This is fine.
Prior to the Feb. 16th release date of their new album, Gorilla Manor, Cali band Local Natives are streaming the whole thing right now on NPR. We’ve checked out most of the album already and can honestly tell you it’s worth a listen. Leave your thoughts if you feel so inclined. The band will also be in town during our fancy SXSW festival in March.
Sweden’s Labrador Records have a stranglehold on all things Swedish pop, and I’m grateful for it. Just recently they released a new Radio Dept EP, which features several of the songs off the bands upcoming album Clinging to a Scheme. Not much is really known about the record at this point, other than it should hit during the Spring. This track, “David,” has a sort of shoegaze-synth-pop-croon to it, and everything just sort of moves along from there. You’ll be digging this track all day long.
Download: Radio Dept – David [MP3]
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By now, surely everyone has his or her expectations of what a Hot Chip record should sound like. You’ve got the club bangers, and you’ve got the geek-tronica that makes you questions just why you’re moving to and fro. Their fourth album, One Life Stand, sees the band doing much of the same, yet they finally honed their craft enough to create an album with very few imperfections.
One of the record’s longest songs, “Thieves in the Night” kick off the whole affair. While the beats remain catchy, they aren’t as in your face as you’ve found on previous efforts, which actually propels the song along without letting the listener grow tired of redundant house beats. You can follow that up with another similar tune, “Hand Me Down Your Love,” where the electronic elements actually aren’t forcing you to dance at all, yet you can tap your feet along just as well. It’s reminiscent of Erasure (or Republic era New Order), a band who wrote love songs that could just as easily be enjoyed lyrically as you could dance to them. This is sort of the story of One Life Stand; it’s no longer about creating great dance tunes, but just great tunes period, which Hot Chip does for the most part.
Middling point kind of dies down the minor tempo, slowing it down just a bit further. The trifecta of “Brothers,” “Slush” and “Alley Cat” all take a step back from focused electronica in favor of fleshing out complete songs, albeit ones that include electronic components. “Alley Cat” is possibly the best of the three tracks, due mostly to the fact that the band has composed such songs without going too far out with their experimentation. In the past, the usage of too many elements often busied certain tracks, rendering them irritating upon repeated listens; this is no longer the case. The away the created “Alley Cats” leaves the perfect amount of room where it should be, whilst still including certain touches for the die-hard Hot Chip fan.
Closing out the album, Hot Chip go back to where you want them, hitting you with the edgier “Take It In.” It’s a dark number, but then it opens up in the middle, bringing you back to the light. It sort of encapsulates the whole of One Life Stand. You’ve got some electronic fused tunes kicking up the pace in the beginning, only to sort of relax and leave room for sitting back in the middle of the record. You can’t argue with such an ending, and you don’t need to do it, as the group has clearly closed the record in the most appropriate way.
Throughout the years, we’ve watched Hot Chip tinker with their own recipe of electro-pop. Finally, they’ve made enough breakthroughs, as well as missteps, to have landed upon what seems to be their final recipe. It’s hard to imagine that they’ll create much better than One Life Stand; of course, we can always hope they take the lessons learned and push even further into their development of great electronic music.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Hot-Chip-Take-It-In.mp3]Download: Hot Chip – Take It In [MP3]
We all braved the cold winter night for a chance to catch Bowerbirds and Julie Doiron Saturday night. Luckily, the wintery weather seemed suitable for the music, and with Lone Stars in hand, we caught a solid set from the North Carolina crew. Follow the jump for the full review.
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A very special Daytrotter session went up today featuring the lo-fi hit makers No Age. The in studio is a special one because the band plays nothing but unreleased material. Head to the site to check out the 3 song set, including this jam “N.G.F.S.” which was previously only heard in the live setting.
Download: No Age – N.G.F.S. [MP3]
Once again New York hits right at my heart, now offering me the great sounds of The Octagon. They’ve released their latest album, Warm Love and Cool Dreams Forever, on Serious Business Records, but I have a feeling not too many people have heard much from this group yet, but that should change soon. The group has the ferociousness of old punk tunes with a lot of lo-fi tendencies, which might recall a little bit of Guided by Voices. You can even grab a free EP from the group with several B-Sides HERE.
Download: The Octagon – Radio Days [MP3]
Portland band A Weather are busy prepping their new sophomore album Everyday Balloons out March 2nd on Team Love. Prior to the release, the band has made this new tune “Giant Stairs” available as a preview. We digs it.
Download: A Weather – Giant Stairs [MP3]
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Finally the time has come for the release of the much anticipated follow up to All Hour Cymbals, and Yeasayer has switched it all up for you with the newest release, Odd Blood. Where they once dabbled in world music with a hint of electronic elements, they have turned the tables, choosing instead to go with electronic music that takes aim at taking over the world. Your first listen might not offer too much, as this is a listen that requires several listens to completely unfold what lies beneath.
“The Children” opens up the album with some gothic samples that recalls old industrial music from the eighties, and the dark auto-tuned vocals keep the mood quite eerie, but there are some moments of lightness, which set the tone for the rest of the album.
We then come to the spectacular “Ambling Alp,” the band’s first single off Odd Blood. You wouldn’t be too far off if you didn’t notice some resemblance to Animal Collective, at least in the usage of samples, but the vocals don’t seem as intrusive as the latter band. Really, this song is all over the place, which is perhaps why it’s so charming after repeated listens.
For the next three tracks you get transported immediately back to the eighties with Yeasayer. This isn’t an entirely bad thing, as the group doesn’t in their own particular way, incorporating more of their tribal meets world music instrumentation to the tunes. The opening moments of “Madder Red” as the vocals kick in just bring pure ecstatic joy, and “ONE” is just wonderful. I love the way they play with the vocals, and then bounce right into the dance elements for the chorus. All these songs benefit from the fact that there are extemporaneous elements all over the place, which makes the spin on such music more diverse than most of their modern-day equivalents.
When you come to the latter half of Odd Blood, you’ll find that the energy isn’t as fast paced as the early part of the record. It feels as if the band is rushing themselves, especially when you come to songs like “Mondegreen,” a song full of horns and rhythmic vocal displays, but the elements here don’t seem to be as cohesive as they were on the early half. Those extra touches that added so much to the first six songs sort of dissipate; this is something that causes the second half of the record to seem a bit less powerful than the first.
Throughout its duration, Odd Blood is full of so many different twists and turns that you have to give the band credit for being so exploratory in their efforts. It might not be the most complete album the band will make, but it demonstrates that Yeasyer are willing to push themselves, and their listeners, towards a maximum musical listening experience. Cheers to that.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/01-Ambling-Alp-1.mp3]Download: Yeasayer – Ambling Alp [MP3]
It’s Friday night. Whether or not you are the host of a party, en route to a social gathering, or made sure to pack a few extra bucks to load up the bar jukebox; you have a few songs in mind that are gonna be played. Everyone has their own fist pumping, head rocking, “make up your own dance moves” go-to tracks that you know everyone will dance to without shame. The following are a few songs that will make you dance your pants off, with or without liquid courage. Follow the jump for the full list (in no particular order).
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Friday is a great day for some indie-pop, especially from Philly band Free Energy. This new tune “Hope Child” will appear on the band’s upcoming album Stuck On Nothing due out March 9th on DFA. Hooray!
Download: Free Energy – Hope Child [MP3]
