James Ellis Ford - "I Believe In You"

 

Producer extraordinaire James Ellis Ford (Artic Monkeys, Beth Orton, Depeche Mode) and member of Simian Mobile Disco put together his latest record Lost In Another World while being treated for leukemia. It's a ruminative, personal record about his cancer journey. "I Believe In You" is a haunting, atmospheric track.

Jam of the Day: Jessie Ware - "Adore You"

Jessie Ware returns with this sleek deep house track co-written with Metronomy's Joseph Mount. Mount also produced it and mixing was done by Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford.

Jam of the Day: Jessie Ware - "Overtime"

Produced by Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford and Bicep's Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar, Jessie Ware's new single "Overtime" is a return to her dancier roots. This is late night, bass-heavy club track that is a wonderful earworm. Jessie has indicated her new record will be more in this vein and I, for one, am pleased to hear that.

Videos of the Week

You know you have been waiting for it all week, here are my favorite videos:



Yes, you can see Shia LaBeouf's dick.



Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. Such a hypnotic video.



Post-apocalyptic motorcycle battles from Twin Shadow.



Suntanning adventures of a mannequin.



Bizarre, expressionistic video from the Swedish chanteuse.

Video: Simian Mobile Disco - "Your Love Ain't Fair"

Interesting clip full of lamps, lights, and bulbs.

Album Review - Simian Mobile Disco: Unpatterns

Simian Mobile Disco
Unpatterns
Rating: Grrrr

Producers/remixers James Ford and James Shaw, a.k.a. Simian Mobile Disco, have not exactly followed any direct path in their musical career. Amid the hype of Justice and other electro-house producers, Simian Mobile Disco released their debut Attack Sustain Decay Release, which took a more acid house/techno approach than their contemporaries, relying on older, analog equipment to give their sound some warmth. Follow up Temporary Pleasures was a bit of a misfire, attempting to make a more radio-friendly pop album, using a variety of guest singers, which just made their sound muddled and indistinct. 2010's Delicacies was a return to form, if you will, though again, they switched up sounds, putting out a series of lengthy tech-house bangers. While it was more of niche genre they infiltrated, it was one they did with style. New album Unpatterns broadens the scope a bit, moving to outright house and techno, but again doing so with their inimitable style firmly in place.

There is a definite ebb and flow to the pace of the record, which never hurries nor dawdles. The beautiful, haunting rise of warm analog synthesizers merges well with a multitracked and manipulated vocal sample on opener "I Waited For You."



The shuffling rhythms of "Cerulean" get bolder and more insistent, keeping up with the burbling electronics, and slight air of menace underneath.



"Seraphim" returns to the feel of the opening track, synth strings enveloping a lush vocal sample, before an army of gorgeous analog synths take things over.



The album highlight is "A Species Out Of Control," taking its cues from a more industrial influence. Icy and hard edged synth blasts fight against one another as a pulsing rhythm pushes the track out on the dancefloor. The track can be heard here.

"Interference" is a deliciously retro techno track; silky drum programming underneath a wild array of wonky synthesizers. The track can be heard here.

"Put Your Hands Together" builds another house track with another vocal sample repeated like a mantra over a throbbing four to the floor beat.



Had the album ended here it would likely, for me, have been a near masterpiece. The flow and pace of this part of the record is practically flawless, Ford and Shaw in perfect control of where the record is headed, and flooding the ears with amazing melodies and sounds. The remaining 3 tracks, while not disasters, just don't have the same feel and slow the dynamics down some. "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" is mired in its difficult techno wrappings, the arrhythmical drum programming and synths fighting too much against one another. "Your Love Ain't Fair" fares better, though the erratic vocal sample lacks the pull and charm of the earlier samples, and again, seems to fight against the flow of the track. And the album closes out with "Pareidolia," a meandering techno track with water torture drum programming and glitchy electronics that ends things on a rather obtuse note.

Despite the eventual running slightly off the rails of the last 3 tracks, the first 6 songs more than make up for these sputterings. Unpatterns definitely advances Simian Mobile Disco's sound and reveals Ford and Shaw as cunningly imaginative electronic artists. If this album sheds light on their future, it is indeed going to be a bright one.

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: Simian Mobile Disco - "Put Your Hands Together"

Delicious tech house track from Simian Mobile Disco's upcoming album Unpatterns.

Videos of the Week

Here is a roundup of videos that popped my cherry:



More luscious R&B from The-Dream.



Stark and haunting imagery in this Shearwater video.



The visuals in this clip work perfectly with the music.



Cute, animated clip for the Belle And Sebastian cover of The Primitives "Crash."



Intense clip from the always in-your-face Death Grips.

Video: Simian Mobile Disco - "Cerulean"

Really cool, calming video for the song "Cerulean" from Simian Mobile Disco's new album Unpatterns. The video reminds me of old Atari games.

Klaxons: Landmarks of Lunacy

Klaxons
Landmarks of Lunacy
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

The end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 has seen a flurry of bands releasing free music, from Gorillaz releasing a full album and M.I.A. putting out a mixtape, and now Klaxons releasing an EP of 5 songs. The songs were recorded in 2008 with James Ford, of Simian Mobile Disco, during sessions that were scrapped for the follow up to their debut album Myths of the Near Future.  Prior to those sessions, Klaxons had already recorded a full set of songs influenced heavily by dubstep, prog rock, and psychedelia, that their label refused to release as being "too experimental."  Apparently, the sessions with Ford were intended to bring their sound back down to earth, however, the usual "creative differences" were cited and Klaxons moved on to Ross Robinson, and Surfing the Void was the end result.

Because it is such a short EP, I have tackled each of the songs individually and provided a link to the songs to listen to as well.  At the end of the review, there is also a link to Klaxons website where you can download the entire EP for free if you like what you hear.



"The Pale Blue Dot," has a lovely vocal and meandering guitar part, which erupts into a muted metal riff, which echoes the direction they would take with Robinson on Surfing.  The lyrics, as in most of their songs, are an indecipherable mishmash of Sci-Fi themes, but are still gloriously goofy.



"Silver Forest" picks up the tempo a bit, featuring an intertwined guitar motif that flows in and out of the verses.  The song features some lovely harmonies, and a slight psychedelic feel.  Strangely, most of the songs seem to veer far away from their original "nu-rave" sound, and almost forgo keyboards altogether.



"Ivy Leaves" is the moody centerpiece of the EP, with the guitars droning over a hushed, muffled drum pattern and washes of organ, slowly building into a cavern of gorgeous noise.



"Wildeflowers" sounds almost like a funeral march, with somber drumming, pianos and organs, buffeted with 50s Sci-Fi synths.  Jamie Reynold's vocal is particularly fragile and haunting.



"Marble Fields" is the longest song on the EP, clocking in a just over 7 minutes, and sounds the most like Klaxons from Myths, with a reverb heavy guitar part, fuzzy drone bass, and bar-room piano.  Again, the lyrics make little to no sense, which is still part of their charm.  The chorus is one of their best, almost a sing-a-long.

Based on these 5 songs, it was an interesting time for Klaxons.  Unusually subdued, the tracks are all fairly somber and mid-tempo, showing none of the dance floor influence of Myths nor the hard-edged experimentation of Surfing.  You can definitely sense that band really had no idea where to head with their sound.  Landmarks of Lunacy is an intriguing listen based on the differences between their first two albums.  An even more intriguing listen would be to hear the unreleased "experimental" songs to see how drastically different they turned out to be.

Download the EP at the Klaxons website: http://klaxons.net/

Rating Guide

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 albums of the year.

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

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

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.

Mini-Reviews Part Trois

Simian Mobile Disco
Delicacies
Rating: Grrrr

After the debacle that was their sophomore release, Temporary Pleasures, which showed them trying to put far too many guests into the mix, Simian Mobile Disco return to form with the lengthy Delicacies. Each song is named after a bizarre gastronomical delicacy, which seems appropriate given the tracks are meant for a decidedly discerning crowd; most tracks push the 8+ minute mark, and are mostly deep house or tech house bangers. Luckily, this suits them far greater than their attempt to appeal to everyone on the last album.

Teengirl Fantasy
7AM
Rating: Grrrr

Another in a long line of bands that are basically unclassifiable. You would be right if you put them in with the chillwavers, deep housers, dream poppers, or even the Animal Collective-like experimenters, and you would be right, and also very wrong. They mix a variety of influences together into their own sound, basically making whatever kind of track they like at the moment, from the R&B sampling "Cheaters," the video game 8-bit ping pong of "Floor to Floor," or the deep house of "Koi Pond." 7AM is a stunning debut.

PVT
Church With No Magic
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Although they used to be known as Pivot, the Australian band ditched the vowels and now are known simply as PVT. Apparently, they also streamlined their sound from the dense post-punk with electronic flourishes of their previous albums and have almost fully embraced their electronic side. Most of the songs on Church With No Magic are instrumentally based, and based on their video for single "Window," the songs are intricately arranged such that one piece missing would destroy the entire effect. The dense soundscapes lack the playfulness of similar band Battles, instead choosing to lean towards a more alienating and anxious feeling. For this reason, the album is difficult to love but very easy to appreciate. With a little more variety of sounds, it will make for a more enjoyable listen.

John Roberts
Glass Eights
Rating: Grrrr

Gorgeous and stark, John Robert's Glass Eights could be the direction that Talk Talk eventually merged into, taking free form organic textures and melting them with electronic sounds. Similar to James Blake, Roberts takes the base of house music and dubstep and introduces ghostly piano, acoustic bass, shards of R&B vocal samples and creates an amazing fusion. Built more for contemplation and headphones than a busy night on the dancefloor, Glass Eights signals the debut of a fascinating new talent.



Rating Guide

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 albums of the year.

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

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

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.

Videos of the Week

Another Friday is upon us and thus another installment of the videos that are making me shout whoo hoo!



New video from Arcade Fire directed by Spike Jonze.  What seems to be a simple storyline actually reveals a pretty complicated subtext.  You have to watch the video multiple times to get the full effect of it.



I saw Robyn last week in concert and she put on an amazing live show.  Her pop music smarts are lazer honed, and based on this cover of Prince's hit single, you can see why.



I don't care if Kanye is a douchebag or an asshole.  At least he admits it, and still backs up his mouth with brilliant music.



Funny cover of "Whip My Hair" by "Neil Young" (Jimmy Fallon) and Bruce Springsteen.



Bizarre video fetishizing meat.  Extremely disturbing.



Creepy trailer that seems to imply that a new Aphex Twin cd is coming out in March 2011.  It has been almost 10 years since we had any new music under that moniker, and I for one am very excited. 



New video from Sweden's Lykke Li, showing a more empowered side of herself.  The video and the song are both awesome.



Beautiful song from one of my favorite new artists Teebs.