top photo: Delaney Allen
Summer 2010: mark my words, you’ll be hearing a lot of this. And Gypsy and the Cat are another reason why I think MGMT recorded something really significant in ‘Oracular Spectacular’, by giving way to Empire of the Sun and now Jona Vark, they’re enlightened us to some of the most cuddly, sun-tinged pop songs for some time.
‘Jona Vark’ is all about the chorus, a chorus which lyrically features merely the song title – “her name is Joo-na-ha, Jona Vark“. On a personal note, next summer I’ll be cooking in a camper van in Western Australia and by God, this song is going to soundtrack it, I’m sure of it.
(JM)
mp3: Gypsy & The Cat – Jona Vark
‘Odd Blood’, due February 2010, has just given us a sign. ‘Ambling Alp’ is the lead single, due for release digitally this November from Secretly Canadian. You can get it with one of those awesome t-shirts and vinyl as the colourful picture above demonstrates so well.
And so the song: Well, it’s a difficult one to get your head around. Life-affirming, triumphant are the two superlatives that come to mind. It’s more balanced and streamlined than anything on ‘All Hour Cymbals’, complicated horn sections such as those you craved for TV On The Radio to unleash on ‘Dear Science’ but to no avail, come out of nowhere mid-way after an underwater-ish sounding opening gives you few clues as to where the song could go. So in summary this is unpredictable, rewarding listen and the perfect indicator signal for how ‘Odd Blood’ could turn out.
mp3// download from Yeasayer’s site
http://www.nme.com/video/bcid/44775638001/search/NME
“Laura, baby, I’m right here
And I don’t wanna fight anymore
I really wanna be your friend forever
Friend until the end of your-”
The finest chorus on ‘Album’, but it doesn’t even match the sun-tinged guitar solo that closes the track. And consider that this very writer hates guitar solos the majority of the time. This visual companion displays nine shots at the same time, featuring a topless female on the beach that one would judge to be the Laura, alongside some trivial shots of the band playing and looking all retrospective and cooool.
mp3//
EP REVIEW: The Drums – ‘Summertime!’
words: Jamie Milton
The Drums choose to have the title of their latest EP placed in inverted commas. That could give some reasoning towards the desperately dark and squalid themes that emerge from a collection of songs that names itself after the finest, happiest of the seasons. “This ain’t what I thought it would be, this is the saddest summer ever” is the closing refrain of the opening track’s chorus, luring its listeners in with anything but optimism. And this is perfect: The Drums have instantly set aside doubts that they’d be a clichéd, one-dimensional pop act who can only pride themselves on one emotion. They’ve done this before the big time knocks on their door — and it will — and they’re all the more formidable for it.
But the signs were there from the off. Viral hit ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ was indeed filmed on a beach. But it was filmed on a beach at night – there was not one sign of sunbathing tourists or a macho lifeguard. The Drums have also cited New Order and The Smiths as core influences. It all adds up to a band who could switch their focus to either side: pure, sun-tinged and high spirited or bogged down and morbid. The prospect of both is absolutely thrilling.
“Oh baby, I don’t know what to do with myself.” Lyrics are at the heart of this veiled tone of depression. In similar style to Girls, The Drums’ lyrics make up a poignant polar opposite to the majority of the sounds crafted on top of the words sung. Much of ‘Summertime!’ consists of hand-claps, whistling, knee-jerk, sharp guitar parts. But the lyrics sitting aside display bleak wit; “You used to be so pretty. But now you’re just tragic. Believe in something. You’re full of horse-shit” being the stand-out collection.
But the key to ‘Summertime!’’s success is the melodies. Members of The Drums have already consistently expressed their desire to write “the perfect pop song”. And although that’s a far from abnormal aspiration, it’s the kind that seems to dominate the band’s outlook when it comes to writing almost every note of a song. The finest three-and-a-half-minutes comes in at the climax; ‘Down By The Water’, a ‘Stand By Me’-esque, welled-up, childish declaration that “I just wanna love you deaaar!”. It’s the kind of hands-in-the-air anthem that made bands in the 60’s and it’s very much because of that melody. So far, The Drums are setting their own goals and by God, they are meeting the targets.
9.5
mp3: The Drums – Down By The Water
Ezra Koenig has always liked the sound of his own voice. His pulsing, energetic tones sets Vampire Weekend’s debut alight and added a more spacious feel to every song. Here, all is replicated, this time sitting atop marimba percusssion of which Thom Yorke’s new drummer is responsible for.
Forget the pretentious title (they can’t even manage to pronounce it properly when singing it!) and the length of time it actually takes to begin enjoying ‘Horchata’. This song quite ingeniously maintains every ounce of charm mustered up on the debut and merely replaces the background sound with hectic, complex synth and percussive energy. The only track on ‘Contra’ showing the cold shoulder to guitars, it’s an evolving Vampire Weekend, but one not afraid to keep hold of what they do best – chantable, sun-tinged happiness.
mp3//
I’M
G O N N A
D A N C E
INITIAL THOUGHTS: Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
words: Jamie Milton
top photo: i think it’s beautiful that you are 256 colors too
Websheriff, your efforts to protect the leak of this album were not in vain; continue working hard on Andrew Bird etc. because you actually put almost every blogger off posting tracks from the record.
But as you probably know WB, most of us have heard ‘Merriweather…’ by now and most of us are more than impressed. Perhaps the efforts made to shorten the inevitable early-release of this album were because those involved with the album were fully aware of the hype surrounding it, purely on the basis of two live versions of two tracks. On record, ‘Brothersport’ and ‘My Girls’ will be cited by many as the highlights on Animal Collective’s latest album because when put to the studio both tracks have become more lively, more effective but also more dense. And “dense” might just be the most mentioned word in any description of ‘Merriweather Post Pavillion’ come next year, along with “bassy”. So much occurs between the samplers of Panda Bear and Geologist, all whilst Avey Tare is consistently delivering inspired, tropical vocal yelps (not as rough and gritty as those on ‘Strawberry Jam’ however). But it’s one of those albums in which through each listen you ask your self how you hadn’t found an integral element to the song that seemingly just wasn’t there on the previous listen. There’s more to discover each time round.
And some are even going as far as calling the “end of year lists” of 2009 a pointless process, with this likely to top the majority of them. The competition’s over, people. My god that might actually be true; AC have changed their sound dramatically. None of their previous albums’ roots have been plugged in to sockets but this time round there are sparks of gadget-made energy. Every sample correlates but every track has something more to give. It’ll go down as the band’s most accesible album to date; it turns the choral, summery spirit of Panda Bear’s ‘Person Pitch’ into something shorter and altogether poppier, particularly evident in a song like ‘Summertime Clothes’, a joyous, non-sensical wave of beach-scenery in the form of music, clocking in at four minutes and a half and with a definite chorus.
But most importantly, it’s still experimental and it’s certainly blended sounds together in the way that no other album has to date in the 21st century – aka. ever.
mp3: Animal Collective – My Girls [zshare]
[Pre-order 'Merriweather Post Pavilion', even if it's just for the artwork]
MFM Summer Mixtape
words: Jamie Milton
image from Trapac
Walking about this morning in my jeans – I felt uncomfortable and grumpy for the first time this year. Sweat was actually coming out of my pores and suntan lotion was finally required. Therefore it’s a good time to unveil to you readers, our first ever MFM mixtape, centred around the summer season.
This is all for yr listening pleasure – either you discover some of the best new music or you make the most out of the songs you already love. The songs below all have a summer tint to them, of course and I deem them to be the best of a bunch to sum up summer 2008.
A tip, have this on while you walk in the basking heat when you begin to get a little grumpy.
Tracklist:
1. Wild Beasts – Brace Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants
2. The Secret Machines – Lightning Blue Eyes
3. The Shins – Saint Simon
4. Interpol – Not Even Jail
5. Hot Chip – And I Was a Boy From School
6. Beirut – Elephant Gun
7. TV On The Radio – Province
8. The Mae Shi – Run To The Facts
9. Eels – The Sound of Fear
10. British Sea Power – Waving Flags
DOWNLOAD:
Summer Mixtape (Rapidshare) [61MB]
INDIVIDUAL TRACKS:
PLAY: Wild Beasts – Brace Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants [Buy 'Limbo Panto']
PLAY: The Mae Shi – Run To The Facts [Buy 'HLLLYH']
MFM @ HYPEM
