Artist Of The Day: Mogwai

On MuzikDizcovery, one might hear of Mogwai just a bit too much. However, our job is to keep you, the reader, informed on recent music news, and if there's anything Mogwai has been in the past couple months, "active" is most certainly a good word to use. The band released a compilation of remixes; A Wrenched, Virile Lore was commissioned by the band themselves from other artists such as post-punk project The Soft Moon, space-rock band Zombi, and drone's Tim Hecker. The album was fairly well received, and definitely helped bring new, altered sounds of the famous post-rock band into different genres. I particularly enjoyed Hecker's rendition of "Rano Pano," with drone being something I'm not particularly used to, while the Soft Moon cover of "San Pedro" wasn't really a far cry from the original track, so it was much enjoyed as well.

However, it's the new EP that will bring a lot of attention to the band in late 2012 / early 2013. According to Clash Music, Les Revenants is an EP that Mogwai was commissioned to "construct a soundtrack to French series 'Les Revenants'." The EP consists of four tracks, most of which are fairly low-action, similar to the Earth Division EP the band put out last year. "Wizard Motor" attracts interest being fairly upbeat; "Soup" is a bass-heavy, one-minute interlude; "The Huts" is a haunting piano-and-drum centered piece; and "This Messiah Needs Watching" features an organ laying down melancholy chords while a xylophone rings out a melody, echoic and depressing. Sounds on par with what we'd expect from the band. This EP will be seeing a physical release sometime next month, but it has received its digital release already, so keep an eye out for it.

Visit their site here to keep up with further updates.

Interview With Bright and Early (12/7/2012)

Bright and Early has been chugging away since the release of their Louder Than Words EP back in 2010, and the band is now finally approaching their first full length album. Vocalist John Browne's unique, powerful voice leads the formerly pop punk group which is now heading on a more rocking direction, and the band could soon be heading towards busting towards widespread relevance. Browne answered questions from us regarding the band's upcoming album, a possible EP release, covering The Movielife, producing for other bands and far more which you can read below.

Artist Of The Day: Johnny Marr

It had to happen at some point. It's taken 30 years, and stints with Modest Mouse, The Cribs, The The and of course The Smiths to get this far, but on 25 February, Johnny Marr - arguably the most important guitarist of his generation - will at long last unveil a solo album. "It is late in the day to be making my debut," admitted the Mancunian in a recent interview. "I didn't want to be in someone else's band at this point. In the past I might have been reluctant to stand up front, and I've been lucky enough to be in bands with great singers, so it wasn't necessary. But this is my band now." The prospect is certainly an enticing one. This, after all is the man who along with Morrissey formed half of one of music's most potent songwriting partnerships, simultaneously spawning infinite copyists with his effortless, jangling instrumental style. Brief though they were, that unmistakable sound also grabbed the spotlight in his subsequent outfits; a vast overwhelming presence crying out to be set loose in a solo guise. The Smiths reunion rumours will linger for some time yet, but with The Messenger Marr is embarking on one of his most ambitious exertions to date - a project which will hopefully enhance rather than dent his enduring legacy.

Artist Of The Day: The Front Bottoms

Despite being a the two-piece band, The Front Bottoms deliver an unprecedented blend of acoustic, indie and punk exemplified in their 2010 self-titled release. Duo Brian Sella and Matt Ulchich use subtle dance beats and simplistic acoustic riffs layered with some off-the-wall trumpets and keyboards, which creates a familiar-yet-unique indie rock sound. Sella's lyrics often reflect the trivial events in day to day life everyone can relate to in some way or another, but with added depth. The song "Bathtub" has a refrain of "I am washing my hair with soap," but holds an emotional self-revelation tucked within the simple lyrics. The whiny vocal delivery like in "The Beers" is never bothersome, and occasionally contrasted by an almost conversational spoken word delivery, such as in "Rhode Island." This unpredictability makes Ulchich's drum beats all the more enjoyable and dance-worthy. The Front Bottoms are a refreshing band; where many rock or indie outfits seem to be rehashing old ideas and simplifying song structures, The Front Bottoms have been able to turn the basics into brilliance. The music is catchy, fun, and sometimes even cathartic but it never gets old or seems clichéd, which can't be said for other indie and punk bands these days. Having toured with a variety of bands such as Mansions and The Menzingers, The Front Bottoms appeal to a wide audience with one of the most unique sounds you'll come across lately, so do yourself a favor and check them out on their Bandcamp here. You can thank me later.

The Front Bottoms are touring late January through all of February with Bad Books and Weatherbox, so be sure to catch them when they stop in your town!

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Jukebox: Yes Nice- Hot River

Yes Nice's debut album, Blindfolded, is filled with effective ballads, rock songs and fantastic songwriting.  But even though Blindfolded was filled with some spectacular songs and some soothing songwriting, it was obvious that Yes Nice had not been able to forge a musical identity that would make them more than a band who could produce a limited number of good song.  As immediately listenable and effective as many of the tracks on Blindfolded were, none of them were "re-listenable" because the band had not come up with a musical identity to make them "re-listenable."  Blindfolded was an album filled with many voices of scattered potential, but yet lacks the cohesiveness, confidence, and permanency to be anything but a solid album.   To actually be a band worth remembering, Yes Nice had to figure out exactly what they wanted to be.

Artist of the Day: Danny Brown

Danny Brown may not be the savior of Detroit's rap scene that Eminem was when Em came on the scene in the late 90's, but he's certainly a fun diversion from the increasingly homogeneous rap that we hear every day. He takes after Eminem in that he frequently references prescription drugs and his addiction to them, as well as his sense of humor and often explicit lyrics. Eminem comparisons aside, Brown is fiercely unique- to the point that G-Unit Records refused to sign him unless he changed his image- and everything from his clothes to his voice stand out as starkly different from what we've heard before. His second album, XXX, received huge amounts of hype from magazines like XXL and Spin and it's in no small part due to his individualism.

Whether in full-album form or in small doses, Brown never fails to entertain. The entertainment might come in the form of dirty jokes or a graphic description of him performing cunnilingus, yet it's as fun to hear as it is head-scratching. He is apt to one-up the featured stars when he does guest verses (see: his collaborations with Childish Gambino and the A$AP Mob from earlier this year) and is bold enough to name his forthcoming album after Ol Dirty Bastard- a rapper who he seems to believe he has a lot in common with. What really makes him different though is that he sets out to make people laugh. He's hilarious without having to incorporate the newly-chic "punchline rap" that the Young Money clique have popularized. His humor is an acquired taste, but it's laugh-out-loud funny once you understand it; although this will take longer for some people than others. Danny Brown may not be the type of music you want your kids listening to, but he's a voice that any rap fan/teenager would certainly appreciate hearing.  

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Promo Single 'Witit'

Artist of the Day: Mac Lethal

Slug may have expressed his discontent with the other members of Rhymesayers on The Family Sign's track "Bad Bad Daddy," but Mac Lethal is one of his offspring that doesn't deserve to be chastised. Lethal, probably best known for his "Look At Me Now" spoof video featuring him rapping about his breakfast to the tune of Chris Brown's hit song, fled the Rhymesayers coop a few years ago but made his mark as one of the most talented rappers on the label in his short time there. Specializing in storytelling and fast rapping, Lethal is a verbal force to be reckoned with. He cut his teeth in underground battle rapping clubs around the Midwest and did well enough to catch the attention of Slug himself. Verbal aggression is a common theme in Mac Lethal's work- from his name to his in-your-face style to lines like "Lethal in your town/people hit the ground," there's no escaping his oral assaults.

Artist Of The Day: Driver Friendly

The best (and worst) part of doing end of year lists is finding albums which deserved far more listens during the year. The biggest "discovery" I've had in this time period is Driver Friendly's Bury A Dream. The fact that I had been anticipating the release of this album makes my late pass even more disheartening, but it's never too late to discover an absolutely fantastic album. Driver Friendly has been around the block for quite a while now, releasing the very solid Chase The White Whale back in 2008 under the name Driver F, but it took them four years to release the follow up. Bury A Dream is mature, yet insanely catchy pop rock of the best degree, set apart from most similar bands by their two brass players, trumpet player Juan Lopez and trombone player Andy Rector. Lopez and Rector add a special dimension to the band's sound that really puts their already great songwriting over the top. After the release of this excellent album, it's no surprise that Hopeless Records recently picked up the band. Let's hope the label signing finally gets more ears listening to this fantastic band. You can get all the information you need about the band on their Facebook page.

Album Review: Jaytech - Multiverse

Album Rating: B

Upon browsing Jaytech's releases on Beatport, one meets with a slight dilemma: all of his songs are labeled "Progressive House." It's not a gross oversimplification of his style: his "progressive house" songs do indeed have some defining progressive house characteristics. He's fond of melodic piano lines and some light synth chords, plus most of the songs labeled as such do in fact maintain a house beat. The main issue with this kind of labeling, then, is that sticking a single genre's tag on a Jaytech song usually detracts a bit from the subtle genre-bending he tends to do. Sure, there are progressive house elements, but there's also the repetition and lower-range synths favored in deep house, some clickety-clackety drums which could be construed as tech house, and every so often some trance-like vocals. Jaytech has always been slightly more complex than any one electronic genre usually is, so in return for easier categorizing Beatport gives up some of Jaytech's sound, a sound difficult to describe in two words.

Album Review: Wu Block- Wu Block

Album Grade: C+

It’s naïve to believe that anybody who listens to Ghostface Killah these days is expecting anything different than he’s been putting out since the last millennium. The always prolific Wu affiliated rapper is maintaining his one album per year rhythm that he’s fallen into over the past few years- this time in collaboration with Sheek Louch, the least recognizable member of the group LOX that also included Jadakiss and Styles P- while maintaining his cocaine dealer persona who hasn’t wavered since he took a spiritual journey to Africa before the recording of Fishscale. What’s different on Wu Block is that Ghost’s schtick has become, dare I say it, boring, and the guest spots don’t do the album any particular favors.

Artist of the Day: Burial

With Truant out today, that makes a total of two top-of-year-list worthy releases from one man. Not simply for the electronic-leaning folks either, because Burial's acclaim has spread far beyond the borders of what would once be considered his prime audience. In a very GY!BE or Neutral Milk Hotel way everyone seems to listen, have listened or about to listen to Burial even though his slow garage and dubstep style initially appears difficult to access. In the end though, it's sad, reflective and moving to such a profound extent that the music is able to conquer the limitations of the style.

The new EP takes Burial in a previously unexplored direction. Skeletal beats move him back to the cool, sharp and stripped-down approach which defined his self-titled debut, but within this comfortable framework he works in a muffled celebration of late 20th century dance in much the same fashion that The Caretaker approached 1920's dance hall music last year. We hear small scraps of trance and even the more industrial reaches of DnB in 'Truant' beneath the solid dubstep architecture  with the tone sitting neatly in between "tribute" and "death cry" in a solid display of why Burial manages to be so moving. "Rough Sleeper" is more explicit with these influences, and with the muzzle removed they transform his music into an in-the-moment celebration rather than a reflection. Latter parts of the track tone this down somewhat, with a cowbell-led midsection slowly subsiding to a classic Kindred-esque finish. The end result is an incredibly satisfying EP from one of the world's most celebrated producers. It's arguably not his best, yet still it manages to top almost all of its competition.

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Artist Of The Day: 3LAU

There are two popular ways to do pop mashups. The first is to squeeze in as many songs as possible in a short amount of time. Whether it's DJ Earworm's United States Of Pop, Madeon's Pop Culture mashup, or this eight-minute mashup of 2012 pop, a well-done mashup of this style is often hugely popular and, especially in Madeon's case, can make a career. The other style of mashup is a bit simpler and less immediately impressive. This style is fitting some pop vocals over another song for three or four minutes, and while that may not seem as cool as smushing 50 songs into eight minutes, it can be incredibly impressive nonetheless. 3LAU (pronounced "Blau") is an example of the latter school of pop crafting. Probably most famous for laying the vocals to "Call Me Maybe" over Porter Robinson's huge progressive house tune "Language" (here), 3LAU has quite a few excellent mashups under his belt. Whether it be mixing party destroyers "Internet Friends" and "Toulouse" with Rihanna and LMFAO (Modern Talking), putting Adele and Axwell together (Set Fire), or throwing Ne-Yo and Kylie Minogue on top of his own work (Back To New), it seems as if everything 3LAU touches turns to pop gold, as evidenced by his huge tour across North America this fall. If you find mashups like these attractive, 3LAU is absolutely worth a try.

You can "Like" 3LAU to download his excellent mashup album Dance Floor Filth 2 for free here.

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Jukebox: Future Relative - Deep End

I'll admit, "Deep End" caught me totally by surprise. When I read the description of the song and saw it was "electronic" and a similar group mentioned was The XX, I immediately expected the worst. While The XX themselves are quite good, a lot of electronic of that style falls into the generalized category of "boring," and with some less-than-ideal experiences in the genre of quasi-dark electronic, I didn't have much by way of hopes for the song. However, the song is actually fantastic. Far from being boring, it's a dark, brooding, synthy song hitting every right note in terms of being vivid and lifelike yet staying true to its original style.

Of course a song in this dark, almost synth-pop style is going to be eerie and sullen, but Future Relative doesn't make the mistake of accidentally sounding like a not-really-goth high schooler instead of a "king of the night" of sorts. Rather, you can feel the energy of the piece pulsing through every kick of the bass drum, every distorted, static-laden bass note, every clean vocal line in the song. The almost-industrial drums and guitars smack of Nine Inch Nails in his prime, and the song as a whole is a mashup of industrial sounds and some excellently dark synths that don't quite fit the industrial label. And yet the choruses still manage to be insanely catchy and almost sing-along with the infectious singing, something that bodes well for the piece as a whole. Overall, "Deep End" is a solid piece of musical dark chocolate: bitter and brooding yet still retaining some poppy elements, which make it an absolutely worthwhile song.

You can stream "Deep End" and watch the video for the song here.

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Artist of the Day: Again For The Win

Again For The Win was a small band who released a big album and garnered a ton of attention. It was a very make or break album, and the band scored so hard, they were snagged up by Deep Elm very quickly after release, and Bonus Deluxe Version was re-released on Deep Elm, to much acclaim. But we really have to delve - what made Bonus Deluxe Version so good? How did the emo band coming 10 years too late still manage to make it in a genre that died out?

Exclusive Stream: Fero Lux / Courtships

Hardcore is one of the most promising genres of modern music. It seems that with each passing year, there are more and more promising groups in the genre, coming out of the woodwork to show what they have to offer. These groups also have an unspoken brotherhood from time to time, with certain niches sticking together and even collaborating to create something special. One such example is the duo Fero Lux from South Florida, teaming up with Virginia natives Courtships.

Both groups burst onto the hardcore scene in this past year, too. Courtships are still widely praised for their debut album The Feral Sound..., an ambitious attack on hardcore as we know it. And Fero Lux came about shortly after, their debut Some Divine Ashtray, an amalgam of equally thrilling styles. The record worked remarkably well at the end of the day, and featured some brilliant lyrics to boot. So here we are at the end of 2012, on the eve of Fero Lux / Courtships - a split furthering the groups' reach, and offering some of their most powerful tracks yet.

We at MuzikDizcovery have had the privilege of receiving the split before its spring release, and we even have an opportunity to share it with all of you. Check it out, send it to your friends, and enjoy this release as much as I have.

MuzikDizcovery is pleased to introduce the split between hardcore groups Fero Lux and Courtships, exclusively streaming here!



Tracklist:

Fero Lux
1. The Devil (Hooah!)
2. Say It like Pacino

Courtships
3. Dead Pilots
4. DOA
5. Japam

And check out Fero Lux and Courtships on Facebook!

Artist Of The Day: The Classic Crime

The Classic Crime is a great example of doing an independent record right. After a split with their label Tooth & Nail Records in July 2011, the band worked with a relatively small crew in their hometown of Seattle to create the best record possible, without the constraints of a label and with the hopes of all of its fans looking for a bounce-back from their last, somewhat shaky LP Vagabonds. Working on the album saw a whole lot of new developments - their guitarist left (on good terms), they went through a successful Kickstarter campaign that showed their fans still hadn't left the band - but the final product ended up being one of the best straight rock releases of 2012. With a wholly consistent lineup of tracks and a stellar middle third, Phoenix showed that a fully independent, label-free record could still manage to be both excellent and accessible. It comes as no surprise that it was good, given the band's track record on previous albums Albatross and The Silver Cord, but the fact that it was as good as it was injected new hope into mainstream rock. The band proved what they needed to prove, and the album was in every way a success for a band that even before that point was already a stellar group.

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Jukebox: Jack Trammell - Critical Mass

Cinematic music often doesn't earn a lot of recognition and praise. Sure, the artists who make it can create very strong feelings - tension, fear, adrenaline - with every piece, but in a society where we see many movie and video game trailers every day the music in those trailers usually ends up not making as much of a splash as it probably should. Plus, quite often a lot of cinematic music sounds too damn similar to the untrained ear - string-heavy orchestra, epic percussive lines, and many other things almost always come up in the average musical accompaniment to the average action movie trailer. However, every so often composers can make it big. Either their music is generally more "epic" than the rest of the crowd (a la Hans Zimmer), they make a boatload of high-quality song after high-quality song (like Two Steps From Hell), or some element of their music just stands out somehow. Whenever something like this happens, people notice - if you asked any random person who Hans Zimmer was, chances are a lot of people you ask would answer correctly - and the fame that's so difficult to reach for composers of this style ends up being attainable in the end.

Artist of the Day: Stars of the Lid

Was music made to be deconstructed? I don't have the answer, but Stars of the Lid do. From one 15-minute song to the next, formless melodies after another, relying on only their own pulses, one can't help but question why this sense of vitality is pretty hard to find in contemporary music today.

Artist of the Day: Janelle Monae

When Janelle Monae released her debut LP in 2010, she was already one of the most intriguing, ambitious artists of the new millennium. She was in the middle of a four-part concept album based on the silent era film Metropolis and, on the coattails of her album The Archandroid, announced her plans to release a graphic novel and a feature film based on her yet-to-be-completed series. A bit over the top? Most definitely, but out of her reach? It seems that the sky is the limit for Ms. Monae. Her EP Metropolis earned enough hype to get her signed by Diddy and lead single from The Archandroid featured Outkast's Big Boi. However, all of this success and hype leads back to just one person: Monae, who is one of the brightest spots in the R&B revival.

Live Review: The Black Keys, Metroradio Arena, Newcastle, 07/12/2012

They may be one of America's biggest bands, but here in the UK The Black Keys are only beginning to break into wider conscience. It was a surprise then when the Ohio duo announced a full arena tour over on these shores; a refreshingly inclusive play yet one which risked the indignity of gaps among the assembled masses. At roughly three-quarters capacity, turnout at Newcastle's Metroradio Arena was perhaps healthier than one may have expected, and those who did show their faces were treated to a show which displayed just why they've reached such a lofty status.