The State of the Mash-Up, pt. 1

I’m thoroughly tired of all those year and decade lists, and I’m sure you are too. Now it’s time to move onto something else. Back in October 2009 I saw Neon Indian live at the Magic Stick. It was a decent show despite the relatively small audience. Luckily Alan Polomo’s debut under that name hasn’t gotten played out — especially now that I have a copy in lossless audio. With my new super-powered, sound-reducing headphones, it’s a transcendent listening experience!

I’ll include a few low-res videos from the show below, but that’s not what I intend to talk about here. I want to take a look at the current state of mash-ups. I think it’s still a viable way to make music, and it’s fitting for the ongoing proliferation of digitized culture. But most of the best mash-up artists get barely any attention. Girl Talk got so popular that it made the whole idea seem like a fad. Part of the problem is that there isn’t just one way to make a mash-up. Girl Talk’s Gregg Gillis claims he’s “playing his laptop,” as if it were an instrument in itself. What he’s really doing is picking and choosing bits of songs that he cuts up in advance, and the on-stage mixing is done with DJ software.

Read more…

Tags: amanda blank, deadbeat summer, magic stick, mash-ups, neon indian, no reason, psychic chasms, terminally chill, the hood internet

A Step Forward, While Spinning in Circles

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!

Tags: bright like neon love, cut copy, neon indian, psychic chasms