Just in...Housse de Racket: Alesia

    Having just released August 22nd, this qualifies as 'Just in...' and is a welcome addition to the French Electro Pop scene by way of the Kitsuné label--who only boasts six signed artists of mostly the House genre, but now I'd say at least two important contemporaries, Two Door Cinema Club and Housse de Racket. For example, comparisons can be drawn to Tokyo Police Club or Phoenix, respectively. Housse de Racket is comprised of two, Pierre Leroux and Victor Le Masne who grew up à Chaville (between Versailles and Paris) and played hired sessions with local bands Air and Phoenix, and touring with Chilly Gonzales before branching out on their own. Their first album, Forty Love (2008). So, they have a pretty strong connection to bands like Daft Punk even, which is where they get their French Touch style. French Touch is another way of saying French House, which is pretty much what Daft Punk, Étienne de Crécy, and Phillip Zdar of Cassius do, to name a few important artists; so, just think ear astounding electronic sounds often in a disco like style. Phillip Zdar was also their producer for Alesia and was hired just after finishing up a bunch of remixes for Phoenix, of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix songs.
    Regardless of all the cool stuff I discovered, I was super happy to receive an e-mail from Kitsuné alerting me to the release of Alesia. I think I probably was on their free newsletter list because of Two Door Cinema Club, I may have signed up for a free download or something. Let's just say up front that I love the synths! Even though, most bands that use them just remind me of New Wave (of which I have previously discussed my dislike for). Here, though, it is like listening to Daft Punk in a way, and that suits me perfectly. I even like the disco steps and upbeat nature of [almost every] song. The beats are hip and varied, with simple and half French/English lyrics and melodies, which is also cool. It is as if Housse de Racket is just trying to not over complicate itself, stick to what it knows, and enjoy creating music. They've also done extensive world touring, so they are trying to really make it big internationally, which is also why they probably signed on to Kitsuné.
    The title of the album, Alesia has some ties at least I'm sure to the siege of Alesia by Julius Caesar in 52 B.C., before he became emperor. It was considered his greatest military successes, in which he defeated the Gallic tribe of Mandubii--Alesia was their capital. It's capture basically ended the resistance of the Gallic tribes and Roman Republic invasion in France.
    Housse de Racket has released two EPs of sorts, 'Roman' and 'Château', with remixes of course, so you can get a pretty good idea of how the album sounds. You can listen to them on their website here along with some videos. You can also listen to those here, on SoundCloud, or check out Forty Love, which I almost like better, if not just as much as Alesia. Finally, listen to one of my favorite songs (along with 'Chorus'), 'Aquarium', here, and under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks', enjoy!

Release the Sunbird: Come Back to Us

    You may have heard of Rogue Wave, and if so, you will probably like Release the Sunbird, the moniker used by Rogue Wave bandleader, Zach Schwartz (a.k.a "Zach Rogue"), in this side project release. Even then, it is not ncessarily a side project, it involves all the members of Rogue Wave who just wanted to do something a little different. Come Back to Us came out July, 26, 2011 and is a folk largely acoustic album with a carefree attitude and simple pleasing melodies. It is on the Bushfire Records label.

    Rogue Wave is a folk inspired band, but really indie rock with some lo-fi thrown in, and perhaps Release the Sunbird contains the music Zach has had in his head all this time and wasn't able to bring out. It seems and is being hailed as his most complete work to date, though I liked a lot of the stuff on Rogue Wave's latest album, Permalight (2010). But, this album just moves effortlessly from one song to the next, and contains a few nuances that firmly point to Rogue Wave's style (the heavier drum beats), but ultimately it steers clear of that style. It just makes me think that Zach would rather have a banjo in his hands than an electric guitar. The vocals recorded over themselves is nice too, adding depth to the harmonic value of this album. But, those might actually be his fellow band mates too at times (or a female voice as can be seen in the videos on this page of their website). Nevertheless, each verse is mostly just Zach and then there always seems to be the swirl of voices in the chorus or wherever the song builds. It is hard to tell the difference, even Zach has one of those voices that is super popular these days--in the same vein as Sufjan, Death Cab, Bon Iver perhaps, Scattered Trees, Freelance Whales, Andrew Bird, Tokyo Police Club (maybe), etc... There are so many that have that slight airy-ness, falsetto-ish, plan but effective voice. I don't know another way to put it. And I may not be entirely correct in my comparisons, what do you think?

    The album starts out in true Rogue Wave fashion, and then goes soft and contemplative pretty much the rest of the album. It's a good entry, but I prefer the later songs more than the first. I love the streams of sounds or counter melodies that creep in and fade out, like the flute-ish sound on "Best Thing for Me" (reminds me of Beirut a bit) or electronic sounds on "Always Like the Son". Check out "Back Strikes Back", which is not one of their quieter tracks, but there are some cool licks, over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks', or listen to a few tracks on their website here. There is no full album stream available yet, there was for a while on NPR.org.

Upcoming...Beirut: The Rip Tide

    Beirut fans rejoice! The Rip Tide is another solid release from the Balkan folk, Baroque pop, world folk (etc...) artist Beirut. I'm hesitant to say what most people are saying, that their sound is more refined and the song structure is better and that Zach Condon is hitting his stride finally, because there was something especially different about previous releases such as Gulag Orkester (2006), The Flying Club Cup (2007), Elephant Gun EP (2007), March of the Zapotec/Holland EP (2009). Yes, they were, looking at it from the opposite angle, less refined and orchestrated more instrument heavy, but they brought Beirut to this point, where their music has a unique and easily recognizable sound. Now I hear more influences, such as, I'm almost afraid to say, Sufjan Stevens. That may not be a bad thing; however, if there are other influential songwriters out there, as influential as Sufjan, Condon would be there (along with Sondre Lerche at least). Simply put, I do not want Condon to start sounding like Sufjan. I want him to sound like Condon. But, i'll let you decide.
    I think this album would be great running music, or movie music for some off-beat low-key comedy, the kind of which Michael Cera stars in. It just moves at a steady pace, almost like jogging. It has plenty of blocky repeated piano chords that almost sound quirky or off kilter (that perfect balance of tempo, where it feels like it is speeding up, but it is really settled quite nicely), ukulele, accordion and some brass thrown in quite nicely. My main complaint is that most of the songs start off with almost the same harmonically structured piano/accordion [only] chords and then progress quickly into the full ensemble, adding layers as they come. Not a horrible formula, though overused, but the honky tonk piano sound has never been my favorite--so, just personal preference perhaps?
    Overall, there are a number of killer songs: "Santa Fe" (nice harmonic vocals, and [I'll actually admit] use of the new wave-ish electric piano), "Payne's Bay" (has an epic pacing to it and the violin is great added timbre, the melody is super catchy! then the middle section that is like a brass band that builds is fantastic, especially the horn rips!!--deserves ten exclamation points), "Vagabond" (has a cool accordion or harpsichord part, whether it is real I don't know), "Peacock" (beautiful start to the song, very lovely, like Jonsi lovely), and "Port of Call" (excellent use of two against three in the rhythm! and the quick triplets against the waltz in the brass, and ascending lines in the trombones/horns?).
    Well, make sure and catch the entire album streamed on NPR: First Listen here (EDIT: no longer available). I do not have a track for the samples yet, as this album is not yet released. Enjoy there while you can and look back here, maybe after The Rip Tide comes out.

Young Buffalo: Young von Prettylips (EP)

    This is a five track EP from an up and coming band called Young Buffalo, released July 19, 2011. Prior to this release, Young Buffalo has only put out a few tracks, a single or demo here and there starting in 2009. The group is made up of a trio, Jim Barrett, Alex Hardberger and Ben Yarbrough. Young von Prettylips was released on Cantora Records and they hail from Oxford, Massachusetts.
    My immediate impressions almost had me overlooking Young Buffalo, as I listened to the first track, "Only We Can Keep You From Harm". It's not that it's not a decent track, which it definitely is, but it lacked focus and, this may be a good thing, displays a variety of musical directions--slow chant gospel, African/jungle rhythms, some electronic noises, almost punk-like vocals, and the true percussion use of bells towards the end. I just did not know what to expect. So, when I listened to "Catapilah", I was surprised in a way that they were actually more of a full of energy sound, somewhat repetitive but progressive-in-nature enjoyable drum beats and three part harmony (akin to The Beach Boys I suppose, as they cite on their Facebook here). They have also been compared briefly to The Dodos, which I also agree with except that The Dodos are more lo-fi. So, track two, "Speak EZ" is more of a warm-up towards the sound I really prefer from this album, and hope they continue to go in. Meanwhile, track three heats it up, "Full Metal Whacket" is superb, reminiscent of Tokyo Police Club, Vampire Weekend (of course), Hungry Kids of Hungary--all the types of post-punk, high energy groups that are popular nowadays, which is hopefully going to run new wave out for good (yes, I don't like it)! "Catapilah" has a great balance of single voice and triples later on where it really adds a lot, when they yell "ladadadadadalada" (I think...). Overall, on this album, the counterpoint-ish use of vocals is a great touch and gives them one up on many other groups that do not have that capacity for harmony or melody. The last track, "Bury Me" kind of starts off like it is winding up, again in that mid energy range to show they can do more than just high energy. But, it still needs some work and sounds a bit dopey, like most of The Strokes music before they get to the chorus or best hook section in each song (OK, Angles was an anomaly to this formula). There is even a head banging Chinese (you'll get what I mean when you hear it) rock sounding section that doesn't seem to quite fit, but as Young Buffalo is fairly new, they are aloud to experiment and ultimately decide where they want to end up. Let's just hope, like so many other bands, they do not go mainstream and lose their identity. I'd rather ten more albums like this than one that is boring and predictable.
    Their entire discography to my knowledge is on bandcamp, check it out here. I've put the track "Full Metal Whacket" over on the right under 'Monthly Sample Tracks'. Once August is gone, check out their tunes through the bandcamp link, enjoy!