Sorry folks, between syllabic l, lend-lease system, reflective judgements and binding theory it’s easy to listen to a lot of music but hard to write about it. This one is about the new Sunset Rubdown album, Dragonslayer. And we’re back again to the crazy Canadian indie aesthetics (someone objected to the expression). I’ve pretty much listened to all records by Sunset Rubdown and I was never a fan of them, I loved Wolf Parade more. Dragonslayer on the contrary is something that grabbed my ears and it doesn’t seem to let go unlike At Mount Zoomer by the aformentioned WP. The mastermind behind all this music is Spencer Krug, he’s involved with Swan Lake too and Enemy Mine is an awesome addition to the rooster. Before this web of confusion (which is quite characteristic of the Canadian indie scene) swallows us deeper, let’s turn to the matter at hand. Dragonslayer is properly titled, the music is out there like a knight riding into death to fight the dragon. This is heavy stuff with a lot of noise and weird vocals, strange lyrics. I love the grandeur: this myth-creating attitude and the music is conjured accordingly. Sometimes concept albums can turn out really cool. Of course, there’re always a couple of twists and irony: instead of kings of fairy tales, we get the king of hearts and elements are nicely shited into a more surrealistic love-context. Actually this is surreal pop music with lo-fi indie stuff and experiments in noise and drama. My favourite song is Black Swan with the whisper-like vocals and whirlwind guitar-organ chorus. “You were hoping for the head of the queen” - right. Here you go. And buy the record when it comes out 23rd June on Jagjaguwar (or pre-order).

Sunset Rubdown - Black Swan [mediafire] // [ysi]

They are called Japandroids. Two guys from Canada and they look like DFA1979 on drums and guitars. They kinda play the authenticity card with headlines on their space like ‘we don’t have an image yet’ but you know, they play music like you wanna believe them. To draw up the net for their sound, I’d say something like they have Sonic Youth’s fuzz and noise, the dirty rock of The Stooges, the vocals are like At the Drive-in and sometimes the tornado of the guitars reminds me of The Thermals. All in all, it’s pretty amazing music. It’s simple without being boring, powerful without being banging, positive without being too pushy. I’ve been listening to the album for the last couple days and it’s surprising how much easier it is to get on/off buses, cross the roads, walk among people, etc when you have something like this occupying your ears. Really, sometimes it gives me the chills when the guitar starts alone and stuff. To sum up what they have to say (the lyrics are perfect for the music described above) I made a little something out of one-one lines for each song, here you go:

will we find our way back home?

we finished our old lives

we used to go out

get drunk and get sad

so we can french kiss some french girls

i’m far from home tonight

and still my heart sweats

i quit girls

Awesome, huh?

Japandroids - Wet Hair [mediafire] // [ysi]

Toronto-based Dragonette had a quite a good run a while back with that bouncy summer jam in ‘07 (I Get Around), and later with the fun remake of Calvin Harris (boys instead of girls). Fast forward two years and they’re back in the game. This time a bit more on the slightly alt rock-pop tip, but working fine for me.

Dutch editor-of-everything-these-days Don Diablo did a pretty straightforward lengthening out of the original with a long gap about 4 minutes in for reasons unbeknownst…

Not sure if this will gain traction like they did in ‘07 but i’m ready to give it some listens in the meantime.

Dragonette - Fixin to Thrill [mediafire] // [ysi]

Dragonette - Fixin to Thrill (Don Diablo Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

I know CFCF’s new song is flying around blogs a lot lately. I can completely understand it, it’s amazing stuff. I wouldn’t normally post it because there’s already a huge coverage but we received such a nice email from Acephale, the label behind the single, that I felt I have to write this. I’ve been on and on about CFCF, this Canadian guy has some hyptnotic power and I realized it at the HEALTH remix, anything he touches instantly gets his trademark sound, this weird combination of dark 80s synths-stuff and sick pop disco. His musical territory is huge, from metal to rap or rnb to indie and electro… The strange thing about this atmosphere is that it’s kinda pop on the surface but you know, you can feel the tension and something unknown but dark and creepy going on underneat. For example, in You Hear Colours the guitar and keys are just fun to listen to, they are monotonous but some variation is always added so no boring parts only you feel hypnotized and transferred to somewhere else where the rivers are flowing backwards, flowers grow in the air and every star is an angel of death. Now, the disturbing stuff is there from the beginning with the the almost-tribal drums, it’s just so subtle and hidden that you don’t realize it. The single is a double A-side featuring You Hear Colours and Invitation to Love and you can watch the Tommy Boy directed video for the first one. I also decided to share the remix of Cassie’s track (featuring Lil Wayne) because it’s such an interesting hybrid. Told ya, Canada was crazy. Buy the record here!

CFCF - You Hear Colours [mediafire] // [ysi]

Cassie - Official Girl (ft. Lil Wayne) (CFCF remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

The super sweet Electric Youth hit us up with their latest track for the interwebs, and goes without saying that we loves it. Hints of Wham and a light electro flava accompany those sweet vocals which mark everything EY has put out. We’ve also been seeing the Cyndi Seui moniker pop up in places… he’s responsible for this edit (and recently had Justin Faust remix a track of his). Thailand represent!

Electric Youth will be live in Vienna and Paris next month. The Kunkers are only super sad to say that we also won’t be hosting them here… but sometimes circumstances are beyond control (as those party promoters out there know all too well). Nevertheless we’re happy that Vienna is only a short train ride away

The pair will also have a limited edition EP out soon with artwork done by the favorite of all lovers of those things space-y, 80s, and purple… aka the Zonders.

Electric Youth - Replay (Cyndi Seui Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Whoa, so much is happening in 2k9! Metric are gonna release their 4th full-lenght on April 14, it’s entitled Fantasies. They haven’t really done anything in 4 years (their memory was kept alive by the MSTRKRFT remix of Monster Hospital). I’ve been listening to the band since Old World Underground and although I’m not a crazy fan, I’ve always liked them. You know, krafty stuff with a girl in the front line. Indie rock, dancey sound and hints of suicide and deep sadness from Canada…what else could you wish for? I told you, Canada is mental. And Emily Haines! Jesus. You must know the Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton which is her side project where she’s not just a frontgirl for a band but she, you know, shows an alternative side in the fashion of PJ Harvey or Cat Power. Now back to Fantasies, I have high hopes for the record. Like the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs* just not as high. And I don’t only have I hopes, I’m pretty much sure that it’ll be awesome. Listen to this fantastic (oops) acoustic version as a teaser and order the album or buy it when it comes out.

Metric - Help I’m Alive (Acoustic) [zshare] // [ysi]

*Not gonna blog about this one. It’s overblogged. It’s a 7 out of 10 and I really like it, not in the group of snobs I guess.

Whoa, I’m really into CFCF right now. I was too before but after a couple times listening to his Panesian Nights EP I’m blown away. Beautiful night-sky music. You know, music of the spheres and all that shit injected into a crappy sci-fi movie. Seeing that the tracks were removed from Waves at Night, I decided that I’d share The Presets remix. Weirdest remix of Talk Like That. Somehow CFCF reminds me of Lifelike. Is that a wrong association? Nevermind, the same laid-back, relaxed but fucked up somewhere deep inside feeling. CFCF is singed to Paper Bag Records, since he’s from Canada, with the likes of Tokyo Police Club, Sally Shapiro, Stars, etc. Canada was always a country like the Australia of indie or something. Or is that Sweden? It’s a bit confusing but will get clearer with time. Until then listen to this baby here:

The Presets - Talk Like That (CFCF remix) [zshare] // [ysi]

Haha, yeah. You can check our record we usually don’t care about popular-list stuff but we certainly don’t let it determine us what to blog. This one is MSTRKRFT remixed. Remember when they issued the Bounce single earlier this year? I usually don’t like this kind of music but it even made the N.O.R.E. part likeable.

MSTRKRFT is keeping it up while we’re waiting for their upcoming Fist of God. Bit Justice-y title, isn’t it? They are gonna release a maxi single in October with remixes of Bounce and other stuff. I’m quite curious about The Bloody Beetroots remix of the track but now is the time for Felix Cartal. The guy’s from Vancouver and he keeps the blogs attention by remixing a lot of stuff from Britney to Dragonette. My favourite is his Moving Units edit. He actually made a remix for the first MSTRKRFT album’s title song: The Looks. My reason for blogging this remix of Bounce is that it quite confused me and even I, alone with myself, have controversial opinions. Don’t worry, I’m not like schizophrenic & talking to myself or anything but there are some parts I like and some I hate. I like the stuff that stands out, for example the pretty synth-vocal part from 0.45 and the claps later. I don’t like the bassline-y stuff. Nevertheless, listen to it. You can even comment what you think or stuff, you know. Thanks to The Orchard for the email and RCRD LBL for this exclusive one.

MSTRKRFT - Bounce (feat N.O.R.E.) (Felix Cartal remix) [zshare] // MSTRKRFT - Bounce (feat N.O.R.E.) (Felix Cartal remix) [ysi]

The phenomena on the night sky and the band from Canada have many things in common. The fading, blinking, mysterious light, the evoking of feelings that cause uncertainity, etc. Canada is a great country for nice or weird indie pop music (Stars for example share some members with Broken Social Scene) which stays with you for many years. I have a long and gentle loving relationship with this band. Following from the second album Heart to their brilliant album last year In Our Bedroom After the War. The last entry in the relationship-diary is the new EP: Sad Robots. Beautiful and full of strenght the songs are like postapocalyptic whirlwinds sweeping through a lot of empty buildings and leaving some traces of tearful emotions behind. (Attention: there’s a reason for this sentence of symbolism.) They have a pretty website for this new release. Buy it there. I’m gonna share a couple older songs as well, just so you can get into the whole feel. The haunting vocals of Amy Milan, the naive and deeply moving themes, and the monumental waves of instruments washing everything else away into melancholy. Hi, I am Cigi and this is my heart.

Stars - What the Snowman Learned About Love [zshare] // Stars - What the Snowman Learned About Love [ysi]

Stars - Ageless Beauty [zshare] // Stars - Ageless Beauty [ysi]

Stars - The Night Starts Here [zshare] // Stars - The Night Starts Here [ysi]

Stars - A Thread Cut With a Carwing Knife [zshare] // Stars - A Thread Cut With a Carwing Knife [ysi]

The duo known as DVAS has been synth-rocking Canada for the past couple of years and are probably best known over here Europe-side for their tasty Valerie-flavored mixtape work; their Passion Communication mix from a few months back hit all the right notes, including the likes of Moroder and Jan Hammer from days of yore, right up to the present day with Adeyhawke and a few of their own originals, natch.

Deserving of more accolades and making the quick rounds these days is the super hot Symbol One remix of Ambient Room, which is serving as an excellent follow up to their Daft Punk-esque Forever.

The pair are serving as a nice echo chamber of the whatever-you-wanna-call-it-disco these days while keeping still their own angle on things. If they can increase that ‘angle’, so to speak, I’m expecting great things from these guys.

DVAS - Ambient Room (Symbol One Remix) [zshare] // DVAS - Ambient Room (Symbol One Remix) [ysi]

DVAS - Passion Communication mix [zshare] // DVAS - Passion Communication mix [ysi]

DVAS - Forever [zshare] // DVAS - Forever [ysi]