Music, musings and miscellanea

This review originally appeared at Chartattack.com

Los Angeles-based DJ/producer Flying Lotus didn’t just deliver one of the best records of the year with Cosmogramma. He created the mile-marker by which instrumental hip-hop will be judged for the next 10 years.

Although we’re still all grappling with that record’s brilliance, Pattern+Grid World seems like FlyLo’s way of saying he’s over it. Its seven tracks were written and recorded immediately following completion of Cosmogramma, but rather than coming off as a collection of tracks that didn’t make the final cut for the LP, Pattern+Grid World is yet another step forward.

The disc is made more for head-bopping than chin-scratching, and each song stands on its own, like a series of 12-inch A-sides with their own flavour. While Cosmogramma emphasized textures over beats, songs like the playful “Kill Your Co-Workers” offer a more visceral approach while still keeping the cinematic quality that pervades FlyLo’s best work. These “extra” tracks are far more than leftovers, and best pretty much anything else that came out this year.

“Kill Your Co-Workers”

Hollerado are a pretty rad band out of Southern Ontario who have already mounted ambitious tours to China and South America before they even had a distro deal for their excellent debut Record in a Bag (which actually comes in a zip-loc bag filled with confetti.

They also make some pretty fun music videos. The quartet previously shot a clip for “Americanarama” with friend-of-the-band Dave Foley mocking American Apparel CEO Dov Charney. Now they’ve gone and created this awesomely cheap “8-bit” version that was shot all in one take. Check it out below: even if you don’t dig the tune (WTF is wrong with you!), it’s worth it for the video alone.

“Americanarama”

This review originally appeared at Exclaim.ca

Borrowing sounds from the ’80s indie universe, Parisian duo Anthem and KD, performing as Frank (Just Frank), have created a fantastic debut album filled with hooky songs. They fuse French, icy, cold wave beats and synths with warm Smiths and R.E.M.-esque chiming guitars, as well as abstract lyricism. The contradictions don’t end with the music; they pervade the entire album, from the lyrics to the stark grey and bright pink CD jacket, which depicts a WWII sympathizer having her head shaved in shame. It creates a sense of menace and paranoia that infiltrates the tracks sung in the band’s native French. Still, a wall remains between the two musicians and listeners ― there’s no sense we’re getting any glimpse into who these guys are. The standoff nature is nothing new, but these guys do it with panache, inviting us in then giving us nothing. It’s just another contradiction in the band’s intricate and compelling web of deceit.

“Coeur Hante”

It’s been three years since we’ve heard from Bran Van 3000, that mysterious collective of Montreal musicians responsible for the track “Drinking In L.A.” and the excellent record Discosis. And even if their last effort Rose was a tad disappointing, when Jimmy Di Salvio rears his head, I for one take notice. The Bran Van mastermind and frequent collaborator Steve “Liquid” Hawley contributed to 2010 Polaris long-list nominee Misteur Valaire on the track “Ave Mucho” using the Bran Van moniker. What does this mean for the group’s future prospects? Who knows, but it took six years to pull together Rose, so we might only be at the half-way point kids.

Misteur Valaire – “Ave Mucho”

Via Chartattack.com

I don’t know this man, or what possessed him to a) make this video and b) post it on youtube for the world to see, but this is freaking amazing. Apparently we both write for the same website (Chartattack) – does this mean I have to make one of these to keep up with the Jones-es?