Music
LATEST MUSIC SUGGESTIONS FROM DJ MIX
Album Title: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Description
From back in the Alphabetical days (it’s impossible to not love “Everything is Everything”) to It’s Never Been Like That (”Second to None” anyone?) they have consistently put out a sound that is catchy, cool, and that has a slightly different vibe than anything out there. I don’t know if it’s the funk/rock music or Thomas Mars’ unique style (he’s got one of those voices that you know the second you hear it), but Phoenix somehow manages to capture a quirkiness of alternative funk, and display it through a mainstream lense. Their sound has always emerged as fresh, yet embraceable and I like that. Well, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is here and it continues the trend of solidity that has threaded it’s way through Phoenix’s catalogue.
PMA has already, and rightfully, trumpeted the awesomeness of “Lisztomania,” so I’m not gonna bang on that drum anymore except to say that it’s a good measuring stick for the rest of the album. As far as I see it, if you like “Lisztomania,” you will like Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. It’s as simple as that. One of the great things about this album is that it’s packed with songs as good (almost) as what I view as its best track (”Lisztomania”). “1901,” “Rome,” and “Countdown (Sick for The Big Sun)” are some of the great songs that add beautiful texture to the record. From guitar plucked choruses, to soft synth organs, each of these stand as noteworthy supplement (not filler) to other true highpoints of the album.
“Fences” is one such highpoint that could be considered a contender for “best on album” honors. I love the vocal that Thomas Mars delivers. His voice stretches from falsetto arches to melodic chatter. It’s really something. The funkiness of the chorus is hip, and the overall vibe of the music uses a sophisticated construction that is rarely heard in todays pop/rock. Besides, it has one of the coolest guitar/vocal breaks I’ve heard in a while (35 seconds in). “Fences” has one of those funk beats you’ll bounce to while listening, and find yourself humming for days afterward. Sweet song.
Album Title: 808s & Heartbreak
Description
First, he dropped out of college, then he re-enrolled, and on his third album he finally graduated. Next, Kanye West was supposed to get a good ass job. Instead however, he´s had his heart broken.
It´s been a rough year for West after his mother died from surgery complications, he´s also been arrested twice after clashes with paparazzi, and worst of all, it seems, he broke up with his fiancee, Alexis Phifer. Heartless is one of several spiteful tracks aimed at his ex.
It´s no surprise then, that Kanye put on hold plans to release the fourth album in his ´college´ series, titled Good Ass Job, and recorded an album full of loss, heartbreak and robots.
The Mix would advise the sound of a moaning robot becomes a little boring, until Young Jeezy pops up in Amazing, which cuts through the monotony. This being said, Kanye´s minimilist production is stunning, especially on Love Lockdown.
Despite the heartache, West hasn´t forgotten about crafting hit singles. With its throbbing bassline and robotic vocals, Paranoid is 808´s answer to Graduation´s hit single Stronger. It´s not his best work, but don´t worry Mr West, if the good ass job doesn´t arrive, the music thing might work out for you. The Mix recommends tracks Coldest Winter and Robocop.
Album Title: Vampire Weekend
Description
This season you should mostly be wearing striped Ralph Lauren shirts, deck shoes, chino shorts, pastel sweaters (in a knot around the neck, naturally) and accessorising the whole look with a Moroccan-style keffiyeh or a gold hand-woven waistcoat. At least those are the signals The Mix are getting from Vampire Weekend, who are the inventors of the ´afro prep´ style and the best band to come out of New York since The Strokes.
Vampire Weekend inhabit a very different New York to The Strokes Lower East Side scuzz dens. They´ve got one foot on the campus of Columbia University, where they formed, and the other in Brooklyn´s artier outer reaches from which they rose from privileged backgrounds.
Vampire Weekend are funky in the same way as Talking Heads, while their relentless lo-fi cheeriness is similar to The Modern Lovers and this combination is truly irresistible.
There is simply nothing else out there that sounds quite like their hit song ´Oxford Comma´, which is the most irresistible geek-pop tune, played out over a delectable starched-collar groove. Have you ever heard a lyric that elegantly rebukes grammar snobs and gives you a lesson in Tibetan geography before ultimately deferring to the wisdom of crunk rapper Lil Jon?
If you haven´t already, you must indulge in Vampire Weekend´s vivid, foppish style, which tells you plenty about the human condition, even if their Ralph whites are rather well laundered.
Album Title: A Cross The Universe
Description
This album is recorded live without any studio-constructed pretension, allowing you to peer into Justice´s vulnerable talents. But in their new release, they show they are flawlessly brilliant.
The mega buster anthem ´Phantom´ is teased out over 10 minutes, before returning half an hour later for a second crack. Adhering closely to Daft Punk´s two seminal live albums, crowd noise is mixed high, becoming another instrument as it erupts synonymously with a spine-tingling roar.
If you´re sick of ´We Are Your Friends´? You haven´t heard it ushered in atop glowering organs before being devoured by thrash metal. No question, ´A Cross The Universe´ is a more powerful introduction to Justice than their actual studio album ‘†’.
If you ask us at The Mix, even though the music is brilliant, the most compelling piece of the album is manic tour film, which has even greater intensity than Justice´s live sets. The handy-cam flick follows the Justice chaps across North America in the care of their gun-toting tour manager. Things become gradually more debauched until Gaspard gets hitched to a stranger in a tequila-drenched Vegas wedding and Xavier bottles a pal in a car park, before being slinged off to jail.
The Mix would most definitely place Justice as our generation´s AC/DC or Ramones.
Album Title: Day & Age
Description
Day & Age is the much-anticipated third album of American rock pioneers The Killers. Released early in Japan, it´s now on the shelves for your listening pleasure.
The Album is electrifying and elegiac throughout and hearing it you´re unsure whether to run to the dance floor or to burst into tears. The album opens with ´Losing Touch´, which sounds like vintage Killers, but ´Joy Ride´ sees them trying their hand at Eighties white funk but with more of a ´Club Tropicana´ feel.
Where the Killers use their trademark melodic calling card, Day & Age is fantastic, and where this abandons them, the lyrics are fantastic but confusing. For such a great band its rare that The Mix ever truly grasp the meaning of their lyrics; "Now there´s a majesty at my doorstep/ And there´s a little boy in her arms/ And we´ll parade around/ Without game plans/ Obligation/ Or alarm".
The Mix likes the track ´Spaceman´ best, as it depicts Flowers being ubducted by aliens, which is something that doesn´t seem entirely outside the realm of possibility, "Next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed!"
With his naked ambition, unfashionable political views, propensity to say unbelievably silly things and finally his misguided trousers, Brandon Flowers makes for a brilliant rock star. As an accurate reflection of its frontman, Day & Age succeeds dazzlingly.
Album Title: Oracular Spectacular
Description
Although like Vampire Weekend, this great album was released earlier this year, it had to be included in our first column, as one of the best releases of the year.
This dazzling electro-psych band is created by two arty Brooklyn dudes who derive keyboard lines from the jumpy gait of a praying mantis and dress up in matching capes. Their buzz single "Time to Pretend" is a booming, tongue-in-bong sendup of the rock biz.
MGMT sound like a Flaming Lips outtake, with good reason, Lips producer Dave Fridmann helmed MGMT´s debut disc, fluffing their glitchy daydream rock into an intergalactic odyssey. There are hints of Joy Division and Sixties nostalgia both acid-tinged and bluesy, but Oracular Spectacular´s playfulness and remarkable density are best displayed on "Electric Feel", a surprising bit of funk featuring the original come-on "Ooh, girl, shock me like an electric eel".
