TOY - "Lose My Way" video, plus other stuff

Finally I get an excuse to talk about TOY! I've been loosely following this band ever since I caught the back end of their set at Latitude last month. Their self-titled debut album is to be released via Heavenly Recordings on the 10th September (artwork above). This is the video to their latest single "Lose My Way", which will also see an individual release a week later:



Below you can find the album tracklist, trailer, singles and music video for "Motoring":

1. Colour’s Running Out
2. The Reasons Why
3. Dead & Gone
4. Lose My Way
5. Drifting Deeper
6. Motoring
7. My Heart Skips A Beat
8. Strange
9. Make It Mine
10. Omni
11. Walk Up To Me
12. Kopter









Track all the info up to the release of TOY on the Upcoming Releases page.

The Antlers - Undersea (EP) added to 2012 Recommended Albums

One of the best qualities of the last Antlers album, Burst Apart, was that no matter how astray it led the listener from its original, subdued indie rock sound, its whole story was cohesive, and indeed strenghened by the variety the Antlers wanted to show (most immediate examples from the top of my head to prove this are the jagged "Parentheses" and "Evey Night My Teeth Are Falling Out"). There is inescapably less variety on the band's new four-track, 22 minute EP Undersea, however the balance between variety and cohesiveness remains the key to its quality.

The EP opens with "Drift Drive", a straightforward introduction. Listen closely and you'll hearr harp arpeggios behind the soft brass and electric guitar. The drums keep as slow a tempo as possible, an idea which recurs throughout Undersea. The whole feeling is one of submergence, meaning the quiet, somewhat mumbling vocals of Peter Silberman are in this instance forgiveable. The other immediate track is "Crest", a sultry movement involving elecrtonic drums and a creeping, claustrophopic wall of sound. The eight-and-a-half minute "Endless Ladder" gives the EP much of its bulk; unraveling its descending guitar lines into thicker amounts of reverb, giving the impression of movement towards the bottom of the ocean. It's also the only track here without a trace of brass. "Zelda", Undesea's final track closes the themes of conscious and unconscious states which began in "Drift Drive", and sounds dreamlike in its execution with the dynamic between the EP's familiar instruments, one of the elements it has to tie its material together.

It's a short trip, but a fulfilling one nonetheless. Undersea has the feel of a complete package or a continuous piece of music in four movements, which makes it more successful as an EP than most. Either way it ses the Antlers seeing through an idea with quality songwriting, production and instrumentation, and satisfies its length to induce the desire to listen repeatedly. For other bands the EP format isn't taken quite as seriously; with Undersea the Antlers have shown that at least for this band, it proves to be just an essential part of the group's output as their full-length albums.





See what other great albums have caught my attention this year on the 2012 Recommended Albums page. Was my review of Undersea any good?

Single of the Week: Macklemore X Ryan Lewis - "Same Love" (feat. Mary Lambert)

Seattle underground hip-hop star Macklemore is readying his second LP The Heist, produced alongside frequent collaborator Ryan Lewis. The pair have managed to build an impressive fanbase, in part due to the intense honesty Macklemore provides in his lyrics. "Same Love" is the first confirmed single from The Heist, and was written in support for same-sex marriage, Both inspired by and a tribute to his uncles (see cover picture), it's Macklemore's wit, humour and powerful social message that once again bear the song's biggest graces. "America the brave still fears what we don't know". Of course Mary Lambert's vocal contributions don't hurt either. "Same Love" is being released in partnership with Music for Marriage Equality and Sub Pop Records, although The Heist will be self-released (proceeds will benefit Washington State marriage equality). It's on US iTunes now, not sure about UK as of yet. A limited 7" run will also be available next week through Sub Pop's website.

 


Here's a trailer for the upcoming Macklemore X Ryan Lewis album The Heist. Track all the info up to the release of The Heist on the Upcoming Releases page.

Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan added to 2012 Recommended Albums

It's probably no surprise that if a new Dirty Projectors album comes out, I and many other people are going to enjoy it. But I didn't expect to like this one quite this much. I've listened to it much that I've barely had time to do much else. Today I listened to it, rushed the Slaughterhouse writeup that was hanging over me (probably unfairly, it is of course an excellent record in itself), took a break, listened to it again, another break, and now I'm writing it up whilst listening to it again. It's very distracting, but in the most complimentary way. And I'm convinced it's a masterpiece; it hasn't been anything but rewarding from the moment I first put it on a few days ago.

Swing Lo Magellan follows Dirty Projectors' 2009 breakthrough Bitte Orca; an album I've always admired (as a guitar player especially) but found difficult to connect any more deeply with. There's no question bandleader David Longstreth has made efforts to simplify his approach to album and songcraft, and the omission of the previous record's sporadic afrobeat guitar phrases and sudden polyrhythmic shifts will undoubtebly irk some. But Longstreth's "album of songs" is still the work of a pop maverick, he's just better at it. "Stillness Is The Move" is replaced with "Gun Has No Trigger"; both lead singles have demonstrated the furthest point of Longstreth's latest direction for each of their albums. The structure of "Gun Has No Trigger" is largely linear, with backing singer's Amber Coffman and Haley Dekle (replacing Angel Deradoorian) as the main instrument, the volume of their singing intensifying as each verse reaches its pinnacle.

Unique and refreshing the single is, the rest of the album is not without its share of variety and innovation. The girls' harmonies are still a key component of Dirty Projectors' sound, and despite the lack of a guitar in Dave's hands on the cover the instrument is far from absent. Opening track "Offspring Are Blank" introduces its first chorus with a loud blast of electric guitar, and its second with an acoustic replication. "Unto Caesar" also explores the possibilities of both instruments, and also cuts up studio outtakes in interesting and entertaining ways. Handclapping is a prominent new addition on many of the tracks, but it never feels gimmicky or repetitive, just another percusive element that falls in both aesthetically and with the renowned advernturous percussion.

But if Swing Lo Magellan truly is "an album of songs, an album of songwriting" as Longstreth claims it is, the quality of these songs needs to be checked out. Fortunately that's an easy task. Like Bitte Orca a formula of accessible avant-garde and spiky R&B rules the day, but as with the instrumentation the mix is even stronger. There's the eco-political "Just From Chevron", and the closer "Irresponsible Tune" addresses the influences of music itself. The Amber Coffman-sung "The Socialites" is the true pop gem on the album, and one of the best examples of the many love songs scattered throughout. There are more of course; variety is one of Swing Lo Magellan's real strengths, as are song arrangements and lyrical depth. The overall feel of the album isn't too far away from classic songwriting benchmarks like Revolver, which is referenced in "See What She Seeing", and it's refreshing to see such pinnacles being aspired to, especially with the amount of success the talented Dirty Projectors approach that standard.

The album is a must for fetishists of detail, hooky experimentalism and tight musicianship. I don't write track-by-track reviews of albums but I feel with Swing Lo Magellan it's almost necessary to translate its appeal into words. All I can say is there are few records are album of the year-worthy, and fewer still are album of the decade-worthy. This is one of the latter, and probably the last of its kind to hit me in such a way since Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest. I hope I'm wrong but the chances of the new Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective records - Dirty Projectors' nearest competition in indie cricisism land - being as solid, meaningful and beautiful as Swing Lo Magellan seem to have shrunk considerably. Same applies for Dirty Projectors. It may be cliché, but it's hard to see how they'll ever top this.

Swing Lo Magellan is out on Monday on Domino Records (my copy's already in the mail), but until then you can listen to it on the Guardian.



And that's not all from Dirty Projectors this year. A short film featuring music from Swing Lo Magellan is "coming soon"! Hi Custodian is directed by David Longstreth. Trailer below:



Click here for the rest of the 2012 Recommended Albums list