AUSTRA HOME [VIDEO] // BEAT AND THE PULSE

When I heard the first few bars of this song I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen. I have to admit I hadn't heard of Austra before, so I had literally no idea what expect.

In 'Home', we're graced with singer Katie Stelmatis's vocals which are controlled-yet-teetering-on-the-verge-of-tears, suiting the lyrics, "You know that it hurts me when you don't come home at night". What's most evident in the song is how it turns from a potentially regular piano-driven Marina and the Diamonds kind of affair, into one that seems to be aping house music more than anything else.

And it's great: not too hectic, refrains cut up and placed like samples in strategic locales of the song, nice voice, good beat, catchy melodies, interest during the last half of the song with ethnic-style sounds. This is definitely something that I could get on board with.

Have a listen below. The video, whilst I'm not sure exactly how it relates to the song (am I stupid?) at all, is interesting too.

Then I saw that the band had released a video on YouTube even more recently than this one. But it actually turns out it's an old video for a song called 'Beat and the Pulse' from their first album - Feel It Break (2011) - edited because of nudity or whatever. Naturally, I found the original video. It's weird. See for yourself. Webbed hands an that.

But the music. This is a much more electro-fuelled song, with bulging synths and ghostly vocals that float over the top of the pounding drums. The song title definitely has it right, there's both beat and pulse in the vibe of this one. There is, however, a more basic sound to it that new song 'Home' has definitely dusted away and tuned up for a more interesting and multi-faceted sound that suits what they seem (at least) to be aiming for stylistically with their dream-like realist electro-pop. Nice!

'Home' comes from upcoming album Olympia, out 17th June on Domino.

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TROPICS HOME & CONSONANCE EP

Tropics - oh my goodness, gosh golly my oh my and everything to that extent. All interjectory words all at once. He's good. Very good. I've written about him before, with his song 'Popup Cinema', an older ditty called 'Mouves' and also I recorded their set at Glastonbury in 2011. Long time fan of Tropics - aka Chris Ward - so you see.

From start to finish, this is a genuinely fab record to listen to, and one that is definitely suiting England's belated and rather gradual slip into summer. First listened to this driving alongside the River Thames in the evening with the sun just teetering above the horizon - the perfect soundtrack I gotta say. And from the very first I heard of Tropics like 2 years ago till now, the quality and clarity and direction of the music has increased - not to say that the old stuff was bad, no way in fact. Just gets better and better is what I mean. And hearing more of Chris's voice, which I dunno why he was hiding in the first place, is nice too.

But what is the 'this' that I speak of? It's Tropics's's new Home & Consonance EP. Beginning with the achingly nostalgic and brimming-with-heartache title track - 'Home & Consonance' duh - and it storms ahead with a rolling beat, blanketed with smooth vocals and gentle-gentle keyboards, dreamlike in their solo form towards the end. Get started listening yo:

We move onto the bass explosion of 'Courage', a slow-down house affair fringed with romance - more lovely vocals and additional sultry crooning provided by the LA-based Gavin Turek. Lovely drawn-out solo synths here make my skin hot up. A medley of passion and should-have-done-this vibe here. Broken beats joined with stuttering hi-hats abound in next track 'Don't You Know', whose jazz/lounge sounds are like glitter on glue atop a profusion of soulful vocal samples and lung-expanding synths. The EP ends with 'Fleeting Haunt', a midtempo tune pockmarked with a catchy vocal "ooo-ooo"; there is at its core the same absolute heartfelt chillment as lies at the core of all songs that came before it. Vocals slip in and out from the abundance of lush sound scenery and there's this lovely break in the beat where the synth rises up like a tide of electricity at a beach of polished tiles and cocktail-built huts.

As you might be able to tell, I really dig this EP. It sounds lovely. Builds on a foundation of luscious sounds, easy beats, chilled melodies and emotive vocals that all the songs include. Empty and full at the same time. V v v v v nice.

There's a really super cool live rendition. Chris Ward himself said: "So recently I went back to my late grandparents' house where last year I wrote the Home & Consonance EP. The band joined me and the guys from It Drew Itself were kind enough to record us performing a song."

Fresh and tasty. Love the drummer's t-shirt also.

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EMUFUCKA CLOWN (2013)

I'm not altogether sure whether the title of this song is 'Clown (2013)' or just plain 'Clown'. SoundCloud says when things are added so the '(2013)' should be self explanatory, but then again who knows the inner workings of a song title. Let's just call it 'Clown' for now eh?

Though there's nothing clowny about this song, unless of course you go for that clowns-are-horrible kind of thing - which I do, only in part however: because they are weird. If you do go for the clown-is-a-perfect-addition-to-a-horror-film thing, then this song fits that perfectly. Whilst I wouldn't exactly say terrifying, the vibe of this innovative song by Japanese electronic artist emufucka certainly holds within it a clouded swathe of sound positively pregnant with menace and a markedly attitudinal atmosphere.

Indeed, he's labelled the song himself as 'Trap' and, yeah, I'd go with that - all its missing is vocals tuned down several octaves. It definitely has that southern hip-hop swagger that you find in Trap music (please Allah let me stop talking about genres), sounding a little bit like - well actually, especially the intro, very much like - that Jay-Z & Kanye West song, 'Niggas In Paris'.

What characterises this song most, however, is its blend of dirty beats with a videogame-esque style of sound. The synths climax a number of times throughout the song, like some game-music organ wheezing out its scratchy soaring sounds. Yeah so another label of this track is 'Game' and also the description of the song is "PlayStation®" and the image (above) is 16-bit style... all adds up to a definite videogame vibe.

These are future beats, tripping hi-hats, blended styles of music synthesised with an impactive sound in mine - something to please those who listen to videogame music exclusively and those who love the balshy bass of heavy-handed hip-hop; a world of musical ideals catered for in the vision needed for 4 (unlucky - homophone with 'death' in Japan - yet more menace?) minutes of sound. Whew! Is that too deep?

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MUSIC WEEK #3

Here is, once more, the week as it has gone in the YES/NO MUSIC reality. There are some really nice things. My favourite... Girl Band I think. So just have a click and a listen if you wanna hear any of these or like read what I wrote about them or something. Share any of it if you wanna share any of it. Aint forcin ya or nuttin.

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CINEMA - UV
Kraftwerky robotic synth electro

COSMIN TRG - NEW STRUCTURES FOR LOVING
Soaring optimistic techno

DISCLOSURE FT. ELIZA DOOLITTLE - YOU & ME
Garage belter from UK-music-popularisers, Disclosure

YOUNG FATHERS - I HEARD
Soulful quirky hip-hop from Scottish trio

JON HOPKINS - OPEN EYE SIGNAL
Ambient loveliness courtesy of a Brian Eno collaborator

TALL BLACK GUY FT. OZAY MOORE - MON AMIE DE'TROIT
This smooth-beated hip hop reminds me of something from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

GIRL BAND - YOU'RE A DOG // WHY THEY HIDE THEIR BODIES UNDER MY GARAGE
Noisy

SMALL BLACK - FREE AT DAWN
Mellow

INTERVIEW: DON RIMINI
Questioned answered by the French electronic artist himself

MOOD RINGS - PATHOS Y LAGRIMAS
Emotive nigh-on-captivating lo-fi

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CRYSTAL HARU NO UMI (OCEAN IN SPRING) [FREE DOWNLOAD]

I really like this song. But it's a shame because I always keep finding these songs that are months, even years old - this one is like a year old as it is. But then I think, "What does it really matter?"

And as I keep saying, if it's the first time you've heard it, it's new. Like, I don't think I ever heard Jimi Hendrix's 'All Along The Watchtower' till I was 18 - and what? I'm still alive. No lightning bolt has hit me. No gods are angry with me... I think. And so it is with this lovely song from Japanese electro trio CRYSTAL called 'Haru no Umi' ('Ocean in Spring') - oldish tune, but hey it's new alright.

How I found these guys was as simple as Teki Latex mentioning them on Twitter, just offhand. Then I discover that that they are actually the new signings to his label, Sound Pellegrino. But yeah this is all blah blah, let's listen to the song.

From the rippling and totally chilled intro, it's a glorious blend of chiptune-style music - the kind of thing you'd find on the title screen of an old but obviously totally cool videogame - of Japanese style music (because I can hear in there that the melody keeps to a Japanese musical scale and whatnot), and also of electro house music. Ok, 'electro house music' is a rather generic term, but I get this mainly from the totally in-yo-face beat: wide hammering snares and pulsing kick, with handclaps added for good measure. Like a zingy cocktail, people may look at you strangely for ordering it, but boy-oh-boy is it satisfying.

EDIT: Ok, so Ryota from CRYSTAL told me that it's their own rendition of a traditional Japanese song played around New Year called, likewise, 'Haru no Umi'. "The song is originally by Michio Miyagi and composed in 1929," he said. "And it is well known in Japan. While New Year holiday, you can hear the song in every restaurant and shopping mall in Japan :)" - fun fact! And you should listen to the rather stunning original.

Catch my drift on this, or not? I really like it. I don't know where this fits into the grand scheme of things when it comes to CRYSTAL's "official" releases. Maybe this isn't even by them. Maybe it's all a big joke. Well, ha-ha if so. And if not, then I am glad to have found it because it shows off their skills quite nicely; a great ear for dynamism within a song, composition and for the sheer good-humoured nature of having fun with synths. The base of all good electronic songs I'd say, no?

It's quirky, different, and comes with enough bite to warrant multiple listenings (and you can download it for freeee). In any case, this is more than enough for me to listen to on repeat until their first EP on Sound Pellegrino, called Get It, comes out on 20th May!

You'll find a more stripped-down, chiptune version of this song if you mosey on over to CRYSTAL's Geocities page - old-school.

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