Indiecision

Marina and the Diamonds is great. I first heard 'Obsessions' a few weeks back and thought 'awesome'. Then 'Mowgli's Road' turned up in my inbox and I thought the same thought again, with a vengeance. The other two tracks on her myspace are equally good. Turns out she's signed to the same label as Passion Pit, so that might give you an idea of the popular, sing-along quality of her music - although she is much less electronic and can sing a whole lot better. I'm sure she'll be huge. Check out electrorash for a bit more info... and for tuneage.

But as for who I think should be huge: Malajube! I've posted about them before, but suddenly realised just now (during a Marina and the Diamonds inspired indie-listening phase) that my personal favourite of theirs, 'Dragon de Glace', has yet to grace my page. A terrible oversight. The song starts beautifully, with a simple but gorgeous bit of acoustic guitar work, and then the breathy french vocals come in, rubbing the beauty of their language in my english face. The build at the end is also incredible, and well worth waiting for.

I got Fanfarlo's album recently, and while it's not particularly outstanding, it is pretty solid all the way through. 'Fire Escape' (below) and 'I'm A Pilot' are the most attention grabbing tracks. They've got a pretty cheerful sound, kept from overt popishness by occasional trumpet solos, and by a slightly melanchonic singer (in terms of sound, not necessarily lyrics). Employing a similar kind of upbeat, head-nodding drum pattern is the Pains of Being Pure at Heart song 'A Teenager in Love'. In fact, both bands sound vaguely similar, although Pains are a bit more melodic and acoustic in general.

In fact, they're not that similar when you get right down to it. Because if you're getting down to it, why would you be mentally comparing bands?

Aha, aha...

Finishing up are the Rogues, already remixed by Feed Me - which has pretty much sold them to me - who are probably the most obviously 'indie'. 'Not So Pretty' is almost impossible not to sing along to, and has a nice little riffy guitar bit and some solid, danceable drumming.

My next post will probably be a bit more electro and dubsteppy (I don't know if anyone's got the Primecuts remix of 'Hit That Gash', but it's huge), but I was feeling in a pretty indie/alternative mood after listening to those new Phoenix and Doves singles for an entire day - can't wait for the respective albums. Anyway, enjoy. Four decent songs from four decent bands.

Malajube - Dragon de Glace Buy
Fanfarlo - Fire Escape Buy
The Pains Of Being Pure at Heart - A Teenager in Love Buy
Rogues - Not So Pretty Buy


Just realised my 'Feed Me' post got pulled. Twice I think. Maybe third time lucky?

Rogues - Not So Pretty (Feed Me Remix) Buy

Speaking of posts being pulled, my 'Power to The People' post was also removed. Sigh. Another casualty with that cruel mistress that is the Blogger hegemony. Of the tracks that were on there, Mansion - 'Body' and the Jimmy2sox remix of 'We Are The People' are the ones worth looking up.

Racket Hearing

There are all sorts of songs I'm desperate to post at the moment - the Boys Noize remix of 'Happy Up Here', the Starters remix of 'Thunderstruck Man', the CSK OK remix of 'Shooting Stars' ... but I've decided to change it up a bit. The Boys Noize and Starters tunes are all over Hype Machine at the moment, and I don't want to look like I follow the crowd. Because I'm just so incredibly eclectic and original. Like all bloggers.

As for CSK OK, I heard about him for the first time the other day on the ever-reliable hyperbole blogspot. He's pretty much my new favourite producer, sounding a bit like a more laid-back Danger. (A cross between Danger and The Twelves maybe? Not that I want to raise expectations too high.) I highly recommend that anyone with the slightest interest in electro checks out his myspace - there's a list on it of all the blogs he affiliates with and gives tunes to. Naturally, I don't appear on said list.

Sad face.

Anyway, I'm not going to post anything from him, as it's all ready available elsewhere, and well worth taking the time to find - look for his 'Final Punch' Reprise, the remix of 'Shooting Stars' and the 'Houston' remix.

It's probably time to talk about what I'm actually posting. First up... Housse de Racket, who's name I cleverly punned 'pon in the title, are a cheerful little French indie band - falling somewhere between Phoenix, Mystery Jets, Sebastien Tellier and The Beatles. Obviously, I don't mean that in terms of quality (although they are awesome), but in terms of their kind of sound. Their first album, Forty Love, was a rock opera about two tennis players fighting over a girl/man called Gwendoline (probably a girl). The lyrics might well be as hilarious as the general concept, but I wouldn't know because - quite refreshingly for a French band - it's all sung in French. In fact, the general style is about as French as you could want, and they've produced some very good songs, namely: 'Sur Le Papier' (see below), 'Oh Yeah' and 'Synthetiseur', all of which I highly reccomend. The rest of the album is pretty solid as well. 'Sur Le Papier' and 'Oh Yeah' are nice, cheerful indie jaunts, and 'Synthetiseur' is a bit more electric and powerful (think 'Eye of the Tiger'). Definitely worth a listen.

'Ursuline', by Malajube (who hail from Montréal), is equally French - in terms of lyrics at least. Or so I believe, though to be honest the vocals are so covered in distortion and sound it's difficult to make out if they are talking in any language at all. It sounds nice anyway. Overall the song is nicely balanced between highs and lows. Malajube are a bit more rocky than Housse de Racket, but equally good at song-writing. The drums are nice and powerful, with crashing cymbals and the like, but don't get in the way. In fact, there's a nice selection of instruments (I think a harmonica even creeps in at one point), and the whole song feels like a kind of musical journey.

Basically, I really like it. Their other stuff is good too, try 'Porté Disparu' if you want to hear more. Or try their myspace.
The Weakerthans are pretty cool. Everyone knows this. In fact, there is very little I could say about them that would be interesting or illuminating at all. Overall, they're pretty consistent and you either like them or you don't.
Vague, I know...

'Everything Must Go!' is a pretty cool song, if you ignore the exclamation mark in the title. The chord progression is melodic, pleasant, laid back. The drums are chilled (some tight snare work there), and the vocals float over the top in a kind of Death Cab-ish style.

Finally, I've linked some Chad VanGaalen. Now, Mr VanGaalen is by no means one of my favourite artists, but 'Rabid Bits of Time' is a beautiful song. Just listen to the way he sings 'You've been dead for years'. Great stuff. Bon Iver probably do the genre a bit better, but 'Rabid' is definitely a very good song, with the same kind of emotional power. (Slightly depressing.)

Housse de Racket - Sur le Papier Buy
Malajube - Ursuline Buy
The Weakerthans - Everything Must Go! Buy
Chad VanGaalen - Rabid Bits of Time Buy