To describe How to Dress Well in a sentence, I would have to say it's lo-fi R&B. Research fellow Tom Krell grew up listening to the likes of Keith Sweat, singing along with the songs, even the high notes. When he hit his twenties he started making droney music. Perhaps his solo moniker marries the two, as these songs are melodic yet distorted, sounding both from decades ago and futuristic. It's a distinctive album amid others that attempt a retro sound. Listen to "Lover's Start" here.
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The trilogy is complete. The third installment of Robyn's Body talk ep series is here as the full-length album, aptly titled, "Body Talk". It intersperses the songs from the first two parts with new songs, not merely mimicking the order in which they appeared on the prior albums. If you are looking for a great, pop-dance album, this is it. The songs appeal to a mass audience while throwing in numbers with Royksopp and Snoop Doggy Dogg to spice it up. Robyn signals that she is here to stay and that she keeps up with the the current trends. Take a listen to "Stars 4-Ever", a new song here.
Stereolab’s trademark sound -- a droning, hypnotic rhythm track overlaid with melodic, mesmerizing singsong vocals, often sung in French and often promoting revolutionary, Marxist politics --is deceptively simple, providing the basis for a wide array of stylistic experiments over the course of their prolific career. Throughout it all, Stereolab relied heavily on forgotten methods of recording, whether it was analog synthesizers and electronics or a fondness for hi-fi test records, without ever sinking to the level of kitsch.
The group re-teamed with producer/arranger Sean O'Hagan for 2008's Chemical Chords, a collection of short, poppy songs that was released by 4AD. Two years later, the album was followed by Not Music, a collection of material recorded during the same sessions.
The careful song selection and sequencing of this mix is intended to play like a proper studio album, and mostly, it does, even with the 8-minute-plus remixes acting as centerpieces. And while obviously similar in sound to Chemical Chords, the record is suffused with as much joyous synth experimentation, astral effects and flourishes, and buzzy motorik rhythms as Stereolab's mid-career efforts.
Needless to say, if you're hoping for a career-defining endcap, this is not that record. The new, non-remix tracks on Not Music ignore much of Stereolab's omnivorous career-- there's no space-age bachelor pad music, no bossa nova flourishes, and no sign of the rawer avant-garde leanings that shaped their earliest records. Instead, the set continues in the taut, propulsive pop vein of their more recent releases.
Album opener "Everybody's Weird Except Me" is sweet yet dry, using the richness of Laetitia Sadier's nonchalant alto to cut the cuteness of the melody. The track plays off the dichotomies Stereolab have come to love-- old-fashioned pop tropes delivered by whirring, futuristic instruments, with cold detachment rubbing up against whimsical lushness and cerebral orchestrations played with charm. Take a listen and be soothed here.
Look who's back after a 15 year hiatus? Why, it's Nitzer Ebb with Industrial Complex! Get ready to shake your fists and do your industrial aerobics! This album sounds just like what one would expect--dancey, synthy, full of attitude, somewhat dark but not very brooding. One reviewer describes their sound like Depeche Mode if they kept to their darker synth sounds. That's a fair description--they're not just recreating the percussive techniques of the past, but updating their sound. Old fans who used to listen to Belief on cassette (like me) will not be disappointed.
Small Craft on a Milk Sea is Brian Eno's first album on Warp Records, a marriage of design and ambient goodness. This album vacillates between the glowing ambient songs we've come to expect from Mr. Eno and songs incorporating guitar riffs, IDM beats and other electronica. The first track on the album gives you a false sense of security, as it sounds mellow, luscious and what one expects from Eno. From there it's a steady build towards sounds that challenge what ambient music is all about.
Take a listen to Horse, track 5, when things start to get a bit more abstract and the Small Craft on a Milk Sea takes a twist...
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