popwreckoning

Weary festival goers clutched their Starbucks cups closely on the CTA. The enthusiasm for day 2 of Lollapalooza was there, but the energy was not. Friday had been hot and filled with a combination of lots of dancing and walking. The evening was packed with after shows and after parties, so passengers suavely tried to glance at the tangled wrist bands of others to see what Chicago venues they had ended up at or in some cases, were just now returning home from.

For those that thought Saturday would leave thoughts of Gaga in the dust, they were wrong. One of the first bands I saw that day paid her an early afternoon tribute. Over at the BMI Stage, I caught the pop rock act: Skybox. These guys are Chicago-based, but they also have a Kansas City (where I’m from) connection. So I already, felt a bit of a bond to these grandiose rockers. The band’s singer, Tim Ellis, quickly had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he bounced around the stage singing catchy hooks and amping the crowd up for the rest of the day. When it came time for their last number, he said they were dedicating it to Lady Gaga, and he disappeared. When Ellis re-emerged, he was wearing a sparkly bra with his striped pants. Once past the initial shock of his change, we went with it and started dancing and having fun. It was like a big party in front of the stage. Fantastic.

Wild Beasts were one of those surprise bands that I ended up loving and had just kind of stumbled into. I honestly, didn’t know a thing about these ethereal rockers, but from the sampling I saw, I’m recommending everyone check them out.

Dragonette continued the trend of the BMI stage featuring synth-heavy, up-and-coming rock bands that were great for dancing. Considering that Gaga was able to blow up after her hot mess of a set on the BMI Stage a few years ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if this tight performance launches Dragonette into even bigger stardom.

Speaking of hot messes, I was less of a fan of the poptart I saw at the Hard Rock Music Lounge: Kristine Elezaj. She wants to be the next Britney or something, but with her over the top performance for a bunch of already established music industry people was a bit much. Honestly, we don’t need to see some over produced act feeling herself up while we’re trying to enjoy lunch. Ugh. Disgusted, I hurried back to the festival for some guaranteed good music.

More from day 2 soon to follow!

Empire of the Sun’s “Walking on a Dream” was one of my favorite tracks of last year. I did a review on their album as well, which I thought was definitely a solid set of tunes centered upon their biggest hit, “Walking on a Dream”. And since then there have been plenty of great remixes for this track.

.Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream
As described in my review of the album, this song is a pop, synth number, filled with ambiguous romantic lyrics that peacefully create a nostalgic atmosphere of light, ethereal melodies. The song is crafted around the synth drumbeat that softens the music to that of a heartbeat.

.Walking on a Dream – Van She Tech Remix
Van She Tech of the Australian indie poppers, Van She, always creates stunning remixes. She does so again with “Walking on a Dream.” Van She doesn’t alter the track all that much but they certainly infuse electronic aesthetics into it. The mid tempo speed of the track is left intact and layers of distortion are added for a slightly harsher/dance sound. Ethereal flourishes are enhanced by further layered sequencers and the remix speeds up towards the middle end for a little more fun on the floor.

.Walking on a Dream – Treasure Fingers Remix
Treasure Fingers, known for their creative remixes, do some innovative wonders to this song. The music is altered completely, with vocals the only remainder of the original. The mix starts off fairly silent with slaps on the bongos to generate an island feel. This is followed by echoed vocals, plenty of laser sounding sequencers that pierce through the music to pick up the pace. Eventually when the vocals kick in you have a variety of sounds that create a pop, electro infused Caribbean vacation that puts a bounce in your step.

.Walking on a Dream – T.B.S. Remix
There are plenty of mixes out for this track and I attempted to pick the ones that are (1) the best or (2) diverse. A lot, however, are fairly similar to one another. The T.B.S. mix is one that stuck out because they took a different route than all the others. While the other remixes attempted to keep the melody or the feel of it the same as the original; light, airy, romantic, T.B.S. said ‘Eff That!’ and went with the other way. They have literally killed the romantic, light nature of this song, but with a positive result. The music is pure electronic distortion, grinding and syncopated rhythms, for a very harsh feel. The niceness of the original is chucked to be replaced with a melody that is gritty, edgy and with an attitude.

Empire of the Sun: website | myspace | Walking on a Dream review

When I first heard the single “Walking On A Dream” by Empire Of The Sun, I was sucked in immediately. It had all the ingredients of songs I love: a soft, dream like synth melody; a solid, yet heartfelt drum beat; airy, nostalgic vocals; vaguely romantic lyrics. The song is amazing, there is nothing else to say about it.

Empire Of The Sun is an Australian electronic duo consisting of Luke Steele from The Sleepy Jackson and Nick Littlemore from Pnau. The band gets it moniker from the book of the same name by J.G. Ballard, and Walking On A Dream is their debut album.

The sound, to be succinct, is like that of MGMT, mixing psychedelic glam pop with electronic beats. “Walking On A Dream” is the centerpiece of the record and all the other songs gather around it, eagerly extracting its framework of atmospheric synths, falsettos and sunny, shimmering pop. The album is stronger in the front, with the same mix of catchy hooks and power synths, while the latter part falls into an arena of ambient filler music.

As described, “Walking On A Dream” is the standout track. The unique part of the song is when the vocals break the chorus/verse structure and the sentiment pours out with the melody, “Don’t stop just keep going on. / I am your shoulder, lean upon, / So come on deliver from inside. / All we got is tonight that is right till first light.” It’s an affectionate song, indirectly describing how fun and miraculous it feels to fall in love with someone you’ve been with for a while as you two become closer and closer.

Another standout is “Half Mast,” which sticks to the structure of mid-tempo, airy, drum machine fueled shiners. It’s also an exemplary showing of Luke Steele’s strange, nasally vocals that only add to the diversity of sounds. The ballad “Without You,” John Hughes may have used at the end of one of his high school movies. “Country” is an epic instrumental that can only be described as electronic folk with a sci-fi edge. If Yanni was an 80s electro artist, this is what his albums would’ve sounded like.

Overall, Walking On A Dream is an 80s fun filled debut with some solid tracks. The formula of falsettos and mid-tempo, soft padded synths works as a cohesive glue for the album.

And as always, I love to mention album artwork if I find it artistically interesting, aesthetically pleasing, or having a captivating story behind it. As you can see the cover is an epic fantasy/sci-fi creation. According to the band, the iconic posters of Star Wars and Indiana Jones inspired the cover. The music on the album could very well be the soundtrack to such a fantasy film.

“Walking On A Dream” was released on October 4th by EMI.

Tracklisting:
01. Standing On the Shore
02. Waling On A Dream
03. Half Mast
04. We Are The People
05. Delta Bay
06. Country
07. The World
08. Swordfish Hotkiss Night
09. Tiger By My Side
10. Without You
11. Breakdown (iTunes Bonus Track)

Empire of the Sun: website | myspace

Written by: Ali Hussain

So who doesn’t love the weekend and free music? We dig both and want to share the love. PopWreckoning is proud to present ‘Free Music Friday’ — we’ll give you a quick rundown on a band and have an mp3 streaming and available for download. We think it’s a solid idea and hope you do, too!
Day late and a dollar short, but come on. Still, free music is free music. Enjoy this Saturday edition of ‘Free Music Friday!’

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Empire of the Sun

Aussie electro pop duo Empire of the Sun recently released their debut album Walking On A Dream. The pair, comprised of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore, have been receiving lots of positive airplay at home in Australia with their foot tapping dance beats, hooky melodies and ethereal falsettos.

“Walking on a Dream” (download)
website | myspace

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Jean On Jean

Jean On Jean is ex-Out Hud/Raooul songstress Molly Shnick. Her [moniker] self-titled debut, a theraputic release following the breakup of Out Hud, will be released by Kanine Records next month. Her direction with this solo effort is different than some of her former bandmates who now operate as !!!. Shnick’s lush cello playing is still extremely prevalent and compliments well her sweet vocals and twinkly percussion.

“Tonight” (download)

myspace

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Sun Airway

Sun Airway is an extension of The A-Sides, who put out an album with Vagrant Records last year but has already called it quits. Not even close to being finished with music, front man Jon Barthmus and drummer Patrick Marsceill decided to build their own studio and start fresh, working with different sounds and studio experimentation because guitar rock was becoming way boring. Before the pair’s full length album hits in 2009, preview their new sound.

“Waiting On You” (download)

website | myspace

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Citay

Citay is a band that has dared to delve into this realm of a guilty pleasure with their 70s rock sound. They have resurrected the guitar army, bringing three guitars to the stage supported by bass, drums, and a multi-instrumentalist/ singer. The beauty of their music is in their vast levels of technique. There is a no wanking Phish-style guitar noodling, nor is there the excessive masturbatory ten minute guitar solo, instead you get all that is loved from 70s rock crafted into complex arrangements and truly amazing interplay between three guitarists whose fingers move like lightning.

Sometimes you’ve gotta switch it up. Today you can with Citay.

“First Fantasy” (download)

website | myspace