sort as: ritual / no escape out of time

English quartet R I T U A L -- Adam Midgley, Gerard O'Connell, Tommy Baxter, plus Mononoke -- released No Escape Out of Time last Friday and I cannot stop hearing it in the back of my head.

It's not unlike when I was first introduced to their music by Aaron Axelsen in San Francisco, before Club cheval's set at MEZZANINE last summer. I rarely give a second thought to songs I don't recognize when spun by a DJ or between sets, unless I'm triggered by a memory of the same song heard previously in another set or set change playlist (and then my first thought is, "oh I guess this song/beat is popular"), but I found "Josephine" and From the City to the Wilderness online three days later, by looking up its beat but melodically uplifting title lyric: "Josephine / I'll never be good enough."

The September 29 release is just as hauntingly relatable with a sort of noir sophistication meant for a slow motion capture. (Short film director Jackson Ducasse capitalizes on this viscousness.) It also introduces "Hotel Bars", the youngest and only track not released prior to the full collection, alongside a version of "Drown the Lovers" that features a verse and chorus vocals from Atlanta rapper 6LACK.

The English quartet ring in strong on lyrics and form, giving the PBR&B style popularized six years ago by The Weeknd and his contemporaries a welcome revamp. If you're all about sad songs in the club, vocal harmonies, and sombrely reflecting on the state of everything right now, there's no escaping this.

VIDEO: "Attak" by Rustie feat. Danny Brown

Here's Scottish EDM-saurus Rustie (real name Russell Whyte) absolutely killing it on his latest collab and Danny Brown having a pillow-less pillow fight while spitting god knows what and non-stop, too. Luckily, they've provided the lyrics. The video's nothing brilliant, but that particular shade of aqua and those audio sirens are. Green Language drops August 25th via Warp Records.

VIDEO: "Lady Black" by Sons of the Sea

Brandon Boyd's solo ventures don't quite compare to those of Brandon Flowers or Noel Gallagher, but I'm digging the cinematography in his new video for the latest single from his second band's eponymous debut, Sons of the Sea. Black-and-white desert scenes depict Boyd wandering aimlessly, napping while standing in the sun, and seeing pools of water where there probably aren't any. Oh, and the naked gothic-Egyptian women. (He's probably dreaming about those, too.) "Lady Black" is perfume-ad hot and, sarcasm aside, totally watchable. As for the track itself, it's a definitive throwback to the mid-2000s Incubus sound.

Zammuto unveils tiny, secret world in "Great Equator"

Nick Zammuto's new video feels very DIY because it is.

The self- directed and edited visual companion to Anchor lead single, "Great Equator," is perfectly Cartesian at the intersection between lyric and music video planes, straddling art and science. Filmed entirely by dissecting microscope (colour) and scanning electron microscope (black and white), its short split-second clips are pieced together to form a sum much greater than its parts. But watch each of its parts carefully; under the SEM especially, the incredible detail of each frame competes with its corresponding audio components. MOTHERBOARD has the details.

When the audio and visuals synchronize at 2:05 in with a sequence of up-close animal shots and single synth tones, it's simply the best thing.



Out September 2nd via Temporary Residence Limited, Anchor is Zammuto's second full-length record after Zammuto (2012) and their debut EP, Idiom Wind (also 2012). The band consists of bassist Mikey Zammuto multi-instrumentalist Nick Oddy, and drummer Sean Dixon; and will embark on a tour in support of the album on September 6th in Montreal.

Austra stay obscure with music videos, including newly released dance short to "Hulluu"

Remember that creepy little track we discussed several weeks ago? The one where Katie Stelmanis puts her microphone in the river? Here's dancer Emily Law's interpretation of it through a fusion of contemporary and eccentric styles including waacking. Directed Zeesy Powers, it has become the track's official music video and follows the trend of artful obscurity practiced by Austra. Despite the incessant hair-flipping, "Hulluu" might be one of Austra's best videos yet with its clever used of negative space, layered editing, and skipping.

Fink stays literal with "Looking Too Closely" video

photo by Tommy Lance

DJ / singer-songwriter Fin Greenall is the tour-de-force behind Fink, a UK-based trio rendering beautifully-arranged folk pop. "Looking Too Closely," the lead single from the band's upcoming Hard Believer, out July 7th via Ninja Tune Records, received its video today. Directed by Wolf&Lamm, the music video focuses in and out on close-ups of the band members and nature stills. It's an ardent example of visual word-painting and the camera eventually zooms out to reveal the performers' setting: a green roof in an unnamed city.

The track's lyrics speak volumes to the destructive potential of self-consciousness on both an individual and societal level. I don't often write about records featured in the "now playing" shelf on this blog, but for this track, I've made an exception.

This is a song about somebody else
So don't worry yourself, worry yourself
Devil's right there right there in the details
And you don't wanna hurt yourself, hurt yourself

VIDEO: "You're Not Good Enough" by Blood Orange

The promising team of up and coming director Gia Coppola and multi-instrumentalist dream boy Devonté Hynes (or Blood Orange) have followed up James Franco-produced Palo Alto (2013) with a Urban Outfitters music video to Hynes’s “You’re Not Good Enough.” The second single from Cupid Deluxe (2013) also made an appearance in the film's end credits. Its music video falls in line with Gia Coppola's directorial style.

With very little glitz but lots of glam, the dancers' youth is front and centre, and the entire clip looks like something from the 80s. I have no idea what Dev is wearing on his feet, but Friends vocalist Samantha Urbani's outfit is perfect. It's nice to see a good dance video that isn't over-sexualized like much of what we're fed nowadays. The track itself is summer approved, with a plucked bass line, shuffling snare drum, and soaring synth melodies.



Coppola and Hynes are signing vinyls this Thursday afternoon at Urban Outfitters in Herald Square, New York.

VIDEO: "If I Need You I'll Call" by My Body

My Body is this new thing out of Brooklyn (of course). They look like Jordan Bagnall and Darren Bridenbeck making infectious and classically-checked electropop that's been picked up by NYLON Magazine, Brain Magazine, and Kitsuné. Besides, their latest video features flying swords and grasshoppers. And that's all we need right now.

VIDEO: "Moonlight" by Message to Bears

I fell in love with this track last December, shortly after Jerome Alexander as Message to Bears released his third album, Maps. "Moonlight" is the first music video from the record, shot by Beanpole Productions's Benjamin Dowie and starring Sophie Milera.

If the baroque acoustic guitar and handclaps aren't captivating enough on their own, the costuming, Dowie's cinematography, Milera's beauty, the lighting, the landscapes... everything here really nails it in.

I'm in love again.

14/01/17 WEEKLY ROUNDUP: London Grammar, KALEIDA, DJ DJ Booth, Ninetails

This week's the British edition, so grab your english tea, sit back, and start the weekend off right with London Grammar's powerful rendering of "Strong" at their American TV debut on Wednesday's Late Night. These UK babes will be flying into Dallas in early March for SXSW, the start of a month-long US tour promoting their debut album, If You Wait. (Five charted singles on that one, kids. Five.) Y'all had better get your tix now.

KALEIDA

We dug "Think", but this über-talented London-based power duo's latest, "Tropea" is game, set and match. Instrumentalist Cicely Goulder keeps it light and bubbly, while her counterpart, Christina Wood adds airy, but certain vocals: "Wait here, I see heaven". Released during November and December respectively, we're anxious for the debut EP Christina Wood and Cicely Goulder should be releasing any time now, as it was originally due at the end of last year. You can grab both tracks via their soundcloud.



Kaleida will be playing at the Notting Hill Arts Club in London on January 23rd.

NINETAILS

I've somehow managed to come this far without mentioning Capital Cities, of whom I've been an avid fan of since their 2011 EP. Anyways, I bring them up because whenever I hear a distinctive brass section, I like to inaccurately attribute the trend to Capital Cities. That's what the horn part (it starts around 1:30) in "Radiant Hex" by Liverpool's Ninetails makes us think of; perhaps if Yeasayer remixed some Capital Cities, which would be pretty cool.

"Radiant Hex" is certainly a progressive departure from Slept and Did Not Sleep (2012). Its presence is noticeably louder with a gradual crescendo to full volume, but the track maintains the same overall soft manner Ninetails likes to maintain. Their new disc, appropriately named Quiet Confidence, is scheduled for March 10th via Pond Life. We're not sure what they're up to on this one, but we trust in its brass section excellence.

DJ DJ BOOTH

So we're stealing this one from the guys over at YVYNYL, but Globodigital's Tom Burnz and Steve Smith have got us tripping happy. And of course, this work of art is made possible by DJ DJ Booth, who "likes Todd Edwards and The Neptunes". (And yes, it took us a minute to determine that he is calling himself "DJ Booth".) Can you go higher?

Turnaround

I'm in love
with the wrong kind of summer:
the short, the skinny;
to any farmer farming:
a summer bearing no fruit.

I'm in love
with the backside of dawn,
the sort of view from outer space:
sometimes I forget
to halt my frozen lungs.

I'm in love
with the denouement;
the fission fragments
that settle on children:
forgive their consequences.

I'm in love
with the morning after:
the New Year's Day;
to any dreamer dreaming:
a newfound freedom.

VIDEO: "Berlin Lovers" by Still Corners

MUSIC: The Dirty Nil / Northern Primitive split

Today is one of those messy days. It's at least 15 degrees (Celsius) warmer than it should be and the rain has been coming nonstop, leaving an ugly grey sludge on the blacktop and turning McTavish Street in Montreal into a huge waterslide. These guys can empathize. The first half of the video, and side B of the 7", is Northern Primitive, a reflective alternative band reminiscent of early .moneen.. The other half is less likely to subdue themselves.

The Dirty Nil hail from Dundas, Ontario, the same place I go apple-picking with elementary school students every year. No offense, but there's little there but old country roads, Caribou, and several waterfalls. It's safe to say that the garage punk trio is a strong contender for "hardest-rocking 0.00012% of the escarpment population". Their angsty-screamy gang vocals and fuzzy distorted riffs put them somewhere between post-hardcore and post-grunge. They call it "hammer rock".

At a low volume, "Zombie Eyed" is loud enough to magnify the worst headache. At a "motherfucking loud volume" (as they insist), the discordance disappears and every slide is a wonder to behold. The Dirty Nil could afford more emotional contrast--angrier on the explosions, softer on the realizations--to really drive their lyrics home, but short of that, singing with a smile is the next best option. The song concludes on a who-gives-a-fuck note (Luke: "I guess I'm just zombie-eyed" x5), so smile widely on.

The Dirty Nil is: Dave Nardi (bass), Luke Bentham (vocals, guitar) , and Kyle Fisher (drums)

Go download "Zombie Eyed" and "Positive Bondar", courtesy of the artists and Indoor Shoes.

Pop politics: "Scream & Shout"

Above is the music video for will.i.am's latest wonder. The song is catchy, but the lack of layered synths, like those in generic modern radio hits, doesn't exactly inspire intrigue. Let's be honest--on first listen, the repetition is exquisitely annoying. "Scream & Shout" begs the question: is this really music? Before you answer, let me ask you this: if this weren't will.i.am and Britney, would it be music?

More often than not, casual observers of both commercial music and the art music movement will slam commercial artists for being "too mainstream". Then they turn around and say something different like this is a cheap, witless "money grab". You weren't expecting this. And if someone else had done it, someone not as high-key, you would openly admit to enjoying it. This is a little more melodically interesting, but of a similar concept.

Nonetheless, "Scream & Shout" is a clever, contagious single with plenty of remix potential.

Transit of Venus, you've got to be kidding me

Three Days Grace are my favourite childhood band, but lesbihonest: it's too fucking hard to love them to the same degree as my ten-year-old self did. This latest endeavour of theirs, titled Transit of Venus, started out promising. (Despite the cheesy "never again in your life time" slogan.) They stated that it'd be edgier, more aggressive, experimental. But the artwork looks like a Photoshop mishap, a dupe of Cage the Elephant's Thank You Happy Birthday gone awry. While a fun, indie rock group can get away with it, the above just isn't a convincing sell; it's the wrong sort of album art for a post-grunge, hard-ish rock album.



The first single, "Chalk Outline" is okay. Clever lyrics have never been one of the band's strengths, but at least it's catchy. On first listen, the chorus melody sounded like something I--an amateur wannabe--had improvised in the past. (I'm not kidding, it was so familiar to myself.) But because I insisted upon loving them still, I returned to the song a few days later and replayed it a couple times. Initial thoughts aside, the riffs are raunchier, and the stops in the bridge are great and unexpected. Props to Neil for the rhythmic variety, the only thing about this track keeping my attention.


The release is set for October 2nd, and until then, I'll probably forget about it. But when it is out, I'll probably give Three Days Grace another shot.

"~" by HAPPY TRENDY

"Sea Dreamer" by Wildlife

I'm loving the TV show intro. Not to mention the boys themselves. I can confidently state that Wildlife put on a fantastic live show, and their bass lines have the potential to be legendary. Just listen to "Drunken Heart", a standout track from Strike Hard, Young Diamond in my humble opinion.

Porcelain Raft: "Something In Between"

Beni: "Someone Just Like You" (NSFW)

Beni, Beni, Beni. Damn Australian. (You are too good.)

Dreamers of the Ghetto: "Tether"