New old sounds

Normally EMJ is dedicated to posting on new music, admittedly we do trip back in time a bit every now and then, but after some extensive browsing today I found so many great old gems I’d never heard/heard of before I thought it’d be interesting to share some with my fellow music lovers. Admittedly most of these were found on the eternally amazing WFMU’s website, from one of their DJ’s compilations posted in 2006, called Obey The New Wave: 1980 and all that– UK DIY, etc. I highly recommend you download all of the tracks here, however this is a selection of my favourites, along with some other gems I found today. Exposing some throbbing veins of glistening ’80s dance pop, thumping weirdo rock, ocassional abstract disco electronica but mostly amazing DIY indie dub/post punk, these songs highlight how it’s important to remember to acknowledge the past and how it shapes music from today and the future. I hope you find this music interesting, entertaining and enlightening, as I do.

Arabian Prince

Arabian Prince is ex-NWA rapper Mik Lezan from Compton, California. His band was best known for such aggressive and archetypal rap classics as ‘Straight Outta Compton’ and ‘Fuck The Police’. Yet Lezan’s solo work under the guise of Arabian Prince is a fresh, meaty ensemble of ’80s droning disco electro, awash with blatant sea-sounds, clap-track-esque drums and glistening OTT organs. The interludes’ overly produced drum track and the staunch, simple rapping are highlights. This song, off his 1990 cassette Situation Hot, has a fun, rollicking retro sound in the vein of Afrika Bambaataa or Grand Master Flash, and is instantly catchy.

Arabian Prince- Let’s Hit The Beach: MP3 | Buy it from Insound

Ruth

A sweet, synthy scopey song from French New Wave group Ruth features kooky girl vocals interchanging with stroppy boy vocals while tinkling arpeggios and trumpet cascade over the bouncy rhythm section. Thiery Müller, Phillippe Doray and Ruth Ellyeri only released one album as Ruth, under the same name as the track below, but they left an indelible mark on French New Wave with their sophisticated, glitzy dream pop sound. Müller is still releasing material under the name Ilitch, and collaborates with a number of musicians and groups, including Nicholas Littlemore of Teenager/Pnau/Empire of the Sun.

Ruth- Polaroid/Roman/Photo: MP3

The Flying Lizards

A trippy, psychedelic segue into girl chant post punk riot electro, seething like hot trash on a sidewalk, bubbling with a ferocity and eventually sizzling out like a disintegrating solar system. The Flying Lizards exhibit exuberance in their galactic noise gallops, with sci-fi stereo sounds crashing in waves all around you. Seriously cool.

The Flying Lizards- Hands 2 Take: MP3 | Buy it from Insound

Fatal Microbes

Extending on that psych-trip vibe, Fatal Microbes take the shouty girl vocals and add dolops of British angst and political misfortune in a lyrical sense, and swirling guitars with droopy bass sequentially smashed with percussion and an all-round ’60s beat vibe. Authentically wacked out and glam, ideas in spades, utterly thrilling to listen to. With a diction to match the 1-2-3 teaching intonation of Princess Chelsea.

Fatal Microbes- Violence Grows: MP3

Dum Dum Dum

With an offbeat vibe, existential malaise and trippy almost-dub bass fighting with raucaus guitar work and epicly layered vocals, Dum Dum Dum’s eponymous track reeks of super fun self-indulgence and a freaky nightmare. It’s short and sweet, bitterly cold and entirely awesome.

Dum Dum Dum- Dum Dum Dum: MP3

Gl*xo Babies

Banned from Radio 1, the song ‘Christine Keeler’ has a sweltering X-Ray Spex-like sax and boombastic rhythms coupled with Gang Of Four-like chanting and rhythmic vocals perpetuated by antsy percussion. Gl*xo Babies has an awesomely riveting, tight as fuck and catchy as hell sound. Originally called Glaxo Babies, they were forced to change their name to Gl*xo Babies by pharmaceutical giant Glaxo. The Bristol group disbanded in 1981 and members went off to join various other bands, notably Dan Catsis joined The Pop Group and later formed Maximum Joy with fellow Gl*xo Baby Charles Llewelyn. ‘Christine Keeler’ was their second 7″. Typical English punk skewed by a political bent and an offbeat aroma illustrated by thoughtful instrumentation makes ‘Christine Keeler’ a must-have if you have a penchant for tight post punk.

Gl*xo Babies- Christine Keeler: MP3 | Buy it from Insound

Blurt

Echoey snare, gristly guitar and erratic, reverb-laden complaining vocals amidst a flurry of scuzz jazz horns and progressive riffs. A funky, freaky forray into exciting punk/jazz/puke/freak-out.

Blurt- Get: MP3 | Buy it from Insound

Diagram Brothers

We. Are. All. Animals! Stuttery, epileptic Manchester punk, rubbery basslines bending and breaking at the end of every four bars, psychotic lyrics and mind melting bass all synched harmoniously together, this song psychs out and constantly changes and progresses. A stark, strong incredibly memorable song that instantly became one of my favourites before I was even done with my first listen.

Diagram Brothers- We Are All Animals: MP3 | Buy it from Insound

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Bristol, California, France, Manchester, Oxford, UK
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Metronomy & The Teenagers

Friday, January 9, 2009

Kings Arms, Auckland

This was a highly anticipated gig, and I was not disappointed. While many maintain that they were a bit bored by the lack of live instrumentation, which I agree greatly detracted from the gig, it was still hugely energetic, entertaining and exciting. It was far beyond capacity for a reason: this promoter knows how to somehow magically bring a band that’s at its peak internationally; one that hasn’t quite made it to music television or mainstream radio but is being talked about hotly.

The Teenagers played first, and largely as expected them to, but were compellingly energetic and strangely enigmatic (I think it was their seductive French accents). They were fun to watch and dance to, though their set seemed to drag slightly, and really highlighted the mediocrity of their songs. For the famously smutty score-song Homecoming they dragged girls on stage to be their ‘cheerleaders’, which was cringe-inducing. Though they’re certainly not super talented or interesting beyond their novelty pulling power, they filled that expectation more than well, and served the hungry hipsters who clawed and shrieked at their jumpy singer.

To me Metronomy stole the show. They were electric! The crowd was so intense that the promoter asked me to stand in front of the door to the bands’ dressing room the whole night and act as a human barricade. This made for a much better vantage point to watch the guys doing cheesy ‘naff’ action dance moves that were kinda hilarious, hitting their push lights and moving their arms to the music. It was like signing for neu ravers! Not that this was a neu rave gig. But the lack of live playing detracted from their set greatly, considering at some points they’d all just stand and bop to the music, their hands at their sides, while the backing tracks continued to play. But that’s pretty much my only gripe. Their dancey, catchy electronic pop was perfect party music, and they played it with technical skill and natural talent. Intermingling their student radio hits with lesser known electro-jams made for an absolutely AWESOME night out!

More Metronomy & The Teenagers live photos

Posted by Sarah Gooding under France, UK
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Your Emaciated Face

We’ve been hearing a lot about Peaches lately, with her upcoming shows in Auckland and Wellington. A band that is playing a showcase with her in Paris recently added me on Myspace, much to my delight. Regretfully I haven’t written here for a while, due to being almost eaten alive by the ever-hungry Fashion industry. Fittingly my return to music writing is marked by the fashion-bashing Enfant Terrible. A name few might be familiar with, but with a recognisable image, sound and name they’re sure to stick. MS-Paint-ing over pictures of emaciated models, encapsulating Crystal Castles‘ warped blitz of keyboard/electronica, waify and aloof vocals with precision-beats and overlaying “oh”s like some kind of drugged out indie kid howling at a disco night club, Enfant Terrible are exactly and topically my cup of tea.

Enfant Terrible: I Can’t Help Myself: MP3
Enfant Terrible – Lobster Quadrille: MP3
Enfant Terrible – Seagull: MP3
Enfant Terrible – Myspace

Posted by Sarah Gooding under France
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Stereo Total w/ JD Samson and Moron Says What?!?!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Whammy Bar, Auckland

Credit must be given to the promoter Mr Matthew Crawley for this one. His decision to allow Moron Says What?!?! to open was a brave one, but one that totally paid off. The four Auckland girls played an energetic set to an adoring crowd, including both JD Samson and Francoise Cactus (Stereo Total) who stood in the front row and enjoyed every second of it. Running through all of their songs in true chaotic MSW fashion, including an awesome sped up version of ‘Wikipedia’, they were then put on the spot when asked to play one more song. But wow! They delivered with a rap about moustaches, originally written for the Brand New Math moustache party a few months ago, it was brilliantly recycled.

Moron Says What?!?! had one of the best nights of their lives. After their set Cactus whipped them away for an interview; she is apparently writing a book about girl bands. There are also rumours that JD Samson suggested she’d like MSW to tour Australia and the USA with her.

JD Samson then got on stage to do her thing. It took the crowd about ten minutes to realise she was even DJing and by the end I think some people still hadn’t noticed. But honestly, anybody could play top 40 indie hits from their laptop; it just happened to be the girl from Le Tigre playing them.

The crazy exuberance of Stereo Total brought everyone back together. Packed with screaming, smashing of drum sticks and some amazingly catchy pop songs, Cactus and Brezel Goring’s charisma filled the bar with happy faces. Creating all sorts of eclectic sounds from what looked like home made instruments, Goring laid the perfect foundation for Cactus’ pleasantly cheeky bi-lingual pop vocals. It was possibly one of the smaller crowds the European band had played to in some time, but the duo seemed to thrive on it. Complete with a drunken stage invasion, a breast-flashing friend of the band and Goring smashing a spot light with his drum sticks, the show was unforgettable.

Stereo Total w/ JD Samson and Moron Says What?!?! live photos

Moron Says What?!?!- Sleep: MP3

Posted by Nick Fulton under France, Germany, New Zealand
[6] Comments

WEIRD

Indie/Noise/”IDM” Special

What started off as a concept for a noise post became a giant fuck-off behemoth of the IDM kind. This is what happens when you are your own editor! Allow me to introduce the Indie/Noise/”IDM” Spectacular! Here’s the most exciting, messy, hard-to-define, fucked up music that we found one Thursday night while trawling the creepy corners of the internet. P.S. It’s not really IDM. Let’s get pretentious!

Unicorn Dream Attack

- Psych Sundae Synth!

Found through a Myspace genre search for IDM, Unicorn Dream Attack is the most amazing Commodore 64 music I’ve heard since Disasteradio, and it’s not even anything like D-Rad! It’s like your favourite dream, melting into an ice-cream sundae in a fairy parade, surrounded by gigantic pies…

Unicorn Dream Attack – Myspace

Boom Bip

- GTA Minimalist!?

Bryan Hollan of the Mae Shi has one vivid imagination. Combing his stem cells for Chicks on Speed-esque synths and beats to bring out some of the most eclectic, minimalist dance IDM I’ve heard. It’s kinda eerie sounding, too. He’s doing the rounds of practically all the major European festivals this Northern Summer, so check him out if you can!

Boom Bip (Ft. Ali Lee) – The Coogi Sweater: MP3

Boom Bip– Myspace

Dandi Wind

- 80s Thrash Electronica!

The acidic, scratchy, raw vocals, the aggressive beats punching out, the weird club remixes, it all works with Dandi Wind. What ever you thought wouldn’t, basically, they can throw it together, wrap some cobra snake-like rope around it, secure it with gold lamé sequins, assymetrical haircuts, pretentious dance moves, and nail it all in a coffin of bad heavy rock from the late 80s. It sounds gross, but like their effervescent, freeing name, they somehow manage to pump out exhilerating, weird, awesome, music. Man, it’s weird though.

Dandi Wind – Searching Flesh CLUB: MP3

Dandi Wind – Myspace

DAT Politics

- Toxic Trash!

I have been following this quirky French electronic trio for years now, ever since I heard their amazing, freaky, insect-like track Viper Eyes. It threatened to bite my ears off, there were moments when I thought they were aging into that feared territory of mainstream techno-concrete, but fortunately a recent return to their website has seen a more assuring relegation of their beats and psychedelic looped synths to the trash cans in the backstreets of some dingy French night club. Ie: they are still awesome! Check out the oldie but goodie, Viper Eyes, below, and their other/+ new material on their myspace - particularly My Toshiba Is Alive!

DAT Politics – Viper Eyes: MP3

DAT Politics – Myspace

Eats Tapes

- Jazz trash!

Disco-midi-meets-animal-rap-with-no-vocals? Exploratory-hypertainment-production-duo-masterminding-mash-ups? Space-Odyssey 19098976876764356980? Eats Tapes defy explanation, in my opinion anyway. Listen to them loop old 80s trash through rubbish sacks of synth gold to salvage creative masterpieces for the patient listener. They thump along like any video game-esque music should, in the vein of the whole school of creators of this ilk out there right now, but reward you with tasty treats at the end. Theirs is slow-burning, jazzier synth craziness. I like it!

Eats Tapes – Yes You Didn’t: MP3

Eats Tapes – Myspace

Posted by Sarah Gooding under France, U.S.A
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Sexy slumber party chanteuses make
a Bela Lugosi Lounge Act

Bossa nova new-wave soul-jazz goes to bed and gets all swoony and starry-eyed, crossing dreams and spanning continents. From France to Brazil to New York, the collective re-invents no-wave post-punk phenomenas, stalking the dreary world of rock and diving into the slums of pop to deliver breathy breath-taking covers of already dreamy originals.

Bedfellow du jours Marc Collins, Oliver Libaus, Mélanie Pain, Marina Celeste, Phoebe Killdeer and Camille and Gérald Toto are a multi-instrumentalist group of globally gathered individuals who give us sensuous, salty but impossibly sweet renditions of hearty classics, more than stamped with their luscious textures and sounds. Their music is magnetic. It’s tasty. You’ll want to bed it. Music this good turns well-meaning music journalists into PR pushers. But it’s true, they’re really really great.

Nouvelle Vague- Dancing With Myself: M4A [originally by Generation X]

Nouvelle Vague- Too Drunk To Fuck: MP3 [originally by Dead Kennedys]

Nouvelle Vague- Love Will Tear Us Apart: MP3 [originally by Joy Division]

Nouvelle Vague- Making Plans For Nigel: MP3 [originally by XTC]

Nouvelle Vague- The Killing Moon: MP3 [originally by Echo and the Bunnymen]

Nouvelle Vague- Myspace

Posted by Sarah Gooding under France
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