ATP Recordings

I’m not sure any record review can do more justice to Fuck Buttons’ music than the description on their MySpace page: “sounds like: the universe.” The Bristol duo’s second album, Tarot Sport, could easily be the evidence and result of “close encounters”: an alien creation that seems beyond human description or control. Even the song titles make it clear we’re beyond the earth’s atmosphere from “Surf Solar” to “Space Mountain”. In this realm, noise and non-musical sounds have as much value as instrumentation, reminiscent of ’90s Aphex Twin, and no doubt owing to the production of stalwart DJ Andrew Weatherall. “Phantom Limb” sounds like what would happen if ecstacy was distributed at the Star Wars cantina. “Surf Solar” (streamed below) deconstructs the vocals with a strobing effect, where something’s being said but it’s not clear what language or life form it’s coming from. But it’s the 9-plus-minute closer “Flight of the Feathered Serpent” that really captures the imagination: a Martian fertility dance of tribal percussion and expansive guitar work that recalls the Edge. There are possibly only two things that underlie Fuck Buttons’ musical intent — the attempt to put you in a trance and, in doing so, transporting you to somewhere otherworldly.

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Buy this at iTunes.

With her Cannes-award-winning turn in Lars von Trier’s sinister thriller Antichrist hitting theaters next week, Charlotte Gainsbourg has just released the title track of her new album IRM (due out in January 2010), capping off what promises to be a big month (and year) for the singer-thespian. Produced by Beck, the song sets Gainsbourg’s spoken-word vocals over mechanical whirs that evolve, in very Beck fashion, from a claustrophobic dream-haze into a mesmerizing dance-beat. Both the album title and industrial aesthetic hark back to Gainsbourg’s scary hospital experiences and numerous MRIs, amid her September 2007 surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage. Two years later, we’re glad to see she’s not only healthy once more but back to producing amazing work for both the eyes and ears.

The track, “IRM”, is available for download at charlottegainsbourg.com. As a bonus, check out this video featuring Beck and Gainsbourg discussing the song.

Lefse Records

Thank Alan Palomo for not taking acid. If he had, then Neon Indian, the lo-fi pop duo consisting of the VEGA lead singer and Brooklyn-based video artist, Alicia Scardetta, would never have come to fruition. Started with the song, “Should Have Taken Acid With You” — which Palomo had written as a humorous apology to Scardetta after their plans on taking LSD together fell through — the project soon manifested itself into a full-fledged multimedia collaboration. Hazy lyrics and synth sequences give songs like “Terminally Chill” and “Mind, Drips” a sound reminiscent of lazy, strung-out summer days. With the debut LP Psychic Chasms out this week and gigs lined up through January, the ambitious 21-year-old took some time out of his busy schedule to speak with PLANET° about blogs, Ecco the Dolphin, and a heated exchange with a similar “Neon” band.

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Buy this at Other Music or iTunes.
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Photography by Radioclit

The Very Best’s sound is a difficult one to pin down. Even TVB’s singer, Esau Mwamwaya, concurs: “It’s done out of freestyles,” he says, “without looking at the boundaries in music. Just experimenting and things like that.” Some sort of futuristic Afro-electro-pop hybrid, perhaps? In any case, The Very Best’s music is a true product of the digital age: unlikely combinations of traditional African melodies and rhythms with modern electronics, vintage samples, orchestral flourishes, and synthesizers. Add in a few guest vocalists, including Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend and M.I.A., and you begin to get the idea. The resulting compositions blend together seamlessly and effortlessly, and the end-product is electrifying.
     The group comprises 34-year-old Malawian frontman, Mwamwaya, and European production duo, Radioclit (Etienne Tron and Johan Karlberg). Formed in 2007, they first captivated the blogosphere with their acclaimed free mixtape, Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit are the Very Best, which clocked in a remarkable 200,000+ downloads without promotional assistance or label support. And now the group has returned with their debut full-length, Warm Heart of Africa.

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The Very Best (with Ezra Koenig) – Warm Heart of Africa (Alan Wilkis Remix)
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Vice Records

In And Out Of Control is the Raveonettes’ happiest album to date. The Danish duo, whose adulation of the surf rock of the ‘60s and the shoegazing rock of the ‘90s is well documented, shrugs off both those characteristics this time around. Instead of Everly Brothers harmonies and twanging guitars, there are big choruses and bubblegum pop. The subjects broached on In And Out Of Control are uncomfortable in nature and read like public service announcements: “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)”, “Suicide”, “D.R.U.G.S.”, and “Breaking Into Cars”. But the goofily upbeat way the two deliver their messages disguises serious lyrics in a haze of sing-along-able fun and lightheartedness.

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The Raveonettes – Suicide

XL Recordings

The Ivy League’s favorite Afro-pop-inflected foursome has released the first song off their upcoming album Contra. The guys reportedly just submitted their sophomore record to their label XL, so the LP won’t see the streets until January 12, 2010. Nevertheless, the new song, “Horchata”, does offer an exciting preview of what’s to come. The track maintains the wistful swoon pervading VW’s 2008 self-titled debut, but, as the title might suggest, the delicious tropical rhythms explode into a sumptuous feast of harmonies and strings. Listen to the track for yourself (streamed below) and be sure to look out for the band’s mini-tour through California next month.
     As a bonus, check out PLANET’s past coverage of Vampire Weekend, before they came to dominate stages and pages everywhere.

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Vampire Weekend – Horchata

IAMSOUND Records

In the past, fusing African music and Western rock was truly a novelty — the crossover pioneered perhaps by Paul Simon’s enduring classic Graceland and Peter Gabriel’s “Biko”. But nowadays there is a movement of indie bands embracing and resurrecting African influences as the basis of their sound: BLK JKS, Extra Golden, Foreign Born, and Vampire Weekend, to name a few. LA-based Fool’s Gold has released their debut this week, and it’s as worthy as any of the aforementioned. This ten-plus-member collective utilizes tropical guitar work, saxophones, intricate percussion, and call-and-response vocals to take the rock blueprint to a higher level. Singer and co-ringleader Luke Top alternates verses in both English and Hebrew with a confident vocal presence, distinguishing the album from its contemporaries by also including a Middle Eastern element. In description this might sound overtly cross-cultural but it’s no mere gimmick — Fool’s Gold uses these disparate sounds to benefit a strangely cohesive, celebratory, and exotic album.

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Fool’s Gold – Surprise Hotel

Photograph by Joy Merrifield

As I plan for this my second trip to the annual Iceland Airwaves festival in Reykjavik, I’m packing for survival: water, light layers, wet naps, and a Twitter account. Not being a corporate brand, a 16-year-old girl, or Lily Allen, I’ve never had reason to chop up my rich existence into Twitter’s 140-character blurts. But this year I’m using Twitter as a sort of psychic traveler’s insurance — a place to store my valuable memories, since carrying a brain to the rock-til-you-hit-the-heated-floor shows and apocalyptic parties would only slow me down. How else would I remember any stories to bring back to my envious friends back home? For that matter, how else would I know where to start looking for my camera, wallet, and dignity when I wake up in the Reykjavik police station? 
     None of this is to say the Airwaves festival cannot be enjoyed sober. This year’s lineup is glacier-fresh, with over 100 local Icelandic acts and twenty-five debut performances (I’m personally looking forward to Dynamo Fog and Agent Fresco). And even the particularly vicious local economic meltdown hasn’t scared the party out of Reykjavik’s people. Last year the crowd at the awful, exhilarating Crystal Castles show at Tunglid was so exuberantly, brutally sardined, my companion and I only just escaped being crowd-surged down an open stairwell which had been carpeted in broken glass. I doubt I’d look back at the near-death experience so fondly without a healthy dose of Brennivín (a regional alcoholic beverage/poison) fogging my memory. But Airwaves isn’t just for cheeky teenagers and bloggers with press badges.
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Just released today, Between My Head and The Sky is a continuation of Yoko Ono’s musical and artistic journey, but also represents the return of her Plastic Ono Band — this time with son Sean Lennon in a major supporting role, on guitars and also with his new label, Chimera. The album also touts legendary Japanese “noise” musician Cornelius on numerous instruments, including guitars, percussion, and electronic programming, and his influence is delightfully present. Throughout her career Ono has been pushing boundaries in art, music, and, of course, in speaking her mind. At 76, she’s still a vibrant creative force that deserves to be reckoned with — and, vocally, she can still channel her inimitable inner-banshee. On this track, “Waiting for the D Train”, Ono perfectly captures the maddening energy and tension of waiting for most any notoriously late subway line. (For all you Brooklynites, just insert an ‘L’.) Next time you’re stuck on a  subway platform, make sure this is on your i-Pod, hit play, and…let go.

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Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Waiting for the D Train

ATO Records

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero arrived here after a long journey. From initially connecting in their native Mexico City more than fifteen years ago and bonding over thrash metal to busking together in Dublin, Ireland, the two have stuck it out to become one of the preeminent guitar duos performing today. R&G return this month with 11:11, and the blueprint is still the same: two virtuosos transposing acoustic guitars with their love of metal and classic rock. Gabriela sustains driving rhythms while Rodrigo shreds the leads aggro-Flamenco style, like Ottmar Liebert became a hesher. This effort is less visceral than their live-sounding, self-titled debut from a few years back, trading up for some additional instruments and studio sophistication from their newly built outpost in Ixtapa. The highlight is the Arab-Spanish direction heard on “Atman”, which comes off like a slice of Andalusia. Refreshing, and a welcome change of pace from whatever you’ve been listening to.

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