7 posts tagged “techno”
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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.
04/01/2009 09:50:08 ♥ lara (
/lara206.vox.com)
♥ myspace.com/ultrachorus
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One fan "Danger for Dollars" bought the album for $12 and then pointed out that it should've only costed $6, clearly there is a glitch. I hope they fix the problem and refund that guy's money! iTunes seems to have resolved the problem by disallowing buying the whole EP as one download, but instead makes you buy individual tracks :/
So, anyway, I've previously mentioned I love Tommy Boy Records and loved everything about Plushgun's self-titled EP (including the cute drawing and obessive songs).
Dancing In A Minefield EP has one great song (the first song) and four uncessary remix of "Just Polite" and a remix of "How We Roll". It's obvious to me that the single is just leading up to the full length, giving his fans something to tie them over. I felt that "Dancing In A Minefield" is kind of a rebellious/teenage angst song and it brings up feeling about "screw it all" and let's sort it out tomorrow feeling.... It's like almost too deep to be a pop song, and yet there it is. I love the climatic ending too.
Anyway, if you love 90s-sounding techno/pop/dance and especially remixes and reinterpretation of songs, you'll love Plushgun. He's gaining a lot of fans and recently his fans voted "Just Impolite" to be the winner of MTVu's "The Freshman" (No relationship to me. Get it? Vu? Nevermind). Congratuations! The video has a sad destruction of what looks like a black Ford muscle car and has a bit of Sid & Nancy feel to it.
Also, Plushgun will be one of four artists to be on Spin.com's "Battle Of The Bands". They get to re-enact the final scene in "Se7en". I guess anything to get a-head, haha, right?
Dancing In A Minefield EP is out now and be sure to look for Plushgun at The Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale in New York with Andrew WK for a special all-ages show on December 28th.
Links:
plushgun.com
myspace.com/plushgun
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Let me throw out some numbers to impress you: 10 million records sold, 5 consecutive UK #1 albums, 4 Grammy Awards..... The Chemical Brothers needs no introduction. (Be sure to check my previous Chemical Brothers article for We Are the Night if you do need an introduction.)
Their second greatest hits album, Brotherhood (the first was Singles 93-03), they prove they are still the big beat techno kings with two brand new tracks, "Midnight Madness" and "Keep My Composure". I was doubtful, at first, for the new tracks, because I felt the intro to "Keep My Composure", was weak - however the song quickly turn amazing when Spank Rock did more rapping. "Composure" feels like "Galvanize", a mix between beats and rap - a sound that the Brothers seems to be heading towards.
Those are the two stand-out new tracks, but we shouldn't ignore the other 12 greatest hits tracks. Some of their best known songs are on here - unfortunately my favorite song, "Life Is Sweet", isn't on here. This is understandable because if you listen to their debut album, the song doesn't really have an ending (it just morphs into "Playground for a Wedgeless Firm").
I personally think that they are also known for their amazing music videos, with some of the most memorable video moments like the girl that keeps seeing skeletons ("Hey Boy Hey Girl"), a couple on the run from the law ("Block Rockin' Beats"), a singing fish ("The Salmon Dance"), that amazing train ride ("Star Guitar), etc. If you haven't seen their music videos, you need to do yourself a favor and look them up on youtube or something.
Brotherhood comes in two formats: a standard 15-track release and a deluxe package (which I recommend for fans), which comes with a bonus disc. The bonus disc contains 10 "Electronic Battle Weapons" tracks - these songs were available available on ultra rare DJ-White labels, but for the first time it's publically available with this release. Although it's kind of neat to hear some of the standard beats and loops that the Brothers use in their sets, I felt you had to be pretty big hardcore trance/dance fans to really appreciate this. After a while, forgive me for say, but it sounded all the same to me. It's still good though, like something you would put on when you're cleaning the house.
The sweet package also comes with lyric book containing all the singles cover artwork, but in duo-tones colors (like silkscreening art), and one postcard showing them on stage at Glastonbury.
If you're a Chemical Brothers fan, you definitely need to pick this album up, if only for the two new songs. The two songs made me very excited for what's to come for the Chemical Brothers. Brotherhood is available now from Astralwerks.
Links:
thechemicalbrothers.com
myspace.com/thechemicalbrothers
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08/01/08 Paragon Bar Seattle, WA
Discography
08/02/08 Illegal Pets Denver, Colorado 08/06/08 Double Door Chicago, Illinois 08/07/08 Highline Ballroom New York 08/09/08 Wrongbar Toronto, Ontario 08/10/08 La Sala Rossa Montreal, Quebec 08/12/08 Delancey New York, New York 08/14/08 Los Angeles, California 08/16/08 Uncle Fatties Chicago, Illinois
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So... you want "Dance Friday"? It's Friday, but I'm not sure if this would be the dance you're looking for.
Anyway, to get a head jump on the onslaught of August 5th releases, I have here Télépathique's full length Last Time On Earth from The Control Group.
The last time we saw the Brazilian techno/dance duo (Mylene and Erico Theobaldo) was for their 4-track EP, Love & Lust, which I was impressed with. I'm glad to see that all songs (minus the remix "Deja Vu") appears on their new album, including the Portuguese-language "Eu Gosto".
Starting with track 4, are the new songs. Track 4, "Telefunk", is a DJ song that revolves around a sample (I don't know the original song, but it sounds very familiar) with beats and various noises. No singing from the beautiful Mylene.
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The songs that Mylene sings on, which is practically 80% of the album, they're more than good. Of all the lyric-based songs, I was surprise to see that they had covered a Bryan Adams song called "I'm Not The Man You Think I Am", a song he wrote the song with Gretchen Peters for the movie Colour Me Kubrick in 2004.
I haven't heard Adams' version before, but a quick check on youtube, I was able to hear his version. While the original is typical Adams pop music, Télépathique manage to reinvent the song here, making it more respectable.
Incidentally, when I say "new" album, this album's actually been available in Brazil and the UK since 2006, but it's finally released in the US on August 5th. Note that the track listing have been reshuffled on the US version. Anyway, despite being two years old, it still sounds good and timeless. You can pick up Last Time On Earth at any online retailers.
Be sure to see them live, as they are making some rare US appearances.
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.
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Austin Leeds
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 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:
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 ] |
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Bayard Russell 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 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 ] |
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Icesixxx 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 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
The theme for these reviews are Singles and EPs. Reviewing singles and especially 1-track songs are fast and easy, because obviously I'm not vested in hours listening to a full length album.
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Saint Bernadette - I Wanna Tell You Something... W♥M favorites Saint Bernadette have a new EP called I Wanna Tell You Something... to be released March 17th (although the street date announced on their myspace is closer to March 4th). Please refer to my original article to read about the band. It looks like they (and EVERY other band!) are going to be playing at SXSW this year as well as a few unconfirmed dates. [ read more ] |
The Black Crowes - Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution I have The Black Crowes's Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution 1-track radio promo here. There's really not a whole lot to write about when you're just given one song to listen to. The good news is that if you like old The Black Crowes, this song sounds exactly like what they sounded like on their quadtriple southern blues/rock album, Shake Your Moneymaker - which is not a bad thing at all if you dislike change. [ read more ] |
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Télépathique Télépathique are a dance groove/big beat/DJ duo consisting of Mylene (who does all the vocals) and Erico Theobaldo (who handles all the drums, turntables, and various programming), based out of São Paulo, Brazil. I believe they are already a big hit throughout Europe and their hometown with their album Last Time on Earth (2006), but Americans will finally hear about them through their debut North American single: Love & Lust to be release March 18 on The Control Group. [ read more ] |
Arianna Solare - Book of Us
Arianna Solare, a singer from Los Angeles, California, released her debut EP called Book Of Us sometime late last year. Looking at her myspace, I thought she is a one-woman folk singer, but this EP has a full backing band of Angelo Vermuelen (guitars), Henrik Linde (bass), Chris Steele (drums), Brent Arnold (cello), and Dan Trollinger (piano). [ read more ] |
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Delorentos Delorentos are a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. It looks like they've released at least six singles/EPs and one debut album (In Love With Detail, 20 April 2007). They were kind enough to provided me with one song from their Basis of Everything EP. The song starts off really slow and quiet, but when it picks up (exactly at the 1 minute mark), it's pretty good. I definitely like the energy and the guitar work on the later half of the song. [ read more ] |
Goodtimes Goodtimes Goodtimes Goodtimes is basically Franc Cinelli, who plays something he calls "alt-folk". His debut album is called Glue (which I think was released in 2007), which I was only offered a few songs his website. Although he's Italian, he did grow up in London, so his songs only have a British accent. Between the four songs I have, I think with its jangly acoustic guitars, I liked "Kids" the best. [ read more ] |
02/25/2008 08:25:53
vu
my♥posts
weheartmusic.com
2007 TOUR
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I picked up this CD purely based on the album packaging. Let me explain it to you: There are some die-cut holes on the sleeve that changes depending on how you insert the interior sheet and CD cover. If you click on the album art displayed here, the two eyes are the die-cut holes.
I had no idea who MSTRKRFT were, but I figure the cover art and sleeve was cool enough that I was willing to give them a chance.
I was a little relieved that this band was actually pretty good. If you like rave/dance stuff, you'll probably enjoy this.
There's a couple of strong tracks on this album: "Work on You", "She's Good for Business", and "The Looks". "The Looks" seems to be the most commercially accessible of all the tracks, so I'll include the song here. It does get a bit repetitive, but I figure if you're on the dancefloor, you probably won't care.
There was some things that I've already concluded before I got confirmation from wikipedia:
- They're probably two DJ's, similar to such acts as The Chemical Brothers or Daft Punk. [CHECK]
- Name is probably pronounced "Masterkraft" or "Mysterykraft". [Answer: Masterkraft]
- They're probably Canadian, this information is based on their record label Last Gang Records in Montreal. [CHECK]
Additional information: The duo consists of Jesse F. Keeler and Alex Puodziukas. They're actually quite famous, I usually gauge these things by tags on Vox (seriously people, you need to start using your tags!) or doing a random search on The Hype Machine.
They have a new LP record coming out next month (July), although I couldn't find any information on this. I know they have a remix album, which probably collect all the songs that they've remixed (from such bands as The Gossips, Bloc Party and Annie), but according to their record company, it won't be released until September 2007.
By the way, the company that designed The Looks packaging is Seripop.
vu 
Links: www.mstrkrft.com
