While we love watching Australian artists slowly crack the overseas market, it’s equally exciting when hidden gems from lands afar begin to stamp their mark on our own live scene.
Enter Phantogram, the dark electro-rock duo from New York who have had the J’s in a spin for the past few months over their single You Don’t Get Me High Anymore. Whilst members Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter have been turning heads for the better part of half a decade, the pair have only just begun to truly make an impression in Australia, having recently completed a huge run of summer dates taking in the likes of Beyond The Valley and Field Day.
We were lucky enough to catch the pair at the latter, finding the time to ask about what inspired their darkly impressionable third album Three, as well as what’s on the horizon for the new year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jryzEU7WAlg
It’s been a huge year for you guys. Talk us through your highlights?
Josh: Obviously releasing our new album was a big thing for us. It’s a very cathartic record so that’s been a good experience for us personally to put it out in the open and show that to people. Taking it around the world and seeing people respond so positively to the music has just been amazing for us. I think taking it over to Europe was definitely a big highlight.
As you’ve just mentioned, it’s a cathartic record. Sarah, you’ve said yourself that you’re drawn to dark music. Did that influence this album?
Sarah: It did in a musical sense. I think with what we’ve been through in the past few years this album more reflected individual experiences that both we and other people have been through. I had a death in the family right in the middle of recording, which affected the path of the album thematically.
In a way, we are lucky enough to have music as something which we can draw upon to heal and deal with trauma. I think that’s why this album has had such a darker feel to it.
Josh: As we get older we go through so many different experiences and meet so many different people so that in itself can open your mind to what other people go through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpxm1qWgzRA
Was it a scary experience sharing those personal experiences with so many people?
Josh: Like we said. it was more of a way that we could process everything. It’s been amazing meeting so many people around the world who have been able to relate to the record in their own way. I think that is what makes it all worth it for us, the fact that despite us opening up on such intense experiences, people are still able to relate to it in their own way.
At the end of the day, when you’re creating art, that’s the kind of reaction that I think you want to try and get out of people.
The album itself was very succinct – it ran for just over half an hour. Was that something that you guys did on purpose?
Sarah: It wasn’t something that we went out of our way to do, but we do like to keep things simple with records. The album itself has 10 songs, which we feel is a pretty good length for an album.
Josh: There are albums out there nowadays which are just too long, particularly in the hip-hop world. Like, that new Kanye West record (The Life Of Pablo) had like 20 songs on it or something. You don’t need to do that. If an album is too long then people are going to lose interest. If you keep things shorter it can have more impact, and that’s what we were going for on Three.
Just to wrap up, you guys have done a few collaborations in the past few years, including an amazing effort with Big Boi a few years ago. Are there any more collaborations coming up?
Sarah: For sure there are! We love collaborating with other artists, especially now with the internet. It’s so much easier. We can’t give too much away, but we are planning on having a big 2017 with some collaborations.
Josh: We’ve been doing some writing with artists over in the States for the past few months. One thing that I can tell you is that we did some music making with Odesza a few months back which was really great, so watch this space and we will see what happens!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsQjC5zVnt8
Image: Pitchfork
It has been a week of quality not quantity on the video front, and we have hand picked a short line up of clips that are just about as good as it gets from some world class acts at the top of their game. If you are looking for killer tracks backed by the highest quality visuals, we have got you covered. Check em out below!
Phantogram – You Don’t Get Me High Anymore
Shot on the vast and desolate landscapes of the Salton Sea, the clip for latest single from Phantogram’s upcoming album Three is a visual assault that romps through destruction like it’s a walk in the park. Guitarist/vocalist Josh Carter says You Don’t Get Me High Anymore is about “the loneliness in superficial relationships and that feeling of not being able to find happiness in places that were once so easy to come across.” We already fell in love with the amazing Big Grams collaboration with Outkast’s Big Boi in 2015, so we are counting the days until September 2nd when we will be treated to more genre defying walls of sound from these guys.
https://youtu.be/jryzEU7WAlg
Clipping – Baby Don’t Sleep
Experimental Californian hip-hoppers, Clipping, are back with a vortex of noise and light that is guaranteed to leave your head spinning. In the clip for track Baby Don’t Sleep the screen flashes with black and white bars like a TV stuck between frequencies providing a chaotic backdrop for the incredible flow of rapper Daveed Diggs. The visuals from artist Christopher Cichocki are the result of experiments with interference static, oscilloscopic wavelengths, and flicker-frame animation and compliment the spliced and jolted sounds of the trio’s producers, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. Baby don’t sleep? There is no way you will be able to after watching this. Album Splendor & Misery is out September 9th, you can pre-order here.
https://youtu.be/jkVIRXPG7oY
Banks & Steelz – Giant
If someone told my teenage self that in ten years I would see a collaboration between Interpol’s Paul Banks and Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA I would have laughed and told them that we’d sooner see Elton John pairing up with Ghostface Killah. But, here we are and the result, Banks & Steelz, is just about as insane as it sounds. In the clip to accompany track Giant we see RZA spitting his flawless brand of aggressive verse with Banks lingering in the background, interjecting at intervals with his affected new wave indie Brit vocals that carry the anthemic chorus. According to RZA the pair bonded over playing chess and vibing in the studio and the result is both confounding and catchy. Album Anything But Words is set to land on August 28th.
https://youtu.be/Jtf5isao73E
How to Dress Well – Lost Youth/Lost You
In the week’s LEAST safe for work video, How to Dress Well aka Tom Krell takes us on a sensual alt-pop journey with track Lost Youth/Lost You. An entanglement of bodies writhe across the scene in a hazy choreographed love-in, syncing to the smooth and sultry vocal track. Off upcoming album Care, it is an intimate exploration that isn’t afraid to mix tenderness with scale, soaring at times with euphoric and gigantic sound. The album isn’t due out until September 23 but you can pop this one on repeat for now and pre-order here.
https://youtu.be/_6kGupEINJg
Check out the NSFW version here.
Urthboy – The Arrow feat. Timberwolf
Aussie favourite Urthboy this week treats us to a new clip made by long time fan and animator Dominic Aldis. With nothing but lead and paper he has created a stunning four minute journey that is made up of over 2,700 images and a whole lot of love. The autobiographical track recounts the ups and downs of the MC’s experience with label Elefant Traks and his quest to find purpose in an intense landscape. It is heartfelt and raw, with Timberwolf shining in his guest appearance. Great to see a gem like this surfacing in our own backyard. Show it some love and give it a spin.
https://youtu.be/_6kGupEINJg
Big Grams, the epic collaboration between Outkast alumni Big Boi and Phantogram, came together to offer up an electric performance of their hybrid R&B/electro-pop music for an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
The outfit performed tracks Goldmine Junkie and Drum Machine, with Big Boi and Sarah Barthel (who was sporting avian-inspired feather dress) out front while Josh Carter held it down in the back with the Maschine pad. The songs were performed alongside the Brooklyn Express Drum Line.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9nBUD4VSX0&w=560&h=315]
The songs are off the collaborative collective’s debut album Big Grams, a seven-track EP that originally came about after Phantogram worked with Big Boy on 2012 album Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumours.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLWarOqQyX8&w=560&h=315]
Broadcasting from the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House this week instead of its native Los Angeles, Big Grams performance was part of a string of high profile appearances. Even Marty McFly and Doc Brown managed to time-travel into the studio.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0VGRlEJewA&w=560&h=315]
Jay Z also managed to swing by the show earlier in the week, dishing on everything from his favourite New York pizzeria, to his wife Beyonce’s weird pizza eating habits and his upbringing in Brooklyn.
“She’s from Houston, first of all,” Jay Z said. “They don’t have pizza there.”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MudvLw8hLoo&w=560&h=315]
Even Ryan Adams made an appearance, performing a cover of Taylor Swift’s Welcome to New York from his version of 1989.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69HxXfjtH8c&w=560&h=315]
OutKast heavyweight Big Boi, and electro-indie duo Phantogram recently announced that they’ve officially joined forces for a new project called Big Grams. The whole thing comes out this Friday September 25, but they’ve unleashed another single to tantalise our ears until then. It follows on from the recently released Fell In The Sun.
As you might expect, it’s an interesting blend of hip hop and female-fronted electro-pop. These days we usually see electronic and hip hop coming together on heavier styles like trap, and it’s generally a lot more aggressive than this. Lights On, more even than Fell In The Sun, heavily focuses on the electro-pop side of things, with a Big Boi verse wedged in between the angelic melody, courtesy of vocalist Sarah Barthel, and the big Chvrches-esque singalong chorus. While the indie melody admittedly heads toward a top-heavy place, the thumping bass anchors the soundscape down, rounding it out nicely.
To briefly opine, I’m not as taken away by Lights On as I thought I’d be, but that may mostly be because it feels more like a Phantogram ft. Big Boi track than a real joint effort. That said, I loved Fell In The Sun, and I have high hopes for the rest. We still haven’t hear the Skrillex and Run The Jewels-featuring numbers, after all.
Anyway, we’ll get to see how it all pans out this Friday.
Big Grams Tracklist:
- Run for Your Life
- Lights On
- Fell In The Sun
- Put It On Her
- Goldmine Junkie
- Born To Shine [ft. Run the Jewels]
- Drum Machine [ft. Skrillex]
Pre-order Big Grams on iTunes
After making their debut live last month as the collaboration, Big Boi and Phantogram have finally released their first single under the moniker Big Grams. The trio revealed the song Fell in the Sun as the lead single form their forthcoming EP under the same name Big Grams.
The Outkast alumni joins the indie-pop duo for a song that is cinematic and spacious in scope, underplayed with some seriously slicks synth and rap hooks, featuring a shout out to Atlanta and New York, where Big Boi and Phantogram come from respectively, from the latter’s Sarah Barthel.
Big Boi, who was impressed by Phantogram’s Mouthful of Diamonds, reached out to the two after he shazaamed the song off an ad it was featured in. They collaborated together on three songs from Big Boi’s Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumours solo album, and it was only natural that their own EP, Big Grams, followed it.
The track debuted on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show and can be heard below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM0qq_WtH7U&w=560&h=315]
Big Grams Tracklist:
- Run for Your Life
- Lights On
- Fell In The Sun
- Put It On Her
- Goldmine Junkie
- Born To Shine [ft. Run the Jewels]
- Drum Machine [ft. Skrillex]
The album is out on September 25th and you can pre-order it on iTunes here.
The inevitable teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 has just come out and we are as stoked as any Hunger Games fans to see what the final installation has in store for us.
The eternal struggle between Katniss and President Snow continues in the finale of the epic film series, which features an all ensemble cast of actors like Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore, Liam Hemsworth and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. This last instalment of the franchise will also feature Game of Thrones actress Gwendoline Christie, who will appear as Commander Lyme.
But just as good as the film and franchise itself is the epic and custom-made soundtracks that the film series has spawned over its run, including the likes of Taylor Swift, Arcade Fire, Maroon 5, Coldplay, Sia, Phantogram, Charli XCX, Bat for Lashes and CHVRCHES.
Mockingjay – Part 1 earned praise for its especially excellent soundtrack – one curated by non other than Lorde herself, whose hit Yellow Flicker Beat peaked at 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. The New Zealander helped to assemble an all-star collection of singers to help create the soundtrack.
Even Jennifer Lawrence’s surprise hit The Hanging Tree (as sung by Katniss in the film) was added to the extended version of the soundtrack. Hell, even Kanye West got on board, remixing (or reworking) Lorde’s song into a track called Flicker.
Let’s hope the soundtrack for Mockingjay Part 2 will be just as star-studded as the last!
Check out the trailer here:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmYNkasYthg&w=560&h=315]
The release date for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is November 19.
Happy Sunday! Three sick new songs for you right here.
Wu-Tang Clan, Ruckus in B Minor
Yep, I’ve got a new Wu-Tang song for ya – and what a stunner it is. Produced by the musical Gandalf that is Rick Rubin, it features on their highly anticipated 20th anniversary album A Better Tomorrow, due out December 2. This is one hell of a classic Wu track where each member has a verse – and they’re slick as fuck. Not even going to spend more time describing it, just listen here.
This stream might take a few minutes to load, I couldn’t find it on Soundcloud. In the meantime, listen to the two tracks below!
Earl Sweatshirt, 45
At just over a minute long, I’m guessing that this is only the first part of a longer track, but it’s sick nonetheless. Raw and minimal, Sweatshirt’s signature voice over a basic beat and deep horns. Really digging this, and hopefully it means that we’ll soon be hearing more from Sweatshirt – possibly a follow-up to last year’s brilliant album Doris, eh??
Phantogram, Black Out Days remix ft. Danny Brown & Leo Justi
Phantogram hooked up with Brazil’s Leo Justi to remix their latest track Black Out Days, with an extra special MINUTE LONG verse from Danny Brown. Brown’s been collaborating with an unusually diverse group of artists lately, from Purity Ring and Vampire Weekend to Charli XCX. A manic remix that’s equally cool and club-ready, Brown’s unique lilt adds so much to this awesome tune.
As an added bonus, here is a Wu-Tang Flan.
