Track of the Day – Donna Summer, “MacArthur Park”

RIP Donna Summer.  We’ll never have that recipe again.

Bloom

Bloom is such an apt title for the latest Beach House album.  It’s all the group’s done since their first self-titled album and all they seem to continue doing, even when that seems impossible.

Beach House’s last album, Teen Dream, was so perfect; by upping their tempos just a bit and brightening their organ-and-guitar sound ever the slightest, they moved into an entire new realm.  Tempos were still slower than most modern indie pop, but there was a calming feeling to their songs.  With Bloom, the gorups seems to have gotten stronger still.  Every song bursts from small melody into sky-scraping grandeur, enveloping the listener in a wave of sound.  Victoria Legrand’s low voice wraps through all these songs beautifully, somehow adding just the right touch of motion to the lyrics.  The musicianship has never been better; tracks like “New Year” and “Wishes” sparkle just as brightly as lead tracks “Myth” and “Lazuli”.  I don’t know how the band can top this album, but then again, two years ago I didn’t think Teen Dream could be topped either.  Something tells me they’ll continue to surprise us.

[rating: 4.5/5 stars]

Eurovision 2012 – Making Your Mind Up (pt. 7)

It’s been quite a ride, you guys. We’re finally through all 42 entries in this year’s Eurovision contest – and not a minute too soon, since the official contest starts next week. I pulled the oldest easily recognized clip I could find, in this case “Nel blu dipinto di blu” (better known by most as “Volare”). Here’s what the Big 6 (the countries already through to the finals) are bringing this year, and what Dan Robertson and I had to say about it:

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Track of the Day: Oneohtrix Point Never, “I Only Have Eyes For You”

  I Only Have Eyes for You by Oneohtrix Point Never

There’s remixing a song, there’s reinterpreting a song, and then there’s full-on deconstructing a song.  That’s what Daniel Lopatin (alias Oneohtrix Point Never) has done with his take on the classic “I Only Have Eyes for You” for artist Don Aitken’s Song 1 project.  Every syllable separated, surrounding by atmospheric synths, the song pulled apart to its bones and reconstructed in a fascinating and almost sacred way.  This one begs to be heard in headphones – give it your time.

Eurovision 2012 – Making Your Mind Up (pt. 6)

Sometimes in the course of writing your weekly Eurovision writeup, you realize one of the songs you had to do an in-class exercise on in Spanish class years ago was actually a Eurovision song.  Will any of today’s entries have that longevity?  We may never know (although let’s be honest – probably not).  Here’s the final 6 entries for the second semifinal:

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Track of the Day: Metric, “Youth Without Youth”

“Youth Without Youth” by Metric

I remember Metric’s 2009 album, Fantasies, coming into our college radio station and getting a lot of play, but it was never something that ended up a lot on the shows I was running. Listening to their new single, “Youth Without Youth”, I may have to go back to that album, as this track is fantastic. Synthy in all the right ways, with tinges of recent Muse tracks (if Muse were female-fronted), its driving beat is sure to get you through any Monday.

Track of the Day: Twin Shadow, “Five Seconds”

I’m so excited about this new Twin Shadow track, you guys. Seriously. I’ve been sitting on it all week waiting to share it with you all. True, at first when I read on twitter that I could hear Five Seconds off of the new Twin Shadow album I was all “that’s a horrible gimmick. 4AD should be ashamed”. Then I realized the track was called Five Seconds and everything was okay again.

Twin Shadow’s first album Forget is really good, but there was a bit of a disconnect between the sound on the album and the muscular nature of Twin Shadow’s live performances. This was a bit of a side effect of George Lewis Jr. recording the album essentially alone vs. having a full backing band, but it seems like he took the energy and muscle of those live performances and really channeled into this next set of recordings. “Five Seconds” buzzes with new wave energy and if the rest of Confess (out July 10) is even half as good as this I’m excited.

Also? For an email address, you get the MP3 of the song. Do it!

You Know You Like It

Alunageorge – Just A Touch by TriAngleRecords
Indie music tends to delight in finding something that’s gone out of style, refashioning it in its own image, and mining it for interesting results (at least until the mainstream gets a hold of it again.  Then it’s back to square one.)  A big sound that’s had a resurgence on the indie side of things in recent years has been 90s RnB, specifically late-90s RnB – the kind with weird touches from Timbaland and The Neptunes.  Dirty Projectors plundered Aaliyah’s sound on their smash single “Stillness is the Move” a few years back, and AlunaGeorge are now turning to some of the same sounds in their own work.  You Know You Like It is a brief but complete statement of intent from the group – here’s what we’re going for, here’s what we sound like, all in under 15 minutes (it _is_ an EP, after all).

Since I’ve already covered how much I like the album’s title track elsewhere on the site, let’s focus on the other two tracks for a minute.  ”Just a Touch” feels like the most “mainstream” sounding track on the EP – I could easily see it fitting into an urban radio station’s playlist without any issue.  ”Put Up Your Hands”, the record’s ode to a lover who just doesn’t get that she’s not that into you stop emailing her seriously it’s pathetic, is slower but has the same impact as the tracks that come before it.  The success all these songs get is from the true collaboration between its creators – Aluna’s vocals mesh perfectly with George’s production tricks to create something greater than their respective parts.  Check this one out if you can – it’s a promise of greatness that we’ll hopefully see more of soon.

[rating: 4/5 stars]

Eurovision 2012 – Making Your Mind Up (pt. 5)

Ding-a-dong, everybody! It’s already the fifth week of our Eurovision coverage and it’s time to look at the next six entrants of the second semi-final before they perform in 3 weeks. Let’s go!
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Track of the Day: Purity Ring, “Obedear”