Telepathe

The much hyped about Telepathe earlier this month released their latest single "Devils Trident", which definitely carries the club vibe from their Chrome's On It EP, but with a more ruminative feel, instilled by the spoken word lyrics. Another synth piece melodramatically reflecting on love and loss. With such lyrics as "Tears in my hand, Tears in my hand" being repeated, the song seems to dance on the border between a ballad of self pity and a rallying cry for the speaker ("I won't go, I won't go"). Yet the lyrics are not the highlight of the song, merely a facet of Telepathe's well produced sound. With the help of TV On The Radio's guitarist and keyboardist, David Sitek, Telepathe does a great job of mixing at least three distinct vocal tracks with glittery keyboards and a heavy layer of synth produced rhythms that seem to grow piece by piece as the song progresses. Also included on the single is the b-side, "Lights Go Down".

Download:
Telepathe - Devil's Trident

Halloween//Weird Tapes

I think that if electro pop had to pick a holiday it would choose Halloween as its mascot, or Valentines Day which I find equally if not more creepy (maybe this is just attributed with bad past experiences). Anyway this post is going to be the first cataloging some of the most recent electro pop (broad category) out puts that attribute to Halloween, leading up to the holiday itself.

First up is Weird Tapes, who is known only by the alias he has given himself on the blog from which he posts his songs, along with fellow artist Memory Cassette. Both are an off shoot of the group Hail Social. Weird Tapes newest track, "The Talking Dead", was posted with the above art work and is the reason I decided to focus on this list before the night of horrors. Weird Tapes has a fair share of haunting space tracks posted that are all quite danceable (Get Religion EP). With "The Talking Dead", Weird Tapes has taken a step farther into the video game electronics. Make sure to check out the blog and download all that is offered.

Download:
Weird Tapes - The Talking Dead

Used To Be

"Used To Be" certainly continues Beach House's catalogue of dreamy pop folk. I however can not shake the thought that the song slightly resembles the vocal melody of Fleet Foxes' "Your Protector", which is also backed by someone counting eighth notes with a tambourine. The b-side of the single is a four-track demo of the song "Apple Orchard" from their first album. In all I agree with Marc Hogan of PFK that "it's not too different from what the Baltimore duo used to be just this year on the gorgeously supine Devotion, with a little more distortion."

Download:
Beach House - Used To Be

Alien In A Garbage Dump

Eric Copeland's new warped tape looping track "Alien In A Garbage Dump" sounds a bit like a nightmare or if, while you were sleeping, someone injected you with LSD and placed an antenna on your head causing you to pick up signals from the world around you.

The track does pose similarities to Steve Reich's "Come Out", due to the heavy rotation of a track with man saying "just don't do it" over and over, as well other tapes of spoken word phrases. Yet supporting and surrounding all the spliced voice tracks and warped vocals are police sirens, honking horns, the banging of trash can lids, and various synth effects with a strong beat sporadically employed in the mix. Which, all could possibly be the sounds that an alien might hear if he was having a bad trip in a garbage dump and was picking up radio signals. This loopes back to my beginning theory.

Download:
Eric Copeland - Alien In A Garbage Dump

Boneless

Panda Bear's new remix of The Notwist's Boneless, certainly is a more tropical take than the original. Both are very different and I can't figure out which one I like better. The original is beautifully melancholy while its rework is sunny and cheerful, with ukulele plucking, shakers, wave crashes, and whimsical sighing.

Download:
The Notwist - Boneless (Panda Bear Remix)

E Talking

I find Soulwax a huge influence on the dance scene and I have to say I am so tired of hearing about their Kids remix. It is mediocre in comparison to their other Nite Versions. Here is my favorite, and just watch as your awe for their kids remix pales in comparison to this dazzling disco club reworking of E Talking. The title of their movie, Part Of The Weekend Never Dies, refers back to the original of this song. Also take the time to watch the brilliant music video that accompanies the song.

Download:
Soulwax - E Talking (Nite Version)

Tobacco

Yesterday I was sent an email detailing Tobacco, the solo project of analog-adoring space psychsters, Black Moth Super Rainbow's lead singer and his upcoming album, Fucked up Friends. Tobacco's sound definitely still resides in the same psychedelia electronic vein as Black Moth Super Rainbow but relies more on hip-hop roots. I for one never found myself a hip-hop fan, as you can tell by the posts on this blog, but am still able to get a high off of it sometimes. And anyway the over all sound of the album really relies on big beats mixed with spacey trance. Fucked up Friends is in stores

Download:
Tobacco - Hairy Candy
Tobacco - Berries That Burn

Final Fantasy

Owen Pallet has always been some one who's music has seemed to transcend beauty and his two EPs have been a long time coming since the release of his debut album, He Poos Clouds, in 2006, with a full length coming sometime in 2009. Pallet's first EP, Spectrum, 14th Century, released Sep. 30th is all his own composition, conducted with the help of Beirut while helping them orchestrate their own album, Flying Club Cup. "The Butcher", the albums most pop friendly track sums up everything we love about Final Fantasy: ringing strings, and a rhythmic piano all beautifully orchestrated alongside flourishing percussion and choir like bird chirps.

Pallet's second EP, Plays to Please, soon to be released on Oct. 21st, is a collaborative project with a number of musicians including Andrew Bird. You can leave it up to these two to start turning kids heads towards orchestral music. The EP is a tribute to Alex Lukashevsky's songwriting and his band Deep Dark United. Their songs are hazy and perfectly written, so much so that Pallet could not control himself in prescribing the big band treatment he felt they deserved. Both expressing their love for the likes of Loius Prima and Marvin Gaye, the two transformed the previously caustic rock songs into stylish orchestral ballads with a sharpened edge that could easily be seen being played in the witty, socially critical ballroom scene of a movie.

Download:
Final Fantasy - The Butcher
Final Fantasy - Horsetail Feathers

Small Sur

My ride to go surfing occasionally sleeps in, leaving me, without a car, to spend the rest of my day how I may. I think I have mentioned how much I love the California coast before in posts. And on hearing "Sea Stones" by Small Sur I had an instant flashback to cold water, wetsuits, sunsets, and rocky beaches.

“Big Sur is the California that men dreamed of years ago, this is the Pacific that Balboa looked at from the Peak of Darien, this is the face of the earth as the Creator intended it to look.” - Henry Miller

Many writers (Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson to name a few) have been set upon by Big Sur's ruggedness and beauty, and it seems no surprise that these downtempo folksters have also found a canvas from which to sketch their drawn out guitar melodies and soaring vocal harmonies. Big Sur's wooded coastline kissed by fog fits well against Bob Keal's hushed lyrics, and Julianne Nelson's,Scott Dennison, and Austin Stahl's echoing voices in the background.


Their album, We Live in Houses Made of Wood, was released this past august through Tender Loving Empire, who compare Bob Keal's lyrics to "Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and the childlike wonder found in the assorted scribblings of Little Wings’ frontman Kyle Field." A remark that is true but does not exactly convey the sense nostalgia and hope that flows from We Live in Houses Made of Wood. I would point the reader in the direction of a more down-tempo Fleet Foxes.

Download:
Small Sur - Sea Stones
Small Sur - Sand Dollar