MOTS dead, long live TBOC!

A sad farewell all, Music On The Sea is no more. After a Christmas hiatus, Ben and I have decided to call it a day on new music. Not to worry though, we are back, in the form of The Bone Of Contention. A little less new; a little more old.

Tennis are really good though. Buy their album.

See you there,
C&B

Year End Mixed Emotions // Full Mix

As promised, the full mix is available below as one long download [click the downwards arrow]/stream. Track list is a couple of posts down. [edit: links from the old post appeared to be breaching DMCA policy or somesuch - the post has been deleted. Surprise tracklisting then..]
Music On The Sea Mixtape 2010 by musiconthesea_chris

Image // Thanks for the upload.

Perfume Genius

Not sure how I missed Perfume Genius. This is well worth a listen.

Perfume Genius : Mr Peterson

201 posts, Hercules and Hudson

First: new jam from Hercules and Love Affair:
Hercules & Love Affair - My House by Freeman PR

Then, based on my love of that Ooops Hudson Mohawke Remix, try this out. A little more funky, a little less sleazy.
Krystal Klear : Tried For Your Love (Hudson Mohawke Remix)

Marina and the Diamonds // Obsessions (another remix)

Obsessions first hit late 2008 (I think..) and there was a slew of remixes - good to see they are still coming. Check out what happens when witch-fi hits it up in the form of the oOoOO remix .

Marina and the Diamonds : Obsessions (oOoOO remix)

And, when Patrick Wolf goes dub:

Patrick Wolf : Time Of My Life (Leo Zero Dub)

via

James Blake // Measurements

More soul than a shoe factory.

James Blake : Measurements

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Also, download the latest Cadence Weapon mixtape TRON Legacy : The Mixtape here for the Radiohead pay-what-you-want.

Girl Talk // All Day

NEW GIRL TALK! Because we all love hip hop piped across our favourite indie tracks.

Download it completely free here. If the servers are still up.

Girl Talk : Steady Shock
Girl Talk : Oh No

The Boss is Back in Town

The recent release of Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town remaster, together with deleted sessions and outtakes from the record, makes me wonder if a new Springsteenism is at work in contemporary American music. Listening to Darkness for the first time, I was struck to resemblances to much more modern releases, and three in particular: Japandroids' Post-Nothing, Titus Andronicus' The Airing of Grievances, and the Arcade Fire's The Suburbs. All exhibit what I would like to posit as the defining features of Springsteenism; all well as an ostensible "blue-collar" mentality, focusing on working- and lower middle-class life and the environments surrounding it, the music shares an expansive vision, hinting at something beyond the confines of familiar surroundings. Guitars soar, choruses lift, and there is earnestness, andger, and introspection in the distinctive voices of each vocalist.

Maybe there is an element of cultural cycles here; as I've explored in previous posts, previous aesthetics seem to be picked up at different stages, and re-forged into a more contemporary milieu. Yet the socio-cultural-economic context may also play a part; Springsteen's America is one of rusting industrial plants, unemployment, and limited future prospects for the youth of society, yet suffused with an undercurrent of romantic notions of hope and escape. Perhaps the resurgence of Springsteenism has something to do with parallels in the social fabric; perhaps today's youth need a Born to Run of their own. Part of Springsteen's appeal is the urgency in his voice; the sense that this all means something. Do the student protests of November 10 have a voice in popular culture - and if not, will one arise?

Bruce Springsteen: Darkness on the Edge of Town
Japandroids: Darkness on the Edge of Gastown
Titus Andronicus: A More Perfect Union
The Arcade Fire: Modern Man

And for a super special bonus, here's perhaps the finest piece of Post-Springsteen recorded in the past decade or so:
The Constantines: Young Lions

Mr Little Jeans

By now, single girl pop is as unique as an indie band releasing a bedroom recorded no.1 blog smash hit. Dance remixes of those girls even less so. That doesn't mean, of course, that they aren't fun.

Mr Little Jeans : Rescue Song (Royal Palms Remix)

Crystal Castles // Not In Love (Remix)

This has been kicking around for a minute now but as an ever growing Crystal Castles fan, it seemed amiss not to post it. Oh, and it's good.

Crystal Castles : Not In Love [Feat. Robert Smith]

Patrick Wolf // Time of My Life

Yes Patrick Wolf has a new track out; not fantastically different from previous releases, but if you're a fan (as I have to confess I am) I think you might like it. The track has a slightly darker tone than earlier demos / live performances than I've heard; it seems perhaps less exuberant and more introspective, dare I say even regretful. Also the opening line "from the East to the South" can only be a reference to London; not only did I see that Mr Wolf lives in Waterloo, it's also a long-overdue recognition that East London is overrated. And it's not a cover of the fantastically cheesy 80s song from Dirty Dancing (sorry but I had to say it, just to make sure).

Patrick Wolf: Time of my Life

Sick ol' MOTS

...and we're back!

I remember a few years ago having a chat with a good friend of mine when he bemoaned all the new music coming out in wav(v)es, saying none of it would stand the test of time, that no one would become the next Hendrix, Springsteen or whoever your idol might be.

My best answer at the time? Sufjan Stevens. Only he then proceeded to produce very little for the next six or so years. Ben welcomed the EP, allow me to do the same for the LP.

Sufjan Stevens : I Want To Be Well

Gold Panda

Remember earlier I mentioned that a third London producer was surely about to release something - I forgot it was this dude. I'm not really sure that any of this kind of cut and paste and re-cut style music will stand any test of time, but it's of a moment.

In fact, it sounds a little bit like a pan-pipes reworking that you might hear in a museum shop.

Gold Panda LP, out now, available in shops and that sort of thing.

Gold Panda : Same Dream China

The first problem with Summer Camp is the name. A wealth of associations are brought forth before you've even got to the music; beaches, long summer days, childhood, kitsch, washed-out guitar-based pop; to me the name betokens Best Coast, Beach House, etc.

This isn't too wide of the mark; Summer Camp's music is certainly "washed-out", with faded female vocals, a loose bass, sparse synths. I feel like I've stumbled across this too late; my ears are telling me that it's still summer, but the weather begs to differ.

I've been reading Jameson and Baudrillard for my MA, and it strikes me that bands such as Summer Camp do both reaffirm and challenge what we might think of as "postmodern" culture. Whilst they seem to be exhibiting forms of "pastiche" as Jameson terms it - a recycling of the forms of the past, albeit without the knowingness of satire, a kind of "blank parody" - I don't feel that contemporary music scene has nothing to offer. This is where bands like Summer Camp approach Baudrillard's idea of the simulacra; it's the 60s summer as seen from the 21st century, referencing not the 60s themselves but nostaligic visions of the 60s. We've had a spate of these bands recently, and I feel they're taking a very modern aesthetic whilst ostensibly dressing it in the trappings of 1960s pop.

But that's not to say that it's not enjoyable; every generation needs its own 1960s. I wasn't there - I don't remember it - so this is my version to appropriate and call my own. And, to be fair, they are actually quite good.

Summer Camp: Round the Moon

: Ghost

Warpaint // Undertow

Warpaint : Undertow

Bag Raiders

Don't know too much apart from they are dancey and Australian. And are not Cut Copy.

Bag Raiders : Gone Away
Bag Raiders : Castles In The Air

via

Caribou // Leave House (Remix)

If you like the slow build, check out this remix of Swim's second best track.

Caribou : Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)

via

Fontella Bass // Soul of a Man

Fontella Bass' B-Side to Rescue Me.

Fontella Bass : Soul Of A Man

Deerhunter // Halcyon Digest

Behind the drag curve again on this one - Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest has been considerably blogged about already - but I like to take my time and arrive at a full critical apprehension of a record before I go wasting valuable blog space extolling its virtues. Quality, not quantity, at Music on the Sea.

Halcyon Digest is an excellent record - I've loved Deerhunter ever since Cryptograms, and revisiting Microcastle this week has reminded me of just how good they are. They have a real signature sound - you know it's a Deerhunter track you're listening to, from the distinctive progressions and melodies, let alone Bradford Cox's voice (or Lockett Pundt's, for that matter). The songs are self-contained and yet, like the cover of Cryptograms, draw you inside and have a meandering, wandering quality that manages to avoid becoming vapid. The dichotomy between their more ambient and their more poppy / rocky tracks is much less pronounced that in the very overt split of the first record. For those of you, like me, whose favourite track on Microcastle was the haunted doo-wop of Twilight at Carbon Lake, there are a few tracks here with the spirit of the 50s, which I've particularly enjoyed.

Deerhunter: Desire Lines

Pariah // Prism

So no sooner had R&S released James Blake's recent outing (see below), they also pop up with other dubstep up-and-coming London producer, Pariah's Safehouses. Apparently good things come in threes, so I imagine Burial will release something tomorrow and then I'll never post about dubstep again.

Pariah : Prism

In case you missed it:
The xx : Basic Space (Pariah remix)