Pop Levi - Return to Form Black Magick Party

March 01, 2007


(This might be disgustingly lazy, but whatever.....)
See my previous post about Pop Levi, except imagine that there are more songs and that they're all still totally awesome.

INSTANTANEOUS UPDATE:
Oh wait. I actually did not say much of anything about the music last time. Well, I don't get it. I can't explain it. Not because its so weird and freaky. Nah. It's just pop songs, but they sound awesome, like they could have been made back in 1968 or '71 or something. The singing sounds a little like T.Rex, in a way, but less annoying, I think. And the music is just awesome. Even when its not super upbeat, its still happy (but not too much) and funky. Thats the main thing: funkiness. Not 'funk' but 'funky' (...and I mean that in its positive connotation, not its original negative connotation. For the negative connotation, see: "Damn! You're breath is funky!")


Team Shadetek - Pale Fire


I remember having heard of Matt Shadetek before, although I thought (misread?) that it was Shadtek (with no 'E'). Anyway, I had no clue what it was about. Well, good thing I'm curious. This CD is some awesome hiphop stuff. Lots of MCs, lots of electro hip hop beats. Some MCs sound British, others American, and others Jamaican. Its a real nice mixture, and an awesome CD all the way from start to finish. You could honestly start on any song on the album and think "whoah. sweet." Well, assuming you like awesome electro hip hop, that is.


Marnie Stern - In Advance Of The Broken Arm


Thank god I listened to this merely on the basis of "oh, look. a new Kill Rock Stars release" instead of reading reviews first. The reviews of this album keep mentioning that Marnie is a totally awesome guitar player who can shred as well as Steve Vai. Uggg. What could possibly turn me off more than that? Reviews like that do not describe this album accurately at all. OK, so there is guitar on this album. But the sound of the guitar (and whatever else makes music on this album) is so crazy and perfectly dischordant that its semi-reminiscent of Lightning Bolt, musically at least. Combine that with the almost-but-not-quite-pop song structures, and combine that with her singing/shouting somewhere between Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill. Now thats more like it. So, I'd say that is is definitely like Lightning Bolt + Yeah Yeah Yeahs + Bikini Kill + Kill Rock Stars (if I had to say it in one sentence).


v/a - 8 Bit Operators


When I first saw the title, I thought to myself "oh great... more '8 bit' electronic music crap" but then I listened to the album. They're covering Kraftwerk songs! And they're doing it (arguably) better than Kraftwerk! Awesome! If you are like me and have ever been a little disappointed by the blandness of some of Kraftwerks bigger hits, this is just what you need. If only this was what the original songs sounded like....
[By the way, I just learned that early early Kraftwerk albums are amazingly rocking and awesome! Their first album, Kraftwerk 1 (or just Kraftwerk) sounds like a lost Can or NEU! album. All krautrock psych droningness.... ah! And it makes some sense, since one of the NEU! guys was in Kraftwerk at this stage in their career. But check it out. Its so completely different than "We Are The Robots" and "Autobahn" style Kraftwerk.]


TTC - 3615


The first TTC album was a pretty awesome mixture of rap and cool/weird electronics. This one takes the same elements, but fuses them together much much tighter. The electronics have now become solidly funky beats to back the rhymes. If anyone speaks French, you'll have to let me know if the verses are as awesome as the beats. They sure sound pretty sweet, but who knows what it means.... it could all be able shooting dice and selling crack. I doubt it, though, because the beats are way too good for that.

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