Seja

Finally a post about Australian music. Quite overdue in my opinion but there’s just too many other interesting artists to post about. Seja however is quite worthy of the attention and justifies the break in international focus with one of the most refreshing electro-pop releases in some time.

I first heard her track “I’ll Get To You” whilst listening to Triple J‘s home & hosed Australian music program and cooking a nice stir fry, honey-soy beef I believe. I was instantly hooked on the tune and neglected the wok to pay close attention to the lethargic back-announcing and ensure I got all the details regarding this little gem. Much like we all did back in the days before search engines. I checked her out online and discovered she was the short lived addition to Regurgitator a few years back when they decided they needed some extra oomph! live. Well I am glad that collaboration was short lived, because the solo product is outstanding.

Like her contemporaries Ellie Goulding, Marina Diamandis and Little Boots (all British and exceedingly popular last year) Seja’s sound is synth-centric with breathy, soft vocals. Unlike her UK counterparts her tunes possess great depth, something often lacking in this genre. Quite simply it is rich synths, reliable drum machines and lush vocal melodies combined elegantly and effectively.

Seja plays the Sando in Newtown on the 23rd of April. Happymusic will be there in eager anticipation. Lead track “I’ll Get To You” off Seja’s debut LP, released over the weekend,  is available as a sample below. You can purchase the record, “We Have Secrets But Nobody Cares”, here.

I’ll Get To You – Seja

Talib Kweli is Quality

Talib Kweli is Quality. He is easily my favorite hip hop artist, and has been for some time. I don’t even really remember how I got into him, probably cruising around Kanye’s wiki page when I noticed him alongside Jay-Z in West’s production credits. I pursued the hyperlinks and then got myself a sample, I was not disappointed.

For me Kweli’s delivery and style is the complete product of contemporary, sophisticated hip hop. He lays down each vocal track with extreme precision busting out relentless tides of lyrics. The articulation and rhyme of each line is meticulous and Kweli’s impeccable timing leaves his voice often sounding like a percussive high-hat. Kweli’s sound demonstrates great depth and distinguishes him amongst his peers Jay-Z and Lupe Fiasco for his diversity. His lyrics effortlessly shift across themes and styles from social inequality, contemporary life in Brooklyn, the power of the individual and beautiful women. The product is soulful, emotive, thought-provoking and technically impressive. Most importantly it is always a lot of fun.

Below are two of my favorite Kweli tracks, both from his debut record Quality and both produced by Kanye. First is the track “Good to You”. It samples a pitched-up soul vocal track typical of West’s production style and exemplifies Kweli’s strength in delivery without being aggressive and overtly “Gansta”. Next is the quintessential track “Get By”, a social commentary on desperate urban life that perfectly summarises Kweli’s depth and ability. The track samples a nice Nina Simone piano hook (thank you again Kanye) and the slower tempo contrasts nicely with the previous track. Shaking one’s booty whilst singing along to the chorus is impossible to avoid. Really, give it a go. The remix featuring Mos Def, Jay-Z, Kanye, and Busta Rhymes is a quality collaboration congruent with the original and demonstrates the high-esteem Kweli is held in by his contemporaries. This song is probably in my all time top 5, I really do love it that much.

Get in to some gooood quality hip hop. It will make you feel less white.

Good to You – Talib Kweli

Get By – Talib Kweli

Get By (Remix) – Talib Kweli

 

Flashback – Simply Red

Whilst the general aim of most music blogs, and indeed this one, is to promote new and upcoming artists and their new releases, credit and recognition must also be given to the Oldies whose influence on today’s artists and of course ourselves has created the rich musical environment in which we operate. Thus, with this irregular series of thematically linked Friday postings, Happymusic hopes to acknowledge these artists and the great tunes that we all grew up with and hopefully introduce you to some new (old) music, if you haven’t already heard it in the last few decades or so.

First up on the list, is Simply Red, simply because their Best Of has been spinning around in my CD player at home lately and is what I listen to first thing in the morning when I can’t be bothered turning on my computer. And simply because they are just too awesome!

Admittedly I was first introduced to Simply Red by my Mum (nothing to be ashamed of), and I loved them immediately. There is something infinitely soothing and cathartic about Mick Hucknall’s mellow vocal delivery, especially for an ignorant and curious thirteen year-old boy. Simply Red’s music is simple, sultry, seductive and sophisticated all at once whilst being a great deal more accessible than deeper Soul/Funk artists such as Barry White and James Brown, whose music quite simply confused me at the time. The disc quickly, and quite indiscreetly, transitioned from Mum’s CD collection into mine, and has remained there for the past decade.

The raw emotion displayed in tracks like “Holding Back The Years” and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” is enough to move anyone to croon along and unsuccessfully attempt to match Hucknall’s impressive delivery of range. The upbeat mood of their first single “Money’s Too Tight To Mention” and the ever-popular “Fairground” are almost too much fun to sing along to with friends.

If for some unkind reason fate withheld Simply Red from your childhood then there is no time like the present to discover them. They embark on their final tour at the end of this year and their music is timeless and gets even better with the years. So get into it.

A wealth of their releases are available from the website, managed by Hucknall himself.

Holding Back The Years – Simply Red

If You Don’t Know Me By Now – Simply Red

Fairground – Simply Red

FUCK! Holy Fuck, to be precise.

Holy Fuck is a Canadian Electronica four-piece, who make pretty cool music. I first encountered them a little over a year ago whilst driving a utility vehicle around work, listening to fbi. My simple mind was pleasantly amused by their excellent name (any chance of getting played on commercial radio?) and I noted their attendance down at the 2008 Meredith Music Festival near Geelong, which I happened to be departing for the following day. Bonus!

Holy Fuck played on the first night. Torrential rain and supple earth pathways meant by about midnight when local heroes Regurgitator took the stage the entire farmland and indeed the moshpit had turned into a knee deep quagmire. Good fun. After jumping wildly to the Gurge for an hour we, and indeed our spare clothes supply for the weekend, were exhausted and went searching for some much needed greasy festival food nourishment. As my single slice magharita was being warmed up Holy Fuck took the stage and began to play. This was my first experience of their mind-warping, dimension shifting sounds, and I liked it. Unfortunately fatigue and a complete inability to comprehend Fuck’s electro-ambient performance at 2am after a dozen cans of Amsterdam Lager motivated my associate and I to retreat back to our water-laden tents to simulate a peaceful nights sleep. A year later, I look back on this lack of resolve with increasing regret.

Last week Holy Fuck released their new single Latin America from their upcoming third album, similarly titled Latin, and since then the track has been on high rotation in my playlist. The track fuses driving bass and drums with controlled, crisp piano chords juxtaposing the two sounds nicely. Complimented by airy synths with a simple melody the track progression is basic, keeping a modest and conventional feel for this progressive electro outfit. A decent compromise between experimental and commercially viable with a product that should satisfy most listeners.

Keep an eye out for the release of Latin, set for the 11th of May. In the meantime enjoy the sample below.

And how awesome is that cat!

Latin America – Holy Fuck

Blair and Beach House – Soft Folk Indie?

Blair with cool neon fingers

Indie music divides me. I sit painfully on the fence and my love-hate relationship with the genre makes it very difficult to fully embrace this popular movement.

Let me first be clear in what I mean exactly by Indie music, in this particular instance. I refer to cutesy little guitar based bands that have a tendency to embellish their songs with glockenspiels and squeaky clean vocals. I suppose this is a sub-genre of Indie of which I am too ignorant to know the precise reference or classification, but I think you know what I mean. I distinguish between these artists and other Indie artists that still play their guitars and synths way loud and do occasionally shout into the microphone (in a good way). Now that I think about it, I might be talking about Modern Folk music, but Folk-Indie. Soft Folk-Indie, perhaps?

This brand of Indie music often leaves me feeling disenchanted and frustrated. The repetitive twang of the banjo and the isolated wail of a male vocal melody abandoned by the already minimalistic strum of an acoustic guitar, of course, and a sporadically struck high-hat leaves a wide, gaping hole in the sonic experience that listening to a song should be, in my opinion anyway. Not to say that acoustic or even just “soft” music isn’t great, indeed it often is, just that these modern manifestations I find often lack heart or genuine substance. I guess that is just my opinion. Many folk (see what I did there) whom are good friends of mine are really into this scene at the moment and it certainly has some cred behind it with the extreme success of accomplished artists like Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes, I just really dislike the diluted imitation bands that weakly attempt to mimic these artists. Often the music is hollow and underwhelming.

Anyways, enough whining.  Two artists in this genre who I believe do a good job are the titular Blair and Beach House. The lesser known, Blair, has recently moved to NYC, the epicenter of all things cool, it seems. I like her brand of soft Indie folk tinged rock. It is authentic and moving, as it should be, plus it still rocks out. See Hearts below, off the Die Young LP. Beach House have been getting a decent amount of coverage lately with the release of their most recent record Teen Dream. The simple, repetitious melody at the intro had me hooked instantly. The song is full of charm and soothes endlessly. Lovely listening.

Samples of both tracks are available below. Enjoy gooooood quality soft folk Indie.

Hearts – Blair

Lover of Mine – Beach House

GORILLAZZZZZZZZ

Yes, yes. Gorillaz’ latest LP Plastic Beach has been around for an e-age now and has received plenty of attention both on the blogs and radio alike. So why bother posting about it? Well I like it, that’s why. Plus I’m a little slow.

I first sampled Plastic Beach whilst traversing the bridge to visit Grandma. Triple J informed me that the new Gorillaz track was coming up so I turned the volume up in eager anticipation, I was not disappointed. Stylo, featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack, was precisely the groove ridden track that I needed to power through the afternoon. As soon as I got home I was on to downloading my copy of Stylo in record speed, really, super quick. Being a big fan of Mos Def’s output, particularly with Blackstar collaborator Talib Kweli, and Womack’s pedigree with decades of soul and funk recordings made this an all too exciting collaboration. I think the product is contemporary, soulful and progressive through Damon Albarn’s effortless fusion of all three artist’s style. Easily my favourite track on the LP.

Rhinestone Eyes is also another top track from the release, which I prefer to the other singles “Melancholy Hill” and “Superfast Jellyfish”. Unlike the singles, Rhinestone sticks to Gorillaz core sound and is the best indication of where Albarn is at right now as an individual artist. The synths are undeniably dark and fuse perfectly with Albarn’s monotonous mumbling of his dystopic lyrics. The portrait of a dysfunctional consumerist society is masterfully painted. Plus you can still dance your ass off to it. I think this track shows us why Gorillaz are one of the coolest musical entities going around.

Check out the samples below. The Louis La Roche remix of Stylo is off the hook. Never heard of this guy before but will definitely be looking for more now.

Rhinestone Eyes – Gorillaz

Stylo – Gorillaz

Stylo (Louis La Roche “Better Late Than Never” Remix – Gorillaz

Kavinsky’s the limit

French producer Kavinsky returns with his killer new track “Nightcall”, to be released later this month on the EP of the same name. The track simultaneously represents all that is great about 80’s synth electro combined with the sound of contemporary French producers such as Justice and Daft Punk and has already set the benchmark for electro releases in 2010.

The eerie tone of the track is set immediately through the sound of a pay-phone being used out in the wilderness as a wolf howls conjuring up images of  80’s Sci-fi/horror flicks such as American Werewolf In London. The slow beat and heavy synths ooze out of the speakers in a deep groove that is intense and foreboding. Kavinsky’s vocal track is rough and robotic and makes you feel like your motherboard is making direct verbal threats at you. It’s kind of scary, but super cool. This contrasts heavily with the soft, luscious vocal delivery from Lovefoxxx where the Daft Punk influence from track producer Guy Manuel is most distinct. The back and forth between the two vocalists in verse and chorus alludes to some sort of dysfunctional romance between the two. All the best songs are love songs, after all.

It is pretty clear to see why Kavinsky is flavour of the week right now and leading the way for the class of 2010. From what else I have heard of the Nightcall EP we are all in for a real treat. Also digging the groovy Breakbot remix, providing a laid-back 70’s funk tinged version of the original. It contrasts nicely with the brooding darkness of Kavinsky’s cut whilst complimenting the Lovefoxxx section perfectly. Check it out.

Nightcall – Kavinsky

Nightcall (Breakbot Remix) – Kavinsky

Also check out Kavinsky’s earlier stuff at itunes.

The Big Pink – Live

I recently went along to the Metro to see The Big Pink with girlfriend as my fellow attendee. We arrived early enough to catch the tail end of An Horse, a cute guitar ‘n’ drums duo who pumped out simple yet catchy indie-grunge tunes. The room was sparsely populated and I noticed that large black curtains had been draped halfway down the stairs to limit the venue’s space. Obviously not a sell-out show, which was a surprise as I thought I had a hot little ticket in my hand, apparently only lukewarm.

The room did however fill out a little more in time for the main act. Despite already knowing “A Brief History of Love“ was their debut record I somehow expected the band to be a little older, and perhaps a little more mature. From the moment they walked out on stage they seemed very much enamored with the notion of Rock ‘n’ Roll stardom and although the enthusiasm was genuine it just felt a tad underwhelming considering the size of the venue and the lack of bodies filling it. That being said they did manage to put together a tight set and extracted some interesting sounds from their guitars despite the formulaic approach of their songwriting. At times the sound touched on something very similar to the Smashing Pumpkins, which for me was personally quite nostalgic and enjoyable although it did feel somewhat derivative.

By the end of the set I felt weary from hearing ALL of the tracks from the album. As with most new artists with only one record behind them it can often feel like you’re listening to their sole album on shuffle, except the live version has taken the polish off the tight studio tracks.

All in all the gig was decent. I did leave feeling slightly underwhelmed but I attribute this to my high anticipation of the performance beforehand. Still very enjoyable and it will be interesting to see how they progress their sound on the second release.

Velvet is available below for you to sample.

Velvet – The Big Pink

Dirty Projectors, Clean Sound

The  Dirty Projectors recently played the Metro in Sydney and I was eagerly attending. The band has broad significance in the indie crowd being one of the “IT” bands of 2009 but also great personal significance as an example of the power of music blogs. I first discovered the band mid last year whilst browsing my favorite blog aggregator, and the name caught my eye. My 9-to-5 is audio visual at a large institution in Sydney and one of the various duties is data projector cleaning and maintenance. Naturally, I couldn’t scroll past such an amusing name. Thus my love affair with the band began.

It was a breezy night in early autumn. My friend had a cold and was hiding his puffy face behind an oversized hoodie. His brother had embellished his outfit with a set of recently purchased Lady Gaga headphones. We seamlessly slipped in to the uber trendy Indie crowd. The atmosphere was full of anticipation and the general feeling of hype contrasted sharply to the diluted feel of The Big Pink gig a few days earlier. Rightfully so too as the performance did not disappoint.

Quite simply, Dirty Projectors are a quirky band that has somehow managed to unify the diverse talents and styles of the individual members into a coherent and downright impressive sound. This is some great feat considering the uniqueness of their sound, and of course the quality. Their quirkiness translates effortlessly onto the stage. Frontman Dave Longstreth sashays around the stage with pigeon-like neck movements as he thrusts and jives along to the groove of his frantic and deadly accurate top string melodies. Jive and groove are appropriate terms to use as the Projectors’ songs, particularly the slower, percussion driven tracks, definitely have a distinct soulful feel to them that infects the hips. Their upbeat tracks are often relentless and energising and remind us that, although a tres cool Indie band, this is still rock ‘n’ roll. Longstreth is not alone in accomplished musical dexterity. The 6-piece band is well balanced but front-lady pair Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian standout technically and melodically as their intertwining vocal harmonies are a key feature of the band’s sound . Of particular note is Amber’s guitar skill which compliments Longstreth’s style perfectly. The Frontman matches Coffman’s soprano bursts with his own accomplished vocal delivery and confident falsetto, all whilst his fingertips simultaneously dance along the fretboard.

The highlights of the performance were the duet between Longstreth and Deradoorian on Two Doves and the encore performance of Cannibal resource. This was one of the stand-out gigs that I have been to recently. These guys are in their super cool prime so make sure you check them out live if you get the chance. Two samples off Bitte Orca, Dirty Projectors cut from last year, are available below: The aforementioned “Two Doves” and of course “Stillness is the Move”, two standout out tracks from the album.

Two Doves – Dirty Projectors

Stillness is the Move – Dirty Projectors

M.O.R.E.M.G.M.T.

MGMT have returned to our audiosphere with their upcoming album CONGRATULATIONS, to be released mid next month. To enhance the anticipation surrounding the release the band has made the first single available as a free download from their website. “Flash Delirium” is also available from the bottom of this post.

So, how does Flash Delirium actually sound? Different.The track shifts sporadically from ambient-psychedelic to upbeat Beach Boys-esque harmonies and guitar rhythms. The general lack of delicate, airy synths  is a notable omission from the band’s trademark sound. The dominance of a classic rock organ as its’ substitute is congruent with the general feel of the song and perhaps indicative of the developing sound of the band. The are some nice melodies and sounds at the back end of the track however it is completely eclipsed by an almost self-indulgent crescendo of noise that forms the outro to the track.

Overall it is a decent cut and definitely worth a listen to. It is good to have 2008’s IT band back after the old material was overplayed and exhausted. The fact that Flash Delirium was selected as the first single is a tad surprising. The band already sound like they have entered their experimental, self-indulgent, no concern for radio play or record labels and the contrast to the previous album is stark. Time will tell how the fans of Oracular Spectacular respond.

Flash Delirum – MGMT