The idea behind the Nouvelle Vague series is so simple in concept that once you hear it explained you instantly recognize how good it will sound. Marc Collin, who came up in the same fertile neighborhood of Paris as Daft Punk and Phoenix, took a varied and interesting selection of early-80s English New Wave and re-interpreted it through Brazilian New Wave, bossa nova. This is the second album in the series, which shifts the focus somewhat to the Carribean, allowing a wider array of influences, from calypso to salsa to Jamaican ska. With this song in particular, I love how the artist retains the strong regular rhythm of the original, so you move through it with the intensity of the Buzzcocks classic but without any of the rancor. The album is by no means new, but its new to me, and worth looking up.
Indie Label Wednesday: 4 Awesome Labels Started By Artists
Merge Records - Merge was started by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance of Superchunk, who actually has a new EP coming out quite soon, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, . This is Merge’s 20th year, and they’ve celebrated that with a great covers compilation of artists they like covering songs from Merge’s catalog. This label has a bunch of bands I really like, like Arcade Fire, Conor Oberst, Spoon, and Destroyer, Dan Bejar’s solo projects.
Asthmatic Kitty Records - This label is probably known to most as the headquarters for all of Sufjan Stevens’ various doings, but it’s really the nucleus for a community of musicians that hail from Stevens’ hometown of Holland Michigan. Ashmatic Kitty put out great albums from Rafter, My Brightest Diamond, Fol Chen and Grampall Jookabox in the last year or so, so despite my stinging disappoint about Sufjan’s lack of recording activity, I have to give it my full-throated endorsement.
DFA Records - Besides having an awesome logo that I would love to have on a t-shirt if their t-shirts weren’t like $40, DFA was started by James Murphy, who is the creator of LCD Soundsystem. DFA is part label and part production team, and they release some very high-profile remixes as well as great albums. DFA is the home of Hot Chip, Rapture, The Juan Maclean, and Hercules and Love Affair. Somewhat like the other labels I’ve mentioned so far, DFA sounds a lot like the artist that started it, and is a great source for electro music.
Dischord Records - Dischord to me epitomizes the DIY, fuck-the-man ethos of artists starting labels. It was started by DC Hardcore legends Jeff Nelson and Ian Mackaye when they were still in The Teen Idles, and was the home for their subsequent bands Minor Threat and for Mackaye, Fugazi. Thus Dischord was enormously important to my teenage years, and seeing as Fugazi wrote a song specifically about how evil the five major labels are, it introduced me to the DIY aesthetic and lots of great punk music, as well as the fact that most great music in the world comes from outside stores, labels, and MTV.
You Can Make Him Like You (Live) - The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady just released A Positive Rage, their attempt to document a slice of a truly amazing tour. The Hold Steady is easily one of the most impressive, loud, rockingest, badass live bands you’ll ever see, and of course you’ll never hear that on a CD. But this one comes pretty close in spots - how many bands immediately start clapping along and singing the lyrics to a song that the band never even released? The sold-out crowd couldn’t be more into the band, singing along with the choruses, the roar of the applause getting louder as the post-song sustain fades on Tad’s guitar. This is a band taking unmitigated joy in the proud realization that they can fill up a club anywhere in the country with dedicated fans that really appreciate what they’re doing, even the one I saw them at during this tour, The Chameleon Club in Lancaster, PA. This live album does a nice job of reminding me and showing others why this is a band that you want to go see every time they’re on tour, to buy everything they release, learn all the lyrics to all their songs. Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to watch the accompanying DVD yet, but seeing as the DVD is essentially free, I hardly feel the need to before I can endorse this offering - the album itself is more than enough.
Today’s Folk Sunday is also that most Jesus-y of days, so I figured I’d acknowledge that through one of Stevens’ more overtly Christian songs - he’s very serious about his religion, and it’s always been a theme in his music. This of course comes from Seven Swans, the album of mostly-acoustic, quieter, simpler songs he record in between Michigan and Illinois. It has a rough-hewn, warm quality that stirs up all kinds of good associations in me. I should note that one thing he does not take seriously is his press photos:
Seven Swans was released by Ashmatic Kitty Records in 2004.
Toumani Diabate comes from what is perhaps Mali’s most distinguished musical family. He plays the kora, a traditional African musical instrument most popular under the pre-colonial Mandé empire. Diabate’s father recorded the very first album of kora music back in 1970, and since then, Toumani and many of his relatives have gone on to become ambassadors of the kora to the world. Diabate appeared on Bjork’s last album and in the Sony game LittleBigPlanet, for which his inclusion of Qu’ran passages in his track sparked a controversy that led to the game’s recall. Though a keen lyricist, Diabate’s messages take a back seat in this album, The Mandé Variations, which is simply an album of unadorned kora compositions. The stark simplicity of this album is breathtaking primarily because the recording is unbelievably pristine. In making this album, Diabate has preserved the sound of the kora in a way that few other instruments besides the piano can boast. The recording is so good that I wish the producer had been around to record the great classical guitarists of the 20th century, whose extant recordings can be of very poor quality. Every complex part of the kora’s soundmaking apparatus rings out clearly and all of its 21 strings make an impact. I feature Diabate partially because I’m gearing up for an African show next week in my radio program but partially because I want to point out the strong connection between this traditional Malinese music and the way the Malinese play guitar. The kora is essentially a harp-like instrument, and I’m always amazed at how Malinese guitarists like Sidi Touré can replicate that harp sound on the electric guitar. This album is taking a prominent spot in my instrumental recordings rotation. I find that having a good selection of instrumental music is essential. I play it often when I’m doing something that requires concentration, like writing (unless I’m writing about music, in which case I listen to the band I’m writing about), or when I just want to relax. Though I like instrumental music for this task, I hate background music. Thankfully, Diabate is arresting and interesting enough to avoid that.
I like to reserve Tuesdays for when there’s something a little different I’d like to share with you. Today we have one straightforward live performances, one not-so-straightforward performance, and three fairly wacked-out music videos. Take careful note of my sources and the directors of these videos. The Takeaway Shows is one of the most brilliant chronicles of modern indie music in existence, and watching it be compiled with each new entry is very gratifying. The Interface has been my mode of discovery, through its video podcast, of some really great artists. Sean Pecknold, Fleet Foxes lead singer Robin Pecknold’s brother, is a very talented animator and director of all their music videos. And Martin de Thurah is a very talented director whose works diserve seeking out. I have to say that I’m very partial to the first one - if you enjoy Sigur Ros, watch it fullscreen in HD.
Við spilum endalaust - Sigur Ros (Directed by Vincent Moon for The Takeaway Shows)
I’m going to start this off with a quote from an interview in The Gothamist that Miles did:
Please share your strangest “only in New York” story. I don’t think the statue of limitations is up on that one yet, sorry. Also, really, after living my entire adult life here I find the rest of America much MUCH stranger.
I am glad that the Brooklyn indie scene has the capacity to recognize the talent of a guy like this. Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear produced the self-titled album from which the track you’re listening to comes from and does a remarkable job of it. The techniques in this track are in fact one of the most interesting. Besides being a great songwriter, Miles draws you in and allows the lyrics to wander to whatever he’s thinking about with some almost-overlapping vocal tracks. This song is a sing-along waiting to happen. In fact, it’s a good time at a bonfire on the beach waiting to happen. I’ll be listening to this album all summer. Does Robinson need any warmer endorsement than that?
This week’s Folk Sunday differs from most in that the artist recorded the song and video entirely with a Macbook. And there’s really only so much you can expect from the Macbook’s onboard mic. That doesn’t take away from the fact that Wyatt can give me chills by harmonizing with himself. I love how the video echoes the lyrics - even though the song sets out to do some serious introspection, the way Wyatt grapples with the laptop shows the discomfort that he must feel laying bare these emotions. I also appreciated how the minimal production allowed me to focus on the lyrics, which really tie the song together. I think you’ll find yourself humming this in coming days. Check out more of Wyatt’s work here.
