3hive

Attempting to review music while your wife and son are jamming to The Beatles Rockband is like making a suicide at a fountain dispenser–taking a hit from each flavor of soda you get a little taste of this, a little taste of that, but it’s all really just a blur. Not the ideal situation to be sure. I’m gonna go get my headphones….ah, that’s much better.

Kono Michi is a concert violinist with a beautiful voice and a knack for writing interesting songs. And excuse the blasphemy I’m about to embark on, but I find her voice warmer and more pleasant than that of Annie Clark’s (St. Vincent). If that’s even possible!

Violins open her track “My Monster,” then her vocals glide in, the strings drop out and a slow drumbeat thunders in. And like that you’re hooked. A deep male voice rolls in with the violin again, la-la-la-la-la-ing along, and the song kind of turns into a duet between Kono Michi and the monster on the cover. He sounds like a gentle fellow, and like she sings in the song, as long as they’re singing along, they’re getting along. Maybe a good relationship healer. Feeling sour towards your partner? Sing a song or two together!

If you’re not yet moved to give Kono Michi a try, then check out the video for “You are the First.” It’s a DIY stop-motion effort in which Kono Michi, a Brooklynite, traveled 6,000 miles across the country photographing herself jumping in the air so it looks as if she’s floating around. If that doesn’t mesmerize you for a few minutes, then you’re a sad, jaded soul and I feel for you…

My Monster [MP3]
You are the First [MP3]

www.konomichimusic.com
www.sharkbatter.com

The title to the album’s opener is antithetical to what’s happening around us economically. Not many people feel as if they’re living a charmed life these days. But the song’s about holding it together despite the mayhem that circles around us. “‘Charmed Life’ is about struggling to maintain sanity when it seems like the world around you is falling apart,” says Aaron Livingston, the vocal half of Icebird. Add RJD2′s production skills and beat-making abilities and you’ve got the makings of a musical opiate that’ll soothe the soul no matter what ails you.

The album, The Abandoned Lullaby, dropped last week and you can get a taste of another track via video below. And if you’re looking to add some charm to your life, RJD2 has offered up individual tracks to “The Charmed Life” for your remixing pleasure. If Icebird likes your remix best, they’ll set you up with some goodies. Details here.

Charmed Life

Going and Going and Going – RJD2 Remix

rjselectricalconnections.com

Anna Morley is a classically trained vibraphone player from Australia, now living in Barcelona, and she’s quietly making a stir with her unique compositions. Morley works with London-based produced Alex Foster who adds gentle rhythms and heart-beat sized beats to her instrumentation. Along with the vibraphone, Morley occasionally adds her own vocals to tracks and plays the violin, keyboard, and an array of percussive instruments.

Her EP Character (from where these downloads originate) is a chilled-out ambient work and her debut album Red Balance (out today—stream it below) is equally crisp and clean, while a bit more bubbly, a refreshing soda pop on a summer day. Space-age bachelorette pad music at its finest. Although I think anyone, regardless of their marital status, will enjoy lounging to such a soundtrack.

If you’re fortunate enough to find yourself in Spain in the next couple weeks, be sure to check out her shows.

Es Lo Que Hay from Character (2009)
Today the Heart from Character (2009)

www.annamorley.com

The sophomore record by Montreal-based Graham Van Pelt (dba Miracle Fortress) is single-handedly satisfying my seasonal synth-pop jones. The single, “Miscalculations”, is an achingly perfect jam that sounds as right today as it would have 25 years ago. It will ease its way into even the hardest of hearts, mark my words. Miracle Fortress is currently touring with Junior Boys, which should make for a double scoop of synth-pop goodness.

Miscalculations from Was I The Wave? (2011)

www.secretcityrecords.com
www.miraclefortress.com

Computer Magic and 3hive are kindred souls. First off, they love to share. And that’s what we’re all about here at the ‘hive. Sharing the sharing. Computer Magic has three EPs for your downloading pleasure. No strings attached. And here’s the best part: it’s as good as anything you’ll hear on the radio right now. But it’s not on the radio. Yet.

Kinship part two: the sound is right up our alley: the bass has a slowed-down New Order bounce to it which works so well with CM’s spacey synths and sweet, sultry vocals. Their compositions are playful like Land of the Loops, or more recently Michna, but without their glitchiness.

The brains, voice, and vision behind Computer Magic is Danielle Johnson aka Danz a New York native, an up-stater, who made her way to Brooklyn after high school and went from spinner of records to writer and recorder of records. With a little help of some friends Danz translates her bedroom bliss pop to the stage and according to NME her cuteness belies a “monstrous talent.”

Computer Magic gives me hope. Hope that in today’s pop culture ruled and reigned by the likes Lady Gaga and Jersey Shore I can steer my daughter towards a more palatable pop icon(oclast).

Found Out from Electronic Fences EP
Grand Junction from Spectronic EP
Holiday Song from Spectronic EP
The End of Time from Spectronic EP
Everyone Feels That Way Sometimes from Spectronic EP

thecomputermagic.com
whiteiris.tv

Let’s face it, 2010 was less than stellar at this url. The principals and our reviewers all dropped out of ear-shot simultaneously and for months 3hive has been out of commission. No particular reason really. Life unplugged us, and once unplugged it’s hard to get back into gear, back into the groove.

Twenty-eleven’s gonna be different. I can only speak for myself, but I’m back on the wagon. I’m good for a couple posts a week, maybe even three. I’ll likely drop in the readings I’m obsessed with on occassion, like this, this , and this.

3hive’s Most Popular Posts from 2010:

11. Jaga Jazzist
10. Inlets
09. Let’s Say We Did
08. Happy Birthday
07. The Royal Chains
06. Bonobo
05. Junk Science
04. Cap’n Jazz [re-issue]
03. Galactic
02. Phantogram
01. Tycho

Phantogram sets the bar high for new music in 2010. Obvious comparisons to Portishead aside, this young duo easily hold their own. It’s a fine distinction, but Phantogram is more space-hop than trip-hop and “When I’m Small” throws down a groove of heavily plucked bass that brightens up the bedroom vocals and scratchy record sample circling its way through the track. About a third of the way through everything drops out except soft synth pulses and echoing guitar to highlight Sarah Barthel’s voice. Diamonds spill from this woman’s mouth every time she opens it! My limited judgment is based on this and a couple other tracks, but I’m happily prejudiced and waiting to be fully abducted by Eyelid Movies on February 9th (vinyl via Ghostly). East Coast dates begin shortly before.

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Tycho’s latest single evokes the tranquil mood that accompanied my recent sunset chase here in Huntington Beach. A few years back my father pointed out that late in the year, and from the vantage point of the H.B. pier, the sun settles into the isthmus of Catalina Island. My father is full of such miscellany. For some reason, this year I had a major itch to witness this minor phenomena. To my surprise, I found no information online, so beginning winter solstice I closely monitored the coast trying to determine the D-day. My efforts did not go unrewarded. The area experienced scattered showers in December, which smeared plenty of clouds across the skies, clouds that bled all the warm colors of the rainbow. Sensing that was the day, I crammed kids and cousins into the car on New Year’s Eve and sped off to catch some dying rays. “Coastal Brake” provides that same warm, shimmering epiphanic moment.

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We just included Pocket’s Top 9 of 2009 in our on-going Best of 2009 lists from friends of the ‘hive. Be sure to take a gander that way for his take on art, apps and laughs along with his cover of New Order’s “Sub-Culture” for next year’s tribute album from 24 Hour Service Station. If you don’t already have any of Richard Jankovich’s songs in your pocket, now’s the time to start squirreling. Formerly of Burnside Project, Jankovich began remixing tracks for oh, folks like Beck, Radiohead, Cat Power and Antony & The Johnsons. And now he’s putting his depth of musical taste and history to good use in a series of singles marrying vocalists from bands like Dag Nasty, The Church, Shudder to Think, Liquid Liquid and Asobi Seksu with his own blend of electronic beats, blips, and blasts. I noticed he dropped a Human League sampled beat in one of his tracks as well—it’s like he’s curating the Gen X museum of music geekdom with his Warhol-esque pastiches of the past and ever evolving present.

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Working with a smaller affiliate, Moodgadget Records, Ghostly recently introduced to the world 38 tracks from 33 new electronic artists on two discs. (Qualifier: Some artists are newer than others, and one, Daniel Johnson, not so new at all, but new perhaps to many a Ghostly consumer). More than introducing new talent, The Nocturnal Suite reminds music aficionados once again that the electronic genre, especially in the hands of Sam Valenti IV and company, is neither narrow nor nostalgic. The compilation also demonstrates that these gatekeepers and soapboxers of the genre don’t discriminate on the basis of the quantity of electronic instruments utilized. Moodgadget like Ghostly eschews genre for aesthetics.

The sound difference between the four artists presented as a sample of the compilation illustrate its musical pastiche. Worst Friends represent the dancier side of things with their disco house track; Shigeto is more experimental and glitchy, while New Villager crosses over into the arena indie rock sound. Mux Mool’s got two tracks featured, a broken-up hip-hop joint, and this lush trance-like piece. Arm yourself with this arsenal and you’ll be equipped to declare war on any pedestrian party.

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