Bryce's Pick: Music for the YouTube Generation: Fall on Your Sword and Hi Fashion $9.99
As the twenty-first century rolls on, two ways of collecting music have become the paradigm: there is collecting mp3 and m4a files, free and illegal; $.99 and legal, and there is collecting a list of search strings to plug into YouTube. Too often, though, this latter choice, though it allows for audio-visual entertainment, becomes purely audio when its users minimize their screens. But certain phenomena, like the numerous cutesy animals, go viral because of the medium specificity of YouTube: the ease and delight of watching short videos. As YouTube becomes an infinite jukebox for this generation, there are acts that make their videos specifically for time-wasting at work and sharing amongst friends. Think OK Go here. Two (relatively new) musical artists with whom I've just become acquainted are tailor made for this new outlet and the kinds of entertainment being sought on the site. The first, Fall on Your Sword, is new to me, but old hat for many (their brilliant "
Shatner of the Mount" has hit 1 million views on YouTube). They are brilliant remixers of kitschy movie gold. They played indieWIRE's Rooftop Films birthday bash (which I unfortunately missed)...and raised the...sky...playing before a sneak preview of a film they scored, Kitao Sakurai's
Aardvark. As they continue to get work on commercials and films, keep an eye on these astute entertainer-musician-multimedia artists and check out their short form work on
their site. While Fall on Your Sword was on a rooftop in the LES, I was in LA, where I got to see
Hi Fashion $9.99, a band whose short set was
accompanied by a troupe of Cousin It's performing lyrical dance to the band's technofunartmusic (how's that for "there aren't words?"). Irreverant yet thoughtful, the L.A. band will become a YouTube sensation when they make their first video, or if more people take cameras to
their live shows.
Arielle's Pick: Marina and the Diamonds' videos:
The name Marina and the Diamonds may not be familiar to you now but if I were you I'd write it down somewhere (I'm sure your phone has an app for that) so when this lusciously-voiced singer finally breaks in the States you can tell all your friends that you tooootally knew about that chick ages ago, like where have you been? Marina's debut album The Family Jewels dropped in the U.S. over four months ago and has steadily been picking up steam on this side of the pond (of course the Brits were all over this Welsh delight months ago) with some help no doubt from her other worldly video choices. Take the one for "
Mowgli's Road") a ridiculously catchy track that perfectly shows off Marina's versatile voice (the screechy bit at 2:20 is probably my favorite part) - is so simple yet totally mesmerizing. There's something about those accordion legs that won't let me turn away. And then there's her latest video, this one for "
Oh No!" a slightly more straight forward pop song but with deeper lyrics than your regular pop fair. The combination of bright colors, cheesy comic book graphics and insane fashion choices reminds us that while Marina and the Diamonds has some important things to say (songs on the album cover everything from girl power to American greed) Marina always remembers to do it with a shifty smile and a wink.
Landon's Pick: School of Seven Bells, Disconnect from Desire
Two years ago, School of Seven Bells produced
one of the best debut albums of the tail end of the past decade with
Alpinisms, and
last year I saw the band play magnificently despite their Austin venue’s clear technical setbacks, so it comes to no surprise that, with the release of their second LP
Disconnect From Desire, SVIIB remains one of the most fascinating bands to watch flourish and create. The difference is a give and take when compared to
Alpinisms as
Disconnect From Desire doesn’t contain quite as strong a sense of collective wholeness between songs, but their approach to the construction of individual songs shows no threat of losing its luster. I wish I could put it more eloquently, but it stands to fact that songs like “
Heart is Strange” and “
Babelonia” kick epic ass, containing an addictive energy molded by Benjamin Curtis’s irresistible guitar hooks and the stream-of-consciousness lyrics and angelic, ethereal vocals of the sisters Deheza. There’s no experimental exploration of new territory here, just a building and improving upon what was already a wonderful and unique sound, and in Disconnect From Desire SVIIB has found a way to let their songs build, transcend, and ultimately breathe with an elegance and an energy that’s hard to compete with. The music here is better honed yet still comfortably familiar. It’s exactly what one both wants and expects to hear from this band.
Disconnect From Desire is improvement where one thought it was neither needed nor possible.
-- bryce, arielle, and landon palmer
accompanied by a troupe of Cousin It's performing lyrical dance to the band's technofunartmusic (how's that for "there aren't words?"). Irreverant yet thoughtful, the L.A. band will become a YouTube sensation when they make their first video, or if more people take cameras to their live shows. 
1 comment:
Welsh chick that sounds looks like Billie Piper and sounds like Bjork (ish). Check, check and check.
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