Battles – Gloss Drop

When Battles album Mirrored came out in 2007 I felt like they had something I should have liked – the video for Atlas was really cool – but the music did nothing for me. Most of the songs I listened to were just an annoyance. So it was with total surprise that I sampled new album Gloss Drop on iTunes and actually really liked what I heard. Immediatly recognizable was the lack of manipulated cartoonish vocals, which was the one thing I disliked the most about Mirrored. With former frontman Tyondai Braxton gone from the lineup, vocals have been taken on by a variety of guests throughout the album, with second song Ice Cream ending up as my favorite, with vocals by Matias Aguayo.

Gloss Drop feels like a perfect summer album no matter how frantic and chaotic it can be at times. There’s a ton of complex musical creativity going on here, and while it’s not something I’d listen to frequently, I like the range of weirdness and instrumentation. Semi NSFW video for Ice Cream posted below.

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Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Mogwai just released their newest album this week, entitled Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. A perfect Mogwai album title as always, though I have to say that’s the strangest cover art of theirs ever. It’s just not very “Mogwai,” although I absolutely love the photo. I’ve had this album on heavy rotation since Tuesday and it’s hard to describe, but there’s a heavy Sonic Youth sound on a few of the songs. The second track, Mexican Grand Prix, for example, may as well have Kim Gordon singing in her often used raspy and unintelligible voice behind a pretty steady rhythm. The standout track to me, though, is track 4, Death Rays. It’s everything a perfect Mogwai song can be when they’re doing something uplifting instead of destroying the world around them with darkness. Not that I don’t like that any less… but over the past few albums they’ve really added some cheerfulness to their sound. The guitar that comes in at 3:56 in the song just floors me in it’s simple ability to cut through the same overall song like a sword. Letters to the Metro is probably the slowest song on the album, and I’d love to know what inspiration Chicago’s Metro could be considering they’ve played there plenty of times over the years.

I’ve been a huge Mogwai fan for more than ten years now and they’re a band that are just special to me. Nobody else comes close to making music like this and after seeing them live three times all this album does is make me look forward to seeing them again in full guitar assault glory.

Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die on iTunes

Mogwai Official Web Site

James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream

It’s official, I’m on the James Blake bandwagon and I’m loving every second of this guy’s music. I could listen to this song all day and overall all of his songs are some of the best headphone songs I’ve heard in a long time. In fact, after a morning of doing exactly that while on a 3 hour bus ride to snowboard this past weekend, I really prefer it on headphones and though it’s good on Alesis computer speakers, the swirl of autotuned vocals and the buildup of reverb is really stunning when it’s contained to your ears.

For the uninitiated, Blake is a 22 year old electronic composer from London who gained some popularity within the dubstep genre within the past few years. His newest music is some often seriously minimal material mixed with almost mechanical manipulation to the vocals – songs shift from thick reverb and autotune to practically garbled and indecipherable words, only to let some synth tones or minimal beats come in and take over. Many of the songs consist of elements that, on their own aren’t all that special, but when combined across a song fit perfectly as if you’re looking at some post modern art collage: altogether it just works and the result is nothing but infectious. My favorite song on the new self0-titled album, I Never Learnt To Share, is unfortunately not on YouTube anymore, but is probably worth the price of the whole album alone.

Listen and Download – James Blake on iTunes

Read – MetaCritic | Pitchfork

Light Asylum – Dark Allies

This song has been on steady repeat since I found it over at iso50 recently. It’s pretty much the best song I’ve heard in forever. Sounds like it should have used in the eighties in some kind of sci-fi, post modern battle movie with skyscrapers crumbling and the outfits from worst of 80s New Wave fashion. Good gym song, good snowboarding song.

Nueva Forma Listening Pleasures Podcasts

I’m constantly on a search for great electronic music and mixes that can get me through the work day. Via iso50 I discovered the Nueva Forma Listening Pleasures podcasts, and they are beyond perfect in terms of what I’m looking for. Each episode is a bit different; some might be centered around faster songs and more danceable rhythms, and some are more ambient with guitars and other instrumentation. There are currently nine episodes available on iTunes and I can’t suggest them enough if this is your kind of thing. From what I can tell there are several Nueva Forma artists included in these mixes, so it’s a great way to discover something new. Aside from the music, the photography and design of the site and album covers is also really great and totally my style.

Might as well start at the beginning with Episode 1 from October 7, 2009 – a year old, sure, but it’s what got me hooked.

Go to Episode 1 |  Go to iTunes Podcasts

Nueva Forma describe themselves as “Relatively young, but voracious about quality sound (or sound quality!) and aesthetics; Nueva Forma™ is a collective of sound-makers, designers, and ever-evolving digerati. As an eclectic music label, our agenda is simple; to offer you a wide variety of acousmatic pop, IDM, dub, click house, ambient, hip-hop and more. We strive to produce and release records of the highest bar, measure, and note for your listening pleasure; while often producing limited edition packaging, only to add delight to the senses that our music has not yet seized.”

Nueva Forma Web Site