Jam of the Day: Niki & The Dove - "Play It On My Radio"

Swedish duo Niki & The Dove return with this dreamy, 80s inflected ballad that is languid and beautiful.

Album Review: Skrillex - Recess

Skrillex
Recess
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Go ahead, insert your favorite Skrillex joke here. Get it out of your system. I will wait.

It is doubtful anyone's opinion of Mr. Sonny John Moore is going to change based on a simple review. You are either on board with his big room EDM assault or you think it sounds like machinery being melted down. But there is no denying that Skrillex is still one of the most sought after DJs on the festival circuit and is likely to be for some time. Recess, Skrillex's first full-scale album, is an interesting look into where Skrillex has been, where he is, and where he might be going. As I point out in a lot of my reviews, I am usually drawn more to music an artist puts out that stretches their boundaries and takes me to a new place. Strangely here, I find that Skrillex does best when he stays with what he knows best; whereas, his experiments and other genre exercises find him either curiously flat or just out of his element completely.

What I do love about Skrillex is that is well-aware of the haters out there and even throws in a joke right off the bat with the title of first song "All Is Fair In Love And Brostep" and yet still manages to come up with a killer track.



And when Skrillex sticks to his strengths he usually knocks it out of the park. Title track "Recess," a collaboration with Kill The Noise, brings all the usual Skrillex elements to the mix, sing-songy vocal samples, killer build up, and massive bass drop;



"Dirty Vibe" with Diplo is another maniacal and relentless track;



"Try It Out" starts out uncharacteristically muted and atmospheric for Skrillex until his patented bass drop explodes from the speakers;



and he recasts the haunting Niki and the Dove track "Ease My Mind" into a dancehall-inflected workout.



And I understand that as an artist you don't want to stick to making the same song over and over again and, for that, I applaud Skrillex for really stepping out on some tracks and experimenting with who Skrillex is, but honestly, it finds him moving away from something distinctive and almost fading into the background or just going off the rails entirely. "Stranger" thumps along on a muted percussive track and bobbing bass line, but just plods along for a very long five minutes;



"Doompy Poomp" is perhaps the major head scratcher here, a wonky psychedelic number that is just plain bizarre;



and you can definitely tell Skillex has been listening to a lot of Burial, which finds his influence seeping into final track "Fire Away," which is a gorgeous track but is basically ruined by an incongruous vocal that should have been left off.



Skrillex finds himself in an interesting place. Being at the top of his game and headlining most of the major festivals this year, he can certainly not be faulted if he wanted to rest on his laurels and churn out bass drop after bass drop, but Mr. Moore seemingly wants more than just that. I may not like some of these side trips he makes on Recess, but I certainly appreciate his willingness to strive for something different. Somewhere in this mix of tracks is a more happy medium for his trademarked sound and some more experimentation. Here is hoping he continues that journey.

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: Skrillex - "Ease My Mind"

From his surprise release Recess comes what is essentially a reworking of the Niki and the Dove track, "DJ, Ease My Mind." Skrillex wisely doesn't mess with the central pathos of the track, and adds his own unique spin on a great dance track.

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Album Review - Niki & The Dove: Instinct

Niki & The Dove
Instinct
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Niki & The Dove, an electropop trio from Stockholm, Sweden consisting of members Malin Dahlström (vocals), Gustaf Karlöf (keyboards) and Magnus Böqvist (drums), comes from a long line of Swedish pop acts bombarding the airwaves with their unique take on pop/dance music. Sounding like a mix of The Knife, Fever Ray, Robyn, Lykke Li, with some Kate Bush thrown in for good measure, Niki & The Dove attempt to combine equal measures of pop smarts and experimental savvy, and for the most part succeed. Instinct is nothing if not catchy and completely listenable, and there is never a point where the record tips over the scale into too pop or too quirky. The struggle is finding that right mix between the two, and sometimes, especially in the middle point of the record, there is a long section where the songs skew too pop, and risk fading into blandness. Despite this hesitancy, there is genuine magic here when the mix is spot on which, unfortunately, makes me wish they had pushed their sound a little more than they do.

Tracks like "DJ, Ease My Mind" are what brought me to the record and keep me listening to it. Over a wobbly bass and chorus of angelic synths, the song, much like Robyn's best songs, detail the healing and protective nature of music, losing oneself and forgetting one's trouble's if only for a night of dancing. Dahlstrom's voice is in fine form here, perfectly emoting her sadness.



"Tomorrow" is a perfect mix of quirky music and pop beauty. A vaguely Asian-tinged melody and skittering percussion buoy a particularly strong vocal from Dahlstrom, kicking into a killer chorus.



"The Fox" keeps Dahlstrom's vocals in a tightly coiled frame over a chugging beat and menacing electronics before letting them loose in the soaring chorus.



Final track "Under The Bridges" uses its 8+ minutes effectively, building the track slowly, using a clattering percussion scheme and chanted vocals, allowing the back half of the song to go where it likes, turning into a percussion heavy rave-up.



"The Drummer" takes its cues from Kate Bush, almost sounding like a lost B-Side from Hounds of Love. Singing in the clipped/operatic style of Bush, Dahlstrom again begins tightly coiled only to unleash the full force of her voice on the chorus. Musically, the driving beat is accompanied by a bed of gurgling, harsh synths which recalls Bush's experiments with the Fairlight CMI back in the 80s.



That pesky middle section of the album, however, always tempers my excitement for the rest of the record. "In Our Eyes" is pleasant, yet inconsequential Top 40 pop. "The Gentle Roar," while fairly quirky with its mainly electro-percussive base, is mostly one note. "Mother Protect" suffers from the same pleasant, yet unmemorable streak. "Love To The Test" brings a 80s synth pop feel to the table but doesn't dress it up much and it fades almost instantly. Only "Somebody" adds an 80s Sheila E meets early Prince vibe, making it a dense, lush take on new wave/synth pop/funky R&B that is as infectious as the swine flu.



Instinct is ultimately recommendable for the stellar front and back end tracks which have mainstream pop appeal while also pushing that sound into new territory, taking the groundwork lain by Fever Ray and Lykke Li and making it more palatable for mass consumption. Only when they forget to push the boundaries does the record become what any record fears, that is, being unmemorable and even boring. Based on the strong singles "DJ Ease My Mind" and "Tomorrow," Niki & The Dove know how to put together a killer track, so I am not too worried about their trajectory; of course, as long as they keep pushing those boundaries.

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.

Videos of the Week

Battling Coachella cough and the need to not be at work. Here are some videos to distract you from my hacking:



New video from Squarepusher that apparently is a teaser of his upcoming live dates.



Niki and the Dove come across like a mix between The Knife, Kate Bush, and Robyn. I love this song and most of their upcoming album.



One of my favorite tracks off the new THEESatisfaction album.



New video made up of single frame shots. It is quite hypnotic. The new album from Death Grips is pretty amazing.



Cool looking video from Phantom.



Typically goofy, awesome video from tUnE-yArDs.

Video: Niki & The Dove - "Tomorrow"

More Swedish pop goodness from Niki & The Dove.

Jam of the Day: Niki & The Dove - "DJ Ease My Mind"

If Fever Ray/The Knife got mashed up with Florence and the Machine in some dark, gothy club world, then you would likely get this single.