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April 10, 2008
New Stuff and an Old Ass-Kicker
Ladytron - "Ghosts"
With only limited exposure to the new Ladytron album Velocefiro, it seems that the Liverpudlians are still painting from their usual neon black palette. But "Ghosts" feels a bit different, straining in schizophrenic directions. It starts with an unexpected tough guy swagger but is then upended by maybe the sweetest, most playful vocal Helen Marnie has ever committed to wax. Usually she's H-242 the robot girl, but even singing of guilty ghosts and solo drinking sessions her nimble melody line is almost, dare I say, flirtatious? The knobs twiddle all over any ideas of a bouncy spring pop hit soon enough, but I'm still surprised to find the word "breezy" where "windscarred" used to be.
Of Montreal - "Feminine Effects"
Not much has changed in the months between the Fall '07 radio session where this candlelit ballad debuted and this studio-recorded final cut. The differences can be measured in slightly abbreviated sighs and finally perfected minor chords. But why would Kevin Barnes mess with such a crystalline torch song? It sounds like the perfect hypothetical first act curtain closer in an improbably moving sixties musical. What its inclusion on a new Green Owl Records' compilation means for its penciled-in place on this year's Skeletal Lamping I cannot say.
(via Fluxblog)
Titus Andronicus - "No Future"
The release date for Titus Andronicus' debut LP The Airing of Grievances is still sadly on the run. But I have managed to cut down another of its children to stuff and display on the blog mantle. As opposed to the instantly rambunctious songs readers of this site have come to know, half of the spic "No Future" is dusty build-up (you have to wait for the building dust-up). You can hear the primal scream of (not-so) old favorite "Upon Viewing Bruegel's Landscape..." warming up in its disappointed embers.
Vivian Girls - "Tell the World"
A May release that is, as of now, far too un-noted is the self-titled debut from Brooklyn trio Vivian Girls. The Henry Darger inspired ladies have a wobbly and infectious energy that recalls wobbly and infectious groups of yore like the Raincoats or Tallulah Gosh. If my lo-fi blind spot endears me to the warm fuzz around the track's edges, the converging voices form harmonies big enough for all. They sing of refusing to keep a good feeling to one's self, which should be enough to spurn you into slipping this into a MuxTape at least.
Alright, "old" is only a relative term is this case, but the 2007 release that birthed this monstrosity didn't exactly scorch the blog rolls of the fickle indie nation. Monotract are a blazing herky-jerky noise band; the kind the Lower East Side used to make in the days when it looked like the West Bank. "Cafu y Kaka" blasts of noise aren't entirely perpetual, but there's never more than a second or two for caught breath. I imagine electroshock therapy involves a bit of residual buzzing between doses as well.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at April 10, 2008 07:32 PM
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Comments
Hi Jeff! Great stuff, indeed! I especially enjoyed Vivian Girls and Monotract! Grrrreat!
Posted by: Joao at April 13, 2008 12:19 PM
