Back after an enforced week’s absence, here’s my weekly collection of five songs that I’m currently loving:
jj – My Life
This mysterious Swedish duo are severely mysterious. Their trio of albums are titled No.1, No.2 and, yup, No.3. They hate publicity and hated SXSW. They don’t have a MySpace page. Best of all, they seem to have an unlikely love for Lil’ Wayne. After sampling Lollipop and use Wayne verses in My Way, jj now borrow lyrics from the rapper’s verse on a song by The Game for this haunting number. It’s charged with pain, delicate as a floating bubble and over far, far too soon.
Gotan Project – La Gloria
Echoes of Manu Chao here as super-shakeworthy Latin breaks get the digital treatment. In this case it’s tango fused with big beats (file under ‘shouldn’t work but does’), and, best of all, a fast-speaking mestizo who issues loud ‘GOOOO-TAN’ chants, setting everything off again. Some days more than other, I wish I wasn’t a gringo. Based in Paris, Gotan Project comprise a Frenchman, a Swiss and an Argentinian. The origin of their name is vaguely interesting, and Wikipedia does a far better job explaining it than I ever would.
The Deer Tracks – Isbjörnskatten
Apparently based on a traditional Swedish fairytale about a cat who wants to be a polar bear, this latest from The Deer Tracks is pure musical cannabis. When I listen to it, I wind up in my imagined Swedish world, where elves drink grogg in large castles, beautiful blonde women serve me smorgasbords of fresh food, innocent children skate on frozen rivers and ABBA never even happened. From new EP Eggegrund, the song gently presses my shutdown switch, and I’m really so happy to give in, to be its victim.
I’m Not A Band – March 23rd
I’m not sure what happened to I’m Not A Band on March 23rd, but they suddenly went all slow. Spookier than David Cameron with make-up, this trancey affair has the German duo’s typical violins and intensity, but not the usual pace. And it’s kinda great. In between plain lyrics about foreboding birds, digitally-enhanced strings ache with sorrow and keyboards pound like someone’s pushing pins deep inside your brain. The bleak technoscape reminds a little of Clint Mansell’s Requiem For A Dream soundtrack, and that can only be a good thing.
HEALTH - USA Boys
As well as helter-skelter dance-rock and dappy electro pop, HEALTH can also do digi-shoegaze. In the case of USA Boys, it comes with a mellow, sundown feel: choppy synth beats, tripped-out vocals and guitar chords floating in the wind. Gradually the pace increases to a real rat-a-tat fervour, but still that chill tone just refuses to budge. Perhaps that’s Trent Reznor’s influence: this one was recorded at his home studio dontcha know…
All MP3s via song titles.
Just got my head round the Gotan project – v cool
Glad you like them – it took me a little while to get there too!