Flight Facilities - Foreign Language
La discotheque? There is seriously something in that vegemite that makes some awesome music.
Flight Facilities - Foreign Language (feat. Jess) by future classic
Darwin Deez - DNA
Please provide space for head bopping.
Darwin Deez - DNA by LuckyNumberMusic
Alex Winston
Deliciously quirky.
It's not my fault. I've only been absent one week, tis your perception of time that is a wee bit off. The Mad King was murdered so I had to go deal with that for a bit. Don't worry I left before the war started between the North and the South. I also needed to help set up Troy and Abed in the Morning---their production budget is a bit low.
I return from far and wide, from low and high and I bring back two songs on separate ends of the emotional spectrum. The first is from Of Monsters and Men an Icelandic band that broke out with "Little Talks" earlier this year. It always amazes me how well foreign bands can sing in English--it makes me want to try to croon out some German songs to a special Elizabeth Lemon. I don't have a particular song in mind, but I'm sure it would involve Krapfen! and köstliches Frühstück! I think Little Talks is great, but the following song is just so beautifully arranged and entrancing. The song doesn't have a name yet, and the video frankly doesn't have enough views yet. It deserves much much more. By the by, viewing it in HD makes a world of difference.
Of Monsters and Men - Untitled
Martin Solveig - Can't Stop
The more I hear from Monsieur Solveig, the more I like him. He creates electronic music that's not "EDM" in the traditional sense--as if there was a traditional sense of it. It's less trance, less house and more electro-rock, electro-pop, with some tracings of dubstep. The energy is vibrant and full and amazingly, he uses half-beats! The genius! I appreciate how each song on his album, Smash, has a unique sound to it. He isn't afraid to venture to different styles. And because of that, he's quickly becoming one of those producers that I want to sniff/lick every song that they create.
The best part of this season was Ron Artest. I love having people like this on my team.
Pros
- Gorgeous UI
- Snap & 1/4 screen app mode
- non-disruptive tab switching in the browser
Cons
- Tiles are great but are visually meh
- Questionable how it comes together with hardware
- I pray that the touch interface isn't just a layer that runs on top of plain old Windows
The Strokes - Under Cover of the Darkness
Even with such a distinct sound as the Strokes have--with their catchy bass lines, and sustained poppy electro-guitar notes-- who would they be without Julian Casablancas? It's unfortunate for the other band members but Julian is The Strokes. Just like Bono is U2. Voices can define a band as much as the music beneath them. Sidenote: Danger mouse is going to be producing U2's upcoming album.
Julian has a raspy whine to his voice that when described that way should bring up images of Janice from Friends and make you run far far away from his music. But you don't. He even does the opposite and lulls you in with his note hanging and deliberate nonchalance. When I listen to The Strokes I can almost visualize his voice lifted above the music. Its distinct enough to create spatial separation from something we can't even observe the space of. I think there are very few "pure" singers that end up being stars or even mildly successful indie acts. Even the classic "crooners" from yesteryear like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin had at-par voices. They weren't fantastically good, but they were fantastically unique.
Martin Solveig ft. Kele - Ready 2 Go
Upon first impression, Kele from Bloc Party definitely had one of the oddest voices I've heard. It's blatantly British, not exactly what you would consider smooth/sultry and sort of sounds like he has a fat tongue. But he hits his notes and that's all that matters. Again his uniqueness shines and his voice is different enough to be interesting but on point enough to be a lead singer for a band.
Martin Solveig does a great job of what I'll call "subtle" dubstep. He reels in dubstep from the radical and really dischordant noise that a lot of producers put out. He places a wobble here or there to add to the harmony of sound as opposed to letting it run wild in an isolation play. I'd liken a lot of the "experimentation" with dubstep that we hear to picking up a guitar and strumming your fingers raw. My niece does that--and the practice is only allowed if you're at least 1/2 as cute as she is. Good luck on that front DJs.
Julian Casablancas - I'll Try Anything Once [You only live once demo]
PS means PLUS SOUND. Here is a PS. I owe you guys because I skipped out on last week =(. You may have heard this song from the advert for Somewhere by Sophia Coppola. It also may have seduced you into watching the movie. If you haven't and it hasn't then don't bother. Listen to this song 30x instead and get more value for your time.
