Archive for the 'pop' Category

The LK

Published by
billy
at August 20, 2008 in lk, dance, pop, music and mp3. 2 Comments

The LK is a dance pop {possibly noise pop} group based in Malmo, Sweden.  They craft songs that are very reminiscent of Spitzer or The Postal Service.  Each track on their latest album, VS The Snow (amazon) (itunes), is filled with enough blips and bleeps to keep even the most electronically minded individual at ease.  On top of their solid electronics knowledge base they craft songs filled with smooth melodies and bouncing rhythms.  While some groups struggle to find their own way The LK has found a way to fit into a preexisting musical niche while grabbing a bit of the spotlight for themselves.

mp3 : The LK - Tamagotchi Freestyle
mp3 : The LK - Private Life of a Cat

Tamagotchi Freestyle has some backing tracks that are almost dead on Postal Service material {and I love the title of the track}.  And in this review being compared to anything involving Ben Gibbard is akin to being compared directly to Zeus himself.  Private Life of a Cat might have made this post due to my penchant for listening to songs involving cats {see The Weakerthans} or it might be because this is a solid track that showcases their depth as a group.  If you like The Postal Service or Spitzer this is a definite must for your collection.

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Metro Station

Published by
billy
at July 29, 2008 in metro station, pop, music and mp3. 0 Comments

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}.

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Late of the Pier

Published by
billy
at June 1, 2008 in late of the pier, cenzo townshend, dance, pop, music, remix and mp3. 3 Comments

I first heard of these young punks when I stumbled upon this music video which prominently features a drum playing robot that rises from the abyss and drums the band to death for the last minute or so of the video. Needless to say I was ecstatic. The one thing I was less excited about is the fact that these boys have yet to drop a proper full length on the eagerly awaiting masses. Their catalog, to date, is filled with singles, EPs, and a load of excellently remixed tracks which take their already frenetic blend of techno, glam, and pop and fuse it with otherworldly beats that defy comparisons to mere mortal bands. Also, from what I can gather, these blokes dominate in a live show.

mp3 : Late of the Pier - Space and The Woods (Cenzo Townshend Mix)
mp3 : Late of the Pier - Focker

The song Focker is absolutely brilliant and I challenge anyone to sit still throughout all three minutes and twelve seconds of this danceable tune. Both tracks hail from the most recent effort by Late of the Pier, an EP called Space and The Woods / Focker (amazon) that features five remixes and the original tracks. Quite brilliant. For those of you who are of the remixing variety out there the track Focker has a brilliant closing dance break that I’m positive would make an excellent contribution to your next mashup project.

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Flobots

Published by
billy
at May 23, 2008 in flobots, pop, hip hop, music and mp3. 5 Comments

I’d never heard of their album until Droll Stevan recommended their video of Handlebars to me. At first listen I loved it and that prompted me to take a trip through their 2007 release, Fight With Tools (amazon) (iTunes). Their sound reminds me of a lot of different and equally diverse influences and for the first hour or so I found myself unable to accurately put into words what I was hearing. They remind me of a band that mixes Eminem’s rhymes with the Gorillaz smooth pop rock. They remind me of Rage Against the Machine without the searing guitar solos or the searing angst filled screams {although the political mindedness of their lyrics is spot on}. At times they obliquely remind me of Mighty Mighty Bosstones mashed up with Linkin Park.

I guess you could say this a serious example of the new wave of genre blurring musical acts {and really, what’s a genre today? Everything is fractured in fractal patterns. Even myspace has you list the three, yes three, genres your band fits into}.

mp3 : Flobots - Stand Up
mp3 : Flobots - Handlebars

If you didn’t watch their video for Handlebars from the above link make sure you click here to watch it over at YouTube. It’s my favorite song on the album, by far, and the lyrics are amazing. It’s nice to hear hip hop {hip pop?} with this many political and pop culture references.

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Phantom Planet : Raise The Dead

Published by
billy
at April 18, 2008 in phantom planet, album, pop, indie, music and mp3. 3 Comments

Phantom Planet has come a long way since being known largely as the band Jason Schwartzman left so he could focusing on acting and/or the band with that one song for that one show about The O.C. Regardless of first impressions or first exposures, these four gentlemen have come a long way since those days.

Their original release was rather ho-hum southern California version of indie pop. Filled with acoustic guitars and wistful melodies Is Missing (iTunes) was a decent effort, but it wasn’t until their breakthrough sophomore effort, The Guest (iTunes) {which featured the smash hit California}, that they achieved the privilege of having a nationwide fanbase. Unfortunately for many of those fans Phantom Planet’s third album, their first to simply be called Phantom Planet (iTunes), was quite the drastic departure from their trademark breezy surfer style. Although it was critically heralded, and I might add I love it to this day, it went a long way toward alienating many of their fans and served to reinforce the image that they were just those guys with that one song on that one show about The O.C.

Phantom Planet released their fourth album, Raise The Dead (iTunes), this past Tuesday and I believe it is their most accomplished album to date. Proving once and for all that there really is a middle ground between the two extremes of their sound {as demonstrated on their previous two efforts} Raise The Dead is at times a rocker, and at times a slow acoustic romp around beach fires, sure to be enjoyed whether you’re chilling in the Midwest or enjoying an endless summer. From the opening title track to the excellent closing track Raise The Dead reads like a talent rap sheet for what these four West Coast buddies are ultimately capable. In brief, this is what indie Cali-pop is all about.

mp3 : Phantom Planet - Raise The Dead
mp3 : Phantom Planet - Do The Panic

For those of you interested in hearing more I’ll be putting another track of their’s up in this month’s BOTM post in a couple of weeks. It’ll be worth hearing more, trust me, the entire album is solid.

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One Republic

Published by
billy
at January 10, 2008 in sounds like, one republic, pop, music and mp3. 3 Comments

I only have one gripe with this band that can best be expressed with a rambling question; why on earth did you choose to spell your band’s name OneRepublic without a space between the two words? Is it supposed to be trendy or cool or fresh or new or hip or hipster or cool? Did I say cool already? Honestly, lead singer Ryan Tedder, why oh why did you choose to do this? And my conviction on this issue is so strong that I will refuse to spell it without a space. I simply cannot do it. I will boycott the use of a nonspaced name, but I will continue to listen to their music {as I’m sure a name change is pending}.

I guess there’s a problem when I listen to their music though. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to think of it. They sound like everything and everyone. They change styles {lyrically, vocally, musically, productionally = not a word yet} with ease from track to track and it usually leaves me guess as to what genre they will tackle next. The short list of who I think they sound like so much, at times it’s uncanny, is as follows: John Lennon, The Beatles, Jon McLaughlin, Radiohead, Switchfoot {the more secular version}, DC Talk {the less early white boy rap version}, Jars of Clay, The Fray, Keane, and definitely Muse. Honestly there are times when I listen to a few of the tracks that were not included on their debut release, Dreaming Out Loud (iTunes), that it scares me how much they fool my ears.

Take a listen here for yourself and see if you can follow what I mean.

mp3 : One Republic - Dreamin’ Out Loud

This is the track where I feel like there’s a bit of Beatles {in the opening of the song} that then gets mixed heavily with the anthemic bombast of songs in the vein of more recent releases by Switchfoot or DC Talk. But, when they stop short of going stratopheric just after the first chorus I’m reminded of the slow build and melancholic tone of Keane or The Fray.

mp3 : One Republic - Sleep

Reminds me a lot of Radiohead, especially on the beginning of each line as Ryan Tedder’s voice slowly slides into the note before soaring up to a delicate falsetto. Especially the line “so don’t go to sleep” right at the beginning of the chorus. Granted it might have the mastery or the brilliant layers of Radiohead’s work, but I feel there are distinct similarities here. At just under four minutes into the song Radiohead gets pushed into overdrive and a true and honest similarity to Muse emerges with the line “I wait for you, I stay for you.”

mp3 : One Republic - Too Easy

The opening of this track could easily be transposed to piano and sung by Jon McLaughlin on his debut major release, Indiana. From there it continues at a steady pace, heavy with acoustic flourishes and delicate falsetto. On a side note I feel as if this would be a great song for Wakey!Wakey! to cover.

Why these songs weren’t included on their album is beyond me as I feel they contain some of One Republic’s best work to date and would have rounded out their sound and image a little more than the twelve {plus the Timbaland remix} tracks they put on their album Dreaming Out Loud (iTunes). I’m assuming that these tracks were recorded for the 2005 release of the aforementioned album which they sent to college radio stations and used as a sort of promo album. I would also assume these tracks were cut from the mass market pressing of the disc in order to achieve what their execs thought would be the highest profitability.

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Gossip Girl vol 11 and 12

Published by
billy
at January 7, 2008 in dan band, mcguire sisters, one republic, lcd soudsystem, oppenheimer, electronic, filthy youth, weepies, christmas, indie, music, soundtrack, gossip girl, band of horses, pop and mp3. 11 Comments

That’s right, two volumes {aka two episodes} of Gossip Girl recap in one little post. This will get me all caught up on the drama that unfolds every Wednesday on the CW here in the states {and on various other affiliates on various days elsewhere}. This first episode aired quite awhile back and was the episode during which Christmas was celebrated, Rufus and his no-name-good-for-nothing {and not too attractive} wife hit splitsville, and Serena {with a ton of help from Vanessa} finally gave Dan her Christmas present {if that’s what the kids are calling it these days. And speaking of that particularly cheeseball love scene, does anyone know where Serena got all those projectors, where the were positioned in the room, or how she happened to cover three walls with video with nary a piece of equipment or cable in sight? On to the music.

All the files {both episodes} in one zip : here {zshare = left click}

mp3 : Band of Horses - The General Specific
mp3 : McGuire Sisters - Christmas Alphabet
mp3 : The Dan Band - Christmakwanzakah
mp3 : The Weepies - All That I Want

Obviously I’m a huge fan of Band of Horses so I figure any inclusion of their music on this show is well deserved {and no, it’s not selling out to put your tunes on television}. The rest of the tracks were holiday specific with McGuire Sisters providing a nice classic sound, The Dan Band apparently was chosen because the instrumental segment of this song was catchy {even though the entire song as a whole is kinda weak, especially the chorus}, and the Weepies track is a wonderful inclusion. I’ve long loved the Weepies and I applaud almost every song I’ve heard by them.

This is the latest episode of Gossip Girl {that being episode 12}. In this episode Rufus was turned down, again, by Lil, but this time she was running from love {to money} at the behest of her daughter whereas before it was at the prodding of her uber manipulative mother. It appears as if Dan and Serena made it through their most recent rough patch {usually dealing with the tension between the haves and the have nots} except at the end we found that Serena only escaped a real punishment, which should have been well deserved, because {as Dan predicted} someone donated enough money in her name to get her out of trouble. Does that make Serena the OJ Simpson of the show?

All the files {both episodes} in one zip : here {zshare = left click}

mp3 : LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
mp3 : One Republic - Come Home
mp3 : Oppenheimer - Breakfast in NYC
mp3 : The Filthy Youth - Come Flash All Your Ladies
mp3 : The Filthy Youth - Orange

If you haven’t heard this track by the now infamous LCD Soundsytem you’ve either been living overseas {think remote parts of Tibet} or you haven’t been to a real party in the last nine months. It’s a great song with a slow build from start to finish, but I swear, sometimes when I listen to LCD I just can’t help saying “I liked it better the first time I heard it, when it was called Moby.” Next up is another solid track by One Republic {whom I insist must have a space between the words in their title} and although it’s not as popping as the Timbaland remix of Apologize {what could be?} it’s still a solid song. A song that reminds me a lot of Jon McLaughlin with a little slice of John Lennon’s Imagine piano line thrown in. Next in the mix is Oppenheimer, a little duo out of Nothern Ireland that I’m currently fascinated with. I feel like this song is The Flaming Lips filtered through the best Swedish pop you’ve ever heard. It’s all warm and fuzzy and local. Last in the mix is The Filthy Youth, a band who creates dirty punk infused post modern rock akin to Kaiser Chiefs or a slightly less swagger filled Strokes. Orange is clearly the better of the two tracks.

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Ben’s Brother

Published by
josh
at November 3, 2007 in dentyne ice, commercial, youtube, ben's brother, pop, acoustic and mp3. 19 Comments

So I’ve seen this commercial a lot lately and everytime I think that it sounds like such an amazing song. So I looked it up and found a copy of it, and it is a good song. So here you have it. The Dentyne Ice commercial featuring this band I had never heard of: Ben’s Brother.



I checked out their myspace and their other songs were decent, but not as good as this one. Luckily this is their “new mix” so hopefully they are evolving into this new sound.

mp3 : Ben’s Brother - Stuttering

EDIT : This file will now work with Windows Media Player. I know many of you were having issues getting the file to play using this atrocious media player, but now those should be sorted out. Enjoy the music and if there’s ever a problem feel free to leave a comment.

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