Oh sure, outfits have claimed to ship kitchen-friendly TV sets before, but Toshiba just made ‘em all look silly with the introduction of the 19LV612U. Less formally known as the first member of the Stainless Style TV series, this 18.5-inch set packs a built-in slot-loading DVD player, integrated ATSC / NTSC / QAM TV tuner and a 1,366 x 768 native resolution. Oh, and then there’s the seductive stainless steel coating, which makes it fit in impeccably well with your modern day dishwasher, refrigerator and microwave oven. Other specs include 300 nits of brightness, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, five millisecond response time, HDMI / VGA inputs, a headphone jack and VESA mount support. It’s expected to ruin meals regularly starting this September for $349.99

-Via Engadget

Right on the button… The emo-inspiring (in pop terminology, that is) webcomic title of Pictures For Sad Children has some of the driest and most on-point sense of humor I’ve seen online. And the depictions of music blogs and obsessions with top 10 lists is pretty histerical, even given my own end of the year lists.

Still, the thing I love most about end of the year lists isn’t an incessant need to categorize everything, but rather reflect on some of the music/movies/whatever that I found particularly compelling from the past year. These lists are often attempts by many to stand the “test of time,” but in many ways they’re a great marking for an individual’s personal state-in-time. Looking back on some of my previous end of year lists, I see records I undeniably loved and still cherish, but I can see there are other albums that would have garnered higher spots and some records that mean more to me as a, dare I say it, nostalgic item more than “album # of whatever year it is.” Looking back, there are some albums I might dig up soon and give another re-listen (because catching up on music is a job in and of itself).

Largehearted Boy has a full listing of countless year end music listings, to which this blog was humbly included, so check out that site for all the music you could ever want and more. I will not even attempt to match what he’s done, but rather give something of a breakdown, matching where I placed my top 10 against other listings. Enjoy:

# 1: TV On The Radio – Dear Science,

#1: Ann Powers (L.A. Times), The A.V. Club, Chris DeLine (Culture Bully), Entertainment Weekly, Jon Pareles (New York Times), Josh Keller (Culture Bully), Michael D. Ayers (Billboard), MTV, Rolling Stone, Spin

#2: Edna Gundersen (USA Today), I Guess I’m Floating, Margaret Wappler (L.A. Times), Stereogum (Gummy Awards), NME, TIME, WOXY (Top Played Albums)

#3: Blender, New Haven Register, Tiny Mix Tapes, Uncut Magazine

#4: Alexandra Cahill (Billboard), Erik Thompson (Culture Bully), Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune), NPR Listeners Poll

#5: Amy Lindsey (KEXP), Justin Harris (Billboard), Cleveland Plain Dealer

#6: Pitchfork, Troy Carpenter (Billboard)

#7: Associated Press (Best Rock Albums), Nate Chinen (New York Times), Q Magazine

#8: Susan Visakowitz (Billboard)

#9: Cortney Harding (Billboard)

#10: Jessica Letkemann (Billboard)

#11: Chicago Sun-Times

#20: Mojo

#27: Drowned In Sound

#33: Amazon.com editors’ Best Albums

#50: Paste Magazine

General Favorite Listing: John Bush (Allmusic.com, top pop albums), Heather Phares (Allmusic.com, top pop albums), James Christopher Monger (Allmusic.com, top pop albums), Jason Kinnard (KEXP), Joan Anderman (Boston Globe), Kelly Hilst (KEXP), Limewire Music Blog, Sarah Rodman (Boston Globe),

Honorable Mention: New York Observer

#2: Why? – Alopecia

#1: Morgan Kluck (KEXP)

#6: About.com

#7: Drowned In Sound

#8: Eric Mahollitz (KEXP)

#10: Morgan Chosnyk (KEXP)

#11: Tiny Mix Tapes

#13: Stereogum (Gummy Awards)

#24: Cokemachineglow

General Favorites Listings: Kyle Johnson (KEXP)

Honorable Mention: Pitchfork

#3: Parts & Labor – Receivers/Escapers Two

#5. New Haven Register

#6: Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune)

#9: Amazon.com editors’ Best Alternative Rock Albums

#12: Chicago Sun-Times

#25: I Rock Cleveland

#53: Amazon.com editors’ Best Albums

General Favorite Listing: Allmusic.com Best Noise Albums

#4: Sun Kil Moon – April

#1: Erik Thompson (Culture Bully)

#2: Jonathan Cohen (Billboard)

#5: New York Observer

#7: Robert Thompson (Billboard)

#8: Paste Magazine

#16: The A.V. Club

Honorable Mention: Pitchfork

#5: Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual

#8: Blender

#12: Tiny Mix Tapes

#13: Fact Magazine

#50: Pitchfork

General Favorite Listing: Allmusic.com Best Noise Albums

#6: Neon Neon – Stainless Style

#7: Uncut Magazine

#11: NME

#28: Mojo

General Favorite Listings: Stephen Thomas Erlewine (Allmusic.com, top pop albums), Matt Collar (Allmusic.com, top pop albums),

#7: The Mae Shi – HLLLYH

#8: Baltimore City Paper

#18: Pitchfork

#8: The Dodos – Visiter

#2: Josh Keller (Culture Bully)

#5: Katie Hasty (Billboard)

#9: Chris Barton (L.A. Times)

#10: Eric Mahollitz (KEXP), NPR Second Stage

#12: Cokemachineglow

#23: Stereogum (Gummy Awards)

#24: I Guess I’m Floating

#39: Paste Magazine

Honorable Mention: Pitchfork

#9: Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires

#8: Drowned In Sound

#10: NME

#46: WOXY (Top Played Albums)

General Favorites Listings: Melissa Trejo (KEXP)

#10: Food For Animals – Belly

Looks like it’s just me…

…then again, this list is quite short of “comprehensive.” And in the end, it’s ultimately the individual who chooses what they like, right?

Stainless Style (2008)

Les comparto este disco que ha sido considerado uno de los mejores del 2008 por parte de la revista Uncut. Electropop muy muy bien hecho y muy rico de escuchar al oido. Cuenta con buenas colaboraciones de varios personajes de la escena musical. Sencillamente me sorprendio. Disfrutenlo!

Tracklist:

1. “Neon Theme” – 2:20
2. “Dream Cars” (feat. Fab Moretti) – 3:24
3. “I Told Her on Alderaan” – 3:41
4. “Raquel” – 5:01
5. “Trick for Treat” (feat. Spank Rock & Sean Tillmann) – 4:42
6. “Steel Your Girl” (feat. Josh Klinghoffer) – 3:32
7. “I Lust U” (feat. Cate Le Bon) – 2:57
8. “Sweat Shop” (feat. Yo Majesty) – 3:57
9. “Belfast” – 3:08
10. “Michael Douglas” – 4:12
11. “Luxury Pool” (feat. Fatlip) – 3:53
12. “Stainless Style” 1:59

Nota Mental: Estamos regresando al mundo de los blogs despues de muchos cambios en mi vida -laboral, personal y hasta musical.

I Lust You (feat. Cate Le Bon)

THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2008 (and other things)

So, like any music-related blog, here’s a listing of my top albums this year. Some of it may seem a bit odd and arbitrary, but there’s some backings to my orderings. But, it’s all merely numbers – I’ve enjoyed all these albums throughout the year, and completely numberless. However, for the sake of order, here’s the list…

35. AmpLive – Rainydayz Remixes

Here’s a great album remix concept that works out all the way through. Rather than simply mashing up In Rainbows with another album, AmpLive rearranges the Radiohead tracks into completely new and downright great hip-hop songs. Del’s track (“Videotapez”) is one of the best hip-hop songs of the year.

34. High Places – 03/07 – 09/07

It’s a bit random, but this selection of songs recorded by High Places made from March to September of last year is, if anything, a mark at how great this band can be. “Head Spins” and “Jump In” offer up some fantastic experimental pop songs, bringing some heft to the album of mostly-studio experimentations.

33. Future Islands – Wave Like Home

Comparisons are pretty easy, but in this case, it’s impossible to ignore. Baltimore’s Future Islands sound a little something like if New Order used cheap laptop technology for their electronics and were fronted by a slightly subdued Iggy Pop. “Old Friend” is perhpas one of the most endearing beginnings to any album this year.

32. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrsing

Listen to the first two tracks and just try not getting hypnotized. Experimental-art-whatever-kind-of-rock that’s quite pallatable.

31. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III

I’m not sure what convinced me about this record. Oh wait, it could be the brilliant minimalism of “A Milli” and Wayne dropping rhymes like “you drop em cuz we pop em like Orville Redenbacher.” Now that’s an imaginative and oddball line for you.

30. Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold/Strictly Leakage

Sure, Slug’s fit of anger may have become… well, sluggish. But he’s surely got more to offer, as seen on When Life Gives You Lemons. Although there are some rough patches here and there, Slug melts his tales of woe and wisdom of everyday folks with Ant’s increasingly experimental neo-soul. Guest spots from TVOTR’s Tunde Adebimpe and Tom Waits sure do add to the mix. The free Strictly Leackage is a bit of a toss-away in comparison to the large amount of Atmosphere material out there, but pump those beats and you really can’t go wrong.

29. The Very Best – The Very Best Mixtape

This mixtape might be a little higher to the top if it weren’t for the fact that many of its best tracks are simply recylced instrumentals that are quite recognizable… then again, that is part of the appeal of most mixtapes. Even so, Esau Mwamwaya’s skillful flow brings a newfound musicality to the over-used Clash sample on “Paper Planes”… now, if I only new what he was saying…

28. Foals – Antidotes

When I saw Foals in a tiny club in London back in 2007, I was sold. But when Antidotes was released, I didn’t pick it up. Actually, I still haven’t. However, I’ve heard plenty of the album, and after having a sizeable amount of distance from the material and the British hype machine, I must say the things that brought me to the band are still there. There’s the quirky math-minimalist streak, combined with an ambience I originally pushed off in search of more post-punk punch but does the trick. If only some of the songs stood out a little more on their own, or rather, didn’t appear to repeate the tropes of other tracks, this album would have been in the top ten.

27. Pattern Is Movement – All Together

Punk drums and church-like organs with operatic singing, and tons of positive feedback. How can you go wrong?

26. Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair

The sound of Hercules and Love Affair breathes disco, but it seems to be missing part of the free-for-all effervescence that fills the best tracks of that era. But considering that the large majority of songs from that era get increasingly hard to listen to, consider HALA a neo-disco best of. Some of these songs are that great. Hats off to Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons, who’s trumpet-like warble makes the albums best songs.

25. Apollo Sunshine - Shall Noise Upon

Like the Beatles? Like classic rock? Anti-folk? Country? Jam? “Indie?” Well, it’d be best to run out and pick up this record immediately. It’s great to see Apollo Sunshine constantly producing great music, and their work in the studio has certainly begun to equal their live presence. What’s the worst thing about the record? The fact that it hasn’t been getting its proper due.

24. Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak

Here’s what my friend had to say to me about this album while arguing about it the other day:

“He doesn’t rap!”

“It’s all electronics!”

Now, on paper/screen image, it’s impossible to register the confused disgust in my friends voice. That’s because he was just making statements, though ones marked with hatred towards the album. For a person who isn’t neccesarily looking for a formula, 808s and Heartbreaks is a solid pop record. The beats are, if anything, still fresh, “despite” the electronics of it. And the auto-tone? Well, it’s better than T-Pain. Moreover, songs like “Say You Will” and “Coldest Winter” seem to stick to the inside of your head no matter what the ratio of electronic singing to rapping may be.

23. Hot Chip – Made In The Dark

It’s got some of the best dance tunes of the year, and some of the oddest slow dance songs of the year. You have to give it a hand to Hot Chip to keep on revitalizing their sound and style and interspersing it with effects from reggaeton to two-step to old school soul.

22. The Black Keys – Attack & Release

Danger Mouse. Danger Mouse is like cowbell for those musicians who aren’t Blue Oyster Cult. With Attack & Release, DM revitalizes The Black Keys tired and true approach and certainly makes it less tired, working in to fill in the blanks that come with only having a guitar and drum. The funky bump of “Strange Times” and wistful ballad of “Psychotic Girl” have helped revitalize my own faith in this band.

21. Marnie Stern – This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That

Here’s a record for folks who think that the world of the guitar virtuoso is gender oriented. Marnie Stern can shred faster than most of those old phallic hair metal acts, and she does it well to boot. AC/DC-styled riffs at chipmunk paces, math-stylized song structures, and Zach Hill make for pop-fueled fun.

20. Wilderness – (k)no(w)here

When the vocals on “High Nero” kick in halfway through the song, it’s as if Wilderness grabs you and goes, “where have you been?” I can’t believe it took me until this band’s 3rd album to discover them, and what a treat it is. Stormy, ambient psych-folk combined with brutally haunting vocals that don’t so much scare as orate tales of loss and redemption. Too bad it’s over far too quickly.

19. Dr. Dog - Fate

Another band that took me far too long to discover, but this was purely out of my musical filtering mechanism: the name Dr. Dog just has no appeal. Fortunately, their music is an entirely different beast, a wonderful combination of Beatles melodies, country-fried guitar rants by The Band, and who-knows-where-we’ll-go-with-this-song of good ole’ indie rock. These guys might actually turn me on to classic rock instead of the other way around.

18. Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane

VanGaalen’s third album is also his best (so far at least), and a complete picture as well; previous records sounded like a mess of VanGaalen screwing around in his basement with random instruments he created and a few good tunes surviving. Well, here that process has paid off, with some of his most mind-gnawing work to date: death, freak-folk, and oftly odd melodies crash and collide to make a great listen all the way through.

17. Alias – Resurgam

It’s been a banner year for Anticon, and Resurgam is just one of many great records to come out of this Oakland collective over the last couple of years. Almost entirely composed of instrumental work, it’s an ambient take on old school hip-hop that will put you in a state of relaxation for hours on end. It even seems a bit unpleasant when the two vocal songs kick in, at least until you recognize that the same music sits at the foreground of the album.

16. Beach House – Devotion

I was itrigued to see how Beach House, a band who’s music could easily lull one to sleep, would perform under the insurmountable pressure that comes with taking the stage at Siren Music Festival. Facing the grueling heat, packed crowds of hipsters, and set time near the end of a long, long day, Beach House performed as beautifully as their melodies. Devotion is a spellbinding, ambient mess of tunes that work under any weather or state of emotion. Victoria Legrand’s voice is as soothing as it is soulful, and it carries the entire album to its sleepy-headed end.

15. No Age – Nouns

No Age’s Nouns is filled with the kind of songs you seem to know before you even hear them. They’re packed with anthemic punk-rock riffs and bursts, yet remain emotionally perplexing and experimentally arousing. And it’s loud as hell. It’s hardcore for the arty crowd, art for the little punks in us all, and something for everyone.

14. Wale – Mixtape About Nothing

Here’s a hip-hop artist with a good head on his shoulders and an ego that’s perfectly comfortable in a realm where folks have to defend theirs at every turn. That could be because Wale can crank out dozens of tunes about something as archaic to hip-hop as Seinfeld can be… and it’s great too. Infuse sick rhyming and lyrical foreplay with old school hip-hop meets go-go (and perhaps that genre’s ticket out of D.C.) and tons of rap’s biggest names and you wouldn’t feel the need to defend one’s ego either.

13. The Bug – London Zoo

In an odds-and-ends collection of articles, a close friend of Lester Bangs’ describes PiL’s Metal Box as a musical accompanyment to his depression. In many ways, London Zoo feels like an equally derranged equivalent; the record is so dark, intense, and angry, I’ve yet to listen to the entire album in one sitting. But its intensity displays its musical muscle, as deep-in-your-chest bass grinds with glitchy grime and head-banging dancehall to create one intensely personal meditation on the nadir of society. Not for the weak, but definitely for the musically ambitious.

12. Forest Fire – Survival

Here’s a summer record for you – sprawling lo-fi folk that mixes with Velvet Underground-style proto-punk and garage rock done on spare acoustic instruments. It’s enchanting and oft-aggressive, and man does it get in your head and stay there. And to think, they gave this gem away for free…

11. Subtle – Exiting Arm

The impact of collaborations with members of TV on the Radio bear their mark on Subtle, who’s Exiting Arm takes their sound and turns it to the noises in between. Whereas on earlier recordings Doseone could often be heard spitting rhymes at 100 mph, here his vocals are subdued and sink into the tapestry, which taverses across an odd array of sounds and vibrations, but is a whole product throughout. The minute I heard this thing in an ice cream place over the summer I knew it was stuck to me; months later it’s yet to leave my head.

10. Food For Animals – Belly

Noise and hip-hop? Whodathunkit? Food For Animals, that’s who. And that’s why Belly, the long-delayed first album from the DC/Baltimore group, is in the top 10. It’s hard to find an album more ambitious in its sound and execution than FFA’s, and it’s as accessible as any other hip-hop blaring on mainstream radio today. It’s glitchy, bass heavy, and dark as hell, but this trio certainly spins some sick off-beats and rhymes that are more shout-along-chorus-friendly than anything else.

9. Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires

This is what the Foals record could have been, and what I originally wished it was: a great post-punk dance piece. Infusing that genre with strains of disco, salsa, and Brit pop, Friendly Fires’ debut defines irresistible. The music is taught and catchy, the sound gets in your head and shakes your hips, and the hits keep coming. Friendly Fires sounds like a singles collection, with each track as pop-friendly as the last – funny to think this is the band’s first record.

8. The Dodos - Visiter

It may be due to the fact that I had this album on repeat for most of the spring, but Visiter seems to uphold a sense of rebirth and newborn energy that’s often so hard for musicians to capture. Some folks cast the band off as acoustic Animal Collective wannabes, but the album is a beast unto its creators, filled with child-like enthusiasm and sincerity that makes them altogether unique.

7. The Mae Shi – HLLLYH

2008 could be the year of concept albums, or, more correctly, the year that produced a handful of great concept albums. The Mae Shi’s tribute to the end of the world sounds positively, well, great. It’s scary, but the band’s mix of agit-punk, twee, and art pop have an endearing effect that carry through the morbid lyrics of “Run To Your Grave” (and that title to boot). It’s got energy and vigor that blasts through the entire album, one concept to the last. For such a depressing topic to tackle, these guys sure make it sound fun.

6. Neon Neon – Stainless Style

Nostalgia can be a killer, and it’s flogged the 80s past the state of decay, but man oh man do Neon Neon know how to make a bad thing sound great. To call it nostalgia however is making the great concept of Stainless Style seem passe, when in fact it’s a record more “with it” than countless other albums released this year. Much as Gnarls Barkley emphasized “neo” in their neo-soul mix debut two years ago, Neon Neon take the aesthetic tics of 80s pop and place it into an entirely new landscape. It makes it so that the chincy-sounding synth sounds altogether refreshing on tracks like “Dream Cars” or “I Told Her On Alderaan.” It also helps that this project came from the meeting between oddball producer Boom Bip and even-odderball Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys, and they certainly saved their pop-tooth for this record.

5. Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual

Ponytail put on one of the best shows I’ve seen this year – so good, I saw them thrice. So I was immediately drawn to the record after grabbing an early release copy after seeing them, doing nothing but playing it for weeks straight. After my mania over the album subsided, I can safely say it’s still a fantastic record. It’s a swirling mess of punk-art-rawk, one that caterwauls off of every surface and smoothly glides through the down-tempos and down singer Molly Siegel’s over-worked larynx to create a record that seethes with passion and power. Kudos to producer J. Robbins for wrestling their great live sound into a well-preserved recording.

4. Sun Kil Moon - April

April opens with a song that nearly hits the 10 minute mark, and could have sustained my rapt attention tenfold. “Lost Verses” sweeps along like any Mark Kozelek song, yet there’s something profoundly new and slightly different than the frontman’s previous efforts. It could be his meditation over the death of a former muse, who’s image is never quite literally addressed, but who’s absence hangs over the entire record. Whatever it is, Kozelek delivers every last line with undue sincerity, and it’s probably because they are his own; in retrospect, the biggest problem with Tiny Cities, the last Sun Kil Moon album made entirely of Modest Mouse covers, is that the music wasn’t created by Kozelek himself (although he does a great job of re-imagining most of the songs on the album). But here, you get the sense that Kozelek’s body struggles with every pick at his guitar, even though all you’re left is with that voice and no image behind it. But what a voice it is.

3. Parts & Labor – Receivers/Escapers Two

For a band that makes a lot of noise, Parts & Labor have made music for just about everyone. Receivers is a fantastic opus of noise juxtaposed against anthemic, stadium-sized pop rock. The electronic bursts and blips are still there, but they’ve become a fixture of a larger pattern; noise doesn’t give way to bubblegum hooks and back again, but it’s all intertwined throughout the album. From “Satellites” to “Solemn Show World,” there’s a song for the punk in everyone (and every punk who submitted sound samples is in a song). For those who don’t like getting too close to accessiblity, Escapers Two offers 50+ “grind pop” songs, most of which barely hit the minute mark and have the mark of dark metal and hardcore punk bursting from the seems… at times, it’s quite beautiful to boot.

2. Why? – Alopecia

What a pleasant surprise Alopecia turned out to be. Why?’s previous work always had some inadvertantly beautiful quality to it, but it’d always been battling a range of sounds and ideas passed out by Yoni Wolf. On Alopecia it comes together in a brilliant and cohesive work, with Wolf’s lyrics and stories spilling into one another, but neither clouding up the music or his often enticing nasaly rasp. And, much like most of the top albums of the year, it is a whole product instead of a combination of some good songs repackaged for consumption.

1. TV On The Radio – Dear Science,

Numbers or not, there was no question this would be my number one album of the year. From the opening moments of “Halfway Home,” I knew this would be a fantastic album. Unlike Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes and Return To Cookie Mountain, Dear Science, is a fully fleshed-out album from beginning to end as each track seemlessly gluides from one to the next. The band’s turn to a poppier and all together accessable sound is just as natural as their work as a band in and of itself; they’re still pushing musical boundaries, using a wide array of feedback and avant-guard noises, but it’s an altogether cohesive and beautiful mess.

Albums I wish I had more time with, because they probably would have made this list:

For those of us who can’t get our hands on every available album to come out this year, it certainly made the “best of” list process a bit more difficult because, having heard at least snipets of the following albums, I wish I’d gotten them all. But, there is always time for more new music. Anyway, here are the ones I would have liked to have on my list:

High Places – High Places

Extra Life – Secular Works

Fall Out Boy – Folie á Deux

Beck – Modern Guilt

The Notwist - The Devil, You + Me

HEALTH – HEALTH/DISCO

Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Primary Colours

Lykke Li - Youth Novels

Dan Friel – Ghost Town

Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Edie Sedgwick - Things Are Getting Sinister And Sinisterer

Heavy Heavy Low Low – Turtle Nipple and the Toxic Shock

Spiritualized – Songs in A&E

Death Vessel – Nothing Is Precious Enough For Us

Doomtree – Doomtree

Milosh – iii

El Ten Eleven – These Promises Are Being Videotaped

School of Seven Bells – Alpinisms

Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Common Life

Dananananaykroyd – Sissy Hits

Hot Club de Paris – Live at Dead Lake

Best of 2008 from 2007:

The albums from last year that made a lasting impact this year.

The Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

Double Dagger – Ragged Rubble

Videohippos – Unbeast The Leash

Muscles – Guns Babes Lemonade

Stainless Style has been out for a while, but I finally got my hands on a copy about a month ago. It’s a pretty good album, don’t care for most of the rap tracks (like 3 of them), but the other songs are solid mid 80s pop tunes if a foreign Peter Gabriel fronted the band…. well sorta.

here are a few highlights from Neon Neon’s Mercury Music Prize Nominee STAINLESS STYLE

My favorite song by them

Neon Neon -I Told Her On Alderaan

 Hot Chip does a lame remix on this single… what’s new, regardless this is good

Neon Neon – Raquel

Creepy song… but good too!

Neon Neon – Michael Douglas

And the last one for today

Neon Neon – Dream Cars

If you haven’t picked up the theme, It’s based on the rise and the fall of engineer John Delorean. Stainless Style, Steel, Style, very nice.

NEON NEON Myspace

A 17a edição do Mercury Prize acontece na terça-feira, com transmissão ao vivo da BBC (eu bem que tentei ganhar um ingresso para ir à cerimônia, mas não rolou). Por aqui, o clima de já ganhou é para o produtor de dubstep (um estilo de música eletrônica criado em Londres) Burial, aka William Bevan. Ele era uma espécie de Banksy da cena musical por aqui e só revelou a verdadeira identidade depois que o seu álbum “Untrue” foi um dos 12 nomeados ao prêmio. Andam dizendo  por aí  que a revelação foi uma exigência dos organizadores do Mercury Prize, que não aceitaram que ele se apresentasse, e possivelmente recebesse o prêmio, sem revelar primeiro o nome verdadeiro.

Se ele vai ganhar mesmo é outra história. Ano passado, todos diziam que Amy Winehouse seria a vencedora e deu Klaxons. Mas, independente do resultado na terça, Burial com certeza já saiu ganhando com a nomeação e publicidade. De acordo com uma matéria do Guardian, as vendas de “Untrue” cresceram 361% desde a nomeação e consequente revelação de identidade do Burial. 

Os outro concorrentes são:

Adele, com “19″; 

British Sea Power, com “Do You Like Rock Music?”;

Elbow, com o álbum “The Seldom Seen Kid”;

Estelle, com “Shine”;

Laura Marling, com “Alas, I cannot swim”;

Neon Neon, com “Stainless Style”;

Portico Quartet, com “Knee Deep in the North Sea”;

Rachel Unthank & The Winterset, com “The Bairns”;

Radiohead, com “In Rainbows”;

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, com “Raising Sand”;

The Last Shadow Puppets, com “The Age of Understatement”. 

A minha torcida vai, claro, para Neon Neon, de quem já falei algumas vezes aqui, mas meu palpite é que se não der mesmo Burial, vai dar Radiohead ou Elbow este ano. Radiohead porque a banda foi nomeada três vez ao Mercury (1997, 2001, 2003) e nunca ganhou. Outra razão é que o júri é composto por 12 jornalistas e críticos de música e, em tempos de discussão sobre downloads legais e ilegais, acho que o Radiohead vai ter a seu favor o fato de ter lançado o “In Rainbows” online para fãs decidirem quanto pagariam – até mesmo nada – pelo álbum antes de colocar o álbum nas lojas. Mas também vale lembrar que o Mercury, apesar da fama de ser uma alternativa independente ao Brit Awards, ainda é um prêmio organizado por uma associação que representa os interesses da indústria, a British Association of Record Dealers. Hum, pensando bem…

Já a banda Elbow está concorrendo ao prêmio com um álbum que representa a volta por cima do grupo depois de dois anos sem gravadora, quando no mesmo período os rapazes de Manchester tiveram que lidar com a morte de um amigo e colaborador da banda, o compositor Bryan Glancy (o nome do álbum é uma homenagem a ele). Tipo de história que ajuda a ganhar prêmio. “The Seldom Seen Kid” foi bastante elogiado, com alguns críticos dizendo inclusive que esse é o melhor álbum do Elbow. 

Vamos ver o que acontece na terça-feira. (Que o Neon Neon merece ganhar, merece )

Elbow, com One Day Like This:

Radiohead, com House of Cards:

Het conceptalbum. Ooit werd er in een wijde boog omheen gelopen. De hedendaagse muziekliefhebber is echter breeddenkend genoeg om toch nog een kiertje open te laten. Neon Neon probeert met ‘Stainless Style’ in elk geval een bres te maken in de zorgvuldig opgebouwde dam. In dit geval word je teruggevoerd naar de jaren tachtig en krijg je het verhaal van John DeLorean voorgeschoteld.

Brian Hollon is het brein achter Neon Neon. Elektroliefhebbers kennen de man misschien beter als Boom Bip, producer en muzikant. Voor zijn in de eighties gewortelde muziek zocht hij een passend kleedje. Kleermaker van dienst was Gruff Rhys, hoofdman van de Super Furry Animals. Hij was het die het concept DeLorean wel vond passen bij de glamoureuze muziek van Hollon. Zijn ongebreidelde fantasie in combinatie met een intrigerende levensgang maakte van deze ingenieur en zakenman het ideale onderwerp. Wie ooit ‘Back To The Future’ zag, zal zich ongetwijfeld de originele teletijdmachine herinneren. Die was namelijk ingebouwd in de DMC-12 en het ontwerp van die flitsende sportwagen was van – juist, ja – John DeLorean.

Muzikaal kent de plaat de nodige variatie. Opener en instrumental Neon Theme doet denken aan de openingstune van het ooit mateloos populaire Miami Vice. Elektronica in een geslaagde combinatie met gitaren voeren je zo terug naar de tijd dat Crockett en Tubbs de straten van Miami ontruimden van drugsmaffiosi.

Er staan een aantal uitstekende popsongs op dit plaatje. Dream Cars, I Told Her On Alderaan en het seksueel geladen I Lust U – de stem van Cate Le Bon beroert alle mogelijke erogene zones – klinken vertrouwd in de oren zonder ook maar enige verveling uit te lokken. Raquel brengt dan weer Kraftwerk in herinnering, maar dan aangevuld met de zangpartijen van Gruff Rhys.

Ook voor hiphop, toch ook een exponent van de tachtiger jaren, werd plaats gemaakt. Har Mar Superstar belicht met zijn raps de meer donkere periodes uit het leven van DeLorean in Trick For Treat, Sweat Shop en Luxury Pool. Dat wordt onderstreept door de wat agressievere muziek, die Boom Bip hieronder heeft geplaatst.

Wonderlijk genoeg klinkt deze plaat nergens gedateerd. Daarvoor zijn de ontelbare geluidjes, de op de juiste plaatsen toegevoegde percussie en de passende beats te uitgekiend. Neem daarbij de uitstekende teksten van Rhys en je krijgt een geheel dat boeit tot de laatste noot.

Je hoeft helemaal geen liefhebber van eightiesmuziek te zijn om dit werkstuk op prijs te kunnen stellen, al helpt het uiteraard wel. Toch blijft ook zonder al die verwijzingen ‘Stainless Style’ moeiteloos overeind. Het staat nog helemaal niet vast of hier een vervolg op komt, maar van ons mag het zonder twijfel.

Copyright : DaMusic

Neon Neon, que eu já mencionei aqui, é a dupla formada por Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) e o produtor de hip-hop americano Boom Bip. Juntos, eles lançaram o ótimo Stainless Style, um álbum inspirado na trajetória do empresário e playboy  John DeLorean, criador do carro DMC-12, aquele do “De Volta para o Futuro”. 

O disco é cheio de referências aos anos 80, como a homenagem ao planeta da Princesa Léia em ‘I Told Her on Alderaan’, e muitos carros e garotas, ‘Dream Cars’, como era de se esperar em um disco baseado na vida de DeLorean. A faixa ‘Raquel’ é sobre Raquel Welch, uma das muitas modelos e atrizes famosas que deram suas voltinhas com DeLorean antes dele ser acusado de um megaesquema de venda de drogas e ser preso por fraude fiscal. Na divertida ‘Michael Douglas’, o ator é lembrado como uma referência do que era ser cool nos anos 80. A história conta que DeLorean foi fazer uma cirurgia plástica no rosto e queria ficar parecido com o ator.

No show, Neon Neon toca ‘Raquel’ enquanto, no telāo, são mostradas imagens da atriz no auge da sua carreira. Enquanto tentava achar o vídeo da música no youtube, achei uma versão não-oficial que é muito parecida com a versão mostrada no show do Neon Neon. Olha como a abertura da música encaixa direitinho com a dança espacial de Welch. 

Abaixo, mais um vídeo do Neon Neon tocando ao vivo ‘I told her on Alderaan’, no programa Culture Show da BBC. No baixo e dando uma força nos vocais, Cate LeBon, que também participa no álbum, em ‘I Lust you’. Outros artistas colaboraram no disco: Spank Rock e Har Mar Superstar, em ‘Trick for Treat’, Yo Majesty em ‘Sweat Shop’, Fatlip em ‘Luxury Pool’, e The Magic Numbers na faixa que dá nome ao disco. Stainless Style é um disco bem divertido e eclético, passando por música eletrônica, pop e hip hop. 

I was born in the early ’80’s, so I tend to have a vague sense of the decade, mainly via Saturday morning cartoons and toys (the fact Care Bears, My Little Ponies and Strawberry Shortcake have crept back into popular culture only confirms that I am now old enough to be considered retro). And perhaps via my older sister’s penchant for heavy metal music like Motley Crue and Van Halen and the odd pop song by Cyndi Lauper or Billy Idol. Somehow I immersed myself in ’80’s culture through re-runs of Family Ties when I was thirteen, and via an admittedly strange obsession with Michael J. Fox (how many can boast and/or hang their heads in shame about the fact that they’ve seen the film High School USA?), and soon I was a rather avid listener of the ’80’s lunch hour on the radio. Granted, this was exposure to the Top 40 fare of the ’80’s, but it was a start. I was dazzled by shiny synths and the outrageous outfits sported by popstars at the time. I was fascinated with the garishness of it all. I wanted there still to be an MTV that played crazy videos no one would dare make anymore with exploding kitchens and lit-up sidewalks and public schoolboys with light shining out of their eyes.

I didn’t see the ultimate John Hughes film The Breakfast Club until I was fourteen and in a ninth grade English class (I’m still not entirely certain what it was supposed to teach us about English literature). Somehow, even though it was set in the prior decade in an American high school, it resonated with me. Perhaps, it was because John Hughes managed to create a highly appealing myth about what it meant to be a teenager – where the losers always triumphed over the popular…or at the very least, joined forces for one Saturday. Eventually, I went on to see the rest of the John Hughes’ Holy Trinity, Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles, and ended up desperately wanting a friend like Duckie. Instead, I was probably somebody’s Duckie. Once I was already out of high school, I saw Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything, which affected me in a similar way, making me feel nostalgic for something that never existed in the firstplace. I’ll admit that if I manage to catch The Breakfast Club for the umpteenth time on TBS, I’ll watch it (even if it’s the badly dubbed, censored version – the bad dubbing itself is entertainment).

Tapping into the spirit of one of the most celebrated and maligned decades, are two fairly different bands with two fairly different takes on what the 80’s sounded like and meant as a concept. M83, a French electronic act featuring Anthony Gonzalez, and Neon Neon, a collaborative effort between Boom Bip (real name: Bryon Hollon) and Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys, have both attempted to capture the spirit of the 80’s in their albums Saturdays=Youth and Stainless Style, respectively. While Saturdays=Youth hearkens back to the John Hughes sentiments of being an adolescent in 1980’s America, Stainless Style follows the rise and fall of John Delorean (yeah, the inventor of the Delorean, most famously used in its gullwinged glory in the Back to the Future trilogy).

I hadn’t been aware of M83 until this album despite the fact they’ve been around since 2001. Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau created M83, named after the galaxy of the same name, in Antibes, France. Following Gonzalez’s split from Fromageau, the former decided to carry on without the latter, creating both ambient music in Digital Shades Volume 1, and Saturdays=Youth, which was released on April 15 of this year. Gonzalez cites The Breakfast Club as one of the influences for this album (the Molly Ringwaldesque girl on the album cover is already a clue), but the overall effect of the album is a meeting of modern shoegaze and ’80’s synthpop. In addition to his own vocals, Gonzalez also enlisted vocal help from Morgan Kibby, a singer/actress, and the final product is mesmerizing.

Out of all the tracks on the album, Kim & Jessie and Up! are the most likely soundtrack to play behind Molly Ringwald at the prom, and are, thus, the most recognizably associated with the sound of the ’80’s. The former uses New Wave drum machines to back effete male vocals in a New Romantic vein while the latter begins with sparkling synths before tumbling into a wide-eyed, breathless Kate Bush-like tune (if you weren’t already convinced by the sound of Kibby’s vocals and the melody, the phrase “hounds of love” creeps into the lyrics). Lovely album opener, You, Appearing, is Cocteau Twinsesque with its gentle, plaintive piano and synth accents behind the overlapping chants of Kibby and Gonzalez. Both Skin of the Night and Graveyard Girl, though differing in mood (the former being moody and ethereal and the latter being bright and upbeat), each speaks to a melodramatic adolescent urge to live more and be more than you could ever possibly be. In Graveyard Girl, Kibby states “I’m fifteen years old and I feel like it’s already too late to live,” speaking to that naivete of youth, where emotions are intense and time progressively accelerates. At the beginning of Highway of Endless Dreams, Kibby speaks again, stating, “I’m going to drive until it burns my bones,” before the song builds propulsively like a star burning up into supernova. In contrast, Too Late sounds like the stillness of a mossy pool where synth notes are dropped in like stones, sometimes skipping across the surface. Dark Moves of Love, which once again features an interchange of vocals between Kibby and Gonzalez begins with a Neil Tennant-like spoken line before launching into dramatic sweeps of sound, weaving an image of a dialogue taking place between two lovers in a maze of mirrors, chasing and losing each other again and again. The eleven-minute instrumental Midnight Souls Still Remain ends the album, creating a vast soundscape that conjures up images of outer space or underwater, both scenarios being connected to each other in more ways than one. Contrasting with M83’s youthful, idealistic take on the 80’s, Neon Neon’s Stainless Style is a mosaic of a man who came to represent the excesses and eventual collapse of the ’80’s. In the Spring issue of Under the Radar, Gruff Rhys says Stainless Style is an “investigation of the American dream and the American nightmare. It’s a celebration of all things plastic and synthetic.” This oscillation between shiny light and seedy dark infiltrates the fabric of the album as it bounces between different styles, not all of them sounding quite like the ’80’s. Guest duties on the album include Spank Rock, Fab Moretti, Har Mar Superstar, Yo Majesty, and The Magic Numbers, varying the sound of the album even more. The age-old link between fast cars and fast girls holds true for this album as they come to be metaphors for each other.

The album opens with the instrumental Neon Theme, which uses a pumping bassline and laser-like sounds to create a glimpse of the future as imagined by the ’80’s. Like Saturdays=Youth, Stainless Style isn’t always a mirror of the music created in the ’80’s, and the track Dream Cars is more akin to a ’60’s Motown melody than any yuppie’s stereo. Conversely, I Told Her on Alderaan, which references Princess Leia’s home planet, is a song that could have been performed by The Cars (no pun intended) with its synth flourishes on top of driving guitars. Trick for Treat, Sweat Shop and Luxury Pool are all hip-hop tracks, rapping narratives of Delorean’s incredible ambition and talent and his equally as stupendous fall from grace. Trick For Treat deals specifically with Delorean’s cocaine issues, namechecking Back to the Future, the Reagan-era mantra “feed the greed,” and The Velvet Underground’s I’m Waiting For the Man. I Lust U, featuring vocals from Cate LeBon, is a cool dialogue between Delorean and a prostitute as they tell each other “I love you if the price is right.” Belfast, which references Delorean’s failed sportscar venture in Northern Ireland, is a mournful synthpop song in which Rhys sings, “I built my empire and threw it all away,” while Michael Douglas, a Bronski Beat-type song with a modern twist, relates to the time Delorean attended pool parties with Douglas in LA. The album ends with title track, Stainless Style, which sounds like a gospel chorus, trailing into an acappella “Oh, how many are my foes/how many rise against me,” perhaps a nod to Delorean’s conversion to Christianity later in life. All in all, the jetsetting highs and tragic lows of Delorean’s life become glossier and hypereal under Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys’s treatment.

And so two very different albums and concepts meet up with their common interest in the ’80’s. A time when you either wanted to be stuck in Saturday detention or flying through time in a Delorean. Both M83 and Neon Neon are brilliant in their reimagining of the decade of my early childhood, and both manage to do it without irony (after all, irony belongs to the ’90’s). Now if only somebody could bring back neon Oreos…

Kim & Jessie – M83

Up! – M83

I Told Her on Alderaan – Neon Neon

Trick For Treat – Neon Neon

Vous aimez Hot Chip, Goldfrapp ou Gorillaz; vous devez découvrir Neon Neon et leur nouvel album Stainless Style, un album varié au son des années 80.

Voici I lost U :

Eve

Neon Neon son Boom Bip productor de hip-hop instrumental,
rama electroide; y Gruff Rhys cantante de los Super Furry Animals.
Grabando un EP del primero vieron el buen rollo y decidieron
dar curso a un proyecto juntos llamado Neon Neon, su primer
disco se llama Stainless Style (2008).

Music: I’ve had a slowish week music-wise due to catching up on film podcasts to prepare me for the switch in focus for the site. The only things I’ve been enjoying musically this week are the eighties synth-symphonies of Neon Neon (a collaboration between the Super Furry’s Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip) whose album Stainless Style is really excellent. I also love the new Young Knives album and the EP from Fleet Foxes. Another mention goes to Earth, Dylan Carlson’s doom-metal act whose new album, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull, incorporates some serious groove to the din.

Film/TV: Busy week here as you might expect. Reviews of all three of the films I saw this week will go up very soon but just to preview, I watched Charlie Wilson’s War, Lars and the Real Girl and The Orphanage. The coming week will see me take in a number of others including Days of Heaven, The 400 Blows, Bande A Part, Enchanted, Once (rewatch), Hallam Foe, Killer of Sheep and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. On the TV side, I’m well into the third season of Battlestar now and it is still a pretty excellent show. I’ve also finally got hold of The Wire’s precursor show, The Corner, a detailed investigation of those in and around Baltimore’s drug trade.

Books/Magazines: I finished Imperial Life in the Emerald City this week and am now really looking forward to the Paul Greengrass movie. Cutting investigative reporting at its finest with a dark line of heartsick comedy running through it. I also finished Northline, the new book from Richmond Fontaine singer and primary songwriter Willy Vlautin. I loved it, far more accomplished than his first work, This Motel Life, and filled with lovely, realist observations of life. I did my clippings this week so my magazines’ best articles are all in three folders now. This week’s best include an interview with Gore Vidal by Rachel Cooke in the new UK Esquire, an examination of the relationship of Godard and Truffaut in the New Yorker and The Atlantic’s Britney edition has an investigation of Hollywood’s move back to the spirit of the 1970s.

Other: Oh, the soup. I’m addicted to Waitrose soups! The best of the lot is a crab and asparagus which has hints of black pepper to give the aftertaste a little interest. I’m also still addicted to podcasts but mostly to the one from Filmspotting. I will tell you now that the likelihood for the future of this site will be to emulate the work of those guys. Outside that one, I also love the Truthdig podcast from political journalism doyen Robert Scheer and Slate’s Political Gabfest.

Neon Neon – Stainless Style (Lex)

I love the title! But my socks stayed on with the whole album. (As in, it did not blow my socks off)

The opening track opened with asking to be buried in a stainless steel casket with a choir singing majestically. I was putting my shoes on and thinking where to go. All was fixed when Neon Neon got over themselves with “I Lust You”. It’s pop-electro. I’d say it’s a 90’s club music. It has a running beat that could have been used in the electric slide.

“Trick for Treat” is a more aggressive, vulgar track. It has a harder beat to match the lyrical content. The beat even changes for the chorus and during the chorus. “Raquel” is a club anthem. It’s too repetitive and has the same elements of a techno song, such as a thumping beat, a bell or something that is mixed with the beat and underlying synths. I find it weird that is about a girl and it’s swooning with her name said repetitively in this already repetitive song.

And Yo Majesty is featured on “Sweat Shop”. It’s filthy. It’s one of the better tracks. The vocals are varying. If you don’t know Yo Majesty… I don’t know them either. I saw them live last year, and I wasn’t really enjoying the music, but the crowd was, so it made it a good show.

They finished the album off with “Luxury Pool” featuring an artist I am familiar with, Fatlip. Fatlip sings about the tirals of life and joys of being famous. He is promising: “Girl, I’ll get you famous”. That’s always how it always starts. But I like this electro kind of Indian style beat.

Neon Neon did not keep me loving and listening for long. The shoes were back on through most of the album. “Luxury Pool” was the only track that had me dancing; the other tracks left me in footwear limbo.

I Lust You video:

The synthesis of diverse musical minds and heritages towards a common objective of aural exploration and unison has resulted in collaborations bringing about many anomalous objectives and conclusions.

With this in mind, Neon Neon’s ‘Stainless Style’ is of no exception: fused by thought and inspiration, Los Angeles-based musician and beat-technician Boom Bip’ (Brian Hollon) alliance with Gruff Rhys, solo artist and front man of the Welsh psych-poppers Super Furry Animals, has given birth to a conceptually themed album around the life and times of the world’s fist playboy engineer, John DeLorean.

The outcome is a highly imaginative celebration of euphoric simple pop, detailing the rise and fall of the protagonist’s eponymous empire. A rara avis for his time, DeLorean was made infamous for the production of the Pontiac GTO muscle car, the DeLorean DMC-12 sports car – made illustrious by the Back to the Future trilogy – and his high profile arrest on drug trafficking charges after losing his fortune.

‘Stainless Style’ oozes with the nostalgic tendencies that the Eighties were ultimately made famous for: romanticism, capitalism and the emergence of electronica. Opener ‘Neon Theme’ cascades sonically to the tune of esoteric 8-bit electronic waves and whirls before giving way to ‘Dream Cars’ – a veritable array of lustful dusty beats backed with Rhys’ Annie Lennox-esque wistful vocals upon the chorus, “Dream girls in cool cars / Cool girls in dream cars.”

Apart from its obvious deviations and resulting impairments (‘Trick For Treat’ and ‘Sweat Shop’ employ poor trip-hop narratives that are nothing short of an experimental faux pas), which blur its electronic kaleidoscope of auditory chic, they are worth enduring to savour the likes of ‘Raquel’, ‘I Lust U’ and ‘Belfast’ for their sumptuous blend of downbeat Human League-style art-pop playfulness, and upbeat Kraftwerk industrial structuralism.

The album on a whole is as reflective as it is indulgent in its influences, crooning with the authenticity that transcends the decades from its origin. Boom Bip’ structured analogue synths and palpating beats quiver at hands of Rhys’ breezy vocals with heavenly effect, swooping effortlessly together under a halo of harmonies.

For Rhys, Neon Neon has emancipated his talents, showing strength in his creativity and adaptability much to the same effect as Damon Albarn’s change of direction with the Gorillaz demonstrated, however, ‘Stainless Style’ itself peaks and falters musically as did DeLorean’s career; a superbly crafted conceptual think-tank, yet, in retrospect, it is not without its foibles.

Neon Neon/Stainless Style/itunes 2008

Just when I was getting jaded with the modern music scene, Neon Neon appears right out of the ether just in the nick of time. I mean hot damn, finally it’s about time that somebody gone back to the mid 1980’s and pulled out some musical gold to build a foundation of kick ass sounding rock and roll on.

(Of course, for some reason the 1980’s are totally reviled by the modern day hipster, and is thusly, treated as a major joke. I mean yeah, the 1980’s were pretty bad, but when you sit down and think about it, every decade is just as chock full of crap too, it’s just that the 1980’s is special because it has an unusually negative stigma attached to it.)

Neon Neon is a yet another side project from the seemingly prolific Super Furry Animals frontman, Gruff Rhys, and as we all know, any project that he puts his hand on the plow to is guaranteed to be interesting. This time around Gruff teamed up with US record producer Boom Bip, (who, frankly, I have never heard of before) to create a tribute concept album to John DeLorean and the DeLorean DMC-12 ( aka the car used in the Back To The Future film series) in the vein of those great film soundtracks to John Hughes films (Pretty In Pink, The Breakfast Club, ect.) In fact, “Stainless Style” sounds like what the soundtrack to Back To The Future would’ve sounded like if a) it were made in 2008, instead of 1985 b) that if the film was made by John Hughes instead of Roger Zimeckis. ( But don’t worry: there aren’t any Huey Lewis and The News throwbacks on this album!)

Only a couple of minor complaints about “Stainless Style:” There are some a few modern hip hop inspired vocal tracks on  that I tend to automatically skip over because I’m not really a fan of modern hip hop and because Gruff Rhys doesn’t sing on them. Also, if you download the album off itunes, like I did, you are given a totally useless digital booklet, which does nothing but take up space on your hard-drive. But other than that, we (already!)have a possible contender for the best new album of the year.

jareddriskill

Jeśli w latach 90 śledziliście na swoich pierwszych VHS-ach przygody Marty’ego McFly’a, Dr Emmetta Browna i ich wehikułu czasu, to kliknijcie w filmik poniżej. Resztę zapraszam od razu do drugiego akapitu.

Neon Neon, to projekt, o którym wspominałem niedawno przy okazji prezentowania dwóch zacnych mixtape’ów. Dla przypomnienia – grupę tworzą Boom Bip i Gruff Rhys, którego powinniście kojarzyć z kultowymi Super Furry Animals. „Stainless Style”, to koncept album poświęcony Johnowi DeLoreanowi, amerykańskiemu inżynierowi, który dał światu DeLoreana DMC 12 – sportowe auto wykorzystane w filmie „Powrót do przyszłości”. Na płycie znaleźć można też wiele innych odniesień do popkultury – Michael Douglas czy planeta Alderaan z „Gwiezdnych Wojen”, to tylko pierwsze przykłady z brzegu. Fani interpretowania wytworów kultury i doszukiwania się drugiego, trzeciego dna będą ukontentowani.

Nam, zwykłym słuchaczom pozostaje sama muzyka, teoretycznie utrzymana w konwencji „tamtej epoki”. Dominują lata 80, choć opener trochę zbija z tropu, bo to rzecz, która mocno pachnie wczesnym Kraftwerkiem (czyli 70’s). Utwory 2-5 będą singlami, a jeśli nie, to decydenci Lex Records powinni zastanowić się nad zmianą zawodu. „Dream Girls” sunie na rozbujanym, synthpopowym bicie i mocno „młodzieżowym” Gruffie (jeśli ktoś jeszcze ma wątpliwości, „dream girls” w „cool cars” są ok.). Przy „I Told Her on Alderaan” gdyby nie tak wyraźnie zaakcentowana gitara, można by pomyśleć, że żyjemy w czasach, w których znajomość Human League czy OMD jest rzeczą naturalną. Bardzo długi wstęp, w którym mieszają się dalekie echa miami bass, „so 80’s” klawiszy oraz czegoś, co klubowi hedoniści nazwą na przełomie wieków latin house – oto zaczyna się jeden z największych growerów na płycie, „Raquel”. W 2007 to „Are You Sensation” Tigercity sprawiało, że ludzie po jakimś czasie odczuwali przesyt. Piosenka była po prostu tak dobra, że słuchało się jej aż do przedawkowania. „Raquel” to ta sama szkoła, a gdy w 3 minucie pada Gruffowe „shine on” i wchodzi zaśpiew rodem z Frankie Goes to Hollywood, jestem w siódmym niebie. Po raz drugi jestem tam dwie minuty później, gdy po krótkim podejściu w 5:08 zaczyna się regularna biba na parkiecie. Kto nie tańczy, ten gapa.

Perełki kryją się pod numerem 7 i 9. Singlowy „Lust U” pokazuje jak z kiczowatych, ewokujących epokę new romantic klawiszy można wycisnąć esencję i stworzyć muzycznego erotyka na miarę lat 00′. Przepiękny „Belfast” natomiast to czysta definicja stylu. Jeśli musiałbym wytłumaczyć obcej cywilizacji ideę eighties, smutek takiego grania i zarazem parcie na nieustającą zabawę, to puściłbym właśnie „Belfast”.

Ale „Stainless Style” nie tylko electropopem stoi. Co powiecie na próbę potraktowania współczesnego hip hopu electro właśnie? Połamane bity, rapowanki, to wszystko zawarte jest w „Trick for Treat”, „Sweat Shop” i „Luxury Pool”. I tu leży główny zarzut wobec „Stainless Style” – o ile same numery stoją na dobrym poziomie, o tyle robi się „płyta w płycie”. To samo zakończenie albumu, ambientowy „Stainless Style” – co prawda subtelnie wycisza, ale to znowu inna galaktyka. Bardziej więc kontrolowany (ale jednak) chaos, niż eklektyzm.

No to co misie-pysie? Dziś impreza pod numerem 80, ale parę razy wbijemy też do sąsiadów – wchodzicie?

Neon Neon – ‘Stainless Style’

The unlikely combination of Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys has made for a concept album of ’80s electro. The subject matter? The life and times of car-maker John Delorean, no less. Released on the 18th of March through Lex Records, Stainless Style features a raft of guest collaborators such as Spank Rock, Yo Majesty and Fat Lip and Cate Le Bon.

Neon Neon – ‘Raquel’

The entire album seems to be available for streaming over on their MySpace page and, of course, the duo are in Austin this week to play at SXSW.

Wśród ciekawych krążków ostatnio posucha, toteż chciałbym polecić Wam dwa arcydobre mixtape’y. Ich wydanie datuje się na 2007 rok, ale dopiero teraz trafiły w moje ręce i co tu dużo mówić, tak imprezowego materiału ostatnio brakowało. Dodatkowo obydwa można pobrać całkowicie za friko!

The Hood Internet „The Mixtape Volume One”

Nie odkryję Ameryki stwierdzeniem, że muzyka dzieli się przede wszystkim na dobrą i złą, ale ten mixtape dobitnie to uświadamia. O co chodzi. Jest to mash-up, czyli bierzemy dwie różne piosenki i miksujemy ze sobą. Tutaj ponadto cała zabawa polega na tym, iż autorzy zmiksowali mainstreamowych wykonawców hip hopowych i R’n'B pokroju Rihanny, Lil Wayne’a czy Tha Game z artystami z kręgu muzyki alternatywnej – Modest Mouse, Battles lub Justice. Efekt jest P O W A L A J Ą C Y, a wilcza część mash-upów to prawdziwe perełki. Dodatkową atrakcję stanowi fakt, że większość piosenek pochodzi z zeszłego roku, tak więc jest i przebojowo i na czasie. Chcesz usłyszeć, jak brzmi połączenie TLC z Led Zeppelin [sic!]? No to łykaj.

Neon Neon „Mixtape”

To z kolei kompilacja zawierające artystów, którzy mniej lub bardziej zainspirowali powstanie nowej kapeli Gruffa Rhysa, lidera Super Furry Animals. Gruff dostarcza w Neon Neon głosu, a muzyką zajął się Boom Bip, który to jest właściwym autorem tego mixu. O idei (skądinąd nieprzeciętnej), która zrodziła powstanie tego zespołu będzie okazja powiedzieć, gdy już ukaże się debiutancka płyta (na dniach). Nota bene na tym tanecznym, electropopowym mixtapie znalazły się dwie piosenki, które pojawią się również na „Stainless Style”, w tym hitowa „Raquel”. Resztę stanowi przekrój wykonawców, których nigdy nie podejrzewalibyście o inklinacje taneczne (Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Tears for Fears), którzy sami eksplorowali obszary elektroniki (Kraftwerk), wreszcie muzycy soulowi (Janet Jackson, Prince). Tym bardziej uderza spójność materiału i ogromna przebojowość. Całość możecie zassać pod tym adresem.

Neon Neon, the electro side-project consisting of Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and electronic producer Boom Bip is set to release their debut album, Stainless Style, next month on Lex Records.

With the instant success of last summer’s Raquel EP (yes, inspired by Raquel Welch) featuring Spank Rock, Har Mar Superstar and even Hot Chip, their crazy-crunk single “Trick For Treat” immediately blew us away with it’s falsetto chorus and smooth flow. Spank’s rhymes exude swagger and confidence when placed over the duo’s blips and beeps, and Har Mar Superstar brings the ’stache and sass as well.

It is almost certain that Stainless Style will go above and beyond what Raquel had to offer. The duo will yet again utilize Spank Rock, but they’re also bringing Yo Majesty and Fat Lip for the ride (in their DeLorean, we’re sure).

The release date is set for the 18th, so y’all gonna have to wait to get a taste. For now, you may listen to tracks from their forth-coming album and even “Trick For Treat” on their MySpace.