This year Modular has brought some fantastic dance bands to the US (Van She, Klaxons and Presets). With the signing of New Young Pony Club and the release of their self-titled debut in January, it looks like label’s going to have a solid track record.

New Young Pony Club is a British five-piece similar to Le Tigre and CSS for the fact that they make some of that great ass-shaking, female driven post-disco electro-rock that’s making everybody’s hair stand on end. So far “Ice Cream” has been the only song commercially released in the States. A 7-inch came out in England earlier this year with “Ice Cream,” “The Get Go” and “Jerk Me.” With what I’ve heard so far, I’ve got to say I’m really looking forward to this release and all the rump bouncing it’s sure to bring.

MP3s

New Young Pony Club: Ice Cream

New Young Pony Club: The Get Go

And because I really like all the sexual overtones for “Ice Cream,” here’s the video.

Until their album is released Jan. 23, enjoy more New Young Pony Club tracks on MySpace.

Damn if I don’t love bands that have an exclamation mark in their name. It’s like (whatever) to the nth degree. In fact, the more the merrier, I say. So when Foxes! popped up on Indiepop Radio with their sweet pop sound and !, I was hooked.

Not only does Oxford’s Foxes! boast the name factor, they also have stage names and, most importantly, talent. This three-piece of Kayla (Holly P), Adam (Skullface) and Daniel (Nate the Cat) play what one blogger described as “indie boho hippy experimental pop/rock.” I have no clue what the hell that means; all I know is that these kids kick out some delicious DIY power pop.

Since they’re currently unsigned, their EP 46A Appleside Drive can be purchased directly from the band via a MySpace message or e-mailing them. A note on their MySpace page says that due to all the orders, they are currently back logged on delivery. The next batch of CDs is almost done though, so there should be a small supply available soon. So, don’t hesitate to order.

MP3

Foxes!: 6 O’Clock

Be the Foxes! friend on MySpace. Visiting gives you access to three more songs.

Yesterday while digging through my magical music folder, I found some demos of Daylight’s For the Birds, which were probably gathering dust since last time I listened to them. Since most of my last posts have been hip-hop oriented, you all are probably ready for a little departure.

On their recently released debut, Trouble Everywhere, Daylight’s created some exquisitely atmospheric dream pop/shoegaze backed with some of Amanda Garret’s beautiful vocals. Keyboard/guitarist P takes over vocal duties on several of the tracks, which balances the album out quit nicely. Fans of the debunked On!Air!Library! and those looking for a gentle soundtrack for their mornings should check this group out.

MP3s

Daylight’s For the Birds: For Now

Daylight’s For the Birds: To No One

Daylight’s For the Birds on MySpace and on eMusic.

Undoubtedly most of you have been listening to Joanna Newsom’s Ys since Pitchfork leaked it three months ago. But for those of you who have no clue who this elfish looking woman is, take heed.

I’m not going to say much about Ys because, quite frankly, it’s old news, even though it officially came out yesterday. I can only say if you haven’t listened to it by now, you need to. You can download it right here on eMusic or, even better, pick it up at your favorite record store. The packaging is glorious and really completes the album as you can see here.

I wrote a review of it for the paper, which you can read below.

Finally, I’m posting my favorite track from the album. If you’re using a modem, don’t even attempt to download this fatty as it’s 23 mb and clocks in at 17 minutes long.

Joanna Newsom: Only Skin

Review

(more…)

Update: It appears that the reason for the crappy connectivity that I’ve been experiencing is due to the university converting everything to wireless. I was told that these outages would just be for short periods (3 hours this afternoon?!) and should be temporary until they fix all of the new problems they’re finding. Hmm. Doesn’t sound too promising, but I guess it’ll have to work.

I want to take a quick moment to apologize for my complete lack of updates. For the past four days I’ve been having serious ISP problems. My connection has been dropping for about 5 hours each evening, which is the time that I usually have free to post. When it’s not dropping, it’s been cutting out at the most inopportune times. And, I’ve lost of couple of posts because of this. Hopefully this can get resolved by tomorrow and Audictive can get on a regular schedule again.

I just thought I should give you all a heads-up while I (temporarily) have access.

Your blogger buddy,

Greg @ Audictive

Romy Hoffman, better known as Macromantics in her native Australia, is starting to step into the spotlight and stir up the hip-hop hype after dropping her debut Moments in Movement on the land down under in September.

Once her album is released in January to the States, Macromantics will certainly be compared to Lady Sovereign on the simple fact that she’s a female emcee. Aside from gender though, that’s really where the comparison ends. While Lady Sov spits about being cheeky and people’s perceptions of her, Macromantics’ rhymes are clever socio-political commentary backed by old-school swagger. Hoffman cites her influences as ranging from Patti Smith to Iggy Pop to Nas.

As far as I’m aware of, the album hasn’t leaked to the U.S., so there’s only “Miss Macro” and the older demo “Madlymantics” to be released. I’ve gotta say though, they seem right on target for a strong album. Check out her MySpace page for more music (she’s taken down most of the songs at the moment) and her Australian tour dates, in case you’ll be visiting the country anytime soon.

MP3s

Macromantics: Miss Macro (Sorry for the quality. It’s only 96kbps)

Macromantics: Madlymantics

Thanks to global warming, the weather here has been unusually nice for November. And, as everyone knows, nice weather needs to be accompanied by bright, sunny music. A visit to The Wilson Hospital does the trick quite nicely.

Since 2000 the Swedish duo of Kathrine Bergström and M.Tromm have been making delightful indie pop full of 60’s pop sensibility. Anyone who’s a fan of The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson should give these songs a listen.

I’m honestly not sure if this group is still together or not. According to their MySpace page, they kind of disappeared after releasing their debut Medication For A Lost Generation, only to later lay down some demos for a new album, which hasn’t been completed. Kathrine apparently plays under the moniker “Katie goes to Tokyo” and Tromm is in The Andromeda Hotline. However, their MySpace page has current logins, and their website (which is in Swedish) is being updated. So really, who knows.

The only thing I’m really certain about is that it was a shame this album was ignored for nearly four years.

MP3s

The Wilson Hospital: Call Me ASAP

The Wilson Hospital: Midsummer’s Ball

Flipping through the channels this afternoon, I was a little weirded out seeing Lady Sovereign on TRL, especially as the number 1 video. In fact, I’ve been a little surprised with how well she’s becoming received in America, not that she’s not deserving, it’s just odd to watch an artist transition from underground to mainstream.

In 2003 I was going through a bit of a musical crisis. The stuff I listened to in high school really wasn’t that appealing any longer, and neither was anything on FM radio. Turning to internet forums in hopes of finding something that sounded fresh, I stumbled upon Britain’s grime scene. The scene, which was still emerging at the time, mixed garage rap and electronic beats, and gave rise to artists like Wiley, Dizzee Rascal and Sharkie Major. It was London’s Lady Sovereign though that interested me the most.

My first taste of Sov was on the freestyle “The Battle,” where she and fellow female MC Shystie dueled Frost P and Zus Rock in what sounded like a hyperactive videogame. Something about Lady Sovereign’s shrill voice and brash lyrics appealed to me enough to closely follow her career for nearly two years, all the while waiting with bated breath for her full-length debut Public Warning!, which was released last week. I had a bad feeling about the album due to the fact each single Sov released since mid-2005 (“9 To 5,” “Hoodie,” “Gatheration” and now “Love Me Or Hate Me”) has been a further departure from what originally made her so appealing.

So, when I got my hands on Public Warning!, I hated it. Half of the songs, songs I had grown familiar with over the course of a year-and-a-half, now suddenly sounded different, tweaked for radio appeal. It’s been a little week now, and I’m beginning to warm up to it a bit. It’s still far from the promise she shows, but I guess it’s a start. As many problems as I have with this album, I felt honored when I was asked to review it for the campus paper, simply because I had watched Sov’s career develop. (You can read my review of Public Warning! below.)

Don’t let my comments above turn you off to Lady Sovereign, as she’s got talent. My frustration for Public Warning! comes from the fact that while she’s more than capable of making great material, she just settles for good here.

MP3s

Lady Sovereign: Those Were the Days

A hands-down stunner. It’s one of those great, nostalgic golden-era chilled out rap tracks that’s so rare these days. An essential listen.

Lady Sovereign: Random [Menta Remix, ft. Riko]

Her remixes are some of the best as they feature new lyrics and life all their own.

Lady Sovereign: Random

Despite being first released two years ago, the song still sounds as fresh as ever.

Lady Sovereign on MySpace.

The Review

(more…)

I admit it. I didn’t start listening to 120 Days until last Friday. I had confused this Norwegian synth-rock quartet with 65 Days of Static, an instrumental post-math metal group from Britain. Since I’m the kind of person who feels I need vocals to really “connect” to a song (no clue how I made it through my classical music and trance phases), I had trouble with 65 Days of Static and decided not to pursue their music/120 Days any further than the one song I had heard. A poor decision on both accounts.

Thankfully Stereogum, a site I read almost religiously, featured excellent coverage of CMJ, and included a video of 120 Days’ performance of “Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone).” Their performance was top-notch, and I was hooked.

Despite the fact that the boys look a little like Panic! At the Disco in this picture, their music is new wave and emo goth free. Musically 120 Days is a combination of keyboards, a drum machine, bass, fx laden guitar and Ã…dne Meisfjord’s emotional vocals. Because of this, they’ve been heavily buzzed in the blog community, and after listening to their self-titled album, I understand why.

MP3s

120 Days: Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)

120 Days: Keep On Smiling

120 Days: Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone) [Le Castle Vania's Electric Rock Mix]

Another stellar remix from Le Castle Vania. Every mix this guy has done so far have been golden. Check out his version of Snowden’s “Black Eyes” if you haven’t already.

MySpace 120 Days for more audio and a list of concert dates. To view their CMJ performance, click here. Stereogum also has an excellent video of Annuals performing “Brother” at CMJ. That can be seen here.

As mentioned above, 65 Days of Static are a British instrumental post-math metal group. The quartet released their sophomore album One Time For All Time a few months ago in England. Even though the album isn’t yet available for the whole world to hear, it’s starting to get some talk, even here in the U.S., where there is currently no release date in sight.

As you’ve probably gathered from my postings, I’m more of a pop and rock enthusiast than I am metal. However, 65 Days of Static have created some pretty listenable music here. As quickly as the group builds a wall of guitar-fueled noise, they can just as quickly demolish it to allow for a lush and soothing soundscape. It’s pretty impressive.

MP3s

65 Days of Static: Radio Protector

65 Days of Static: Massive Star at the End of Its Burning Cycle

65 Days of Static can also be found on MySpace.

Finally I have an excuse to post something about The Knife. The Swedish brother/sister outfit were one of the acts featured at CMJ in New York last week, and was their first of five U.S. shows. After the fifth show, they probably won’t ever play again in the U.S. due to transportation costs for their equipment, so catch them while you can.

In case you haven’t heard of The Knife before this point, they craft some of the finest electro-pop heard in years. The duo’s latest release, Silent Shout, which admittedly isn’t be for everyone, will be unlike anything you’ve ever heard. It’s full of metallic, club-like dancebeats, pounding synchs, and moody, often distorted vocals. It’s an extremely atmospheric record that continues to reveal itself with each listen. And, it’s very dark. I’d be lying if I said it’ll bring a smile to your face. Don’t let that turn you off to listening to it though, as you’ll really be missing out. Silent Shout will be on many Top 10 lists, guaranteed.

While you’re at it, check out their 2004 release Deep Cuts. Cuts is a different beast entirely, as it sounds almost “tropical” for lack of a better word.

MP3s — All highly recommended

The Knife: We Share Our Mother’s Health

The Knife: Silent Shout

The Knife: You Take My Breath Away [from Deep Cuts]

As I’ve said before, I really don’t like remixes, so it’s rare I find one that I actually want to listen to again. Ratatat’s take on “We Share Our Mother’s Health” is solid though. They replaced The Knife’s own impressive instrumentation with their own, resulting in a Ratatat song featuring The Knife on vocals. You can grab it here.

We Share Our Mother’s Health [Ratatat remix]

And since I just can’t ever seem to get enough of this band, below is their video for “Pass This On,” a track from Deep Cuts.

Visit the group’s MySpace page to hear more fantastic audio and pictures of them in costume. You can read about their CMJ performance and see pictures from it by visiting Stereogum’s coverage.