An rhythmic acid jazz piece by Miho Hatori of the late Cibo Matto. Now an independent musician, Hatori forges a sound through which elements of samba, bossa nova, jazz, and alternative rock mix into infectious melodies. Her voice, weightless, lilts with fragility over gentle drum and horn details, then soars with quiet confidence out of English and into Spanish, accentuating her musical eclecticism. Overall, Barracuda is a laid-back listen with a bite of ethnic flavor, sure to sate the appetites of the open-minded.
As a decorated, semi-underground British trip-hop legend, Adrian Thaws–known by his stage name Tricky–immortalizes the agony of his youth in his unruly experimentalist endeavors. Raised in the poor English district of Knowle West, Bristol, Tricky–then four–lived through the tragic suicide of his mother, Maxine Quaye, whose name he would later use for his first solo album in 1995, when he was first introduced to the British music industry. Along with Martina Topley-Bird, his musical other, Tricky resentfully rose to indie infamy with the production of his second album, Pre-Millenium Tension, and in doing so established the musical principles upon which he would operate: obscurity and irreverence.
PMT and Tricky’s third album, Angels With Dirty Faces, are glimpses into Tricky’s penumbral intentions. They are bleary-eyed, disheveled, and at time nightmarish, grinding into the brain like a grim but glittering prayer. Tricky gasps and croons; his voice, filled with barbs, slips in and out of shadow, volatile and untouchable. Christiansands, Tricky’s first hit from PMT, probably best exemplifies this energy. Like Tricky himself, it is both horrifying and captivating, with eerie rhymes and rhythms that lift Topley-Bird’s pure, echoing voice and Tricky’s growling poetry. However, where Christiansands is melodic and congruous, Mellow and Money Greedy—from AWDF—are filled with distortion, empty schisms and violent rattles. Tricky compensates for such formlessness with nothing—but in this he does no wrong. Most of AWDF is inaccessible and racous but it is also inexplicably exhilarating–the melodies that remain are emphasized, and become even more poignant. Also, perhaps unintentionally, it leaves several tracks to glitter in the rough. Hell is Around the Corner ft. Portishead, is mournful but also tender, with a soft, eclectic feel; Tricky speaks normally, voice light and ringing among Topley-Bird’s angelic calls. Aftermath is a mesmerizing blend of hooks, drumbeats, and in one section, a flute. These tracks, while still tinged in malaise, are smooth, almost beautiful–at least for Tricky. Tricky polarizes the noises and melodies he makes, but in the end produces a strange compilation that is congruous due to its incongruous elements.
Here’s Christiansands by Tricky
Here’s KarmaComa by Massive Attack ft. Tricky (a personal favorite)
As always, I am drawn as much to individual tracks as I am to their corresponding music videos. Constant Surprises by Little Dragon–a Swedish electrojazz phenomenon–exemplifies this habit perfectly. The band’s enigmatic energy is depicted in every shot of this bizarre but innovative music video by Fredrik Egerstrand, which features the natural beauty of Japanese-Swedish singer Yukimi Nagano and a captivating array of lights and silhouettes against a veil of smoke. The song itself is a sprawling, otherworldly mirage, allowing room for Nagano’s subdued vocals to complete its eccentric electronic hook. Tasteful and beautiful to watch, Constant Surprises is a must see and a must listen.
A dazzling work of art by freak-folk god Devendra Banhart, featuring girlfriend Natalie Portman as a Bollywood Princess under the control of a “Malevolent” Raja. Carmensita’s ethnic flair soars with romantic subtlety, intrigue, and desire, knit tightly together with Banhart’s passionate vocals. Here, Devendra succeeds in grounding a fantasy that is filled to a surfeit with yearning and potential heartbreak, but also as tender and endearing as love songs go. All in all, a magical number.
While barely acknowledged by most music critics, the Tokyo club circuit— former home of shoegaze sound and experimentalism—is now nurturing a thriving hip-hop scene. But don’t expect American-influenced ghetto-centric lyricism or gangsta swagger anytime soon. In fact, it would be fair to say the new Japanese musical trend has taken a form of its own. Rather than cultivate a sound based around the angst and hedonism of mainstream American rap, musical duo m-flo—leaders of the modern Japanese hip-hop scene—stake their indie claim with a cosmopolitan blend of feel good hip-hop and glittering house-beats, all kicked up in a cloud of pop sensibility. Still, the musical experimentalists—DJ Taku Takahashi and Emcee VERBAL—manage to maintain a sleek and sexy sound that is so authentic they inadvertently batter down traditional hip-hop boundaries. Basing their entire operation around musical collaboration with renowned Japanese musicians like LISA, Crazy Ken Band, and EMYLI, m-flo effortlessly fuses the three seemingly incongruous genres of pop, house, and hip-hop, into something as infectious as it is revolutionary.
Astromantic, the group’s 2004 musical effort, is an imaginative, dance-savvy venture that pulls audiences through the foolproof hooks and rhythms that first brought m-flo to renown. In standout tracks like “Miss You ft Melody,”“Way U Move ft. Dragon Ash” & “Astrosexy ft. Chemistry”, the album teeters between m-flo’s frenetic, experimental instincts and spontaneous pop sentiments, achieving an eccentric but generally irresistible sound. In “Starstruck”, the duo returns to a more traditional format, layering quick comedic rhymes over disco vocals, and later, a sassy rap bit by Rum, of the Japanese female rap-duo, Heartsdales. Even later on, in tracks like “Life is Beautiful ft Double & Toku” and “Cosmic Night Run ft. Crazy Ken Band”, DJ Taku generates a smooth, sensual, jazz-influenced ambience that features silky vocals, soft drums and trumpet scores.
Here’s Astrosexy ft. Chemistry, a personal favorite off of Astromantic.
Here’s Starstruck ft. Heartsdales, AI & Emi Hinouchi
Driven by ambient sounds and rhythms that characterize typical downtempo sound, Stateless—a five part Leeds-based band signed to indie label !K7—presents their self-titled, debut album that both screams and soothes with magic and melancholy. Gliding with elegance—and grief—over dazed drum beats and trance-like cadences, Chris James’ vocals calm and captivate, while retaining a candor that gives the band its poignant sound. Distancing themselves from ambient monotony, Stateless–with dreamy, new-age conviction–uses percussive variation to communicate different moods and energies, always surprising audiences with the unique sound of each of their tracks. On the album’s 4th track, “The Language”, Stateless even ventures to experiment with hip-hop artist Lateef, quickly rising among the ranks of experimental duos like Tricky and Portishead, Blueprint and RJD2. Through their signature sound that can be described as somewhere between lament and litany, Stateless draws attention to the shape and direction of modern music, staking a permanent place in the shadows of both indie and mainstream markets.
Bloodstream by Stateless
Other notable tracks include:
Prism #1
The Language
Radiokiller
***Will post actual songs once I stop being technologically retarded.
Drawing from the most evocative elements of folk, country, blues and swing jazz, Texan songstress Jolie Holland–previously of the Be Good Tanyas– conjures up her own mysterious world of fantasy and nostalgia in which the old and new are allowed to converge. Sascha, the first track off of Holland’s 2004 album Escondida–spanish for ‘hidden’–is a quaint portrait of old-school romanticism, where shuffling drums and minimalist vocals ease listeners into a free-spirited but elegant reverie. Mad Tom of Bedlam is untamed and visceral, tinged with bluesy vocals, scattered rhythms, and after that, little else, leaving the track to retain a raw and moody sound and aura whose poetic lyricism drives its resonance. Holland’s diverse fanbase even offers her countless collaborative opportunities, including a duet with indie-rap emcee Sage Francis, in the decadent blues-rap piece Got Up This Morning. With her elegant, homegrown musical sensibilities and eccentricities, Jolie Holland manages to both revere and lament a certain southern romanticism long lost to the society in which she lives.
Got up this Morning by Sage Francis (Ft. Jolie Holland)
