Not to be confused with the Japanese pop culture ‘zine of the same name, Giant Robot are members of Nuspirit Helsinki and they run the gamut like Jesse freakin’ Owens. From cozy EBTG-ish ballads (“Best Match”) to lanky, dub-hop (“Konevitsa”). And then you’ve got the remixes, if you’re ready for even more curveballs. Best of all, Giant Robot’s site has a mile-long MP3 page with all of their commercially unavailable tracks, which includes their entire debut album and tons of said remixes. Set aside some download time.
Echostar
Martha Schwendener, of the late Bowery Electric, is the sole member of Echostar. Unlike the Dick Van Dyke One Man Band in Mary Poppins, this one woman band carries her instruments not on her person, but on her hard drive. While her beats are simpler and melodies “lusher” (Bowery fans should get that), Martha carries on where Bowery left off, with swirling sounds and her trademark whispering/breathy vocals making her debut solo album Sola sound as if it really is broadcast by a satellite.
The Aphrodisiacs
Scotland’s The Aphrodisiacs have a great story. They were friends just goofin’ around who recorded one demo and mailed it the late John Peel. A week later he called them up and asked if he could play it on the radio. So without ever playing a gig and having recorded only one song, they were invited down to London to record a Peel Session. Listen to their dark grooves and see why John Peel picked up the phone.
Air King Sound
San Francisco experimental sound posse who create very brilliant haunted soundscapes, perfect for moody film scores and a certain sense of isolation. Owing a lot to Brian Eno, but still managing to claim their own sound. Favorite track: “Gomez Gomez.”
Jon Sheffield
I’m kicking myself that I’m just discovering Sheffield, who’s already four albums deep into his recording career. His is quiet, playful electronic music wrapped in small pop-size packages. Sheffield frequently samples his son, Gabriel, which gives his music a sweet, innocent texture. There’s a quality here that rings my holiday bells as well. When I hear these songs I see snow. And when I see snow, I’m inevitably carving deep tracks into the freshly fallen. Which begs the question, when’s the 3hive snowboarding excursion going down?
Postal Service
Now that our beloved Postal Service appear destined to become a Harvard Business School case study, Sub Pop is scrambling to keep up with demand. Pending some new original material, that means releasing Give Up on vinyl with a bonus (if you don’t already own the CD singles, that is) 12-inch of B-side covers, like Iron & Wine’s tender rendition of “Such Great Heights,” and remixes, wherein dance music for bookworms gets transformed into, well, dance music. Included here is an example of the latter, and a couple for the uninitiated…what few of you are left.
Kaskade
Ryan Raddon, aka Kaskade, got his start by sneaking his tracks into the stacks of demos at Om Records during his employment tenure there. Raddon, teaming up with a regular and rotating cast of collaborators, with an emphasis on live instrumentation, refuses to slump during his sophomore season. Here he offers up a couple off-menu items, a downtempo hip-hop cut and a spacey, chilled-out, four-on-the-floor track.
Ice Cream Creatures
I originally misread this suggestion from Lauren as Ice Cream Castles, which naturally spurred my curiosity. No Morris Day here, as it turns out, but a batch of glitchy electronic ballads that could have come up through some kind of Ghostly farm league. They’re actually on a net label based in Austin where, interestingly enough, the musicians appear to “workshop” their songs with listeners through the label site’s comments area. Who knows, you might get a song named after you if you’re helpful enough…
Kleptones
These “original” tracks feature some swell breaks ‘n’ beats ‘n’ what-not but, to be honest, the Kleptones aren’t nearly as interesting when abiding by copyright laws… This post is merely an excuse to plug their new mash-up-and-more theme album, A Night at the Hip Hopera. After giving the Flaming Lips a b-boy makeover with Yoshimi Battles the Hip Hop Robots, the audio kleptomaniacs are back at it with a similar tribute to Queen. To have a listen, head over to Waxy.org, where you’ll find the complete album for download as well as a collaborative dissection of the countless samples used therein.
The Je Ne Sais Quoi
Every so often a band’s name alone grabs your attention, and even less often it actually makes good on its promise. One of those rare cases is The Je Ne Sais Quoi who, as it turns out, have that certain je ne sais quoi. If you were listening from another room, you might write them off as another vapid electro-clash happening. However, in more intimate settings, their tense, funky sound digs its fingernails into you and won’t let go. That said, “We Make Beginnings” wouldn’t be my first — or second, or third — choice for the single from their strong full-length debut. But no one asked me… (And if they had it would have been in Swedish, so I wouldn’t have understood anyway.)