I’ve been really enjoying the new Röyksopp album Junior, and have been rather taken with a number of tracks which appear to me to have the spirit of the soundtrack of the Amiga game Lotus III within them.
One song that has rather caught me is track 3, Vision One. It has a really rather awesome glitchy synth sound (or sawtooth if you want to use a proper term and refer to the waveform). It’s also actually an English re-recording of a remix they made of the Japanese pop artist Eri Nobuchika, but not in a shitty Basshunter way (still got a soft spot for the original complete with IRC references).
Were you to try and create a musician for me to admire, I’d think it hard for anyone to come up with anything more suitable than Pagan Wanderer Lu. A keen social commentator, multi instrumentalist and lover of melding the the slight and heartfelt sounds that sometimes typify bedroom indie to the louder electronica sounds that are so often in fashion he’s right up my street.
The album is a mix of old and new, with the old receiving a lot of interesting tweaks. Of the songs that are fresh to me my favourite is (You & Me And) Winston Churchill which kicks off with a seemingly un PWL-like piano and real drums but has some of his nicely awkward lyrics
You and me and Winston Churchill
went to a rave on ecstacy
He said “these brightly coloured lights and bangin’ tunes do not one thing for me”
and leads nicely into the most awesome core of the album, as the, well, bangin’ tunes start to kick in.
The awesome Tree Of Knowledge follows, without any changes from the successful single mix and is a profusely profane ponder on er, education and stuff with many mentions of engorged phalluses. And he says vagina in it too, titter.
Startup chimes, cross the Rio de Palazzo
Boats go by, but I’m looking through the wrong window
Sentenced to life, I can stop anytime I want to
But I’ll press F5 just one more time…
2.0///The Bridge of Sighs laments the dangers of web2.0 culture and was originally featured on the limited (and damn fine) Omega Point EP, about which more when I’ll round up 2008.
Stop Traveller! Stop and Read! reminds me of the days I used to work back in a bookstore and the aimless feel you can get in your first work out of university.
The Memorial Hall pops up next in (shock!) yet another new version. At first I was slightly resistant to the new version, as for me the slow intro is fun, but it’s when the song reaches full tempo later on that it really reaches greatness. There is, alas, no video for it yet, but I’ll post it when it pops up and I’ve even sketched a bit of a storyboard for making my own video, which PWL himself appears to be encouraging.
This may well be my favourite PWL verse by some distance
Now we remember the disco
They’re holding tonight at the Memorial Hall
I hope to meet eyes with your sister
As she stands like a flower by the plaque, by the wall
But the alcohol kicks in and somehow instead
the words on the plaque just take over my head
I think I shouldn’t be dancing with so many dead
But I’m wrong
The album doesn’t end with the next track, Simple Life/Repetition but I’ll stop my track by track here as I feel these are the core tracks that really make the album work.
And if we’re all just machines
For replicating genes
Then what the hell can any of this mean?
Hushed breathing over his by now standard ethereal synth and drum machine sounds leads into a lovely intro
One white skull used to be a friend of mine
Two atoms kiss and what a funny valentine
Three more years before you’ll ever see the sun shine
I held your hand but now you’re just a fuzzy outline
followed by the chilling and evocative chorus
Make a chrysanthemum of every human head
Make a chrysanthemum and kill them in their bed
It’s a new year so everyone‘s trying to predict the big musicalacts forthe year. I hate such nonsense myself but as a prelude to my usual year end round-up here’s a few acts I’ve come across lately that stand at best an infinitesimally small chance of making it big but who I really rate. It must also be said that much as I doubt the odds of any of these even achieving big cult status in a world in which Why? is finally lauded as an indie master in the year end round-ups anything is possible. They’re all British – my days as an American Indie Kid are clearly numbered. This is flash heavy, so if you’re reading on facebook or a bad RSS reader, click-through to my site for the videos and other embeds.
Just a normal evening in really. One of these days a similar link from Ian will push me over the edge and I’ll given in and buy either a Pentax K20D or a Nikon D90.
Right, that cements it. After my fourth Misty’s Big Adventure gig I am now happy to say that they are my favourite band in the world ever. I’ve not danced so much at a gig in ages. My favourite song of the evening was I Can’t Take The Time Back or as I originally called it on here:
That blippy keyboard bit at 2:15 or so gets me every time. Their new album Television’s People is out now and is rather marvellous. I’d show you the cover but the lyrics sheet produced in the style of Radio Times is rather more exciting to me.
Some of you have dared ask for a guess at my favourite music of 2008 already. With only Of Montreal and Tim Ten Yen yet to play their hands Misty’s do look like they are in a good position for the coveted number one slot in my year end round up. Although thanks in no small part to my colleague Alister I’ll be waxing lyrical about oddball oldies as well such as the Joe Meek produced Dumb Head by Sharades.
Had the album for a wee while, it’s a grower for sure. [cdbaby][emusic]
(though ignore the folk on emusic who think it’s arcade fire light, it’s just good honest music with less hype than arcade fire)
Would that it were that my schooldays had a soundtrack this good.
And why is it always with Menomena that a year on from getting the album I get totally addicted?
Why don’t you give me a taste? Why don’t you give me a taste?
You know how every so often you stumble onto a song and you realise that either you’ve caught on to it really late or you’ve just found the song that’s destined to be all over the airwaves later? I remember the thrill of the early listens to Radio Soulwax, Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy and Kylie’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head. And as in all those cases this is something that’s excellently produced and in a soulwax way got more than a hint of dirty electro around it.
I’m asking. Yours for the asking.
Well, that’s The Modernaire’s Taste this year – almost certainly. Well, at least if not they should be justifiably upset. And their lyrics mean they seem pretty much at home on Brainlove, maybe not as overtly disatisfied and political as Napoleon IIIrd or Pagan Wanderer Lu but still in the same zone. And what evokes dystopia better than a dirty synth line?
You were happy to dance all night
But you wouldn’t move any closer
You said you wanted to go for a drink
But you only ordered a cola
Obviously if you wanna hear for yourself you’ll either need EDIT, ta Tom, I’m a fool! go to their myspace or better yet grab Taste as an mp3 for 99p from their other label Jackdaw or on emusic, itunes (spit) or in reality. Brainlove deserve your support cos they are awesome. But if you just want to hear something then you can just go here and grab Rain which bemoans living in rainy northern towns.
My shoes are always leaking cos of shoddy workmanship
Roll on Brainlove All Dayer #2 (knew I should have gone last year, foolishly didn’t – I could have seen Fuck Buttons).
I should also point out that the EP is split with another band, Friends of The Bride but their Divine Comedy like stuff hasn’t hit a chord with me as yet, when/if it does they’ll get their post on here.
Were you to try and create a musician for me to admire, I’d think it hard for anyone to come up with anything more suitable than 
