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Wait a minute… Isn’t this a band that I’ve actually read about recently? Why yes, it is. On one hand it’s a surprise, mostly because it’s been released by Kompakt. On the other hand, I’m not so impressed. The comparisons to Gang Gang Dance are not only apt, but extremely obvious. Their ethno-tribal sound isn’t all that bad - the vocals just leave me wanting the Kate Bush-esque meanderings of the aforementioned Gang Gang Dance. Maybe I’ll change my mind after checking out some of their other tracks, but in the end I can’t but help feeling like they are a knock off project, albeit one with grandiose intentions. For fans of: Gang Gang Dance, High Places, Pocahaunted Boys and Diamonds by Rainbow Arabia
Philadelphia’s “All That Was” is more successful at conjuring images of the sandy Australian outback then their Pennsylvanian base of operations. It might be the fault of the cover art, though I’m more prone to blame it on the pervasive drone that provides the backbone to their track “All Along.” The syncopating piston of the programmed rhythm bespeaks more of their homeland (and it’s history of steel) and succeeds in heightening the psuedo-electro-tribal presence being channeled. Not a bad piece of music to stumble onto after a long hiatus from Randcamping. For fans of: Mater Suspiria Vision, The KVB, ᄼᄽᄾ All Along by All That Was
I gotta hand it to you, Torrey Crowe… You really stumped me. The best advice I can give you is to either buy that girl a bottle of bubbly to make her pop - or, for you to get Keyboard Cat to fill in on background music. Either way, it’s sure to win her heart. For fans of: Bel Biv DeVoe, Keyboard Cat The UnderEstimated Truth by Torrey Crowe
For those of you who have been curious about how I “select” the tracks I review. The iPhone app Randcamp in action…
Dinosaur Warlordz sure are an odd bunch… Offering a 15 second track titled “Finger Butt” with a whopping $54.03 price tag is only grazing the surface of the curiosities one can peruse on their bandcamp site. But “Semitery” is light years away from such child-like silliness. Here we get aloof vintage synths playing against a backdrop of indifferent percussion. Occasionally, displaced lullabies from forgotten music boxes randomly jettison their fodder into the mix, often with jarring results. It’s a gamble of a track, yet somehow Dinosaur Warlordz manage to pull off something worth taking a listen to. It might not seem like it on first listen, but there is an intelligence at work on “Semitery,” it’s just a foreign, alien intelligence with an agenda entirely it’s own. For fans of: Balam Acab, Mater Suspiria Vision, Excepter semitery by DINOSAUR WARLORDZ
This is a put the top down and roll into town kind of number. Made exclusively for sunny days, dancing nights and good times with friends. “Over Easy’s” mission is all about getting you to shake that ass, and it will probably succeed very well at that. Starting off with hints of an Anticon/hip-hop sound, “Over Easy’s” switches gears into high disco funk territory when the brass section pulls out their guns. About halfway through a disembodied voice asserts that “you’re about to enter another dimension…” And he’s probably right: one filled with gold chains, afros, and bell bottomed roller skaters. Whether you’re dancing or sitting back and enjoying the ride, Greenwood Rhythm Coalition have your back. For fans of: The Meters, James Brown, Funkadelic, Meat Beat Manifesto Over Easy’s by Greenwood Rhythm Coalition
The sounds of 1980’s Detroit! But from 2007’s Miami! Some sources on the interwebs say that Gosub’s “Watchers from the Black Universe” was the best electro album of 2007… I haven’t been to Miami for years, but there had to have been something more original and forward thinking going on than this. “Laugh Track” is heavy on nostalgia and is just a bit shy stylistically from being another Zombie Soundtrack wanna be. I can’t remember the last time that something so funky sounded so menacing. I guess that counts for something. For fans of: Thomas Dolby, Gary Numan, Falco Laugh Track by Gosub
“Around the Tiger” sounds remarkably like a frat house party I walked out of back in 1994. It’s comforting to know that somebody is still championing these sounds all these years later. And yes… the cover does say “a white kid collection…” He gets points for honesty. Fresh Cut can rest assured that the members of Daft Punk and Survivor would kick his ass if they knew what he did with their songs. For fans of: bad frat parties, mashups, clichés and cheap beer Around the Tiger by Fresh Cut
Holy autotune overload! This track could be pretty bad ass if they would cut down on the autotuned vocals and seriously crank that bass into deep, dark territory. Scum Patrol state that this is “just a sample of the damages we can cause… no pause.” If that is indeed the case, they must be hiding the WMD’s somewhere else. For fans of: Outkast, Lee Perry, The Bug Hot 2 Nite by SCUM PATROL MZK
Ask anybody that knows me, and they’ll tell you that I have a wicked, sarcastic sense of humor. Obviously, the mastermind(s) behind Eau Claire, Wisconsin’s ToneKid do, too. I was only half paying attention when “Sparkle” started, and at first I was completely appalled… Was ToneKid in fact just ripping off the Postal Service and passing the track off as his own original? I stopped the track and let what I half heard sink in a bit more… There just had to be something more to it. I started over from the beginning, actually listening this time… ToneKid obviously has some serious beef not only with The Postal Service, but more specifically with Ben Gibbard (and the music industry in general). It’s hard to pinpoint what this beef is, exactly… you can hear the myriad reasons being sung to the music and melody of The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights,” thankfully performed or programmed by ToneKid himself. All in all the track scores a few chuckles, but I feel like I’ve been drowned in saccharine by the time it’s over. It’s also hard for me to not think that ToneKid is seriously jealous of the intended victim(s) of his jokes. I’d recommend checking out the other 3 tracks on ToneKid’s “Wall of Sound” EP to get a better sense of what this artist is capable of within an original setting. For fans of: The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Gibbard, Xiu Xiu/Jamie Stewart Sparkle by Tone Kid