4 posts tagged “electropop”

W♥M035 Elika - The Whip Elika 1 comment

The theme for these reviews are Electro and Dance. I'm probably not going to do a theme for the next review block as I have a mish-mash of CDs in house. Maybe someone can send me a suggestion.

Austin Leeds - I Can't Get Away 2 comments Austin Leeds Mar 4, 2008 at 3:38 PM Austin Leeds is a DJ/producer from Miami, Florida, specializing in dance/house music with an amazing singles and remixes output, according to discogs.com. It looks like he's also booked on quite a few live dates, DJing various parties - and also playing with labelmate Starkillers. Speaking of label, Made Records have decided to compiled some of Leed's best songs into their "Dirty Sounds" collection called, what else?, Dirty Sound II/Love Machine. The CD's released today (March 4th). [ read more ]	Konie - R U Ok Konie Mar 3, 2008 at 8:39 PM The Club is Open is the latest release from Konie, an electronic/dance Swedish band (?), that seems to be under the direction of this Konie fellow. The album starts off with a hilarious "The Club Is Open", which you hear an old man, seriously telling us that the Club is open... only to correct himself at the end: Eh, I'm sorry, but the club is ... er.. out to lunch. It's closed, from the very first fuckin' beginning. It really sets up the album to not take this album too seriously, that it's okay to have a little fun with it. [ read more ]
Bayard Russell - Living At My Moms Bayard Russell Mar 1, 2008 at 2:38 PM Bayard Russell is a one-man singer/songerwriter. He also dabs a little in synth and keyboard, which appears in many of his songs on his debut album, Selftitled (2008). I found out that he's actually been in many bands (Karess, Clean Slate, Funkelstiltskin, The Very Nerve, and Matt Jones Band), but currently the singer and bassist for Negative Ken. Judging from their myspace, their sound is more plugged-in & rock than the decisively lo-fi Russell. The press material said that the album is not released until March, but looking around online, it looks like it's available now. [ read more ]	Yip-Yip - Club Mummy Yip-Yip Mar 1, 2008 at 1:42 PM Yip-Yip is Brian Esser and Jason Temple, based out of Orlando, Florida. Two Kings of the Same Kingdom is their sixth album, released 2/4/2008. From the press material, it lists that this is the first time that the duo experimented with an organic saxaphone and horns and video (the album comes with a DVD). Before you get too excited about the DVD, I will have to admit it was hard for me to watch them all. They're too similar to each other and all the visuals are too ... they're extremely bright and distorted. Since it's harder to describe it, experience the video for yourself with "Jazz Rat" which is one of the songs I've enjoyed. [ read more ]
IceSixxx - CommodoreSixxx Icesixxx Feb 26, 2008 at 8:43 PM Icesixxx is an electronica artist, based out of Belgium. I will have to confess, I did not expect much from the album he sent me called MeKaNiKaLZ, but when I listened to it (all of last week) I have to say: this guy is really good. You can check out (and download) some of his song off myspace. He even offers MeKaNiKaLZ (his debut album) via a torrent. I asked him to tell a little about him and how he got into music: [ read more ]	Kristofski Kabuki-Keeponmovin' (By 5ive) Kristofski Kabuki Feb 26, 2008 at 7:50 PM Kristofski Kabuki is an Electropop musician from Cardiff, Wales. I have his demo CD, which I'm calling it This Demo Belongs to WeHeartMusic as that last bit was written in by hand. Possibly by Kristofski, himself, or at least his secretary. There are only four tracks, and the last song is listed as "Keeponmovin'" as a cover of 5ive. Since I've not brushed up on my boy-band, I had to look up the song... which you can hear "Keep on Movin'" on their myspace. [ read more ]

 03/04/2008 18:04:52  vu my♥posts weheartmusic.com

Discography [May 2004] Avalanche [Nov 2007] Art of Survival Video "Captain, My Captain"/ I, Synthesist performing

I, Synthesist is Chris Ianuzzi, a composer/mixer of electropop music. He's just released his second album Art of Survival on November 3rd.

His biography doesn't really give too much about his history and origin in music making, but I suppose that stuff isn't that exciting or important to people (although I like reading stuff like that).

For instance, I'm kind of curious where he's from because he doesn't sound American. Especially in the song "Paradise", where you can clearly hear his accent (he sounds like he's from Hungary or Germany?).

As his stage name suggest, his music is purely synthesized. Typically whenever I hear "synth", I always think they sound too much like new wave/80s style (which is not a bad thing), and it's a fair assumption for I, Synthesist. Besides from the synthesized music, he also seem to be a performance artist, complete with costume and that funky "sleepy hollow" glasses.

For evidence of this, check out his live performances on his youtube page.

So for the uninitiated, there are three types of synth producers: analog, digital and purely software. The types that Ianuzzi uses are both classic analog and new digital, combining the two tools.

My favorite song off Art of Survival is "Telepathy". It's quite dancy and has a great beat. Listening to it the first time, I thought he was saying "To be with me, celebrity" but I think he's really saying Telepathy since it's the title of the song.

 12/06/2007 23:35:19  vu my♥posts www.isynthesist.net

Hong Kong is a city known for its East-meets-West sensibilities. HK-ese identical twins Ming & Ping are the perfect embodiment of this aesthetic. The electropop outfit consists of Ming, Ping, and their producer Bao Vo, and they are currently based in San Francisco. They've just self-released their 3rd album, Causeway Army.

西洋/Western sound: Their music is pure electropop, replete with bloops, doots and original NES sound effects. The music and lyrics conjure up images of skyscrapers and technology and a busy nightlife. Electronic music can, at times, seem a little cold and impersonal, but there are enough bouncy melodies and the duo's voices are warm enough to balance things out nicely. The first track on Causeway Army starts off sounding suspiciously New Order-esque but then it takes off and you're in for 60 minutes of pure '80s-inspired pop pleasure.

東洋/Eastern visuals: Ming & Ping are known for their theatrical live shows, which come with a live drummer, dancers, and a certain Cymbal Monkey, who at times invade the audience to dance with them. Ming takes the stage in Cantonese opera garb, while Ping takes it easy (somewhere? where? hmm, very suspicious...) up on the screen singing backup. I was lucky enough to catch them the other night when they were in L.A. as part of the Monsters of Electropop show, and I can honestly say I was most impressed by them, even though they weren't headlining. If you're into dance music, the Ming & Ping Dynasty will guarantee you a spicy good time!

There are probably a lot of people who will file them away as another revivalist of a much-hated era, but there are still some of us who just can't let that decade go, and it is to us (or maybe it's just me?) that I'm dedicating this post. 乾杯！

Official site:  http://www.mingping.com/
MySpace:  http://www.myspace.com/mingping