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.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1191849/The+National+-+You+Were+a+Kindness

‘Hand Me Down Your Love’ by Hot Chip (Todd Edwards Micro Chip remix)

You know, I kind of like Hot Chip until they go into ballad mode. But what they can do is make a party – if they just play ‘Over and Over’, I’m game. This remix by Todd Edwards sometimes sounds a little bit too 8-bit Nintendo-ey though, and it does tend to grate – at times I find this remix to sound the wrong sort of unhinged, leaving me glad when it goes back to basics. I would’ve loved it if this song had just a bit more punch. Or, since it hasn’t, if it were about two minutes shorter.

http://www.lagasta.com/hand-me-down-your-love/

‘Days of Our Lives’ by Restless People (Joe Karaoke mix)

This is a track originally recorded by Restless People, which has here been covered by Primary 1 (interview here) under the Joe Karaoke moniker. I like this better than the original – it adds a touch of melancholy to the summer jam. Maybe that means that I’ve got to get out of my room more often and head to the beach every once in a while – but I loathe the beach, so scratch that. I love that this reworking barely resembles the original,too; not that the original was bad, but I love it when people don’t just slap a bass on it and say, “voila, here’s a remix!” – I’ll take it.

http://hypem.com/#/search/karaoke%20joe/1/

‘She’s a Superstar’ by Aeroplane feat. Chromeo

Oh, how I’m regretting not catching Chromeo when they were visiting my little country, because what they’ve been showing the world this year has been quite impressive. This is a number they did with Aeroplane, a lovely stomper of synthy glam. The vocals are great, as can be expected from Chromeo, and Aeroplane just makes it work. Work! I love the musical-like chorus of “she’s a superstar, superstar!” too, after which we get the piano and the beat again. Aeroplane and Chromeo have pulled off a track as great to listen to as to dance to. And I’m always in for a hint of glam.

http://chromeo.net/blog/2010/08/chromeo-vs-aeroplane-aeroplane-vs-chromeo/

‘First in Line’ James Yuill (Dan Lissvik remix)

I’m a bit on the fence re: James Yuill. Some of his stuff I really like, but a good deal of his work doesn’t really connect with me. When this track started I thought, oh no, African drums! I’m not a big fan of those. But luckily that is pushed into the background in favour of a restrained melancholy. I think Lissvik has  really made something that complements Yuill’s voice, as both the music and voice have the same atmosphere. I imagine this will be lovely to bob your head to at night while the train is bringing you back home.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1192502/James+Yuill+-+First+In+Line+Lissvik+Remix+

‘Fuck You’ by Cee-Lo

I don’t think anyone is disputing that Cee-Lo has a good voice, because he has. It’s just that out of his previous songs this year, the choice of song here is a bit poor – this just doesn’t have the punch Gnarls Barkley and Danger Mouse had. Cee-Lo is belting it out, but the music itself just feels a bit insipid. It doesn’t have the bing and the bang and the oomph. It goes a bit big-band retro for my ears, but not quite enough to be mad enough. Where are the horns, hmm? It just feels Cee-Lo is pulling the cart with all his might, and the music is hobbling along. It isn’t a combination where one part strengthens the other, and the use of “fuck you” gets a two point deduction. It’s an overused, meaningless, all-too-common phrase in my book. It might’ve been bold and provocative in the ’60s, but now it’s the reverse. Boo you, Cee-Lo.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1196353/Cee+Lo+Green+-+Fuck+You

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.

http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Active_Child/track/When_Your_Love_Is_Safe_Classixx_Remix

‘Daughter’ by Yuck

“I have seen my daughter / and the future of the world”. Now, this might be an adoring ballad to some, and I reckon if you have kids this may resonate. It has a nice piano line, the singing is sweet, so there isn’t much wrong with how it sounds. Also like the kick it gets from the drumming in the second half. The thing with ballads I guess is, does it resonate? Does it pull your heart strings? This doesn’t, really. Which isn’t too say that musically it is no good, it is just that I don’t have a daughter, and I don’t care much for children (fancy me being a high school teacher, eh? Which I am, but with children I mean >10). So I rather hear something by The National which does tick my boxes in terms of interest and in terms of where I am now in the world then I hear an ode to someone’s daughter. Either way I probably think it kind of is the easy way out to sing about a subject as mundane as children as those are, I guess, easy kind of emotions.

http://www.myoldkentuckyblog.com/?p=7391

‘Dreaming of Another World’ by Mystery Jets (Lindstrom & Prins Thomas remix)

You know what this is going to sound like, don’t you? Lindstrom + Prins Thomas = Scandinavian disco delight! And you know it’s smooth, you just know it. Lindstrom is probably one of the best, and him teaming up with Prins Thomas on this kind of dancey catchy thingy has never hurt a track I know of. After two minutes the bass takes over in a sick way. A minute later there’s again a change-up, this time on the synth, which is very worthwhile. A minute later (What are they, Swiss clocks?) they bring in the vocals and leave room for the vocals to come on. And the vocals actually work very well with the Lindstrom & Prins Thomas bits, funny to see how they so seamlessly seem to gel. Then again, it is Lindstrom, so I guess being surprised at that is quite the same as being surprised at seeing a bear in a zoo (omg, it’s a bear! A bear, in a zoo! Well I never…) And yeah, I have time to write this, the track is almost ten minutes you know. But deservedly so. That bit where they start working to the end at 8:30 is nifty as well, and that just bass to end it is a DJs dream to mix another song in.

http://soundcloud.com/eskimorecordings/mystery-jets-dreaming-of-another-world-lindstrom-and-prins-thomas-remix

‘Real Love’ by Delorean

I kind of have the same beef with this as I have with some tracks of Caribou, so if you love Caribou, ignore what I’m saying and just have a listen. The thing is, it is a summery, catchy track you can dance to (preferably on a beach party). However, it kind of has the same aesthetics as Caribou. And it kind of has this experimental vibe where they try to do something extra with instruments which makes it sound too busy, too much going, which impedes on me either dancing or sitting back and just enjoying this track. To take a page out of Amadeus, it has too many notes for me. Silly that, isn’t it? But unfortunately silly things can still be true.

http://soundcloud.com/matadorrecs/sets/delorean-real-love

‘Am I Real’ by Nite Jewel

Well, it is easy enough to do this column when you either like or dislike a song, because then you just say so and that’s that. This, I have no idea, honestly. I have no idea whether or not I like it, and I have no idea what it is all about. Sometimes it sounds like those fairly mind-numbing female synth songwriters. Obviously, this track has more going on than I’ve ever heard out of those artists. The other side of the coin is, at times I find this an equally frustrating listen. Sometimes I’m thinking, oh, that’s clever, while at other times I’m thinking, really really? There is something annoying about the drumming and the bass for me, which seem to randomly come and go (which they don’t, there is a pattern, but that pattern isn’t designed to give you something to hold onto in my opinion, it does more to alienate). Perhaps that is it, perhaps it is too alienating, too cold and deliberately strange for me to feel affiliation with it. Kudos for the horns though.

http://blog.22tracks.com/2010/07/20/nite-jewel-mighty-real/

‘Collector’ by Here We Go Magic (PVT remix)

At one point Pivot (or PVT as they are now called) were kind of the heir apparent, weren’t they? Quite the darlings they were. Their re-emergence under the new name doesn’t have quite the impact I think, or perhaps I’m just missing it. This remix is a bit too herky-jerky for my liking. Kind of sounds like a botched up Vampire Weekend track or something. I like the drumming at one point, but the vocals somehow seem off in delivery and pace. Not that it picks up sans the vocals, unfortunately. At times it even seems as they are just free jazzing it. Not the best thing I’ve heard this week.

http://stereogum.com/446172/here-we-go-magic-collector-pvt-remix/mp3s/

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.

http://hypem.com/track/1168739/Cut+Copy+-+Where+I+m+Going

‘OOOO’ by Fishing

And now here’s a track title which basically nullifies any chance on a proper conversation about the song. It’s sort of an avant-garde experimental Jamaican sound, and chopped up at that. For me it’s too off-putting to get into it, these strange sounds, so seemingly off-beat. Sure, that is the nature of experimental music I guess, and with the African sounding singing and the handclapping it really goes I-belong-in-a-museum. But if I go to a museum I’ll be heading for the Longo’s and the Dali’s, not to this. It does bring across the vibe that you would think it would aim for if you look at the band’s name, but it does take all the soothing qualities out of fishing (not that I fish, mind you, so I wouldn’t really know).

http://hypem.com/track/1162435/FISHING+-+OOOO

‘Jump Up’ by Major Lazer (Thom Yorke remix)

I don’t like rap generally. So that probably disqualifies me from saying anything decent about this track. But I guess everyone has genres they fancy and everyone has genres they, well, typically avoid. But since Thom Yorke did this remix I thought I would take a listen anyway. However, I can tell you, if you don’t like hip-hop, you’re not going to like this despite the Yorke influences. I guess that the noise on the background is Yorke’s doing, as well as the ethereal voices that suddenly come up. But as it is now it is sort of Fever Ray meets NY rap scene (though I wouldn’t know how that is sounding nowadays, but I would imagine it sounding like this), which isn’t my cup of tea to be honest. Because even if I do like this kind of background stuff (in which case, lose the children’s voices at the end), I would simply put on Fever Ray or something like that, as that would eliminate the thing I personally do not like. So not sure to whom this caters, I guess to people who like both genres, but they are so wide apart I’m wondering how many people will actually have this on repeat (but feel free to enlighten me on that in the comment section below).

http://hypem.com/track/1167418/Major+Lazer+-+Jump+Up+Thom+Yorke+Remix+

‘While We’re Young’ by Department of Eagles

Oh, this is perfectly listenable actually. The drums propel this forward, and the voice is very nice. Can’t really see many people take offense to this voice to be honest (whether you go mad for it is another matter, obviously). Sure, it does sound like your typical folk stuff on occasion, especially with the background  vocals and the strings. Is that a trombone though like 2:30 in with the heavy, deep sound? I kind of dig that. Because of the fairly up-tempo pace it stays interesting for its entire running time, and I like the ending with them repeating the line “who are you trying to prove” (”it to” follows at the end, not that you’re thinking, gosh, is that grammatically correct, like I was doing when hearing it for the first time). It’s not groundbreaking, but it is enjoyable and easy on the ear and I don’t think anyone would mind if you put this on at work.

http://hypem.com/track/1166207/Department+of+Eagles+-+While+We+re+Young

‘Hang With Me’ by Robyn

I’m always up and down with Robyn, some stuff I thoroughly enjoy, some stuff just makes me yearn for Roisin Murphy’s newest. This I like though, nice pop song this is. Fairly straightforward, but Robyn has so much talent and charisma that she can put a song like this ahead of its competition, who often miss the oomph to really make it interesting. In that sense women like Robyn and the earlier mentioned Murphy, people should really put on a clinic centred around those two, because I find that a lot of women from the “new” generation don’t interest me nearly as much. I went to a festival recently where I saw a fair share of female performers, but somehow they seemed a bit colourless, a bit gray. Not a tag that fits Robyn, that’s for sure. And at least the gig tickets here are surprisingly affordable for her show, so for that money do check it out, if only to see her strutting her stuff.

http://hypem.com/track/1166973/Robyn+-+Hang+with+Me+radio+rip+

‘I Was Sad & You Were Lonely’ by Bodebrixen (Dreamtrak Diamond Sound)

This sounds cheery actually, although the kids voices are perhaps too much of a give away for that. But even sans those, this sounds quite happy. All this despite the title, obviously, because if you would go from there you would half expect some sort of depressing sounding track. But no, upbeat and dreamy, the instrumentals at least. The lyrics are about a relationship that has gone awry I believe, but at least now we can all dance to it. I especially like the instrumentals accompanying the kids choir, that is made to get some people moving. Can see this doing well in the open air, at night, still summer temperature, and then people just happily and innocently shuffling to this. Not sure about the original, but I guess a lot of the added instrumentals are courtesy of Dreamtrak (feel free to correct me if I’m wrongly assuming here), in which case, well done.

http://hypem.com/track/1157815/Bodebrixen+-+I+Was+Sad+You+Were+Lonely+DREAMTRAK+DIAMOND+SOUND+

Hurts

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: ‘Wonderful Life’ by Hurts (Mantronix remix)

Now, don’t laugh, but I actually thought I was listening to some sort of remix of a Michael Jackson B-side at first! Never thought you would hear that in a paragraph dealing with a Hurts’ song, did you? Mantronix puts some disco in the track though, and it works amazingly well. The voice and the narrative lend themselves perfectly for such a reworking. Those two elements combined with their new environment give it this kind of 80s quality. And suddenly lines like “So don’t let go / never give up it’s such a wonderful life” don’t sound trite anymore, but just part of that underground disco aesthetic. Now, it’s not full throttle disco, if you perhaps got that idea from this. Bit more understated, perhaps even more synth 80s than disco. Like an early Spandau Ballet/Eurythmics mixture, without the swagger of the latter and the commercial appeal of the former in the later stages of the career (followed that time line?). Even for people who don’t want anything to do with Hurts because of that hype thingy they are surrounded by, this might actually be worth a shot if you like your 80s stuff.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1156136/Hurts+-+Wonderful+Life+Mantronix+Remix+

‘Shadows’ by Au Revoir Simone (Jens Lekman remix)

I know some people who are positively in love with Jens Lekman. For some reason I have yet to intensely listen to his oeuvre. Much the same with Au Revoir Simone, with the difference that I once saw this trio at a festival and that didn’t really add to my motivation to listen to them. This combined effort, though, is lovely. Sweet, dreamy, angelic, slightly whimsical: it has a bit of a Mary Poppins vibe to it, yet slightly more dreamy and slightly less of Poppins’ cocksureness (It is a classic, you know?). Lovely to have on while strolling alongside a pond with this. To stay in meaningless cinematic phrases, it also has a bit of that Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers vibe to it. Dreamy with a smile. Very nice this one is.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1157066/Au+Revoir+Simone+-+Shadows+Jens+Lekman+Remix+

‘In the Summer’ by Crystal Fighters (French Fries remix)

This definitely is for “in the summer”, and I can see myself beach partying on this one (except, I hate the beach. Don’t ask.) Definitely has that Spanish/Bask (don’t want to offend anyone here) vibe to it. And a bit club, which took me aback at first, but after the first few moments it isn’t as bad as I initially thought. It definitely has that Bacardi commercial thingy going on, only slightly less commercial and slightly more party. Love the mixture of sounds and how they almost talk you into moving your hips a bit with that I’m-a-cool-motherfucker face on. There is enough variety in this (and loving the stripped bit around the four minute mark) for it to go on as long as it does (six minutes), and the beat is very dancey. I’ve liked Crystal Fighters’ output so far, however when I saw them live I was disappointed a bit so I tended to shy away from their music a tad in the past year. This puts them on my radar again, just fun, summery dancey music.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1148284/Crystal+Fighters+-+In+The+Summer+French+Fries+Remix+

‘You Ain’t Got It (Funk That)’ by Nina Sky

A track clocking under three minutes! My goodness, when was the last time we witnessed that? Low paced funk by Nina Sky. “You ain’t got it / you ain’t good enough” someone says through perhaps a vocoder, or something else manipulating the vocals into something more mechanic. So that kind of takes the 70s take-your-act-elsewhere attitude away a bit. That Aretha Franklin thing where she goes you better think twice (naturally, that’s Celine Dion, but I wasn’t referring to an actual quote, but the attitude). It gives it a more contemporary feel though, for what that’s worth. It is a nice little track, not feeling anything special with this one, but for a three minute slight funk song it is decent enough.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1154654/Nina+Sky+-+You+Aint+Got+It+Funk+That+

‘New Zombie’ by Headman (The Swiss)

Not sure what The Swiss are on about, because when I listen to their tracks I find them sometimes a bit understated. However, their remixes I find a bit on the crude side. So explain that one to me. After the first bit I start to like this one a tad more, because Headman has that Robotnick thing going on and the remix does fit that. So I guess this time it is part of the overall aesthetic of the underground DJ. It reminds me a bit of that ‘Obsessions for the Disco Freak’ song Robotnick released last year. Bit in that mold. Bit Vitalic as well I guess. Definitely something for the late hours. Not sure what he is banging on about (”It’s the enigma, in the machine!”), but that’s all right. Definitely a tune you might hear during one of those this-night-I’m-going-to-dance-and-nothing-but parties.

http://hypem.com/#/track/1155887/Headman+-+New+Zombie+The+Swiss+Fresh+FM+Remix+

‘Turnpike Ghost’ by Steel Train (RAC remix feat. Tegan & Sara)

I like the piano start and immediately thought, oh yeah, it’s a RAC remix, this must be good. But apparently I’m not as in love with the Tegan & Sara vocals as a plethora of other people seem to be, because actually I find the vocal contributions quite a turn off. Below the vocals there’s a lovely mellow track throbbing forward, delightful for hot summer Sundays like today. However, in some parts I can’t help but thinking, gee, didn’t Alanis Morissette do this one already?

http://soundcloud.com/remixartistcollective/steel-train-turnpike-ghost-rac-mix-ft-tegan-sara

'Good Morning Hammersmith’, by Nico Hogg: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicohogg

Keeping it simple and straightforward this month; Short Circuitry’s been swimming through a boundless ocean of heady delights, and inevitably any attempt to whittle it down is going to end up grossly inadequate. Still, top marks have been going to tunes that defiantly refuse to pander to the sheer heat and humidity that’s reduced this wasted copper wiring to little more than a weakly sparking wreck. In particular, regular injections of Rhythm & Sound’s seminal With The Artists CD and the veritable dose of sonic frostbite that is the Moritz Von Oswald Trio’s Vertical Ascent have kept these drums rattling in some form of delicate equilibrium. Just about, anyway. Right, onward…

Digital Mystikz – Return II Space [DMZ]

It’s been said before, and it’ll doubtless be said countless times again in countless slightly offset permutations, but Digital Mystikz’s Mala is dubstep. Or, to qualify that statement further, he operates as the absolute epitome of a genre term that’s fast becoming slightly redundant, buckling under the pressure of its myriad mutations. One step further than that would be to state, quite simply, that his music – more than that of any other producer within this sphere – operates with an absolute purity of vision bordering on the obsessive. And to be fair, why shouldn’t it be so? Along with his fellow Mystikz, Coki and Loefah, he defined a genre, and almost everything that now lands under dubstep’s widening umbrella is in some way indebted to him.

Mala – Livin’ Different

So it’s unsurprising that the arrival of his fullest release yet, many miles down the line from where the DMZ label first began in 2004, is both long awaited and dogged by serious weight of anticipation. As with everything he releases though, quality control is absolute, honed through years of ultra-exclusive dubplate play on some of the world’s finest systems; on a basic level then Return II Space is ‘merely’ another set of all-encompassingly brilliant material to add to a catalogue that hardly suffers for a lack of it. These tracks capture the meditative communion of the FWD sound and expand outward. Viscous sub-bass both binds and separates the congregation, like the stuffy gusts of warm air that fill the space between tube commuters desperate to avoid each other’s gaze. On one hand then, as is so commonly associated with dubstep, his music speaks of urban alienation: the storms of dissonance that gather throughout ‘Mountain Dread March’ evoke the pitch individuality of a dance at Plastic People. But it also offers resolution, locked in the unsteady melody that rises to the surface during the latter’s final minutes, and encoded in the DNA of ‘LIvin’ Different’s static positivity.

Well worth the wait then, and knowing the sheer volume of unreleased material Mala continues to sit on, there may well be another six years of anticipation before the next of its kind rears its head. Here’s hoping that’s not the case, but until then there’s enough locked in the furthest reaches of Return II Space to keep things heavy for the foreseeable future.

Various Artists – Workshop 10 [Workshop]

May saw the arrival of the tenth 12” on the Hardwax-affiliated Workshop imprint, home to deep cuts from the likes of Move D and the brilliant Kassem Mosse (more on him later), all unnamed to heighten the label’s chilly mystique. On the A-side two tracks from Lowtec delve into the kind of state your head might be after a night and day on the tiles at Panoramabar, the first chasing smokelike billows of melody that writhe around a steady four-to-the-floor pulse. It’s followed by a song for that evening’s twilight, which meanders in a gorgeous state of exhausted elation, seemingly happy to sit and contemplate the previous night’s excesses. On the flipside, Schweiz Rec brings jazzy explorations to the fore and Ron Deacon weaves fragments of found sound around a house backbone, but it’s really all about the A side on this little beauty.

A pause for thought: there’s something reliably lovely about buying music that’s untitled; it leaves room for it to breathe and absorb the listener’s own interpretation of theme and mood. Admittedly, the crypic or numeric names doled out by many a techno producer aren’t exactly screaming their intent to the world, but leaving something entirely unnamed is a bold and definitive statement at a time when it’s so easy to discover everything at the click of a mouse. Just try Googling ‘Untitled A1’ and see how you do: it ain’t happening.

Gunnar Wendel – 578 (Omar S Mixes) [FXHE]

And so now I’ve gotten to Kassem Mosse, here referred to by his real name, Gunnar Wendel. With an upcoming release on Nonplus, it seems he’s gaining a bit of a buzz – which is just fine with me, as his music’s marvelous, all grainy dubtech and nocturnal melancholy. For his own label FXHE, Detroit don Alex Omar Smith has reimagined one of my favourite techno tracks of the last few years, the spectrally beautiful ‘578’, in two competing forms. For my money the ‘Rude Boy Warm Mix’ is the keeper, leaving the original’s synth patter largely intact and upping the pace, and in doing so crafting a graceful slice of 4am deep house. Still, the slower Berlin mix on the flipside is hardly shabby either, and sees Smith rip the guts out of the track to leave only the tracest elements to spar behind its bewitching central theme. Lovely stuff.

LHF - Enter In Silence

LHF – EP1: Enter In Silence [Keysound]

Keysound boss and blogger of some repute Martin Clark describes London’s LHF collective better than I ever could: “like Sun Ra’s hijacked Rinse FM and is using it to communicate with the heavens”. The sheer wealth of ideas, influences and concepts packed into their debut EP is a little dizzying but thoroughly compelling. With any luck they’ll ‘do a Flying Lotus’ by the time of their album, and craft an entirely convincing and occasionally terrifying psychogeographical tryst round the hidden spaces of Greater London. I’m looking forward to the bit when they encounter a gang of muggers in a dark alley and scare them off with mystical magicks and glowing eyes.

Hyetal - Phoenix

Hyetal – Like Silver/Phoenix [Orca]

Hyetal is the jack in the Bristol deck (no prizes for guessing who takes the role of joker), constantly shapeshifting in his slightly less prominent role but providing some of the city’s most memorable recent releases. ‘Pixel Rainbow Sequence’ was a dazzling blaze of technicolour synthplay, curiously elegiac in tone, and his underrated The Last Time We Spoke 12” was one of my favourite things released last year. With this new 12” the prevailing wind really ought to begin shifting in Hyetal’s direction, as it’s hands down the best thing he’s put his name to yet. The shimmering waves of ‘Like Silver’ are good enough, but ‘Phoenix’ is utterly spectacular, an incandescent blaze of funk infused glory that leaves trails of superheated steam fizzing in its wake. It’s the soundtrack to a psychedelic session beneath the glowing vapours of the Aurora Borealis, and deserves to be played at the end of every rave from now until the end of time. It’s available to listen to in full here – get to know and fall in love. [LINK THIS! http://soundcloud.com/factmag/hyetal-phoenix]

George Fitz - Let Down EP

George Fitzgerald – The Let Down EP [Hotflush]

George Fitzgerald could probably be summed up as the first post-Joy Orbison bass producer to work with the ‘Hyph Mngo’ man’s basic template and expand on it further; his The Let Down EP on Hotflush will doubtless draw many lazy comparisons from those less inclined to focus on the less overt details. Which is a shame really, as this is an even more impressive debut than ‘Hyph Mngo’ was a year ago. ‘The Let Down’ is a convulsing slab of dance energy, driven by a snarling beast of a bassline that prowls beneath the humid synths above, but ‘Weakness’ is what it’s all about. Hinged around a translucent vocal that rears out of the background before receding again, it takes the house/garage/techno/whatevs crossover to dizzying new spaces. They’re both available to peruse at his Soundcloud page.

Joe – Claptrap/Level Crossing [Hessle Audio]
Joe – Untitled/Digest [Apple Pips]

The mundanely named one Joe has finally returned to follow up last year’s blinding ‘Rut’ 12” with not one but two new EPs of material. And both are among the best to have emerged from the post-dubstep set this year. All of these tracks are pretty much entirely percussion, bar the odd patter of found sound and the occasional jazzy bursts of Rhodes that rebound off the traveling clatter of ‘Level Crossing’. And for such new tracks they all sound so lived in, so gritty, packed with miniscule details – the creaking of a door at the beginning of ‘Untitled’, tiny bursts of static hinting at forward motion – that belie the sheer minimalism of their construction. With both these 12”s Joe offers a masterclass in packing as much into music as possible whilst keeping the palette limited to the barest essentials. Just as convincingly innovative as the rest of the Hessle Audio stable then.

FaltyDL - Phrequaflex

FaltyDL – Phrequaflex [Planet Mu]

Ital Tek – ‘Moment In Blue (FaltyDL Remix)’ [Planet Mu]

New York’s favourite (only?) IDM-informed two-step producer returns! And it’s about time, as his releases from last year showed no lack of awesome physical and emotional power. The first of two new EPs on Planet Mu, FaltyDL’s Phrequaflex takes as its starting point the jitterbug garage of his Love Is A Liability album. What’s amazing about this guy is his almost supernatural ability to keep The Funk – and I’m talking serious danceability here – in beats that are indecipherably complex, and packed with minute shifts and slippages that threaten to tear the music apart at any time. This release is no exception. Particular props to the razor sharp ‘Because You’ and the troubled soul of ‘My Friends Will Always Say’ though. On the same label, his remix of Ital Tek’s ‘Moment In Blue’ is a delicious four minutes of deep blue old-skool vibes.

Also rocking the Short Circuitry stereo:

Oriol – Night & Day [Planet Mu]
Planet Mu’s new signing Oriol explores the same wild jazzy house/boogie regions as fellow travelers Floating Points and Onra, but ramps up the Weather Reportage for his debut album. The results sound a little like Floating Points blasting round sunset Miami on a big-ass, fuck off chopper.

Kode9 – DJ Kicks [K7]
In which the Hyperdub boss squashes an accurate representation of his current DJ sets onto an eighty minute CD. Intense.

Roof Light – Kirkwood Gaps [Highpoint Lowlife]
Sadly, Thorsten Sideb0ard is winding down operations at Highpoint Lowlife HQ, but this is a reliably excellent bit of electronic gear from a consistently on-it label. Oceanic ambience, manic post/future-garage beats and spacey hip-hop all feature heavily, and the track titles are something to behold – ‘Marrying Maidens Fair Of Willow’, anyone?

Back next month for more tomfoolery.

Foals

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: ‘Spanish Sahara’ by Foals (Deadboy remix)

Like with every change of sound, the new Foals album had its supporters and critics. Every decision anyone makes can always count on people agreeing with it and not agreeing with it. It’s how the world turns, I guess. Deadboy, you know, I don’t really remember the name and his stuff, and if someone says “Deadboy” to me, I’m inclined to think something crude and hard will follow. Actually, this is the opposite, which not only surprises me, but it surprises me pleasantly. I love the woodblock kind of thingy he puts on it, and that combined with other subtle additions make this a worthwhile listen. Deadboy fills up the “break” in the song with some deep bass and then has it continue for a while. The vocals, which arguably are one of the things that have improved on the new Foals album, are high up in the mix, which I always tend to like. Add to that the bass, the woodblock and some nifty additional sequences, and I think Deadboy has made this track his own in quite a nice manner. Pleasant surprise. Even though I wouldn’t have mind it if he would’ve cut the last two minutes.

http://hypem.com/track/1143419/Foals+-+Spanish+Sahara+Deadboy+Remix+

‘Here Sometimes’ by Blonde Redhead

Welcome back Blonde Redhead! The threesome always manages to mix a more distorted sound with dreamy vocals while also being able to include a hint of sadness. I was a big fan of their album 23, and this is a song of their next album. The drums sound different from what I remember of 23. This is not that incessant drumming I remember of that album, but these are slow, hard hits that remind me of African sounds. When in a play for example you want to generate the feeling that something tragic is about to happen. Maybe that is why it is not as immediately captivating as I found most songs of 23 to be. In essence the synth sounds are layered over the drumming in a similar manner, and I’m not sure I can find a guitar in there somewhere. More organ, synth, and drums it seems, something to that effect. So I guess it’ll take some time to really get used to it and for it to have real resonance. Check back to me after the album.

http://hypem.com/track/1145732/Blonde+Redhead+-+Here+Sometimes

‘Lonely Sea’ by Alexis

I guess this one fits into that 80s sound of Soft Cell or perhaps even that band of ‘Sweet Dreams’ (dagnabit, forgot the name! How embarrassing). It starts with a bit more of a disco sound with finger snapping, and then it adds more of a beat to it, where I think, if you would continue with the original sound you might have something which sounds perhaps a bit less mechanic and interchangeable, but oh well. Personal preference I suppose. So it is kind of a mix between a mechanic, detached electro track and that 80s aesthetic. I like the kind of Italo spoken word bits, especially since this is definitely not an Italo song so it isn’t a corny by-the-numbers addition. Actually, after the more lengthy spoken word bit it also seems as if the vocals gain a bit more emotion, which I prefer over the start of the song.

http://hypem.com/track/1138574/Alexis+-+Lonely+Sea

‘Beyond the Satellites’ by Aeons (Ted’s remix)

Ted from Leo and Ted puts himself behind this remix of the Aeons track ‘Beyond the Satellites’, and I’m glad he did. Dancey it is with a nice beat, while the synth sounds fit really well with the title in my opinion. Add to that the dreamy vocal lines and vocals, and you’ve got a pretty nice mix. When the actual singing starts it feels as if it starts to lean a bit more to the clubby side, but it never loses its touch with the spacey side of things. With that said, there is nothing here that really stands out. The vocals are not that spectacular, there is no real pay-off somewhere that really would bring the house down in my opinion (you’ve got a run up to a break and subsequent release, but it’s quite a regular one I feel), and it is too much geared to parties to really dream away to. It’s a solid one, but not something that really has something special that makes this one stand on its own.

http://hypem.com/track/1145869/AEONS-Beyond+The+Satellites+%28Ted%27s+Like+Woah%21+mix%29

‘You Wanted a Hit’ by LCD Soundsystem (Soulwax remix)

Belgium’s pride, I guess that’s a label that fits Soulwax, as they are probably their biggest musical export product since a long, looong while (with the possible exception of rock band dEUS). I like how they lengthen the vocals, although it kind of sounds strange on the “s” sound. After that they start a-banging with some typical club noises. By now you can probably guess what Soulwax has to offer, and this is exactly the kind of song I guess would go down well during one of their upcoming festival performances. It is a nice mix of club banging and more stripped down parts where the focus is more on the altered vocals. There are some nice build-ups and abrupt switches between different parts, and to be frank I wouldn’t stand for anything less from these two brothers. Something to go mad to at their gigs, though as you probably know if you read this column regularly it’s a bit too crude for my personal taste.

http://hypem.com/track/1146085/LCD+Soundsystem+-+You+Wanted+A+Hit+Soulwax+Remix+

‘City to City’ by Historics (Pink Stallone remix)

Don’t let the start fool you in thinking this is something avant-garde or something. After the intro it goes stomping glam before it turns into something a bit more understated with the bass and the drums suggesting you might want to use your hips a bit. I actually would’ve liked it better if it had stayed in the glam-rock mode, now it seems a bit all over the place, also with the increase of hardness around the three minute mark. And then it gets a bit more dreamy again. Bit schizophrenic, though most of the genres that pass by are genres I tend to like, so personally I don’t mind really. It’s just that cramming it in a 4:41 running time might be a bit too much.

http://hypem.com/track/1138669/historics+-+City+to+City+Pink+Stallone+High+By+Foot+RMX+

Tortoiseshell

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: ‘This Girl’ by Tortoiseshell (Canyons dub)

I find Canyons a terribly, terribly strange band. Some of their stuff have me in hallelujah mode, while some songs seem unnecessarily longwinded. This is their dub of Tortoiseshell’s ‘This Girl’. And it quite works for me actually. It begins understated, yearning male vocals up front, and a lovely, lovely understated bass that goes with it. The bass stays, drums are added, and the vocals go up up up. And rightfully so, because the first time I heard that I was pretty impressed. I could probably live a day on that bass and vocal combination alone. I just love it when vocals do that, and good vocals are quite underrated me thinks. Definitely try and get to that chorus part and see whether it ticks your box, because if it does I think you’re in for a treat.

http://hypem.com/track/1135463/Tortoiseshell+-+This+Girl+Canyons+dub+

‘House’ by Fredrik Carlsson

You gotta love that Australia and Scandinavia are really churning out some really stellar electronical music. Scandinavia more Italo tinged, Australia is a bit more disco-ey. This one is a mixture of Italo and a bit of house I reckon. Dreamy, female vocals are on the forefront, and behind her throbs the song along with a nice mixture of bass, drums and synth, the latter sounding decidedly different in the chorus than during the verses. As said, bit Italo, also due to the vocals which certainly put a stamp on the song. Definitely dictates the atmosphere it does. I quite like this one actually, pretty catchy, I like how much up front the vocals are in the mix. You don’t quite see that enough in my opinion.

http://hypem.com/track/1139234/Fredrick+Carlsson+-+House

‘Welt am Draht’ by Pantha du Prince (Animal Collective remix)

Pantha du Prince and Animal Collective are two names that have been on everyone’s lips since early last year. So, fittingly, the American band makes an aesthetic and haunting remix of the Berlin artist. I like the ghostly vocals, that is always a plus with me. But prior to those vocals you’ve got this intro where the music constantly changes volume, as if it wants to mimic ebb and flood. But in audio that is just a wee bit more annoying than it is visually. It is an atmospheric piece, so don’t expect to be dancing anytime soon. A bit trippy even you can say. At the end it goes a bit mad on the odd sounds, but the middle part with the vocals is pretty excellent. The two bookends I could’ve done without, both having pretty annoying features. Then again, that has always been my stance on Animal Collective, so see where you want to go from there.

http://hypem.com/track/1140256/Pantha+Du+Prince+-+Welt+Am+Draht+Animal+Collective+Remix+

‘All Night’ by Voltage

Oh, this is more like it. Australia, well, there you go, no? And not just someone from Australia, but this apparently is a side project of Dan Whitford of Cut Copy, who will release their album in January. So watch out for that one. This is from the All Night EP, which has a couple of remixes of this track as well (can’t wait to hear the Munk one). Very dancey, very catchy, love the vocals, and can’t imagine this missing the mark at the D.I.S.C.O., as it is pretty rad. For the people who do like Cut Copy but always wished their songs had just that bit more oomph to dance to. Sure, some might consider some elements a bit too straightforward or cheesy, but I never have a problem with that to be honest (well, not never, but certainly not with this song). Just lovely to dance to in the night with other people. I wonder if they’ll be touring it…

http://hypem.com/track/1139317/Voltage+-+All+Night+Radio+Edit+

‘I’m Yours’ by Breakbot (Aeroplane)

Oh it definitely could’ve done without that terrible start. I like how it goes spacey after that and goes into the kind of territory Antoni Maiovvi did so well with last year’s Shadow of the Bloodstained Kiss. It’s got that I’m in a sci-fi B flick and I’m being chased vibe to it, but with some attitude. If you’re riding the bike and this comes on you will demand right of passage at every crossroads probably. And then suddenly, suddenly you’ve got those 80s pop vocals coming on! Well, that brought me tumbling back to earth. Not that they’re bad, mind you, but I wasn’t expecting the first two minutes to be a prelude to that. Then it kind of stays on the fringe of several territories, but it is definitely more Madonna than Maiovvi after the first two minutes. Only the beats are a bit harder. Kind of strange one this is, but I actually like both parts, so I’m liking this just fine. It’s just a bit of a “huh?” moment when the vocals come through and Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde, but both are fine, fine chaps in my opinion.

http://hypem.com/track/1140486/Breakbot+-+Baby+I+m+Yours+Aeroplane+Remix+

‘You and I’ by Washed Out feat. Caroline Polachek

At the start I thought, oh no, not this lo-glo-fi whatever thingy again. But after a few seconds it settles down and you get a pretty perfect soundtrack for your midnight walks. If soundtracks would last five minutes, that is. Definitely dreamy, and it has that kind of you-are-standing-there-in-the-night-and-the-city-goes-by-at-four-times-the-speed vibe to it, you know? That kind of sequence you sometimes see on the telly. Pretty impressive how it keeps that atmosphere for the entire song, and I’m impressed by the vocals as well. They hit exactly the right notes for this song to evoke this kind of image throughout the song. Looking forward to checking this band out at the local festival in a few weeks.

http://hypem.com/track/1139229/Washed+Out+feat+Caroline+Polachek+-+You+and+I

Eminem

Eminem – Not Afraid

Comparisons with Sex and the City probably don’t come thick and fast for Eminem. But think about it – both gained notoriety around the end of the ‘90s for the blunt manner in which they discussed boobs, bits, and the unspeakable things they wanted to do to their lovers (weeing on/killing them). However, these days it’s pretty difficult to locate the faintest whisper of their early brazilliantness amidst the mires of appalling clichés they both wallow in. Let’s list some of the hackneyed lyrical offences on Eminem’s comeback single, ‘Not Afraid’…

(1) “I’m doing this for me” – If a band ever says this in an interview (see also: “basically, we just love playing live”), THEY ARE TELLING YOU PORKIES. It’s code for, “I know my record’s total bobbins, so here’s a handy disclaimer that I can bandy about when all you mean ol’ critics poop on it from a great height”. Or, as in Slim’s case, it’s supposed to mean using the music to really work through your problems, maaaaan, which is a sure sign that the humble listener is in for an odyssey of self-indulgence.

(2) “Yeah, it’s been a ride / I guess I had to go to that place to get to this one / Now some of you might still be in that place…” – Urgh, life is a ride. Life is a fucking rollercoaster. Now, considering that this song is supposed to see Eminem back on the straight and narrow (the “path” of right that comes after the “ride” of wrong, if you will), talking in the kind of mumbo jumbo that only dribbles from your slack lips when you’re pupil-dilatingly high isn’t really going to help your case. All this vague piddle about places reminds me of that old stoned chestnut: “woah, but how do I know that the place I’m in is the same place as what you’re in and that what I see as blue is what you see is blue…”, passes out in front of South Park, end scene.

(3) “This fucking black cloud still follows me around” – Congrats, Eminem, you pass Pathetic Fallacy 101.

(4) “I shoot for the moon, but I’m still gazing at stars” – If this rapping lark doesn’t work out, there’s always inspirational slogan teacup manufacturing. ‘Mathers’ Motivational Mugs’, perhaps. It’s got a ring to it.

<<<And now, gird your loins, for the chorus is naught but pure platitude:>>>

(5) “I’m not afraid to take a stand / Everybody come take my hand / We’ll walk this road together, through the storm / Whatever weather, cold or warm / Just let you know that, you’re not alone / Holla if you feel that you’ve been down the same road.”

No matter how puerile and terrible, Eminem is always better when he comes back with a comedy single that riles everyone from the Pope to the glorious Kingdom of Pop, rather than srs business such as this. There was so much potential for a hamfisted lampooning of 2010s culture this time: Justin Bieber, autotune, Michael Jackson actually being dead, ferchrissakes. Instead we have this god-awful sub-guidance counselor hippy dippy shit over a beat so rudimentary that it’d sound cheap on Channel U. At least when the SATC ladies get old they can claim to be reprazentin’ hot flushes across the land. Clapped out rappers just sound embarrassing.

James Yuill – On Your Own (Summer Camp remix)

If you’re going to call a song ‘On Your Own’, it’s got to have a LOT of emotional chutzpah on its side. It either has to make you go, “FUCK YEAH I’m free and it’s AMAZING and I am an INDEPENDENT, STRONG PERSON!”  or on the flipside, it’s got to be so heart-wrenchingly miserable that you realise it’s the perfect reflection of your dejection and status as a pariah of romance, into which you will gaze wistfully before getting blinded by the sheer force of your own self-pity. Unfortunately, James Yuill’s original packs the punch of neither – it starts with a great thump and grind that suggests it might be a liberating dancefloor moment of the “FUCK YEAH!” variety, but then his voice comes in and the whole thing gets a bit tame and repetitive. Then there’s the outro, which really labours the point of how alone you are (“you’re on, you’re on your own” – yeah, cheers, James…), which is a lot like your best mate trying to comfort you after a break-up by saying that she never liked Derek anyway (when his name was Michael). It probably didn’t help that I listened to the Summer Camp remix before the original (and possibly a few too many times), but it is SO MUCH warmer and lovelier, and conjures a whole different kind of sadness. Elizabeth’s sweet tones somehow make it sound younger, injecting a bit of hope into the loneliness – you just know that this wily gal will be just fine. As SC are wont to do with remixes (see also: their remix of Active Child’s ‘Voice Of An Old Friend’), they’ve pretty much rewritten the whole song, this time as a paean to the delightful Charles Ryder of Brideshead Revisited. The sample of his plummy tones – “I felt so drunk that I’d almost begun to believe that the whole of yesterday evening was a dream” – seems like really quite an appropriate way to sum up the lovely impossibility of the fake nostalgia that Summer Camp sing about. Quite charming.

Everything Everything – Schoolin’

Pop’s often talked about as a factory, making Stock, Aitken, Waterman, Cathy Dennis et al the clever clogs scientists in search of creating the perfect ditty. It’s not hard to figure out the algorithms behind their craft – catchy verse to the power of ball-bustingly good chorus over equal measures of sauce, charm and grace. ‘Schoolin’’ contains all of these whilst simultaneously defying and bettering all known pop formulae, and yet I still can’t quite put my finger on how – like the meaning of life or something (which I think shirley means that Everything Everything are the meaning of life, a belief system I am more than happy to subscribe to). Quite often it sounds as though it’s about to explode into something huge, but then someone presses the restart button just in time, making it start and splutter like a Peugeot 106 with a dodgy clutch and scattershot alarm system. As ever, it’s totally impossible to hear what Jonathan Everything is saying, but the fine SarahGolde0 of YouTube fame has made an excellent stab at deciphering the lyrics in this here video:

Curiously, it is the second single of the week to feature someone talking about dicking the earth – Eminem rapped, “He’s got the urge / To pull his dick from the dirt and fuck the universe,” whilst those Everything Everything chaps, fond of rudery as they are, sing, “I learn dick about earth.” I don’t think there’s anything to conclude about this, other than that I’d advise you never to hold hands with a boy who expresses a fondness for such filthbaggery. The impudence continues as he sings, “I’ve got myself a fire hydrant with more tyrant and watery blast than all of my past,” and if that ain’t a hint to the fact that he’d like to be the one to extinguish the fire in your loins, then I don’t know what is.

Tracey Thorn – Why Does The Wind?

And so to an ode to drafty old emotions by one Tracey Thorn, whose heart is chilled by wind when she looks into your eyes. Now this isn’t Tracey’s fault at all, but I’d read a lot of really very good things about her latest album before listening to it – that she sings about the grown up side of love in a really clever, sophisticated and funny way, kind of getting her ’69 Love Songs’ on by exploring the possibility and potential of the romantical ditty. Unlike Stephin Merritt, however, she fails to inject a great deal of charm or wit into ‘Why Does The Wind?’’s look at the comings and goings of fancy, which makes more like the tiresome tropes of a women’s magazine sung over the top of some appropriately breezy (and quite dull) synths and violins. Given that she’s dealing with supposedly “adult” themes and the tribulations of Serious Relationships, some might argue that as an unmarried dame, I just don’t understand what she’s going through. But that’s bunk – arguments about people not “getting” music because they’re too old or young, or born in the wrong period, are ridiculous and apologetic. And besides, Low, Arcade Fire, Cocteau Twins and more have proven that becoming a smug married is no barrier to writing excellent songs on the subject.

Veronica Falls – Beachy Head

It looks about as easy as 1, 2, 3 to form a lo/bro fi/surf/scuzz band, especially after watching the video to ‘Beachy Head’: take two chords, some oversized sunglasses, pudding bowl haircuts, film your whole video through Hipstamatic, and fake attitude by standing around looking scathing. Voila. My friend Leah and I were going to form such a band called Frolic Acid (if you steal our name, I kill you), and the fact that I can’t play guitar would have been no barrier to realizing that dream – we just don’t have cool enough haircuts. Anyway. After recently yawning through Spectrals slumping through the most uninspired surf rock pastiche I’ve ever seen, I swore I’d never listen to anything that didn’t possess pristine, crisp fretwork and tuneful singing ever again, but Veronica Falls might have made me change my mind. ‘Beachy Head’ might not exactly be a cat amongst the lo-fi fishes, but given Veronica Falls’ menacing prowl, you definitely wouldn’t say that to their face.

Joe Worricker – We Hug In Bed

Love them as we do, Rough Trade have made some serious balls ups with new signings this past year. Rox proved too dull to even grace my dad’s coffee table, Wilder sound like any old mildly insouciant electro band, and then there’s this chap, Joe Worricker. His voice has been likened to that of Arthur Russell, but in reality he sounds more like one of the blander members of The Feeling with a chronic head cold.

crystal castles

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: ‘Suffocation’ by Crystal Castles (Memory Tapes remix)

I always feel slightly ashamed when I have to say that I don’t fancy Crystal Castles that much, because it kind of seems the thing to do. I do love Memory Tapes though, and I do love that band a whole bunch (me is the proud owner of a first edition vinyl of the album). So this could go either way. You would think. But I was lucky enough to have a little interview with the man behind Memory Tapes and so I know how he does his remixes. And the thing is, he doesn’t look at the original at all. He just looks at the components and creates a remix off of that. So in essence, it will definitely be more his aesthetic that will be shining through than that of Crystal Castles. Which, for me personally, is a good thing. So no surprise here, I do love this one. It has got a bit of that dreamy vibe that I love so much and which I think is just so great to listen to while walking around at night. If you want to bounce off of each other on the dance floor then this probably isn’t going to make you happy. But if you like the dreamy, fantastical vibe, then this might just be for you. It definitely is for me, in any case. Also, nifty drumming.

http://hypem.com/track/1134063/Crystal+Castles+-+Suffocation+Memory+Tapes+Remix+

‘Weaker Arm’ by Zebra and Snake (Emperatron remix)

Oh no, this goes way too fast and is way too hard for my personal taste, that is clear from the start. Add to that transformed vocals, your standard club tricks and echoes, and there you go. It is a bit like Vitalic, only a B version of it. Because where Vitalic is hypnotizing and engaging, this is not. And it is a good five minutes of it. Not my thing at all, but I guess that if you want some sort of good trippin’ then this might do the trick, but I wouldn’t fancy hearing this on my evening out.

http://hypem.com/track/1128875/Zebra+and+Snake+-+Weaker+Arm+Emperatron+Remix+

‘Princess’ by Primary 1 (Isa Machine reinvention)

You did read my interview with Joe Flory, aka Primary 1, didn’t you? If not be sure to go to it now. Always nice to get to know an up-and-coming artist a bit better, no? Because you probably wouldn’t from this remix, as Isa Machine definitely puts its own stamp on it. The pop vibe that was very much present in especially this song of Primary 1 has gone out of the window and Isa Machine has slowed it down considerably. So the only thing still there are basically Flory’s vocals. But since this wasn’t my favourite track of his anyway I don’t mind the reinvention that much. The vocals were one of the better points anyway, and at three minutes this is definitely a comfortable listen.

http://hypem.com/track/1128499/Primary+1+-+Princess+Isa+Machine+Re+invention+

‘Even if it Works Out’ by Cloud Nothings

Lo-fi ramshackle American indie with barely distinguishable vocals. The thing is, if you do not fancy a particular genre, and that genre becomes popular, you are very prone of getting a bit of an “oh no, this again?” vibe. Which I’m having when I listen to this track. It is something that the people following the Gorilla vs Bear blog will probably love. Since I’m not an avid fan of their choice of music, I’m not digging this as much. If you have been relishing this type of music and the hype that has been surrounding it for a good year now, then you might hail this as the next so and so.  Me, I’ll probably be listening to something more up my alley.

http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/14436-even-if-it-worked-out/

‘Keep The Lights On’ by Wave Machines (Artwork remix)

Wave Machines is probably a bit of a blindspot for me. I’ve read some good things about them, and it seems that some people are really liking this band. But I unfortunately haven’t found the time to check it out. Despite me not knowing this band terribly well, I guess a lot of this remix is Artwork’s doing. I imagine, rightly or wrongly, that the deep vocals and the somewhat darker vibe is original Wave Machines, but the electronic and synthy additions are Artwork’s. Correct me if I’m wrong, naturally. If I’m right, and that is the case, I’m definitely be checking out Artwork’s stuff, because how this remix has turned out has got me pretty excited. I like the juxtaposition of the music and additions on one hand, and the deep vocals on the other.

http://hypem.com/track/1134379/Wave+Machines+-+Keep+The+Lights+On+Artwork+Remix+

‘Counterpoint’ by Delphic (Tim Goldsworthy edit)

This actually makes me think of – oh what is the name for it again? – one of those devices which flickers light insanely fast. One of those things you see in clubs sometimes, which goes on and off and on and off and on and off like it has gone berserk. This is sort of a happy, musical version of that device with those background bleeps. That device always annoys me to no end, and although this doesn’t make me want to punch someone, it does kind of irritate me. It is such a schizophrenic noise. The rest of the song is very poppy, a bit The Killers’ first album gone bad. Two weeks ago I praised a Goldsworthy edit, and I think this puts things in balance again.

http://hypem.com/track/1130862/Delphic+-+Counterpoint+Tim+Goldsworthy+edit+

The National

It didn’t feel like too big a deal at first, when things didn’t work out between me and the girl from California. Sure, it was a pity. She was beautiful, after all; smart and affectionate too. But best of all she was a fan of The National. When we discovered our shared love for the guys from Ohio on our first date, things could hardly have seemed any better. Sadly, however, it came to a premature end when she rather abruptly called time on things just a few weeks later. “Never mind, these things happen, plenty more fish in the sea,” my friends all told me. “Even fish who like The National.” They are a rare breed, but this was true enough – and at least in ending so early, for once it didn’t seem like something my mind was likely to linger on.

Perhaps I would have still felt this relaxed about it a few weeks later, were it not for the very same band we both adored personally intervening to kill off any chances of the latest disappointment in my love-life ebbing away quietly.

Ok, so I admit The National did not write the penultimate track on their new album, which I had been looking forward to for months, specifically to remind little old me of that girl from California. But given that just a few weeks after things finished between us I found myself listening to Matt Berninger pining over a Californian girl living in London, loving her life in the rain, I hope I could be forgiven for feeling like they really had. England is the best song on High Violet – possibly the best thing they’ve ever recorded – and after one listen to its soaring melodies and the blaring horns I was hooked. Yet with every listen repeatedly churning my personal associations with the lyrics, listening to it became an increasingly bittersweet experience. It felt like I was being taunted and teased by the very musicians who had helped inspire our brief tryst.

Thankfully that eventually wore off a little. But as a music lover, it left behind an interesting reminder of the emotional power involved in affixing our own meanings to a piece of music – and how this can often happen against our wishes.

Perhaps it will stem, as in my case, from little more than some vague links between pop lyrics and episodes from our own lives. But sometimes it doesn’t even take that much.

Micah P Hinson recently revealed to me in an interview that his wife does not allow him to listen to any Richard Hawley records when she is around, because it reminds her of an unhappy incident that happened to the couple while Hinson was supporting Hawley on tour a few years ago. The unpleasant event did not even involve Hawley himself, but in the mind of Hinson’s wife a mental bond was permanently forged between the British crooner’s music and memories of what happened that night.

But while it’s unfortunate that songs can be sometimes be soured forever by a personal association, it’s our ability to create our own interpretations of lyrics that helps make music so powerful. One only has to look at the continued debate down the years about the true subjects of Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’ and Alanis Morrisette’s ‘You Oughta Know’ – and the popularity of discussing lyrics on the Song Meanings website – to see how much we like music to have a sense of ambiguity about it.

Indeed, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder has previously criticised music videos for robbing music fans of the ability to affix their own meanings to songs. During an interview in 1993 he said: “Before music videos first came out, you’d listen to a song with headphones on, sitting in a beanbag chair with your eyes closed, and you’d come up with your own visions, these things that came from within. Then all of a sudden, sometimes even the very first time you heard a song, it was with these visual images attached, and it robbed you of any form of self-expression.”

Interestingly, Vedder has since revealed that the upbeat interpretation of ‘Alive’ by the fans of his band has changed the way even he views the lyrics and the meaning behind his own song: “They lifted the curse. The audience changed the meaning for me.”

In contrast, Bono finds only confusion in some U2 fans’ more optimistic view of One, saying: “The song is a bit twisted, which is why I could never figure out why people want it at their weddings. I have certainly met a hundred people who’ve had it at their weddings. I tell them, ‘Are you mad? It’s about splitting up!’”

It’s hard to imagine French philosopher Jacques Derrida was a fan of either Pearl Jam or U2. But given his theory of the freeplay of the signifier and the signified, at least he would have approved of Eddie Vedder’s free-thinking approach to the meanings behind his lyrics.