Norman Brannon is a pop critic, musician, and author based in New York City. He presents a weekly music update here on Towleroad and writes regularly at Nervous Acid.
Sometimes, it feels like Maria Taylor is only one iPod commercial away from being a critical darling like, say, Feist — another artist whose associations and so-called indie cred, however great, still pale in relevance to her ability to cancel any self-contradictory doubts about the notion of making noncommercial pop music. For Taylor, these early associations helped — she's guested on songs for Moby, and played host on her own albums to artists like Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe — but they never dominated her exceptional identity as a singer and songwriter; even the Prozac–twee of her debut read more like a native roar. For her fourth proper solo album, Overlook, Taylor shows her roots: Recorded in her native Birmingham, Alabama, most of the refined, modern flourishes of her prior work are shed in exchange for an elegantly unkempt approach, resulting in a spiky, but liberated album. The contrast in medium is startling at times — "Matador," for example, teeters on anxious Southern folk before being instantly transformed by its pristinely melodic chorus — but its the endgame cohesion you'll remember. Overlook is an album about impermanence and interconnectedness, and its jagged, but intuitive listening experience ultimately speaks to these ideas in its form and essence.
New details have emerged about George Michael's currently-in-production dance record. "For this album I'm going to be working with either gay or gay-friendly artists, and it'll be a mixture of tracks sung by me and others by young gay artists — possibly unknown ones," he told the NME. "I'll be 48 when the album comes out, but I have to say that gay men's relationship with dance music probably doesn't end at the same time as straight people's does."
Out alt-rock pioneer Bob Mould recently appeared on NPR's The Sound of Young America to discuss his new memoir, See A Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody, and thanks in part to the show's also out guest host (and former MTV VJ) Dave Holmes, Mould manages to talk openly about being a gay punk in the 1980s, coming out in 1994, and the compartmentalization of sexuality from art. It's an insightful listen.
This week's essential streaming audio: "When I Start (To Break It All Down)" is the first track from Erasure's long-awaited comeback, Tomorrow's World. The debut single from Feist's upcoming Medals is called "How Come You Never Go There." Chicago singer-songwriter Owen has premiered the first taste from Ghost Town, called "I Believe." And the debut full-length by Los Angeles wunderkind Active Child, You Are All I See, due out next week, is streaming on Soundcloud now.
French electro favorites Justice have announced October 25 as the release date for their anticipated second album Audio, Video, Disco. The preemptive warnings that this album will be a far different affair from their debut, however, are coming in loud and clear: "We are constantly influenced by millions of things," says Xavier de Rosnay, "and it's true that sometimes we would finish something and think it sounded very much like the Eagles."
Earlier this week it was reported that Amy Winehouse's London home had been robbed, with a "former acquaintance" being accused of taking an array of the late singer's personal belongings including unreleased music and lyric books.
Ann Kirsten Kennis is the model whose 1980s fashion polaroid graced the cover of Vampire Weekend's Contra — a distinction that got ugly when sued the band, their label, and photographer Tod Brody after realizing her face had been wheat-pasted all over the world without her permission. This week, Kennis asked a Los Angeles federal court to dismiss the case, after arriving at an undisclosed settlement with Vampire Weekend and XL Recordings. A countersuit filed by Brody has yet to be dismissed.
The ever enigmatic Sigur Rós released a video this week for Inni — without actually explaining what the hell Inni was. It took a few days, but now we know: Inni is a film about Sigur Rós by director Vincent Morrisset — most recently noted for his work on Miroir Noir, a documentary about Arcade Fire. Inni will premiere next month at Venice Days, an offshoot of the Venice Film Festival.
Deep house fans will no doubt recognize Miguel Migs as a key player in his native San Francisco house scene and beyond, but with his forthcoming artist album, Outside the Skyline, the producer establishes a clear case for himself as a songwriter and genre-polymath. Everyone from Bebel Gilberto and Meshell Ndegeocello to longtime vocal partner Lisa Shaw make appearances, and on lead single "Everybody," legendary R&B singer Evelyn "Champagne" King lends her still on-point voice for a dose of truly authentic 21st Century disco. A remix package is currently available on iTunes, and Outside the Skyline will get its release on September 20.
SOUND & VISION:
Sugababes — "Freedom"
The lead single from Sugababes' forthcoming eighth album is leaps and bounds more progressive than anything from the massively disappointing Sweet 7, but it still falls short from some of the smarter and more leftfield singles that defined their career. Still, "Freedom" promises a more pleasurable direction than its dull, Euro-dance predecessor: Produced by The Invisible Men — featuring former Xenomania songwriter Jon Shave — it's a thoroughly modern pop single, mandatory dubstep interlude included.
Memoryhouse — "Quiet America"
Quite simply, you will hear no ambient pop song more gorgeous than the latest single by Memoryhouse this month. "Quiet America" is a new song added to the newly reissued The Years EP, due out September 13 on Sub Pop. People started using the term "widescreen" to describe music because of songs like this one.
The National — "Exile, Vilify"
Nothing says morose like a despondent sock puppet, and this might be the reason why filmmaker and musician C.F. Meister took first-place in a music video contest for The National's newest single "Exile, Vilify" — their exclusive contribution to the videogame Portal 2. Seriously though, the sock puppet is killing me.
Simian Mobile Disco — "Gizzard"
UK tech-house duo Simian Mobile Disco have been steering away from their more commercial electro fare lately, choosing instead to focus on a slew of underground techno and minimal tracks for their own Delicatessen club night and Delicacies label imprint. "Gizzard" is the latest single to emerge from the series — a deep and steady heads-down club tune that successfully swaps pop hooks for hypnotic pulse.
Norman Brannon is a pop critic, musician, and author based in New York City. He presents a weekly music update here on Towleroad and writes regularly at Nervous Acid.
Aside from Watch the Throne, the anticipated collaborative effort from Kanye West and Jay-Z, the summer release drought continues this week. But that doesn't mean there isn't new music to be heard: This time around, I've assembled a handful of free and legal downloads to give away — including a track that's somewhat personal to say the least.
WHY: Los Angeles singer-songwriter Pat Grossi literally began his career as a choirboy, so it's no wonder that last year's Curtis Lane EP introduced a voice that was as angelic as it was ghostly. For his forthcoming debut album, You Are All I See, Grossi reins in his new wave tendencies and breaks new ground with an almost textural R&B — as if Jonsí from Sígur Ros decided to sing the D'Angelo back catalog. This is, trust me, an incredible thing.
WHEN: You Are All I See is released August 23 via Vagrant.
WHY: Longevity is a rare beast in the music industry, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out how it's done: Liverpool electropop vets Ladytron are entering their second decade as a band because they've always been intent on expanding and redefining the boundaries of what it is that they do. With "White Elephant," the band goes back to basics, composing a classic pop standard through a modern pop lexicon. If that's tension that you hear, they're doing it right.
WHEN: Gravity the Seducer is released September 13 via Nettwerk.
WHY: I don't generally merge my two career paths in any way, but it's free download week and I'm in the giving spirit. While the majority of you might only know me for my work here, I'm actually far better known as a musician, having played in a number of bands and worked as a songwriter for others over the last twenty years. Last month, I was commissioned to do a remix for one of the best working artists right now — London singer-songwriter James Yuill — and the resulting track turned out to be one of my favorite things I've ever worked on. If it gives you a more multidimensional image of who I am, then I suppose that's a good thing, right? Enjoy!
WHEN: James Yuill's excellent Movement in a Storm, featuring the original version of "Crying for Hollywood," is out now.
THE DISPATCH:
Yesterday, an English high court heard testimony from Swedish club producer Avicci alleging that Simon Cowell and Leona Lewis are responsible for plagiarizing his forthcoming single, "Fade Into Darkness," on Lewis's current single "Collide." Avicci is hoping to prevent the commercial release of "Collide," which is currently scheduled for September 4 in the UK, and the producer has a case: Cowell's label approached Avicii's management to use the song for Lewis, but they declined, having already secured a fall release with Ministry Of Sound. Sad to say, I'm not sure "Collide" is a song worth fighting for.
Influential UK tech-house label Soma celebrates their 20th anniversary this year with a 3-CD retrospective of the label's history. No small footnote to that history, the collection opens with "Drive" — a previously unreleased Daft Punk demo from 1994. The track was originally meant to be included on Daft Punk's first 12-inch EP for the label, but was left off in favor of future classic "Da Funk."
Poly Styrene may have passed away before its release, but her final album, Generation Indigo, still breathes life: "Ghoulish" is being released as a new single this week, and the song is backed with a haunting remix by Hercules & Love Affair that volleys between hypnotic Italo-disco and classic Detroit techno.
It was announced this week that Amy Winehouse's North London home will become headquarters for the Amy Winehouse Foundation — an organization established to help young people with substance abuse problems. Meanwhile, Tony Bennett promised to donate 100-percent of the royalties from "Body & Soul" — his recent duet with Winehouse — to the foundation.
Former Mojo Magazine editor and David Bowie biographer Paul Trynka talks about his latest book, David Bowie: Starman, and gives his best educated guess for the singer's future based on all he's learned: "My heart says he'll come back, but my head says he's not likely to."
World music-slash-indie hybrid Beirut return from their recent cross-pollinations with Blondie for a new record called The Rip Tide, due out on August 30. The entire album is streaming at Soundcloud now. Also worth checking out: German techno favorites Modeselektor are offering teaser streams from their forthcoming album Monkeytown, including the much anticipated "Shipwreck" and "This" — both of which feature Radiohead's Thom Yorke on vocals.
Notable indie director and queer film icon Gregg Araki recently spoke with the Guardian at length about his love for the British shoegaze movement and its recent revival: "The sad thing is, today a band like Slowdive wouldn't be able to have a career. They hardly dealt in huge figures, but they sold enough to get a career out of it," he says. "There's no money for such things at the present, no incentive for record companies to repackage their music."
THE PLAYLIST:
This week's Rdio playlist was inspired by the recent announcement of nominations for this year's MTV Video Music Awards. I decided to dig into the archives in order to figure out who some of the best losing nominees were, and I was actually quite surprised by what I found. (For example, Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" lost its Video of the Year nod to Van Halen's "Right Now." True story!) But as I continued to dig, I was more surprised to see artists like Jeff Buckley or Roni Size/Reprazent in the nominee pool at all; there seemed to be as much of a story in the artists that got shut out of the VMAs as there was in the winner's circle. So this playlist celebrates the videos that should have won (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' clip for "Maps" was insanely moving), the videos whose nominations were surprising (Belly's Star is one of the better lost albums from the '90s), and the videos whose artists became next-big-things that didn't quite make it (although Amerie's "1 Thing" still stands as an essentially flawless R&B track). Losers of 2011, take note! You're in excellent company.
SOUND & VISION:
Best Coast — "Our Deal"
It sounds more like a movie than a music video, but the latest single from Best Coast is totally getting the cinematic treatment: Directed by Drew Barrymore, this Warriors–like romantic tragedy stars Community's Donald Glover, Kick-Ass star Chloë Moretz, and, umm, iCarly's Miranda Cosgrove, among others.
Hunx & His Punx — "Lover's Lane"
Having already transcended the queer-punk label with their across-the-board well-received Too Young to Be in Love album, Hunx & His Punx rewrite your prom night with this campy but crucial video for "Lover's Lane" — as if the girl-group era had been merely a foil for gay love this whole time.
Wild Beasts — "Bed Of Nails"
If Smother wasn't one of the best records released so far in 2011, it was certainly one of the most unique. Wild Beasts singer Hayden Thorpe has the kind of highly literate, androgynous voice that endeared us to artists like Marc Almond and Antony Hegarty; on "Bed of Nails," he utilizes that falsetto to raise the anthemic potential on the best hypnotic Krautrock rhythm since "Running Up That Hill."
Toro Y Moi — "How I Know"
As far as indie pop goes, the latest from chillwave's most prominent defector Toro Y Moi is way more sunny than scary. But that doesn't stop the single from getting a satirical, and often hilarious horror treatment: It's a place where ghosts aren't afraid to bust out vintage American Bandstand choreography and bubblegum can literally kill you.
Norman Brannon is a pop critic, musician, and author based in New York City. He presents a weekly music update here on Towleroad and writes regularly at Nervous Acid.
WHO: A legendary pop music and style icon, if there were no Grace Jones, there would be no … well, almost everyone.
WHY: Hurricane has already seen its release overseas, hitting the Top 40 Albums Chart in ten different countries, but its official American release isn't due until next month. Collaborations with everyone from Wendy & Lisa to Tricky and Sly & Robbie guitarist Barry Reynolds flesh out the album, but make no mistake: This is a modern Grace Jones affair.
WHEN: September 6
The Rapture — In The Grace of Your Love (DFA)
WHO: New York City provocateurs who spearheaded this decade's indie-dance movement.
WHY: After a dalliance with the major label world and ongoing collaborations with traditional techno scene stars, Brooklyn's Rapture return to James Murphy's DFA label for their fourth full-length album. Lead single "How Deep Is Your Love?" inverts a piano-house hook into a nu-disco argument against modern quantized rhythms — loose and funky, like what you'd imagine ESG would sound like in 2011.
WHEN: September 6
Das Racist — Relax (Greedhead Music)
WHO: Political satirists, authentic rappers, and neo-Dadaist muckrakers drop their official debut.
WHY: If you wanna get all academic about it, Das Racist are becoming increasingly effective cultural critics with an Absurdist slant. A quick definition of the movement — of "an avant-garde style in which structure, plot, and characterization are disregarded or garbled in order to stress the lack of logic in nature and man's isolation in a universe which has no meaning" — kind of underlines the fact, and on their debut actually-for-sale album, the crew seem at it again: Rest assured, "Rainbow in the Dark" has nothing to do with Ronnie James Dio.
WHEN: September 13
Ladytron — Gravity The Seducer (Nettwerk)
WHO: Longstanding electro-pop favorites from Liverpool, Ladytron anticipated the '80s revival before the '90s were over.
WHY: Having already released three songs from the album, there is a suggestion here that Ladytron are taking a more ethereal approach: "Ambulances" weaves in and out of consciousness not unlike Elizabeth Fraser's Cocteau Twins, while lead single "White Elephant" offers a synthesized take on a classic Motown rhythm. It's a whole lot of ageless beauty.
WHEN: September 13
Björk — Biophilia (One Little Indian/WEA)
WHO: A fearless sonic innovator, Björk's influence and dialogue with the entirety of the electronic music world is inestimable.
WHY: If "Crystalline" is any indication, Biophilia may very well hark back to Björk's more abstract techno output — the tension of its glitch giving way to a lawless breakbeat that, somehow, never loses the melody. The simultaneous control and lack of restraint is just masterful.
WHEN: September 27
Feist — Metals (Cherrytree/Interscope)
WHO: A Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who is both a member of Broken Social Scene and a one-time collaborator with Elmo on Sesame Street.
WHY: The long-awaited follow-up to The Reminder, Feist's fourth proper solo album doesn't seem to be making any drastic left turns, as the singer calls on trusted producers Mocky and Chilly Gonzales to help oversee the project. The addition of Valgeir Sigurðsson to the fold, however, may suggest a more orchestrated approach: Sigurðsson's CV includes work with alt-classical composer Nico Muhly, avant-folk duo Coco Rosie, and fellow Icelander Björk.
WHEN: October 4
M83 — Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (Mute)
WHO: Your favorite French ambient-electro mainstay and nu-gaze architect gets ambitious.
WHY: If you haven't heard the lead single from this forthcoming double-album by M83, then hurry up. "Midnight City" is exactly what Anthony Gonzalez promised from this formidable work, describing it as "pop — and very epic." If he can maintain this kind of enterprising spirit over two discs, we may be talking about an instant classic here.
In one of the more remarkable moments to occur in the wake of Amy Winehouse's death, legendary singer Ronnie Spector released her as-yet-unheard, and utterly amazing rendition of "Back to Black." "I'm devastated," Spector said. "Every time I looked at her, it was like I was looking at myself. She had my beehive, my eyeliner, my attitude. She had such a great soul in her voice and her lyrics were so amazing that I couldn't help but sing one of her songs." Also worth noting: I composed an essay about the cultural and critical response to Winehouse's passing for MySpace Music. The takeaway? This isn't about us.
Beyoncé's younger sister Solange has been making the indie rounds a lot lately — collaborating with members of Grizzly Bear and Of Montreal, among others. Now, she can add DFA recording artist to her budding résumé: Solange lent her vocals to the latest 12" single by Rewards, which you can stream in its entirety now.
As long as we're talking DFA, it's worth mentioning that a pretty fantastic shot-for-shot Lego recreation of LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" video also came out this week. It's kind of brilliant.
Reissue, repackage, repackage — or so goes the famous song. When Morrissey isn't too busy offending our sensibilities for compassion, he's signing off on insanely embellished box sets like the one Rhino plans to release on October 3: The Smiths Complete: Deluxe Collectors Box Set features remastered versions of the band's entire album discography on both CD and vinyl, as well as 25 7-inch singles, posters, and freshly written liner notes.
Out singer-songwriter and Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi has been tapped to compose the soundtrack for Cameron Crowe's latest film, We Bought A Zoo. The movie stars Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, and it's technically the second time Crowe has turned to Jónsi for scoring: Vanilla Sky featured "Svefn-G-Englar" from Sigur Rós's second album, Ágaetis Byrjun.
If the recent shoegaze revival hadn't already been confirmed, Death Cab For Cutie want to see that it is: The band stopped by the BBC Radio studios last week to perform a cover of the classic Ride song "Twisterella."
THE PLAYLIST:
This week's Rdio playlist was inspired by the New York heatwave — and more specifically, by my desire to sequester myself in front of an air conditioner and just chill out for a while.
"Chilled" is an anti-heatwave compilation featuring an emphasis on downtempo and acoustic tracks, which as I realized while I was putting this together, tends to seriously veer towards melancholy. But the sad song is a staple of almost every genre — even Shannon's "Let The Music Play" is downright depressing if you think about it — and, on some level, I've always gravitated towards raw nerves: The insanely desperate crescendo of Ida's "Little Things" still gets to me fifteen years later, the resignation of a Christian artist renouncing his Christianity — as on David Bazan's "Hard To Be" — doesn't get any more real, and Owen's "Bad News" is not the kind of song you'll put on to cheer your friend up. Still, there's consolation in the inconsolable: This is one for your more introspective moments or your next Sunday morning comedown.
SOUND & VISION:
Beni — "It's A Bubble" (feat. Sean Delear & Turbotito)
It's almost a bit too feigned to be real, but Sydney producer Beni genuinely wants to usher the underground ball scene into the mainstream with an album called House of Beni, Paris is Burning–derived songs like "O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E.," and the video for "It's A Bubble" — which takes place at a Parisian ball. If vintage bitch-tracks and runway shade turn you on, there's a lot to work with here.
Ellie Goulding — "Starry Eyed" (U.S. Version)
Much-loved London singer Ellie Goulding continues her campaign for American domination with a new video for "Starry Eyed," and maybe I don't know much about these things, but I prefer the playful naiveté of the original version — if only because this one seems to imply that we're more susceptible to videos that feel like outtakes from Twilight. Either way, the song is pretty much perfect.
Underworld — "Diamond Jigsaw"
The standout track from Barking, "Diamond Jigsaw" is a throbbing pop song at heart — its melodic sensibility no doubt improved upon by German trance producer Paul van Dyk, who co-wrote the song. The video is a classic outsider's tale, as told by some sort of denim monster in search of his denim-monster son. I think.
Will Young — "Jealousy"
Outside of the U.S., Will Young has already achieved multiplatinum success as an out gay man and a quasi-soul pop singer — becoming the most approximate successor we've got to, say, George Michael. But on his forthcoming sixth album Echoes, Young teams up electropop producer Richard X for a sound that's already feeling like a reinvention: Lead single "Jealousy" is as emotive and grief-stricken as you can get when you're going four to the floor. It's also total pop gold.
Norman Brannon is a pop critic, musician, and author based in New York City. He presents a weekly music update here on Towleroad and writes regularly at Nervous Acid.
Rufus WainwrightHouse Of Rufus: Box Set (Universal)
It's fair to say that when Rufus Wainwright released his debut self-titled album in 1998, the sheer volume and variety of his future work could hardly be predicted. He used to speak of (and, indeed, continues to mention) his desire to be a contemporary pop star, but if House of Rufus — the 19-disc box set featuring almost everything he's ever put his name on in the last fifteen years — reveals any one thing, it's that Wainwright is no contemporary pop star. Nor should he be. When "Foolish Love" opens the set with its theatrical panache, there is no question that Wainwright's idea of pop music sounds nothing like the radio: there is no traditional chorus, the lyrics are more conversational than radio call hook, and the arrangements — provided by the legendary Van Dyke Parks — haven't been "contemporary" since Parks produced Phil Ochs in 1970. Later, within the context of his "official" discography, Wainwright gives us folk tunes, album-oriented rock, classic torch songs, and his own self-proclaimed "popera." There are new versions of Shakespeare sonnets, liturgical mass music, and two CDs worth of Judy Garland covers. There is even the story of Prima Donna, the opera he composed and premiered in 2009. Factually, there is no "hit single," but more importantly, there is no artistic deficit. Wainwright flourishes as a true visionary artist, almost in spite of himself. In terms of rare music, House of Rufus offers an incredible selection of demos and other unreleased material that needed a wide release — the jaunty "A Bit of You" and fan favorite "Money Song" immediately spring to mind — but there's one song whose omission lends unintended irony to Wainwright's pop aspirations: The only officially commissioned remix of a Rufus Wainwright song — by German techno producers Michael Mayer and Superpitcher — gives "Tiergarten" an epic 14-minute ambient disco workout, and in all these years, it's still the closest he's ever come to finding success on a modern dancefloor.
Musicians are responding en masse to news of the death of Amy Winehouse: Says Lady Gaga, "Amy changed pop music forever." Adele astutely noted that "Amy paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about British music again whilst being fearlessly hilarious and blasé about the whole thing." And in a series of tweets, Rihanna said she was "genuinely heartbroken about this." For a longer read from a surprising contributor, comedian Russell Brand offered a deeply personal essay about Winehouse and their shared affliction of addiction: "Whether this tragedy was preventable or not is now irrelevant. It is not preventable today. We have lost a beautiful and talented woman to this disease … All we can do is adapt the way we view this condition, not as a crime or a romantic affectation, but as a disease that will kill."
The musical tributes for Amy Winehouse have just begun: Esteemed singer-songwriter Jay Brannan covered "Rehab" for a new video on his YouTube channel, while M.I.A. quickly responded to Winehouse's death with a new song: "27" is available for streaming on Soundcloud now.
No Doubt's love for Jamaican dancehall culture, reggae, and ska is well-documented, so it's almost a no-brainer for the crew to hook up with electro-dancehall producers Switch and Diplo — a.k.a. Major Laser — on their forthcoming comeback album. The band revealed they're working on a new song called "Push and Shove" with the duo.
Snow Patrol have announced a new EP for release on September 4 — their first new set since 2008's A Hundred Million Suns. The band released a high-quality version of the title track, a quasi-nu-disco stomp titled "Called Out In The Dark," for streaming on YouTube.
Whether you love Gaga or you'd rather she just go away, there's little arguing that "Edge of Glory" is kind of a jam. UK post-rave standard-bearers Friendly Fires seem to agree: they covered the song for BBC Radio this week.
It's hard to believe it's been over three years since the release of Feist's incredible breakthrough album, The Reminder, but the dry spell is over: A 12-song follow-up album called Metals will get its release on October 4, and the singer has released a string of preview videos to whet your appetite.
Those of you who remember my Unsigned Artists Special a few months back might remember Owen Duff — the openly gay London-based singer/songwriter whose work, I noted, "transforms the Broadway dream-sequence into a three-minute pop song." In anticipation of a new EP set for release later this summer, Duff threw a sublime cover of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" on YouTube, and pretty much earns that critical distinction all over again.
THE PLAYLIST
This week's Rdio playlist lays tribute to the massive contribution that Amy Winehouse made in creating a hospitable landscape for a British neo-soul and jazz vocal movement that includes, but goes well beyond the phenomenal success of Adele. The circumstances under which this playlist was conceived were, of course, terribly unfortunate. But creating this mix provided a unique opportunity to appreciate the work of Amy's peers and that of her successors — only a partial extent of what will surely become her influential legacy. Direct relations include Dionne Bromfield — the 15-year-old singer who was Amy's goddaughter and protégé — as well as Alex Clare, an ex-boyfriend whose dubstep-soul bears clear traces of her impact. But it's the indirect connections of, say, Kate Nash's straightforward lyrical approach or VV Brown's distinctively English delivery that will remind us most of the profound impact that Amy Winehouse had on British music in such a short amount of time. This mix attests to the fact that her absence will be deeply felt for some time.
SOUND & VISION
Penguin Prison — "Fair Warning"
Ebullient and seemingly effortless, Penguin Prison's latest single is somewhat of a modern new wave benchmark — meaning that if you took away the roaming arpeggiators and impeccably synthesized rhythm, you'd still have a meaningful pop song. All together, it's a last-minute contender for song of the summer.
Joan as Police Woman — "Chemmie"
Her bio includes stints with Antony & the Johnsons and the Dambuilders, collaborations with Rufus Wainwright and Scissor Sisters, and significant-other status with the late Jeff Buckley, so if the company that Joan Wasser keeps is any indication, her talent-to-notoriety ratio is sadly skewed in the wrong direction. "Chemmie" is the third single from last year's The Deep Field — a jazzy, but soulful take from an emerging artist that demands a second look.
Starsmith — "Lesson One"
His most recent notoriety comes from an impressive list of songwriting and production credits for Ellie Goulding, Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole, and Kylie Minogue — if you liked "Put Your Hands Up," he's one of the people you'll want to thank — but later this year, Starsmith plans to strike out with his solo debut. "Lesson One" is the second official single from that album, co-written by French club producer Alan Braxe.
The Forms — "Fire to the Ground" (feat. Matt Berninger)
The Forms recent Derealization EP showed a band on the verge of a creative apex, and with the video for "Fire to the Ground" — one of its standout tracks featuring vocals by The National's Matt Berninger — the New York-based duo step up the visual element: Intricate, conceptual, and somewhat dark, insofar as occasionally mirthful dancing can be dark, this is not the kind of choreography you'll see on So You Think You Can Dance.
Norman Brannon is a pop critic, musician, and author based in New York City. He presents a weekly music update here on Towleroad and writes regularly at Nervous Acid.
Basement JaxxBasement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest (Atlantic Jaxx)
Basement Jaxx aren't the first electronic artists to go the orchestral route, but they may very well be the first of their kind. While it's true that Carl Craig performed with the Les Siecles Orchestra in 2008, and that the classical imprint Deutsche Grammophon continues to commission artists like Matthew Herbert, Moritz von Oswald, and Ricardo Villalobos to remix original pieces by Dvorák and Ravel, among others, the perception of these artists' strand of electronic music is one that arbitrarily links them to a grand tradition of European music. In fact, Detroit and Berlin's techno scenes have yielded a kind of critical response that surreptitiously implies some sort of heightened artistic merit, and when bands like Radiohead or Depeche Mode align themselves with the style as they often do, credence is added to the notion that techno is "serious music." London's Basement Jaxx — who draw their influences from disco, R&B, and '90s Chicago underground and acid house — have not enjoyed such allusions in their career, but it's not for a lack of depth: Far from the MPC & 303 style of house that inspired them, Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe have produced countless club-sized epics with complex arrangements that demand a minimum ten-piece band for their live shows, and on Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest, the duo take it one step further, carving out a career retrospective with the help of a 60-piece orchestra and 20-person choir. Metropole Orkest arranger Jules Buckley, who has worked with everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Antony & the Johnsons, speaks to the compositional value of Basement Jaxx's discography by doing little to alter the original arrangements for developed works like "Good Luck" and "Raindrops" — thereby strengthening the suggestion that this duo's musicality was orchestra-ready from the start. But it's what happens to classic club tracks like "Red Alert" and "Bingo Bango" that reveals an otherwise hidden, or at least sadly under-appreciated truism about Chicago house music: Just because it sounds simple doesn't make it so.
After 20 years as the lead singer for the internationally renown heavy metal act Life Of Agony, Keith Caputo has confirmed that she is currently transitioning and living life as a woman. "I'm a completely different human being," she explained on a recent heavy metal Internet radio program. "I have a very different path in life. I'm not living life as a man anymore." Having recently updated her Twitter handle to "Keith Mina Caputo," the announcement follows a solo album in 2008 that featured images of androgyny, as well as a music video released in December that ostensibly tackles some of the feelings that preceded the transition. Make sure to watch it below.
Following years of speculation, both Rilo Kiley and New Order have made their splits official. Neither one is particularly amicable: According to guitarist Blake Sennett, Rilo Kiley succumbed to "deception, disloyalty, greed, and things I don't really want to submit myself to," while Peter Hook called New Order "a bunch of fat old men arguing." Bernard Sumner, meanwhile, lays the blame on Hook: "We've spent all our life as an outfit with principles and ideals and what Peter has done goes against everything we've stood for."
Austra's Katie Stelmanis is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about out musicians working today: Her band recently performed live in the studio for the Guardian, while new reworks of Austra's music have surfaced from MNDR and Kool Thing. Austra's latest remix collection, Sparkle — which also features work by Mark Pistel, Planningtorock, and Steffi — is released next week.
After a stint on the Warner-owned Nonesuch, Stephin Merritt's Magnetic Fields are returning to Merge Records for a new album slated to be released in 2012. In the meantime, Merge will issue a rarities collection called Obscurities in August. A free download of "Forever and a Day" is available from the label now.
Punk pioneer and musclebear DJ hero Bob Mould put together a playlist of recent rock and electronic picks for SPIN this week. Among them: Toro Y Moi side project Les Sins, the lo-fi retro pop of Dum Dum Girls, and synthpop revivalist Fear of Tigers.
Here's something disconcerting: In a recent interview, when asked about her future, Lykke Li went suspiciously vague: "Life is different phases, and it's always evolving, so I'll definitely reach another stage in my life and that can bring me to other territories," she said. "Maybe I won't be making the same music, or maybe I won't be making music at all."
THE PLAYLIST:
This week's Rdio playlist was inspired by Basement Jaxx, and more specifically, by the musical style they both drew from and influenced. It's not a geographical thing — there are artists from Chicago, London, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle here — but more of an aesthetic honed in on by DJs like Derrick Carter and Sneak, both of whom, not coincidentally, make cameos on Basement Jaxx's debut album Remedy. I'd call it a Chicago–influenced house mix, but Derrick Carter might call it "boompty" — a piece of tautological coinage he uses to describe the particular swing of the beat and its unmitigated focus on the bass. I like that word, too.
These tracks span from the last 15 years, with a few coming out of the same time as Basement Jaxx's debut single in the mid-'90s. A few other interesting notes: Solid Groove, who opens the mix, is the proper house pseudonym for future M.I.A. and Beyoncé collaborator Switch. Soul Mekanik are actually acid house vets Danny Spencer and Kelvin Andrews, who were also known as Sure is Pure in the early '90s and went on to write and produce for Robbie Williams. And Derrick Carter himself appears with a much-loved remix of a tweaked out Berlin techno track that became a Chicago house classic under his guidance. The playlist's finale is one of my own personal favorites, and a track I used to play consistently in my past life as a DJ in Chicago and San Francisco: Oil's "The Future" still stands up eleven years after it was first released.
SOUND & VISION:
Keith Caputo — "Got Monsters"
After her coming out as transgender, it seemed only right that we take a belated look at Keith Mina Caputo's "Got Monsters" — an 11-minute clip that examines the internal experience of a conflicted gender identity, and one that we likely didn't realize was so personal when it premiered late last year. In light of Mina's recent announcement, its added resonance is truly powerful.
Teddybears — "Cho-Cha" (feat. Cee-Lo & The B-52s)
Teddybears is the longtime rock project of Swedish producer and songwriter Klas Åhlund, who's work with Robyn, Kylie Minogue, and Ke$ha you are most likely familiar with. On the latest single from Devil's Music, the band teams up with Cee-Lo Green and the B-52s for this summer's stalker anthem — and Fred Schneider never sounded more deliciously sinister.
Big Freedia — "Excuse"
New Orleans bounce queen Big Freedia returns with the second clip from her Scion A/V Presents Big Freedia EP and a super charming video concept that couldn't be more perfect. Basically, it's the best workout ever.
Take That — "When We Were Young"
The synth-based club aesthetic of last year's Progress takes a backseat to the pleasurable return of pop-rock balladry on Take That's latest single, and it could be a sketch for what's to come: Having cleared out the vaults with this month's Progressed EP, the band have already begun writing for a new album. As for "When We Were Young," it's hard to invoke pathos for a group of guys that became one of the world's biggest bands by slathering jelly all over each other's bodies as teenagers, but this song might do the trick.
Norman Brannon is a pop critic, musician, and author based in New York City. He presents a weekly music update here on Towleroad and writes regularly at Nervous Acid.
As far as micro-genres go, "chillwave" is the most pedantic and unnecessary of the lot: Most often used to describe albums by artists like Toro Y Moi, Memory Tapes, or Washed Out, the term seems meant to replace what might have otherwise fallen under the '90s "shoegaze" umbrella. But if "chillwave" actually functions as a signifier for anything, it's not the sheer sonics of this new wave — whose ambient drones and reverb-drenched mixes didn't actually need an updated taxon — but the American-ness of its champions. The distinction is subtle: Washed Out's debut album, Within and Without, could never have been made if it weren't for seminal English albums like Souvlaki by Slowdive or Nowhere by Ride — and there's really no getting around that — but the decision to call in producer Ben Allen is a significant one in terms of differentiation. Allen's work with Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley, and fellow Atlantans Deerhunter offers valuable insight into the psychedelic house effect of "Soft" or the vintage hip-hop breakbeat that propels "Before." Which is to say that whereas the British shoegaze sound was, by and large, an extension of the rock music tradition, Within and Without draws from contemporary urban American musical movements with a nuanced, yet playfully naïve touch. The combination is endearing, but more importantly, unique: Washed Out may have created the first American post-rave album to feature all of the ecstasy and none of the serotonin-depleted mope.
Following their recent Best of 00-10 collection, Liverpool electropop outfit Ladytron have announced the new decade will begin with their fifth full-length album, Gravity The Seducer, as well a new single called "White Elephant." A three-song sampler for the album, including the single, is available for streaming now.
Jamie Stewart's avant-garde tendencies have propelled a ten-year career for Xiu Xiu, so it's not altogether surprising that an upcoming single will see his antipop inclinations collide head-on with chart-pop sensibility: A cover of Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)" teases out a dark and unsettling side to the song that may have been buried under the bright filtered synths of the original.
Lots of new music to stream and download this week: Cut Copy posted a tight and techy remix of "Blink and You'll Miss a Revolution" by the aforementioned Toro Y Moi. Canadian fellows P.S. I Love You announced the release of Figure It Out, a collection of singles and EPs featuring a stellar collaboration with Diamond Rings called "Leftovers," now available for download. Also on the download tip comes a stripped-down house revision of Chromeo's "When The Night Falls" by Hercules & Love Affair. And finally, another never-before-heard track from the late, lamented Elliott Smith surfaced online for streaming this week: "The Real Estate" will appear on Live From Nowhere Near You — a three-disc charity compilation whose proceeds will benefit a homeless youth organization called Outside In.
DJ Tiësto and The Alchemist are the first two names attaching themselves to writing and producing for a comeback album from Fab Morvan — better known as one-half of Milli Vanilli. This can't end well.
The first official album by hip-hop wiseguys and critical theory provocateurs Das Racist was announced this week: The 14-song Relax will be released on September 13 through the band's own Greedhead Music and features collaborations with El-P, Diplo, Yeasayer's Anand Wilder, and Vampire Weekend's out producer and multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij.
I've been a vegetarian for almost 24 years now, so hey, Morrissey! I feel you and your animal rights pain! But even I couldn't resist the chuckle from a headline like this: Morrissey Bitten By A Dog.
THE PLAYLIST:
During the slow summer weeks of the industry release schedule, we'll be picking up the slack with some Rdio playlists. Last week's "Best of 2011 (So Far)" mixtape fit the bill in a timely manner, but this week I went a bit more freewheeling: "The Endless Summer" is a collection of ten tracks that, in some way to me, speak to the season at hand. There was a hefty list to whittle down before I realized that I wanted to focus on some of the more emotive electronic music in my collection, and the end result got a windows-open test drive before I hit publish.
The tracks themselves are largely from the last few years, and once again, I tried to split the focus between lesser-known artists that may have gone under the radar the first time around — like the excellent People Press Play or the last underrated album from Styrofoam — as well as tracks from bigger artists that may have been swept under the rug. (See: Basement Jaxx and Underworld.) So give it a shot. With any luck, you may just find a new summer jam.
SOUND & VISION:
Hidden Cameras — "Do I Belong?"
After ten years together, there are few lesser-known gay artists than Joel Gibbs and Hidden Cameras, and the video for "Do I Belong?" — with its opening sequence of countless shirtless torsos of all shapes, sizes, and fur-quotients and latex-clad cameos — will do very little to further mainstream the band. Clearly, that's always been somewhat the point.
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart — "The Body"
Just in time for the heatwave, one of the more irrepressibly sunny tracks from the Pains' excellent Belong gets the beachy video it deserves. The moral of this story: Grown-ups have less fun.
Taking Back Sunday — "Faith (When I Let You Down)"
The notion of the parody video is a hit-or-miss affair, but the newest video from Taking Back Sunday — which cites Guns N Roses, Ellen Degeneres, Boogie Nights, and YouTube cat movies in a narrative arc worthy of an E! True Hollywood Story — gets the formula right: It's the makings of a LOLCAT tragedy.
Sufjan Stevens — "Get Real, Get Right"
In addition to his duties as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, indie polymath Sufjan Stevens tries on the Director and Animator roles for his latest video. "Get Real, Get Right" is the newest single from last year's The Age of Adz.
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