Two thousand and ten, folks! No, we haven’t got jet packs yet, and it’ll still be a while before X-ray vision becomes a commodity readily available for the masses. But despite our seemingly miniscule advancements in technology, there is one thing we do have, and that’s music—good music, to specific, and lots of it, to be even more so. As a result, I’ve decided to change things up for this year of 2-oh-10 and introduce the This Week in Music, a weekly series in which I round up notable tunes that have made their way through the ether and into my my ear canals, creating a positive, lasting impression in the process. Y’know, provided I get off my lazy ass enough to actually write them.
Anyway!
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While the South London-based Chew Lips did make a splash last year with their dance-friendly synth pop single ‘Solo’, the ripples generated from their EP weren’t enough to propel them into the consciousness of the mainstream public, unlike, say, their other UK counterparts Florence + The Machine and The xx.
Fortunately, with their full-length debut Unicorn lined up for release on the 25th of this month, it seems like they might very well have a good shot of getting a lot more press this upcoming year, and, from the UK iTunes store samples I’ve heard so far, deservedly so. Last month a free bonus album track entitled ‘Rising Tide‘ was released through the band’s official website, showing off lead singer Tigs’ fantastic vocal abilities as well as the band’s aptitude for writing music that’s both catchy and heartfelt at the same time. While it’s no longer available for download on their site, you can still listen to it below, or even download it via the linked text if you so please.
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Chew Lips – “Rising Tide“
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With a name that’s sure to be misspelled for having too many R’s and S’s, The Irrepressibles are another group hailing from the UK, though from their sound and album art you’d be forgiven for thinking these guys came from the circus.
Part Arcade Fire, part Beirut, part Queen, part Carmina Burana, the band mashes all these parts together to form a style that’s entirely their own in its full-blown orchestral grandeur. Their debut LP Mirror Mirror comes out in the UK January 11th, though you can probably snag their prior EP From The Circus To The Sea from, uh, somewhere, I guess.
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The Irrepressibles – “Splish! Splash! Sploo!“
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While Buckwild and Play The Game were both decent efforts, self-proclaimed Girl Talk/E-603-inspired Torpeedoh‘s new mashup album Party People actually displays a brilliance that might very well place him in the very ranks of those whose work he studies.
Much like the first time I heard Torn Up, my jaw was agape for the entire album’s duration not just because of the range of artists sampled—of which are plenty, by the way—but because of the impeccable flow between each section and the next that separates a genuinely enjoyable mashup album from just a compilation of tracks that maaaaybe sound good together (here’s looking at you, Norwegian Recycling).
And unlike the previous two artists recommended, you can actually get this guy’s album now! For free! Here!
Ain’t life grand!
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Torpeedoh – “Hit It“
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And on the subject of free albums that include uncleared samples, Childish Gambino aka MCDJ aka Donald Glover aka ‘That Black Guy from Derrick Comedy’ aka ‘That Black Guy from Community’ just released a new mixtape entitled ‘I AM JUST A RAPPER’ that features him rapping over tracks by Grizzly Bear, Neon Indian, Yeasayer, and Discovery, among others.
While some people don’t warm to kindly to rappers ‘ruining’ music they like by rapping over it (see: Flo-rida), I have to admit that I actually like Glover’s style; the metaphors that he uses are really creative, a lot of which harken back to 90′s pop culture, which is something that I can definitely appreciate.
Plus, with fellow Derrick Comedy member (and author, apparently) DC Pierson featured as a guest artist on two of the tracks, how can you not want to pick this up? After all, it’s free too.
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Childish Gambino – “Bitch Look At Me Now (Two Weeks)“
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Parov Stelar‘s the kind of guy whose music you discover and then furiously wonder ‘WHY HAVE I NOT BEEN TOLD ABOUT THIS EARLIER?!?!?!’ Seriously, whoever’s been holding out on me—you’re a dick.
It’s house. It’s jazz. It’s swing. It’s breakbeat. Whatever it is, it’s amazing. Granted, I haven’t been able to check out most of his work apart from his greatest-hits compilations That Swing, but if that’s anything to go by I doubt I’ll enjoy his other albums any less. From word going around, his 2009 LP Coco is one of the most under-the-radar masterpieces to have come out last year, so perhaps you’ll see a track from there featured on next week’s T.W.I.M.
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Parov Stelar – “Kisskiss“
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Closing off T.W.I.M. is sort of an oddball entry. While doing my usual Youtube click-around last night I came across Sad Kermit, a 2007 meme involving a post-Henson Kermit belting out melancholy tunes in tribute to his former mentor.
Once you get over how absurd and hilarious the whole thing really is, you’ll realize that it’s surprisingly listenable—the cover of Needle in the Hay parallel’s Smith’s original in its sincerity, and the music video for it pays homage to the Luke Wilson scene from The Royal Tenenbaums in a disturbingly spot-on fashion.
All of Sad Kermit’s covers can be downloaded in mp3 format from the official website, here. And because I’d hate to miss an opportunity to plug this in a contextually-relevant situation, check out this other Kermit meme that’s been floating around for a while—it’ll make your day.
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Sad Kermit – “Creep“
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And that brings us to the end of the first T.W.I.M. entry! Feel free to leave any suggestions for artists you’d like to see on here in comments section, and I’ll check them out for sure. See you all next week!
Other than Sad Kermit (Which I kinda just found odd), I liked them all. I also liked Childish Gambino, was nice to hear some rap that wasn’t about smackin’ up hoes and spinnin’ rims, I like pop culture references, I sometimes wish I was around in the 80′s to make Psych even more enjoyable. The Irrepressibles however intrigue me most to the point my immediate reaction was that something was off, but the more I listened to it the more I liked it. Their string melodies with a eerie operatic type vocals immediately remind me of Voltaire in a ways however they seem to capture the same haunting feeling I get from a number of Nightwish songs.
mm-hmm, Party People is amazing. The kid’s music improved exponentially since Buckwild, his last album. Can’t wait to see more from him. Chew Lips was pretty sick too. The rest I haven’t really checked out much, but the tracks on here are solid.
-Alex
two weeks is awesome!