M83 Unleashes 21st Century Shoegaze with “Graveyard Girl”

Anthony Gonzales shows even more song structure and pop influences with his new single, “Graveyard Girl,” the second song to be released from his new Saturday’s = Youth album.

The single comes off like Power, Corruption, and Lies-era New Order doped up on hazy shoegaze atmospherics and textures, while uttered female vocals speak of a young girl roaming and aching to be a part of a cemetary. The least cynical of us will struggle from rolling our eyes when hearing the cheesy lines like “And I’ll read poetry to the stones / Maybe one day I can be one of them…I’m 15 years old and I feel it’s already too late to love / Don’t you?” Kitschy lyrics aside, the song is retains its catchy beauty with shimmering synths and addictive melodies, marking one of the most accessible and coherent tracks put out under Gonzales’ M83 moniker.

Pre-order Saturday’s = Youth which is out April 15th on Mute and check out the new single below. Tickets still on sale for live dates.

[MP3]: M83  ”Graveyard Girl”
Saturday’s = Youth, Mute; 2008

M83 Saves Saturday’s for the Youth

A month or so ago I was lucky enough hear most of Saturday’s = Youth, the new album from Anthony Gonzalez, better known as M83. And although I only listened to Gonzalez’s fifth studio album just once through, I can confidently say that Saturday’s = Youth is the best thing I’ve heard so far this year. Keep in mind though, I’m a big fan of M83, so my opinion is somewhat biased.

The hazy shoegaze atmospherics and deep space textures of Gonzales’ past efforts are still present on Saturday’s = Youth, but the Frenchman loses the melodrama of previous records, crafting more structured songs with a pop mentality. M83’s recent composition, the eight-and-a-half minute “Couleurs” is driven by assertive thumping beats and glistening synths with an ambient fog hanging over layers of feedback, which is broken through by a trance-like rhythm as the song picks up in its later minutes. I’m really digging the less rock, more pop/dance aspect of this song and the record.

Saturday’s = Youth drops on April 15th via Mute and was produced by Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós, Suede, Cocteau Twins, Sugarcubes) and Ewan Pearson (The Rapture, Ladytron). The first single set to be relased from the record (following the already released “Couleurs”) is “Graveyard Girl.”

Gonzales and his crew consisting of drummer Loic Maurin, bassist/guitarist Pierre-Marie Maulini, and Morgan Kibby, who did vocals for the album lands in New York City on 6/3 at Music Hall of Williamsburg and 6/4 at Bowery Ballroom, while Philly gets the band on June 6th in the basement of The First Unitarian Church before they head to D.C. the following night for a show at Black Cat. Tickets are on sale now.

[MP3]: M83  ”Couleurs” (via)
Saturday’s = Youth, Mute; 2008

The Field | Sound of Light EP

The inspired people at Stockholm’s The Nordic Light Hotel have come up with a concept called “Sound of Light.” The goal of the project is to portray the entire hotel through music by inviting musicians to the hotel “to interpret the hotel experience and express it by making a record.” The first contributor to the project was local hero Axel Willner aka The Field. Willner came up with a four song EP titled Sound of Light with each track lasting around 15 minutes. The four tracks are meant for the morning, day, evening, and night to “portray all the various moods of the light and the hotel.”

Sound of Light is like a “classical” album, but comprised of all electronic elements; violins, cellos, and pianos are replaced by electronic beats and samples. Hypnotic and simply gorgeous.

Stream the entire EP at The Nordic Light Hotel’s “Sound Of Light” page. The only place the album is available (unless you plan on visiting the hotel and getting a hard copy at the reception desk) is digitally via iTunes. Check out The Field’s remix of Thom Yorke’s “Cymbal Rush” below (note: this track is not from Sound of Light).

[MP3]: The Field  ”Cymbal Rush (The Field Late Night Essen Und Trinken Remix”)

Ravens and Vultures | Keep Your Kill

Over the weekend, Philadelphia’s Ravens and Vultures celebrated the release of their new (and debut) EP, Keep Your Kill (which sports a fierce looking penguin as its cover art) at Johnny Brenda’s supported by locals Ape School and NYC faves Dragons of Zynth. The EPs four tracks combine elements from shoegaze and dream-pop to rāga to dance-punk to electronica to straight up indie pop. Just listen to the EPs title track “Keep Your Kill” and you’ll hear a unique mix of these influences – melodic and soaring guitar lines blend with laptop generated beats while rāga melodies are layered over a Gang of Four/Rapture bassline and cowbell. I’ve had the track on repeat since first listening to it – highly recommended.

The trio consisting of former DJs (and identical twins) Chetana and Darshana Borah and Andrew Ryan (ada Illoin) will be digitally releasing the EP tomorrow (January 15th) along with a “special” bit-torrent edition that is already available online. The band has set up a donation page for those choosing to download the four tracks via torrent.

Check out the mesmerizing and ethereal “Willow Tree” set to be included on the band’s debut long-player, Last Love slated for release later this year. Head over to MySpace for further listening and Philebrity has “Keep Your Kill” streaming on their site. Order the EP directly from the band and within 24 hours you’ll receive a download link.

[MP3]: Ravens and Vultures  ”Willow Tree”
Last Love, TBA; TBA

Looking Ahead in 2008

It’s been a bit of a challenge to get back into the swing of things following the holiday break. My mind is still stuck somewhere 400 miles north in Vermont (with all the snow), while my physical self is back in equally as frigid Philadelphia. Starting off with the first post of the New Year, I wanted to follow up the previous post about bands we are excited about in 2008 by featuring a few more.

Bringing thoughts of sunny days by the beach and sipping on summery drinks, WHITE SHOES AND THE COUPLES COMPANY are a blast of tropical warmth for our recent cold snap here in the Northeast. Nghia recently refreshed my memory about the Jakarta six-piece, and rightfully so as their brand of “Love Boat” twee is right in line with his personal tastes. Swinging and upbeat, White Shoes songs are infused with classical jazz, a hint of bossa nova, and “doo doos” that you can’t help smiling about.

On the heels of the October U.S. release of their 2005 debut album, White Shoes will be making the trek from Indonesia to the States to play SXSW (hard to believe that clusterfuck is just over two months away) in March, so expect to be hearing a lot more about the band while they’re over here. Check out “Aksi Kucing” below and pick up their self-titled long player and Skenario Masu Muda EP.

[MP3]: White Shoes and the Couples Company  ”Aksi Kucing”
Skenario Masu Muda EP, Aksara Records; 2007

HIGH PLACES (pictured) were one of the featured acts at our final FRICTION show of 2007 and one of the bands I’m expecting to hear a lot more from this year. Warm tropical/tribal grooves, metallic drums, and other instrumental textures bury Mary Pearson’s ethereal vocals like a 4AD haze. The Brooklyn duo, rounded out by Rob Barber continues to charm audiences with their danceable live show and unique sound. High Places are currently busy in the studio working on various projects, including that full-length we’ve been anticipating. For those of you on the West Coast, High Places will be bringing some of their Brooklyn charisma your way with dates at the end of January. Check their MySpace page for details.

[MP3]: High Places  ”Shared Islands”
David Horvitz Picture Disc; 2007

Kicking it since 2001 and now a duo consisting of Andrew Thiboldeaux and Chris Ward, Philadelphia’s PATTERN IS MOVEMENT has recently been putting the finishing touches on their yet unnamed third full-length (produced by Scott Solter – Spoon, Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice). The band had a pretty busy autumn playing with acts like Dan Deacon, So Many Dynamos, and (Hometapes labelmates) Slaraffenland and are going to be touring again in the early spring, following a play at Gothamist’s 5-year Anniversary party on February 15th.

Both Thiboldeaux and Ward have a background in classical music, which can be heard throughout their catalog and in the violens of “Right Away” below. “Complex polyrhythms are set to a hip-hop backbeat, concocting a wild brand of math rock that you don’t need a degree to understand. A complicated rush of well-played instruments and hypnotic vocals keep a straight narrative, making songs that listen like short dreams you curse for ending too soon.” Watch for their new record on Hometapes early this year.

[MP3]: Pattern is Movement  ”Right Away”
Right Away EP, Hometapes; 2007

Looking Ahead to 2008

I guess it’s time for me to start getting together one of those year end list things. While I’m at that I wanted to share a few tracks from some artists that I’m looking forward to hearing a lot more of in 2008. Myself and maybe even Nghia will try to get around to doing another one of these in the coming weeks.

Thanks to the kind peeps over at Death + Taxes Magazine for turning me onto London’s SIAN ALICE GROUP. A promo copy of their debut record, 59.59, literally kept me company on my travels over the weekend. 59.59 is an expansive, sprawling pop effort, some might even say epic. Words like haunting, atmospheric, reflective, lush, dreamy, and experimental all come to mind when listening to the album’s sixteen tracks. Sian Ahern lends the record an ethereal beauty with her unearthly, yet seductive vocals…perfect for that winter night bundled up by the fireplace. 59.59 is due out in February on Brooklyn’s The Social Registry imprint.

[MP3]: Sian Alice Group  ”As The Morning Light”
59.59, The Social Registry; 2008

Expect to be hearing a lot more about Brooklyn duo MGMT when their debut full-length, Oracular Spectacular, sees its proper physical release via Columbia Records in January (currently only available as a digital download now). When I first heard the single “Time To Pretend” I was reminded of the quirky uplifting pop of The Unicorns (who I miss dearly, but also makes a nice spot for MGMT in my heart).

[MP3]: MGMT  ”Time To Pretend”
Oracular Spectacular, Columbia; 2008

I’ve been looking forward to the debut record from APES & ANDROIDS ever since they rocked off our faces at FRICTION back in the day at Sin-e. Nearly a year-and-a-half later and the band has completed their first full-length titled Blood Moon (cover art above), which will hit the streets relatively soon along with a release party at The Mercury Lounge on January 19th. To quote the band (well, actually a Transformers movie review), “it’s long and loud and everything about it is big: from the massive riffs, the pounding score and the band itself, which towers above everything and everyone in this mega-budget sonic explosion.” Check out “Golden Prize” from Blood Moon below. RAD!

[MP3]: Apes & Androids  ”Golden Prize”
Blood Moon, Unsigned; 2008

If you have any love left for punchy energetic dance music after the onslaught we received in 2007, then Lyon, France’s SPITZER is for you. Mathieu and Damien Brégère, the French brothers behind Spitzer have been generating a bit of buzz with a couple of hard-hitting electro singles like “Kapersky,” which is going to be included on their Roller Coaster EP, set to be released in 2008. Currently unsigned, I wouldn’t be surprised if the duo was gobbled up by a label like Kitsune or Ed Banger in the coming months. Check out “Aveda Dollars” from the Roller Coaster EP below.

[MP3]: Spitzer  ”Aveda Dollars”
Roller Coaster EP, Unsigned; 2008

Baltimore’s BEACH HOUSE put out one of my favorite records of 2006 with their self-titled debut on Carpark. The band is set to release their sophomore full-length titled Devotion on February 26th. Sounds like the band is picking up where they left off with “Gila.” Perfect.

[MP3]: Beach House  ”Devotion”
Devotion, Carpark; 2008

pic of the week — bright tomorrow

Above pic via Magda Lates

Yeah, I know. There’s nothing “bright” about this shot. Pairing this picture up with Fuck Buttons “Bright Tomorrow” was erm, inspired (or better yet, blatantly copied) by the video for the track which Pitchfork “exclusively” posted this week. I’ve always loved pictures like this; a moment of life at full speed captured and suspended in time.

The backbone of “Bright Tomorrow” is defined by a trance-y ambient loop a la The Field combined with a chugging, driving beat. To that the Bristol-based duo of Benjamin Power and Andrew Hung add swirling noisy guitars (enter the swirling birds in the video), ethereal melodies, sonic textures, and indecipherable screams. The song manages to be “dark” and “bright” at the same time, with the violent guitars casting a shadowy gloom over the trance beats and blissful organ melodies that reach up toward the sky. Without getting into comparisons (and to use two of this year’s favorites), think No Age meets The Field, or something like that.

Not really sure the picture does the video justice, so be sure to check it out. Fuck Buttons release the full-length Street Horrrsing in February 2008 on ATP Recordings and hopefully tour the U.S. soon after.

[MP3]: Fuck Buttons  ”Bright Tomorrow”
Bright Tomorrow 7″ (picture disc), ATP; 2007