thread in which we talk about kinda arty kinda electronic stuff which gets compared to "The Knife" type stuff

You know the stuff, I eat it up with a SPOON. Arty, kinda theatrical, kinda GOFFy, the more "pretentious" the better. Pitch-shifted or gender-fuX0red vocals by ladies or falsetto dudes. Planningtorock, Austra, Active Child, Grimes, We Love et cetera et cetera et cetera

MOAR.

I was seeing Grimes getting namechecked on the "artists you haven't seen discussed" thread and I can't recall correctly but maybe one of the bobbins threads (or perhaps that was Emika, thinking about it, who we could also discuss here)

I really like Halfaxa, but I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around Geidi Primes. Ridiculous Dune references should be right up my alley but I need more time with it I think.

Post-Knife stuff only?

I love we love and planningtorock, will be checking out austra/active child/grimes IMMEDIATELY as this all panders directly to me

it's not really the same thing at all but Creep hits many of the same buttons for me even though they are basically straight-up witch-hop

Could be pre-Knife I suppose if it's really good, but I don't want anyone to be all "ooh, there's this chick from Bexleyheath I think you'd REALLY DIGX0r..." *eyeroll*

x-post I'm not really feeling much of what supposedly qualifies as "witch house" (except maybe Demdike Stare?) but if you think it applies, go on and stick it in.

Listening to Emika's Professional Loving and that could totally fit on this thread quite happily:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxXS6WbO1HY

(do YouTubes embeds work on the sandbox?)

there are really only two songs, "Days" feat Romy XX and "You" feat Nina Sky

much more of a hip-hop vibe than what's being discussed here but still riding that same ominous/euphoric vibe

oh shit, this is great!

xp to Emika

Yeah, I am totally digging Emika, she's really quite amazing.

I think Grimes might be a bit of an acquired taste, she has that same kind of "is this singing style for real?" as the woman from Cranes and Andi Sex Gang but I'm finding it really more-ish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrc_EGugZTU

Trying to find the song which is like witch house version of Republica's Ready To Go, I hope that's the right one there ^^^^^

Still would rep for Niki & The Dove, though they keep edging toward a more poppish direction since the early tracks. This is from last year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA0zWhk3P7o

x-post Sorry, nope, wrong song. This is the one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i2YyUzKtSU

(Which has kind of a "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According To The Book" vibe before it turns into a witchhouse Republica. I know I'm not selling this well, but I do love it.)

omg @ Emika

More where that came from. This one makes me ~melt~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp1J8wdjeP0

There's a remix/rework on that, too, which is just like WAU!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPSDo3Pe3lc

man I really thought "witchhouse Republica" would be a total Ned bat signal

I think the vocal on Grimes really turns people off, but hey, like I said, I own Sex Gang Children records...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozws056COZQ

holy shit @ Emika, I am hunting this down IMMEDIATELY

Ninja Choon I think?

Glad to have been of service!

Kate Wax.

http://open.spotify.com/album/22C1JrW86j6L4qFWQmI1du

Emika on Spotify, y'all

Kate Wax.

tbf I haven't heard much of her, but I know she has a new album on Border Community and that she's been getting Karin Dreijer Andersson comparisons.

Hey FT you would probably like this song:

L-Vis 1990 ft. Samantha Lim - Play It Cool
http://open.spotify.com/track/7mfulxMqRcJoNu17KAfoeQ

The rest of the album isn't all that, but that one song is <3<3<3

Laurel Halo - Constant Index

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyVaNhkdGHE

Kate Wax on Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/0tzNz4MT9Pgli348lfqV12

I think I need to come back to the Kate Wax and try her again another day. Didn't dislike her, it just didn't immediately grab me the way I put some things on and I'm all "OOH I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE."

Kate Wax's "Human Twin" is kind of great

I saw Battlekat supporting Lo-Fi FNK a few weeks ago. They were really good in parts but the vocals were a little too OTT Karin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWRXVINlRng

At the poppier end of the spectrum, the i quite like the Julia Marcell record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jVk9csScOA

Missed that Laurel Halo track yesterday. That is an EMPHATIC YES on that one.

Will work my way through the rest of the thread this morning.

Battlekat hmmm, I agree it's a little OTT vocally (not that that is a bad thing! at all! especially in this thread!) but I'm not sure it's Karin she's over the topping.

DOn't think that Laurel Halo has put out anything yet that is consistently amazing, but one or two of her songs are great. She's the singer on Games' 'Strawberry Skies' btw in case her name sounds familiar.

I guess Barbara Panther fits here? Her debut is one of my favourite things for this year, though sadly people seem to have slept on it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPObpVHDQ9k

Yes, I totally <3 Barbara Panther and will rep for her, too.

Vocally she's more Björkish than Dreijerish, but other than that she's definitely in the "artsy post-house synth-pop" category.

No love for Glasser in this thread is both surprising and disappointing.

I think that's because Glasser is really the trope codifier (obv The Knife is the trope namer) than any lack of Glasser love. I for one certainly love Glasser.

cosigning that l-vis 1990/samantha lim song, really fantastic - FT did you check out creep? two of the songs i've come back to most this year.

the emika album is one of those albums i enjoy so much when i play it that i can't work out why i don't play it MORE. like, i really like it but it's not the 100% craving need that, say, glasser is.

kate wax album was aight on one listen, keep meaning to go back to it

i did check out barbara panther but i honestly don't really know what i think of it, though i suspect i need to be in a very specific mood to enjoy it

another one that i'm not sure what i think of - charli xcx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBxC5bRbruQ

Yeah I think we discussed how the Glasser/Karin comparisons are superficial in the other thread, I just thought it was worth bringing her name again since her album is very good.

I do not get Barbara Panther at all, her voice really irritates me.

I love Barbara Panther's voice, it is just such a thing of joy to me. That slight squeak and whistle when she swoops up to "like moonlight people doooo!" But I recognise it probably is quite marmitey.

Lex, I have tried listening to a couple of Creep things but it just didn't seem to take with me. Maybe I should give it another try to see what it is that does/doesn't grab me.

I think that the Emika album is quite strong flavoured, and definitely a ~mood~ needed for it, it's not the kind of thing you can put on when you're walking to the shops, you need to be quite overcast and wearing your raincoat with knitted eyebrows and an expression deep in thought with mild misanthropy. Which is actually a mood I'm in quite a lot, so it's perfect for me. but other albums do not demand my emotional space the way that Emika one does.

I was seeing Grimes getting namechecked on the "artists you haven't seen discussed" thread

this was me. i really love her 2011 dune-themed album, geidi prime.

I just discovered the Emika this week. That album is an absolute must for fans of darker trip-hop like Mezzanine or Maxinequaye, but absolutely requires a decent subwoofer. Sounds pretty empty on my anemic car system.

This thread is custom made for Gazelle Twin, whose 2011 debut album is nicely poised between Lisa Gerrard and Fever Ray.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANaabsQo-uA

half a min in and fucking hell that gazelle twin is amazing! how did i miss it! omg

WOW, it's the witchIER house Dead Can Dance. Or maybe it's the new iamamywhoami?

(No, I like it. Really.)

Who knew that early Dead Can Dance records would be the hip musical crush to namedrop in 2011? Makes me want to dig out Within The Realm Of A Dying song and flop about in white robes singing FWONTIERS! FWOOOONNNTIIIIIEEERS! FWONTIERS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXstxFoayxI

possibly off-topic but i like it

Caek, I think you'd really like the Jah Wobble & Julie Campbell album Psychic Life, which also sounds (in parts) like some lost On-U Sound project.

emika is awesome

may have seen the twist coming a mile off yet i am clearly unable to post things in the right thread

Actually I should spend more time with Geidi Primes, too, bcuz I might tend to agree with her, but I'd still like to look into that record more. I just got SO knocked out by the sprawling *reach* of Halfaxa.

i'm smitten with the dune-theme of the record, and i tend to hear it through that conceit. also, i think it's a charming little record, a reminder that not every good disc needs to be -- or should attempt to be -- "epic" (not everyone needs this reminder, but sometimes i do).

(yeah, I was this close to searching Spotify to see if Incendies was some hot new electro-pop outfit from Toronto)

x-post

Whoa Grimes seems to spontaneously burst into the Nyancat chant at the end of GrisGris, that threw me.

3 songs in and I quite like the SLEEP ∞ OVER album but I think I liked it better when it was called Livonia.

It could just be the specific reverb they are using but if someone told me this was a rerelease of a record that had come out on 4AD in 1986, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised.

or Black Tape For A Blue Girl

You're quite right, there is something very 4AD about it. The album was a bit of a letdown on the whole imo, but she's someone i'm definitely looking forward to hearing more from in the future.

Actually I should spend more time with Geidi Primes, too, bcuz I might tend to agree with her, but I'd still like to look into that record more. I just got SO knocked out by the sprawling *reach* of Halfaxa.

i'm smitten with the dune-theme of the record, and i tend to hear it through that conceit. also, i think it's a charming little record, a reminder that not every good disc needs to be -- or should attempt to be -- "epic" (not everyone needs this reminder, but sometimes i do).

― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, December 7, 2011 11:10 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink

Geidi Primes is probably my favourite of her three releases, although they're all excellent. Watching her cobble the stuff together live is a blast, although I haven't seen her in a year or so, since the Lykke Li co-sign, NYTimes, etc. have brought her further and further afield from Montreal.

Also, while Vanessa is her most 'accessible' track, I still think the best pop song she's written is 'avi'

Also, came to post this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Tf9XL11Bc

Not sure if CREEP fit in here, but they're wonderful and if this doesn't beat their collaboration with Nina Sky earlier this year, it's still worth a listen.

lol this is the third time Creep has been mentioned in this thread

ha. well, at any rate, the video just got released today. track out in january.

i don't really get this julia holter album. it's kind of like sonic decoration that plays as you're wandering around an art installation except there's no art installation

the only time i perked up was when "so lillies" went into the 4/4 beat :/

I am so not down with CREEP. I keep trying to get with CREEP and I think it's not them, it's me, but it's just not happening for me.

Should probably give these things another listen but I'm so full of flu today I just wanna down cough syrup and listen to J-Pop.

Oh, I thought you had something against Red'ohed's song of the same name.

Yeah, bring on CREEP featuring Thom Yorke and then we'll talk.

But I think that's on a level with the cough syrup induced "Thom Yorke / LOLrie Penny slash" head-splode that happened yesterday. I gotta lay off this stuff.

the best thing about creep is that they use vocalists who are amazing, not thom yorke!

i love the new one, think i might be alone in preferring "days" to "you" though

Lex, you can't fool me, after 2 glasses of wine you confessed to me you thought Thom Yorke's voice was pretty damned amazing when he sticks to his lower register so NYEAH NYEAH NYEAH. But whatever, you say potatoes, I say truffle fries.

This 'changing display names' thing is fun!

I might sack it when real ILX comes back, but for now...

I don't think I've seen Blouse mentioned itt. I don't know much about them/her but I love the track "Into Black" and the use of Les amants du Pont Neuf in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwvflpqOb5M

Really liking this one from Delilah - I think she first emerged as a jobbing vocalist with Chase & Status and I assumed her solo career was going to be along the post Katy B lines, but this new one seems to indicate she might belong here just as much...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljoDXRXxjPA

the best thing about creep is that they use vocalists who are amazing, not thom yorke!

I like Romy XX a lot but I would never call her "amazing"!

well she's kind of amazing at what she does!

this is prob the best thread, in the sandbox era, for some NEW ROISIN MURPHY:

http://soundcloud.com/hardcandymusic/roisin-murphy-simulation

OMG OMG OMG WOT WOT WOT

*bookmarks thread*

Will listen tomorrow.

Can't listen to it at the moment either but i'm excited. Nine minutes!

it's awesome. smooooove loungey deep house, róisín at her sultriest.

It's definitely pleasant in a "Matt DC on a boat" way but my fav Róisín Murphy tracks also hold together as songs and this is more of a house track with vocals imo.

Au/Palais, the whole EP is arty/electronic, vocals are more Kate Bush than The Knife:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl4Y0vQ2UXs

Love that Roisin Murphy track and I would happily foot her babysitting bills for the next 18 years to get her to make a whole album of that, TBH.

"Matt DC on a boat"

<3 that this has become a term of reference

More than a year after it originally came out, Niki & The Dove finally made a proper video for "Mother Protect"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XojSSa0jwxU

I'm getting quite desperate to hear the Niki & The Dove album now. I hope it features Under The Bridges which is still my favourite thing they've done.

Might be my favorite too, but I really like Mother Protect and The Drummer.

ayshay was mentioned upthread, which i totally cosign - "warn-u" is one of the nost interesting EPs i've heard this year - but her new fact mix just kind of blew my mind http://www.factmag.com/2011/12/05/fact-mix-307-ayshay/

I am trying to decide if I like this or not (thanks Furnace Mane for linking it on the EOY list):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydFcH5yvtWM

There's a lot in there that I could get with (I like the sparkly noises in the background) but I'm really having trouble with the vocals, like it's something I could *almost* love, but the overall effect of something that's almost there but not quite in a troublesome way I can't quite put my finger on. (Which sometimes bothers me more than something I outright have no interest in.) Maybe I should listen to the rest of the album and not decide on one single.

It a good album of spare, almost ambient electropop, with a couple songs on the second half that are so earnest, so naive that they must be skipped to maintain the mood. Vocalist and (super?)model Sarah Ruba has a range from wispy to Liz Fraseresque that I happen to like.

Impossible to get a legit copy from North American sources which will hinder its year end rankings, perhaps they are planning a rollout in 2012.

The video just above is notable for using the Xbox Kinect output to generate realtime depth data.

They did a cover of Janet's He Doesn't Know I'm Alive that is pretty good, but not on the album.

There are things I so don't understand about mine own reactions to why I'll love one artist or song, and just reject another.

Because for all the fact that CREEP leave me cold, I have to acknowledge that I utterly love and adore this song, and it's mining almost ~exactly~ the same territory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LacbQ4Lh7wk

This makes no conceptual sense to me.

(see also the whole love Austra, hate Florence thing.)

OK, I persisted beyond the single on New Look and I'm liking it a lot more. Some things bear looking a little closer at. The singer does have a much wider range than is shown by that one song. When will I ever learn not to judge an album by its singles?

I was going to say in the other thread when you talked of moving discussion here that New Look are more focused on being tuneful and less on being arty than this thread would imply. But then the sandbox died. "Teen Need" is my jam from that album as of this moment.

Now I'll have to read this thread cause I see there's Ayshay talk.

Yeah, Teen Need was definitely one of the songs I favourited off that album. But they did seem to be focusing more on being a pop band than making the interesting textures, and I can never quite seem to balance my need for those two things.

Btw I will totally cosign Ayshay's fact mix and the Nguzunguzu megamix on the Warn-U EP. I need to check her new EP under her government name (Fatima al Qadiri) tho.

I meant to listen to her FACT mix the other day, loaded it up and everything, but got caught up in something else. I will do that now instead of getting caught up in glam bam thank you ma'am comps.

oooh new stuff from her, didn't know that

one of my favourite moments in journalism this year was getting the warn-u ep into my metro singles column right next to beyoncé

OK, this stuff is absolutely awesome and hitting a lot of my happy places.

But I'm so culturally ignorant WRT the music of that part of the world that I don't have the ability to distinguish much between this, and some of the more modern ends of Baris K's sets, and the weirder bits of, like, Cafe Istanbul compilations. If they're using samples of similar source material, or if I'm just having a racist reaction of "I can't really distinguish between massively different strands of Middle Eastern traditions."

yeah i don't really claim to be au fait with exactly what's going on here. fatima al qadiri's ep under her own name is WHOA though

http://soundcloud.com/fatima-al-qadiri/sets/genre-specific-xperieince

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpgtuWQ2vUc

kate: the warn-u ep is all samples of her own voice reciting islamic chants, apparently chopped up a bit to alter their meanings.

yeah my friend sent me this a few days ago - great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsbG4pXrhr8

For this year's charity action (Music For Life), radio station Studio Brussel has arranged this cover of Luc Van Acker's Zanna - both the version and video are quite Knifish, imho:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPOWuFLcKLM

If this album doesn't feature in the ILX100 this year, I may have to consider disowning you lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8uht6FFReE

(When Saints Go Machine - Konkylie) - This isn't the best track on there, but then I enjoy the whole album all the way through.