Really digging “Headcage” right now, the title track from Matthew Dear’s newest EP on Ghostly. Can’t help but draw connections between it and the 1980 Brian Eno produced Talking Heads album “Remain in Light.”
SGINNED (aka Caroline Polachek of Chairlift and Jorge Elbrecht of Violens and Lansing-Dreiden) replaced the music and lyrics for Justin Bieber’s “Never Let You Go” video… and I might have never noticed save for the fact that it thoroughly defied my expectations of what Justin Beiber’s music might sound like (of which I still don’t know).
I’m going to throw out some terms here, so prepare yourself. Independently made music without a major label or distributor, also know as “indie music,” was really thriving in the 90′s. Popular among these indie artists from the 90′s was a low fidelity recording style, also known as “lo-fi,” which implemented rudimentary recording devices and production techniques in order to immediately create music. The lo-fi movement produced intimate, inventive, and new-but-nostalgic sounds from basements and bedrooms across the US and beyond.
As Kurt and I are of similar age, I imagine he probably experienced all this great lo-fi indie music first hand in his formative high school years. I can hear influences from early Guided by Voices, Dinosaur Jr, and even Beck’s K Records folk moment One Foot In The Grave. Like the works of the aforementioned artists, Kurt Vile has a talent for wandering melodies, lots of mood, and a sound that is extremely intimate. Intimate, like you’re in a reverb-y jail cell on your 20th year with your cell-mate.
You can hear all the classic rock that informed indie rock here, but Vile especially recalls the less flashy lead guitar men, like Neil Young and Tom Petty. In those mid 90′s high school years, while listening to lo-fi independent greats, I bet Kurt was (as I was), cramming to catch up on about 30 years of classic rock. It was all happening at the same time for some of my peers. Those grungy high school daze, it’s exactly what I’m reminded of when I hear Kurt Vile’s music. Could he be the guitar and song man of my generation?
O, which Kurt were you thinking about? This guy or this guy?
A few weeks before Taylor Swift swept up at the Grammys, Sweden held their freak-flag waving version of music’s biggest night, the P3 Guld. Besides Fever Ray’s face melting off, this slightly more appetizing display also happened.
Staygold, Spank Rock, Robyn and Damien Adore perform “Backseat”
Om, Spank Rock is really charming in his clergy wear.
I like when good things happen, like for instance when 2 of my favorite new artists team up to make music together and share the whole creative process. Let me tell you about it. Nite Jewel is Ramona Gonzalez. She writes and produces her own unique, lo-fi brand of r&b. Nite Jewel’s songs combine celestial vocals, a penchant for jazzy harmonies and post-punk experimentation with undeniable funk. Such stylistic blends make for run-on-sentence descriptions. In fewer words, it’s for fans of Arthur Russell and Ariel Pink. I highly recommend her 2009 album “Good Evening”.
The crowd pleaser from her album, “What Did He Say” by Nite Jewel
And the funk gets deeper. The awesome folks at Stones Throw Records released “Toeachizown Vol. 1″ by Dam-Funk last year. Dam (pronounced Dame) answers the age old question “what happens if a Zapp and Rogers record is stacked on top of an Mtume record, and the heat levels in the room get to melting point?”
Apparently, some genius at XLR8R liked Nite Jewel and Dam-Funk‘s similar vibe and suggested a team up. They are calling themselves Nite Funk. Here is a video of how their first collaboration went as well as their resulting track. If we all concentrate real hard, maybe we’ll get a Nite Funk EP to be released on Stones Throw later this year. Enjoy!
ALERT NYC PEEPS: Nite Jewel’s Mercury Lounge show is sold out on February 4th, but her myspace says she’s also playing at the bar Home Sweet Home on February 3rd!
Posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 | 1 Comment »
