Vancouver native Claire Boucher, who is the face behind Grimes, recently released a new LP, Visions. I was fortunate to see her open for Lykke Li last year and a couple weeks ago at a local venue. I remember "Genesis," "Oblivion" and "Be a Body's" low beats reverbrating throughout the venue and I still can recall the vibrations in my chest everytime the low bass tones played. I highly recommend listening to her entire LP with the bass setting on max and the speakers turned towards the floor for the ultimate Grimes jam session (unless you live in an apartment).
Snowmine's sound is dreamy. It's the kind of music I can imagine myself waking up to in my future apartment in New York on a sunny day. In the seconds before waking, reality seems speckled with abstract, seemingly-impossible possibilities. Backed by orchestral symphonies, Snowmine's album, Laminate Pet Animal, is like a euphonious catalyst that helps prolong the time you spend in that in-between limbo state. As if promoting lucid dreaming, it takes you in and out, continuously reminding you of your consciousness by suspending reality in the haze.
Posted online yesterday, here's Jack White's new single Love Interruption. Let this appease your aural needs until April when the full album, Blunderbuss, is released.
Haunting vocals and layers upon layers of instruments like a well-crafted sandwich make up the raw, organic sound that is Lulu & The Lampshades. You'll see from their many live performances on youtube that they're incredibly talented at making household items sound euphonious.
You may also recognize Lulu, or Luisa from Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaur's Garden; an artist we'll be covering soon as part of our continuing 8-bit dance party series.
I spent a good chunk of my childhood playing my gameboy and gameboy colour, and while I can't say I ever had the pleasure of growing up with an NES, I've had my fill of 8-bit games thanks to all the 128-in-one cartridges I had. A recurring theme that seems to connect a string of artists I especially love is this alluring electronic 8-bit video game vibe that says, "It's okay. Regressing back to childhood is completely normal and does not imply psychological instability." It's like that scene in Ratatouille, or that painfully stereotypical pizza commercial with the Italian family. A taste of a memory; sending us straight back to a time without adult responsibilities like going to bed early so you can get up at 8:30 for 9.
You'll probably be able to draw immediate parallels between You Love Her Coz She's Dead and Crystal Castles. They're both electronic bands and they're both duos and they both like to sing-yell and will probably make you thrash-dance. That's cool. I did that too, and I'm not mad about it. Probably because I like regressing, and I know you do too. Regardless, they still sound awesome, so don't fight it. And so, I leave you with all four tracks from their album Inner City Angst. You'll probably recognize Superheroes if you're an avid Skins fan like I am. Consider this as Part I of a continuing 8-bit Dance Party series we'll be covering.
Thieves Like Us has always had a special place in my heart. For an entire summer, Shyness was "my jam". I even acted on their words and let a small flame of extroversion creep out of my flaming introversion. Like an extended limb...of fire. They've just released Marie, Marie, the first track off their upcoming album. It's a mystery to me how music with such dark undertones can also make you feel like dancing without feeling wrong. I've dubbed their sound as "melancholy disco-tech". Let's just leave it at that. The new album comes out March 20th. Listen to Marie, Marie below, along with some of our other TLU favourites.
The new year is supposed to bring a fresh start with new
music, right? New bands, albums
and songs ultimately lead to epic concerts with opening acts that
could be awesome aural discoveries. Unfortunately this isn’t the case for the New Orleanian duo that is behind Pepper Rabbit.
Their melodic beats seem to lull you into a mystical world
of harmonious tunes. The diversity
of instrumentals, eleven to be exact, makes their songs sound uplifting. However, when listening to the lyrics, 'Murder Room' to be specific, there’s a disguised meaning. Who would have thought that a song
could be haunting and cheerful at the same time? Pepper Rabbit’s sophomore, and final album, Red Velvet
Snowball, is a treat. Literally. Not only does it stimulate my taste buds
to crave dessert but also it induces a hypnotic state to my ears.
Statements to their fans by both Xander and Singh about the
end of Pepper Rabbit can be found on their Facebook page. Two years, two creative individuals,
and two albums that brought momorable tunes to a too short musical life span.
R.I.P. Pepper Rabbit
Here's The Ballad of Alessandro Moreschi from Red Velvet Snowball.
