popwreckoning

And so it comes to LCD Soundsystem‘s third and purported final album. When you’re James Murphy and your previous musical work is the much adored Sound of Silver and you follow it up with your final piece of art, you better go out with a bang. And from the get go Mr. Murphy understands this fact and hesitates not to throw a handful of glitter and confetti into the visual components of our ears.

This Is Happening was not recorded in New York’s DFA studios but rather the sprawling mansion of producer Rick Rubin. And lets clear up an important fact before we discuss and delve into the finiteness of this album. It’s no Sound of Silver, but it doesn’t need to be. When you put out an album that is that sonically impressive, both lyrically and melodically, you don’t need your next one to be as such. You’ve cemented your greatness and your place in the world’s musical oeuvre. All you need to do is underline the fact that you can still craft a few fantastic tunes and that your talent isn’t limited to a fluke. That’s exactly what This Is Happening does. It doesn’t try to be better than its predecessor, but it sure comes close.

The album starts off with a subtle sneakiness with “Dance Yrself Clean.” The track begins and continues for a while to be a slow, quiet puff of breath: a “What, I can’t hear you?” number. You think to yourself, “LCD Soundsystem makes dance music. What is this nonsense?” And your heart sinks a little to think Mr. Murphy has faulted you. The song pitter-patters a bit, joined by spoken vocals, but then the track starts to pick up a little, with soft whistling keyboards that run like a river through the quiet. You feel there might be hope and then when 3:08 hits you are jolted like a mother f*cker with probably the best dance music in a long time. A smack of snare drums that are quickly quenched by some of the deepest fuzzed out synths this side of downtown. The song is a dancefloor cracker. Murphy starts to sing with a “I just woke up from a boozy night” voice and firmly tells you to “Dance yourself clean” from such an evening and perhaps, aptly for him, to take stock of his place in the musical scene as a 40 year old man, as he sings: “Everybody’s getting younger/It’s the end of an era, it’s true.” Amongst this philosophical question of age and place, amongst the filthy percussion, also lies a romantic tune: “Break me into bigger pieces/So some of me is home with you,” a nice juxtaposition between the music and lyrics. “Dance Yrself Clean” is a winner and gets you ready for the rest.

The album follows with “Drunk Girls,” a fun-filled track of nonsense about night out on the town shenanigans, where lacking in lyrics and vocals it makes up in a rocking your head kind of musical style. “One Touch” harks back to Sound of Silver‘s “Get Innocuous”; what an 8 bit LCD Soundsystem video game would sound like. “All I Want” is a bruising sentimentality, mixing rock and dance, evoking the guitar work from Bowie‘s “Heroes,” with Murphy youthfully pouring out thoughts over a doomed relationship: “All I want is your pity/Oh all I want are your bitter tears.” It is a beautiful track with a softness that permeates through the callousness of the singer.

“All I Want” leads into another soft stunner, the album’s second best track, “I Can Change,” which showcases the best singing we’ve heard from Murphy since “All My Friends.” Mr. Murphy needs to croon us like this more often because it really is a wonderful vox box. He fills the track with bubbling synthesizers, a la Gary Numan‘s “Cars,” while coaxing a young thing, “I can change, I can change, if it helps you fall in love.” The song also starts off with some of the best lyrics I’ve heard in a while, “Tell me a line/Make it easy for me/Open your arms/Dance with me until I feel alright.”

“Hit” opens with a sparkle of Asian infused melodies eventually being drowned out by a thick, slobbering bass, as Murphy belts his Fuck You ode to record labels, “You wanted a hit/Well this is how we do hits/You wanted a hit/But that’s not what we do/So leave us alone”. The following two tracks, “Pow Wow” and “Somebody’s Calling Me,” though musically well composed, leave something to be desired.

This Is Happening ends with “What You Need,” and so comes the close of LCD Soundsystem’s offerings to the world, and it closes perfectly, with a neat, nostalgic period. The track perfectly dissipates Murphy’s thoughts over the years of his and his bands stature and significance in the music world, the idea of aging and coming to grips with moving on to the next stages of life, but pondering what sort of legacy was left and what the future holds, leaving us with…”You might forget/Forget the sound of our voice/Still you should not forget, yet/Don’t forget the things that we laughed about.”

This Is Happening will be released on May 17, 2010.

Track Listing:
1. Dance Yrself Clean
2. Drunk Girls
3. One Touch
4. All I Want
5. I Can Change
6. You Wanted A Hit
7. Pow Pow
8. Somebody’s Calling Me
9. Home

Top 3 Albums of 2009:

• Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
• White Lies – To Lose My Life
• Miike Snow – Miike Snow

Best Show of 2009:

• Phoenix at Terminal 5

Most Anticipated in 2010:

• Vampire Weekend
• Delphic

Most Overrated in 2009:

• La Roux

Favorite Musical Memory of the Decade:

• Watching the video for the Strokes’ “Last Nite” not knowing who they were, but discovering that music and then everything that came after. A saviour from the music that was playing in the 90s.

Everything Everything is a British rock band that’s started to get on the scene. I don’t know too much about them, but they’ve had some good tracks out. I don’t even know if they have an album. But the BBC says they are a band to watch out for in 2010.

.Everything Everything – “My Keys, Your Boyfriend”
Love the title of this track. The song is tough to describe. It definitely feels like a pop song, though has a little more edge than typical ones. It’s softer than rock but rockier than electronic music, certainly combing the styles of both. The vocals are somewhere between being sung and rapped. It’s enjoyable and unique.

.Delphic Remix
Delphic’s remix is the reason I found out about the song. Delphic is an electronic group from England, another one hailed by the BBC a band to watch for 2010. Their stuff has been very good so far, certainly evidenced by the remix they do here. They convert the song from the fast, jumpy number it is, into a dreamy, electronic tune. The vocals are bare, focusing on the intro whispers of the original. A haunting mysticism is delivered from Delphic.

.Portmanteau Remix
The Portmanteau remix combines elements of both the original and the Delphic mix in a sense. The rapping/sung style vocals are kepy, the rock aesthetic is gone and an electronic one takes it place. But this is slightly jarring and uncomfortable. The mix here seems confused with too much. It has moments but the main riff could drive someone insane.

Everything Everything: myspace

Remember The Bravery? “An Honest Mistake,” “Unconditional”? Their ongoing feud with The Killers when both bands came out at the same time? Well, it’s been a while since something good of theirs has been out, including their entire second album. They released their third, Stir The Blood, just the other day, to atrocious reviews. However, I’m quite enjoying the single “Slow Poison.”

.The Bravery – “Slow Poison”
“Slow Poison” is done in The Bravery’s same fashion: a little rock, a little goth and a little synth. It’s an upbeat number, perfect as a summer’s driving song and pretty fun to listen too, especially the guitar breaks. I also like how the song trails off at the end; you never really hear that anymore.

.Of Montreal Remix
So this is a pretty bad remix. I feature it as just an example (though some may like it). Usually Of Montreal just make music; I’ve never heard a remix by them and this might be why. All the sounds jar together and collide with so much noise and fluidity. The mix is heavier, obtuse, with no real style: A remix gone wrong.

.Drop The Lime Remix
A much fuller remix, with electro thumps and tropical drums. The vocals are allowed to follow through like that of the original, but the music is changed to that of the dancing kind. It’s slower, heavier with little fits of speed. It’s slightly spacey, but one that’ll surely be able to have you shaking that still body of yours.

The Bravery: website | myspace | @ the midland | under cover

.Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”
Now I’m not a huge fan of this track. It starts off with creepy “Ra Ra Ah Ah, GaGa” gurgles, followed by Lady GaGa singing in a deep, tough voice. The music is subtle, with a hefty drumbeat and subtle keyboards for an eerie feel. The song certainly picks up during the chorus, becoming more poppy with Lady GaGa singing in a lighter tone, matched to lighter music.

.Grum Remix
Grum does a great turn on the song. He leaves out the creepy gurgles and focuses on the poppier side of the music while simultaneously adding his thick electronic tweaks. They come in fast forms and slow, churning, thick forms. He adds to the song rather than altering it much, highlighting its better parts to something more suited for normal people.

.Starsmith Remix
The Starsmith remix is the most dancey of all of them and only because it’s the quickest. It features 80s sci-fi laser sounds, plenty of synths, electro pops and light percussion. It speeds through rather fast till the end, wear it slows for a typical trance build up, bursting into an odd rap.

.Hercules & Love Affair Remix

Hercules & Love Affair turn this into a style that is a complete aesthetic of what they do. They slow it down, bring it to a walking pace of cool disco and funk beats. The one bubbling bass line pours throughout the song, added by light xylophone taps. The mix really showcases Lady GaGa’s vocals as they are louder than anything else in the mix. It’s a softer and perhaps more pleasant working.

Lady Gaga: website | myspace

Gossip is a three-piece indie rock outfit from Washington, fronted by Beth Ditto. They released their fourth studio album, Music For Men, this past summer and “Heavy Cross” was the first single released. Their sound is a mixture of vocals that are soul and gospel and music that is funky punk and dance.

Gossip – “Heavy Cross” (watch video below)
Heavy Cross starts off with quiet staccato strums and soft ‘oohs’ from Ditto. Though peaceful, there’s a slight urgency to the music that builds up and eventually breaks through with aggressive guitars and dancey percussion. Ditto’s voice, powerful and diva-esque, carries the entire track, from her whispers to her screams, the music matching all the highs and lows. There’s a touch of synth splattered throughout for a retro feel.

“Heavy Cross” (Yuksek Remix)
Yuksek does the best remix in my opinion. The song is structurally the same though layered with creativity. The first addition is stadium thumps and claps surrounding the staccato and the vocals, eventually Yuksek plays with distortion by adding in electronic and house beats. The result is a quicker more dangerous track.

“Heavy Cross” (Burns Remix)
Similar in structure to the original and Yuksek’s mix, Burns adds his own flavor as a layer to what already exists. His mix is tremendously faster and concentrates on percussion which is a driving force, thick and heavy. He plays with that throughout on different levels. Burns allows for a slower build up in the beginning before bringing all the noise in.

“Heavy Cross” (Fred Falke Remix)
Though not the best, Fred Falke does the most diverse of the remixes, the one that sounds nothing like the original. He strips the original melody and inserts his own, ethereal, light synthesizer sound. Mr. Falke then adds in speed via a thick bass line that snaps around like a rubber band for an original sound. It’s a ligher and faster track, the most appropriate for the dance floor.

Gossip: website | myspace | interview with

Certainly one of the most popular albums of 2009 was Phoenix’s fourth release, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. I’ve always liked Phoenix’s music from their debut in 2000 with United, but this album was something else. And I’m glad to see Phoenix getting the attention and stardom they deserve. One of my favorite tracks off of the album was “Fences” and I really like the remixes that have been done for this song.

.Phoenix – “Fences”
Fences is a mid tempo track that feels faster with the music, but slower through lead singer Thomas Mars’ vocals. The song has a romantic tinge to it with the highs and lows of Mars’ crooning voice. The vocals are really the best part that reach a falsetto, the music pursuing the change, creating a song with a lot of variety. The music is a beautiful blend of rock, jangly guitars with touches of synthesizers and light body moving drums.

.Def Starr Remix
This is by far the best remix of the song. The synthy beginning reminds me of the intro to “Forever Young” by Alphaville. The mix then jumps into squiggles and rubs on a synthesizer, which create sounds as such. The rock aesthetic of the song is subtly peeled away to be replaced by soft electronic music. The music is incredibly hushed and delicate; the altered version comes across as something simpler and purer. It’s the track I listen to the most out of all of them. Mars’ vocals seemed enhanced here, perhaps because they stand out amongst the softer music.

.Friendly Fires Remix
Friendly Fires change up things significantly here. The music is louder, jumpier and definitely faster. I see this one being played on dance floors. It has an old schools 90s dance vibe to it, mixed with jangly pianos, splinter splashed drums, and eventually some heavy presses on the trusty synth. The vocals are of course left in place, because they’re oh so good, though at times come across muffled by the music. Either way, a great re-working of the original.

.Neo Tokyo Remix
The Neo Tokyo mix is an even further cry away from the original. All rock/soft aesthetics are stripped to be replaced by French electro trash instrumentation; all very distorted, jarring, sleazy and buzzy. But it’s a fun mix to get into, as it has typical house builds up and come downs. It’s got all sorts of craziness in it throughout.

Phoenix: website | myspace | @ rumsey playfield | @ monolith | @ record bar | remix monday “love like a sunset”

Photo by: Dese’Rae L. Stage

The Shoes is a French duo that recently released their EP People Movin and will be coming out with their debut album shortly. “People Movin” was done in collaboration with Primary 1.

.The Shoes – “People Movin”
People Movin is a minimalist electronic track that brittles with a shiny pop. It has that subtle cool evident in much of the French scenesters. The vocals are extremely soft and charming, akin to an R&B sound. Light synthesizers permeate portions of the song that fit the aesthetic of an old Nintendo game. Amongst the marching band-esque drums is a filtered sound that is reminiscent of background music in French New Wave cinema.

.“People Movin” (Monsieur Monsieur Remix)
The MM remix is a proper transformation into a more electronic track, with thick dubs, recycled vocals, bleeps and sequencers. The pace of the song, however, is extremely slowed down, so this doesn’t become a dancey tune by any means. Most of the vocals are replaced by instrumentals, and a thick, syrupy drum machine pounds a muffled beat through the track. Another mix that works more for background music rather than as a focal point, which is what the original really is.

.“People Movin” (Siriusmo Remix)
There is hardly a change from the original to this remix. I’m struggling to note much dissimilarity. The Siriusmo remix is a little faster, a touch more electronic, the vocals seem slightly stripped down and raw. Musically the percussion remains fairly static, synthesizers appear more frequently, but for the most part Siriusmo could’ve tried a little harder.

.“People Movin” (Arbogast Remix)
This is probably one of the better remixes of this song. It’s quicker, lighthearted and permeates an essence of youthful adventure and recklessness. The fast pace of the vocals bring a much needed energy into the song, particularly after the above remixes. Arbogast’s remix does maintain a similar structure to the song in that it doesn’t transform it to a dance floor, electro pounding anthem. It keeps the similar percussion and guitars.

The Shoes: myspace

Some crazy tunes today. In this post I’ll be featuring Killer on the Dancefloor, a DJ/Production duo from the urban realms of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Killer on the Dancefloor is the combination of DJs Phillip A. Fatu & Ali Disco B. They’ve had some lengthy experience in the digital/electronic world, sharing the stage with the likes of Justice, Digitalism and So Me. They seek inspiration from the mash up scene and when not mixing/performing as Killer on the Dancefloor they manage Maximize, a sub label from Transit Music. And to be honest, I started to do this post because of the “MMMathias Remix.”

.Killer on the Dancefloor – “Gringo Oba Oba”
“Gringo Oba Oba” is a very creatively created song. It starts off old school with the scratching, ill adjusted sound of a record player, then coming in clean with hard, heavy, South American bongos, pounding deep and heavy. Very native sounds, until we start seeing signs of progressive electronic music, with deep sequencers, distorted bleeps, subtle breathing, and eventually light melodies to distract from the heavy sounds. This is also encompassed by pseudo robotic lyrics speaking “Rio De Janeiro, Killer on the Dancefloor.” Very weird indeed. But pretty fun. However, I don’t know when any normal person would listen to this.

.“MMMathias Remix”
Much more of a sane tune here. And by sane I mean normal. MMMathias transforms this a great deal, making it more of a continuous song than a jumble of different music like the original. He brings to it an electro house feel that is missing in the original. And from that he builds a great synth riff that underlines the track. He features the original sequencers, which he adjusts lightly in that they play softer and bounce across the song. The odd vocals are still available, but MMMathias cuts them in the right points. A great part of the mix is when everything goes silent and the song seems to fade out, but MMMathias brings it back up again with a plethora of electronica and then the vocals.

.“Tropikill Remix”
The Tropikill mix starts in much the same fashion as the original. It features hits on South American bongs, only that they are faster here. The vocals kick in here as well but are more nonsensical. This remix keeps a very similar aesthetic in the random music and cuts, but adds heavier and more trance/90s club vibes. I actually think this is a pretty poor mix. But alas, they only made two for this track thus far.

Killer on the Dancefloor: website | myspace

Growing up as a teenager from 1994-2001, I felt jipped with the music of my generation. Rap and Hip Hop were the prominent genres, Grunge and Alt Rock were the main rock scenes, and all music I couldn’t relate to. I spent my musical upbringing in my father’s records: The Beatles, The Stones, Zeppelin, Van Morrison, The Spencer Davis Group, Cream, all but to name a few. It’s all that really spoke to me until one summer’s day in 2001 when I saw a music video on TV with a bunch of guys singing some lo-fi garage rock, dressed in clothes not many people were wearing at the time: skinny jeans, fitted leather jackets and beaten down tees. The sound harked back to the 70s and I was confused as to what band from then that I hadn’t heard of. I did some research and found out that what I was watching/listening to was a band called the The Strokes, and to be specific “Last Nite,” and I was blown away to realize that they weren’t a band from the 70s, but instead a new band on the scene. Things changed for me then.

I was pretty ecstatic to be listening to music that sounded more like rock I listened to, that shared the same influences, spoke the same words, had a style. Fair enough to say that I spent the better part of the end of 2001 and 2002 listening to The Strokes’ debut album, Is This It. I truly love every single track on that record. And from there it opened up a whole new world to bands that started trying to emulate this sound, bringing to the foray indie rock and garage rock. Finally, music from my generation that I loved. True, they were labeled as the saviors of rock n’ roll, a completely bombastic remark, but for me, it was true.

And so it is that the lead singer of that band, Julian Casablancas, eight years later puts out his first solo album. Sure guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. has beat him to that, twice over, and all other members have side projects, but it’s different when it comes from the lead singer/songwriter of the group. Phrazes for the Young takes its name from a piece of writing by Oscar Wilde, entitled Phrases and Philosophies For The Use of The Young.

The first single off of the album is “11th Dimension,” which has The Strokes/Casablancas touch to it, but it’s different enough to be Casablanca’s own. “11th Dimension” features the signature lo-fi feel, but has an electronic aesthetic to it, programmed sequencers, light synthesizers and a percussioned intro that beats like a heart. All mesh well against Casablancas’ fuzzed and tired vocals. Another synth flavored track for the ears is “Left & Right In The Dark” that initially sounds like a re working of 80s Rod Stewart (think “Young Turks”). It continues in Casablancas’ laconic style and is probably one of the catchiest/FM styled songs on the album, particularly when he elevates his chords to yell, “Wake up, wake up, wake up…” Album opener “Out of the Blue” starts with familiar guitar strumming and a quick speed, aided and abetted with a New Wave shimmer. What drives the compactness of the song is Casablancas’ disaffected and candid words, “At least I’ll be in another world / While you’re pissing on my casket.”

And those tracks are about as close as it’s going to get to sounding like The Strokes, which only cements Casablancas’ creativity, signaling signs of his bravery to try anything new and diversify his sound. This is best evidenced on “Ludlow St,” that features a melody based on Country, showcasing steel guitars, shuffling percussion, and interestingly enough, Asian melodies, all of which create an image of a slow walking, drawling Western, as Casablancas’ recalls the history of the Lower East Side in New York, the area that was the biggest receptacle of his band’s music. “4 Chords of the Apocalypse” is a large shift in musical style for Casablancas in that it’s a slow and contemplative ballad. It’s a pleasant surprise to see his vocals fit around a different musical aesthetic so different than what we are used to. But his faded and stretched words go a long agreeably to music that inspires the same emotions.

So perhaps many of us have been longing for a new Strokes album and thus the release of the lead singer’s first solo work might signal a further delay, but at least we have it confirmed from his own project that Julian Casablancas has plenty of creativity and talent in him to continue making music with and if called for, without his band. Phrazes For The Young showcases a diversity few would expect from this man, yet a diversity that is more than welcomed on the ears.
Tracklisting:
01. Out of the Blue
02. River of Brake Lights
03. 4 Chords of the Apocalypse
04. 11th Dimension
05. Ludlow St.
06. Glass
07. Left & Right In The Dark
08. Tourist

Julian Casablancas: website | myspace