There are moments in time when I wish the world of synth heavy campy pop had died in 1989. Then there are albums that come along and imagine old themes with such a fresh face that you can’t help but love both where we’ve been and where we’re all heading. Black Kids debut album, Partie Traumatic (amazon) (itunes), is one of those albums. From start to end, even when existentially singing from the point of view of their own body, the album is fun, quick, and ultimately dance inspiring.
mp3 : Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
mp3 : Black Kids - I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You
The second track is the song that first introduced me to Black Kids in the form of a brilliant, yes brilliant, remix {which will be posted tomorrow as part of the next BOTR volume}. I also think the name of the song is quite hilarious {and yet tragic at the same time}. The entire album is quite nice though and flows well from track to track. Granted there are some more melodramatic melodies apparent on some songs, but overall the album has a general cavalier attitude toward life, relationships, and music.
+ twf hype elbows site myspace amazonmp3 itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook
Kira Willey is an excellent example of a talented artist whom I would never have heard of but for the fact that her best track, Colors, has recently been featured in Dell computer advertisements. To be honest this track, off her 2006 album Dance for the Sun: Yoga Songs for Kids (amazon) (itunes), is the only track I find to be worth repeat listening. That’s not to say the rest of the songs aren’t well crafted. They are. The album is simply crafted as a guide for children doing yoga. Some other tracks are worth a listen, such as Caterpillar Caterpillar or Making Pie, and if you’re curious you can stream most of the album over on CD Baby. For most of us this single track will suffice {and you can believe me when I say it’s the best track on the album}.
mp3 : Kira Willey - Colors
I have no idea if Kira is planning a second album or if that album would again cater to younger clientele. I would reason that an album full of tracks like Colors would sell reasonably well amongst the type of readers who frequent TWF, but my guess is we’ll most likely never know for sure.
+ twf hype elbows site amazonmp3 itunes cdbaby
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook
Metro Station is a four piece group out of a Hollywood who probably owes a lot their success to both the synth driven pop of the eighties and present day pure pop bands such as All American Rejects, Phantom Planet, and Rooney. The released their eponymous debut full length, Metro Station (amazon) (itunes), last year, but they’ve recently jumped in popularity due to some solid radio play of their song Shake It. At times the album seems to get lost on its way, a bit too vanilla for some music fans, yet at others their potential shines through with infectious hooks and clever and sublimely melodic lyrics.
mp3 : Metro Station - Shake It
mp3 : Metro Station - California
Honestly, at times when I was listening to this album, I had to check and make sure this wasn’t a spin off band from All American Rejects. The cleverly infused eighties sensibilities on some tracks is one of the main differences between the bands and it serves to give Metro Station something that sets them just apart from all the other copy cat bands riding the pop rock bandwagon. Listen to the opening of Shake It and tell me that it wouldn’t fit perfectly with some Miami Vice suits and a load of neon effects in the best music video of 1983. I also love the call and response sections. Simply a fine example of what well executed pop can be {not the dreary music that passes for pop on most top 40 radio stations}.
+ twf hype elbows site myspace amazonmp3 itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook
For starters let me apologize for how much TWF has been sucking as of late. Three weeks vacation could be considered a dry spell {a small death if you will}, but to return from the great state of Colorado with three lackluster posts in the span of a week is weak even by the most lackadaisical of standards. I shall persevere and endeavor to return The World Forgot to the glory that it was before my heart was reminded, yet again, of how much I love the mountains. On with the show.
Sigur Ros is one of the most brilliant groups currently making music. Their sonic soundscapes can be cited as influences in every band from Smashing Pumpkins to Radiohead {and they’ve done it all while singing in Icelandic - or in one case Hopelandic}. Listening to a Sigur Ros album is akin to watching a master painter lovingly craft his masterwork stroke by exacting stroke. With their latest effort, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (amazon) (itunes), Sigur Ros has taken their already trademark sound and expanded and elevated it to heights even they have not reached before. Every single minute of this album is filled with emotion and when taken as an entire album you cannot help but come to realize this is truly a work of art.
mp3 : Sigur Ros - Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
mp3 : Sigur Ros - Fljótavík
It’s a rare breed today that crafts an entire album so carefully to fit and flow together into one big swath of sonic superiority. Somehow the boys from Iceland have found a way to capture this magic time and time again {and yet they continue to improve and innovate with each and every album they release}. It is my opinion that this album is the best, to date, that Sigur Ros has made. It stays true to their roots; lengthy soundscapes, soaring harmonies, a stratospheric falsetto, and yet on this album they’ve found a way to take their unique sound and make it accessible to virtually everyone. Sigur Ros has taken their dominance of what was once a niche market and thrust it upon the main stage of modern music.
+ twf hype elbows site myspace amazonmp3 itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook
Flipsyde’s old album, 2005’s We The People (amazon) (itunes), at times sounds like a mashup between spitfire hip hop lyrics and genuine pop music. Sometimes their style drifts more towards the pop spectrum, and other times it honestly sounds like Grits somehow got mixed up with Ben Gibbard. I think that’s what was ultimately nagging on me as I listened to this album the other day. It almost, but not quite, sounds like something Girl Talk would choose to mash together.
Regardless of the amount of labels we place on music, or the rididulous sub genres we choose to invent, it all comes down to whether or not you actually enjoy the music. Granted, at times on this album, there are songs that I would rather skip past. Some songs are simply too repetetive for my taste, but there are other tracks on this album that stand out and demand attention. Hopefully those tracks are more of what to expect from Flipsyde’s upcoming new album.
mp3 : Flipsyde - Skippin’ Stones
mp3 : Flipsyde - Trumpets
In other news the group has undergone a little change since their last album. In simplest terms they dropped a dude and picked up a lady. In the past we’ve seen hip pop/hop groups use this formula to great success {most notable Black Eyed Peas}. Let us hope and pray that this new pairing leads to great tracks reminiscent of BEP and not an atrocious spin off album akin to Fergilicious. Also, and this is my humble personal opinion, I think the would do well to ask Wyclef to produce some tracks for them. He seems to have a unique knack at merging hip hop and pop sensibilities.
+ twf hype elbows site myspace amazonmp3 itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook
Wakey!Wakey!, aka one of my favorite acts out of NYC, was recently behind the keyboard again. Mike Grubbs decided to record yet another of his live sets and make it available for free as a downloadable album. This time he was playing at The Bowery Ballroom and he came away with nine songs including a cover of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, a Wakey!Wakey! standard Falling Apart, and a few tracks I had not heard yet. If you’d like to grab the entire album you can get it for free here.
mp3 : Wakey!Wakey! - Brooklyn
mp3 : Wakey!Wakey! - LGA
Here are two of the new tracks that I enjoy the most. The entire album is worth adding to your collection and free music is always fun to get. Also, by clicking the link above {to download the album} I wanted to point out that there is the option of downloading individual tracks, as well as the entire album, from that site.
+ twf hype elbows site myspace itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook
I’m back from my little three week vacation and better than ever. Well, that’s if being better than ever entails being sore, slightly over tanned, a tired like never before. Lake Michigan was brilliant as always {and seriously, the East Coast of said lake trumps any and all attempts by Wisconsin and Illinois to claim their wimp of a coast is better}. Colorado was equally impressive replete with multiple mountain ranges, Blue Lakes, Eureka, Animas Forks, the Olympic Training Center, the Air Force Academy, bears, Mesa Verde, multiple camp sites, countless Pop Tarts and Clif Bars, and a general sense of accomplishment and bonding that I’ve been missing for awhile. But now I’m back, I’m leaving in about an hour to see The Dark Knight, and I must finish this blog before then. Let us all commence crossing our fingers.
It’s been awhile since I wrote here. It’s been awhile since I even typed on a keyboard. Over three weeks actually. That’s massive. What’s even more massive was the ammnount of email I recevied while I was gone {over 1200 legitmate emails, about 800 that my spam filter caught, and a further 500 spam emails I was forced to manually filter myself}. Somewhere buried in this mess of my inbox I’m sure there lies gems waiting to be pulled from the muck that surrounds them. MMMathias and Immuzikation both sent me new mixes {score!}, I received updates on the upcoming Ben Folds and Walkmen albums {double awesome} and I found out that Wakey!Wakey! recorded a live set and is giving it away for free {triple awesome score the remix}.
One other email that caught my eye today was a little caption that mentioned someone named Lenka had recorded a cover of one of my favorite songs {Gravity Rides Everything} by one of my favorite bands {Modest Mouse} and consequently I was instantly interested in all things to do with this Aussie. It seems as if she’s had an almost idyllic career; started singing with dad when she was 6, was part of the critically acclaimed group Decoder Ring, and now has begun a solid solo career.
mp3 : Lenka - Gravity Rides Everything (Modest Mouse Cover)
mp3 : Lenka - Like a Song
{Both of these tracks come from a group of recordings referred to as the Woodstock Sessions and as of today are not commercially available}. I love her cover of Gravity Rides Everything. It’s a brilliant song in its original format and I think her take on this classic Modest Mouse track both honors the original while showcasing her obvious talent. I definitely love how she kicks it up on the line “it all will fall, fall right into place.” Like a Song is another interestig track from the album and I find it interesting that she uses recordings of static and other radio broadcasts from WWII as her musical backdrop.
+ twf hype elbows site myspace amazonmp3 itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook
Hello dear readers, this is your captain speaking. For the following three weeks I’ll be travelling and living it up on a little slice of summer vacation. Due to these good times I most likely will not have access to the internet and thusly I will not have any new music for you kids to gobble up. I’m spending this week camping along the shore of Lake Michigan and the following two weeks I’ll be backpacking and rafting out in the great Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I’ll miss you almost as much as you’ll miss me.
As a reminder, if you’re in the NYC area make sure you get out to see an excellent live show by Zach Williams at the Mercury Lounge this July 3rd. Also, as I prepare to leave you all for awhile, I’d like to recommend you check out these fine blogs for your reading enjoyment in my absense. Enjoy them at your leisure. The World Forgot sincerely recommends An Aquarium Drunkard, Bows + Arrows, Cable and Tweed, Crown Dozen, Good Weather for Airstrikes, Gorilla vs. Bear, Hard to Find a Friend, I Guess I’m Floating, The Late Greats, Music for Kids Who Can’t Read Good, My Old Kentucky Blog, Pretty Much Amazing, Said the Gramophone, Songs:Illinois, Stereogum, This Recording, You Ain’t No Picaso, and Who Killed the Mixtape.
For all you Yanks have a fun holiday weekend. For the rest of the world enjoy your July. Cheers.
+ twf hype elbows amazonmp3 itunes
add this post to del.icio.us / digg / facebook
