Jonk Music

The Shins

2012-01-30T09:15:00.001-06:00

"Simple Song"
from the album Port of Morrow
2012
iTunes

BY ERICA MATLIN | Jonk Music

"Simple Song" is our first taste of Port of Morrow, The Shins' first album since 2007's Wincing the Night Away. What makes this album so special is that it is the first album on James Mercer's label Aural Apothecary, via Columbia Records. Mercer can now add "producer" to his myriad credits, diversifying the fact that he is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. If this could not be exciting enough, Mercer's got a new backing band by the likes of Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer and Yuuki Matthews of Crystal Skulls.

The result (or what we can assume will be, given that the actual album does not come out until March 20): a strong, multi-instrumental, pop-infused hit. Mercer may deem it a "simple" song, but it is anything but that. Beginning with soft echoes and a shaky electric melody, you're not quite sure what you're going to get, and then the chords are struck and the song flows. The escalation of Mercer's lyrics, from ordinary to meaningful, cue the song to pick up the pace, "And you feel like an ocean being warmed by the sun"; it is beautiful and poetic, and for an artist as talented as Mercer, it is not too ambitious.

Mercer's vocal range reaches its peak in the chorus, adding that extra bit to an already funky song. The way everything pairs together, lyrics and song transitions, vocals and instrumental variety, shows the patience used to create a song that plays with ease. As if we weren't already, "Simple Song" pushed us even further off the edge of our seats for Port of Morrow.

Cassius

2012-01-29T14:15:00.005-06:00

WEEKEND VIDEO

"I Love You So"
The Rawkers
2010
iTunes

Working together since 1988, French house music duo Philippe Zdar and Hubert Blanc-Francart (aka Boombass) have been producing for over 15 years under the name Cassius. Cassius has been consistently producing and remixing tracks for other artists such as Chromeo and Cut Copy. Ed Banger Records in 2010 released their six-track EP entitled The Rawkers. To sum it up: short but sweet for certain.

The track that really puts the cherry on top of The Rawkers is "I Love You So." I can't get enough of it, and I don't know whether it's the hypnotic lyrical repetition, the blurry female vocals that blare emotion, or the dubstep layered between both. "I Love You So" has also sparked numerous remixes by artists that seem to feel the same way.

Cassius does a great job of balancing something that can sound heavy and passionate with a positive and upbeat vibe. "Arcadine," the final track on The Rawkers, is a good example of this, starting off slow and tender then jumping right into an invigorating and funky beat, only to keep teasing us by switching back and forth between the two sensations throughout the track.

It had been a while since we've heard from them, but Cassius seems to be changing up their disco club beats in The Rawkers, incorporating heavier electro-beats and even a track that glitters dubstep. The EP also has a more emotional appeal to go along with the heavier sounds that I think can reach out to listeners better than their past productions.

I'm curious to see what Cassius will pump out next under Ed Banger, and I can only hope that they continue in the direction of The Rawkers. Hell, they could even come out full-blown dubstep. I guess we'll have to stay tuned, but for now, ooh Cassius, I love you so.

~ Alyssa Botts, Indie Shuffle

Painted Palms

2012-01-28T17:35:00.002-06:00

"Great White"
from the EP Canopy
2011
iTunes

Sometimes, you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. But if you're a broke college student like me, it may not be within your financial means to jet off to a tropical destination at the drop of a hat.

Now listening to this album wont get you a suntan, but you might feel like you're sitting in the warm sun – Painted Palms' EP Canopy is an aural vacation that takes you far away from the gritty city livin'.

If you're an Animal Collective lover, this album definitely takes some influence from them. The opening track entitled "All of Us" (and a favorite from the EP) opens with a thumping drum that pulls you right into the song and the album and uses vocal elements similar to them. Although these elements are shared, "All of Us" is still unlike anything else out there – Painted Palms has successfully made something truly beautiful and catchy, but not kitschy.

The rest of the album is definitely more disco than the first track. Somehow, disco plus soundscapes equals awesome. Another notable track is the glittery and sensual "Great White." While it seems to a little out of place with the rest of the album, its still a good track, regardless.

I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a concept album, but it certainly feels like it. This EP takes you to the beach, underwater, and to the rainforest and that's why they're one of the most exciting electro-pop groups out right now. Painted Palms has been one of the few acts lately to get me really excited – it's pop-y, beautiful, visual, catchy but somehow also really relaxing. It's just good old-fashioned happy music.

~ Lauren Manary, The Deli

Porcelain Raft

2012-01-27T10:00:00.002-06:00

"Put Me to Sleep" MP3
from the album Strange Weekend
2012
iTunes

It's unlikely that you'll hear a back story as cool as Mauro Remiddi's. Before he began to record as Porcelain Raft, Remiddi traveled from his native Italy to London, Berlin, North Korea, and finally New York. Along the way, he caravanned with the Berlin Youth Circus performing gypsy Klezmer music, created reinterpretations of traditional North Korean folk songs and played piano for an Off-Broadway tap show. He hasn't even had his 30th birthday yet, but Remiddi has more musical experiences under his belt than many artists attain in the length of an entire career.

You might consider Strange Weekend, Porcelain Raft's debut LP, a sonic catalog of these places and sounds: a musical work in constant transit from point A to point B but making lots of side-trips and detours along the way. Genre-wise, it's difficult to pin down: Billowing clouds of dream-pop synths cloak Remiddi's fragile wisp of a voice but against nontraditional partners like tribal drums and jangly shoegaze guitars. The common factor holding these unusual musical bedfellows together is an undeniably catchy melodic sensibility most immediately recalling the hazy pop of MGMT.

Even though many listeners may be struck by the initial similarities, Remiddi's sharp creative wits prevent comparison from being the main talking point here. Lead single "Put Me to Sleep" carries a thin stream of harmonies along on a clattering, cymbal-and-bells drum pattern, the layers of drum samples practically tripping over each other in something that sounds like the delightfully primordial stages of a break-beat song. "Picture," on the other hand, frames a simple, catchy, four-chord guitar ballad in a vast, echoing soundscape.

More laid-back tracks are no less infectious. "Backwords" and "Shapeless and Gone" bathe sun-faded psych-pop songs in ambient synth loops and wailing guitars: lazy, engrossing, like a nap on the beach on a hot day. As relaxing as these cuts are, they would be downright boring if left to roam in the traditional six-minute-plus running time of other experimental acts. Fortunately, Remiddi knows the art of song length, crafting the 10 tracks on Strange Weekend to have space for dynamic development but still fit into a lean, accessible, 34-minute package. The LP's shortness also invites repeat listens, with every play-through revealing another quirk hiding in the framework. It wasn't until my fourth or fifth listen that I truly appreciated how the sleigh bells and glitchy 8-bit blips on "If You Have a Wish" complemented the track's dreamy, astral atmosphere.

Strange Weekend is an album with a finger in every type of pot imaginable: cultural, musical, aesthetic. Most of the time, attempts to capture large swaths of sounds and ideas result in an unfocused mess. But in the case of Remiddi and his "How I Spent My 27 Years Around the World" project, listeners can now witness a rare breed of debut album, one that takes on the lofty task of musical multitasking and succeeds.

~ Zoe Camp, CMJ

Angus Stone

2012-01-25T16:30:00.003-06:00

"Broken Brights" MP3
from the upcoming album TBA
2012

Angus and Julia Stone are tacking a well earned break from working with each other having spent the last few years traversing the globe and bringing Australian indie-folk music to the world. But that doesn't mean they're idle with both siblings currently working on solo albums to be released in 2012.

The first track from Angus Stone's latest solo effort was debuted on triple j. The track, "Broken Brights," is available for a limited time to download free via the triple j web site. Stone says on the upcoming solo project: "These writings from the record are of great shift for me in the story telling of these past four years of traveling. Playing this record live is going to be quite a euphoric walk for me. I'm ready at the end of the year to get a rucksack together with a few well needed treasures and a bunch of new and old friends and get to taking off down the road throwing our hats to the wind."

~ Timber and Steel

Bon Iver

2012-01-24T17:45:00.000-06:00

"Perth" (Schoolcraft Remix)
remix of original from the album Bon Iver, Bon Iver
2011

White Rabbits

2012-01-23T12:20:00.004-06:00

"Heavy Metal" MP3
from the album Milk Famous
2012
iTunes

BY NICK CROW | Jonk Music

Brooklyn by way of Columbia, Missouri indie rockers White Rabbits will be releasing their newest LP Milk Famous this spring. Ahead of the release comes the album's first single, "Heavy Metal."

A funky track, it is very far from "heavy metal" sounding at all. Almost Spoon-esque in the vibe it gives, it is a triumph for White Rabbits. The band uses a combination of reverb, guitar riffs, and pounding drums to set the tone for the raw and unfiltered lyrics. "I'm that collector who's collecting you," croons lead singer Stephen Patterson. The track is a worthy single for the upcoming album. The band has clearly progressed musically and this track is tangible proof.

Milk Famous will be White Rabbits third studio album and will be released on March 6.

Cate Le Bon

2012-01-21T14:15:00.001-06:00

"Puts Me to Work" MP3
from the album Cyrk
2012
iTunes

Somewhere in the air above Wales there's a sonic trap tuned to collect whatever errant strains of the psychedelic '70s still tumble through the atmosphere. These are funneled into a still, and converted into the nectar that bands like Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci have been drunk on since the '90s. But there's a new face at the font — Cardiff's Cate Le Bon, who sings like Nico over a score that could've been produced by Os Mutantes in their prime. Cyrk is her second LP, and it's rife with blurting guitar, tweaky percussion, interjecting organ, and rolling drums, not to mention the occasional mournful trumpet solo set to formless orchestra noise. It's a lot of loose rhythms and knotted nostalgia, but while her peers would spend an album weaving in and out of proverbial rabbit holes, Le Bon's kaleidoscope is firmly focused.

She's also learned from other travelers. "Puts Me to Work" sounds like Of Montreal minus the mania, and the dissonant notes of "Julia" cut her Krautrock tendencies with a little Pavement posture. Best of all, however, is the unadulterated throwback porn — songs like "Falcon Eyed" and "Cyrk." While the former drops the listener into the middle of a party well-stocked with powders and polyester, the latter saunters like a woman in a sundress, dragging her fingers through a waist-high field. Though Le Bon claims to write her music in the dark, and her 2009 debut Me Oh My was markedly death-obsessed, Cyrk is a bright, airy affair. "I've always loved the movement of the trees," she sings on the titular track, "Find me a place where I can watch the breeze." It's worth staying awhile.

~ Chris Martins, The A.V. Club

Daniel Rossen

2012-01-20T13:20:00.005-06:00

"Saint Nothing"
from the EP Silent Hour/Golden Mile
2012

Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen is to release a new EP, entitled Silent Hour/Golden Mile, through Warp on March 20. It's set to feature five solo songs, including "Saint Nothing," which you can listen to above. It's a pretty, sparse, stripped-down thing that recalls some of Grizzly Bear's more spacious moments.

The EP was recorded by Rossen in various spaces in New York, with many of the songs taking shape swiftly and in only a few takes.

"Whenever possible, I like just keeping the very first impression of an idea the first take of something," said Rossen of that approach. "You very rarely get to do that because the recording quality is below standard. It's very liberating to just leave it."

~ The Quietus

Lianne La Havas

2012-01-19T10:50:00.002-06:00

"No Room for Doubt" feat. Willy Mason
from the EP Lost & Found
2011
iTunes

I have this friend who just can't lie. Sometimes she tries to, but her attempts of conceit are hindered by that crack in her smile; small at first but which slowly grows so wide beneath its own surface that it snaps like a string of a captured helium balloon, engulfing her whole entire face until it dwells quite comfortably in her charming eyes. Lianne La Havas reminds me a lot of my friend. The warmth in La Havas' voice is inviting and confident, mimicking the tone of every instrument she allures and tames. It came as a surprise to me then, that the opening track "No Room for Doubt" on Lost & Found finds this beautiful and sinuous voice singing a sorrowful tale of a love once lost. Some use their sweet smiles as a shield. Lianne La Havas uses hers as a medium to sing through, and yet not a single pair of her teeth grinds against the other. Lost & Found, as the name may suggest, carries consistent themes of acceptance, a lack of regret and embracing of the future.

Yet for all the loss, there's levity to be found within the EP in the form of the jazzy ditty, "Age." Tracking the tales of La Havas' temptations to liaise with an older gentleman, "Age" portrays her voice with the dancing melody it deserves. Though her honest and simple lyrics perhaps leave something to be desired, her voice itself encapsulates the paradox of being so perfectly smoky, and yet innocently clear at the same time. It's very smart, much akin to the sophisticated image Lianne La Havas emits. "Night School" builds on this as a soulful-yet-controlled piece with a groove differing greatly from the preceding tracks, but cements itself as a key piece of her backstory’s puzzle.

Lost & Found ends with a rather out of place cover of Everything Everything's "Final Form", which maybe pinpoints the main (albeit small and fixable) downfall of Lianne La Havas' debut. Though her skill is blatant, her real identity and voice is still in its ripening stages. The songs, although all strong in their own right, wander away sometimes too far from one another. Either way, La Havas' stronger points are indeed very strong and merit both two eyes fixed upon this space. Here's to hoping she'll find a way to amalgamate her charming smile and jazz-influenced taste alongside her dark enigma without tarnishing these rare ingredients that she has arranged for herself impeccably.

~ sputnikmusic.com

Grimes

2012-01-18T10:00:00.001-06:00

"Oblivion" MP3
from the album Visions
2012
iTunes

BY NICK CROW | Jonk Music

A lot of times bands are criticized for "overproduction" when making a song. When it comes to Grimes (a.k.a. Claire Boucher), that is what makes her songs so compelling. Her use of reverb and electronic affects combined with charming vocals creates pop songs with quite the edge to them.

"Oblivion" is an entertaining track from start to finish. It begins like a chase scene out of The Terminator with heavy synthesizers creating an immediate panic. What year is this? 1984? 2024? Once you are able to shake the cyborgs, it is easy to realize what an accessible track this is. Grimes' gentle lyrics turn the urgency of the background music into somewhat of an anthem. She even incorporates some traditional instruments into the track around the halfway point. Her successes far outweigh her failures with this song.

Grimes has signed with the record label 4D and will be releasing her newest LP in early 2012.

Lost Lander

2012-01-17T12:00:00.007-06:00

"Afraid of Summer" MP3
from the album DRRT
2012
iTunes

BY MAX SIMON | Jonk Music

Lost Lander blossoms outwards from Portland, Oregon – a fertile environment for roses, greenery, and pure music. With the help of producer Brent Knopf, a man by the name of Matt Sheehy runs this new alternative-genre project. Together Knopf and Sheehy developed eleven songs on Lost Lander's debut album, DRRT, released today. Though this album has the emotion indicative of something hugely personal, it holds all the mesmerizing tools to become special to each listener. One song that truly hits deep is the second track off DRRT, titled "Afraid of Summer."

Lost Landers' "Afraid of Summer" winds up its mysterious essence into an orb of potential energy. Inside each powerful twang on the guitar and each flavorful expression of voice, spiritual intimacy gradually liberates with each intense second. Now that I've kept the song on replay around twenty times, I can proudly say that I feel drugged, inspired, awestruck, and stimulated all at the same time. And to be honest, I've become slightly afraid of summer as well.

Fears aside, I am looking forward to hearing more from Lost Lander. The new album has some of everything you need – upbeat jams, clever lyrics, hard-hitting beats, and soothing sounds. It is an eclectic, artistic beginning for this Portland band, and it wouldn't hurt to give them a listen. You'll find something to love in this superb album.

Pajama Club

2012-01-16T12:30:00.002-06:00

"Diamonds in Her Eyes"
from the album Pajama Club
2011
iTunes

Composed entirely of Crowded House frontman Neil Finn (who has been producing music since 1976), his wife Sharon Finn, and Sean Donnelly, Pajama Club has released some truly contemplative music on their eponymously titled debut. Their music breaks down the conventional boundaries of the modern alternative scene, and also marks a new stage in the creative development of the talented Mr. Finn.

"Tell Me What You Want" is a vividly stylistic track, and an alluring first sample to start off the album. Finn murmurs, almost whispers, while the simple, yet perfected, percussion and bass guitar pairings make this an effortlessly sexy track. This is when you start noticing that Pajama Club's sound is very similar to Beck, a la Guero. Without even trying, this is a style reminiscent of a cool stranger, one smoking a cigarette with one hand and sticking his other up your skirt. The mood continues with "Can't Put It Down Til It Ends," a song that takes its notes from the New Wave era; it even manages to integrate a pipe organ into the chorus. In every way, subtle, experimental moves such as this just work. Sharon Finn's voice is a perfect accompaniment throughout, soothing in contrast to her husband's sometimes rocky grumble.

The bass guitar, pipe organ, and percussion dominate the remaining tracks, and one can tell the noticeable blues influences in songs like "Daylight" and "Diamonds in Her Eyes." Then, just when you feel like you've figured out their sound, Pajama Club throw tracks like "Dead Leg" your way, and suddenly they've mastered psychedelic pop. Pajama Club definitely deserves a listen, if not for its diverse range of sound, then simply to appreciate the creative genius of Neil Finn.

~ Summer Dunsmore, Consequence of Sound

Class Actress

2012-01-15T12:45:00.001-06:00

"Keep You" MP3
from the album Rapprocher
2011
iTunes

Class Actress' debut LP, Rapprocher, gives listeners two options for dealing with love trials. The first encourages you to sit in a room with the lights off contemplating the relationships of your past. The second suggests that you take those sad-ass feelings to a bar to dance until you finish an entire bottle of tequila or until the lights come on — whichever comes first. Frontwoman Elizabeth Harper sings about everything from love discovered to love lost over '80s electro-pop beats. Using various vocal techniques, which sometimes make it difficult to understand the lyrics of some songs, she fluctuates from a deep almost soulful tone to a barely decipherable high pitch.

Since the band first hit the scene, Harper has received countless comparisons to Madonna. Seeing as how the icon is one of her biggest influences, it's not hard to see where she incorporated elements of Madge's music. Similar to Madonna, Harper is not a belter. There are no hummingbird songs on this album, so if you are looking for a gut-wrenching, glass-shattering vocal performance, exit stage left. However, if you are in the mood for Euro-club love songs, then proceed.

The album opens with "Keep You," a catchy track that is one of the less dreary songs on the album. "Love Me Like You Used To" follows, a lamenting break-up track. Just as you begin to settle in your broken-heartedness, the album switches gears with "Weekend," an up-tempo love song. It is just as upbeat as the break-up song, so it takes you a minute to stop your wallowing and indulge in this love-celebrating tune. Whether this song is intended to be a cute head-over-heels love song or one for the relationship obsessed is at the listener's discretion, but either way, it's one of the better songs on the album.

At the album's halfway mark the band adds "Prove Me Wrong," which pulls away slightly from the Sixteen Candles mood and will appeal even to people who have little interest in '80s pop. A quick shimmy (yes, shimmy) down the tracklist, Class Actress offers something even cooler: sexual pursuit role reversal. Get your minds out of the gutter—this isn't about being kinky. On this one, titled "Limousine," Harper sings, "Wouldn't it be nice to let go / All we do is talk about it / All you do is say no" and "I don't know if I can wait it out / Are you trying to break me in or break out." It's not often that women sing about being denied in that department, so kudos to her for walking in that territory. The song could also just be unisex since neither the pronouns he or she is used, but that wouldn't be as cool, now would it?

From then on out, Rapprocher remains constant with its themes on love gained and lost and constant with its electro beats, even if the ordering of the songs sometimes feels inconsistent, breaking the flow. Still, this is a solid debut for the highly anticipated band.

~ Taleah Griffin, CMJ

Poliça

2012-01-13T10:00:00.001-06:00

"Dark Star" MP3
from the album Give You the Ghost
2011
iTunes

Gayngs was a surprise. Prince-loving indie supergroup who turned out to be legitimately funky? Who woulda thought. Poliça furthers the group’s lineage with more shit that just hits real smooth. Gayngs' Ryan Olson and singer Channy Casselle lead the group, Casselle front and center with her potently echoed voice riding over forward drums and driving bass. "Dark Star," a number with a lot of pensive drum play and the charm of mid-tempo '80s R&B, is from their debut album, full of the same kind of power and unashamed brass breakdowns.

~ Matthew Schnipper, Fader

Lissy Trullie

2012-01-12T12:35:00.001-06:00

"Madeleine" MP3
from the album Lissy Trullie
2012
iTunes

Patience may be a virtue, but that doesn't mean it's easy. And after two years of waiting for Lissy Trullie to release a followup to her buzzy 2009 debut Self-Taught Learner, the NYC musician is back with a new LP.

Lissy Trullie takes the D.C. native's artful, slightly-off-kilter sound and gives it a more polished twist, thanks to producers John Hill (who's also worked with Santigold and M.I.A) and TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek. But don't worry, she hasn't ditched her spontaneous vibe entirely. With cameos by tape recorder microphones, drum tracks, and lots of hazy overlays, DIY has never sounded so awesome.

You can buy the album in March, but for now, download the single "Madeleine" above.

~ Liza Darwin, Nylon Magazine

Gotye

2012-01-11T12:00:00.009-06:00

"Somebody That I Used to Know" feat. Kimbra
from the album Making Mirrors
2011 (2012 U.S.)
iTunes

Australia-based indie multi-talent Gotye's transfixing "Somebody That I Used to Know" (video) serves as a reassuring reminder that good, old-fashioned pop (of the non-electro-influenced, Auto-Tuned variety) can still be made and beloved on a massive scale.

Recently sitting at No. 1 on the Australian singles charts, the song feels carved from a bygone era in song-craft, riding a gorgeously-paced simmer of subdued vintage '60s pop sounds to

casually unfold a painfully relatable portrait of the distractions of a previous romance's effect on a current relationship and a genius arc that finds you wanting to kick a character who moments before you felt sorry for.

It's first two-and-a-half minutes alone are pure magic: Gotye barely-there crooning the sad tale of a previous union not being the slice of perfect heaven he yearned it to be ("Told myself that you were right for me / But felt so lonely in your company") against the backing track's alluringly nervy spy-noir shuffle, only to make a hard left-turn into douche-land with an out-of-nowhere Sting-like wail of a chorus initially suddenly berate the former partner for bruising his ego so bad by completely disappearing into the ether post-break-up and leaving him with only memories ("But you didn't have to cut me off / Make out like it never happened / ... You didn't have to stoop so low / Have your friends collect your records / And then change your number").

Once featured guest Kimbra arrives on the half-way mark to help fill in between the lines in the role of the new ex-girlfriend, "Somebody That I Used to Know" is elevated to a whole new plateau of awesomeness, her steely cut-down of his behavior in their own relationship providing one of the most fantastic "wait...what?" musical moments in recent memory in its jaw-dropping verse-ending reveal ("You said that you could let it go / And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know!!!") that brilliantly shifts the target of all his succeeding hook agitation towards her.

All together now: Wait...what? Why can't all modern pop be this structurally, and dramatically, riveting?

~ David Allun Jones, Mixtape Maestro

Explosions in the Sky

2012-01-10T13:25:00.003-06:00

"Trembling Hands" MP3
from the album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
2011
iTunes

Explosions in the Sky's sixth full-length wastes no time in covering well-worn methods: “Last Known Surroundings” betrays a seething underbelly with bright guitar wails and martial drums; "Be Comfortable, Creature" does the same, only slower and brighter — "Let Me Back In," too, but backwards. Effective as ever, really, but it's "Trembling Hands" — think Broken Social Scene, beardless — that feels like the most urgent thing this band's ever recorded, a past and future commingled ecstatically. It's familiar but refreshing, evidence that a dinosaur genre like "post-rock" can still sound vital. Also? The album art turns into a house!

~ Dom Sinacola, Filter

Bright Moments

2012-01-09T11:55:00.001-06:00

"Travelers" MP3
from the album Natives
2012

BY NICK CROW | Jonk Music

Kelly Pratt may not be a name that you know off the top of your head, but if you are familiar with bands such as Beirut, Arcade Fire, and LCD Soundsystem, then you are aware of his work.

His previous band, Team B, released an album in 2008, but Natives will be his first under the name Bright Moments.

"Travelers" is a joyful track that implores you to come along on a superb journey. His use of horns, percussion, and compelling lyrics sets the tone throughout the track. Pratt's ability to mesh imaginative lyrics with poignant backing music is something to behold. This may be Bright Moments' debut album, but it clear that he has been here before. One can only hope that the remainder of the album is as promising as this track.

Azealia Banks

2012-01-07T16:25:00.002-06:00

"212" MP3
from the single 212
2011
iTunes

It's quite an achievement at this stage in the game to get noticed via dirty talk, but the first time you hear "212" (video) that's what sticks with you. Azealia Banks' perfectly timed, sweet-voiced threat as the track drops out ("Imma ruin you, cunt") is the song's hotline to virality, its VIP pass to buzz.

So she's an internet novelty? Hardly. "212" works because its popcraft and its shock tactics are each other's Trojan horses — concentrate on one and the other sneaks up on you. One reason "ruin you, cunt" feels like such a payoff is that Banks spends an entire verse of quick, unshowy rapping setting up its run of vowels. Banks uses the peaks, breakdowns, and drop-outs of Lazy Jay's bouncy "Float My Boat" to give her Minaj-style vocal-shifts some context: from sassy and chatty during the build ups to cartoon rage as the synths rear up around her at the song's end. If it were judged only on its visceral thrill, "212" would still be one of 2011's best, an unashamed banger in a mostly mid-tempo year. But the more you dig into the song, the more you can hear details and decisions that suggest a scary degree of pop talent.

~ Tom Ewing, Pitchfork

Cass McCombs

2012-01-06T12:22:00.003-06:00

"County Line" MP3
from the album Wit's End
2011
iTunes

A soft-rock singer-songwriter with a subversive streak, Cass McCombs plays it relatively straight on Wit's End, singing minimalist, funeral-paced songs in a pained, delicate croon evoking a creepy-crawly isolation. On the self-explanatory "Buried Alive," McCombs can't tell if he's stuck six feet under with a rotting corpse, or merely waking up to another dreary day. On "The Lonely Doll," a drunken night ends inside a hobo's cardboard box, where he spots a beautiful woman in a nearby window who's even sadder than he is. "Boozing is the highest aim," McCombs sings on "Memory Stain," though it can't blot out the pain that's omnipresent on Wit's End. At least McCombs has a sense of humor, as well as a superhuman ability to wring every last bit of breathtaking melody out of the faintest pulse of electric piano, whistling organ, and somber bass. The ravishing soul ballad "County Line" comes on like a sensual call for reconciliation, but the lyrics only bring recriminations: "Hoping nothing's changed, that your pain is never-ending," he sings, before sinking the knife in with a heart-melting Eddie Kendricks falsetto. Wit's End leans a little too heavily on dark-hearted dirges — most songs extend beyond the five-minute mark, and feel much longer — but McCombs allows occasional flickers of light to peek into the blackness, and they seem to shine all the brighter.

~ Steven Hyden, The A.V. Club

M83

2012-01-05T09:40:00.001-06:00

"Claudia Lewis" MP3
from the album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
2011
iTunes

M83's gorgeous and breathlessly nostalgic album from 2008, Saturdays=Youth, was filled with songs for imaginary John Hughes films, gauzy synthesizer ballads for the culmination of Molly Ringwald's yearning. Anthony Gonzalez, the 30-year-old French mastermind behind M83, obviously studied the songcraft, instrumentation, and romanticism of the music that was popular in his childhood, and his follow-up, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, favors the same era. But Hurry Up, We're Dreaming feels less like the synthesis of remembered melodies, and on guitar-heavy anthems such as "Reunion" and "New Map," Gonzalez makes synth-rock that truly rocks.

Attribute part of that change to Gonzalez's new vocal approach. Rather than singing in lower, sonorous registers, he approaches stadium-busting tracks such as "Claudia Lewis" as if he was trying to reach the cheap seats. There is less input from vocalist Morgan Kibby this time — she is the singer who made Saturdays=Youth songs such as "Up!" sound like lost Kate Bush gems — but Gonzalez makes up for it by rattling the rafters on "This Bright Flash" and the pounding coda of "My Tears Are Becoming a Sea."

M83 can still weave nostalgia with the best. Like Cut Copy's excellent 2011 album Zonoscope, echoes of childhood radiate through Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. Take the main section of “Claudia Lewis,” which borrows its percussion and mood from New Order's “Thieves Like Us,” or the twee-pop "Raconte-Moi Une Histoire," in which a young boy talks about the magic properties of a tree frog as Gonzalez ramps up the playful synths. If anything, M83 finds a satisfying balance between such backward-looking moments and the forward movement of the neon-bright "Midnight City," boding well for the future of M83's spirit of innovation and picture-perfect remembrance.

~ George Lang, The Oklahoman

The Weeknd

2012-01-04T12:24:00.003-06:00

"D.D." MP3
from the mixtape Echoes of Silence
2011

In just under a year, Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, has seen one of the most rapid ascents into music's upper echelons in recent memory. Completely unknown at the start of 2011, Tesfaye began making huge waves in late March with the release of his debut mixtape House of Balloons, which quickly garnered all manners of acclaim including a Polaris Music Prize nomination in his native Canada. Since then, he's dropped another acclaimed mixtape, and he's worked alongside Drake, specifically on this year's much-lauded Take Care. Still, it's easy to forget that The Weeknd has yet to release a proper album.

Echoes of Silence, then, acts as a fitting conclusion to the trilogy Tesfaye began back in March of this year. Combining the sunless atmospherics of Balloons and Thursday's disillusioned self-consciousness with his considerably improved lyrical prowess and the experience that came with Tesfaye's much-discussed fraternizing with fellow Toronto native Drake, it's The Weeknd's most concentrated effort to date and one that sets the bar inordinately high for that imminent debut album. Kicking off with a huge, clattering rework of Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana," Echoes finds Tesfaye quick to align himself with the King of Pop, music's most unanimously beloved and accessible star. It's a fairly faithful and straightforward cover that does well to both showcase Tesfaye's mad pipes and draw parallels between the song's debauched narrative and the depraved tales of drugs and sex that've become The Weeknd's most immediately recognizable trademark.

The mixtape also highlights the huge strides Tesfaye has made since both of his prior outings. Where Thursday faltered was where it sought to explore the lifestyle that came with Tesfaye's newfound fame, occasionally coming off as rather reactionary as he bemoaned the pitfalls of his new lifestyle. Here, he's much more assured, as on "Same Old Song," one of this tape's best tracks, where he sings lines like: "You never thought that I would ever go this far / You said potential could never last this long" and "Well, you can take another shot every time you hear me playin' in the club." Led along by Tesfaye's delivery that's somehow simultaneously cocksure and forlorn, the track plays like a prequel of sorts to Drake's "Marvin's Room," though most of its emotional impact is undermined by a half-baked guest skit from Three 6 Mafia's Juicy J, which ends up having the same effect as Chris Rock's imbecilic feature spot at the end of Yeezy's heart-rending "Blame Game" on last year's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Elsewhere on Echoes, Tesfaye and his producer Illangelo bring the muted experimentalism they've only previously touched upon full circle. The pair's readiness to warp and mutate Tesfaye's stunning falsetto, an element that most producers wouldn't dare tamper with, has been one of The Weeknd's most compelling qualities – and one that's present here in full effect. Tracks such as "Outside" and the markedly straightforward closer "Echoes of Silence" leave his vocals untouched, while "Initiation" and "Montreal" find it distorted and modulated to great effect, and occasionally even beyond recognition. Tesfaye and Illangelo have found a comfortable midpoint between Balloons' bleak, minimal production and the more nuanced moments on Thursday, a hallmark they reach in the one-two punch of "XO/The Host" and "Initiation."

Opening to a spare, muffled synth line, "XO/The Host" recalls the finest points on House of Balloons in the big, stuttering beat and Tesfaye's memorable refrain before muted blasts of distorted power chords creep into the mix around the halfway point. A tripped-out synth leads into "The Host," the suite's second half which in turn transitions seamlessly into "Initiation." The warped banger showcases the production talents of Illangelo and Dropxlife (of The Weeknd's XO crew) who frame Tesfaye's pitch-bent croon in sinister, creeping bass. The mixtape's final track – the aforementioned "Echoes of Silence" – makes for a fitting conclusion to the drama, swirling with ghostly piano and synths around an oddly wistful Tesfaye vocal.

When all's said and done, Echoes of Silence remains The Weeknd's third consecutive effort that is thoroughly compelling and impeccably produced. There's little to deny of this three-act play in 2011: Tesfaye has explored some of the dankest, darkest corners of our world, and thus has crafted some of the most compelling and captivating music for its genre. What's more, it's all been free for download. How's that for a bargain? To paraphrase one Roger Daltrey, we'd pay any price just to get you.

~ Möhammad Choudhery, Consequence of Sound

Bowerbirds

2012-01-03T09:30:00.006-06:00

"Tuck the Darkness In" MP3
from the album The Clearing
2012
iTunes

North Carolina couple Bowerbirds have just polished off their third album: The Clearing is coming out March 6, on Dead Oceans. Its lead single, "Tuck the Darkness In," is an elegant epic, building slowly, surely, towards a grandstanding crescendo of choral wails, orchestral squalls, and distorted guitars; heaving with a hugeness not heard, so much, on Hymns for a Dark Horse or Upper Air.

"Well, the light was rust / and the cold was in our knees / and our breath poured out / over golden fields," Phil Moore begins, sketching a winter walk in uncommonly-poetic language, as piano frolicks gaily over simple strums and unfettered drums, with vibraphone lurking deep in the mix.

The song's central sentiment — about, yes, tucking the darkness in — is about acknowledging, and embracing, the death that surrounds you; the decaying leaves in the golden fields their own corpses; grist in the natural cycle of things.

"Everything falls to death," Moore sings, with no sense of Gothic pallor. Instead, there's a lightness in the shared poetry between he and Beth Tacular, especially when their voices join in harmony, and the song grows bigger, giddier, more righteously on-its-way-up; the finding the joy in being alive, in the light, whilst feeling that darkness lingering.

"Before the hours took over," these Bowerbirds warble, in harmony, "before the full weight was on her shoulders/before the twilight's cover/before I knew time was such a swindler."

~ Anthony Carew, About.com

Night Moves

2012-01-02T00:30:00.001-06:00

"Headlights" MP3
from the album Colored Emotions
2011

BY NICK CROW | Jonk Music

Minneapolis-based Night Moves has been a local favorite for some time now and have finally gained widespread recognition with their recent signing to Domino Records. Their sound has been described as electo-country but their sound can't really be defined as that.

"Headlights" is a perfect example of what the trio has created with strong guitars, memorable lyrics, and a vibe that rides the chillwaves until songs end. Almost MGMT-like, the strength of this track comes from its progression and abundant use of layering to set the ideal ambiance.

Their album, Colored Emotions, will be re-released under the Domino umbrella in 2012.