The week is coming to an end and it’s time to unwind. We all just need to sit back and chill out for a few minutes and listening to Air is the best way I know. From their first EP Premiers Symptômes in 1997 to last year’s Pocket Symphony , Air always seems to create a beautiful backdrop of sound.
From their 2004 release Talkie Walkie, “Universal Traveler” is another beautiful song with a vagabond message.
However, if you’re in a more upbeat mood go check out the previous Tuneage post for Air’s “Kelly Watch the Stars”.
In comparison to their 2005 effort The Witching Hour, Ladytron’s latest release Velocifero ambles its way through the darkly hip and sinister rather than exploding with electro-dynamite. The album finds its strength in soft and romantic goth-pop flourishes rather than in the band’s signature stark and immediate synth hooks.
The light and airy chorus of ballad “Tomorrow” finds its weight in the subtle melancholy of Helen Marnie’s voice achieving a dramatic fullness that owes more to man than machine. Ladytron still keep you in the dark, but they might offer a flicker of light every now and then.
Ratatat have a new album due in July, which we’re looking forward to, as huge fans of Ratatat. But July’s a long way away, so to whet your appetite, here’s their first single from the album, that was released at the beginning of May, called “Shiller”.
“Shiller” is rather a long shot from the Ratatat existing fans will be used to — compare it with “Seventeen Years”, for example — but it’s not a bad thing. If the rest of the album is like this, it will make a great Summer album.
In almost every description of this video I’ve seen, someone uses the word “hypnotic”, and that’s precisely what this video is. Directed by the always-awesome Michael Gondry, everything in the video syncs up to something in the music. I’ve watched this video dozens of times and still catch something new each time.
Watch this video, be completely hypnotized by it (see what I did there?), then watch the making of video to see just how intricate this video really is.
The There Will Be Blood OST is a rhythmic, atonal, jarring musical experience that fits its film’s dark, mysterious, and suspenseful nature. Trains chug across the desolate turn of the century nation as black smoke billows out of the engine. At the same time, cellos and basses strum short, staccato, Jaws-esque lines. A baby is symbolically baptized with recently unearthed crude oil. Violins and piano play countermelodies that while soothing for an instant, stir up anticipation of evil. Greenwood leaves any semblance of Radiohead’s style aside to create a masterpiece of a soundtrack evoking despair, frustration, a little hope, and a lot of greed.
We posted Ratatat remixing Björk back in February, but we haven’t posted an actual Ratatat track yet, which seems like a huge oversight. So here’s Seventeen Years from their self-titled first album.
They’ve got a new album known only as LP3 due in July, the first single of which, Shiller, they released two days ago on 7”, and can be ordered from here.
Some might think it odd that Tuneage has made no mention of Santogold yet, given all the hype, but measures had to be taken to ensure it lived up to the hype, and the official Tuneage diagnosis is that it does.
So here’s L.E.S. Artistes, the second single off Santogold’s self-titled debut, which came out last week in the US (you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks if you’re in the UK with me).
And once you’re finished with this post, I recommend heading over to RCRD LBL’s website, where they’ve got an exclusive Santogold track that’s not on the album.
The weekend is almost here which means it’s time to let your hair down and go a little crazy to… well, how about a remix of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”? You know, The One With The Gunshots.
This remix is courtesy of Holy Fuck, who we posted a few weeks ago.
M83’s new album Saturdays=Youth takes heavy cues from the dreamiest of the 80’s canon including the Cocteau Twins and a bevy of New Romantic optimists. This particular track, “Up!”, is clearly a tribute to the inimitable Kate Bush down to the vocal; there’s even a lyrical reference to the “hounds of love.” Yes, it’s all very obvious but the song gently envelops you in its gossamer synth bliss and reminds you of first crushes of the school year, golden autumns, and the gilded age of youth. Oh, to be young again and in the 80s…it’s everyone’s dream.
Looking forward to Portishead’s latest album? I know I am. But there’s still a little under a week before it’s released. In the meantime, you can stream the full album on Third’s page on last.fm.
Bonus: Here’s a link to Sasha Frere-Jones’ excellent review of the album in the New Yorker.
Continuing the mashup theme from yesterday’s post on the Kleptones, here’s Girl Talk. Probably better known than The Kleptones (outside the UK, at least, where they come from), and very well known for his live shows, which frequently end up with half the audience in attendance on stage dancing along in various stages of undress. I haven’t had the pleasure myself, but I hear it’s a hell of a live show.
Anyway, Girl Talk is the stage name of Greg Gillis, who hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He makes his music almost completely by mixing samples from other artists’ songs, running the complete gamut of genres — from Black Eyed Peas and 50 Cent, up to Jefferson Airplane, The Pixies, and Britney Spears. In the liner notes for the album this track comes from, Night Ripper, he thanks over 100 artists (most of which haven’t actually give him permission to use their music).
It’s pretty hard to pick out one track from the album, since they all blend in to each other, but this one stands out pretty well on its own. You can try and spot all the samples used — which range from LL Cool J to Neutral Milk Hotel, and Juelz Santana to Steely Dan — but with at least 14 of them, I bid you good luck. (When you give up, here’s a list of them.)
The beginning of this videos panders to my love of symmetry and all things awesome. However, something started bothering me, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. As I kept watching, I realized the people reminded me of old Tool videos. That’s when all my reservations washed away, and Silent Shout became a new favorite.
I’m salivating in anticipation of the release of Cut Copy’s latest album In Ghost Colours. The Aussie synthpoppers have had me burning up the kitchen tiles with my new wave moves since I first heard their single “Hearts on Fire.” While recently released in the band’s homeland on March 22nd, the album will not hit U.S. shelves until April 8th.
The latest 80’s time warp off the album, “Lights & Music” is a healthy dose of New Order, a smidgen of Human League, and all dancefloor-friendly. The album in its entirety is available for streaming on the band’s MySpace. For now, treat your eyes and ears to these rather fetching lads in the single’s accompanying video.
So, I am Tuneage’s newest contributor, Jillian. I am both grateful and excited to have this opportunity to share music with you. While it’s true I have a penchant for the 80s in all its keytar glory, I also enjoy glam rock, punk rock, indie rock, classic rock, soft rock, hard rock, and pop. Even so, I tend to avoid classifying music by genre and make no distinction between a guilty pleasure and a really great song.
DJ Frane is something of a wildcard in my music library. I wouldn’t usually categorise my taste as aligning with what DJ Frane produces, but nonetheless, I’ve notched up many listens of his two albums. The easy answer to “what is it?” is stoner music. But that description would be doing it a great injustice. Frane combines intricate sample arrangements (Sabbath fans might recognise the bassline from “Planet Caravan” in this track, and later in the album, a very funny sampling of a Bill Cosby anti-drugs routine), and live instruments to create impossibly dreamy, funky, psychedelic soundscapes.
Just try it. You’ll either love it, hate it, or want to get stoned to it. And if you love it, you’ll spend the next 2 hours frustrated that you can’t find the rest of the album anywhere. Sorry about that.
The Avalanches are an Australian electronic group specializing in samples, samples, and more samples. This is the video for their song Frontier Psychiatrist (a personal favorite), and to say it’s one of the most entertaining videos I’ve ever seen would be an understatement. Be sure to keep an eye out for the people under sheets making the ghostly “Oooo”s; it cracks me up every time.
