Posted by Nick Meador on Oct 26, 2009 in MP3s, News
Well 2009 refuses to let up in the New Release department, and my iTunes library is hunching under the weight of all the new additions. One pleasant surprise was the discovery that Easy Star All-Stars have released their third reggae remake album. If you’re not familiar with the group’s work, they’ve made a name for themselves with a reggae tribute album for both Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (which they called Dub Side of the Moon) and Radiohead’s OK Computer (which they called Radiodread).
Audio: “A Day In The Life” by Easy Star All-Stars
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After picking two of the most popular British albums of all time, it’s no wonder that they chose the Beatles for their third outing. Whether or not they selected the best Beatles album to transform into reggae is up for debate. I’d argue that the result could have been more gripping with Magical Mystery Tour or even Revolver. Regardless, I’m sure I’ll be blasting Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band next time I’m on a beach.
Part of the fun here lies in the fact that these albums aren’t completely terrible. After all, there are so many crappy tribute albums in the world, and so few that add anything worthwhile or stand on their own strength. I wrote a column in NOISE Magazine a year or two ago about Radiohead tribute albums. Yes, I did manage to find five different tributes to Thom Yorke & Co — but Radiodread was the best by far.
The best thing about the Pink Floyd one was that Easy Star had plenty of room to breathe, and that was true when taking on Radiohead, too. The songs from those albums aren’t too quick or too tightly arranged. The same can’t be said for Sgt. Pepper’s; it’s a buttoned-down British pop album at the core, no matter how groundbreaking it was. I think that aspect is responsible for the less experimental nature of the Easy Star version. There are two “extended dub mixes,” but otherwise there is minimal use of echoes and decorative noise — in other words, the stuff I like the most!
While I’m writing, I thought I would mention that I’m preparing a wrap-up of music from across the ten-year span of 2000-2009. I’ll have a list of my favorite 200 albums of the decade — hopefully including a multimedia feature with song clips and album art. Stay tuned!
Posted by Nick Meador on Oct 19, 2009 in MP3s, News
I feel dumb for not having written about Neon Indian yet. I should have done it back in August when I first heard about this Texas solo project. Now the indie music press are sounding the alarms every which way they can. I don’t know the name of the musician, despite every synopsis of the album implying that he’s been around before. I just know that he’s from Austin, TX, and he writes swirly electronic dream pop. Of course “dream pop” denotes something different than what’s actually going on here, because I’m describing a feeling, not a certain kind of sound.
But like I said, I heard the debut album Psychic Chasms at the end of August, even though it was only officially released last week. Although I don’t feel bad — this album is an absolutely perfect soundtrack for the bittersweet days at the end of summer. After a few casual listens, it mysteriously jumped to secure a spot in my top five favorite albums of the year. It’s catchy, it’s slightly heart-wrenching, and it’s very addictive.
Audio: “6669 (I Don’t Know If You Know)” by Neon Indian
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On the down side, it’s really, really short; there are only about 33 minutes to love. Between the quick running length and the unfinished feel of the songs, Chasms seems to be more of an introduction that a fully accomplished recording.Then again, Neon Indian is more an accomplishment of honing a specific sound than anything else. And he’s not the only one knee-deep in this business (I’ll have more on those artists soon. I’m not giving away any secrets just yet!).
It’s tempting to call this music nostalgic, but there are so many feelings and ideas crossing paths here that it deserves a more complicated description. The music is intentionally made to sound warped like a cassette tape that has seen too many flips in the stereo. I realize that many under the age of 23 probably haven’t experienced cassette tape playback. Any medium that relies on magnetic tape was fundamentally flawed, but in this age of digital sterilization, flaws seem more… lifelike.
Neon Indian certainly has antecedents in this decade, but the first artists that come to mind is Hall & Oates and Wham! Yeah, the cheesiest of cheesy soft rock from the late ’70s through the end of the ’80s (and you thought all ’80s styles had been revived…). Neon Indian actually evokes specific tracks from these artists, most notably “Last Christmas” from Wham!’s 1986 album Music From The Edge Of Heaven. And I hate to say that, because I really feel like this artist represents a step forward in lo-fi indie elecronica, especially of the American variety.
All throughout this decade, we’ve watched American (or North American…since I’m thinking of Toronto and Brooklyn) indie rock bands do alright, but still, scenes and styles around the world have flourished much more. I’m specifically referring to Sweden, France, and the U.K. And most of the good stuff in those places had at least some electronic component to the music. So now America has Flying Lotus doing the hyphy thing over in L.A., which represents a bridge to the U.K., since most of that sound is happening in London.
But Neon Indian may turn out to represent another American musical budding. The coolest name I’ve heard for it on the Internets is “New Weird America.” I mean, if I was an artist, I’d rather be described as that than “synth pop” or “psychedelic.” Those genres come with so much baggage. Of course “new weird america” was just a tag I saw attached to some artist on a music site somewhere (“chill wave” and “gvbcore” were among the others). But I like the idea that what used to be genres and subgenres are now just tags used to sort music online. They finally have some concrete purpose!
Audio: “That Was Just a Dream” by Cut Copy
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Getting back to the story… I mentioned that Neon Indian also seems to take after music from this decade. There is a short moment where Atlas Sound comes to mind on “I Should Have Taken Acid With You.” Otherwise the most distinct connection is to Cut Copy’s very underappreciated 2006 album Bright Like Neon Love. And trust me — the fact that the word “neon” was used by both of these artists is NOT a coincidence. They both create solar flares in your brain and light up parts of your heart you had tried to keep inactive. Wake them both up again (your brain and heart, that is) and kick ‘em into full gear. We’re heading into a new decade. This is about to get really interesting!
Neon Indian plays at the Magic Stick on October 28, but it’s now listed as a cafe show on their website. That means he’ll probably be playing in the pizza shop area on the main floor, in front of all the huge windows. I don’t know what they were thinking booking shows in that spot. It’s not a venue, nor should it ever be treated as one. Keep the music upstairs, dammit!
Posted by Nick Meador on Oct 15, 2009 in News, Videos
I’m back from my travels around this big hunk of land we call America (or North America, depending on your style). One of the only things I missed about “home” while on the road trip was writing, or having the time and energy to sit down and compose something (I did journal plenty, but that’s different). So this is a quick post just to get back in the flow of things.
Yesterday I caught wind of a fan video made for the song “Beginner’s Falafel” by Flying Lotus. Strangely, it made me miss music videos. I haven’t seen hardly any music videos this year. I guess I never see enough of them. Even back in the MTV days, I wasn’t willing to watch the late night blocks to catch the not-absolutely-annoying vids (as opposed to the trash on TRL in the afternoon). I know most bands put their music videos on their MySpace page nowadays, but I still only catch a few a year.
This isn’t even an official music video, but I’d like to see more from creator Oliver Brooks. He used a cheesy Star Wars rip-off (an old Italian movie with a 3.1 rating on IMDb) and made it all gooey and glitchy, with moments that seem filtered through classic red and blue 3D glasses. Of course it fits FlyLo’s sound impeccably. See for yourself (and try not to get completely addicted).
- The Ruminant Bant by Fruit Bats
- Logos by Atlas Sound
- Psychic Chasms by Neon Indian
- Eyelid Movies by Phantogram
- East of Eden by Taken by Trees
- Ephemeral Exhibits by Starkey
- Immolate Yourself by Telefon Tel Aviv
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