Jam of the Day: Rainy Milo - "Deal Me Briefly"

Chet Faker produced track for the up and coming R&B star Rainy Milo. Her voice is gorgeous.

Video: Nine Inch Nails - "Came Back Haunted"

Watch the seizure inducing video for the Nine Inch Nails track "Came Back Haunted," directed by David Lynch.

Videos of the Week

It seems I am in pre-vacation mode this week as my brain is only functioning at 3/4 strength. Just going to get worse from here on out. Here are some videos that made my week less fuzzy:



First new track from the Pixies in nine years.



Re-amped video from Bloc Party.



Slightly NSFW video from The Weeknd.



Creepy video from Locrian.



Damaged rave clip from M.I.A.



Visually stunning clip from Disclosure.

New: Pixies - "Bagboy"

First new Pixies track in nine years.

Jam of the Day: Cyril Hahn ft. Shy Girls - "Perfect Form"

Throbbing dance track from producer Cyril Hahn featuring vocals from Shy Girls.

Non-Sequiturs

Beautiful pic.

Beefy daddy.

I think he needs his back scrubbed.

So cute.

Wet fur.

Damn.

Damn damn.

Sexy.

Ripped and wet.

Gorgeous.

Grrrrr.

Sexy chest.

LOL.

Lots of yummy fur.

So cute.

Dapper.

Dazzling.

Hmmmm.

Ginger loveliness.

UNF.

Drool.

Gorgeous fur and eyes.

Assume the position.

Sigh.

Handsome.

Big beef.

DOMA struck down this week and I bawled like a baby in my office. Never in a million years thought I would see this in my lifetime.

Prop 8 dismissed on a technicality, which means no over-arching decision on gay marriage, but at least it means marriages in California are now legal.

And in related news, Scalia go fuck yourself.

In more related news, if Thomas really was chewing gum during the announcement of the decisions, he does not need to be on the Supreme Court. That was severely disrespectful.

And in still more related news, Tim Huelskamp go fuck yourself.

This is so me....except I would have said "existing."

Common sense says that if I have not responded to your last 10 messages to me, it is highly unlikely I am going to respond to the 11th.

Someone commented on my relationship with a former friend, stating that he couldn't determine whether we were terrible friends or really great enemies. I thought it was a very apt description. Honestly, I have no ill will to the person, I just realized there was nothing to be gained from either of us remaining friends so opted to just bow out of it.

I want to see this exhibit so bad.

What is up with women wearing nude color shoes all of sudden? They look like they are wearing silly putty.

I had a blast two weekends ago at Peach Party here in Atlanta (Atlanta's version of a circuit party).  I think I am still recovering from all the fun.

At work, I really to remind myself that when I have my headphones on to remember whether my office door is open or not.

Amen sister.

Last time I checked alcohol was considered a drug.

While I really couldn't care less about the Paula Deen scandal, it amazes me how quick people were to pillory her for something that she admitted to saying 20 years ago. Do I think she is racist? Probably not. But I am sure all of us have things we have said in anger or stupidity 20 years ago too. Am I worried about Paula Deen? No. She's a millionaire, and once this has died down, she will continue to be a millionaire.

Not sure why this came up, but here are my Top Ten favorite Madonna songs (not in any order):

"Gone"
"Bad Girl"
"Give It To Me"
"Physical Attraction"
"Deeper and Deeper"
"Sanctuary"
"Drowned World/Substitute For Love"
"Music"
"Get Together"
"Heartbeat"

Strangely, the new Black Sabbath album doesn't suck.

Yep.

What is with the strange insistence on using Skype these days?

Cloud Atlas is a phenomenal movie. I need to see it again so I can catch all the stuff I missed the first time.

I really hate when there is a lull in work and I have nothing to do. Starts making me paranoid.

Why can't people just be honest?

How am I just figuring out that Jody Watley was in Shalamar?

Agreed.

It's amazing how many people I know that drop off the face of the earth when they start dating someone.

Some people need to have photoshop taken away from them.

Why is it I always want to get a tattoo during the summer, which is the worst time to get one?

Don't get me wrong, I can immerse myself in electronic music all day long, but sometimes I just need a guitar based album. Unfortunately, the new Lloyd Cole is not fitting the bill.

Shorts are never appropriate at a nice restaurant.

Your cute for the day.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"I was born with my back to the stars
Turn me over, I’d like to see
Here comes the morning to end our dream
Turn me over, I’d like to see
I was born with my back to the stars
Please see that they tell my truth
Please see that they tell my truth
So who’s your favorite superhero?
Or did we lose the fear?
Or maybe we just don’t need saving
But while we’re here
Could you tell me when the lights come on?
This does not feel like home
If it’s something that I paid for
It should be something that I own
So don’t we look pretty with nowhere to go?
It’s cool to be lonely, didn’t you know?
I think I’ll marry a stranger that I met online
It’s not that it’s not love, it’s just a sign of the times
Of the time
If only we could learn some patience
I’ll take a course
Or maybe we should split the money
Go straight for divorce
Could you tell me when we fall in love?
Or just write it down
Let me know if you find my feelings
Just if you see them around
So don’t we look pretty with nowhere to go?
It’s cool to be lonely, didn’t you know?
I think I’ll marry a stranger that I met online
It’s not that it’s not love, it’s just a sign of the times
Of the time
Oh, I need a feeling, I need a fix
To take me on driving, we could sleep in the stakes
It’s too much, too easy, long for the chase
I long for the gaps and the words, I long for the space
So don’t we look pretty with nowhere to go?
It’s cool to be lonely, didn’t you know?
I think I’ll marry a stranger that I met online
It’s not that it’s not love, it’s just a sign of the times
Of the time."

Until the Ribbon Breaks
"2025"

"Big Light
I was stuck in the ground
Trying to cover my eyes.
Trying to move all this light.
I spent all night
Trying to remember your face.
Like trying to get blood from a stone.
But there was nothing to save.
And no one to lie to.
And I watched as the bone dust hung in the sky.
Like a dim flock of endless prayers.
And I spent my days out chasing the wind.
Trying to turn gold from your hair.
But there was nothing to save
In the flux and decay
Of the changing winds."

Houses
"Big Light"

"When you come to me,
I'll question myself again;
Is this grip on life still my own?

When every step I take
Leads me so far away,
Every thought should bring me closer home.

And there you stand,
Making my life possible.
Raise my hands up to heaven,
But only you could know.

My whole world stands in front of me,
By the look in your eyes.
By the look in your eyes.
My whole life stretches in front of me,
Reaching up like a flower,
Leading my life back to the soil.

Every plan I've made's
Lost in the scheme of things.
Within each lesson lies the price to learn.

A reason to believe
Divorces itself from me;
Every hope I hold lies in my arms.

And there you stand,
Making my life possible.
Raise my hands up to heaven,
But only you could know.

My whole world stands in front of me,
By the look in your eyes.
By the look in your eyes.
My whole life stretches in front of me,
Reaching up like a flower,
Leading my life back to the soil."

David Sylvian
"Brilliant Trees"

Appealing Things

Andrew saying yes
oOoOO
A weekend full of sun and pool time
Woodkid
Fresh bread
Kill J
Edith Windsor
Wendy Davis

Annoying Things

Antonin Scalia, the most despicable person ever to sit on the Supreme Court
Steven Tyler working with Skrillex and Deadmau5
People who wear a belt with suspenders
Chatting with people who give you one word answers
Advertisements on YouTube

Jam of the Day: Kill J - "Phoenix"

Imagine that, another sexy piece of Scandinavian pop. Statuesque blond Kill J, with the striking haircut, provides us with this sleek jam.

Album Review: Zomby - With Love

Zomby
With Love
Rating: Grrrr

Enigmatic UK producer Zomby rose to prominence off the basis of two records, his 2008 rave-influenced debut Where Were You In 92? and 2011's darker more intimate record Dedication. His latest record, the double-album With Love is a bit of a head scratcher. Over a sprawling 32 tracks, Zomby swings back and forth between rave, drum and bass, minimalist techno, UK bass, and his latest fixation trap music, sometimes flowing into each other breathlessly, other times making jarring transitions and stops that can be frustrating. After 80 minutes, it can be an exhausting experience, and one that doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense, however, somehow it works in an oblique way. With Love is Zomby playing for Zomby and no one else. Whether or not you come along for the ride is obviously not a concern for the producer, as his endless tweets suggest he likes the antagonism his views and music provide.

With Love is a very dark, somber affair, rarely touching the technicolor day-glow rush of his earlier work. Tracks rarely exceed the 3:00 minute mark, most seeming like mere sketches that get their point across then either merge into the next track, fade out, or abruptly end. These are contemplative moments, more suited for the after hours comedown than the euphoria of an evening out. It is difficult album to grab hold of and figure out and, ultimately, it is impossible to figure out. Zomby either refuses to or doesn't care to give you any signposts as to what to do. But this obfuscation actually makes the record a success, at least in my mind. As you listen to these seemingly disparate tracks, it forces your brain to obsess and evaluate these tracks over and over again, finding subtle motifs that pop up again and again, like moving through a vast series of rooms each playing their own theme, and grasping snippets here and there, the overflow washing over you.

Zomby's palate has remained relatively unchanged over his career, preferring to remain beholden to squeltchy analog synths and 8-bit sounds on his more rave inflected tracks, and keeping a fairly minimal tone throughout the record, preferring to stick to two or three elements, letting them rub against each other before moving on to the next moment. Over the first three tracks which blister through in under 6 minutes, Zomby basically addresses his themes succinctly, from the jungle-esque rumble of "As Darkness Falls," two-step anthem "Ascension," and trap influenced "Horrid," showing what interests him at the moment.

His best tracks find him working with subtle, gorgeous melodies that propel the tracks. "Memories" is a stunner, its shuffling beats playing along with the pull of a haunting piano melody as harsher analog synths play with texture and mood. "Overdose" blasts rave synths and lightning quick drum programming against the wall, with echoes of decaying hardware playing like a long lost SOS signal.



"This One" is slinky, bass heavy track that sounds right at home at a sleazy after hours party, while "Vanishment" retains an icy vibe throughout, the sounds of the city and nature attempting to intrude on the journey home.

As the album progresses it gets darker and darker and less uniform. Zomby's forays into trap-influenced tracks finds him shying away from the release found in traditional trap music and has him focusing on its more sinister aspects. From the ink black "Digital Smoke," the lurching ominous strains of "Entropy Sketch," the lonely piano motifs that flow against the clattering trill of "I Saw Golden Light," and the echoing, cavernous black hole of "Sphinx," suggest that in Zomby's world is one that to be lost in is a perilous place.

With Love is too unwieldy and chaotic to be considered a masterpiece, but most likely buried within this sprawl is a brilliant long player. Akin to Aphex Twin's hard drive dump Drukqs, there is a lot of material to sift through, but the sheer quality of most of these tracks makes it impossible to ignore. Perhaps in time, the view of this record will change and it will make more sense in retrospect. With Love is a difficult record to love, a difficult record to listen to at times, but shows Zomby is a producer that can never be trifled with.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Jam of the Day: Woodkid - "I Love You"

Gorgeous track off his debut record The Golden Age.

New: Delorean - "Spirit"

First track off their upcoming record Apar.

Album Review: Alison Moyet - the minutes

Alison Moyet
the minutes
Rating: Grrrr

I am always dubious when a longtime artist returns with an album that borrows liberally from current trends in electronic music, as if it is last stab at relevance and market share. Of course, it is easy to forget that Alison Moyet began her career as half of the electronic duo Yaz, and has always dabbled with electronic music on her solo albums. the minutes, her first record since 2007's The Turn, is her first electronic-centric release since her Yaz days, and remarkably neither sounds like a cash grab nor some blind stab at what is current. Collaborating with Guy Sigsworth, formerly of Frou Frou and producer for Bjork, Madonna, and Britney Spears, Alison Moyet finds herself with one of her best, if not the best, records of her career; her voice still powerful and rich, with Sigsworth's productions aiding her delivery rather than just being something bright and shiny in the background.

You know things are different off the bat with the strings and muffled electronics of "Horizon Flame," Moyet's voice supple and deep, weaving in and out of the dense mix of keyboards.



Throughout the record there are nods to dubstep, from the push and pull of juggernaut "Changeling,"



the stuttering, squeltchy electronic landscape of "Apple Kisses,"



and the fierce, album highlight "All Signs of Life" that runs the gamut through dubstep and drum and bass.

Thankfully, Sigsworth and Moyet aren't slaves to one genre of music, making the minutes a stylistically varied experience, one that reveals its depths over time. There are epic tracks like the barnstorming "When I Was Your Girl" which features one of Moyet's most emotionally honest vocals,



"Love Reign Supreme" which travels in the same spritely electro-pop territory as The Postal Service,



and the stately electro-ballad "Filigree," Moyet's voice as regal as it has ever been.



the minutes was a huge surprise for me, as most of Moyet's solo records have been nice yet never really doing much other than providing bland musical backing for her powerful voice. Sigsworth seems to understand that power and works with it instead of not trying to come up against it. Providing more meat to the backing tracks actually makes her voice even more powerful. Welcome back Alison, we hope you and Sigsworth continue this fruitful partnership.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

New: Washed Out - "Don't Give Up"

Dreamy new track from the upcoming record from Washed Out, Paracosm.

Jam of the Day: William Arcane - "Departed"

If you combined the vocalist from Foals with James Blake you might happen upon a good description of William Arcane's sound. Lush electronics paired with soulful vocals bring this track to life.

Album Review: Kanye West - Yeezus

Kanye West
Yeezus
Rating: Grrrr

Despite Kanye West being one of the most controversial and egotistical artists of his generation, there truly is no denying that he is also one of the most brilliant producers out there, backing up his boldest statements and eccentricities with jaw-dropping backing tracks, never satisfied to do the expected. Following up his masterpiece My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy would be no easy task, and instead of repeating the maximalist tendencies of that record, he has changed directions entirely, moving back to the rigid structures of 808's & Heartbreak, making his harshest, most in your face record yet. It sounds like Kanye has been listening to acts like Death Grips, Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson for inspiration, and has practically made a proto-punk/industrial record. Beats are harsh and unforgiving while synths frequently are used aggressively and atonally. And once again, Kanye is definitely on his soapbox again, both politically and personally. It seems even being married and having a child has not tempered his views on relationships, seeing them as still rife with betrayal and negativity. While My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy kept to a consistent thematic conceit, here, Yeezus' whiplash changes in tone and viewpoint are frequently jarring which keeps it from reaching the high that was achieved with that landmark record.

With that said, however, Yeezus is still a breathtaking record. Opening with the Daft Punk assisted "On Sight," the album blazes forth with clattering drum programming and acid house synths that are a far cry from Daft Punk's Steely Dan-tinged new record, showing an edge that has been missing from them for awhile. Kanye spits his verses out with as much venom as possible.



Yeezus contains his harshest backing tracks ever, frequently going into speaker damaging territory, not afraid to be ugly or confrontational. From the air raid siren cacophony of "Send It Up,"



the dark electro of "I Am A God,"



or the rumbling, trap influenced "I'm In It," these tracks are fearless and intense.

Often, Kanye's vitriol meets up perfectly with his all out sonic assault. "Black Skinhead," which appears to draw influence from both Marilyn Manson and The Timelords, is another Daft Punk assisted track that bangs and clatters with breathless percussion, low synth rumbles, and Kanye commenting on race and modern culture, spitting out verses like "They see a black man with a white woman/At the top floor they gone come to kill King Kong."



"New Slaves" attacks racism, corporate consumerism, and the prison system with bile and venom, as the backing track moves from stark electronic dissonance into an outlandish, over-the-top finale.



There are a couple of missteps on Yeezus that keep it out of the running for another Kanye masterpiece. His puzzling use of Nina Simone's anti-lynching poem "Strange Fruit" to back his divorce tale "Blood On The Leaves" is out of place, and quite frankly insulting,



while closing track "Bound 2" appears to be his one concession at a radio-friendly hit that just feels completely out of place within the confines of this dark and haunted record.



Sonically, Yeezus is a marvel of aggression and harshness, perhaps one of the most anti-pop records ever released from a major artist. While on person level I find a lot of what Kanye does and says abhorrent, I have to give him respect for never doing the same thing twice and always going for broke with his music. I don't think you can ever say Kanye phones it in. While I can't put it on the same shelf as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, a couple of rungs below it is still high praise.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Video: Disclosure - "F For You"

Disclosure show off an intricate light/visual show in this clip for their slinky track "F For You."

New: Drake ft. Sampha - "The Motion"

New track released by Drake. Unsure whether it will appear on his upcoming record Nothing Was The Same, but hey, who cares? It's a new Drake track!

Jam of the Day: Until The Ribbon Breaks - "2025"

UK producer Pete Lawrie Winfield's Until the Ribbon Breaks project releases this haunting, skittering song that attacks a variety of cultural issues, framing them with a backing track that sounds like it is about to collapse upon itself. Bracing and thrilling.

Videos of the Week

Finally got my Internet back on so that I can actually post something. Here, after much exasperation, are my favorite videos of the week:



Gorgeously shot video from Fleur and Manu who directed the M83 videos.



Goofy and surreal video from Robyn ft. Snoop Dogg.



Super sad Local Natives track gets an equally super sad video. Get your tissues out.



The laundromat from hell in the new clip from The Postal Service.



Gorgeous video about what might have been.



Trippy video from noise merchants Fuck Buttons.

Jam of the Day: Sophie - "BIPP"

Sick.