Bless Sean West’s (Dealmaker Studios in Nottingham) email earnestness and his consistant harping on us all summer, trying to open our eyes and ears to Lone. We’re listening! and loving it! Lone is one Matt Cutler, beat-maker, audio-cut-and-paster, and all-around sonic-magician. Cutler lays down hip-hop beats then layers the tracks with illusory flourishes, broken chords, and dream-inducing 8-bit melodies. This is the music I heard in my head when I read the Chronicles of Narnia (before current literature to screen trends began destroying young imaginations). This is the music I imagined the band of lizards playing in Daniel Pinkwater’s Lizard Music. Give it a try. Do your own mini mash-up of Pinkwater Vs. Lone to see what I mean. Youthful, imaginative, and sweetly psychedelic Lone will likely conjure up visions of rainbows, sparkly unicorns, Mozart playing lizards, magic wardrobes or any other mystical apparitions floating around in your subconscious.
Ernest Gonzales
Hip Hop producer Ernest Gonzales drops his Theory of Everything moniker and tinkers out 8 bit lullabies for his soon-to-be-born daughter. I was a bit hesitant to listen to such an intensely personal project. But when I heard these playful, dreamy compositions I felt privileged to have been invited to this musical expression of one father’s hopes and dreams for his child. That said, children are not required to enjoy this 80s-era synthesized study in dream pop.
Leila
On her myspace page Leila lists her influences as “life…noise…stuff.” I’d just add “beats” to that list for a quick summation of her sound. These tracks her label has generously offered for your downloading pleasure demonstrate Leila’s controlled cacophony as she gathers audio odds and ends, samples of this horn and that vocal clip, and masterfully stitches the sounds together into something you can dance to and something you can chill to, respectively. It’s pastiche-core in the vein of Solex. Leila brings in a hodge-podge of guest musicians to add their own noises and stuff like Martina Topley Bird, Terry Hall, Andy Cox (The English Beat/Fine Young Cannibals), and her own sister Roya Arab. Blood, Looms, and Blooms is just the latest in her decade long recording career. Leila has worked with Björk and Aphex Twin and recorded as Grammatix and Little Miss Specta. Admittedly, I’ve got some homework to do as I’ve missed out thus far on her earlier efforts. Shame on me.
Penny and Ashtray
Penny and Ashtray hail from Osaka, Japan (their real names are Momoyo Kubo and Tamotsu Ide). I could call their music a cross between minimalist techno and chip music…but I’d be more direct to say it’s straight hyp-mo-tiz-ing. Their debut album, The Secrets of Galaxy Z, spans the gamut from floor-bangers to thoughtful instrumentals—which makes the repetitive nature of their style far more durable. In addition to recording 47 minutes of original material this past year, they found time to participate in Flunk’s remix competition. May they never run out of batteries…
Girl Talk
At the risk of revealing myself as A) behind the times, and B) a complete tool, I’m going to share that I’ve recently gotten back into heavy exercise. At the gym, I usually listen to (here’s where the “complete tool†part comes in) This American Life or some other talky podcast where I don’t have to worry about (tool again) consistently high-energy beats. But praise be to Pittsburgh’s Greg Gillis, whose Night Ripper from 2006 is a (the behind the times part) mashup masterpiece that (tool) keeps my adrenaline PUMPED, man! For my money, Z-Trip is still the high-water mark of such guerrilla hip-hop-classic-rock-punk-pop-whatever mixing, but what Gillis does with the riffs from The Pixies, the Strokes and Weezer in “Hold Up†helps me burn 500 calories in two minutes. Girl Talk’s newest, Feed the Animals, is available here for whatever price you want to pay, which I’ve already done so that I can take my workout to anotha level of behind-the-times toolness. Join me and feel the burn!
Santogold
I know I’ve been taking the “summer hours” concept a little too seriously, but it’s hard to do anything but enjoy summer when you have something stuck in your iPod like Top Ranking, Diplo’s “mixtape” treatment of Santogold’s debut album. Diplo’s dub-bass-electro-hop concoction provides a textured playground for Santi White’s angelic and sassy brand of new wave. Unreleased mixes of Santi tracks bounce in and out between cuts from Three 6 Mafia, Benga, B-52s, Ratatat, and Sir Mix-a-Lot—there’s a smile around every corner. (If this sounds familiar, Diplo did the same for the last big indie “it” girl, M.I.A., on the eve of her debut album with the 2004 mixtape Piracy Funds Terrorism.)
Now, if you’re picturing me just swaying away in a shady hammock you’re only partly right. Top Ranking also got me off my butt and running every morning (five weeks and counting!). And it’s been the soundtrack to some spontaneous summer grill action… I don’t mean to overpromise but I guarantee it will make your life better—even if that means you forget to update your blog for over a month.
These tracks are some tasty Santogold remixes featured on Diplo’s Mad Decent label, though they’re not even on Top Ranking. For that, you’ll want to head over to turntablelab.com and drop $12 for the 75-minute mix.
Chromeo
Four years later (look how short our posts used to be back then…) and Chromeo are still making us feel touched for the very first time with their naughty ’80s dance funk. Their latest release offers their sophomore album, Fancy Footwork, plus a bonus disc of greatest hits, videos, and remixes (though there are at least twice as many still floating out there in clubland). Get your tight white pants on for this action.
Previous post (from 6/21/04):
A faithful homage to ’80s processed funk phenomena (Jesse Johnson’s Revue, Timex Social Club, Oran “Juice” Jones, et al), “Needy Girl” could be my not-so-guilty pleasure of the summer. (This post updated on 09.16.04 with a couple of swell “Me & My Man” remixes.)
Wild Years
Basically everything I know about Ann Arbor’s Wild Years is found on their myspace page. So download the song below, a twirling, whirling electronic piece, then head to their myspace page and grab their two EP’s for free. The older one has definite folk leanings, so knowing they pretty much make whatever music they want goes right along their dabblings in performance art.
The Chap
Check The Chap’s label page and there are two lines in the “About” section, one of which reads, “The Chap: have never been influenced by anyone or anything at any time, ever.” While I appreciate and even support their refusal to apologize for or explain their influences, I don’t believe them. I do believe in letting the music speak for itself. So stop reading this and download these songs and make up your own mind while I explain the comparison I’m about to make. My take, highly influenced by the mass quantities of ’80s music I’ve been listening to lately, is this: The Chap deftly juggles bits and pieces of Gang of Four, XTC, Queen, Men Without Hats, and Kraftwerk for a capricious rock ‘n’ roll dance party. Their third album, Mega Breakfast, is evidence of a quirky, lo-fi band that’s pulled out all the stops and plans on playing stadiums. Do yourself a favor and lower your guard down while listening so you can fully revel in The Chap’s merrymaking. Their album cover is a mylar balloon dog whose nose has been dipped in chocolate and sprinkles for crying out loud. If you don’t get a kick out of this record it may be time for a swift kick to the head. (Be sure to watch the video for the album’s standout track).
Zooey
I think it’s pretty safe to say that you won’t be hearing about Zooey from many other music sites. A few weeks ago the band sent out an email blast and they forgot to BCC their mailing list. Ouch! Poor Zooey got an earful about that faux pas. Instead of drinking the Haterade I thought I’d listen in on what Zooey had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised by their semi-easy-listening-electronica. Zooey recently remixed “Change of Destination” by Monade and, if you can imagine, they made it even bubblier than the original. “Little Thunder” is brand new music while “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly” and “Rendez-vous” are from their 2005 self-released LP Pique-nique et jeux dans l’eau, which you can download in its entirety. Zooey is sweet, playful, and with the exception of their little “accident,” perfectly charming.