On May 20 actress Scarlett Johansson will drop her debut album Anywhere I Lay My Head. It’s been getting considerable buzz across the internets, tho because it’s Scarlett Johansson or because it’s worthwhile is the question right? Out of the 11 tracks only one is written by Johansson herself, Song for Jo. Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan, wrote a majority of the songs along with two vocal contributions from David Bowie on “Falling Down” and “Fannin Street”. The album holds up well and is not bounded by any genre. From rock to electronic, ambient to dance - it’s all is here.
Opening with a gradual flow of organs, trumpets, and strings, you realize how melancholy it’s all going to be (see: album cover). Building anthems of love, chiming wind bells, everything echoing - it’s a stage. The standout track for me is “I Don’t Want To Grow Up“. Its nostalgic, electronic atmosphere will put anyone in a summer mood. A fresh sound and solid vocals by Johansson make this stand out track A++.
I bet this will be Charlotte’s favorite album. I give it a B.
Poised to soon take the world by storm, Santogold has been been busy promoting her recent self-titled solo release, taking interviews (see the march/april issue of Anthem), and proving herself to be exactly what we all hoped she’d be. Proud and loud, her sound pulls from her surprising punk roots and self-proclaims what she’s currently all about.
The album takes no time getting started; opening with L.E.S. Artistes, her tell all struggle of music endeavors, innovation, and finding herself: “I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up, If I could stand up mean for the things that I believe”. Even though this track is still my top choice, I’m A Lady, Unstoppable (produced by Diplo), and Shove It all stand out. Switch did a knock out remix of the last mention, check it out.
Reggae, punk, and dance. Santogold overachieves in all the right areas. Her future is only brighter. Spread the word everyone, there’s a new gold in town.
Look for her words in B.O.O.T.A.Y., the latest from Spank Rock.
Cut Copy did it. You know when a band you like is about to release a new album, and all you’re asking for is one or two hits? You know the new album will never be able to top your old favorites, you’re just looking for a couple more songs you’ll end up falling in love with. And you know its a really good release if you find yourself falling in love really quick. In Ghost Colours has been streaming on Cut Copy’s Myspace for around 2 weeks now. It’s so great, check it out. The album drops here in the states April 4. From beginning to the end, their sophomore album is an effortless flow vocals and synths. I may be a bit biased since the group is one of my favorite, but listen for yoself.
I can brag a little because I first saw Cut Copy in St. Louis of all places, touring with Franz Ferdinand early senior year of high school. They immediately were beyond cool and ever since I’ve been obsessed. Their first album Bright Like Neon Love dropped over 4 years ago. The wait has been worth it.
Been listening to a lot of music over break and I’ve narrowed it down to five bands to watch out for this year. I’m aware it’s already the end of March, but come fall I think these artists will be big(ger).
1. Santogold
Singer, songwriter, producer and solo artist Santogold was recently recommended to me a couple weeks back. From Brooklyn, her first single ‘L.E.S. Artistes‘ was released this month (March) and her self-titled full length debut drops next month. The single sounds a lot like The Gossip or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs if it were done by MIA. But I could be miscalculating that description, just check it out for yourself. There’s been a lot of remixes showing up of her upcoming release.
‘By The Numbers‘ made the rounds last year on the blogs, probably more because the single was produced by Justice, rather than because of the group. It was one of my favorite songs last year. A couple weeks ago the French trio dropped their newest single ‘Cross the Fader‘ and ever since I’ve been obsessed with it. Welcome back rock music with energy. It still blows my mind the group isn’t properly signed. Soon though, very soon, Poney Poney will explode. (I hope).
Also from Brooklyn, Frankpollis just released an EP a few days ago. I’ve been listening to it on Myspace and I’ve been really digging it. Frankpollis is a young band made up of brothers James and Jackson Pollis, John Paul Frank, and Malcolm Perkins. The group’s original claim to fame was having popular NYC club kid, Jackson Pollis as their dummer, but Frankpollis is no longer that. Making positive headlines in Spin, QRO Magazine, and blogs across the net, the group has grown to be respected for the large portion of “rock nostalgia” being served up. Check out the entire EP on their myspace, 1 listen through.
Hailing from Canada’s club scene, Dvas is the best true club music I’ve heard in a long time - yea, better than Justice. Dietzche V. and the Abominable Snowman (aka DVAS), released Macho 2003-2007 late last year but it’s been getting a lot of buzz recently. ‘Forever’ has become a favorite of mine, but the duo’s newest remix of Faunts has been bloggin all over. Watch for these guys to become even bigger this year. The US iTunes store has their album, check it out.
Probably the band on this list you might have already heard of, MGMT (Management) made waves late last year with their electronic-rock goodness. The group’s debut album ‘Oracular Spectacular‘ dropped in October last year with positive reviews. Their single ‘Time To Pretend‘ gives the listener an instant idea of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden’s sound. Rolling Stone named MGMT an artist to watch in 2008 and the group took 9th in the BBC’s ‘Sound of ‘08′ poll. Listening to MGMT can possibly take you to higher places. MGMT is ALSO from Brooklyn. The group is signed with Columbia records.
This is our decision to live fast and die young.
/We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun.
/Yeah it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do?
/Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?
The first official CC debut isn’t slated to drop until March 18, but we all know how much those dates mean. I never really gave CC much of a listen - I knew they were popular and I had a couple songs, but it was never an obsession. After giving the album a couple listens, I give it a fair grade but the song “Vanished” definitely sticks out in my eyes. Basically it’s a remix of the Van She song ‘Sex City’ (i.e. Vanished). (See Van She). The song is catchy and reworked in an awesome way.
For those of you who don’t know CC sound, they removed the chip from an Atari 5200 and placed it inside a keyboard. Overlaying those gameboy beeps with a drum machine and some distorted vocals, you basically get CC. Some of the trash music is too much in my eyes, but smart electronica is hard to dislike.
The Australian music scene is maxxed out with electronica. With Cut Copy’s sophomore release imminent, Midnight Juggernauts planning their debut for later this year, and now Van She publicizing ‘Cat & the Eye‘, get ready for Australia to beat France in this blogowar. ‘Cat & the Eye’ was posted on Van She’s website last year, but it’s finally out in physical form now. No information on a US release, but I am sure it will either be on iTunes or easily found on the internet.
Imo, Van She produced one of the best songs of the past couple years, ‘Kelly‘ back in 2005. I still listen to it a couple times a week. If your ready for the coolest thing ever, check below.
Be sure to listen to their new single too, although I don’t think they’ll ever top Kelly.
This track was recently given to me by a certain special someone over the weekend, and it’s just too great not to share. I swear I’ve heard this before at a party maybe, it just sounds to familiar and cool. Anyway the track is “Beautiful Life” by Gui Boratto. I looked him up and he’s a 34 year old Brazilian DJ and electronic music producer. This track hails from his 2007 release “Chromophobia”, around the beginning of the year last year. There’s a link below to his website/myspace.
My suggestion: Plug this song in to some big speakers with lots of bass and just zone out for 8 minutes. Yes, it is long but builds so well and it’s worth the pay off. Definitely check this out.
Cartal’s newest track, Vancouver is yet another catchy, bass driven dance tune, but to me it feels like something new. It has been on repeat on my computer most of the week, which probably wasn’t good for finals studying, but I’m pretty sure I raked in all those As and Bs. *cross fingers* Felix Cartal is another dj out of France getting big thanks to blogging, etc.
Missingtoof summed this up nicely: “Cartal is a child of France but his affinity for his second home, Canada is strong. In his newest work, Felix Cartal pays homage to the city where he lived and partied and was undoubtedly inspired. The track is ‘Vancouver’, which bookends his previous track, ‘Montreal Dreams’.”
Check below for the music. If you’re feeling extra intense, listen to ‘Drugs’. I included his remix of MSTRKFT’s ‘The Looks’.
Go here to access his myspace, but be warned don’t click on his band website.
Most of you guys have probably heard of Bishop Allen. For me they are one of those blog bands that you always read about, and then never get down to downloading anything, maybe a song or two, but nothing really substantial. Well, after the music meeting at WPGU on Friday, I am ready to investigate.
Gina brought it “Click, Click, Click, Click” and instantly I knew I had heard it before. I did some digging and remembered it being featured in a Sony Camera commercial. Bishop Allen undertook a project in 2006, pledging to release an EP every month for the year. They accomplished it and they made some great music, check it out. “Click, Click, Click, Click” is off their July 2007 second album.
Check out the songs below, plus a few other Bishop Allen goodies.
Probably one of my favorite bands, Cut Copy has ruled the electronic/rock scene since 2004 with their debut release of Bight Like Neon Love. Ever since then they have road pretty low on the radar. The trio is from Australia and is working with Tim Goldsworthy from DFA on their followup album due out in February 2008. The first two singles of the upcoming album, In Ghost Colours, have been ‘Hearts on Fire’ and ‘So Haunted’. These tracks are both great in my eyes, but I think it’s time to spread the wealth off the first album.
