Thursday, October 31, 2013

Devendra Banhart - Für Hildegard von Bingen


Any music video that features avant-garde superstar Klaus Nomi deserves endless praise.  Devendra Banhart's new video for the Mala track "Für Hildegard von Bingen" does just that, even if it's more of a cameo type appearance.  Directed by Isaiah Seret, it follows the journey of a nun as she fulfills her dream of becoming a VJ.  Banhart is also featured in the video as the storytelling figure, contributing some straight faced dance moves.  Check it out...



Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Cold Cave - Nausea, The Earth And Me


Following Wesley Eisold's somewhat recent trend of releasing Cold Cave material one single at a time, Nausea, The Earth And Me is his latest creation and serves as the final single of 2013.  The three track single begins with the title song and it's one pounding industrial madhouse of an opener with drowned out vocals, some driving synth, and a steady beat.  "Don't Blow Up The Moon" and "Beaten 1979" round out the single, with the latter being a frantic track that ends with a ticking explosion.


"Tell me how does strength make a difference
When all I ever strongly feel is indifference" 
- Nausea, The Earth And Me


What I love about Nausea, The Earth And Me, along with Cold Cave's other singles reaching back to A Little Death To Laugh, is that by releasing music in this single/EP format, each mini-album is a concise piece of music. There's a beginning and end with no timer, genres limitations, or lengthly recording session.



Nausea, The Earth And Me is available on iTunes

Friday, October 25, 2013

Friday I'm In Love - 25/10/13


Friday I'm In Love is a weekly feature
It highlights what I loved over the past week
Week = Friday to Friday
May include things of a non-musical variety

Monday, October 21, 2013

Lady Gaga - Do What U Want (Feat. R. Kelly)


I feel like the big pop stars are struggling when it comes to the concept of featured artists.  Katy Perry tainted "Dark Horse" with Juicy J and Ke$ha is working with super creeper Pitbull.  It all feels like an attempt to cross market into other radio formats.  Oh, her new single features a rapper.  Let's send it over to the hip-hop stations and get double the audience impression. Very rarely do these collaborations feel like two artists working together to create something of a combined effort.

"Do What U Want" is Lady Gaga's new promo single.  It features R. Kelly, which completely confused me.  He's not exactly the most in demand name out there, so maybe it's not a call for record sales after all.  But then again, it's R. Kelly we're talking about.  Why would Lady Gaga, arguably the most powerful character in the business, select an R&B singer that drastically contradicts almost every style decision she's presented thus far?  Why is she also showcasing her thong wearing rear? Because she's Lady Gaga.

In the end result, R. Kelly only weighs down a nice pop song.  This is almost completely personal taste speaking, since my own knowledge and liking to his music extends from "I Believe I Can Fly" to the Céline Dion holiday duet, "I'm Your Angel".  That's not much to talk about.  Maybe Gaga's just a fan of his music and it's nothing more complicated.

The "Do What U Want" instrumental is fantastic, though.  It's crushing with a jagged synth and then the bouncing climax only elevates everything. Gaga's vocals are also a feature to talk about.  She's a bit more showy than usual, with added runs and throaty belting.  But all of the recent tracks from Gaga just seem a bit strange after Born This Way.  She went from an extremely heavy album filled with morals and feel-good messages to something that's, I don't know... not quite as powerful?  All shall be revealed when ARTPOP arrives.

Listen to "Do What U Want" below and remember to check out ARTPOP on November 11.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Friday I'm In Love - 18/10/13


Friday I'm In Love is a weekly feature
It highlights what I loved over the past week
Week = Friday to Friday
May include things of a non-musical variety

Friday, October 11, 2013

Friday I'm In Love - 11/10/13


Friday I'm In Love is a weekly feature
It highlights what I loved over the past week
Week = Friday to Friday
May include things of a non-musical variety

Kate Nash - Fri-end? (Alternate Video)


As if one fantastic music video wasn't enough, Kate Nash has just released a second video for her single "Fri-end?".  Instead of vampires and monster mashing, this version looks more like a technicolor film from the 60's. Multiple Kate's are all color blocked in classic mod inspired fashion. Directed by Ryan Baxley, it's really just super awesome.  Check it out...



Kate's new "Fri-end?" EP is out in the US at this very moment.  It includes the radio edit, acoustic version, instrumental, and two remixes of the song. Also in the bundle is "Pink Limo Ride", a song written about her friend who was attacked in a hate crime, which you can read about on Kate's blog.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Friday I'm In Love - 4/10/13


Friday I'm In Love is a weekly feature.
It highlights what I loved over the past week.
Week = Friday to Friday.
May include things of a non-musical variety.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Charli XCX - SuperLove


I must admit that I didn't quite see the appeal of Charli XCX at first.  With that said, my first exposure to Charli's music was "Cloud Aura" from her Super Ultra mixtape, which features Brooke Candy.  Anything involving Brooke Candy can take a little while to warm up to.  After stumbling upon "Take My Hand", I truly started to appreciate Charli's debut True Romance as a whole and now it's a bit of a staple whenever some solid electro-pop is needed.

Charli XCX's latest song is a taste from her upcoming second album.  While details on the sophomore release are almost non-exsistant, the first single has already received a video treatment.  "SuperLove" is a bubblegum crossover track and the video adds robots, harajuku stylings, and plenty of attitude to the mix.  If you haven't already heard the song, then please do yourself a favor and watch the video first.  It's a colorful blast of pop and possibly too much fun.