tUnE-yArDs: W h o k i l l

    If you like the moniker adopted by tUnE-yArDs, zany enough to be cool, then you may think the same about the music. The brain-child of Merrill Garbus, born and bred in Connecticut, she admitted in a Pitchfork interview (link here) the desire from an early age to become "a rock'n'roll star". Whether you can call tUnE-yArDs rock or not is loosely debatable; more art pop, experimental or afrobeat. Coming off her previous album, BiRd-BrAiNs (2009), W h o k i l l is also much less lo-fi, and a lot of attention is being given to that fact. Apparently, a lot of the lo-fi influence in her previous work actually came from the fact that Garbus was creating music with a laptop, the free version of audio software program Audacity and a Sony ICD-TK digital recorder. A couple songs, however, "Gangsta" and "Riotriot" still have a few lo-fi moments if you're concerned about its disappearance.
    So, I think W h o k i l l is exactly the result of mixing the mind of a girl that grew up in the 90s hating pretty much everything on the radio, a tenacity to become a rock star from a young age and truly experimental methods used to accomplish such a goal. Released by 4AD Records on April 19th, is starting to make some waves and may live up to the cult following prediction given to it. A strong addition to the album, live concerts and perhaps the future of the band is Nate Brenner (bass guitar), whom she met in Oakland I believe, and who helped co-write some songs too. His jazzy influence may be part of the reason the afrobeat is so prevalent and the use of the saxophones definitely can be attributed to Garbus hearing his group. They are underused in this album, I suggest, but there is a fair balance of song styles throughout. There is even a lullaby-ish song, "Wolly Wolly Gong".
    Overall, Garbus writes that "I've been striving for a little bit of a Fela Kuti spirit, a musical experience where people can really lose themselves and lose their self-consciousness". For sure, W h o k i l l will definitely stretch listeners in a good way and Garbus plans to be around for a while, so I expect that trend to continue. I, for one, love the syncopated, hoppy rhythms and how there is a reckless abandon of expression related through the music, kind of like Björk's IDM genre she has created for herself. I almost expect something similar to occur with Garbus. I kept hearing the song "Bizness" on the local indie radio stations, so that is what eventually drew me to write this post. You can hear that here at tUnE-yArDs website.
    Over on the right, until the end of May, you can hear the song "Riotriot", which may be the best variety song with which to show you a little of this and that. Or, just do so here (especially once May has come and gone...). Enjoy!

Bend Sinister: Selected Demos & Rarities

    Sometimes b-side albums, rare tracks, or demos are really be what they ended up; the refuse from an album, those that never made the cut or were from a different age. Yet, the Vancouver band's Selected Demos & Rarities, released January 1, 2011, a good portion of the tracks are pure Bend Sinister goodness. The vocals might be a little less edited in some places, but the synth/piano heavy style and epic progressive nature of Bend Sinister shines through. In some ways, I like a lot of these tracks more than last year's Spring Romance EP (June 2010), in which they seemed to lose some of their wild ingenuity that tested the limits of song form like an epic rock journey.
    The first three tracks were misses from their Stories of Brothers, Tales of Lovers (2008). I think they probably just did not fit in with the story telling aspect of the tracks selected for that album; the record split so well between "songs about brothers" and "tales of lovers" basically, so a track about vampires does not really fit. The fourth track is a Beatles cover, which I admit I do not know the original version of (I'm not a Beatles fan...sorry), but is really well done I'm sure and has a good kick. Tracks six-nine are also misses, but from their upcoming album I assume (yet to be announced officially in terms of date of release), according to their new bandcamp website. Anyway, the tracks that were selected are sure to be even better, and that excites me! Finally, the last five tracks are presumably older cuts, some from days past, which are more funk soul than most of their more recent work.
    What I love about Bend Sinister is that it is as close as rock bands these days get to true rock and roll, like it was when it started becoming popular in the 50s-60s-70s, without sounding like classic rock though. Also, you hear modern day influences too, especially Muse, in the vocals and the arpeggiated synth or guitar chords. Plus, Bend Sinister just has a great energy to them. Check out their entire catalog of albums, free listening, on their brand new bandcamp site here. You can hear all the way back to before they started using a singer, with the original four members. Also, with bandcamp's share options I've embedded the entire album in the player on the right hand side (at least for the month, then it will end up within this post). Enjoy just the first track "Modern Day Vampires", or keep listening. I love the second track "Lullaby".

Just in...Wild Beasts: Smother

    It seems like dream pop is becoming the genre to be these days, and while most of the dream pop out there has too much of a new wave flair to it, I love the post-Britpop sensibilities of Wild Beasts. Their latest effort, Smother comes out today in the U.S. on Domino Records, an independent label based out of London. This record marks a pretty definite turn from post-punk revival indie rock to indie pop; including post-Britpop (think Elbow), maybe some remnants of art rock (with a fairly connected song progression in terms of lyrical content), and perhaps even tiny bits of baroque pop (because of the minimalism ideas represented in the repetitive rhythmic drive and arpeggiated synths here and there). I press my point on art rock and baroque pop, yet shy away from such a classification because there are no long instrumental solos or harpsichord, but maybe that is just because genres are blurring more and more and it becomes increasingly difficult these days to pin something down to specifically one genre as opposed to multiple. A lot of these tracks could probbaly be considered trip hop too (the singer's vibrato definitely reminds me of Massive Attack at times). Anyway, the band described Smother as: "a more synth-oriented sound, influenced by "moving to Dalston", brazilian writer Clarice Lispector, minimalist composer Steve Reich, noise pop duo F*** Buttons and Mary Shelley's book, Frankenstein. How that all ties together, I do not know. It's an artist thing I guess.
    All in all, Smother seems very poetic in how smoothly lead singer Hayden Thorpe delivers, lyrically and vocally; though with subtly, they delve poignantly into the difficulties or intricacies of love relationships. The distinct falsetto (falsely described as a counter-tenor I think, because I've heard a real counter-tenor) voice is eerie and yet floats easily over the complexity of the music beneath it, which really helps the lyrical intent soar as of main importance. That being said, you may know I just am bad at deciphering lyrics, and I don't care so much about what the songs are trying to say as long as it fits together well with the instrumentation to create a great sound. I naively, possibly, think that in most song creation the music comes first and then lyrics are slapped on, or at least cut back to fit the structure already in place; yet, this may be one album where lyrics are as important, if not more.
    Wild Beasts' two previous albums, minus a few EPs, are Limbo, Panto (2008) and Two Dancers (2009), which received a Mercury Music Award nomination for best album. Already, Smother seems to be receiving positive critical attention, a BBC music reviewer, Mike Diver, said of Wild Beasts: "[Wild Beasts] are, right now, the most inspirational, intriguing, effortlessly enrapturing band at work [in Britain]. And Smother might well prove to be the album of 2011." We shall see.
    Hear the album entirely on Wild Beasts' MySpace here. Or, check out the track "End Come Soon" here or on the right hand side. It has a great quieter middle section and climactic return at the end, enjoy!

Harrys Gym: Harrys Gym

    Forget the apostrophe, it was removed to adhere to Norwegian grammar rules (no difference made between possessive and plural unless there is already an 's' on the end, in which case an apostrophe is added after the 's'), so I might drop mine too for the sake of this post. Anyway, their self-titled debut, Harrys Gym, came out on October 27, 2008 and while I consider it a better effort than their sophomore release, What Was Ours Can't Be Yours (February 7, 2011), the lead singer Anne Lise Frøkedal sort of agrees. She writes on the bands Facebook page that several songs "are the key tracks": "Brother", "Sarah83", "Attic", "Top Of The Hill" and "Turn Away"--all of which appear on the debut album. Apparently, they are more the style the band really has tried to maneuver in terms of combining synth and organic sound. They cite Blonde Redhead and Animal Collective as favorite influences, which can definitely be heard, while maintaining their own inclusive style too.
    Harrys Gym was born out of a project/band called Dharma (probably no connection to Losts Dharma Initiative, at least that's what it makes me think of...), until musical differences between the main song writers, current lead of Harrys Gym Anne Lise Frøkedal and Ole Øvstedal (former guitarist, from 2000-2001, of Swedish band Euroboys) caused a "musical divorce", according to bassist Ole Myhrvold. The new name of the band, minus Øvstedal, became Harrys Gym because it was the name of an old fitness center in the building where they rehearsed.
    Time to talk music. Listening to the album, I love the alternative grungy sound of the guitar/synths, heavy rhythmic drumming and driving pulse of tracks like "Attic", "Sarah83", "Turn Away" and to some extent "Brother" and "The Escape", which take a bit softer approach. Each track actually has a different level of menace in it really and are all balanced nicely by the cloudy and flowing vocals that float over top, with whispy melodic lines. Harrys Gym seriously reminds me of Blonde Redhead in that regard, except that there is more of a pop element to Harrys Gym, especially in the use of more dance-like rhythmic beats. The latter is even more true with their sophomore release, What Was Ours Can't Be Yours, which contains more jovial and yet influenced by dance and hip hop beats. That may be why I do not prefer it. That being said, some of the new songs, such as "Old Man" (a free download on their website here), are just as good as those on their debut. You can "Old Man" and "Extraordinary Girl" on their Facebook page here.
    I have provided a link to "The Dharma Bums" here, perhaps an unusual choice, because it is a slower ballade, but it is beautiful really and displays the harmonic and melodic capabilities of Harrys Gym very nicely. That and you can hear "Attic", probably my favorite track on their Facebook page. Enjoy.