The Weekly Froth – with a new song by The National!

The National

Track of the week: ‘You Were a Kindness’ by The National

I heard this when they played it live for the very very very first time, and it was just as amazing then as it is now when hearing it behind my laptop. Berninger’s baritone is just lovely, so filled with sadness. The slide guitar, when I heard that live, that was brilliant. Stroke of genius. Best thing is, this is nothing like what they did on their High Violet album this year. Not that the album was bad, but somewhere in the back of my mind I was wondering what would happen if they got even more bombastic… would it possible?

But it’s OK: here, they’ve come back with a restrained heartbreaker full of self-doubt. I love the reference to Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire (Berninger sings: “You were a kindness when I was a stranger”, which I think is taken from “I’ve always relied on the kindness of strangers”, otherwise “kindness” in the first sentence is grammatically incorrect). It’s one of the best songs I’ve heard all year. … Continue Reading

The Count And Sinden – Mega Mega Mega

The Count And Sinden - Mega Mega Mega

It seems like a trend – producers or musicians who invite a host of singers to sing on their music. Earlier this year you had Kasper Bjorke, later this year you’ll have Maximum Balloon, and smack down in the middle of that you have The Count and Sinden with their debut Mega Mega Mega. This kind of approach makes sense, because it is so easy to do this. You don’t even have to meet the person (although the Mystery Jets collaboration was probably done together, them being neighbours and all), you can all do it via the internet. So collaborations are easier to do now than ever before, and it also makes more sense to do it now – think of the tags and consequent blog hits this can generate. … Continue Reading

Holy Ghost! – Static On The Wire EP

Holy Ghost! - Static On The Wire EP

Since the end of Carthage a battle hasn’t been fought as valiantly as the one DFA is fighting for the disco genre. Through DJ sets, new bands, old bands with new albums, and by their general aesthetic, the DFA label is doing their utmost to get the underground New York vibe out there. One of the exponents of that label is the band Holy Ghost!, who have just recently finished a tour opening for DFA labelmates LCD Soundsystem. On the back of that stint they’re releasing their EP Static on the Wire with three spanking new tracks and old single ‘I Will Come Back’. … Continue Reading

Holy Ghost! on being distant cousins of Abe Lincoln and having “no beef” with technology

Holy Ghost!

A revolution is taking place (always, somewhere), and DFA is one of those labels that is making its own aesthetic mark. For almost ten years the label has consequently altered and given us a feel of how they imagine the NY underground scene should sound. With danceable mixtures of punk, disco, and house at its core. Most of it done the organic way, i.e. no laptops, but actual synths and drums and a real bass and all that jazz. Watch LCD Soundsystem perform with their full band, or The Juan MacLean, or any of the other bands for that matter; it is all people playing instruments. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth, with !!! in the lead…

!!! - most certain sure

Our weekly look into the blogosphere where we talk about six tracks we found out about in the previous Wednesday-to-Wednesday seven-day period.

Track of the week: ‘The Most Certain Sure’ by !!!

I’m up and down with !!!, some of their songs I really like, some of their songs I’m not particularly interested in. This one does start out in a lovely manner. Love the rhythm section, the drums are just wicked and I can’t keep myself from bobbing along. Just the whole thing seems very rhythmic, designed to make your body move a bit. The vocals aren’t belting it out but they kind of keep restrained, which suits the song pretty well. At one point they kind of go back to basics and just have the rhythm section with some instruments playing over it, after which they kick it back into gear again. This is really something you can go down to on the dance floor, though it does have a bit more of a raw edge than a lot of songs with this dance floor vibe. Hadn’t expected it to be this good to be honest, kudos to the band. … Continue Reading

Wild Nothing, Amsterdam Paradiso

Wild Nothing

August 17, 2010

You have to love bands trumping their album sound, don’t you? When you walk away from a gig and think, you know what, that was actually better than on record. Now I’m not saying the Wild Nothing gig in Paradiso, Amsterdam was the most euphoric thing ever to happen. However, these guys are doing the rounds in small venues for single digit prices (at least here), and to then come on and play a gig where they, in my opinion, sound better than on record, that is certainly getting your money’s worth right there.

… Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth: Larse, Ducktails, Passion Pit AND MORE

Larse - I Got A Feeling

Track of the week: ‘I Got a Feeling’ by Larse

Larse has got a feeling, and he is sharing it with everyone. New German artist, and with this track he really puts himself on the map. At least, for me, because I’m digging this massively. Pretty good house as far as I’m concerned, delightfully catchy, good rhythm (that’s what house is about, innit?) nice female vocals suitable for this sort of house track: so yeah, it ticks quite some boxes for me. Unfortunately I could only find a three minute preview to share, but the original has a running time which is double that, so if this seems to start abrupt and cuts off with a lousy fade-out, that’s probably the reason. Definitely try and hunt this one down. I love the Chicago house vibe that is running through this track’s veins. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth – yum yum, it’s Teengirl Fantasy

Teengirl Fantasy

Track of the week: ‘Cheaters’ by Teengirl Fantasy

Oh my, I didn’t really know how lovely they were until I listened to this song! They kind of had passed me by up until this point, but I put them on the list for songs for this column, et voila. Just absolutely lovely. These vocals seemingly are old-fashioned disco vocals, but they seem to be a bit lower in the mix so the music isn’t overpowered by them. As if it is caught in a web of slight distortion or something. I love those synths, that danceable beat, and I do believe I hear a cowbell. So many ingredients that I love in songs, and they all come together here. I also like how they sometimes seem to crank it up a notch as the song goes on, which gives the song the occasional oomph to last the six plus minutes running time. Looking forward to the album already, though I think I’ve read that most of it is going to be instrumental. Which is too bad, because I really like those vocals here. But oh well, I’m sure it’ll turn out ace anyway. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth: we <3 Active Child…

Active Child

Our weekly look into the blogosphere where we talk about six tracks we found out about in the previous Wednesday-to-Wednesday seven-day period.

Track of the week: ‘When Your Love is Safe’ by Active Child (Classixxx remix)

That’s one nice voice Active Child has got there. And the good thing about this Classixxx remix is that the voice comes out perhaps even better than on the original, as he gives it something extra on occasion. And that works pretty well as far as I’m concerned. Classixxx saw the qualities of this song and basically put a bit of eyeliner on that to accentuate the eyes, so the best comes out even better while the rest sensibly stays in the background a bit more. I also love the understated instrumental additions by Classixxx, which makes it a sort of italo like 80s synth track, which is always good in my book. Just a smart remix of this track, not overhauling it like a buffoon, but instead just some changes in the right places without overshadowing the strengths of Active Child. And I will take such an approach over anything that just puts a heavy beat on it and tries to change it by just making it bigger and bolder. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth – new Cut Copy! Sound of the week!

Cut Copy

Our weekly look into the blogosphere where we talk about six tracks we found out about in the previous Wednesday-to-Wednesday seven-day period.

Track of the week: ‘Where I’m Going’ by Cut Copy

Hell. Yeah. First time I saw these guys live was just after their second album in a club in Brooklyn (a gig put on tape by Pitchfork and a venue which I believe since then has shut down). These guys, they can make you dance. Had to miss them just a few days ago, which I’m still bummed out about, but it was too expensive to get there, and in my hometown Dum Dum Girls were playing. Can’t have it all I suppose. Hope they come back soon though, because this is stellar. Naw, strike that, this is just immensely fun! Handclaps, but more camp than their earlier work it seems to me, and this is just a party from the get go. I mean, can anyone not dance to this? Surely. This has dance floor written all over it. They go a bit dreamy in the middle, and then they go back to the dancing again. And those “yeah, yeah, yeah” bits are a sure invite for everyone to pump their fists in the air and sing along. Perhaps the lads have been a bit cheeky and took some elements which are shoe-ins for a certain reaction. But to then execute it so finely, only a few can do that. … Continue Reading