With “I Run With You, Spirit Animal” and “Sad, Like Hearts Can Be,” Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist Evan Voytas has shown a certain savvy with insular space disco, and intimate synth-pop, and inserting commas into track titles. This latest single is breaking the mold: piano in waltz time, totally comma free. Still lovely sighs in the vocals, though.
Less than a month away from Ted Leo’s The Brutalist Bricks, the ’80s-hardcore influenced 13-track jammer that constitutes Ted and Rx’s Matador debut. “The Mighty Sparrow” is a bright and mighty opener, setting the pace for the LP’s spitfire hooks with Leo in your ear immediately, talking about exploding cafe doors within three seconds. Efficient. Download this. It’s a brasher step than “Even Heroes Have To Die,” but you’ll have to wait ‘til you get into “Mourning In America” for the best dose of that pre-billed hardcore cap-tip. The track comes from Matador with a note that Ted’s signed on to do Fallon the day before the record’s out (Monday, March 8th) which makes sense because he takes his late night seriously. Plus a bunch of tour dates are scheduled. All of it is here:
Continue reading Ted Leo - “The Mighty Sparrow”…
Gatekeeper’s bio says they’re “…conjurers of the kind of crimson splattered disco that terrified the babies of the ’80s.” That holds true for the Chicago group’s Wild Beasts remix. Though the clip doesn’t show up until the latter half of the song, the dialogue sample from John Carpenter’s Prince Of Darkness sets up what Gatekeeper’s after. This remix, with its church bells and windy, mood-setting synths, is part passing reference to Prince of Darkness’s evil-as-science storyline (Anti-Christ exists just like anti-matter exists), and part homage to Carpenter’s ominous, pounding film scores.
When last we checked in with James Lavelle & Co., part of that Co. was Josh Homme. Not a surprise: Since UNKLE’s inception in 1994, the band’s featured any number of guests. It’s built into the framework. The upcoming Where Did The Night Fall is no exception: Mark Lanegan, Celebration’s Katrina Ford, Sleepy Sun, Autolux, and others, appear across its 14 tracks. One of those others is psychedelic Austin crew and long-ago BTW Black Angels, who appear on the fuzzy, driving lead track “Natural Selection.” It’s yours for the price of an email. Pass that along while you check out the tracklist:
Yeah, it’s bold and a little silly calling yourself We Are The World when there’s that other “We Are The Word” in its various forms. The song and the phrase claim a cartoonish “It’s A Small World” unity + Manifest Destiny-esque spirit, but true, it’s also a culturally resonant title to give your Los Angeles electro dance band/troupe. To their credit, WATW’s intriguing enough visually (the Bruised Man Group?) and musically to own it. We showed you the video for Clay Stones‘ title track with its burnt forest, bodysuits, and the aggro nature worship these things inspired. You get to create your own visuals for “Fight Song,” the collection’s next single. But that promo photo should at least inspire a starting point.
Continue reading We Are The World - “Fight Song” (Stereogum Premiere)…
You’ve heard Gabriel’s orchestral takes on the Arcade Fire, Magnetic Fields, and Bon Iver, among snippets of others. Now you can listen to the entire covers album — from Bowie through Radiohead — and wipe away a stray tear at The Guardian.
Los Angeles-via-Pennsylvania multi-instrumental singer and home recordist Evan Voytas — sort of a more clean-cut Ariel Pink — creates strange synth-pop/space-disco outings that feel danceable but private and insular. The idea’s explored in the video for his most recent single “I Run With You, Spirit Animal.” The clip was directed by Carlos Charlie Perez, who recently finished the upcoming Vampire Weekend video and shot those tongue-in-cheek promos that showed up on ithinkuracontra.com. You’ll find that playfulness, here as well, after Voytas locates a place to rest his plank of wood while he tries on sunglasses and animal masks.
Continue reading Evan Voytas - “I Run With You, Spirit Animal” Video…
