4 posts tagged “kordan”

Kordan, I’m still befuddled.  When I finally sat down for a proper listen of Longing, my immediate thoughts were “where did I go?” and “how long am I staying for?”  As I’m sure I mentioned in previous reviews, the power of Kordan lies in their ability to transport listeners to a strange, rich realm of multi-sensory experiences.  Perhaps that’s an exaggeration; but for most of us, whose lives are defined by shopping malls, mid-size vehicles, Starbucks lattes, and the occasional wild night of domestic brews and bar darts, Longing feels like a vacation from the mundane.  We will never be this hip, but for roughly half an hour we can pretend.

The Longing is essentially an elaboration of Fantasy Nation, Kordan’s first EP released July of last year.  Same bag of tricks, that is.  Dizzy, spacious sound layers over a steady beat—at the core, dance grooves with an experimentalist complex.  Where Fantasy Nation tapped the club vein, Longing searches for the abstract quality of pop music.  Listening to the album is like listening as a musician attempts to define city or love or life simply in audio.  Of course, this reads pretentious, as does any creative adventure that involves conceptual thought.  The reason I’m not harder on Kordan is simple:  despite the possible pretense, I can’t imagine the band playing any other style of music than this ultra stylized pretty.  There’s truth in purposeful cool, even if it’s easy to spot the GWBs (Girls With Bangs) and BWGs (Boys With Glasses) somewhere in the crowd.

Thanks to production magic or magic hands, “Fantasy Nation” and “Tokyo Tears” softened a bit from their EP debut:  flavors steeped, mechanics fine tuned, less thrust more lust.  Actually, compared to Longing, Fantasy Nation sounds decidedly reduced, as though Eisele and co. were practicing for grander occasions.  Such is the occasion.  Besides “Fantasy” and “Tokyo,” tracks like “Mirror” and the haunting “Shinjuku” stand out while in sum, the album remains fairly amorphous.  Eisele’s distant vocals amidst the instrumental mixed bag keep Longing interesting, but I wonder what’s next for Kordan.  Logically, the progression favors total ethereal bliss (as it is, the lyrics seem secondary), but I accept all bets. 

For now, the band keeps busy with live shows in and around New York City.  Visit their Website / Myspace / Facebook for more information. The Longing is set to officially release in February of 2010.  You can preview the album here.

I’m not going to blame my lack of updates on the swine flu.  That would be wrong, sleazy, and downright unconstitutional.

Now that I got that off my chest, I’m happy to report that my cleaning ventures have been particularly fruitful.  No, I didn’t find that copy of Tremors II: Aftershocks that you claim I never returned (let it go, bro).  I did, however, dig up the following dusty gems:

Wheat – White Ink Black Ink

Americans like short things:  lines, books, hair, conversations, etc.  Sometimes even using full sentences takes too long; it’s why we invented Twitter.  Thankfully, there is a band called Wheat.  Not only is their name economical, but more than half of White Ink Black Ink is under the four minute mark.  You just can’t argue with odds like those.  Each track loyally embraces the simplicities of song craft and the complexities of song experience; meaning, the album will probably appeal to those of us that appreciate music straight up, minus additives like weird stupid metaphors and lengthy experimental escapades.  Of course there are flaws to this logic, the most obvious being 2009’s love affair with electro beats and dance-driven, overproduced indiepop.  The kids want to move and while White Ink has no shortage of catchy hooks and gung ho knocks, the resulting mood does not exactly inspire bods to hula, which is basically a compliment but commercially a loss.  At its best, the album sounds vaguely like the byproduct of a musical three-way:  the cool nonchalance of slacker rock + timeless anthemic sway + a dash of requisite “indie” flair (the indefinable “all spice”).  Suggested tracks:  the first half of the album.
Website / Myspace

UltraChorus – Ultra-Def

Speaking of electro beats:  Minneapolis electronica duo UltraChorus recently released Ultra-Def, a brain cell-shattering smattering of slick robot grooves.  This ain’t music for your grandma (unless grandma gets her freak on).  As I mentioned in my review of Words Kept Talking (7” single), being an electro-lovin’ musician in Minnesota is akin to being a minority in Minnesota:  you’re in the minority.  UltraChorus may very well be a shining fiber optic star in a universe of bland, denim-encased chunks of coal, and the world…of Minnesotans might never know.  Such a shame because Ultra-Def is solid material.  It pumps you up, but not in a Jock Jams sort of way, and warms the innards without leaving a metallic aftertaste.  A distinct rhythmic base connects each track without distorting identity; this attention to continuity gives us simpletons something to hold on to, a sort of symbolic Roller Coaster lap bar.  Suggested tracks:  “Words Kept Talking,” “Houseparty 5” and the super-mixed-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink “Yucatan Peninsula.”
Website / Myspace

Kordan – Fantasy Nation

Wow, Arthur Eisele (Kordan) sure knows how to befuddle a critic.  Is Fantasy Nation a concept album?  Or is it dreamy electro-pop disguised as a concept album?  Maybe it’s a soundtrack to a film not yet written:  something Japanese but inspired by French New Wave—a love story, perhaps, set in the stylish future, where the girls look like Francoise Hardy and the boys busy their arms with battered anthologies of 19^th century existentialism.  Something like that.  Honestly, the effort required to simplify Fantasy Nation­—to break it down, if you will—seems pointless, irreverent even.  The album succeeds as a fluid movement, a continuous aural flow.  What it isn’t (and, incidentally, what may hinder mainstream marketing) is track-driven.  Sure, I’ve picked a favorite (the wispy, Gainsbourg/Birkin-esque “Slouchy Girl”) but that’s just personal preference and an ear for melancholy vocals.  As an objective writer, I’d advise readers to avoid listening to Fantasy on shuffle mode; fight the urge to single-song download, readers (you wouldn’t treat In the Aeroplane over the Sea in such a defiling manner, would you?).  Suggested tracks:  listen to the whole damn EP (EP = short and sweet).
Website / Myspace

 09/17/2008 00:06:50  ♥ written by vu ()

 09/15/2008 00:36:32  ♥ written by vu ()