Carol and Snowy Red-Breakdown (1981 original, this remixed version is from the late 80s)
More music! I never intended this blog to be all about music but it has for now.
I came across this song while listening to French New Wave bands on Youtube and was blown away by the tight beat in those first thirty seconds. I can totally imagine lots of bands now wholly using this sound for their own. Just give Carol and Snowy Red some credit. Even back then they had names for all the tiny subgenres and this was called “New Beat.”
Yeah, I know. I’ll never get over it. Go ahead and say it, I’m the shoegazer that never looked up.
I can’t help but like new music that sounds like old music but the old music that at one time sounded new. You know what I mean? Think Cocteau Twins.
Red Moon are two sisters from Göteborg, Sweden. Until recently, they were unsigned and probably not really famous anywhere. They should be though. Their sound is ephemeral, beautiful, moody and yes…just a tad witchy. Throw them on a mix with Fever Ray or Austra for a nice melancholy afternoon of music.
Their new album, I Am Here has just been released, listen to sound clips here.
Everyday I fall in love…with music and if you only knew what I desire to do with this song.
Next time someone asks me what kinda music I listen to, I’m gonna answer “beat and pulse” solely based on this song which makes me wish all electronic music paid more attention to creating polyrhythmic layers. Beat and Pulse is an aptly titled musical homage to a previous genre, (hint: remember the days when people were happy but dressed like they were depressed?) the goth 80s. The beat is pure old school cold wave electronica, the pulse relentless and the amazing vocals by Katie Stelmanis are flavored with Siouxsie-like echoes combining to create an overall sinister kind of mood. Is a goth revival coming too? Let’s skip the goth moniker and call it Witch House (sorry, but that stuck). It’s true, I was a goth kid at one point, isn’t it obvious? That’s what happens when you’re a little mocasa Chicana living in Boyle Heights and your kinda-hippie parents move you to the suburban wasteland of Rosemead (sorry, incorporated South San Gabriel). Things happen, or they don’t happen and you’re bored and then you listen to KSPC at night. Then you dye your hair black and start wearing clothes from the thrift store and end up dancing with some flailing arm moves that surprisingly, get you almost voted “Best Dancer” for the eighth-grade yearbook but instead it goes to the more popular girl who likes to freak. Uh, where was I? Yeah, this song is a really good nu-goth, synthwave, darkwave, witchy kinda tune that makes me wanna dance, flailing arms and all.
It seems the best music these days is coming out of cold weather spots, Austra are from Toronto, Canada. The amazing things you can create when you’re stuck indoors.
If folks are gonna start dressing like the 90s again, I say we bring back the music with it. If you read this blog about a year ago (ha, I know hardly anyone does) you would’ve remembered I predicted or hoped for a jungle/drum n bass/amen break revival – happy to say it’s here! This little corner of the electronic music world is being called Nu-Jungle or J-Tek (Jungle Tekno) and it’s massive! (to borrow a British term). This track has everything 90s electronic music did well, plus some: diva vocals, anthemic hooks, addictive sing-a-long lyrics and the beautiful 140 rpm Amen Break. I first read this track as “Skream mix which made me feel twenty again.” And seriously, that’s how I felt too. Can’t wait to hear more tunes in this genre.
This remix was released February 14, 2011 on Ed Bangers label.
Cassius – I Love You So
The original’s pretty good too!
Bizarre Inc – Playing With Knives
Now that the music world’s getting all ravey again, you should watch this video for some dance tips. None of that standing in place and bobbing your head crap. I frequent Low End Theory and the suburban kids who make up the majority of the crowd, can be a bit boring with their slight body swaying to the heavy beats and dubstep. It’s time to move people – do it like Utrecht!
I never fail to get a kick out of the various random ways new genres of electronic music adapt monikers to describe their little corner of the music world. The New York female duo Creep has been described as “Witch House” and I kinda like it. At one point they called their music “rape gaze.” I guess as a distinction from the passive “shoegaze”? But now have moved away from that term.
I’m not a huge fan of The xx but appreciate Romy Madley Croft’s contribution to this track. Her languid vocals provide a bit more of that moody witchy-ness I’ve come to appreciate in this post-Fever Ray world of ours.
This is Creep’s debut track put out on the Young Turks label.
Boards of Canada make some really amazing music but I was not familiar with their Hell Interface side project. I’m so not like a dude when it comes to music. I know what I know and I sometimes when I’m in the mood, I’ll actively research bands and genres but there’s a lot I miss. And unfortunately, I missed this Boards of Canada experiment with R&B perhaps because these remixes were done way back in the 90s. But I found out about them tonight thanks to my musical compadre Nicholas, and I am a million times happier with life now that these little musical treasures have made their way into my life.
Midnight Star & Boards of Canada – The Midas Touch (Hell Interface remix)
“The Rip was worth waiting ten years for…” Critic commenting on Portishead’s long awaited third album.
Visuals are from the excellent film The Fountain. Which by the way, has it’s own amazing film score by the brilliant Clint Mansell.
Ancestors appear in the moments between dreams and consciousness.
