In other news: I was sitting at my computer working on a remix of a T-Pain song, when I accidently kicked over my external hard-drive. It broke and I lost about a 120 gb of music. about 1400 albums. I’m working on trying to get the data recovered but all the price estimates have been upwards of 500 bucks. Le Shrill.

But at least this band Pivot is awesome! They’re an Australian band, who blend electronics and some twisted notion of post-rock together to form a really unique sound. It has the same engulfing effect that alot of electronic soundscapes can have, but instead of being drone or repetitive, an enormous amount of chord movement keeps the songs trudging foward.

Their first international release, “O Soundtrack My Heart” is a really solid album. The same sounds come up in different places all over the album, always implemented in different interesting ways. It’s music that’s just as rewarding to dissect, as it to sit back and relax with. The electronics have a immense prescence on the album, which at times can be frustrating, but the heavy rock riffs that come in on songs like “Sweet Memory” can pleasantly distracting from the technological side of the album.

Pivot – Fool in Rain

WFaNFC originally started in the UK as a studio project in 1999 between founding members, Phil Kay and Gary McClure. Although they’ve released a bunch of stuff in England, I’ve only been able to get my hands on Businessmen and Ghosts they’re most recent and only American release. They’re on Melodic Records which is a pretty cool record label with a bunch of solid indie and electronic bands like ARMS, Outputmessage, and Windmill. Although in a recent interview with the Daily Music Guide, WFaNFC expressed some pretty serious distaste with their label.

But drama and labels aside, WFaNFC has a knack for cranking out some pretty solid indie rock, with some songs suited for walking under a canopy of changing autumn leaves, and others more geared towards rocking out. But the one thing that WFaNFC always pays unbelievabley close attention to is the texture of their sound. That probably stems from the studio origins of the project and hours slaving away over a mixing board making sure that every track interacted perfectly with the others.

The songwriting takes a backseat to the textural focus of their music, but it is by no means ordinary. The delivery of the lyrics reminds me of some strange love child conceived by Pink Floyd and the Flaming Lips. The Lyrics are usually too low in the mix and too reverbed out to be comprehensible. The little snidbits that you can catch tend to be vague and dictated by the music. The texutre of their songs tends to dwarf the songwriting side of the project. Sometimes they let it shine through all the texture. On songs like, “Sarah Dreams of Summer” a pleasant folky current carries the Brian Wilson-esque harmonies. But ultimately what we see with WFaNFC is the impressive ability of a group of musicians to manipulate texture to convey a larger concept. The sounds themselves carry much more meaning than the words.

Working For a Nuclear Free City – Sarah Dreams of Summer

Working For a Nuclear Free City – Soft Touch

Working For a Nuclear Free City Myspace

Jazz has always fascinated me. When I was seven years old and taking piano lessons, I would randomly and rapidly move my fingers up and down the piano in an attempt to imitate the furious piano solos of the jazz records my father would play. The thing I love about jazz is the specificity involved in its most spontaneous moments. A jazz musician needs to be able to hear a certain interaction between harmony and melody and be able to execute it flawlessly in a heated improvisation.

Although much more recent, my fascination with electronics is equally intense. I love how everything lands exactly in the right place, devoid of human error. Electronic music to me is like a painting with each part carefully placed on the canvas that is the sound-scape.

Triosk takes these fundamentals of jazz, marries them to a canvas of electronic music, and glazes the whole production in minimalist undertones. While the general movement and textures of the songs remain electronic for the majority of triosk’s work, the piano retains very important and unique presence in their songs. Triosk relies on the piano to ground the heavily abstracted layers of sound that they create. The piano is always mixed through clear and bright, acting as a landmark in a complex sonic forest.

Triosk is on the leaf label, the same label as Nancy Elizabeth, the lady from the last post. They fit quite nicely on this label, their sound being incidentally post-rock. It’s unpretentious and well composed, the kind of music that can only be created by people who know each other’s musical styles as well as their own. Unfortunately, citing artistic differences, Triosk recently broke up. I hate finding out about bands that don’t exist anymore. But their records have established a niche in my music library that no one else will be able to fill. It does the same thing that Do Make Say Think did for me when I was seventeen.

Triosk – Not To Hurt You

Triosk meets Jan Jelinek – On The Lake

Triosk Myspace

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Sorry about the long break between posts. I just moved back home from Montreal and things have been a little hectic. I’ll try to be better about keeping posts up to date.

http://deerhoof.cashmusic.org/

These links speak for themselves.

Perhaps the most entrancing aspect of the music is the vocal harmonies. The delicate grandiosity of the track “How Can I Stop” could draw comparisons to post-rock. After all, she is on the leaf label, home of several notable post rock bands like Efterklang and Triosk. “How Can I Stop’s” timid string swells behind harp phrases knit an intricate texture that seems to capture the landscape of a concept. Her vocals stand unharmonized for the first half of the track, making the initial sweep of harmony that much more intense.

My personal favorite track on the album is the first track, “I’m Like the Paper.” the melodic movement of Nancy Elizabeth’s voice swings through the chord changes effortlessly. the harmonies that come in halfway through the track are so natural and haunting that it’s impossible to not be completely memorized by the firm delicacy of her sound. There’s something almost Joanna Newsom-esque about the instrumentation (harp, strings, female voice). Much like Joanna Newsom, Nancy Elizabeth’s Sound is completely unique and completely undeniable.

Nancy Elizabeth – I’m Like the Paper

Nancy Elizabeth – How Can I Stop?

Before I start explaining why I dislike these recent releases, let me just make a disclaimer. Broken Social Scene is and probably always will be one of my favorite bands. You Forgot it in People, is one of the most perfect, inspiring, well-conceived, and rocking albums of ever. From the cascading textures of Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl to the raw locomotion of KC accidental, there are only a few albums that get me as excited as You Forgot it in People. Their self-titled follow up was not as unbelievable as “People” but it was still a strong album with some incredible stand out tracks like 7/4 shoreline and Superconnected.

Frontman Kevin Drew’s “Spirit If” lacks the collective energy present in previous Broken Social Scene recordings. If anything it acts as a guide to exactly what part of the Broken Social Scene sound Kevin Drew is responsible for. It’s interesting but unfortunately it has trouble standing on its own. It lacks the experimental ingenuity of tracks like KC accidental and Major Label Debut, two BSS tracks where Drew’s influence is unmistakable. However, it’s the foundation of his bandmates’ ideas that makes these songs so powerful. What we here on Spirit if… is Kevin Drew fronting the execution of his ideas performed by others. It’s good, honest indie-pop that pales in comparison to the conceptual approach of Broken Social Scene.

I actually like Brendan Canning’s recent release, “Something for all of us…” (what the fuck is up with these ellipses) much more than Spirit If… but it still struggles to reach that zenith that Broken Social Scene was always able to achieve so effortlessly. The first half of Chameleon is reminiscent of a Do Make Say Think tune, and Snowballs and Icicles could be an Elliott Smith song. Unfortunately these pleasant moments are countered by tracks like Churches on the Stairs, with a stupid funk bass line that underlines the guitar driven monotony of the track. The single off the album “hit the wall” is really boring. Alongside the track “Possible Grenade,” “Something for all of us…” can really start to sound like the lost By Divine Right (Canning’s side project to BSS) record. Again, like Kevin Drew’s “Spirit If,” “Something for all of us…” is fun to listen to, mostly just to pinpoint Cannings influence on older BSS records.

I feel bad criticizing these albums, but ultimately, I just really don’t want to listen to Broken Social Scene solo records (except for Jason Collett‘s “Idols of Exile” because that one rules). I want the old Broken Social Scene back, where all the ideas and influences of every member came together into the perfect sonic orgy.

I talked about a lot of tracks in the post so I’m just going to link Myspaces:

Brendan Canning

Kevin Drew

Broken Social Scene

Justice: We Are Your Friends

The initial introductory beat drop is pretty heavy on its own. The distorted, quarter note synths are quickly supported by a funky bass line and some kick drum and snare drum. At 1:50, there is a break where the vocal sample comes in on its own. A simple beat and some chord accompaniment make an appearance, but are quickly substituted for a huge beat drop at 2:50. So raw. It’s the kind of beat drop that the average college student can enjoy just as much as an ecstasy popping raver.

Lil Wayne: Dipset

Lil’ Wayne has 15 different secret recipes for making the perfect rap song. He’s not actually human anyway, so other rappers should really just stop even trying to mimic him. On the song “Dipset” off his mix tape “Da Drought” Lil’ Wayne opts for several beat drops interjected at intervals throughout the track. It gives a sense of renewal to every verse, like another drop on a rollercoaster. And you’ve got to admit there’s nothing better than hearing Wayne rap, “I’m so dipset, dip south baby / If they don’t like it n**ga fuck you with an aids dick” over a freshly dropped beat.

Cascada: Everytime We Touch

Ok, Ok. I know what you’re thinking: Philippe doesn’t know what he’s talking about, I’m never reading his blog again. If thats what it takes to acknowledge how awesome this beat drop is, than I’m fine with it. Pretty much everything about this song is unbearable except the synth sounds (I have a thing for distorted synthesizers) and the beat drop. The video is pretty funny too, but mostly the beat drop is the only redeeming thing about this song.

M83 – Sitting

This song has one of the strongest and most hypnotizing beats I’ve ever come across. After I first heard this song I listened to it at least a few times a day for a week. The first beat drop comes immediately after the introductory, “Let’s go.” Then again halfway through the track, we get another complimentary beat drop. It’s a really raw track that doesn’t try and be more complicated than it needs to be, and throws in two fantastic beat drops for good measure.

Aphex Twin – Come to Daddy

Perhaps the only thing scary than Aphex Twin’s song “Come to Daddy” is the accompanying music video. Shit is straight terrifying. The beat is dropped aggressively, and once it does drop, it gives you barely any room to breath, and if you’re watching the video to go along with it, you’re likely to hold your breath. Watch it though, it’s sweet.

The Bad Plus – Heart of Glass

This is a very different kind of beat drop, but definitely one of my favorites of all time. At the end, after all the deconstruction of Blondie’s wonderful pop track, “heart of glass” they drop into the grooviest facade the song has ever known (at 3:30 for you impatient people). It’s probably the most satisfying beat drop on this list.

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Sorry about all the different locations and stuff of the mp3′s and videos and stuff, I don’t have my hard drive with me so I can’t upload stuff straight from my library. Also, I want to make this kind of a series, that motivation will probably fizzle away with a thesis coming up in the fall, but hey! you never know.

What’s so fascinating about Grime is the bizzare delivery of the lyrics. It’s all in English, but British English. Violent lyrics in America have ultimately become empty threats. We’ve become accustomed to hearing every other rapper boast about how they’re going to rip you apart with their laser sighted uzis. When was the last time you heard a British man threaten that? The East-London underground sound keep the lyrics rooted and realistic. Since Grime has yet to be completely swallowed by the American mainstream (Save artists like Dizzee Rascal), The underground weight coupled with the accent reinvents American rap clichés, bringing back the gravity of the violent lyrics.

Possibly my favorite thing about Grime that keeps me listening to it past the initial, “Woah, British rap,” is the beats and production. Grime beats are known for their minimalistic, repetitive, and experimental tendencies. And with the surplus of Drum n’ Bass and Techno DJ’s in Europe there’s no shortage of innovative electronic musicians and producers over there. (Check out the Plastician Track for a song off of a DJ’s album.) Take “I’m Not One of Them,” the opening track on Dot Rotten’s new album, “R.I.P. Young Dot.” The thirty second intro of synth experiments and tribal drum deconstruction drops into a heavy, repetitive beat, with the weird synth theme staying in the back of the mix for the whole time. The production isn’t flashy. In fact, as the name of the genre might suggest, it’s really Grimey.

Another thing that distinguishes Grime from American Hip-hop is the flow of the rappers. ‘I Violate Cause I’m A Sinner,” the fourth track on Dot Rotten’s “This is the beginning Mixtape” is a classic example of Grime flow. The strange beat that carries the album makes the highly syncopated inflection of Dot Rotten even more extreme. The flow seems to take its influences from hip hop from Jamaica and other islands, like Guadalupe and Haiti. It just doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be American Hip-hop, instead it asserts itself through flow and beats.

Dot Rotten – I Violate ‘Cause I’m a Sinner

Dot Rotten – I’m Not one of Them

Dot Rotten – Dont Chat Shhhhh

Plastician – Real Things (Ft. Chronik & Skepta & Tempa T & Frisco & Esco)

Myspaces:
Griminal
Dizzee Rascal
Wiley
Kano

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Sorry about the break between posts, my boy came up to Montreal for the weekend and I wasn’t really on my computer that much. you should really check out Becca’s recent blog post because it’s hilarious. In response to her brilliant Cher videos, I’m going to post one of my favorite classics:

Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Another note: my friend is trying to win this pretty important contest to become the offical blogger for a fashion magazine here in montreal: go vote for her here!

Take the track, “I can’t tell in his eyes.” It’s a fundamentally pleasant track, content in its simplicity. but there isn’t nearly as much movement as the other tracks on their 2007 release, “Heartcore.” It’s an honest attempt at applying their sound to a pop song, but in the end, there is no reason that they should even try and contain themselves within pop. The wonderful thing about Heartcore, is its infectious rhythms and the turbulent vocal movement that makes you grab on to the arm rests of your seat.

The presence of tonal instruments (other than the voice) on the album is minimal. It’s obvious that they had the objective of making a very simple and human album. The result is a body of work that relies on human inflection, error, and feel, instead of the timbre of the instruments present.

It’s impossible to talk about Heartcore without talking about the blues influence on the album. Songs like, “Bird,” “Doubt/Hope,” and “The ones that should save me get me down,” are all essentially vocal blues runs over a beat. It’s at these moments when Wildbirds and Peacedrums are at their best, when the two performers are completely unobstructed by equipment, or the concept of producing a song to perfection. The album is a rollercoaster for me, sometimes getting me really excited about the littlest things and than twisting their formula in a way that’s not completely comfortable. But an album shouldn’t always be a realm of comfort. So I’m ok with a bit of discomfort.

My fear about this band is that they will evolve like Regina Spektor. Start with something really interesting and engaging like 11:11 and move into something brutally accessible and watered down like Begin to Hope. This album shows that their range of influences is wide enough to keep making original and challenging music, but the next album they put out, is certainly going to have a huge impact on whether I continue to follow them or not.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Doubt/Hope

Wildbirds & Peacedrums – The Ones That Should Save Me Get Me Down

There’s a long list of influences present here: neo-classical, minimalism, electronic, rock&roll, indie, blues, etc. The repetition associated with minimalism is probably the most apparent and obvious influence, but unlike minimalist composers, they don’t create movement through the texture of repetition. Instead they’ve defined a unique texture through their unique playing styles and equipment, and make music that sounds like an exploration of their own textural globe. But if they always stayed in that little bubble, they wouldn’t be that much fun to listen to. To compensate for what seems like sometimes restrained instrumentals, Sian Alice’s voice orbits around their sound. Her stoic, controlled, and sometimes creepy delivery tastefully ornaments the sound of the Sian Alice Group.

Take the fifth song on the album, Contours. The composition itself is actually quite simple, consisting mostly of a simple chord progression circumscribed in octaves. Even the driving drum beat that comes in two minutes deep into the song, does little change the feel. But every time Sian Alice’s voice comes into the mix, it seems that all the instrumentation around her is just a frame for her sound.

Another highlight of the album is the album’s last song Complete Affection. It’s the only time throughout the entirety of the album where I felt the instrumental aspect of the band was completely unreserved. A strong pulse is absent, and an unspecific chord progression is loosely followed. What’s important here is the dynamic mapping of this last song. The group gets loud and soft together; sometimes one instrument contrasts by announcing itself during a quiet section, or backing off during a loud one. On this last track, the band sounds aware of itself as a collective, thinking with one unified mind, and pursuing a common purpose of sound.

Sian Alice Group – As the Morning Light

Sian Alice Group – Complete Affection