I think looking to friends for new music is way more personal and engaging.

I'm not going to stick to one particular genre even though that might be more tempting. With this blog I'm really going to try to be as diverse as possible, just talking about music that's been on my radar as of the moment.

Even though I want to focus as much as possible on music, I can't deny that I'll have the urge from time to time to just write about something completely random, so be prepared!

I hope that all of you out there reading this will enjoy it, and I welcome all and any feedback.

So, to begin . . .

I always fancied myself as a pseudo indie kid with delusions of hipsterdom (don't all college students?) and living in Europe for a year really made me more conscious of electronic music in general. Going out to clubs in different cities (London, Madrid, Stockholm, etc.) and checking out different DJs became kind of an obsession for me. I discovered that different countries tended to specialize in certain sub-genres although it was pretty fluid. I was just impressed with how much more prevalent GOOD electronic music was in even the more mainstream clubs in Europe, rather than in the U.S. where some god awful Lil Wayne remix is always pumping out the speakers.

I have to admit I sometimes gravitate towards the darker, heavier electronic stuff, and I really admire when an artist can still make that kind of music club-friendly. Case in point, Spleen United, an awesome band that a Danish friend of mine introduced me to. I think the drum and bass synth combo is off the chain in this track. If this track's beat doesn't get into your head for days on end then you need to get your head checked for serious!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1U9a-1Iobk