Music
Originally published on Tuesday, 15th January 2008
Circlesquare, British Columbia
Whether you’re an aural afficianado or just need some tunes to kick start the weekend, UJ’s sonorous sleuth scratches out the latest and greatest from the music scene for your listening pleasure.
Circlesquare
Welcome back! It feels like a while since the last Off The Record, and as such I thought it apt to re-introduce Vancouver resident, and ex-Output gent, Jeremy Shaw (aka Circlesquare). Monsieur Shaw’s moodily beautiful electronipop is so filled with post-hedonistic melancholy that James Murphy must be wondering what to do next. Check his LP, Songs About Dancing And Drugs, released on Monday. But if you can’t wait, grab a free download!
Download track here
Circlesquare will be playing live at Fabric Jan 24th with the likes of Swayzak, Dave Aju and bassbin bustin’ badboy Sety
Magic Arm
There’s something about that messy D.I.Y. beat-twinged folk sound that makes one feel rather irritated. Perhaps it’s the obligatory faux-naïveté. However, when done with the wit, skill and sheer aplomb of Marc Regisford’s pseudonym, one is simply left in awe. Check his blinding re-work of the aforementioned James Murphy’s classic, ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’. Impressive to say the very, very least.
MySpace page
La Roux
200&mine! Has been the call of Jan ‘09 thus far. And I suspect, at least for this Madame, she’s right on the money. Lean, 20 years of age, rolling deep with hipster label of choice Kitsuné, The Klaxons and, ahem…Lily Allen (she’s supporting her on her tour), it seems this chanteuse may indeed have the world at her feet. The music? It’s like the Louvre scene in Bande à part, but instead of art she speeds through ‘80s and ‘90s references, popping out the other end sounding like the future. Or The Eurythmics tweaked by a pre-Madonna Stuart Price.
MySpace page
UJ Top 5: What We're Loving Right Now
Electro Soul: New Look ‘Future Times’ [Unsigned]: Sweat-inducing, clever sexy, left of centre electronipop. Hot.
MySpace page
The sound of a dark hearted Id: Fever Ray ‘If I Had A Heart’ [Radid]: The aural equivalent of a twilight sans a glimmer of reprieve. Blindingly good. Website
Spacey disco: Pete Herbert ‘Red Room’ [Tirk]: Like a disco dream on Arabian sand dunes. MySpace page
Refreshingly positive folk: The Leaf Library ‘New Year’ [The Hooter Listens]: Something to whisk away those 200&nein blues. FREE DOWNLOAD HERE. MySpace page
An ode to a master: Frankie Knuckles x Animal Collective ‘Your Love My Girls’ [Unsigned]: The most beautiful homage to grace these weary ears for more than a NY minute now. Masterful. FREE DOWNLOAD HERE.