Pantha Du Prince is a German minimal techno/microhouse/call-it-what-you-want artist, made famous (to me) for the heart-stoppingly beautiful Asha on 2007’s This Bliss. Previously on microhouse hero Lawrence’s Dial label, Pantha has relocated to the very not-techno Rough Trade for this, his third record. Featuring contributions from Noah Lennox (which should hopefully provide some clues to the direction of the upcoming Panda Bear record) on Stick To My Side and Tyler Pope (of LCD Soundsystem, !!!, and corrupting high schoolers fame) on The Splendour, this album is a musical creation in a world of its own. Layered yet minimal, the sound is so uniquely delicate that I must let Pantha Du Prince speak for himself:

“music slumbers in all matter; any sound, even silence, is already music. The mission, then, must be to render audible what is unheard and unheard of: black noise, a frequency that is inaudible to man. Black noise often presages natural disasters, earthquakes or floods; only some animals perceive this ‘calm before the storm.’ Black noise is something archaic and earthy. The music on Black Noise balances precariously on the slippery threshold between art and nature, between techno and folklore, which lends it a certain spectral and intangible aspect.”

This is electronic music and also much more.

If you listen to one techno release this year, nay, one electronic music release, have this be it.

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I’ve posted about Bullion before, but only recently did I find this remixtape he made laying his beats on top of the The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Given the relatively recent surge in popularity of The Beach Boys (due in no small part to the success of artists such as Noah Lennox, whose vocal style is indebted to Brian Wilson’s genius harmonies) it is interesting to see a much different contemporary take on The Beach Boys influential sound. “In The Key of Dee” is an obvious reference to pioneering hip hop producer J.Dilla, and Bullion takes his cue by cutting up delicious vocal samples from both Pet Sounds and the outtakes from the recording sessions. J.Dilla’s work was groundbreaking for two reasons: the beauty and eclecticism of his source material, and the skill with which he manipulated it. Here, Bullion matches his skill with some endlessly creative and inspiring source material, and creates some pretty jaw-dropping tracks. Equal parts lounge and summer cruisin’, this is like a soundtrack to the coolest beach party you’ve never been to.

Best tracks: I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times, God Only Knows, Wouldn’t It Be Nice

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My friend once told me something so right, he said to be careful of thieves in the night

Although they’ve always been one of my favorite bands, it is my personal assessment that Hot Chip can do no wrong. It doesn’t hurt that their last three albums are pretty perfect examples of thoughtful pop music that can make you dance and swoon at the same time (sounds like a hipster party to me!). Of course they keep the disco freshness rolling in, but there’s an added layer of quiet sentimentality that runs parallel to the playful blip-blop electronics they are so known for. Tracks such as Alley Cats (**best of album**) and Keep Quiet point towards a Hot Chip that is comfortable enough in their style to deliver delicately sung meditations on life between the dance parties. Hot Chip seems to have endured the test of time for our most scrupulous of generations, and continue to offer up innovative pop music that simultaneously defines and expands their sound.

Best tracks: to be honest, the only song that I haven’t played over and over (pardon the pun) is Slush.

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This is sweet, carefree balearic pop from an enigmatic duo known as jj. Released on the lovely Sincerely Yours label (leading some to incorrectly assume it was a side project for members of The Tough Alliance), it turns out jj is Joakim Benon and Elin Kastlander of Sweden (big surprise). I was excited for jj since I first heard of them, mostly because I like beachy things and all their promo art had blood spattered on it. Much to my surprise their debut full length was quietly released and then quickly leaked in July; plus, with a blood spattered pot leaf as the design, it was hard to pass up.

This is a pleasant album, perfect for summer days and lazing around doing nothing for hours. However, once Pitchfork hopped on the jj train they blew it out of the water and made me not want to post this album. Although I thoroughly enjoyed this, I stand by my contention that this album is pleasant, no more no less. There is nothing wrong with pleasant, but it’s not life-changing. It’s just two artists with a quaint, deliberate vision, and that I think explains the surge in positive reception. It’s a work of unassuming beauty which caught the music world off guard with an understated sound that communicates so much with so little. Perhaps the recent popularity of bands such as jj and Honey Power faves the xx suggests an appreciation for a new aesthetic tendency in indie music, one that strips down sound for the sake of concept, content with the simple mantra, “less is more.” Fittingly, they are set to tour the US this spring with said artistic doppelgangers the xx. Be sure to grab their next LP, n° 3, out March 9th on Secretly Canadian (yes, jj are moving up in the world).

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I think last time I posted about Gold Panda I only put up the Miyamae and Before EPs. As great as those are, I first heard about Gold Panda through single Quitter’s Raga, and the rest of the EP doesn’t disappoint. Here, Gold Panda carves out a nicely-defined sonic niche for himself, right between electronic acts the likes of Joy Orbison, Mount Kimbie, and Bullion. There’s texture, depth, and most of all, clean, crisply arranged beats that bounce. At just 11 minutes, it’s hard not to listen to this once and come right back for more.

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This is pure sillyness. So silly. Tropical psych electronic from San Francisco. You might like this if you’re in art school, or wish you were. The great thing about electronic music is that no matter how strange it sounds you will dance to it if it has a good beat, and Lemonade never falls short on that front. Long story short: Sounds like Gang Gang Dance went to Ibiza.

Best tracks: Big Weekend, Sunchips, Bliss Out (remixes by Gold Panda and Rune Lindbaek)

Out on True Panther, which had a good year in 2009, featuring releases by Girls, Ty Segall, The Fly Girlz, Hunx and His Punx, and Glasser. Catch them as they tour the East Coast (US) this spring with These Are Powers.

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New Years Eve, 2009. As always happens around the end of one year/start of another, I begin to sift through the leftover albums that I once loaded on my iPod but never got a chance to thoroughly experience.

Sometimes you need comedown music. Around five thirty, most of us had burned out and were ready to crash, and someone in the house put Level Live Wires on repeat. This was the perfect end to a seemingly endless night of surprising adventures and sleepless social encounters. The music recalls the soft ambiance of early Broken Social Scene (Feel Good Lost era) and warm textural sounds from Kiln. Throw in some slow, monotonous rapping and breakbeat or two for good measure and you’ve got something close to Daedalus on downers. Walking around listening to this on my headphones, I couldn’t help but think that no album has ever made me feel so cool to be listening to music alone in a cold dark city. This dude has worked on the indie hip-hop label anticon and has remixed the likes of Boards of Canada, Notwist, and Nosaj Thing.

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Hearing all the hype for the new Yeasayer album made me remember what little time I spent with their first album, All Hour Cymbals. Yeasayer is a psychedelic band from Brooklyn, and originally sounded like a much poppier version of Gang Gang Dance or a much more trippy version of TV On The Radio. All Hour Cymbals now reminds me (in the best parts) of 2009’s most under-appreciated act Here We Go Magic, which released their soft-spoken debut this year. It’s a well-executed and yet stubbornly unobjectionable psych rock album. Great for fans (and you may well become one!), but yesterday’s news for many others.

Now that the kids are going with the dance music, crossover success for an “experimental” band like Yeasayer means including electronic beats a la Animal Collective, which the lead single Ambling Alp does fairly well. The rest of the album follows in this vein by focusing on tight song structures that allow for experimental (and increasingly electronic) flourishes. If this album signals anything, it’s the arrival of post-Animal Collective indie music, which is at once accessible and experimental, sonically diverse yet technically focused on a pop aesthetic. It’s appropriate that it arrive at the beginning of 2010, as this firmly cements Animal Collective’s reputation as one of the most influential indie acts of the past decade, and decidedly thrusts the door open for a whole new generation of post-AC popsters. This is sure to hit big with the critics as did similar efforts from Dirty Projectors and the aforementioned Animal Collective this past year. And it should. It’s good. Above all, it’s a danceable freakshow, which is my favorite kind! Tracks like Ambling Alp, One, Mondegreen, and Rome will make you dance all jumpy-like and simply beg for remix treatment, while slower movers are lyrically interesting enough to keep you listening closely until the next beat kicks in. My bet is that 2010 will be a good year for Yeasayer.

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I’ve previously mentioned my love for Delphic, but upon hearing that they signed to Universal for the release of their debut album, Acolyte, I feared they would go the route of many over-hyped bands (like Passion Pit) and reduce their sound to a more comfortable exercise in dancey electronic pop, palatable to the coveted 18-34 set. Instead, they’ve refined their sound and vision, and emerged a more determined post-dance electrorock band. This strong debut combines the most energetic moments of bands like Friendly Fires with beautifully composed electronic sounds a la Hot Chip. Old favorites Counterpoint, This Momentary, and Doubt remain relatively unchanged, but new songs such as Red Lights and Remain provide a enticing look at a pulsing, anthemic Delphic that screams for life on the stage. Check them out on their tour of Europe this winter and be sure to keep an eye on Kitsune for more artists that can make you dance to practically anything.

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This video is so accurate. I want to grab a pair of kick-ass headphones and go dancing in the streets to this all day long. Too bad it’s so short!

Crystal Fighters - I Love London

This band is made up of an American songwriter and two producers from Sweden, who together make up Bloodshy & Avant and have given us pop gems such as Toxic, by Britney Spears. It’s pronounced “Mike Snow” but spelled Miike because, as they said at Lollapalooza, “It’s too late to change it!” This is really perfect pop music, with crisp synths that know what they’re doing. Not a note sounds out of place. It’s almost too perfect, until you realize that there’s no such thing. It’s not that deep but it’s pretty addictive. Their song Animal was one of my favorites this summer. They plan on touring North America with Delorean this spring, be sure to check them out!

Favorite tracks: Animal, Black & Blue, Cult Logic

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Also, as with all great new bands, I first heard of these guys because they got remixed by a bunch o’ people, so here are two of those remixes (more on their myspace)..

Animal (Fake Blood Remix)

Animal (Mark Ronson Remix)

Disco never died, but its geniuses did. Russell was one of those geniuses. Originally trained as a classical cellist in Iowa, Russell studied with Ali Akbar Khan in San Francisco in the 1970s. On his own, he split his time between avant-garde cello compositions and funky disco productions for Loose Joints, Dinosaur L, and Lola, but his passion for both shines through in each. This includes such hits as Wax The Van, Is It All Over My Face, and Pop Your Funk. My absolute favorite song, however, is not any of the disco singles but rather Keeping Up, a curiously subdued experimental pop song which features an electric cello, hush-hush harmonizing vocals and a lot of space to wander. This album should make you dance, think, then wonder why you’re not dancing, and then dance some more.

Like many awesome people, Arthur Russell died of AIDS. He had collaborated with people like Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, David Byrne, and John Cage. In the month of his death, Kyle Gann from The Village Voice wrote, “His recent performances had been so infrequent due to illness, his songs were so personal, that it seems as though he simply vanished into his music.” Even if his life ended too soon, at least he was able to truly collapse into his life’s work; now a part of him lives on forever.

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This is the first release from Salem, and the first release from boutique label Acephale, which likes Memory Tapes, CFCF, and Air France (and so do I!). It’s a slightly different sound from Water, but that’s no problem since Salem is one of only a few people making this kind of music (that I know of). Let me know of other Salem-like groups, I’m eager to hear more.

If you throw around the terms “electronic,” “shoegaze,” and “dubstep” when describing a band, I’m inclined to listen closely. Salem has been making big “crunk-waves” with their brand of dark electronic music that borrows equally from deep rap instrumentation as it does from pop. There is certainly something ominous afoot in these droning, gloomy jams. Fuzzy dubstep interweaves with forlorn, destroyed vocals and suddenly it’s on repeat. The cover art should give you a clue to the aesthetic of this enigmatic group - each picture looks like a dastardly clue handed out by some mysterious cyber video serial killer. This came out on Merok, a label run by Milo Cordell from The Big Pink; Merok has been on a roll with awesome releases by Telepathe, Titus Andronicus, Rainbow Arabia, Comanechi, and Mi Ami, among others. The band is out of Michigan, Chicago, and NYC simultaneously.

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This is driving, dark fuzzy electronic. I first heard it described as the “R-rated” Passion Pit, which is kind of a dorky description but I need to open the post so I’ll run with it. Coming out of Denver, Pictureplane is Travis Egedy. he’s on the same label as Crystal Castles, and it’s safe to assume that if you like one you’ll like the other. This album would go really well as the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic disco revue set in a dilapidated space frontier. If you don’t believe me, listen to Trance Doll. Zombie dance pop is in - because if the dead can walk, they sure as hell can dance!

Favorite tracks: Goth Star, Solid Gold, Trance Doll, Cyclical Cyclical (Atlantis), Gang Signs

He’s apparently playing a show in Brooklyn tomorrow at the Market Hotel with Future Islands, Tanlines, and Reading Rainbow!

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glofi shmofi, this year had some damn chill music that felt like drugs without being drugs which is so much cheaper. this is the first of two planned releases on Carpark, a beautiful little label that puts out music by artists like Beach House, Casino Versus Japan, Dan Deacon, Belong, Ear Pwr, Marumari, Kid 606, and other fun stuff. The man’s name is Chaz Bundick, and he lives in South Carolina. There’s a pretty smooth disco vibe runnin’ through the whole thing too, which never hurts. I love Blessa and Fax Shadow, and the track “Talamak” is (and i quote), “TAGALOG (THE NATIVE LANGUAGE OF THE PHILIPINES (MY PEOPLES RACE) MEANING CHRONIC/DRUUUUUUUGS). THE SONG’S SAYING GET HIIIGH MUTHA FUCKA.”

with that, enjoy.

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When real pop hits me, it hits me real good. I’ve been on a Dan Black binge for the last few days now, and it’s not likely to let up soon. Originally gaining notoriety from his HYPNTZ mashup of the Notorious BIG track and Rihanna’s Umbrella, his sound is unapologetically pop, but the electro beats borrow equally from hip-hop influences as they do from his synthpop contemporaries. With his Myspace listing influences: “Jay-Z, Sigur Ros,” it’s clear that Black is a sign of the arrival of New Pop, a generation of artists raised simultaneously on a (post) millennial maelstrom of saccharine pop/hip-hop and wildly diversifying indie music. Most tracks on this album are too catchy to resist, whether with the hooks or lyrics. The beat matching of Symphonies will pick you up in any mood; it’s hard to listen to this in public and not bounce around like you’re the coolest thing in town. And lyrics like, “European human being/Drugs slash drinks slash psychic healing/Flesh nipping blood sipping Sitting in a circle sharing feelings/Not ill take pill roll up make bills/Inhale hold til you feel until” in the aptly titled I Love Life make this a party album through and through. My only criticism is how front-loaded it is. For a pop album, it is staggeringly full of potential hits, but they mostly comprise the first six tracks of the album; after Yours, the album winds down a mellow meta-pop direction, until Life Slash Dreams tunes you into the ecstatically beautiful finale of I Love Life.

Regardless, if you want to dance to legit pop music but not feel that hipster guilt, he is your man. Link is 320k.

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Round 3: glo-fi. Dude from Texas named Alan Palomo, calls this Neon Indian. It’s pretty appropriate. I think glo-fi is fun to say. Glo-figlo-figlo-fi. With tracks like Deadbeat Summer, Should have taken acid with you, and Laughing Gas, I’m sure some of my friends will relate to this on a lot of levels. Interestingly enough, both the full album and the EP have the same title and same cover art. Palomo also has another project/myspace profile called VEGA, which is arguably cooler than this. Think 80s synth pop with Daft Punk house flair. fun*amillion. My only criticism is that sometimes the album feels too laid back for its own good.

Best tracks: Deadbeat Summer, Should have taken acid with you, Local Joke

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OK round 2 of those ridiculously fun subgenres I listed below. Washed Out, a “chillwave” musician from Georgia, makes the chillest and waviest music I’ve heard in a while. It’s bedroop synthpop for sure, but with a…uh, leisurely mood about it. Maybe I should move to Georgia. I like how the album begins with the lyric “gotta get up” put to a dreamy, wobbly beat which is so intriguing that you stay seated for a while. Out on the fantastic new label Mexican Summer (former home of Kurt Vile). Link includes tracks Belong and Luck which have been released separately. Pretty much every song on the EP is a winner, but Get Up, New Theory, and Lately are best to start with.

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I kinda still liked him as both Memory Cassette and Weird Tapes, but this is a really excellent album, and as he says “a ‘dreamwave’ unification” of the two. there’s been a lot of genretroversies this year about glofi, dreamwave, chillwave, etc, but I don’t care what you call it, the names are funny and it all sounds good. plus it’s all got roots in balearic and italo disco, which is pretty sweet. memory tapes is the dude from hail social, a band that was big in philly a few years ago then died. he now lives in new jersey, alone, very alone, as he doesn’t plan on touring the album apparently (grrr).

Best Tracks: Bicycle, Green Knight, Pink Stones, Plain Material, Graphics

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