UltraChorus – Words Kept Talking (single)

Ultrachorus - Words Kept Talking Ultrachorus 3 comments See Also Daft Punk http://weheartmus... Have you had a chance to watch this infectious video called Daft Hands - "Harder, Better, Faster...

UltraChorus is Chris Heidman and Jeff Lorentzen, Minneapolis producers with backgrounds in indie rock and old school hip-hop/R&B, respectively.  The pair met in 2005 while working for an artistically-minded billionaire (they exist), made a musical love connection, and formed UltraChorus, a worthy addition to Minnesota’s electro-pop music scene.  Unfortunately, Minnesota’s electro-pop music scene exists mostly in theory and in the minds of the sweat-banded minors that populate First Ave.’s techno/electro dance night.  In a city that favors guitar-driven rock, laidback college jams, and twee art school boy/girl harmonies, is there room for sleek robot jams? 

The benefit of possessing progressive instincts is that the bar for innovation is set comically low.  Any Daft Punk goof with a keyboard can create something appropriate for 17 minutes of uninterrupted epileptic thrashing.  I think one of the reasons why electronic music can feel cold and detached is because of this “homogeny effect,” where one song blends seamlessly into the next and neither have audible distinctions.  This uniformity makes for good dancing, good tripping, suspect fashion decisions, and little else.  It’s encouraging, then, that UltraChorus have shaped a brand of club music that remains relevant off the dance floor.  Listening to their super secret unreleased tracks (tentatively compiled under the just-for-fun moniker Ultra-Def) has been…enlightening, to say the least; while it’s obvious that the duo is rooted in electro-pop traditions, there’s a humanistic element that suggests a man behind the curtain operating the big mechanical beast.

As a band, Heidman and Lorentzen pull from their experiences in the production studio to create smart, complex sound collages that break the fourth wall of electronica by engaging their audience with more than a meticulous beat.  Their debut single, “Words Kept Talking” is equally futuristic as it is pop-accessible, which makes sense, as both musicians cite mainstream influences like Outkast and Ghostface, along with “indie” favorites Velvet Underground and Magnetic Fields.  Both “Words” and its B-side, “Planetman,” generate an oddly nostalgic mood, like watching an old home movie through the wrong end of a telescope (the details are hazy but familiar).  I attribute this ‘shroomy statement to the hint of R&B flavor nestled in with the obligatory blips and bleeps (a deliberate (?) choice that reminds me of junior high “dance offs” in the school gym and also of being young and foolishly smug).  UltraChorus may very well be intellectual, adult electronic artists, but they certainly satiate those googly-eyed youthful cravings.  I imagine that somewhere, in a parallel dimension, where teens gather to groove on moon rocks and touch each other inappropriately, “Words” is playing full blast and the kids are actually paying attention.

“Words Kept Talking” is available on iTunes and limited edition 7” vinyl (to order the 7” visit the band’s Myspace for a direct link).  As of now, UltraChorus is busy, busy, busy recording, but keep posted for news.