"It'll Come Around" is lo-fi wash and modern day "wall of sound." It's layered on so thick that you can't really tell what's going on underneath; like that girl in January on 14th Street that was probably pretty cute, but you couldn't tell through all those sweaters and scarves and hats. The influence of Kickball Katy's Vivian Girls is heavy, the lyrics are hard to hear and harder to understand, and a simple hook is modestly developed, but more accurately--simply repeated. More summer sounds to pack your player with.
We first heard Sleigh Bells in the Pitchfork Forkcast, and I remember listening to "Crown on the Ground" thinking that even at the lowest volume, this was the loudest sounding record I'd ever heard. I suppose that's what you get when you turn off your limiters and commit to tape the sound of your speakers tweaking.
Dragonette played with Class Actress at Brooklyn Bowl last night. We were there for the latter, but that didn't mean Dragonette didn't have some fun moments.
After enduring the most unpleasant show in at least five years last Wednesday I was beginning to forget what is endearing about this band. The "glitch-punk" duo has an LP coming this summer, and this is one of the first two songs to make it's way out.
"Celestica" has far less of the glitch and the screaming that can normally be associated with Crystal Castles. It features a comforting beat that feels throughout more like a Goldfrapp sample. It's upbeat and the vocals are actually sung, giving you that rare Crystal Castles reaction--"I think I just heard lyrics." This isn't one of the mosh-ready singles of 2008, and at first glance doesn't play to the aggravating douchebaggery frequently found in their fan base. "Celestica" is actually easy to listen to.
This was buried in the middle of the awesome set at the Music Hall last Thursday. The one that James Murphy interrupted multiple times to remind us that this was their first show in three years. The same set that turned the crowd into a hysterical mob when the first bass note of "Yr City's A Sucker" shook the floors. This was a show from a band that might not have been on your bucket list, but really should have been. And this is the single that makes "Drunk Girls" look like a trick to see how gullible Pitchfork was.
If it wasn't already totally obvious, it should now be clear that I can't resist Yelle. Her music isn't always great and her lyrics are usually lame, but her bubbly singing and happy dance moves have endeared her and her mediocre 2007 debut to me. Crookers, of "Day 'n' Night" remix fame, are the Italian duo behind this awesome use of Yelle.
They took the time last week to speak with me about what's on their schedule, how they started making music together, and their favorite Brooklyn restaurants. Read the whole thing after the jump.
GL: So first off, thanks for taking some time out of your busy practice schedule to chat. I saw your show at Cameo Gallery a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say I didn't really know what to expect. "Dressed in Dresden" was one of my favorite songs of last year, but its remixes have been the only thing I could get my ears on. I loved the set, and I've been dying to know when there will be new music. You're releasing the "Dressed in Dresden" single April 6, and I just read that you have an EP coming in May. Can you tell me about those, and what your plans are for an LP?
J: Thanks for asking us. Yeah, the Dresden single is being re-released with some amazing new remixes. It was never actually released in America and Warp wanted to use that as an excuse to put it out again as a kind of welcome card to the label. Then This Desert EP is coming out next month and it’s got 6 all new tracks.
Basically, we spent most of the first half of last year writing and self-producing and we ended up with enough for an EP and an LP. We split those tracks up by what tracks we thought went together best and then worked with a bunch of great producers mixing and tweaking the recording stems we made and, in the end, hopefully pushing all the songs a little further. In our minds the EP was something we really wanted to put together for summer. The tracks are dark but they’re also dub influenced and sort of blissed-out; more ethereal and smokey.
Another pioneering artist in chillwave, Toro Y Moi aka. Chaz Bundwick uses layers of synthesizers to create an atmosphere of electronic sounds. Although not necessarily using an easily apparent groove, the music has danceable qualities. His breathy, soft vocals are as characteristic of the genre as the pitch-shifted background wash. "Tamalak"'s staccato sample is reminiscent of Bibio, an artist that is unexplainably left out of the club, when the very techniques he experimented with in 2006's Hand Cranked are used to define the genre. From Mark Richardson's March 2006 write-up:
It sounds worn, weathered, woozy, warped, warbling, and warm. Wilkinson [Bibio] clearly loves folk and a certain strand of idyllic electronic music equally, and has found an efficient place for the two to meet.
Chillwave has taken on a strong seasonal association, much in the same way that beard-folk artists Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes have. The latter have laid claim to winter, and yet while lyrically obscure, chillwave tends to convey precisely a singular emotion that is felt most often when it's sunny and 70.
to me. Crookers, of "
" remix fame, are the Italian duo behind this awesome use of Yelle. 
" release party. You can 
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