A gorgeous new song here from Roísín Murphy, the Irish musician with the velvety croon and a track record of adventurous dance music. Fans of what we used to call “electronica” may recognize her as the voice of Moloko, whose 1999 hit “Sing It Back” achieved global ubiquity with its inspired juxtaposition of minor-chord guitar […]
Okay, I’ve been told I have a particular weakness for electronic music duos with female vocals, particularly those from Toronto. (In fact, I’m at work on a book about Martha and the Muffins, the prototype for this sub-subgenre.) But that doesn’t diminish the impact of Etiquette. Their single “Outside In” wraps placid vocals, water-colored keyboards, […]
Fine. I give. Bandwagon jumped on. Chorus joined. Your 2015 Rock and Roll Dream Come True is here in the form of Melbourne-based Courtney Barnett. I had resisted writing about Ms. Barnett for the past few weeks as singles—truly outstanding, instantly arresting singles—from her upcoming album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just […]
When you’re a bartender, you develop a thick skin to handle the drunken idiots and jerks who can make your job hell. But if you work at a Mission District dive bar to support a career as a singer-songwriter, it really helps to develop added immunity against the artifice and superficial novelty, musical or otherwise, […]
Deconstruct now. Ask me how. Who doesn’t love a good deconstruction? Strip away the layers. Examine each for their presumptions and intent. Reveal the order underneath. Granted you may not love diagramming a sentence or examining institutional hierarchies as much as this girl, but can you deny the pleasure of craft—seeing a master chef, designer, […]
Sometimes it feels so good to let go into a bit of aural nostalgia, which isn’t to say that this new Civil Twilight track doesn’t have forward moving edge, but there’s enough large percussion to let me revisit my love for a certain Peter Gabriel tune that was played on a boombox in an awesome […]
The Bots comprises the Lei brothers, Mikaiah (guitar/vocals) and Anaiah (drums). They’ve been recording music since they were 15 and 12 years old, respectively. They’re now both officially adults (Anaiah turned 18 last November), with a worldwide touring résumé that would be the envy of most bands twice their age. But road-tested as they may […]
Oh hell yes — this is how I like my rock’n’roll in 2015: a clash of hot and cold, sweat and brains, adrenal glands and parasympathetic nervous system, in-the-moment abandon and knowing craftsmanship, explosive sound, a refusal of tidy resolution, drowned in reverb, more more MORE. This is the trick that Northern California garage-rockers Male […]
Ahh, the deathless sound of sexy cool female vocals atop a driving electronic beat. It draws a line through forty years of pop music, starting from its Eurodisco origins in Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” (from which came the description “Moroderesque”); on into new wave exemplars the Human League and Yazoo; Italo disco and its […]
Chaz Bundick has been releasing records under the name Toro y Moi since 2010. His music tends to get categorized as variously synth/indie-pop/electronic/house/funk/r&b with the occasional touch of Latin and Disco, which just shows how many influences and interests this particularly talented guy brings to his work. The lush, layered production style of even his […]