30 April 2008

Return of Portishead


After an 11-year absence, the Bristol band that pioneered the trip-hop genre has returned! Still trippy, but a little less hoppy, the band’s sound has definitely been updated. But thanks to the distinctive voice of Beth Gibbons, THIRD still has the recognizable sound of Portishead that fans know and love, and have been eagerly awaiting. Check out the track "We Carry On" here:



Get your own copy of "Third" here.

23 April 2008

Remix Romance


Adorable reclusive Swede Sally Shapiro (not even her real name, either!) follows up her adorable 2007 release, “Disco Romance,” with Remix Romance Vol. 1. Featuring a remix of each track on the US release of “Disco Romance,” remixers include Juan MacLean, Lindstrom, Junior Boys and more. Check out the Holy Fuck remix of “Find My Soul" here:



Get your own copy of "Remix Romance" here.

17 April 2008

Saturdays=Youth



"I loved being a teenager," says Anthony Gonzalez, who is M83. "That's when I discovered music and started to take drugs and party with my friends. On this record I wanted to have the feeling of a teenager mixed with this period of the Eighties."
To realize his vision, Gonzalez enlisted the help of producers Ken Thomas and Ewan Pearson. Thomas is known for his work with Sigur Ros, Sugarcubes, Cocteau Twins, Suede and Clinic. Berlin-based British dance producer Ewan Pearson has worked with Tracey Thorn, The Rapture, and Ladytron. Check out the dreamy results here:



Get your own copy of "Saturdays=Youth" here.

09 April 2008

shoegazer's not dead


TEARS RUN RINGS – ALWAYS, SOMETIMES, SELDOM, NEVER
Tears Run Rings has five band members, based in Portland, Seattle, and LA. Despite the distance between them, they collaborated over the course of about 3 years to create one of the prettiest shoegaze albums I have heard in recent times. Something like a more upbeat Slowdive, the vocals provided by guitarist Matthew Bice and bassist Laura Watling are sublime. Check out the track "How Will the Others Survive?" here:



02 April 2008

Can anyone who has heard this music really be a bad person?


KAKI KING – DREAMING OF REVENGE
King's distinctive style combines fret-tapping with slap bass techniques, using the guitar for percussive beats, as well as sound layering and looping, which creates a percussive and complex sound. This is what it might be like if you could roll up the California Guitar Trio into one small girl with a really pretty singing voice. Check out the track "Pull Me Out Alive" here:



Fulfill your own dreams of revenge here.

A Statement From Morrissey:


In late June the Montreal Symphony are hosting a TV Special to salute Buffy Sainte-Marie's 50th year making music. I am honored to be asked to take part. I first bought a Buffy Sainte-Marie record when I was 12, and her music has always remained with me. In the 1960s, as a political activist, Buffy's lyrics were fearless, and I'm very grateful for all the risks that she took.
I am also pleased to be asked to join the bill at the V Festival at the Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver, and also at Fort Calgary in Calgary.
However, as we all know, the psychologically and constitutionally sickening Canadian seal-kill has started and is once again in full-cry.
The horror of the Canadian seal-kill is untranslatable, and although I fully realize that highly concentrated evil exists in other countries - Japan's dolphin slaughter, Iceland's newly-revived whaling, the cat-skinning trade in Switzerland, and China with just about every injustice imaginable - there is something especially menacing about Canada's seal-kill.
Loyola Sullivan (Canada's Ambassador for Fisheries Conservation) is a man of glacial coldness who claims that the seal-kill is "humane" - a view he might alter if his own skull were cracked open with a spiked axe.
The fact that the seal-kill provides a livelihood for fishermen is an insultingly dim excuse for it to take place - after all, the German gas chambers of World War 2 also provided work for someone.
The seal-kill takes place to satisfy greed for fur-pelts, and this Canadian government is happy to drag the global image of its own country down, and make it a place that people such as I couldn't bear to visit.
MORRISSEY, 29 March 2008.