The Icelandic group Amiina has just released their new three track EP titled “Re Minore.” You can check out their myspace page to listen to one of the track from it as well as their previous material. It’s a limited pressing so I’m hoping to snag a copy before they run out. They are engaged in a small tour over in Europe but let’s hope they come to the States when they have a proper full length album to promote.
I first learned about Amiina back in 2007 or so and fell in love with their soft and dreamy melodies. I’ve always wanted to do a cover version of “Seoul” as I love their use of tuned saws. I might actually make Adam help me with a cover. Yeah, he’ll do it!
I wish I knew about these gals when they were touring out here! I kick myself for not discovering them sooner. I love their use of little bells and chimes!
May 4th - I had the greatest pleasure of witnessing Ratatat play at Brisbane’s newest club, the Hi-Fi at West End. I admit, I wasn’t too sure of Ratatat’s popularity in Brisbane, and expected a smaller crowd. It’s not necessarily that Ratatat is expected to be too ‘experiemental’ for the popular ‘youth’ taste - not at all, infact its the fact that their raw combination of synth and guitar that successfully catch new listeners are, by opinion, setting a change in trends of popular music to begin with - and particularly with younger ‘commercial’ audiences (well… in Brisbane, anyway) - but I digress…
So a large crowd at the Hi-Fi roared as Mike Stroud & Evan mast came on stage - approaching a set up of guitar and bass, synth, sampler pads, congos & toms and best of all… the classic auto-harp. Mike in particular is quite theatrical, as his guitar licks soar over the Even’s rumble bass, supported by their backing of sequenced melodic and distortions.
While being a simple set up, with only the two fellow strutting around with their bass & guitar - the visuals we as hoped for, with some of the best visual manipulation to back the surreal awe of Ratatat’s unique sound. An example of this was the very cool video clip for their track: Shempi
Overall, an impressive show to say the least - if you’re not familiar with Ratatat’s raw electronic/guitar instumental music, I urge you to check out their myspace for a listen.
Did I go see Booka Shade, you ask? Well, of course I went to see them live at the Independent last night! There was a very diverse crowd of spectators there to cheer them on. I couldn’t remember who I last saw at The Independent until I walked in and saw various photos of notable guests along the entrance hall and then it hit me. I dragged bazooie with me a few years back to see RJD2 and stole his wife’s ticket as they sold out and forced her to go watch some movie down the block. She was a good sport about that.
The show itself started around 10:45 and lasted until about midnight. Sometimes I feel a little cheated for spending $25 on a ticket for an hour of music but honestly, if it’s as jam-packed with excitement as a Booka Shade show, you really won’t have buyer’s remorse. They even played an abridged version of their O Superman remix (originally by Laurie Anderson). Why Walter felt the need to lip-sync during the track is beyond me but as long as he was having fun. . .
Though honestly, with the photos I take it could have easily been any electronic duo but it was in fact Arno Kammermeier on drums and Walter Merziger on synths. Oh and they had an Apple laptop between them. . .I’m sure it probably had Ableton Live running. . .most likely
Svein and Torbjørn (that’d be the two Norwegians behind Röyksopp) come at us with a new single from their upcoming Third album (appropriately titled) Junior. To me, the track has a very “Eple” feel about it thanks in part to the keyboard sample but now that Röyksopp has a voice, they add syrupy vocals to evolve their sound into something new and yet familiar. The video itself is a very cute fan-made animated piece with a “web avatar-like” couple taking a drive through a sunny Wile E. Coyote-ish desert.
Interestingly enough, when I shared this with my friend Jarrett of JX2 he reminded me that Nice and Smooth originally lifted that same sample from Parliament’s ambiguously titled track “Do That Stuff” back in ‘89 for their “Funky For You” (hello, I hate jello). All in all, I’d say Röyksopp flipped it for the better with some pitch-shifted notes (the excellent site Who Sampled can give you links to the originals).
I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed the two remixes off the single release as they just didn’t capture the fun of the original but I did, in fact, pre-order the Junior LP out on March 23rd.
CODA (Sydney, Australia). A cool mix of orchestral and synthetic sounds - having seen them a few times now in Brisbane, I’m always astounded by their performances. Enlightening and technically brilliant to watch.
