Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact

With pop music – at least that of the radio friendly unit shifter variety – three devices are undeniably ubiquitous: earworm melodies, lyrical inclusion, and conventional song format.  Think about it – if your song has a good hook, a direct and universal message, and a strategically placed chorus, it’s a fair bet that people will at least give you the time of day.

Then there’s the brand of pop that, in renouncing the holy triptych of most Top 40 hits, chooses to embrace textural nuance, esoteric cultural influences, and alien milieus.  Brian Eno is probably the most obvious example of someone who rode this circuitous route to fame, but groups like Sigur Rós and Animal Collective have also made careers out of it in recent years.  Enter Gang Gang Dance, the New York foursome whose irresistible cocktail of experimental rock, electronica, and worldbeat found its way onto the radar after the band’s fourth studio record, Saint Dymphna, was greeted with critical adoration.  That album’s forays into ambient dubstep, grime, and electrorock made for an abstract but no less flavorful pastiche that found the group finally on the receiving end of praise for a sound they had been continuously tinkering with since Revival of the Shittest made waves back in 2004.  There were melodies and lyrics and there was a predetermined framework too, but GGD’s predilection for atmosphere and suffusing its songs with myriad influences usually meant the listener had to work a little harder and employ more patience in finding them.

Though Gang Gang Dance has always very much been a group effort, it’s difficult to mention them without specifically referencing frontwoman Lizzi Bougatsos – a singer whose empyrean vocal style frequently results in apt Kate Bush references.  Yet as bewitching as it is, Bougatsos’ voice is just one ingredient in a sound sometimes damn near impossible to pigeonhole; guitarist Josh Diamond, keyboardist Brian DeGraw, and drummer Tim DeWitt deftly conjure complex sonic palettes which only accentuate the drama of her keening voice.  Though sometimes beguiling and confounding, the music never failed to mesmerize in the end, taking the listener on a whirlwind tour of varied sonic terrain.

The next stop on this strange yet scintillating trip is Eye Contact – GGD’s fifth full-length and their first for venerable British indie label 4AD.  The album also marks the inauguration of drummer Jesse Lee; intoxicating rhythms and inventive percussion have always been a core component of the Gang Gang Dance sound, so it is a relief to hear that none of the group’s rhythmic intensity has been lessened by the presence of someone new sitting behind the kit.  In fact, Eye Contact might just be GGD’s most effervescent statement yet – an inspired fusion of dancefloor cadence, ghostly spirituality, and world music melodicism.

In a band known for ingenuity, Eye Contact’s introductory statement, “Glass Jar,” is a new high-water mark; the track is a sprawling 11-minute mélange of careening synthesizers, shimmering electronic arpeggios, propulsive drumming, and Bougatos’s stratospheric coo.  Before a single instrument sounds, a voice is heard proclaming, “I can hear everything.  It’s everything time.”  Though it sounds like an admonition of the kitchen sink approach to music making, Eye Contact is a surprisingly concise statement, a 47-minute affair in which even the extended opening cut feels half its length.

“Adult Goth,” is another declamatory statement, with crystalline synths and icy guitar punctuations doing dances alongside austere soprano moans.  The song showcases GGD’s knack for laying down tracks that manage the feat of sounding as blissful and euphoric as they are dark and unsettling.  “Chinese High” veers more overtly between spectral ambience and saccharine giddiness, with the latter being constantly encouraged by the childlike squeals of Bougatsos.  Maintaining the edginess throughout though is Lee, whose commanding presence on the drums is hard to ignore, even when smooth jazz harmonizations and gleaming keyboard melodies begin to suggest department store Muzak.

“MindKilla” is the album’s most club-accessible cut, its whooshing synths and unrelenting breakbeat lending the track a swaggering sense of bravado.

Though the LP’s homestretch is less engaging – “Romance Layers” is a paean to 1980’s synth pop while “Sacer” plays out like a breezy summertime jam – it concludes with “Thru and Thru,” a thrilling modal composition that rides on Middle Eastern-inspired flute riffs, Lee’s bombastic drumming, sparkling electronic layers, and Bougatsos’ siren wail.  It’s an inspired coda to an album distinguished by boundless creativity.

Though Eye Contact represents another exhilarating turn from one of modern music’s most enterprising groups, many people will likely be turned off by the sound of Bougatsos’ helium shriek; that voice may be initially challenging to the ears, but those who arrive with the awareness that this isn’t exactly the stuff of sing-along melodies, honeyed vocals, and verse/chorus/verse gratification will be pleased they stuck around.

The Crevices Below – Below The Crevices

Brisbane multi-instrumentalist Dis Pater is known as the man behind ambient black metal project Midnight Odyssey which, though originally having its inception as far back as 1999 and seeing official light of day in 2007, has received most recognition from the re-releases of debut album The Forest Mourners and the follow-up Firmamant by Kunsthauch Records and I, Voidhanger Records respectively in 2010. Now he returns with the one man project The Crevices Below and the release of the album Below The Crevices on Swedish label Nordvis.

Below The Crevices is a six track dark abandonment conceptually set in a cavernous underworld consumed and haunted by the cries and resentment of the dead. The journey is at times oppressive and suffocating as the paranoia of the lost immerses the listener in its darkness. Emotionally, this is accentuated and brought forth by the experimental melodic black metal music of the album tinged with gothic storytelling and sounds. The title track takes us down into the depths where haunting sounds, voices, and creaking noises set the atmosphere before the track expands and the exploration of the unknown begins. The track bursts into a fuller song as the imagination sees the world in its entirety, synths and rhythms washing over a Killing Joke sounding riff. Australian Pater delivers a slow, growling vocal in a black metal vein that counters the melodic guitar play nicely. “The Tombs Of Subterranea” follows with a slower Gothic symphonic feel, with sweeping melodic guitars and synths combined with a subdued near whispering vocal. This track as well a few of the others do sounds like a more metallic Sister Of Mercy in flavour – the vocals when they raise the volume and attack are very Andrew Eldritch in tone.

Each of the tracks brings not only more to the mental image the album creates as it plays, but also intriguing and satisfying sounds. The wonderful bassline in the Sisters Of Mercy/The Mission sounding “Trapped In Suicidal Depths”, the great melodic stirring guitar and sounds in “A Grand Cavernous Awakening”, and the wonderfully atmospheric and senses haunting “Whispers Of sorrow” all attach themselves to the listener’s feelings and create images within the tale they tell. The first of these three songs is the album’s strongest moment by far, a truly enticing track with, as mentioned, an irresistible bass line and guitar hooks and chords reminiscent of UK post punks Wire.

“Carrying The Cries Of The Lost” closes the release with a slow semi-acoustic start, bringing thoughts of Bauhaus to mind before it builds up into a crescendo of sound and intensity; the despair of the lost ringing in the ear. Below The Crevices is an impressive creation of ideas and their realisation. It is not without some negatives, as in the length of some of the tracks give the feeling that some of the time changes or sound switches are added as padding rather than organically. Also, the vocals would have been enhanced and worked better with an additional contribution to offset Pater’s. Overall though the album is a pleasure and an enjoyment to experience, and it’s hopeful that this is a project Pater will return to often.

Check out the official site for The Crevices Below:  http://www.myspace.com/thecrevicesbelow

New video from My Dad Vs Yours

Here We Go Magic – The January EP

Sometimes the birth of new music is so fortuitous that there seems to be a small batch of high quality music still missing. The follow-up, or counterpart if you will, to last year’s critically-acclaimed Pigeons, The January EP is definitely the makings of a progressing, still evolving and growing band. Although there are remnants left in the subtle way Here We Go Magic’s instrumentation blends with atmospheres for a fantastic melody, this a band far removed from “Fangela”’s jangling sound. So much so that for that aforementioned LP from last year the band had so much great music still brewing that they amassed The January EP.

Once you get past The Shins’ vibe of opener “Tulip,” the chugging reflection of “Hands in the Sky” showcases a shimmering sound that is equal parts mellow, as it is mesmerizing. Whereas singer/songwriter Luke Temple has always carried a strong voice, his vocals on this EP soar with a towering presence. On the latter song they rush the emotions of the music into a flurry of intertwining guitars and terrific instrumental breakdowns. There’s an astounding amount of chemistry in the way the music’s passages take shape through meticulously crafted harmonies. The density of the music and chords is one thing but the sheer amount of layers the band adds is merely, strength in numbers.

While Here We Go Magic has always maintained folk credibility and surely, an ambient nature too, the music on The January EP ensures that different cycles of sounds are introduced to the spectrum. On “Backwards Time” the music ebbs with a stunning synthesizer that gives the song an almost 80s new-wave feel; however, that’s mostly based on the pulsating beats because the overall guitar and vocal cadence is something more reminiscent of The Rural Alberta Advantage. And still, the EP’s shining moment is more than likely the startling “Song in Three” and how it blends an electronic charge with tones and sounds that recall old Elton John in his prime. There’s a brilliant duel between the guitars that almost recall a fugue and in the best of the ways, the song’s swells are met with remarkable choral arrangements.

As a stand-alone, six-set album, it compares just fine to last year’s eight-set Pigeons and in many ways, is a detached piece on its own. With songs that are as refined and delicately composed as this, Here We Go Magic have already presented a strong catalog to take notice of. Fortunately, one can only hope that a batch of songs to help round out an album would be this easy to find.

“Song in Three” by Here We Go Magic

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“Hands in the Sky” by Here We Go Magic

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Secretly Canadian

Album from The Feelies out now

After a 19 year break, the Feelies are back with Here Before an album of all new original material on Bar/None Records. The new album touches on different styles from the Feelies’ long history while adding new grooves and musical ideas to the mix. Electric and acoustic guitars melt together in archetypal Feelies fashion on songs like “Nobody Knows” and “Should be Gone. “ Elsewhere there are slabs of driving garage rock like “When You Know” and  “Time Is Right” and the down-tempo ”Bluer Skies,” and harmonically rich  “Later On.” Here Before was recorded at Water Music in Hoboken,  produced by Feelies founders Glenn Mercer and Bill Million. Besides Glenn on rhythm/lead guitar and lead vocals, and Bill on guitar and vocals, the album features Feelies mainstays Brenda Sauter (bass, vocals), Stanley Demeski (drums), and Dave Weckerman (percussion).

The Feelies were one of the most zealously touted acts on the highly competitive late 70s New York scene and underground heroes in their native New Jersey.  They were signed to the trendsetting British label Stiff and released their debut album Crazy Rhythms in 1980. Six years later they released The Good Earth, co-produced by Million, Mercer and REM’s Peter Buck, followed by two further releases  Only Life (1988) and Time For A Witness (1991).  In 1992 Bill Million left the music business, moving his family to Florida and effectively putting the band on what turned out to be a very long hiatus.

In 2008, the Feelies re-united to open for long time admirers Sonic Youth at Battery Park and then resurrected their tradition of playing low key gigs around national holidays (many at their old home base, Maxwell’s) rather than doing lengthy tours.

www.myspace.com/thefeelies

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi – Rome

Whilst it’s easy to feel suspicious that Brian ‘Danger Mouse’ Burton’s ubiquity can too readily be mistaken for an instant stamp of quality, credibility and hipness, it’s hard not to argue that there is something special about his role as a roving producer, arranger and collaborator.  Certainly, his studio support to Beck yielded an absolute gem in the shape of 2008’s still marvellous Modern Guilt and his work with The Shins’ James Mercer (as The Broken Bells) freshened-up the world of indie-pop without insulting it.  Although his Dark Night Of The Soul conjoining with the late-Mark Linkous (AKA Sparklehorse) suffered from a top-heavy selection of guests, it still broke down a few doors between genres, scenes and artistic egos.  With the unveiling of his latest LP, constructed with Italian composer Daniele Luppi, initial scepticism that Burton might have bitten off more than he can chew is happily unfounded.

Predominantly recorded in the city of its title with veteran Italian session musicians and featuring hired-in vocal spots from Jack White and Norah Jones, Rome is an openly-declared homage to the seminal spaghetti western soundtracks of Ennio Morricone.  Whilst the modus operandi suggests something rather derivative, somehow the album achieves more than fan-boy indulgence; managing to be stylish and atmospheric without being too slick or insubstantial.

Taking the wordless pieces that dominate proceedings as a block, there’s an indisputably strong mesh of lush orchestrations, desert guitar twang and choral vocals that produces serene widescreen epics (“Roman Blue”), gentile intimacy (“Morning Fog (Interlude)”) and carnivalesque drama (“The Matador Has Fallen”).  Whilst Morricone is the main touchstone, Burton’s eclectic tastes can’t but help let in other influences, which is no bad thing.  Hence, there are also heavy dollops of bass-lines cribbed from Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire de Melody Nelson (particularly on “The Gambling Priest”) and shades of John Barry’s more exotic film scores (in “Her Hollow Ways”).

The clutch of tracks voiced by Jack White and Norah Jones may be more uneven in their execution but they still sit well inside the overall Rome mood.  No stranger to nomadic collaborating, White seemingly fits himself into the pre-built instrumental frames with relative ease; with the mournful “The Rose With The Broken Neck” and the terrific jagged-edged “Two Against One” being the most effective.  Jones’s coffee-table jazz-soul tones must have required a greater leap of faith to transcend her previous polished blandness.  However, Burton and Luppi admirably bring out some of her hidden strengths, to add an endearing sultriness to the infectiously twinkling “Black” and the string-drenched slow-funk of “Season’s Trees.”

Ultimately, despite its alluring and imaginative reach, Rome does still feel like a side-project.  But as interim detours go there are certainly far less enjoyable ways to spend 35 minutes.  Whether Brian Burton’s current spree of good luck will run out soon, remains to be seen.  Undoubtedly the next gig – producing U2 – will test his considerable and transferable talents to the nth degree…

EMI / Third Man Records

Salt Lake Electric Ensemble – In C

Like a slow-motion dream sequence, the music casually unfolds with gradual shifts in tone and texture. And even though the music is constantly changing, the repetitiveness and leisurely pace can lull the listener into a trance-like state while stealthily infusing assorted moods ranging from soothing to brooding to the simply sublime.

The digital production provides a new twist on an old story but succeeds in maintaining the spirit of the composition by creating sprawling ambient atmospheres similar to Fripp and Eno’s Evening Star and morphing through various electronic music archetypes, including Kraftwerk-like syncopations, while staying grounded with the acoustic touches.

The Salt Lake Electric Ensemble’s take on In C is a unique and remarkable contemporary interpretation of a modern classical piece that should serve to expose the birth of minimalist, experimental ambient music to a new generation of listeners. A companion DVD is also available so listeners can be entertained visually as well as aurally.

Gamma Ray – Skeletons & Majesties EP

Twenty plus years and ten albums sees German band Gamma Ray at the forefront of European power metal as well as having made waves worldwide. The band originated back in 1989 after its founder Kai Hansen, having left Helloween the year before, teamed up with long term friend Ralf Scheepers. Through numerous line-up changes Gamma Ray grew into a powerful and well followed unit that always excites its fervent fan base when releases and tours are announced. May 31^st sees the release of their new EP Skeletons & Majesties via Armoury Records/Eagle Rock Entertainment. The EP contains a collection of songs gathered from previous albums and delivered in two different styles.

The first section Skeletons consists of two tracks, “Hold Your Ground” and “Brothers”, which are brand new recordings of rarely played old songs. The former is a vibrant track loaded with humour and an enticing sense of theatre – it sounds like a stage production of Scandinavian folk metal meshed with the glory days of Meatloaf. This description might sound scary, but this is actually a great, fun song that grabs hold of the listener. The latter is a more straight rock ‘n’ roll track with strong riffs and a great guitar solo. The Majesties section of the EP again contains two new versions of rare tracks – “Send Me A Sign” and “Rebellion In Dreamland” – but this time delivered acoustically. The two songs are both strong but do feel a little barren up against the opening duo. However, with good piano and an almost narrative, grizzly vocal delivery they continue the lighter element in the package.

The line-up of Kai Hansen (guitars, vocals), Henjo Richter (guitars, keyboards), Dirk Schlächter (bass), and Dan Zimmerman (drums) combine well to infuse  a new life into the tracks and though they are not new songs they do make them worth checking out with their new interpretations. Also included on the Skeletons & Majesties EP is the ultra rare “Wannabees” which was previously only available on the To The Metal 7” single. It is a good solid track and though the original’s package is sought after it is not hard to see why it never became a major sign post in the band’s catalogue. The last two tracks, the extended version of “Brothers” and a karaoke mix of “Rebellion In Dreamland”, are really nothing more than fillers; though the band has launched a special contest where fans can submit a recording of their version of “Rebellion In Dreamland” via physical demo submission or digital sound file which then could possibly be integrated in a “choir” of voices on the upcoming album version of the song.

Whether there is enough for old fans to need a copy of the Skeletons & Majesties EP will be seen but the tracks included for the most are good variations on old songs. For newcomers to Gamma Ray though, this EP is a great introduction to their power metal fun even if the included music is not maybe the truest sound of the band. For more information check out the band’s website at http://www.gammaray.org

New video from Dark Colour

Dark Colour Drops Video for “Don’t Let It Stop”
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4seTS0CXqM&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Cincinnati-based, electronic pop act Dark Colour exploded from the mind of 20-year old singer/songwriter Randall Rigdon. After years of providing ethereal soundtrack work for independent video projects and partaking in friends’ frenzied rock experiments, Randall finally set forth on his own full-fledged solo electro project.

With him comes Memories (out now), a ten-track, dance party of an album featuring warming synths, compelling vocals, hard-hitting beats, and an overwhelming sense of chaos. Recorded straight out of Randall’s bedroom studio, Memories is an uncontrollable pandemonium that’s reminiscent of 70s disco and 80s synthrock. With influences ranging from the works of Damon Albarn, David Bowie, and even Gregg Alexander, Dark Colour transforms themes of heartbreak and frustration into carefree exhilarations.

In correspondence to Memories’ release, Dark Colour has begun taking the music to the stage. Accompanying Randall is a full backing band that carries the same euphoric level of edginess and excitement found on the album. Backing band includes Peter Muller on guitar, Rico Reyes on bass, and Josh Alsip on drums.

Common comparisons include: Passion Pit, Empire of the Sun, Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, Modest Mouse, The Postal Service, and David Bowie.

Dark Colour on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/darkcolourmusic

Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math

Let’s be frank – indie rock very rarely does any kind of actual rocking.  Any band I can think of who has ridden that tag to some semblance of mainstream notoriety (Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, The Shins) might have a bevy of guitars at their disposal, but that doesn’t mean any of them are trying to channel the Led Zeppelin zeitgeist, as Jack White is wont to do.  No – indie rock is more about tenderness than testosterone, and so long as there is a Nickelback or a Hinder sitting atop the radio rock charts, the genre will continue to prize sad sack sensitivity over swaggering masculinity.

Andy Hull – of Atlanta’s Manchester Orchestra – wouldn’t be faulted if he had ended up crafting the same sort of beautifully fractured jams as his compatriots; anyone who willfully admits to a Smiths/Morrissey phase during a prolonged period of adolescent alienation is ripe for the sort of willowy introspection that has given rise to the likes of Bon Iver and The Antlers in recent years.  But Hull chooses to purge his demons in a more palpably cathartic manner, amidst the crush of electric guitars, thunderous drumming and a visceral yawp that probably puts undue pressure on blood vessels.  Those who paid attention to the band’s hype-worthy Mean Everything to Nothing back in 2009 have an acute understanding of this admittedly delicious kind of rage, and though highly unoriginal, it was overwhelmingly refreshing to hear an artist exorcise his pain the old fashioned way.

Two years later, the five-piece returns with Simple Math – a concept album which, according to Hull himself, examines perennial hot button topics like marriage, love, religion, and sex.  Again, not exactly revelatory material, but Hull has a gift with prose that turns even the most banal observations into striking reflections.  Take for instance, the understated opener, “Deer,” in which Hull plaintively sings, “Dear everyone I ever really knew / I acted like an asshole so I could keep my edge on you.” Such candor is even more pronounced when the only things competing with it are gentle acoustic strums and wistful piano countermelodies.

After this, Hull and Co. return to the business of rocking, a job which they clearly relish.  “Mighty” makes an audacious u-turn from “Deer,” where snarling distortion and chugging rhythms accentuate the confrontational atmosphere of Hull’s words: “Look straight in the eyes of the hopeless / you can’t swing if you don’t use your arms.”  The track is also the first of many to employ a string section – a move that works in moderation but becomes trite by album’s end.  “April Fool” employs similar tactics, as defiant guitar riffage and snappy percussion from drummer Tim Very form the backbone for formidable declarations from Hull like, “I’ve got that rock and that roll!”

Yet in terms of intensity and brute force, nothing on Simple Math comes close to “Virgin,” a song that brings about the unholy union of blood and crucifix imagery with piles of guitar sludge and the angelic timbres of a children’s choir.  Employing a group of sprightly youths to sing on an indie rock record is, at this point, sort of like asking a keyboard player to join your synth-pop band.  Given its pervasive use in recent times – Peter Bjorn and John’s “Nothing to Worry” and Passion Pit’s “Little Secrets” immediately come to mind – the choir’s novelty is minimal, not to mention there’s something completely unnerving about listen to pre-adolescents sing lines like, “We built this house with our hands / and our time / and our blood” over an apocalyptic tumult.  Still though, there isn’t a catchier song on this record.

Though Simple Math favors elephantine gestures, there are still occasionally whimsical moments that dilute the doom-laden atmosphere.  “Pensacola” starts out in pseudo-New Wave territory but concludes in the manner of a raucous barroom sing-a-long, with the band inciting the crowd: “Alcohol / dirty malls / Pensacola, Florida bars!”  And though the title track lacks any kind of comedic bent (Could a line such as “I want to rip your lips off in my mouth,” be taken humorously?), it’s a noteworthy cut for eventually embracing a more hopeful milieu, with vibrato-heavy strings and soaring wordless vocals that take the place of the group’s trademark guitar and drum attack.  Two songs (“Pale Black Eye” and “Apprehension” have an aesthetic quality well known to Wilco fans, where ragged vocals, tremolo-affected keyboards, and twangy guitars comfortably reside.

Simple Math, as Hull reminds us on the titular cut, is not so simple.  True enough – if Manchester Orchestra was as accessible as they appear on paper, they probably would’ve inked a lucrative deal some time ago.  Though those instinctive desires to rock out are satiated time and again on Simple Math, the band is not nearly as forthcoming – “Virgin” notwithstanding – with the sort of earworm melodies and pedestrian lyrics that put hard rock acts like Daughtry and 3 Doors Down at the top of the charts.  Thank God.

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