How many rappers are name-checking Morrissey as an influence and using Smiths song titles for their various outlets? Trinidad-born and Brooklyn-raised, Theophilus London is quite possibly the only one. The twenty-something London, whose debut full-length, Timez Are Weird These Days, dropped in July, is an exemplar for the modern musician. Establishing himself as a persona through social networking and his sense of style long before he released any music, London is creating a blueprint for current artists.
     London is not all about futuristic approaches. He preceded any original material with two, now-classic mixtapes: This Charming Mixtape (a twist on the the Smiths’ “This Charming Man”) and I Want You. And prior to the release of his EP, Love’s Holiday, he had firm ties to high-end fashion brands such as Cole Haan.
     Alongside all this, London is maniacally active on his Twitter feed, his Facebook page, his “This Charming Blog” posts, his numerous Tumblr account posts, and his Hypebeast — not repeating the same information on any of those outlets, keeping the material fresh for today’s media-hungry, short attention span audiences.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(more…)

This Irish siren has Southern American blood running through her veins. On her third full-length, Mayhem, Imelda May’s blues and rockabilly belt-outs positively burst with confidence. Not restricted to these styles, May steps into torch-singer ballads, big-band swings, and farm-girl country vibes just as smoothly and self-assuredly. A throwback in its entirety, Mayhem’s resolute old-school style is its charm. The only touches of modernity are in the crisp production of the superior musicians and May’s ballsy tones. She purrs and growls on the slowed down rockabilly of “All For You,” alternately teasing and taunting. Her vocals stretch out moodily over the brushed drums of the bluesy “Too Sad To Cry”. At times, May traverses country territory, where she is at home amongst cowboy-bar jangles, such as the square dance-ready “Eternity”. On “Proud and Humble”, she classes up the hay-strewn barroom floors with infusions of horns. May can do it all — even strut over Soft Cell, turning “Tainted Love” into a down home sing-along.

Buy this at iTunes. After the jump, check out the video for Mayhem’s title track.
(more…)

Garden-variety grime may be what Wiley offers on 100% Publishing, but anything from the Wiley garden is still worth cultivating. After fifteen years as a central figure in this sound-from-the-streets scene, Wiley doesn’t neccesarily need to exert himself much on his latest full-length. 100% Publishing lets the listener be a fly on the wall of the grime pioneer’s day-to-day life, as Wiley mutters to himself about losing things and finding them again. As is the wont of rappers, he shouts out his friends (“Hold tight Jamie”) and talks about the music business in an insider fashion that the average listener may not always be able to relate to — case in point, the title song. Still, there is an appealing simplicity to the sparse backing tracks, such as the carousel tune of “Boom Boom Da Na”. In keeping with this basic attitude, the spartan beats eschew trying to come up with inventive twists. This can be the default of many artists in the genre; they tend to make the biggest impressions with their debut and then, at best, repeat fading photocopies of that work.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Buy this at Other Music or iTunes.

“When the apocalypse comes, you can race up to Canada,” muses Torquil Campbell. “It will be delayed by a week in Canada. You get an extra week.” Along with his fellow band-mate, Chris Dumont, Campbell is traveling through upstate New York while the two (and their touring band of friends) play shows as Memphis, promoting their third album, Here Comes A City, along the eastern seaboard. “Is that an esoteric question or a literal one?” Campbells replies when asked how long before Memphis reaches its destination. This roundabout way of looking at things, be it the apocalypse or a road trip, has guided Campbell throughout his musical career. As an active member of Montreal’s Stars, in addition to Memphis, the half-American half-British resident of Vancouver, Canada, makes band decisions as an excuse to hang out with friends.
     “To be in a band with someone is a way of keeping current in their life,” Campbell states. “If you stop doing things with your friends, it turns into getting together and recounting the past twice a year over coffee. Your friendships turn into a series of memories and brief meetings and it gets increasingly distant. Every project I’m involved with is initiated by my relationship with the people in it.”
(more…)

Nicole Atkins leaves a big impression. Her powerful lung capacity, her barreling backbeat, her blustery presence, none of these indicates a shrinking violet. On her second solo full-length, Mondo Amore, Atkins veers towards elaborate arrangements and layered instrumentation to showcase her Roy Orbison-meets- Carole King delivery. This is a mainstream step away from the torch singing of her previous album, Neptune City. Atkins may have taken this step to bring more attention to her striking vocal prowess — and she can certainly pull it off — but it is the smoldering burn of Neptune City that sets Atkins apart. The smoke of Neptune only occasionally seeps out, on the billowing “Hotel Plaster”, which shifts easily into the gravelly crunches of “You Come To Me”. On the flip side, Atkins’ vigorous belting out of the trite lyrics to “This Is For Love” makes them sound novel while in contrast, “The Tower” is all bluster with no substance. Instead of playing it safe, which is what Atkins does on the majority of Mondo Amore, she should focus on one instrument: her undeniable voice.

Buy this at iTunes. After the jump, check out the video for “Vultures”.
(more…)

Sweden’s morphing group Radio Dept. has been sporadically releasing material for the past ten years. Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010 collects this cool people’s band’s releases over the last decade. A cratedigger’s dream, featuring both A- and B-sides, Passive Aggressive shines a light on the group’s evolution — or lack thereof. The earlier recordings are similar in their moody, almost aggressive, shoe-gazing nature. On “Freddie And The Trojan Horse”, however, light guitar plucks take the place of the jagged fuzz the style is known for, and lively piano takes center stage, passifying the sound. The four numbers included from Radio Dept.’s 2010 full-length, Clinging To A Scheme, feature a stronger hold on melody than the muddy ones leading to this release.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Buy this at iTunes. After the jump, check out the video for “Never Follow Suit”.
(more…)

There is a British rock star living inside Masayuki Nakano and Michiyuki Kawashima of Boom Boom Satellites. The Japanese duo — who are superstars in their home country — let this alter ego take full effect on their best-of album Over And Over. Boom Boom Satellites combine crunching electronics with melodic rock riffs to put a spin on the traditional four-piece ensemble with their powerhouse of two. Most of the material on Over And Over has not previously been released stateside, including explosive album opener, “Kick It Out” from the full-length, ON. Oasis is channeled on “Let It All Come Down” where vocalist Kawashima lets forth the full strength of Liam Gallagher’s nasal twang in his delivery. On “Moment I Count”, The Prodigy is emulated without apology, complete with snarling lyrics and static-laden sound-clashes. Alternatively, “On The Painted Desert” is a moody orchestral piece that draws heavily on the psychedelic aspects of Primal Scream’s Screamadelica. Much of what is heard on Over And Over has found its way onto an anime screen — and that is the most appropriate space for these manga characters come to life.

Buy this at iTunes. After the jump, check out the video for “Kick It Out”.
(more…)

Keb Darge and Little Edith’s Legendary Rockin’ R&B is like the best jukebox ever. Not because it has your favorite songs in it, but because no matter which combination of buttons you push, something great is going to play. This should not come as a surprise as compiler Keb Darge (with the assistance of Little Edith) — one of the original purveyors of Northern Soul in the UK — is highly knowledgeable about music from the middle of the last century. Scratchy, lo-fidelity, and grounded, Rockin’ R&B is obviously what the Beatles were listening to and trying to emulate, at least originally. Teddy (Mr. Bear) McRae & His Orchestra rollick away on “Hi’ Fi’ Baby” while Marie Knight with Teacho Wiltshire Orchestra sasses her way through the saucy “I Thought I Told You Not To Tell Them” and the Mariners turn playful on “Zindy Lou”. Lonesome Lee closes out this collection with the creeping tones of “Lonely Travelin’”. By selecting these 20 tracks, Keb Darge and Little Edith have done all the crate digging for you, and narrowed down the best.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Buy this at iTunes.

Martina Topley-Bird — brought to attention by Tricky and presently wowing audiences as Massive Attack’s featured vocalist, reworks her first two albums, Anything and The Blue God, on Some Place Simple. Functioning as an unplugged and/or live album of sorts, Some Place Simple strips Topley-Bird’s songs to their bare bones, much like her supporting performances on the current Massive Attack tour. Topley-Bird’s voice is accompanied by the odd piano plinks, drum taps, and tinkling chimes. “Baby Blue” is lullaby-like with the hoarse plucks of a ukulele tugging at Topley-Bird’s easy croon. Percussion on “Lying” thumps organically, pulsating with Topley-Bird’s sugary delivery. On “Ilya” Topley-Bird carries the minimal sounds with only layers of vocals and no instrumentation other than the odd finger-snap or tongue cluck. On “Sandpaper Kisses” Topley-Bird’s voice whispers softly and chillingly on its own. It is then pushed to the side as a grinding guitar takes over. Pulling back, it leaves her voice as the main focus. The four new tracks on Some Place Simple follow this unadorned formula — a hopeful direction for her next album.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Buy this at Other Music or iTunes. After the jump, check out Massive Attack’s video for “Psyche”, featuring Topley-Bird.
(more…)

“Electronic avant-garde” is what Germany’s Hauschka is lazily dubbed. This may have been an appropriate tag for his first solo album, 2007’s Room To Expand, but on his second, 2008’s Ferndorf, he stuck strictly to his piano, pushing his music into classical territory. With the accompaniment of orchestral elements, the pianist/composer’s latest full-length, Foreign Landscapes, falls squarely into the classical world. “Madeira” relies heavily on a low, thrumming cello and high-strung violins, leaving the piano out of the mix entirely. “Early In The Park” brings the piano back to the center, giving the tune a melancholy air. “Kamogawa” is a blend of the two, in which the piano-driven melodies are intercut with sharp stabs of violins and a muted flute. Far more than Hauschka’s instrument, the piano, it is these powerful strings and emotive winds — provided by San Francisco’s Magik Magik Orchestra — that define Landscapes. In fact, Hauschka’s cool trick of using what is not much more than trash (i.e. bottle tops, felt wedges, foil, tape) to modify the sounds of his piano doesn’t figure largely into the urgent and driving tone of the album.

After the jump, check out a video of Hauschka in performance, courtesy of BeatCast. Buy this at Other Music or iTunes.
(more…)