Musicians seem to be born with the natural ability to collaborate. Everyday creative forces are uniting to unleash awesomeness on the world. It has been 24 years and I am still in love with the Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith partnership that birthed “Walk This Way”. Now, if only the world’s politicians could learn to collaborate. I won’t hold my breath on that one.
James Mercer + Danger Mouse = Broken Bells
I turn to Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton and James “he’s from The Shins” Mercer for another prime example of a well done collaboration. Danger Mouse is one of those musical genius producer types that has the Midas touch. He has brought his expertise to The Black Keys, Beck, Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkley. On his own, Danger Mouse rocks the house. Add to that, the front man of The Shins, Mr. James Mercer. Mercer’s incredible songwriting chops and haunting vocals have established him as a pillar in the indie rock community. Now for some simple math. James Mercer + Danger Mouse = Broken Bells.
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the Broken Bells project and the self-titled album is finally available for the masses. For two years the guys have forged their styles together and what we receive is a beautiful album that is both refreshing and interesting. The lead single “The High Road” has been out for a few months and it has been a mainstay in my personal play lists. An upcoming performance at SXSW will do nothing but add to the excitement around this creative project.
KC’s Personal Picks: “The High Road”, “The Ghost Inside” and “Vaporize”
Check out the video for “The High Road”
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Sometimes life isn’t fair. Like when a vending machine eats your money or when the Comcast guy doesn’t show up on time. Or even when the UK gets an album released months before the US gets a chance to get their hands on it. Because that’s what happened with Athlete. The album part I mean. Not the vending machine or Comcast stuff. That wouldn’t make sense.
Athlete is an indie rock band from London so you know their good right off the bat. I mean, The Beatles came from the UK so, you know, it’s kind of the same thing. Their new release Black Swan is a melodic rock album that creates a mellower sound focused on each individual aspect of the music. With some songs incorporating hints of electronic and some songs keeping it simple with just vocals and guitar, the album’s unique variety will keep you coming back for more.
Black Swan, to me, is one of those albums you listen to the first couple of times not fully appreciating the full extent of the music. A few more times around and you start to catch things that are completely appealing. This is definitely not an epic soundscape of massive proportions, but if you’re looking for something to chill with and a decent album to appreciate, check out Black Swan.
Here’s the video for the single “Superhuman Touch”:
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Even though Ryan Seacrest wasn’t blaring it all over Top 40 radio, The Rocket Summer’s “So Much Love” was one of my favorite songs of 2007. At the time I had no idea it was just one guy—a long-haired whippersnapper named Stephen Bryce Avary—handling all the all instruments, but it was catchy as hell, really energetic, and overwhelmingly positive. I thought to myself, “This is great stuff,” and the track got an exclusive spot on my Shuffle for pretty much the rest of the year.
But then I forgot about it. You know how it is—songs that aren’t force-fed to you via repetitive radio play can sometimes get lost in the shuffle (so to speak), and with the amount of music I personally listen to, it was just sorta bound to happen. It won’t be the last time I forget about a group, but it also won’t be the last time a new album reminds me that I really, really like them.
So it goes with The Rocket Summer, whose new album, “Of Men and Angels,” brings a lot of the same things to the table I enjoyed so fervently with “So Much Love.” Avary’s grown up quite a bit in the last few years though (evidenced by cutting off several inches of his blonde mop and adding a Jack-from-“Lost” five o’clock shadow to his previously clean-shaven mug), and the new music shows how solid a grasp he’s gotten on writing tunes that’ are going to relate with fans.
The video for “You Gotta Believe,” for example, draws on fans’ webcam videos, used throughout the video. FS’s favorite cuts from the album include the slow-then-fast “Hills and Valleys,” as well as “I Need a Break” and “Hey!” The whole record, however, is very upbeat and playful, both musically and lyrically. Avary’s voice is one of those powerful, high-toned wails that comes off really strong despite not being anything even remotely close to classically trained, and the fact that he plays every single instrument you hear on the album just adds that much credibility to the guy.
As it turns out, I love The Rocket Summer, and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to forget about him this time. I’ve also gone back and re-added “So Much Love” to the ol’ playlist. It’s a damn fine song, as are the fifteen new ones on “Of Men and Angels.” So screw Ryan Seacrest. You don’t need him to tell you what good music is.
That’s what Fresh Scouts is for.
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We haven’t featured mind-bending electronic music in a while. It’s not because we don’t like it. In fact, there’s nothing better for getting us pumped up than some hardcore dance music (other than possibly AC/DC). It’s just that there are so many players in the game, it’s hard to keep up with all of the new music that comes out. BT is definitely an exception.
BT (full name Brian Wayne Transeau) is a music producer and “audio technician” known for his signature dance floor hits and booty-scrumpin’ music (I edited that last part with some of my own verbiage). As an early ankle-biter, BT was dubbed a child prodigy, learning piano by age two. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to focus more on his music. So, yeah, he’s kind of a big deal.
His new 2-disc album These Hopeful Machines has more club music than you can handle, but also has dream-like “soundscapes” that offer a sweet transition from the bass-driven beats for the club floor. It’s actually a well-constructed audio journey that offers a wide range of styles and sounds to accomplish what feels like a complete story. I don’t get that often from the repetitiveness of other popular club music, but it’s exciting to see where he’s going to take you.
“Suddenly” is a mix of a wide range of vocal harmonies, rock guitars and dance beats and kicks off the album with full force whereas songs like “Every Other Way” and “A Million Stars” focus more on the melody than a wide range of electronic sound. This 2-disc album definitely spans a larger spectrum than what we now label specifically as “club music”, but fans of the genre will not be disappointed. If you want to listen to the full album, click here. Or check out the link below to get your groove on.
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If you like BT, check out Basement Jaxx!
Charlotte Gainsbourg is the daughter of two musician-slash-actors—a British mumsy and a French popsicle—so it probably was no surprise to see the offspring of such a talented duo go into the same pair of businesses. Yes, while some spend their entire lives unsuccessfully pursuing one or the other, Gainsbourg has been able to dip her fingers into both the music and movie industries. Her most recent musical project, “IRM,” was written and produced almost exclusively by the great Beck, which means it is, by definition, worth at least a casual listen.
But this is a complex record, and it’s going to take more than one cursory flip through the tracks to get the most out of what it has to offer. The first single is, naturally, a duet with Beck entitled “Heaven Can Wait,” and it’s absolutely Beck-ish but with a feminine touch. It’s got sort of a happy, driving beat with tambourines and major piano chords that are just rhythmic and interesting enough to get a sense of why it’s the record’s first radio release.
The opening track, “Master’s Hands,” as well as “Trick Pony” and “Le Chat du Café de Artistes” (which, as you can guess from the title, is sung entirely in French) also are pretty memorable, but the whole album is sort of a non-stop happy-go-lucky lullaby with just enough experimentation to keep it from being too poppy. It’s an interesting record, to say the least, but would you expect anything less from Beck?
The album has already been out in Canada and parts of Europe since early December, but now it’s America’s turn to get a jump on this sort of mellower, trickier style of Imogen Heap pop to see if we’re ready for it. We at Fresh Scouts think we are.
Buy the album:
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