Tag: La Roux

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Music

La Roux – Let Me Down Gently (Playless Club Mix)

As we sit here letting the matrix manipulate us into giving up our freedoms for the illusion of security we foolishly tell our selves we’re celebrating our independence. Yet how many of us know what July 4th, 1776 was really about? I’m not going to sit here retelling the great American story or preaching to you about what it means to stand up to oppression. I won’t do that because some of us have been slaves so long we wouldn’t even understand freedom, much less know that we want and need it. I won’t do it because our diets are so GMO fueled, our water flouridated, our culture so dumbed down that I probably have 10 more seconds before both the reader and writers A.D.D. kicks in and we have to go to the next website or skip to the next song. I will say this though, we’re at a one of the most important cross roads in our history …

The takeover, the breaks over  ni$&@…” – Jay-Z

This country only bares a faint resemblance to what it was designed to be. What was once the result of rebel forefathers creating the Constitution, perhaps the greatest blueprint against tyranny is now a land ruled by corporate interest and other forces better left untold.

Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters. – Victor Hugo

In the great Roman empires they used entertainment to keep the people distracted and their mental hygiene in shambles. Go do some research on how long you use your “smart” phone everyday. Despite incredible odds, many of us have taken the red pill and bring challenge to this cheap version of the greatest country the world has known. So a new wave of obedient to “Dreamers” is needed to support both the current state and future of the system. That’s why the borders are opened up right now, to feed a new generation of dreams the blue pill…

I throw these Maybach keys, I wear my heart of my sleeve. I know that we the new slaves, I see the blood on the leaves…” – Yeezus

So as we go to our BBQ’s and drink our minds away with high-fructose corn syrup, caramel coloring, MSG, genetically modified hops “beer”…

Killin’ ’em, honey how I make the pain improve…” – King Louie

And gluten that suppresses the same vigor for life fight that created this holiday in the first place, remember that we’re not celebrating the day when everybody laid down because we thought the people in charge had our best interest at hand and would take care of things for us. We’re celebrating the day we stood up and fought for our God given right to take care of things ourselves. We’ve been spoon fed for so long that we’re afraid of everything now. We’re afraid of any form of conflict, we’re afraid to fight and we want the establishment to dictate the easiest way out because that’s what we’re use to hearing…

Let me down gently, that’s what I think I need
But when you let me down gently, it still feels it hard…”

It will always be difficult because that is the nature of growth. It’s through the bumps, noise and hard work that you get to the beautiful. The easy way out will always lead to more of the same. Enjoy.

La Roux – Let Me Down Gently (Playless Club Mix)

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Music

La Roux – Uptight Downtown

Sometimes I sit down to write about certain songs and the writing just comes out of my brain. There’s a certain process to writing, that I don’t want to talk about right now. I haven’t fallen this hard for a sound and pop-funk in a while, so I figured I may as well have some fun today while writing about it.

I used to work downtown. Like down, downtown in the Financial District of this fantastic city. People used to ask me what it was like. If you know me in real life (and virtually, I’d hope that my writing is some indicator of my personality), you’ll know that I rarely wear dresses, I live for the spontaneity of an unplanned experience, and rarely say no. (This mode of life was inspired by the Jim Carrey film, “Yes Man” — one that I think often goes overlooked among his works.) So working downtown was interesting. It was a change of pace. Quite literally — every time I got off the subway, I shuffled with the other shufflers. It was always really interesting to me because I never once felt like “a part of the crowd” moving all at once in one cohesive manner. Strangely. But no matter what, I was still an ant in a skyscraper, built for the purpose of funneling workers in and out, daily.

Streets are lined with people, people who want to move, move, move.

This was last summer by the way. I never spent so much time pondering my physical location on this planet, as I did during the summer. I’d take the elevator up 36 flights, sit in a room with my esteemed colleagues, and enter a different brain world. Every once in a while, I’d step outside the building in the middle of the day to make a phone call or catch a breath of fresh air (that high up, you realize, there’s no actual “fresh” air entering your lungs anymore, just recycled) and take note of the surroundings. I’d sit on the stoop of an old historical building nearby, and watch the amount of stress that people carried in their furrowed brows and lips.

I don’t think La Roux had my experience in mind necessarily when this song was conceived. But I think that’s why I love this song so much. On one hand, there’s a literal interpretation. The association that we have with “working downtown” and how it is potentially a place for only a specific type of personality. A certain mold that one fits into. Not always true, but still. I recently used this song in a playlist that I put together, and left it as the ending song. The playlist, themed after the trials and tribulations of love/relationships, ended with this song because I thought despite its fun and catchy sound, the word “uptight” in the title, really stuck out like a sore thumb. And it spoke to so many different types of people. We use it to describe people that we can’t necessarily connect with sometimes, I know I have. Or, within the context of my playlist, the way a person might transform after the demise of a relationship. An unknowing, difficult to associate with human who you once knew in one context, suffering from the shake-ups of an equilibrium, now quaked.

I hope when you dance to this song, that you let it get into your bones. Allow it to permeate the cobwebs of areas once forgotten in your mind, blindly dancing into the night with a new consciousness for that which you may not necessarily relate to. Unwind.

La Roux – Uptight Downtown

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Mixtape Music

Et Musique Pour Tous Presents: Les Auteurs — Ashley Hefnawy

We love the trials and tribulations of relationships. If you’re a regular reader of EMPT, you probably already know that. We love love. It’s a complex, difficult, struggling aspect of life, and yet, it’s so easy to rant about. I personally appreciate it because I am not currently in love. Because of that, I geekily analyze every song that even mentions love. All of it is intriguing to me, the beginning, the plot line, the plateau, and the eventual decline. In some rare instances, we find ourselves in situations of “everlasting love.” If you’re in one of those situations at the moment, then you have that extra level of faith that it will continue for you, and you know that it will never falter, no matter your circumstances. I believe I’ve experienced a love like that with people in my life, not necessarily intimate, and I cherish that.

So when Indie Shuffle came to us and asked us to build a themed playlist, I relished the notion of creating a themed playlist that could be about anything I wanted. For the record, every fabulous EMPT writer will have the chance to put together and publish a playlist using Indie Shuffle’s “collections” — which is basically, internet technology that allows you to make playlists and share them with others on your blogs. It’s a beautiful thing.

In this first edition, you’ll notice that the song titles are particularly specific to certain levels of a relationship. The beginning, for me at least, is the friendship that you don’t realize, is turning into something more. It’s the surprise, the moment you go to one of your friends and question, “Is it possible that he likes me? He’s been hitting me up a lot more than usual lately, I honestly thought we were just friends…But he’s so sweet.” Without even realizing, things begin to fall into your lap, and all of a sudden, you’re in blissful love. You stare at each other in parks as if there’s no one around; you know every fleck of brown and orange and yellow in their green/blue eyes. Your heart is on the verge of heart attack every time an intimate moment occurs. It’s easy. One day you wake up and your world is dictated by someone else — how did this happen? You’re so New York City independent, you foxy woman, you. You have your own life, your own friends, and your own weekend plans — but all of a sudden, you don’t. You want to know what they’re doing before you even know what you’re doing. And that scares the shit out of you, causing to look at life with a fearful eye — you’re afraid. And you tell them. But they respond with fear, too, and you both embrace it. If you’re going to fall into this hole, you’re going to fall down together. So you bask in this lavish glory, one of you treats the other like a precious diamond and you go out to expensive dinners and wear expensive shoes. Your life is suddenly wild and you have no idea how it happened.

And then one day you wake up next to this person and you don’t even know who they are. Life’s caught up to you and you’re disgusted by yourself. Or, alternatively, they have that realization about you. Either way, you just wish things could stay like they were before. You want to go back to the park on the water, where you both admitted fear and love all at once. Where you cried because it was overwhelming. You want them to stay. And like that, you’re attempting to move on. It’s over and you’re trying to heal your heart, trying to heal the universe that’s been built around you. You want to get better, but you don’t know how. So you numb the pain. And it turns you into this uptight alternate version of yourself. Or sometimes, it doesn’t. Sometimes, it just makes you into this seemingly carefree human, devoid of emotion, wanting to “experience it all.” You’re trying to embody the idea of a twenty-something.

But deep deep down, you know the environment in which your heart belongs. You just don’t know who should hold it.

This mix is for the love-missers. Hell, I know I miss it. Yeah, I love different people in my life. I allow that emotion to embody different moments of my days, and sometimes, I’m so overwhelmed by it, that I cry. But I never cry in the way that I do when I’m in love with just one person in just one way. And that’s what I miss. I think we all miss that.

Without further ado, please enjoy this first edition of Les Auteurs. And thank you, Indie Shuffle, for giving us this awesome opportunity to tell a story with a playlist.

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Music

La Roux – Let Me Down Gently

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It’s about damn time!

When I first heard a static-y leaked version of “Fascination” in ’08, I knew La Roux was going to be big.  Their arrival onto the scene coincided perfectly with the rise of blog and remix culture, and their sonic combination of pop, soul and forward-thinking synth music in fact prefaced the rise of today’s electro-pop craze.

“Going in for the Kill (Skream Remix)” led to Purity Ring; “Bulletproof” to CHVRCHES. And many of the unheralded tracks on La Roux’s eponymous 2009 debut, like “Armour Love” and “Cover My Eyes” set the stage for Lorde and similarly simmering female vocalists. La Roux contemporaries – Little Boots and Ladyhawke especially – haven’t gained anything near the popular acclaim and staying power.

What I’m trying to say is that, by my measure, Ellie Jackson is the co-queen (along with Robyn) of modern pop vocals. I was lucky enough to catch a La Roux live set last year (my second overall). Jackson’s stage presence is elite, and the audience clearly knew every song. The was also chock full of killer new material that fit into their canon without being repetitive, and I left feeling pumped for a new album. Then, nothing. The wait continued.

Now, finally, after 5 years, La Roux will release their second album, “Lost in Paradise,” stateside on July 8th. “Let Me Down Gently,” the lead single from the album, is an instant classic for La Roux fans, but surely will not be the lasting impression from the album. It’s a fine taste of a sound that’s been imitated over and over but not yet matched, delivered, despite the layoff, without missing a beat.

The tracklist has been released, and includes songs titled, “Sexotheque” and, “Tropical Chancer.” The band played the latter at the show I attended, and let me tell you, it will bring the house down when released. I’ve been singing it to myself for over a year, not knowing the title or lyrics…“t-t-t-tropical chancaaaaa.” I can’t wait.

La Roux hits the road in June, and will tour the US (both solo and as New Order’s opener) through July before heading back to England. If the swing passes through your town, don’t sleep. Pop mastery is rare, and strong live performance of their caliber even rarer.

Welcome back La Roux.

La Roux – Let Me Down Gently

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Music

EMPT Presents – Wet Dreams #1 by Barry Poppins

We all want so much man, over achievement and extreme ambition are glorified and admired almost universally these days but have you ever stopped to ask why?…

Hustle, hustle, hustle. Grind, grind, grind. Why does everyone got hustle on their mind?”

MIA was something else back then, I remember first hearing that hook and questioning everything. I won’t get into all that right now now but always remember to look around your environment and question what you see. Just because everyone is doing something, just because it’s tradition, culturally revered or whatever doesn’t mean it’s truth. Think about it, if the massive amounts of cultural influence, media and tradition we’rent around to sway would you care about the same things? Sometimes you have to press pause on the Human Drama and give your mind a break to formulate it’s own path. Which brings me to the subject of todays post, the Wet Dreams #1 by Barry Poppins, a former EMPT writer that returns with a downtempo/chill mix worthy of boss caliber reflection and relaxation. This mix isn’t made for Friday or Saturday night, this is strictly for downtime, Sunday chillin’ folks. I’ve had it running top to bottom for the last hour and I gotta say the kids downtempo song selection is tight enough to rival the best of them. Anyhow, I’ve told half the story but the rest is from the maestro himself, press play on this one ASAP, enjoy…

In the 6 months, I’ve been exposed to more music crossing more genres than perhaps at any point in my life. It was both a blessing and a curse, that allowed me to hone in on the sounds that truly act as aural therapy for me. One of these sounds is a very cliche, five letter word: chill. The great part about this genre, I’ve discovered, is that chill out music is not confined to one genre. So many artists across so many different “genres” and decades and continents create an array of music on a daily basis. But if you examine every prolific group or artist’s catalogue thoroughly enough, odds are you’ll find a soothing, relaxing track somewhere. 

These are the types of songs that act as ear valium. Since being afflicted by the most gnawing, aggravating medical condition I’ve ever experienced–tinnitus–the need to listen to sparse, mellow, and just calming music has truly arisen. Tinnitus hurts the ear, yes, but it also tortures the soul and the mind. I’ve always been an anxious person, but this disease has made everything in life more difficult–going to clubs, talking on the phone, or just walking down the street. You hear voices, you hear a constant ringing, and you don’t ever know if it will come to an end. 

As someone who’s constantly bombarded by stress–both self-inflicted and through external forces–it’s a sound without which I’d be helpless. Thus began my transformation of my musical diary/Tumblr into a very niche, and very mellow music blog, along with a mixture series I hope to update on a monthly basis. Loosely inspired by the White Light Series, and mainly by the overall need to decompress, take a deep breath, and be thankful for what I do have and can control in life, came The Pleasure Dome. I don’t know what, if anything, this little site will turn into. But I do know–as long as I can hear–I’ll be on the look out for the cream of the chill out crop. Without further ado: Welcome To The Pleasure Dome.

Track List:

  1. Tangerine Dream – Love On A Real Train (Chilled Out Euphoria Version)
  2. Radiohead – Climbing Up The Walls (Zero 7 Remix)
  3. Mechanical Me – Beachy Head (Bonobo Remix)
  4. Air et Gordon Tracks- Playground Love
  5. La Roux – In For The Kill (Skream’s Let’s Get Ravey Remix)
  6. Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man
  7. Nicolas Jaar feat. Scott Larue & Will Epstein- With Just One Glance You
  8. Lou Reed – Walk On The Wild Side (Rocco Raimundo Extended Version)
  9. Flight Facilities – Claire De Lune (Them Jeans Edit)
  10. Montauk – Speed Of Light
  11. Cosmic Kids – Freight To My Soul
  12. Telepopmuzik – Breathe
  13. Zero 7 – Destiny
  14. Daft Punk – Make Love
  15. Mansions On The Moon x Junior Boys – Lights Off
  16. Daft Punk – Nightvision

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Music

Kanye West & Jay-Z – That’s My B*tch (Prod. By Q-Tip)

I wake up this morning to this track in my inbox and what a way to start your day. Apparently the track is a leak from the upcoming Kanye and Jay-Z album Watch The Throne. I can’t confirm it but I’m pretty sure Elly Jackson aka La Roux is singing the hook on this track. The track is about being a famous entertainer and having love interest, the complications that come with it, the fun, the realities, etc.

Girl, it’s easy to love me now…” – 50 Cent

To say the least, money and fame change the way people approach you and it’s something that anyone constantly in the eyes of the media has to deal with. It’s good to hear someone talk about it in a track. Aside from that though is an incredible production by Q-Tip with great energy, a mix of old school and new school flavor and the overall freshness of old Tribe beats. Alright, I should be relaxing on Thanksgiving but I had to post this one. Happy thanksgiving, enjoy.

Kanye West & Jay-Z – That’s My B*tch (Prod. By Q-Tip)

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Music

Gyptian – Hold Yuh (Major Lazer Remix)

Major Lazer aka Diplo & Switch made a mixtape for La Roux while they were in Jamaica, and because they’re so nice, released it as a free download that you can get here. The tape features the usual Jamaican inspired rhythms and vocals synonymous with the Major along with some very cool mash ups and blends along the way, most notably their version of the chart crawling tune by Gyptian called Hold Yuh. This song has been slowly rising up the charts in NYC but because it’s only piano, bass, a snare drums and vocals it’s club knocking abilities have been limited to say the least but this summer in the early 90’s sounding remix might be exactly what it needs to hit the top. This is like Day N’ Night De Ja Vu all over again, the original is somewhat slow but has great vocals so the Crookers come in, speed it up and the dance version makes it to the clubs, then Midnight Club Los Angeles and it blows the f$*k up.

There’s so much complaining left and right about the modern state of music and how the internet sucks. Yet, someone makes a song and thanks to the internet millions of people can hear it within hours, some of those people are music producers who get inspired to write a remix and next thing you know there are a 10 new versions of the songs for everyone to enjoy. In the end, the original artist wins because his song is spreading like wildfire, the remixer wins because his name is known and the fans win because they have great music to listen to. The false barriers and control over talent has literally been eliminated, it truly is a beautiful thing. I tell you, anyone who complains about what the internet has done to music is a cynic with limited perspective. Besides, what the internet has done to music hasn’t even begun, the future’s open wide, enjoy.

Gyptian – Hold Yuh (Major Lazer Remix)

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Music

La Roux – Tigerlily (B. Rich Remix)

If there’s one thing the NYC music scene could use is more Dub Step, for numerous reasons but mainly because of the bass. Among the many contributions of hip hop was a revolution in the way bass frequencies were used in music production. Anyone who lived in NYC in the 90’s will remember the big sound systems that were pretty much staples in the city. I mean if you had a car without one well, that’s never forgive action right there…

Cause when I freak with the spots that I’m known to rock, you hear the bass from truck when I’m on the block…” – Dr. Dre (Still Dre, 2001)

Right now, it seems like the next innovations in bass are coming from Dub step. The genre is relatively new as are the techniques so the use is really aggressive and extreme for some ears but that will certainly change. I personally love the way it is now, but I also can’t wait till more people start adopting the style and taking bass use to yet another level. I don’t know about you but there’s nothing quite like big bass and low subs when I’m partying and since today is Saturday that’s exactly what I plan to do.  Here are two of my favorite dub step or dub step inspired remixes, enjoy.

La Roux – Tigerlily (B. Rich Remix)

Florence + the Machine – Rabbit Heart (SLOF MAN Dubstep Remix)

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Music

EMPT & forthebeat Present: The Top 10 Albums of ’09

Ten

To say the least ’09 was an eclectic year for music, from Animal Collective to Kid Cudi, The Xx to Miike Snow, it seems like everyone had their 15 minutes of fame or should I say 15 seconds, I mean it is the internet age after all. However, when it’s all said and done, there are certain albums that cut through the ruff loop and find a permanent place in our rotation, Et Musique Pour Tous & forthebeat have come together to highlight those records. I’m not a fan of numbered list so I chose not too put these in a particular order because these albums are so different and unique that they shouldn’t really be looked at in terms of which is better, they should be appreciated separately and simply listened to, not categorized. We’re kinda throwing this post together last minute but we’ll revisit it soon with more commentary so hang tight, in the mean time check out some of the albums on the list and expect to hear from us soon, enjoy.

The xx – The xx

 

With spots on the majority of “best of” lists this year, even including a nod on the Fact Magazine “Best Albums of the Decade” list, is the self-titled, debut album from The xx. Each time I listen to this album, I discover a new favorite song. The first few to jump out were “Crystalized” and “Night Time.” But each time I listen, depending on my mood, my favorites change. From the song writing to the production, it’s amazing that this album is the creation of a group of now 20-year-olds, who met at the Elliot School in London, which also boasts famous alums including Hot Chip and Four Tet. Led by the production of Jamie Smith (Beats, MPC, who also goes by Jamie xx as his DJ persona) and life-long friends Oliver Sim (Vocals, Bass) and Romy Madley (Vocals, Guitar), the group lost their fourth member Baria Qureshi (Keys, Guitar) during extensive, world-wide touring, which will continue well into 2010. The reason xx has such mass appeal is because of the band’s ability to brilliantly fit together influences from, according to their MySpace page, Aaliyah to CocoRosie, Rihanna to The Cure, Missy Elliott to Chromatics, The Kills to Ginuwine, Pixies to Mariah Carey, and Justin Timberlake to Tracy + the Plastics. The greatest example is The xx cover of Aaliyah’s “Hot Like Fire.” With the ability to expertly cross-genres, the band suddenly and deservedly reached critical acclaim. Perhaps just as exciting as their debut album were the Jamie xx remixes this year. My favorite of which was Florence and the Machine – You’ve Got The Love (Jamie xx Remix), which leads us into another breakout album of 2009… – KC

The xx – Crystalised

Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Two Suns is the place where epic fantasy, mystic love, dark adventure and highly ambitious song writing seamlessly come together to take us on a dark yet inspiring cosmic journey into world on Natasha Khan and her hedonistic alter-ego Pearl –

Fresh like the produce isle – that’s a Harlem for them.” – G.O.V

Like Merriweather Post Pavillion, most of the songs on this album require the listener to bring some imagination to the table. There are moments when this genre defying work might leave you in the cold if your not in Natasha fantasy land. Moments when abstract experimentation may have gotten the best of the music but should you dare to escape and enjoy outside of your personal listening needs, the experience will be one of a kind. My taste for all things this year has ended up at exotic, be it girls, music, entertainment, I need it to be something I’m not familiar with. Maybe I traveled too much as a kid or something but I need the atypical and perhaps this is why Daniel is hands down my favorite song of the year. No matter how many times I listen to this song, how close to home her emotional delivery may be, I can never listen to this songs and feel like it’s something I’m familiar with and that my friends, is priceless. – HMJ

Bat For Lashes – Daniel

Florence and the Machine – Lungs

 

Lungs, the debut album from Florence and the Machine, is the UK’s best-selling album of 2009, with over 100,000 copies sold within the first month of release. Led by frontwoman Florence Welch, who credits influences including Annie Lennox, Courtney Love and Kate Bush, Florence and the Machine is known for raw ballads, mostly about violence and death, yet sung in a beautiful, emotion-filled voice. This juxtaposition is daring considering the vividness of each song, but listeners can’t help but get caught up in the passion conveyed. Standout tracks include “Kiss With A Fist,” “Rabbit Heart (Raise Up),” “Dog Days Are Over,” and one of my favorite songs of this year, the commanding “Cosmic Love.” What some declare as its weaknesses are also its strengths – Lungs is an ambitious and sometimes wild debut, but Welch is a standout among her contemporaries. From pop to soul to folk, she takes a number of influences and executes an innovative album. Florence and the Machine go back into the studio in January 2010, and we’re rooting for an equally stunning follow-up. – KC

Florence + The Machine – Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Who would have thought that an extremely weird, overly ambient psychedelic pop album would be on the top of everyone’s list in ’09? An album that requires so much patience and imagination from the listener to the point that it’s borderline inaccessible. Well, pretty much every one. Since the day the album was released, this critically acclaimed album has held title of king. Like I said though, as well received as it may be, this album is not for everyone. As much as people want new, they want familiar and if your always listening for something to bring you back home when your listening to music then this may leave you in the dark. What impresses me the most about this work is how such eccentricity manages to provoke thought and emotion. It’s not everyday you get an album that succeeds like this one did without the band somehow compromising their integrity so this is truly a special one. – HMJ

Animal Collective – My Girls

Miike Snow - Miike Snow

I didn’t have to see the band live to know that Miike Snow’s self-titled debut would be one of my favorite albums of 2009, but their Mercury Lounge appearance, co-headlining with Jack Penate, solidified their place in our top 10 — the show being one of my favorite live performances of 2009.  Surprisingly, however, Miike Snow has been overtly left off most critics’ “best of” lists.  The trio of songwriters and producers, which includes New Yorker and in-house producer for Downtown Recordings Andrew Wyatt, in collaboration with Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, the Swedish production duo known as Bloodshy & Avant, have been the masterminds behind many pop and mainstream acts including Madonna, Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue.  However, their experience doesn’t thwart our love for this album.  Miike Snow is a complete pop revelation, and one of the best indie pop breakouts of the year. – KC

Miike Snow – Animal

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz

One of our favorite artists, and favorite albums this year. Every song has this undeniable energy and magnetism that makes you want to dance, sing and scream like Karen O, (which you will never be able to), desperate to try and mimic a fraction of what she delivers on stage in both presence and performance.The trio (Karen, along with drummer Brian Chase and guitarist Nick Zinner) deliver an impressive record that’s an emotional and beautiful tribute to the love of the dance floor, with  epic tracks like “Heads Will Roll,” “Soft Shock,” “Skeletons,” “Dull Life,” and “Zero,” and acoustic versions of select tracks including “Hysteric” that evokes a different experience of the album altogether. As exciting and amazing as the rock/punk/dance sound is overall, what’s equally amazing is the band’s ability to deliver unbelievable lyrics that are concise and repetitive but powerful time and time again. It’s Blitz proves once again, that following the huge successes of Fever to Tell (2003) and Show Your Bones (2006), Grammy nominations and mass popularity won’t ever mess with the YYY’s overwhelming cool factor. – SL

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll

La Roux - In For The Kill

Lyrics about love and betrayal and that hair… This 80’s inspired electropop duo’s band’s name originates from front-woman Elly Jackson’s French heritage (born in Brixton, UK) and of course her red hair, translating into “the red headed one.” The English electro pop duo’s debut album first hit the scene in 2007 when the debut single “QuickSand” was released on an independent record label, before signing with Polydor Records, who released the full debut album in 2009. The second half of the duo is Ben Langmaid; Langmaid does not perform live with Jackson and refuses to be photographed or interviewed; Jackson holds her own as the stand out of the band. With hits including “Bulletproof,” the second single released, which debuted at # 1 in the UK Singles Chart, “In For the Kill,” and “I’m Not Your Toy,” the debut album threw Jackson onto the scene with a bang, gracing the pages of Rolling Stone, SPIN, NME and hundreds of other features in UK papers, online media and the music blogoshphere. Her performances this past year have also gained her a loyal fanbase, with rave reviews from Leeds, Reading, Glastonbury and U.S. festival debut, All Points West. While 2009 was the year of the red, 2010 looks like it will be the year of the gold for Jackson with her 2010 tour titled “The Gold Tour,” kicking off in April. – SL

La Roux – Bulletproof

Passion Pit – Manners

Passion Pit bathes in the same pool as many other artsy vigilante musicians such as MGMT, Friendly Fires and Late of The Pier. As my tutor at ACM once told me, genres are for people that work at record stores. These guys bring this concept to the next level.

Finding inspiration in a plethora of musical styles, this album grasps you from the first bar of music on the introducing track, Make Light . An indie four-to-the-floor beat with a properly produced drone bass line lays the solid ground for the guitars to slowly unfold their respective voicing. Any song that drags you through three verses of a lyrical depiction of being down in a gutter, to then insist that we have the power within to bring light into our lives is a solid introduction.

And it’s alright
Cause tonight there’s a way I’ll make light
Of my treacherous life.”

The ‘favorite song’ pedestal for this album is a duality fought between Moths Wings and To Kingdom Come. The teasing guitar lick and epic entry of the keys sets my skin alight. I’m a fond believer that if you don’t know what to say, write a letter. Michael addresses the entire lyric of this song to a dear friend in need of advice. Epic.
I could type a novel on each of these tunes, but for logistic reasons, I wont. Seeing as Sleepyhead has been satisfactorily covered in prior posts, I’ll take the pleasure in breaking To Kingdom Come down to its core. Right from the beginning, this tune shines a ray of sunshine up anybody’s yo hole. Even though the lyrics oppose this idea, except for the final pair of words: Feel Alive! Yes sir, I do now. The rest of the lyrical content covers the dilemma of dealing with unnecessary and dumbfounded negative criticism from the people you expect it from the least. I think we can all relate.
All in all, this debut album, to me, is a master piece. They kicked the industry’s door down, and here they are, and they’re here to stay. Some people compare their sound to MGMT and call them a pastiche. I beg of you, stop skimming through albums, pay attention and you’ll see the divine difference between the two. – JCOS

Passion Pit – Little Secrets

Fever Ray – Fever Ray

Fever Ray’s self titled debut album was groundbreaking. The electro sounds and lyrics are similar to frontwoman Karin Dreijer Andersson’s former project The Knife yet evoke an even eerier and emotionally intense feeling that’s fast paced and experimental in sound. Karin delivers a truly unique auditory experience that blends fantasy with the nightmarish and unknown. Seeing Fever Ray perform live at Webster Hall in New York City this year definitely remains unlike any other live show I’ve seen to date. “When I Grow Up,” “Seven,” and “If I Had A Heart” are among the best tracks off the album, with videos that parallel in the strange and unique. The album penetrates your curiosity, half terrifying, half calming, and draws you into Karin’s world that’s highly emotional, complex and wonderfully weird. – SL

Fever Ray – When I Grow Up

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Who would of guessed that the pop/rock star persona was born in the midst of the Modern age, midway through the 19th century? Pas moi, pas du tout. Phoenix’s fifth achieved album is somewhat of an homage to this period in history. Lisztomania, remixed left right and center since the album’s release, is a direct allusion to the original rock star, Franz Liszt. Contemporary to his arch-rival Wagner, this dood lived it loud, large, and luscious. B!tches n Ho’s, the benjamins in his pocket (different currency at the time, but whatever), and the industries respect. He had the full kwan. Title single, and introductory track to the UK album release, this tune oozes the good ol’ phoenix bounce we all dig. The lyrics touch upon a touchy subject I ponder on quite often: women need to understand something. It’s all good and gold to be sentimental. But there is absolutely no need to be senti-mental. Keep it within boundaries girls. We try our best.
It also evokes the EMPT gospel,

Think less but see it grow, like a riot like a riot oh! Not easily offended … It’s time to show it off.”

What amazes me about every Phoenix album is the dalmatian ways of the guitar sounds: spot on. It is quite insane how the two guitars synergize to forge a soundscape worth admiring. And the keys? Don’t even get me started. They make the chester cheeto crunch that makes this band so unique. Oh, but the vocals are also as unique as a four-breasted PYT with a mute button included. This band is epic. Growing up in the same environment as Air and attending the same high school as Daft Punk and Justice, there is an obvious fact at hand: there must be something in the water in the outskirts of Versailles, cause their sound is crisp and shines like crystals.

Although most lyrics are not historical, the allusions are well embedded. Damn straight: Franz Liszt and his crazy ways; 1901, the approach to the end of Modernism and genesis of the Post Modern realm; The importance of Rome during the Italian unification; and the all failing attempts of armistice during both World Wars. It’s all there boys and girls. No need to hit the books, just sit back and enjoy this culturally enriching excuse for an album. For this isn’t merely an album, it’s the fifth book of a gospel being written in our modern day and age. – JOCS
Phoenix – 1901


Categories
Music

EMPT: Greatest Hits 2009, forthebeat Edition

As if Le Miel du Mois wasn’t already on fire, Steph and Kristin of Forthebeat took the popular mixtape’s best of the best to provide you with 9 of ’09, 9 remixes and 9 originals from our first official year in business.
Just when you think this tape is gonna slow down and its safe for you to take  coffee break, you get smacked with a banger, then another and another… What’s the moral of the story? Sit your ass down and listen fool!! With the year closing in I couldn’t think of a better compilation to represent the taste and song selection we hold so dearly at EMPT, enjoy.

Styles P EMPT, the only rapper blog you know wit’ a bounce and a half…“

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Tracklisting:

    1. White Rabbits – Percussion Gun
    2. Delorean – Deli
    3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)
    4. Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
    5. Sleigh Bells – Ring Ring
    6. Whitest Boy Alive – Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)
    7. The xx – Crystalized
    8. The Virgins – Rich Girls (The Twelves Remix)
    9. Miike Snow – Sylvia
    10. Telepathe – Chrome’s On It (Gold Panda Remix)
    11. Florence and the Machine – Cosmic Love
    12. Sebastien Tellier – Roche (Breakbot Remix)
    13. La Roux – I’m Not Your Toy (Jack Beats Remix)
    14. Air France – Collapsing At Your Doorstep
    15. Lykke Li – Dance, Dance, Dance
    16. Florence and the Machine – You’ve Got the Love (The xx Remix)
    17. Friendly Fires – Paris (Aeroplane Remix)
    18. The xx – Shelter (Them Jeans Drum Edit)