I L U.

School Of Seven Bells

From time to time (but not as often as I'd like), a song swoops out of the ether, seemingly coming out of nowhere, and smacks me upside the head with its sheer brilliance and power. The dreamy and sensual track "I L U," off of School Of Seven Bells' second album, 2010's Disconnect From Desire, is one of these songs. My goodness, it's such a lovely song.

Brooklyn, NY's School Of Seven Bells (also known as SVIIB) used to be a trio. Comprised of guitarist Benjamin Curtis, who'd left his brother Brandon's band Secret Machines, and identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza from On!Air!Library!, SVIIB have created a sound that literally drips with passion and ethereal mysteriousness. 

Sporting spidery guitar work reminiscent of Cocteau Twins and Wayne Hussey-era Sisters Of Mercy, angelic and breathy vocals, shimmering electronic whooshes, and poetic lyrics, "I L U" is nothing short of a revelation. The accompanying video does the song proud – it's a genuinely breath-taking piece of art that stands on its own in regards to visualizing the pains and the passion of falling deeply, madly, and crazily in lust. It just has to be seen to be believed. 

One can visit SVIIB's MySpace page to be treated to more of their music – both off of Disconnect From Desire and their 2008 debut Alpinisms, if one is interested. For now, watch this video. It's incredible. And it's mildly NSFW, just so you know.

School of Seven Bells - I L U - Official Video from Vagrant Records on Vimeo.

Gig Review: Grinderman.

GRINDERMAN

17 JANUARY 2011

PALACE THEATRE

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Sure, sure, sure ... this is an electronica blog, you might say. And yes, you're right. BUT, this is Nick Cave we're talking about here, and goddamn it, I'm going to review his show I had the honour of witnessing when he dropped down in his hometown (of sorts) of Melbourne, Victoria. So there.

Longtime Bad Seed Conway Savage (1990 to present) was the opening act, sitting at an electric piano and accompanied by a guitarist. He was a quiet and graceful presence; subtlety and a glass of red wine perched atop his instrument were his constant friends -- alongside those audience members closest to the stage who could actually hear him over the din of the talkers and shouters in the back of the house, who were constantly on the cusp of completely drowning out Savage's bluesy concoctions. I had to leave my wife in the back for a spell so I could get closer to hear some of his intoxicating melodies. I really had never listened to his solo stuff before, but from what I could discern, his music would be a lovely companion to a night drinking out – I was reminded of Tom Waits, to be honest. I'm looking forward to picking up his most recent release, 2009's Live In Ireland. With a quiet "Thank you," and a nod to the crowd, Savage left the stage.


At around 10.00, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis (guitar, violin, percussion), Martyn P Casey (bass), and Jim Sclavunos (drums, percussion) took to their instruments and basically just brought the fucking house down right then and there, ripping wholeheartedly into "Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man" off their second album, the deliciously dirty and demented Grinderman 2. "And he sucked her, and he sucked her, and he sucked her DRY," bellowed Cave, delivering karate kicks into the air and following up with his Big Bad Wolf howl, "AWOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!" I swear, the intensity present in the room as he and his cohorts let loose on the first date of their Australian tour was buzzing, man. In fact, there were moments where old Cave – circa The Birthday Party – seemed to have come out to play, it was filled with so much giddily recounted mayhem and chaos. Grinderman has always been the id of a sweaty, hairy, sex-obsessed nasty man; Sclavunos's and Ellis's mountain-man beards certainly did nothing to dispel that particular aspect of their music. How was it that Sclavunos explained their new album to NME last year? Oh yeah – "No I'm not going to tell you anything about any of the songs. But they're great, and they cover a variety of topics from bloodshed to hairy animals to young girls masturbating in bathtubs ... on the first album you felt the weight of distended testicles swaying in the breeze of a mid-life crisis, whereas this one is a magic carpet ride floating over the rich spectrum of life," is what he said. Nice! And correct. This show displayed not a single flat note, glitch, or boring moment. It was the aural equivalent of a rampant locomotive with no breaks, steamrolling through anything and everything that gets in its way. "Get It On," with its chorus of "GET IT ON / GET IT ON / ON THE DAY THAT YOU WERE BORN" was simply fucking explosive. "No Pussy Blues," a treatise on a woman who just won't put out, no matter what one does for her, was fluid in its frustration.

The scathing "Honeybee (Let's Fly To Mars)" was fantastic in its punk-rock fervour, and "Worm Tamer," a rollicking track with one of the funnier lines to ever be sung ("Well my baby calls me the Loch Ness Monster / Two great big humps and then I'm gone") nearly hypnotised with its grungy dirty-ass blues. Fittingly, Cave and company closed things down with the first Grinderman's self-titled track, "Grinderman." "Yes I'm the Grinderman / In the silver rain / In the pale moonlight / I am open late / Yes I'm the Grinderman / Yes I am / Any way I can."


Damn right, Nick. Yes, you are.

setlist

mickey mouse and the goodbye man

worm tamer

get it on

heathen child

evil!

when my baby comes

what i know

honeybee (let's fly to mars)

kitchenette

no pussy blues

bellringer blues

-----

palaces of montezuma

man in the moon

when my love comes down

love bomb

grinderman

Here for your viewing pleasure is Grinderman's "Heathen Child," directed by John Hillcoat, director of fantastic films The Proposition (which was scripted by Nick Cave) and The Road, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy (which featured music written by Cave and Ellis). It's NSFW, just so you know – featuring nudity, violence, and grown men prancing around in Roman Centurion costumes.

Grinderman - "Heathen Child"
Uploaded by naivepromo. - Watch more music videos, in HD! 

iamamiwhoami

Barren tree branches sporting eyes in the cracks in the bark. Spilled jars of coffee beans from which feeling toes venture warily. Placental imagery in a gilded forest of cling film and foil. A forest of disembodied legs and arms, all smudged with dirt and grime. Slimy mollusks leaving a trail of mucus on a leaf. A black cat. A beautiful blonde woman curled up amongst the exposed roots of a tree, licking the bark. Virtual birth from a crack in the trunk of a birch. 


These are but some of the many images employed by the Swedish experimental group iamamiwhoami, headed by the ethereally gorgeous Jonna Lee. Short teaser video clips have been showing up on YouTube for most of last year, garnering a lot of speculation and anticipation as to who are they and what are they about. Well, now the (black) cat is out of the bag, and a series of videos with such titles as "o", "t", "n", and "y" have been released through iamamiwhoami's YouTube Channel. Their music is available on iTunes, as well -- so I completely recommend a visit to pursue some of this devilishly clever and freakishly brilliant experimental electronica headed by the voice of an angel. To say the music's dreamy and mythical would be an understatement, by my reckoning! As I said before, Ms Lee's voice is something of a revelation; wispy yet forceful, with a breathy insouciance befitting a body of work that seems to revel (if not openly worship) the woods and the mysteries that can be found within their mysterious darkness. The music is delightfully experimental, full of piano, crickets, toads, squelching beats, humming insect noises, elegiac synths, and a general sense of wonder that comes through every note. Best discovery I've made in quite some time, and I thought of sharing it with you, dear readers! Check it. Here, for your viewing and listening pleasure, are three of my favourites: "o", "t", and "y" -- which do spell "toy." 

SDU's Top 11 Albums of 2010! (#1)

Well, this is it. The final installment of Second Drawer Up's "Top Eleven Albums of 2010". I have to admit I'm a bit sorry to see it finish. Mayhaps I'll hit some of the albums that came close to making my list sometime in the near future (Kele's debut solo record The Boxer springs to mind); I think that would be quite fun. But -- yeah -- this is the final installment. And once again I'd like to remind the reader that these have in no way been listed in a preferential order ... though I have to admit that this record I'm about to put down is certainly one of my all-time favourites. So here it is!

1.

GORILLAZ

PLASTIC BEACH

On the 9th of March last year, Gorillaz released their third (and perhaps final) album, Plastic Beach. A cartoon band created by Damon Albarn (of the late, great Blur) and realized by Jamie Hewlett (who was responsible for the great comic series Tank Girl), Gorillaz consists of part-time Satanist Murdoc Niccals, the pint-sized and impossibly skinny 2D, half-robotic assassin Noodle, and the hulking behemoth Russell Hobbs. 

Their self-titled debut was released in 2001, featuring the classic tracks "Clint Eastwood" (featuring Del tha Funkee Homosapien - which in itself was rather ideal) and "19-2000" (with Miho Hatori and Tina Weymouth). 2005 brought us the more fully-realized Demon Days, with the most awesome electro-disco single "Dare" and their pairing with Neneh Cherry, "Kids With Guns". And now, we are blessed with the singularly epic sprawling masterpiece that I'm talking about right now at this very moment. As a matter of course, the cartoon characters have been somewhat sidelined by a very large coterie of flesh-and-blood musicians and guest vocalists -- but their spirit still lingers strongly in the world of Gorillaz' third LP. Set on the titular piece of real estate, somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean, this rollicking piece of work finds itself reveling on chunks of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that have somehow manifested themselves into an island where the Gorillaz have set up their home. And, boy, I've got to tell you - they have some seriously awesome guests. Here on Plastic Beach we have musical compositions (ranging from dub, raggae, hip-hop, techno, and - yes - electronica) with such luminaries as Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Mick Jones and Paul Simonen from The Clash, Mark E. Smith, Lou Reed (!), Mos Def, and De La Soul. Eclectic? For sure! And that's one thing (of many) that makes it so special - you can't pin it down. Based on what I've heard, I heartedly recommend it to anybody. Pardon my French, but it's fucking magical.

Probably the most searing, awesomely scorching track off of Plastic Beach has to be the rollicking "Stylo," with vocal performances from Damon Albarn, Mos Def, and the gorgeous soul voice of the one and only Bobby Womack. The accompanying video is something special as well. It features three of the cartoon characters speeding through the desert in their car after some kind of shootout. It's a car chase! Guns blazing! A fat cop with donuts! Bruce Willis chasing them with a humongous gun! Noodle the cyborg with a hole in its head! It freaking rocks.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 11 & 10.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Number 9.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 8 & 7.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 6 & 5.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 4 & 3.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Number 2.

Thank you all so much for reading! If you like what you're reading at all, then help spread the word for me -- share a link, like on Facebook, re-Tweet, yeah, all that sweet-ass shit. Peace out, and can't wait to hear from y'all again!

SDU's Top 11 Albums of 2010! (#2)

Well, here we are. The final two of eleven albums of 2010 that made Second Drawer Up's cockles warm up. Here's number two (though once again I'd like to remind everybody that this list has in no way been in any preferential order) -- an outstanding surprise released by a band who I was beginning to believe wouldn't release anything else at all...

2.

MASSIVE ATTACK

HELIGOLAND

Seven years. Seven long, long years. That's how long ago Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, better known as Bristol duo Massive Attack, released their fourth official album 100th Window. Seven years. I really was under the impression that they'd laid Massive Attack to rest; content to noodle about here and there with other musicians and eschew the limelight. 


But they never sat on their laurels, did Massive Attack. They were busy as bees, working on film soundtracks, engaging in fundraisers for the benefit of Palestinian children, and curating festivals in London. Del Naja and Marshall were also taking their time, getting together from time to time and writing bits and pieces of what was then only known in blogs and rumours as "LP5". But it was when they went to hang in Damon Albarn's (of Gorillaz) studio that music began to flow -- enough for an EP they released in 2009 called Splitting The Atom. And after that, it all came together and coalesced into a finished "LP5" -- featuring three of the songs off of Splitting The Atom, "Splitting The Atom," "Pray For Rain," and "Psyche." The LP was subsequently titled Heligoland, after the German archipelago where Werner Heisenberg first formulated the idea of quantum mechanics in the 1920s. (You see, Heisenberg suffered from tremendous allergies. Heligoland doesn't have any trees or pollen to speak of, so he felt comfortable there.) Don't know if that's the particular reason Del Naja chose Heligoland, but that's my favourite guess.


So! Was the wait worth it? Fuck yeah, it was worth it. What I've always liked about Massive Attack has been their intense and unwavering feel for experimentation. From their 1991 debut Blue Lines to '94s Protection to '98s immense (and my favourite, I must add) Mezzanine there's always been a deliriously feel of immersion in the listening experience. And yeah, I mean it when I say "experience". 'Cos that's what listening to a Massive Attack record is like -- it feels as if you're in another place and time while those squelchy beats, string arrangements, and numbing basslines wash over you. Heligoland is no different. Written with a host of other musicians and featuring vocal work by Horace Andy, Hope Sandoval, Tunde Adebimpe, Guy Garvey, and Damon Albarn his own bad self, this record is like a treasure trove of musical wonder, coming at you from every direction. There's the gleeful menace and atmospherics of "Girl I Love You," complete with Andy's powerful voice backing shit up. "Rush Minute," one of the few tracks featuring Del Naja's scratchy and moody voice, slowly builds in intensity over staccato drums and guitar and an unrelenting beat. The beautiful Hope Sandoval's breathy vocals preside over "Paradise Circus." And then, closing shit out, there's the demented animosity of "United Snakes," which seems to evoke a nightmarish world of intrigue and dishonesty that exists ... underwater. It's all so awesome and thrilling; and I'm happy that Massive Attack is back -- in a huge way. Yo, check it.


Here's "Girl I Love You" from the album. Brilliant!

And here's a link for the video "Paradise Circus." It's amazingly pornographic and is unsuitable for work! I mean it -- it's truly NSFW and if you click to the right link, the video will start immediately. Two words: Seventies Porn.  CLICK HERE. 

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 11 & 10.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Number 9.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 8 & 7.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 6 & 5.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 4 & 3.

SDU's Top 11 Albums of 2010! (#s 4 & 3)

So! Here we are -- well over halfway through our special little list of our favourite eleven albums of 2010. Today we have numbers four and three for you. So we recommend you fix yourself your favourite beverage, sit back in your comfortable (at least we hope it's comfortable) chair, and read today's entry! You'll be happy you did. Especially if that chair's a comfortable one. Going on ...

4.

DIE ANTWOORD

$O$

I still remember when Die Antwoord first entered my consciousness. I was browsing my preferred go-to site for all things cool and interesting, BoingBoing, and one of their South African correspondents had written a missive on this fascinating rap-rave crew from Cape Town whose sound was unlike anything he'd heard before. The accompanying video was unlike anything I'd seen before. An impossibly tall and skinny blonde man (NINJA) covered with primitive tattoos, a diminutive tomboy girl (¥O-LANDI VI$$ER) with a funky platinum fringe haircut, and a huge DJ (HI-TEK) with a massive talent for human beatboxing were holding court in the hot South African sun and talking about a concept called "ZEF". Frankly, I couldn't take my eyes or ears off them, and I thought to myself, These guys are fucking crazy. They're going to be HUGE.

So when the trio finally dropped their debut album $O$ in November, I snapped the fucker up. And I've got to tell you: this record has got to be the most original I've heard in many a moon, dude. It's startling. Racing breathlessly from genre to genre, $O$ never plays it safe -- it's loud, it's in your face, it's brooding, and it's gleefully profane. Now that I think about it, that's what "ZEF" is really all about. All I can say is this album is "fokken" brilliant. Check it. 

3.

ZOLA JESUS

STRIDULUM II

A concept album of sorts, based on a cheesy 1979 science fiction film called The Visitor, Stridulum II by Zola Jesus (the stage name of Phoenix, Arizona singer Nika Roza Danilova) is an attempt to discuss the powers of good and evil that rest on the weary shoulders of a young woman who is caught between the pulling forces of the two. Here's what I wrote: "This is quite literally a thrilling album, deep and mysterious and full of emotion. From the opening number 'Night' to closing time with 'Lightsick,' Danilova brings to mind the best vocal performances of Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush, splashing and dashing the flavour with sleek and dark synth brushstrokes and a mighty dollop of mezzo soprano classicism. Something dark and wounded in the night; a decision upon which balances the difference between success and failure; a heavy head, lost in the fog of confusion; and the blindness that careens from the deepest pits of despair -- this is not a happy record."

Here's the video for my favourite track, "Sea Talk." Like a funeral dirge backed by towering organs and a militaristic drumbeat, when Danilova sings, "Sick / I'm sick, honey / I don't, I don't got the money / Do you want a raincheck?" you can feel the raw emotion all the way down your backbone. Enjoy.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 11 & 10

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Number 9

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 8 & 7

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 6 & 5

SDU's Top 11 Albums of 2010! (#s 6 & 5)

Chugging right along. Second Drawer Up's Top Eleven Albums of 2010 continues, resembling a steaming locomotive loaded with nothing but the dandiest electronic goodies this side of Pluto (which is still a planet in my book)! Here are numbers 6 and 5 -- and remember, kiddies, that none of these albums are in any preferential order! Shall we?

6.

MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS

THE CRYSTAL AXIS

Melbourne, Australia's own Midnight Juggernauts dropped their sophomore album The Crystal Axis May of last year, and frankly I feel as if they dodged what many consider to be the "dreaded sophomore curse". Any doubts about Vincent Vendetta, Andrew Szekeres, and Daniel Stricker being able to maintain their glistening prog-rock-meets-Vangelis sound were quickly dispelled by the opening number, "Induco", an instrumental introduction that would surely feel at home in an early-'80s science fiction film about a dystopian future. Here's what I wrote last year after having seen Midnight Juggernauts at the Lovebox Festival in London: "[It's] a hypnotic and soulful hybrid of 70s glam, soaring Ennio Morriconesque soundscapes, and spacey synths that would fit quite comfortably in anybody's music collection." Songs such as "This New Technology," "Cannibal Freeway," and (my favourite) "Winds of Fortune" really take their debut record Dystopia's musical direction further along this road lined with so much psychedelic lustre. It's fun, it's danceable, and above all it takes the listener to a dynamic, mythological place with (to quote Bryan Ferry) a rhythm of rhyming guitars. Excellent stuff, indeed. Now, here's "This New Technology" for your listening pleasure, gentle readers.

5.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

THIS IS HAPPENING

There's a moment, three minutes and six seconds into the opening track "Dance Yrself Clean", that's a lot like the curtain effect at certain rock shows -- you know what I'm talking about; when a song builds and builds and builds, ratcheting up the anciness and expectations and potential bust-a-movers ... and then when that final note hits, then POW! it all begins in earnest and the beats kick in and the volume goes up ten-fold and the crowd goes fucking apeshit and the curtain that had previously concealed the band falls down to the stage with a crash and the lights go wild. So ... yeah, 3:06 into "Dance Yrself Clean" that happens. And once those cards are thrown down by James Murphy of DFA fame, then all bets are off the table. For here's his third (and, unfortunately, probably his last) album under the LCD Soundsystem moniker -- and he's going out with a bang, motherfuckers.

There is so much good on this album. There's the delightfully cynic track "I Can Change" ("... And love is a curse shoved in a hearse/Love is an open book to a verse of your bad poetry/And this is coming from me."), flowing along effortlessly and -- while it's at it -- bringing to mind the Eurythmics' classic "Love Is A Stranger"; the punk-rock late-'70s boisterousness of "Drunk Girls"; "Pow Pow", which takes its usage and fetishism of cow-bells to dizzying heights; and "Home" which sounds like the soundtrack from an alien production of a western -- yet the film-making ETs were all on angel dust.

So. This Is Happening. Will it truly be James Murphy's last album as LCD Soundsystem? I certainly hope not, but if it is indeed true, it's not like he's going away, or anything. I picture him heading back to his producing chair in NYC's DFA HQ -- making fucking kickass music no matter what name he's doing it under. Thanks, James -- for going out with some class!

Here's "I Can Change", track five off of the aforementioned album. Enjoy!

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010: Numbers 10 & 11.
SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010: Number 9.
SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010: Numbers 8 & 7.

SDU's Top 11 Albums of 2010! (#s 8 & 7)

And the ball keeps moving on Second Drawer Up's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Let's jump right in, shall we? Numbers 8 and 7 were chosen through Facebook when I asked some friends to give me two numbers. Simple shimple, easy schmeasy peasy!

8.

RöYKSOPP

SENIOR

When Torbjörn Brundtland and Svein Berge recorded their ebullient Junior in 2009, featuring a multitude of guest vocalists, soaring synths, partying beats, and, yes, a singular sensation of being young and carefree, they'd also put down on tape some more introspective and multi-layered instrumentals that really had no place on such a festive album. So they released in 2010 the followup to Junior: Senior. The Norwegian electro-artistes stated on their website:

"The two albums (’Junior’ and ‘Senior’) have a kinship, in that they represent Röyksopp’s two very different artistic expressions. ‘Junior’ – with emphasis on vocals, accessible melodies and harmonies, has the energy, the inquisitive temper and confident 'hey-ho, let’s go!'-attitude of youth, whereas ‘Senior’ is the introverted, dwelling and sometimes graceful counterpart – brimfull with dark secrets and distorted memories, insisting 'I’m old, I’ve got experince…'. Senior’ is furthermore an album about age, horses and being subdued – with devils breathing down your neck."

And here's what I wrote last year: "Flowing nearly seamlessly over nine tracks and 48 minutes, this entirely instrumental work shines with a languid and chill-out beauty. Hypnotic, meandering, and in no hurry, Senior would make a fantastic soundtrack to an imaginary sci-fi spaghetti Western film with lots of dramatic silences and speculative ennui."

Terrific album; very mellow, it plucks the heart's strings in just the right places, and -- even better -- it's a bit like brain food; Senior takes your mind to a fantastical place, like a spa, and massages your grey matter with tones and moods and feelings. It's just ... right.

Taken from the album, here's track 4, "Senior Living." My Gosh, it's a gorgeous song.

7.

SCISSOR SISTERS

NIGHT WORK

Featuring a cover depicting Robert Mapplethorpe's 1980 photograph of ballet dancer Peter Reed's well-toned ass, and literally chockfull of sharp and edgy disco-saturated shenanigans, Scissor Sisters' third full-length, Night Work, was a direct result of a wholesale scrapping of eighteen tracks, that the band just couldn't coalesce behind. Lead singer Jake Shears fled to Berlin for a few months to "readjust" and it was there, in the sex clubs, cabarets, discotheques, and the music scene in general that a fire was lit in his imagination. Voilá -- a brilliant album was born. Taking its cue from the halcyon days of gay sex and partying before the spectre of AIDS reared its ugly head, Night Work straddles (ha) the fine lines separating pleasure and pain, love and death, joyousness and sadness, and the trials and tribulations of hooking up with strangers after a sweaty night out. The disco sensibilities they explored on their self-titled debut are all here, but turned up to 11. Title track "Night Work" sets off the proceedings with style and flair, complete with buzzing guitars, throbbing rhythms, and Shears' and Matronic's vocals overlaid on the catchy-as-fuck chorus. "Running Out" is probably my favorite song off this record, and my nominee for the next single! I'm telling you - this song soars, man. It's an incredibly, impossibly catchy piece of pop confectionary that seemingly has it all: sharp indie guitars courtesy of Babydaddy and Del Marquis, a fantastic disco beat, and chirping, swooping synths that bring to mind some of the best stuff that late 70's/early 80's Krautrock had to offer. Then on the darker side of things, there's the spooky "Sex And Violence," told from the point of view of a serial killer who kills gay men, trailing his next victim and singing how he's going to do the deed. Chilling. Ana Matronic has a solo song, "Skin This Cat" as well. Featuring a deep, progressive throbbing bass-line throughout with a fantastically fun 8-bit keyboard flitting about like a stoned butterfly, it's something of a turn-on when she purrs, "Here, kitty kitty, let's skin this cat." 

Night Work. Simply divine; it's a monumental work.

SDU's Top Eleven: Numbers 11 and 10.

SDU's Top Eleven: Number 9.

SDU's Top 11 Albums of 2010! (#9)

Did you really think I wasn't coming back? Well, here's your #9 on the "Second Drawer Up's Top Eleven Albums of 2010" list. Oh, and it's a freaking doozy! I'm speaking of mash-up artist and party soundtrack maestro Girl Talk and the startlingly awesome piece of work he dropped in November, All Day.

9.

GIRL TALK

ALL DAY

What do you get when you take 373 songs from every different spectrum of popular music, and then painstakingly overlap them -- and, in doing so, manage to create a veritable masterwork of mash-up heaven at the same time? Well, when Pittsburgh DJ and producer (there's a lot of those on my top eleven list, aren't there?) Gregg Gillis -- better known as Girl Talk -- did just that, he created what is quite possibly the ultimate party track of all time: a sprawling, loopy, demented, and thoroughly booty-shakealicious 72-minute track All Day. Holy crap, what else can I say about Girl Talk's 5th album, except to say that it fucking rocks? Featuring a stunning 373 samples (a full list can be found here) from acts that run the spectrum from 2 Live Crew to U2, to Depeche Mode and Flock of Seagulls, to Black Sabbath and Ludacris, and Cyndi Lauper to Bruce Springsteen to 50 Cent, All Day simply does not stop. It just goes and goes and goes -- and frankly my advice to you is to put it on at a party. That'll do it. And due to the fact that Gillis didn't ask permission to use any of the sampled tracks on this, All Day is available for a free download. Yep, you heard me. Free. There's no excuse to not have this in your collection, so go on down to Mr Gillis's production company Illegal Art's (ha) website and download it, already! Do it. You'll thank me later. Once again, with feeling: It's free.

Here's the first segment of All Day, featuring Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" delivered with Ludacris' "Move Bitch (Get Out The Way)". Holy crap, this album is fucking amazing.

SDU's Top 11 Albums of 2010! (#s 11 & 10)

Hey there boys and girls -- the year 2010 is off like a cheap prom dress, and now is about the time to begin discussing important things like the best albums that have graced our eardrums here at Second Drawer Up HQ. It's been a bumper year for exquisitely exciting electronic music releases, and after a veritable shitload of listening, judging, and making up rules as we go along, we've finally chosen eleven (why eleven? because it's 2011, that's why) albums that really got us moving, thinking, feeling, and humming. Please note that these are in no particular order. I just wrote them on a pad of paper, numbered them, and then asked my wife to give me two numbers at random. Voilá -- SDU's complicated voting system finally revealed! So. Without any further ado, here are numbers 11 and 10 on my list. Enjoy, and check back often; I'll be plowing through this list throughout the weekend. Cheers, my lovely readers, and I hope you had a lovely and safe New Year's celebration!

11.

PANTHA DU PRINCE

BLACK NOISE

The first thing you might become aware of whilst listening to Pantha du Prince's stunning third full-length Black Noise is, that even amongst all the synths, drum programming, and samples that are on display, how bloody organic it sounds. Born Hendrik Weber, the Germany-based DJ and producer had long possessed an affinity for the mountains and the snow. After learning about subtle sounds on a register far too low for humans to hear -- black noise, as opposed to the white variety -- and how an avalanche can be caused by them. Maybe, he posited, black noise can also be a warning, as well? Black Noise began to be pieced together in the high-altitude atmosphere of the German Alps. Using samples of natural phenomena, and synthesizing the sounds of ice crystals, pressure, swaying trees, and the incidental noises of a sleepy alpine town unaware of the danger silently swooping down from above, Mr Weber has created a gorgeous, delicate, and infinitely serene piece of electronic music that is guaranteed to massage the mind, as well as the ears. From the achingly beautiful opener "Lay In A Shimmer" to the somewhat menacing "Stick To My Side" to "Welt am Draht" ("World on Fire", also a 1973 German science fiction flick directed by Rainer Werner), which turns up the urgency, Black Noise is one of those albums that rewards one through repeat listens from beginning to end. Putting it on shuffle doesn't work for this record. It's beautiful, it's a bit chilly, and it's majestic -- a mini-universe in its own right. Check it out. Now, here's Pantha du Prince's "Stick To My Side". Accompanied by Panda Bear from Animal Collective!

10.

CRYSTAL CASTLES

CRYSTAL CASTLES II

Oh, those tricksters from Toronto, Alice Glass and Ethan Kath! In May of 2010 they dropped their second full-length which, like their debut in 2008, is also entitled Crystal Castles. Formed when DJ and producer Kath witnessed the willowy Glass screaming her vocals at an audience at a punk show (she was in a band called Fetus Fatale), and then inviting her to record some vocals over some music he was putting together, Crystal Castles (not named after the video game, but rather the fortress She-Ra hang out in in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe) embraces a slew of different facets of electronica. There's the jagged edges of pure, unadulterated noise, accompanied with the shrieking yelps of the hyperactive and vicious Glass (opener "Fainting Spells") that acts a bit like the drill a dentist might wield, except instead of grinding away at your teeth, it bores a hole in one's cranium with no mercy. Then there's the soaring '90s-style synths and house rhythms of "Baptism" sampled with 8-bit video-game sound effects. "Violent Dreams" moves like a disturbing fairy-tale one might read to a child to give it bad dreams, and then there's "Not In Love", which is as close to Chris & Cosey as you can get, I think (and, I'm pleased to add, has been re-released with vocals by the one and only Robert fucking Smith of The Cure!). Crystal Castles II is an album fraught with danger; all sharp edges and uncomfortable moments. It's certainly not a safe album -- in fact, I'd go so far as to say that Crystal Castles have managed to place their electronic fingers on the bridge of the psyche that exists on a plane somewhere between regret, guilt, violent thought, sadness, and anger. It's an emotional roller-coaster, to be sure, and it's fucking magnificent. I can listen to this shit all day. Here's "Violent Dreams" -- enjoy!

So! There are numbers 11 and 10 from SDU's "Top Eleven Albums of 2010". Please stay tuned; there are still nine more to go! Will your favourite make it to the list? Do you have any comments or complaints? What are some of your favourites? Let me know -- I'd love to meet some of my readers. Take care, and talk soon. Numbers 9 and 8, tomorrow! Peace out.

The Crystal Ark.

Producer Gavin Russom is known by the nickname "Wizard" -- a moniker that's rather fitting, considering his flowing red mane of hair and his almost mystical ability to program, play, and build synthesizers. Also a member of DFA's ridiculously talented family of musicians, this gentleman from Providence, Rhode Island also sometimes performs as The Crystal Ark. His music, to me, represents a sort of subsonic melding of technological prowess and an almost organic, shamanistic spirituality that dives deep beneath the surface of the listener's subconsciousness and subverts the definition of reality, and how encapsulated the broader surface of life really is. And hey! It's fucking fabulous to dance to.

The Crystal Ark has released two EPs this year: The City Never Sleeps and The Tangible Presence of the Miraculous. Ten days ago, the video for "The City Never Sleeps" was released, and it's simply amazing. Directed by vocalist Viva Ruiz (whose hypnotic and chanty voice propels the transcendent track), this video has everything: Insomniac New Yorkers, old-school synths, spiritual quests, a shaman dancing on a table, and brilliantly realized animal costumes. And lasers! So yo, check this shit out.

The Crystal Ark - The City Never Sleeps from DFA Records on Vimeo.

Art Vs Science!

The year was 2007, and Dan McNamee had gone to see a Daft Punk concert in Sydney. Inspired by the techno spectacle (as well as anybody should!), he rang up two old high school mates, Jim Finn and Dan Williams, and proposed that they form a band. Art Vs Science was born, and the rest, as they say, is history. And I'm really, really impressed by what they've turned out so far.

There are many pleasant surprises that have engaged me during my stay here in Melbourne (if one is interested, then visit my Oz-ward Bound blog to read about my adventures trying to gain Australian citizenship). Victorian architecture,  flocks of parrots, the colourful flora and fauna, the laid-back personality of the local population, and -- yes -- the nearly obscene wealth of fantastic electronic acts that have been formed here. From the Presets, to Severed Heads, to Cut Copy and Midnight Juggernauts, to Pnau and Empire of the Sun, to Grafton Primary and Infusion, and to Art Vs Science and Sean Quinn and many, many more, Australia has produced some of the more original and eclectic electronic soundtracks to grace my playlist in many a moon.

So, back to Art Vs Science. They formed in early 2008, and have so far released two EPs: 2009's Art Vs Science and 2010's Magic Fountain. Their first full-length (title TBA) will be released in February of 2011, and they've also covered Split Enz's "I See Red" for the new compilation record He Will Have His Way, a compendium of Tim and Neil Finn covers. They've also recorded a minute-and-a-half little ditty about bad breath for the Australian kid's science TV show Sleek Geeks (think about rhyming "halitosis" with "diagnosis"), and are currently on tour with Infusion and Sean Quinn (they hit St Kilda on the 10th of December at the venerable Prince Bandroom -- you should totally go)!

An enthusiastic and bombastic stew of experimental synths, disco-punk, and techno, Art Vs Science's music is fantastically catchy, a frenzied hodgepodge of forward-thinking boom 'n' bass 'n' noise. Utilizing guitar and bass and live drums, their work has something for everybody, including those music snobs who tend to steer clear of bands that "just noodle at keyboards and sequencers." But holy shit, there's a lot of fun to be had here. "Parlez-vous Français?" will not only get your ass moving on the dancefloor, but will also make you smile -- there's a lot of quirky humour on display. "Take Me To Your Leader" delves deep into Empire of the Sun territory -- it reminds me quite a bit of Mr Steele's "Swordfish Hotkiss Night." "Magic Fountain" maintains a serious Daft Punk sensibility throughout its hardcore bangin', and -- if you're listening to their Magic Fountain EP -- there's even a live cover version (recorded at Splendour in the Grass) of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's "Boom! Shake the Room" that's just ... fucking special.

OK, I've talked enough. Here's some music for y'all, my favourite readers in the whole wide world.

art vs science

"parlez-vous français?"

art vs science ep

art vs science

"magic fountain"

magic fountain ep