With 2013’s We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic and 2014’s …And Star Power, California’s Foxygen melded psychedelic constellations of scattered genius and pop music ephemera.  Latest LP Hang represents the pair’s most elaborate collage of ideas yet.  While Hang’s elements of baroque pop and swinging vaudeville may prove a little more challenging than previous helpings, it’s difficult to deny that with their loftily conceptual album the duo’s tangled brilliance fires off like never before. Sounding wearied but enthusing at moment’s notice, frontman John French talks about political interpretations of lead single Follow the Leader, his intuitive songwriting dynamic and a shared affinity with other like-minded bands passing through bandmate Jonathan Rado’s L.A. studio.

Foxygen has been together now for over a decade. Starting out, did you ever think the group was something that would last this long?

I don’t know, I think that we always thought we would do it until we were old men or something.

Your albums are always quite distinct and have all gone in different as well as interesting musical directions, but for me, Hang really came as sort of a left turn with the Golden Age of Pop era LA treatment you’ve given tracks like Up On the Hill. What drew you into this new direction?

It’s hard to pinpoint now where everything comes from, we test so many ideas. I think somewhere along the line we just had this picture of a crooner in front of an orchestra and we kept shifting towards that until it appeared.

The lyrics of Follow The Leader struck me having this really coy sense of pop ambiguity. In the way that it’s invoking these slickly sweet songwriting staples of love and romance, but given the current political climate it almost leaps out as a protest song. What was yours and Jonathan’s intention when you were putting the song together?

Our records are kind of experimental in a sense, but we always kind of ground them all with a single or two, that’s just what you have to do. That’s really what we were going for at the time, but you know I have a tendency to write these broad and inspirational sort of songs, I don’t really know why specifically, maybe for me to get through my own life or something. I was just trying to create an inspiring, fun song. But it and the whole record has taken on a whole lot of meaning since then. A lot of people interpret it in really cool ways that I keep hearing about, so in a way, it’s always unfolding for me too.

Some artists are very strictly protective of the intention they put into their songs, but it sounds like you’re really receptive to what other people are reading in…

Thanks! My favourite lyrics are always inferred lyrics. When I find out what the actual lyrics to a song are I always feel like my first interpretation of it was better. I think that’s what is great about listening to music, that random element.

To me your work, even going back to the older albums, has so many ideas musically and lyrically. But at the same time everything always somehow hangs together really well. It always gels. How do you determine what works and what doesn’t?

Well I appreciate that. You know honestly for me as a songwriter everything just gestates in my head like a soup. I never like sit down and write. [Jonathan] Rado and I rarely have to sit down together to figure stuff out and put in the elbow grease. I think it’s because our music’s so conceptual, our music has evolved over such a long period of time. There’s a lot of trust and intuition, it’s all intuition I guess.

In a past interview with Aquarium Drunkard, Jonathan talked about this idea that a lot of elements of the album that were inspired by “American music.” Leading single America not withstanding, it’s a common theme running through the album. Hang is full of touches of vaudeville, country, soul, big band, Tin Pan Alley, 70s FM rock and jazz. What is it about all these sorts of music that ties them all together as distinctly “American”?

I think inherently because we grew up in L.A. there’s a lot of the Hollywood imagery already embedded in our minds. We were trying to view Hang as a kind of Hollywood album and therefore an American album. It was concocted by a city that was built to make movies. It was about trying to interpret American history in this weird way. We were trying to concoct these images and I think that inherently ended up being us interpreting ‘20s and ‘30s music through our lens of the ‘70s.

In December I was talking with Max Kakacek from Whitney whose latest LP, Light Upon the Lake, Jonathan produced. Max described how he thought there was this affinity for what his band were doing and what Foxygen had been doing before them. Do you feel there is this sort of shared affinity between the two bands?

I learn about a lot of good music just because Rado produces so many great bands. So many people are just in and out of his studio. I lived a sort of enclosed life before Rado started producing but through him I’ve been introduced to such good music, Whitney, Alex Cameron and The Lemon Twigs, people like that. So yeah, I do have an affinity for all those groups who come through Rado’s studio. He tends to work with people who are looking for a specific aesthetic. Rado’s main project being Foxygen, I sort of just relate to all that music, it’s cool.

You were talking before about how your writing flows really easily with Jonathan. I’ve been reading up on and talking to other artists a little bit lately about writing on the road, on the move. Most people don’t seem to be able to pull it off (except Neil Young apparently). What’s your take?

I feel like a lot of people, they sit down with a sheet of paper and guitar and say “I’m going to work now.” That’s not really how it works for me and Rado. At this point, we’re just able to bounce things around in our heads. I write on piano, but I don’t need to most of the time, I just bounce things around in my head.

It’s interesting that you compose with piano considering that, going back to the whole The Beatles sing-songwriter thing, a lot of the great rock and pop songs have come from guitar…

Well the guitar is kind of a weird instrumental, it looks kinda medieval or something! It seems like a weird instrument to end up being this thing that makes all this music. But the spirit of rock and roll has always been something we believe in, we love those elements! We’re just suckers for rock and roll.

What’s coming next in 2017?

We’re just gonna tour until people don’t want us anymore. We’ll just tour, we’ll go wherever people wanna see the show and then some recording maybe.

Any plans on coming down under?

I’d love to, I love all the Australian people that I know and I love a lot of music that’s from there. I’d love to come soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-tZ1gbc2pQ

Image: Facebook 

Pairing sensuous R&B vocals with an undercarriage of techno and pop music ephemera, Jessy Lanza’s second LP Oh No found a welcoming home in many of 2016’s ‘Best Of’ end of year lists. A critics’ favourite, the album traverses the pure pop staples of love and longing with resonantly earnest lyricisms and idiosyncratic production. Lanza weaves a unique vision of an intelligent yet emotive strain pop, delivered it on her own effervescent terms. When not on the road battling a demanding touring schedule the hardworking producer-songwriter resides in the small Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario trading musical ideas with collaborator Jeremy Greenspan. Ahead of her Australian debut at 2017’s Sugar Mountain and Sydney Festival, we caught up with the eccentric artist to discuss the influence of Caribou’s Dan Snaith and the key drivers of her creative process.

Relative to first album [Pull My Hair Back], Oh No put forward a more minimalistic, poppier and vocal-driven sound. Were you anxious about how listeners would react to the stylistic jump?

Yes, there was moment in time where I was feeling really self-conscious about singing without affecting my voice as heavily as I’d done on the first album. But then, I just had this moment where I realised that if I was going to do another album I might as well just go for it! I realised that I just didn’t care if people didn’t like my voice because “sounded shitty,” who am I trying to impress? I think a lot of singers that I admire have really strange voices and it was like there was some weird person inside of me that was trying to get out. Like am I trying to sound like a Disney princess? I don’t know! But it just occurred to me that I was worried about trying to impress some person that didn’t exist; the album was just me needing to come away from that sort of thinking a little bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C216ZRVOM5A

I love the freestyle influence on Never Enough. What inspired you to go in that direction?

That song was directly inspired by the project I worked on with Morgan Geist called The Galleria. That was a freestyle project and you’re right in the sense that I was totally ripping off what Morgan had done *laughs*. I was so happy with that project and so excited to work on it. After I began working on Never Enough and VV Violence as well, those songs are directly influenced by the project with Morgan.

Many artists define their music in opposition to pop. But with you seem to embrace it, albeit on your own creative terms. Do you think there should be more room for people exploring their own pop sounds within the conveyer-belt industry of Top 40 pop?

I like things that are more experimental. I like a lot of ambient music. I like things that aren’t catchy that don’t have hooks, but I feel like I have always come back around to songs that have melodies I can remember. For me that’s what defines pop music, pop music is things that are catchy and have hooks. I think ultimately that’s my favourite type of music. It’s what I like and what I keep coming back to listen to over and over again. So I think that my music is directly inspired by that because I’m not going to pretend to be something other than that. It’s what I always come back to, what I try to emulate the most.

Jeremy Greenspan (also one-half of fellow Canadian electro-pop duo Junior Boys) has been your partner in writing and production for the last two LPs. How would you characterise your creative dynamic?

Jeremy is really great to work with because he accepts that, in the same ways I do, that the majority of what we do is no going to be good. In order to make something that’s good you really have to go through a lot of bad material and he’s not embarrassed about that. This makes me feel like I can write something that’s shitty or do something that’s bad. Some people have an ego that’s too big for that or they don’t want to make themselves vulnerable in that way.  You know? They have that air which is like “I’m a genius and everything I make it amazing,” which is just total bullshit.

So it’s an ego-free environment?

Yeah, It’s just fun, he doesn’t take himself too seriously, he’s gun to work with and we never fight in the studio. He comes at it from a fun place which is great for me because often it’s too easy to take what you’re doing too seriously.

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

You’ve collaborated as well as toured with Caribou’s Dan Snaith. But funnily enough, you’ve actually known him for some time. I’ve heard that you went to high school in the same city?

He’s a bit older so I didn’t know him at the time, he and Jeremy and Dan knew each other in high school, but I definitely knew of them because people who do electronic music in Hamilton are very few and far between. When I was in high school they were like touring internationally which was a really big deal! I always looked up to them.

What are your impressions of Dan as an artist coming from a similar background?

Dan and Jeremy have something in common; they’re both really incredible musicians. Dan played piano in the jazz band in Hamilton; Jeremy’s a really good guitar player. I think the thing I really admire about Dan is that he has this appreciation for a lot of different genres of music. He’s also of this mentality where he works really hard on his albums and he’s put out a lot of albums. For him, it didn’t happen overnight. I’m trying to remember where Swim is in his discography, I think it’s his fourth album… he’s just put out so much music. I’m not going to speak for him, but he obviously has a passion for music. Even if Caribou wasn’t really big he’d still be doing it.

It seems like your music is constantly evolving. When you’ve reflected on your previous material in past interviews it has seemed like every one of your projects has informed where you have gone next, a lessons learnt sort of thing. What have you taken away from the latest album?

Oh my god, I honestly have no idea *laughs*. I really have no clue! I’ve been listening to a lot of music lately, as always, but I have no idea.

 

Jessy Lanza tour dates:

Fri Jan 20: Meriton Festival Village, Sydney Festival (Tickets)
Sat Jan 21: Sugar Mountain Festival, Melbourne
Sun Jan 22: Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Perth

Image Source: Windish Agency

For those who have made the trip to the nation’s southernmost limits, few would deny that Hobart stands as one of Australia’s most beautiful cities. Brisk arctic breezes sharpen the senses while sweeping natural vistas of the River Derwent and the ever domineering presence of Mt. Wellington imbue the city with a natural beauty. Well-preserved architecture sees the majority of the mountainous city free from towering mega-developments and forever cast in the grandery of Colonial, Georgian and Victorian eras.

Yet with an ageing population of only a little over 200,000, the cultural output of Australia’s second smallest capital city is often overlooked. To the outside world, it would seem that many of Tasmania’s artists operate in seclusion. Even if  this perception holds true, it’s those at the fringe of pop culture’s periphery who possess the greatest capacity to innovate or surprise.

But things are changing. The opening of eccentric millionaire David Walsh’s “subversive adult Disneyland” the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in 2011 accompanied by the museum’s biannual MONA FOMA and DARK MOFO festivals, has not only garnered the attention of creative minds domestically and abroad but also opened the city up to a new wave of cultural tourism. It’s beginning to rival the traditional hubs of Melbourne and Sydney as a destination for cultural tourism. More so than ever before there’s light shining on Hobart’s underground creatives.

The city’s music scene is no exception. Given its newfound boost cultural prominence, it’s an undeniably vibrant time for the southernmost city. While only scratching the surface, we called on three Hobartian music fanatics to provide a snapshot of the current state of the city’s musical underground.

Vinyl fanatic and co-owner of Hobart’s Tommy Gun Records for the last six years, Adam is well-placed within the local scene. “[The musical scene in Hobart] is pretty healthy I think,” he reflects. “When you work in here you get to know a lot of musicians. It does seem that there are a lot of bands for the size of the population. It’s a small town when it comes down to it but there are quite a few pretty good bands which have come out of the city recently.”

In his view, it’s artists from within the metal scene which are currently making the biggest impact outside of their home state. “Psycroptic and Ruins two big acts touring internationally,” he continues. “There’s also a lot of younger metal groups touring nationally.”

While metal might be a commercially visible genre, there’s a more eclectic mix of punk and indie acts which have been building buzz in 2016. “I’ve really been enjoying Power Nap, which kind of sounds like an early 80’s group off Dischord [Records],” Adam is quick to add. “Underground acts like The Native Cats, who are always great, and Heart Beach have been doing a lot this past year as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T-g071heuE

Adam’s store has welcomed the tourism MONA has brought to the city. He believes the benefits of this increased attention has definitely filtered through to the music scene. “It’s definitely had an effect on business, especially as far as retail sales go,” the shopkeep reveals. But he believes the real benefit is the platform the festivals are giving resident artists to promote themselves and reach a wider audience. “Normally we try to do something in here around Dark Mofo as well,” he adds. “We’ll often have two or three bands playing which might not be playing the festival in-store prior to the big events.”

As a member of local underground act, Naked and the mind behind Hobart’s Wrong Place Records Ronnie Fisher possesses a near encyclopaedic knowledge of Tasmania’s underground music. While themes of isolation are often used by outsiders to describe the music of Hobart, Ronnie disagrees. “[The idea of ‘isolation’] is a running joke for us,” he shares. “We don’t feel any more or less isolated. At risk of sounding Kumbaya, I think the Hobart scene is perhaps more open, collaborative, and less careerist, which is perhaps a necessity attributable to our size. I think bands don’t feel like they have to prove themselves to anyone else, which means there’s space to be eclectic and esoteric.”

He struggles to determine whether the cliched relationship between the climate and the city’s music rings true. “I’d say it’s somewhere in between,” he finally concludes. “For example, it’s hard to imagine a band like Drunk Elk originating in Brisbane.”

He’s initially critical of the impact of MONA. “MONA and the associated festivals have brought increased national and global attention to Hobart sure, but I think a lot of that attention is directed at MONA itself,” he laments. “For outsiders, it’s a reason to come here, but I think there has been less benefit to the underground music scene than people might assume. Bands from Hobart are largely ignored by the festival curators, the same handful of bands are generally chosen to play every year.”

But the ties between the festivals and the underground scene might be strengthening. “With the likes of Quivers and Catsuit playing Dark Mofo’s Blacklist event this year and All The Weathers being part of the 2017 MONA FOMA I’ve got some cautious optimism,” he adds. This said many local artists still capitalise on the increased tourism by planning their own events during festival periods. “The best thing is that those festivals also bring more people to alternative events that coincide with the official shows, both people from out of town and locals who are for whatever reason more inclined to check out music and art if it’s during MONA,” Ronnie adds. “During the festivals, The Brisbane Hotel curates killer lineups; equal parts touring bands, Hobart’s best underground bands and local artists’ installations. Other events such as Hobart + Music = Yeah! and my own Wrong Place Records shows are doing the same. Interstate bands are more interested in coming down to do those shows during festival periods.”

Fisher wasn’t holding back when it came to listing his favourite bands and albums of 2016. “My favourite new band this year is The Foxy Morons, who sound what it would be like if all The Velvet Underground’s songs were sung by Mo Tucker,” he states with genuine enthusiasm. “The standout release of the year is certainly the Centre of Their World cassette by Treehouse. Other great releases include Steven Wright’s album Repetition, All The Weathers’ Tactile Textiles cassette and Wasted Idol’s Free Az LP. [Label] Rough Skies Records also put out killer 7”s from Heart Beach and Mount Trout.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUfvVf9QYPk

As a local music fan and frequent contributor here on Howl & Echoes, writer Alex Crellin shares a similar enthusiasm for the city’s music. “There are always going to be hidden gems in any town, no matter the size, but in Hobart it’s really easy to find great artists,” he contends. Crellin doesn’t view the city’s smaller size as a disadvantage. “There’s a really cool level of continuity in the music scene down here,” he adds. “You go to a gig and you’ll see a lot of people you know, just by chance.” Crellin’s standout acts for 2016 include the sound collages of noise artist Olm and the melodic angst of dream pop duo Sarah Lacey Ann.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/229546872″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=’166′ iframe=”true” /]

Alex believes that the impact of MONA is not something to be understated. It’s a breath of fresh air for resident music fans. “MONA has had a huge impact on Hobart in general, and the music scene is no exception,” he states. “Even five years ago, we never really got any big names down here. But now Hobart’s become a cultural island. MONA’s put us on the map, especially for the more hip crowd. Hobart’s now known for more than old things and wine. Even bands that aren’t associated with MONA are coming down here.”

It would seem that even for those who aren’t entirely sold on MONA’s newfound influence, there’s still a begrudging appreciation. Hobart’s growing prominence is affording the city’s tight-knit community of musicians a platform to reach out to a broader audience. In turn, local fans are benefiting from more Australian and international acts looking to bring their music southward. Yet despite the boons the subversive gallery has brought to the city in the past five years, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the talented collection of local musicians would continue to thrive nonetheless.

Image: DiscoverTasmania.com 

Neil Young has penned protest songs on just about everything, from the Iraq War to Michael Jackson‘s Pepsi endorsement. Yet it seems that his resolve has only strengthened with age. Now, the ever outspoken Young – and 2017’s Bluesfest headliner – will continue waging the campaign for waging heavy peace with his latest album Peace Trail.

Predominantly an acoustic helping, Young’s latest album was cut in Rick Rubin‘s Shangri-La Studios alongside accomplished session musicians Jim Keltner on drums and Paul Bushnell on bass. If the Candian ex-pats recent track Indian Givers is anything to go by, the singer’s creaky, but ever-emotive vocals will drive the album.

Indian Givers protests the controversial construction of an oil access pipeline close to a Dakotan Indian reserve. Taken in conjunction with newly revealed song titles My New Pledge and Texas Rangers, there’s little question the album will continue on this overtly political bent.

This said, track titles like Terrorist Suicide Hang Gliders and My New Robot hint at more lighthearted and surrealistic helpings; Young’s ambitious creative strides have often led to his most compelling work, so these tracks may well be the most engaging spins.

The singer has also teased that he’ll be eschewing some of his usual proclivity for good old fashioned recording and working in some auto-tuned vocals. It’s not the first time the artist has modulated his voice, a vocoder obsession in 1982 led to Trans one of the singer’s most outlandish records. Nevertheless, auto-tuned Neil Young certainly will be interesting.

While a final release date has yet to emerge, Young has let drop that the album will be available in January. Peace Trail will be available released as a CD, digital download, cassette, vinyl and of course via Young’s hi-fidelity Pono format.

Check out the full tracklist, below.

https://youtu.be/CM-NkM-dIDA

Peace Trail:

01 Peace Trail
02 Can’t Stop Workin’
03 Indian Givers
04 Show Me
05 Texas Rangers
06 Terrorist Suicide Hang Gliders
07 John Oaks
08 My Pledge
09 Glass Accident
10 My New Robot

Image: Mercury News

With Bombay Bicycle Club scattered to the four winds by indefinite hiatus, the indie quartet has made clear in no uncertain terms that fans shouldn’t be expecting new music anytime soon. While it might be little surprise that frontman Jack Steadman has taken this opportunity to release a steady stream of solo tracks, bassist Ed Nash has also been turning out some equally arresting material as Toothless.

A multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and vocalist in his own right, Nash’s tracks cut a seductive blend of brooding ambiance and ethereal indie-folk. Tracking down the London local at Brisbane’s Foundry Records of all places, we talked to the Bombay bassist about stepping into the role of frontman as well as the influence of Beach House and Kurt Vile on his forthcoming LP.

Ed: All my favourite music is coming out of Australia, all the people who are really killing it with guitar music are all seemingly from this area of the world.

Rock music might be a part of our DNA.

I agree!

You’ve spent the last 10 years as part of the rhythm section of Bombay Bicycle Club. Has it been difficult stepping into the role of frontman in Toothless?

In terms of the making of the music, I’ve found that quite easy. I’ve enjoyed being in creative control, writing the music and all that. That’s the side I’ve found enjoyable. The side you’re talking about, the public side I’ve found quite difficult. I’ve enjoyed playing bass in Bombay Bicycle Club. You get less attention, but it’s good because you can stand on stage and play some great music.

So you’re a reluctant figurehead?

I don’t know about reluctant, maybe just unpractised. The other thing is that I haven’t had that much chance to do it, I’ve only played about six or seven shows…

One of which was the Glastonbury Festival…

I’ve played some good shows, but that side of things, especially at shows, it’s harder. You know I don’t know how people can be so witty. You go to shows and people are so quick, but maybe that comes over time. Then again maybe it’s built into the personality.

The vocalist can generally be a little more melodramatic than the rest of the group. Is building that persona something you’ve had to work upon?

It’s still something I’m working on. Because I’ve played so many shows with Bombay I never feel nervous on stage. I don’t think anything I’ve done with Toothless has looked awkward like it can be with new bands. But I probably need to step up more. A lot of people like being the centre of attention, but I more enjoy writing music. It’s my prime reason for doing this.

Bombay Bicycle Club bandmate Suren de Sarem has been filling in on drums for Toothless live. What are his strengths as a percussionist?

It’s funny and it’s strange; you build that tightness over a period of time. I guess he’s not really officially in the band because it’s just me recording and playing everything but he’s done all the live shows and I wouldn’t even think about doing it with anyone else. He’s a classical musician originally so the way he plays and the way he practices is very rigorous. He likes to be on top of things and he doesn’t make mistakes, which is absolutely fantastic! It means I don’t have to put in all the work. If I was to play with anyone else it would be sloppy.

Terra, Palm’s Backside and Sirens. There are folk-leaning undertones and a certain sense of downtempo sparsity to these tracks. Are these elements that you’ve been trying to bring out in your music?

I haven’t intended to, but I agree with you’ve said there. A lot of people compare Toothless to what we were doing with Bombay, but I didn’t write the songs in Bombay. They were Jack’s songs, so I think the way we all write outside of that band is going to be different.

The folk influence is certainly there. The way I play guitar is fingerpicked. I really got into Kurt Vile’s albums at an early stage, he has certainly influenced the album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj8k00BamU0

Terra is something you’ve only recently written. But what about the other tracks? Are there these musical ideas you’ve been sitting on for a while?

There are some musical ideas that have been around for some time like a little riff or parts of a song. Things like that have been kicking around for six or seven years but I’ve always been so busy with Bombay Bicycle Club to put them together. Creating concise songs is only something I’ve been doing recently. Before it was quite instrumental, technical guitars and things like that…it’s definitely not what this is.

You worked with The Staves for Sirens and Marika Hackman for Palm’s Backside. Are there any more collaborations up your sleeve?

I’ve got one or two, I’m not sure whether or not I should say.

I’ve got one of the guys from Wild Beasts to sing on a song! the guy with the low voice, Tom [Flemming]. I love Wild Beasts. They’ve both got fantastic voices, but I’ve always wanted to hear more of Tom’s voice on their records. It’s so good.

Would you say that your forthcoming LP is a collaborative album?

All the songwriting and ideas are from me. When I’m getting people in it’s to do the things that I can’t do myself or raise a song to another level.

Is there an element of being a fan to some of these collaborations?

Very much with Wild Beasts. Tom’s got this low baritone which isn’t something I can do at all *laughs*. His voice could so perfectly do what I wanted. With The Staves there’s this song called Sirens and the story is about these beautiful women luring these sailors to their deaths. I thought, “It would be amazing to get The Staves to come and do that!” obviously, I couldn’t do that! With Marika Hackman it was a duet, I love her voice. I don’t feel it’s been collaboration for the sake of it.

https://soundcloud.com/toothlessband/the-sirens

Producer Chris Coady has mixed and mastered five of the tracks from your forthcoming LP. Coady has recorded with everyone from Beach House to TV On The Radio and turned out some absolutely fantastic albums in the last five to seven years. What drew you to record with him? He hasn’t worked on any Bombay stuff…

The way I wanted to do it was I make the album in my London studio. I wrote the songs, then Jack [Steadman] and I recorded and produced the album. The idea was then to get someone else to mix it and add their own thing to the album. I’ve always loved the mixing on the Beach House records.

I feel that Beach House’s style of production has really come through in your music. There’s this sense of space…

What Chris does, it’s unreal. Even before he saw them the songs were good all the same. Jack and I were happy with what we did as rough mixes, but we sent them off and what we got back was just unreal! It’s like all the bits sound the same, but they’re in 3D or something. I don’t know how he does it, it’s like a dark art! We literally couldn’t do what he does and we’ve been working in studios for years. His Beach House stuff sounds absolutely fantastic.

Would you rate Beach House as an influence on what you’re doing?

I think some of it. Certainly, in both the style of the music and the production which Chris has done with them.

What else can fans expect on the debut record?

What can they expect? This is probably an incredibly cocky thing to say, but I feel like I’m just getting started. There are ten tracks on the new record, it’s a good album all the way through. The three songs that are out now will be on the record of course, but I’ve also withheld some stronger songs.

So you’re already thinking of a follow-up?

Very much so, I’ve finished this one and the way I like to work aligns with the way music is right now. People want the next thing almost immediately! I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I’m going to start writing really soon and see what happens!

Image: Toothless

It’s no secret that The Weeknd has been hard a work producing a new album.

The latest event in a long lead-up to what could be one of the artist’s biggest releases to date, the Canadian singer has deleted all of his previous Instagram posts. This included the singer’s most recent post which included the caption “This my last post before the new era.”

His unconventional Instagram manner coincides with a cryptic Tweet from September 15:

https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/771787040455208960

While Abel could simply be excited for a change in season, it could also hint that something big is on its way. Given that Autumn kicks off on September 22 in the Northern Hemisphere, the cool transition may coincide with a surprise release.

While what exactly the release will entail remains unknown, the artist has been teasing a steady stream of details on an unnamed album being recorded at Hollywood’s Conway Studios. In a lengthy interview with  VMAN Abel revealed that the album is “the best-sounding” LP he’s ever made. Further details include that the LP will draw inspiration from Talking Heads, The Smiths, Bad Brains, Prince, and DeBarge. It is also rumoured that the artist has cut a new track in collaboration with legendary French duo Daft Punk.

Any new album would follow-up on The Weeknd’s sophomore record Beauty Behind The Madness. Given that the LP only dropped in August 2015, more sceptical fans could be forgiven for thinking that it could be a little while before a full-length studio album will emerge. But at the very least it seems almost certain there’s going to be some sonic snippets of things to come.

Image: PlayBuzz

Accompanied by Fugees producer John Forte, Pusha T climbed atop a portable sound system in the middle of a crowded prison yard in order to help put an end to the pipeline of young offenders from Californian schools to state prisons.

Part of a statewide #SchoolsNotPrisons tour, the performance at Calipatria State Prison is the fourth in a series of gigs proposed to promote greater government investment in health and education. Of particular focus is the need to provide a future for those who have served time in the state’s correctional facilities, something critical to the financial well-being and health of inmates following release.

https://twitter.com/dreamhampton/status/777929333121757186

“Putting an end to mass incarceration is important to me,” Pusha T stated in a press release for the event. “It’s something I’ve watched destroy a generation of my peers. I was able to go to Calipatria and see there was still inspiration and hope in the inmates, that was motivation for me to keep fighting for this cause.”

Forte is himself an ex-con. He was charged with cocaine possession, intent to distribute, and conspiracy to distribute in 2000. Forte was pardoned in 2008. Since his release the producer has focused his work on helping at-risk youth.

HipHopDX asserts that Californian prisons incarcerate more than 128,000 people at a cost of over $11 billion each year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GKL_ZoJQjc

Image: HipHpDX

While Jack White recently appeared on Later … With Jools Holland to perform an acoustic rendition of We’re Going To Be Friend, an extended version of the White Stripes co-founder’s appearance has now emerged.

It turns out that there were another two songs and an interview which didn’t make the final cut of the broadcast. With Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page also present, White talked with Holland about his new compilation Jack White Acoustic Recordings 1998 – 2016. The frontman reflected on the arduous task of whittling down three hours of material to make the final tracklist. This included removing all of the live and cover tracks, something which will no doubt leave die-hard fans hungering for a future release.

White also reflected on collaborating with Beyonce for her Lemonade LP, referring to the diva as “very beautiful.” He also discussed the efforts of his label Third Man Records to launch a proof turntable into outer space.

https://youtu.be/fF4V3FbT-U0

Of the two solo arrangements that didn’t make it to air, the first was another track from The White Stripes’ discography, Sugar Never Tasted So Good. Having initially appeared on the White Stipes eponymous LP, the latest version is an even bluesier iteration than the original.

https://youtu.be/Zpg1hUw8LcQ

White also performed a stripped-down version of Just One Drink from his 2014 solo LP Lazaretto.

https://youtu.be/4yxbCL2rOBY

Image: Pitchfork  

It’s been a bit of a turbulent year for the Sydney leg of the Defqon.1 Festival following the widely publicised death of a 26-year-old festival-goer at the 2015 event. The drug-related death followed a similar incident in 2013 where another 23-year-old patron died under similar circumstances. The Defqon deaths tie into a wider pattern of drug-related festival deaths which continue to provoke fan debate over harm minimisation and Australian drug culture.

While there were no recorded fatalities at the 2016 event, an increased police presence led to 77 arrests for possession of illegal drugs. From the 25,000-strong crowd present at Sydney’s International Regatta Centre, a further six were slapped with the more serious criminal charge of supplying prohibited drugs. Another 44 patrons returned positive results for drug driving.

The festival task force represented the largest to have attended the festival to date, comprising of not only members of the Penrith Local Area Command but also additional officers from Sydney’s North West Metropolitan Region and the NSW Dog Squad.

Additional arrests were made in relation to alcoholism and anti-social behaviour.  630 random breath tests were conducted, with eight punters charged for drunk driving. There was also a heightened medical presence and 200 attendees received medical treatment with six of these requiring hospital transport.

With pill testing looking set to go ahead in all states bar NSW and increasing Government scrutiny of the harmful impacts of sniffer dogs at festivals, incidents like Defqon 1 may become a less common occurrence for Australian festival-goers. Until then though, punters may be faced with an increased risk of criminal sanctions while taxpayers continue to foot the bill.

Image: Sydney Morning Herald  

Read more: Stereosonic Founder Dispels Myths Around Drugs At Festivals

Those into Aphex Twin‘s Drukqs or the music of minimalist classical composers Eric Satie might immediately feel at home with the music of Nicolas Jaar. But for those whose listening habits may not fall so far afield, there’s little to fear. As much the New York producer might deride popular music, there’s something undeniably accessible to the producer’s work. Last week, news surfaced that Jaar might be releasing new music soon, so we’ve taken the opportunity to reflect on his music thus far.

At only 26 and already eight years into his career, Jaar has turned out an impressive, albeit convoluted body of material. His tapering experimental music often sets itself above a more familiar undercarriage of deep house or hip-hop rhythms, occasionally peppered by his own rich vocal tones. Elastic timekeeping and evasive drum kicks signify the producers more conventional tracks. But other times tracks drift beatlessly, existing within alien sound worlds of ambient and neo-classical spontaneity.

The son of Alfredo Jaar, a Chilean-American multimedia artist and architect, it’s perhaps from his father that Jaar inherits an artistic temperament and his project hopping proclivities. Jaar may not be intentionally mysterious, but will often abandon projects and sounds shortly after adopting them, leaving fans endlessly guessing where and when he’ll traipse to next. These shifting trajectories might reflect a desire to subvert or reinterpret norms, but are also rooted in a deeply creative sense of self-exploration. Concurrently cerebral and intuitive, Jaar’s music, both solo and collaborative, often courses high-minded inspirations into a physical and intimate world of dance music.

Providing a steady musical output, Jaar has skirted away from a steady stream of albums. Instead he embraces the fluidity of electronic music. Mixes, weighty singles, remixes and collaborations form constituents parts of a labyrinthine output. Like his music itself his discography is organic. Rather than attempting to top or recreate safe-bet success, it fumbles, sidesteps and hesitates. It constantly shifts, enmeshed a constant state of renegotiation. It tells its own story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RieXq8zGIc

Wolf + Lamb

Upon hearing Tiga‘s DJ Kicks mix in 2004, Jaar uncovered his curiosity for electronic music. After seeking out a local  record store a knowing clerk forwarded the would-be artist a copy of Chilean producer Ricardo Villalobos‘ Thé Au Harem D’Archimède. Jaar begun cutting his own tracks shortly after. It wasn’t long before the 17 year-old producer’s The Student caught the ear of NYC post-minimal house and techno label Wolf + Lamb; the track’s scraping beats and mutating piano fills exemplifies the experimentation and self-exploration which has since characterised Jaar’s career.

Jaar’s unconventional production perhaps nudged the label even more so than they influenced him. While Jaar has derided his work with Wolf + Lamb, these formative tracks are a perfect introduction to the producer’s sparing minimalism and subtle experimentation. Jaar may not hold single Significant Others, compilation El Bandido and 2010 single A Time For Us in very high regard, yet in hindsight, it was these are the works which cemented the fledgling producer’s reputation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ob10-uhiLs

Clown & Sunset

Years after striking up an unlikely collaborative relationship with schoolmates Soul Keita and Nikita Quasim on an excursion to Mexico in 2004, Jaar co-founded the Clown and Sunset label with the pair in 2009. Working with his newly minted label, Jaar made contributions to a collaborative EP Democracy alongside Keita in 2009, and dropped single Russian Dolls in March 2010. Morphing between house and a kind of ethnic folk dance, the track marked an explorative precursor to his feted debut. He followed up with dubstep leaning Don’t Break My Love paired with the more beat driven Why Don’t You Save Me in 2011.

Jaar would also contribute John the Revelator and the theatrical Marquises to EPs Sunset of a Clown, Vol 1 and Sunset of a Clown, Vol 2 respectively. But the tripartite efforts of the label were not to last; the project was discontinued in August 2013 preceding the launch of Jaar’s new label Other People.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3-Oz7sjecE

Love You Gotta Lose Again

Ever productive Jaar dropped EP, Love You Gotta Lose Again via Double Standard Records in 2010. Comprised of three tracks, WOUH, Love You Gotta Lose Again and Don’t Believe the Hype each cut incorporates infectiously chugging slow grooves. This heavier beat centric minimal house played a more conservative counterpoint to Jaar’s previous output on Clown and Sunset or Wolf + Lamb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQg0S4F8gGU

Marks & Angles 

Released by Circus Company, a Parisian label curating unconventional material falling within the dance-music spectrum, Jaar’s Marks and Angles EP comprises of tracks Marks & Angles. The former returns to John the Revelator’s gospel-tinged slant. In contrast, the melancholy of Angles downtempo funk proves even more infectious. Like his earliest works, Jaar tackles a more conventional sound, but like never before he excels. There’s a balance of oddness and infectious rhythm that testifies to the producer’s ability to contextualise a sense of otherness within a more conventional sound.

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

Don’t Break My Love 

Jaar has cropped up in more than few compilations, but for the first time he curated his own via Clowns and Sunset. Released as both a cube-like musical device and more conventionally, the LP places Jaar in completed creative control. With contributions form the label’s stable of artists, it also featured two original cuts from Jaar himself. This said the standout is Nicolas Jaar, Will Epstein, Dave Harrington, and Ian Sims‘ collaboration Ishmael. Seductive Stygian brass evocative of John Zorn slides across a seductive rhythmic pulses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gnNagNjHCA

Darkside

Perhaps the most highly regarded release from Clown and Sunset was 2011’s Darkside EP. The collaboration came about after Jaar connected with his touring guitarist Dave Harrington through their shared improvisations. With Jaar working with as one-half of Darkside, the duo went on to release Psychic in 2013. The fan response to the hypnotic electronic psychedelia of the debut LP hinted that the success of the duo might quickly eclipsed Jaar’s solo work, and is today regarded as one of the most triumphant releases in his career and in the genre as a whole. Despite touring extensively following the success of the album, the group folded in 2014, breaking hearts of thousands. Given that the conclusion of the project was cryptically stated in the duo’s own words as “coming to an end, for now,” it seems very likely that future collaborations could be on the cards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk5OG5O3ZlE

Nico’s Bluewave Edits

Released July 2011, a number of unreleased remixes emerged as Nico’s Bluewave Edits via Wolf + Lamb’s offshoot, W+L Black. A somewhat tired revision of Missy Elliot’s Work It, is a reminder that these tracks throwback to the earlier era. Likely a quick cash in on Jaar’s success, the track is something which could have remained buried. The reworking of The Blow‘s Hey Boy shines brighter, but only the more radical reinterpretation of  Mike And The Censations’ soulful There’s Nothing I Can Do About It as What My Last Girl Put Me Through shows Jaar hit anything close to his usual stride.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ_hP3A0WXE

Space is Only Noise 2011 LP

Cut at age 21 while attending Brown University, Jaar’s debut LP is a celebration of the improvisational and spontaneous, something which can resonate just as deeply as anything within the tighter strictures of more rigid genre formats. It was with this album that Jaar came into his own. The gradually growing buzz surrounding his work reached fever pitch following the album’s release, shrouding debut LP Space Is Only Noise. To this day the album still does the best job of showcasing the immensity of Jaar’s formidable talents. At the time it’s low-speed BPM and experimental piano fills went against the grain New York and Brooklyn scenes. Rhythmic and melodic lures are used sparingly.  As IDM existed as a response to hardcore techno, Jaar’s music sits against the 128 BPM fuelled techno popular at the time of his debut.

Too Many Kids Finding Rain in the Dust channels the unlikely influence of Nick Cave, while Balance Her Within Your Eyes casts a serene soundscape. Spectres of the Future invokes the skipping beats, vinyl crackle of trip hop. the album easily remains the most accessible of Jaar’s works. The shear breadth of genres hopped, shows how formidable the full brunt of the producer’s creative focus can be. Touching on brilliance it’s remained his only album to date, leaving no shortage of demand for more. Following the release Jaar would later part ways with Circus Company. Shifting away from an album based approach, Jaar instead pursued a less conventional trajectory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-_c0o8LAaM

The Nymphs Series

Considering the erroneously numbered string of EPs known as Nymphs, argument can be made that the series can be considered to comprise an album of their very own. If not, at the very least a chapter in Jaar’s musical history. Separated over a course of a year, the releases proceed under a unifying philosophy of experimentation.

Nymphs III premiered the idea with the lengthy house experimentation of Swim and the piano led Mistress. Nymphs II followed on with the brilliant The Three Sides of Audrey and Why She’s All Alone Now and No One is Looking At U. Fight (Nymphs IV) melded glitch and levitational breakbeats into a single track of the same name. Nymphs I follows suite, with Why You Have to Save Me crescendoing into something which might resemble the artist’s most infectious dance track. There’s a distinctive sonic identity to the series. Whether Nymphs has concluded or will be contemporaneously ongoing alongside future albums remains unknown.

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

Pomegranates

Pomegranates served as an alternate soundtrack to 1969 The Colour of Pomegranates, by avant-garde Russian director Sergei Parajanov. Upon viewing the film, Jaar became so fixated that he composed and synced his own soundtrack. Here the producer continues to play with the convention of the album format; Pomegranates deftly sidesteps the demand for a follow-up to Jaar’s debut EP yet Pomegranates might sit closer to a full-fledged album.

This said the conceptual slant and noise leanings distance the work from the broader appeal of Space is Only Noise. Yet for those with more experimental leanings this may represent be Jaar’s greatest work. The strictures of film scoring push the producer’s minimalism to the extreme, providing a creative impetus that establishes the LP as one of Jaar’s most compelling outings.

Garden of Eden weaves dense, ambient and experimental noise. Shimmering textures and pain fills permeate the mix and the better part of the album. Churning and roiling with sound, the album melds into a self-contained soundworld. Muse touches on his recurrent and self-professed affinity for Erik Satie. Barring Club Capital, there’s a rhythmic scarcity to the LP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eycLcmCNZ04

Remixes

A host of remixes complement Jaar’s original works. With nearly two dozen ‘official’ remixes to his name, these reworkings are another wellspring of Jaar’s creativity. Tracks like Shlohmo’s Rained The Whole Time and Maceo Plex’s Gravy Train representing the apex of production nuance. There are also more straight ahead reworkings of bigger names like Architecture and Helsinki and Florence + The Machine. Jaar also worked with Grizzly Bear and Brian Eno, remixing works from their most recent albums for 2013’s record store day. For savvy fans there are a host of unofficial mixes floating around the ether of the web such as an uncredited remix of Kanye West’s Blood on the Leaves. Jaar is in turn, has included remixes of his own work on a number of his own releases and on compilation Nicolas Jaar – Remixes Vol. 1. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF3yEa4-vDs

Ephemera

While rock fans in the heyday of vinyl might have complained about the woes of tracking down obscure bootlegs, the confluence of cyberspace and electronic producers is infinitely more complex. The artefacts of Jaar’s music spreads ever outward. Best left to the die-hard fans, a little digging can reveal some compelling tracks. Jaar has continued on his obsession for film scores, producing the official soundtrack to 2015 French crime drama Dheepan. Jaar has also lent his production talents to tracks like DJ Sluggo‘s GHETTO and Dave Harrington‘s This There Was One Heart But a Thousand Thoughts.

Likening some of his efforts to feeling close to making an album itself, Jaar has also released a slew of mixes. These in themselves constitute densely entropic and experimental bodies of work, equally on par with Nicolas Jaar’s other works. His BBC mix bears all the artifice of an album; ambient background drones string together a fragmented soundscape calling on everything from Leonard Cohen to Twin Peaks, and ambient sounds lure the listener into a state of sublimation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7JQu06ylFM

Conclusion + Future Works

Nicolas Jaar is in some ways a conduit, someone who sees a long traditional of unconventional music and rather than lodge it in stodgy academic context or leave it languishing in obscurity laces it into his own production. Seen things with new eyes, he takes the role of a rebellious equaliser, spurred by creativity and indifference to popular concerns. His music snakes through to the true ambits of the artist; reinterpreting reality in different ways and finding the beauty in small detail.

Showing no signs of approaching critical mass, what is striking about Jaar’s work is simply the quality. With moments touching on pure brilliance, Jaar continues to excel as he expands his purview and absorbs new musical ideas. Jaar puts a youthful face and maverick enthusiasm to the sounds of cult composers. Discarding stodgier elements with something contemporary, Jarr may reject pop, but only insofar the notion delimits a bigger picture of music. His music is accidental, off-kilter and mesmerically dark as often as it’s joyous, inviting and slickly constructed. Often it rejects limitation, but it can equally work within conventional taste. Jaar’s music is constantly challenging, changing and renegotiation of self.

Announcing the conclusion of the Other People subscriptions service, earlier this month Jaar debuted a mysterious internet radio, the Other People Network. While official channels have remained ambiguous to what the project will entail, what is known is that it contains 333 channels of continuous sound. This news is accompanied by hints at a new project dubbed Sirens. Whether this will again see the producer flirting with the more conventional album format and focused effort, sit closer to the Nymphs series or take off in an unforeseen direction music remains to bee seen. Whatever is in store it’s likely to be worth the wait.

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

Image: Hypetrack