Zeitgeistmusic
fine selection of exquisite sounds
The Bad Feeds
Best viewed with
Gourmets
Shivaree
Shivaree - John, 2/14 (Rough Dreams, 2002)
Shivaree - Goodnight Moon (I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump, 1999)
www.shivaree.com
Film School
Film School - Like you know (Hideout, 2007)
Film School - 11:11 (Film School, 2006)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 16:19 | link | commenti (1)
Tags: post punk, us , film school, shoegaze
No Privacy
No Privacy - Blood over Denmark (Crime and Punishment, 2007)
No Privacy - The Shadow! (Crime and Punishment, 2007)
www.noprivacy.net
Hercules and Love Affair
It may be 2008, but no one's told Andrew Butler. This New York DJ/Producer, under the pseudonym 'Hercules and Love Affair', likes to rock like it’s 1977, providing Carter administration survivors with some good material for nostalgic journeys into the days of bell bottoms, roller derbies, and the occasional Saturday Night Fever. With Hercules and Love Affair, Butler brings disco into the new millennium hard and strong. Disco is defined as “a style of popular music for dancing, usually recorded and with complex electronic instrumentation, in which simple, repetitive lyrics are subordinated to a heavy, pulsating, rhythmic beat”, and Butler sets out to deliver just that; not a bastardized “update” on the genre, but a proper record that nails every aspect of what gives disco the reputation as an insane guilty pleasure its garnered over time.
Featuring the more than capable voices of Antony (of “& the Johnsons” fame), solo siren Nomi, and the seductive tone of DJ Kim Ann, Butler's record sports ten consistently charming tracks that prove monstrously entertaining when taken both in small doses and huge gulps. Take for example the lead single “Blind”; laden with hooks and a layered lung stretching vocal performance from the male third of the vocal trio, “Blind” serves as an appropriate choice for lead single, introducing listeners to the Hercules and Love Affair sound with a pulsating beat that envelops as much as it grooves. Even at a deceptive six minutes long, “Blind” never grows tiring, instead providing seemingly endless amounts of dance-floor joy, perfectly embodying what Butler attempts to create with his Hercules and Love Affair experiment.
While the loose Greek mythology concept introduced in “Hercules’ Theme” and “Athene” is abandoned for most of the album, the tone is not; each song in its own way carries a certain sense of confidence that is easy enough to relate to, providing a key aspect to Hercules and Love Affair’s charm: at its peak, the album is pure entertainment, a feel-good record that provides almost an hour’s worth of dance-hall bliss.
(adam downer)
www.herculesandloveaffair.com/
Hercules and Love Affair - Blind (Hercules and Love Affair, 2008)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 20:30 | link | commenti
Tags: disco, house, us , hercules and love affair
The Chameleons UK
With two years, numerous radio sessions, and incessant gigging under their belts since their debut single, "In Shreds," the Chameleons came to the studio determined to make a great first album with Script of the Bridge. To say they succeeded would be like saying Shakespeare did pretty well with that one Hamlet play of his. Script remains a high-water mark of what can generally be called post-punk music, an hour's worth of one amazing song after another, practically a greatest-hits record on its own: the John Lennon tribute "Here Today," "Monkeyland," "Pleasure and Pain," "Paper Tigers," "As High as You Can Go," the breathtaking closer, "View From a Hill." Starting with the passionate fire of "Don't Fall," Script showcases how truly inventive, unique, and distinctly modern rock & roll could exist, instead of relentlessly rehashing the past to little effect. The scalpel-sharp interplay between the musicians is a sheer wonder to behold, the Dave Fielding/Reg Smithies guitar team provoke nothing but superlatives throughout, and John Lever and Mark Burgess make a perfect rhythm section -- while the crisp production of Colin Richardson and the band adds delicate synth lines and shadings, courtesy of early touring keyboardist Alistair Lewthwaite, and just the right amount of reverb and effects on the guitars. Add to that the words of Burgess, one of the few lyricists out there who can tackle Big Issues while retaining a human, personal touch, and it all just adds up perfectly. The best one-two punch comes from "Second Skin," a complex, beautifully arranged and played reflection on the meaning of music and fandom, and "Up the Down Escalator," an at once harrowing and thrilling antinuclear/mainstream politics slam. [An important note: avoid at all costs the original U.S. vinyl issue on MCA, which not only switches the song order but removes a full third of the songs.]
(ned raggett)
http://www.thechameleons.com/
The Chameleons - Less than human (Script of the bridge, 1983)
The Chameleons - Monkeyland (Script of the bridge, 1983)
Client
"We wish to be judged on our artistic merit, as opposed to our personalities," so says Client B, 50 percent of the anonymous duo that makes up Client. Apart from the semiobvious facts that Client appears to be made up of two young women (apparently from the north of England given their accents) and that they are the first signings to Andy Fletcher's (of Depeche Mode fame) Toast Hawaii label, not much else in the way of biography was on offer by the time of their 2003 eponymous debut. What is easily discernible is that Client retains a strong penchant for the lost days of synth pop, when the likes of the first Human League albums were all the rage. Further inspirations according to Client B include "the decadent artists...Klimt, Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley." Their first single, "Price of Love," mimics the robotic, bloodless vibe of that era backed by an intensely catchy melody. A second single, "Rock and Roll Machine," attempts a less pop-oriented groove that focuses on the seedier side of their persona. Throughout 2003 the group performed live at a few select dates in Europe while also DJing classic electro tracks at various clubs in and around the U.K. In September of 2004 the duo returned with City. A third member, Client E, joined for the third album, Heartland. The album also marked a change of label as it was released by Metropolis.
(joe silva)
www.client-online.net/
Client - Here and now (Client, 2003)
Client - Rock and roll machine (Client, 2003)
Client - Down to the underground (feat. Pete Doherty) (City, 2004)
White Rose Movement
Taking their cue from dance-driven '80s bands like Depeche Mode and Duran Duran, London's White Rose Movement apes the best aspects of their predecessors, reveling in edgy dance-punk riffs and swaggering vocals laced with gyrating synth beats. Unlike their peers in Franz Ferdinand, the Rakes and Bloc Party, however, White Rose Movement's debut never really found ground in the States despite its arguably better quality of songs. U.K. singles "Girls in the Back", a sharp, speedy number with a hooky chorus," and "Love Is a Number", a layered, synth-based track with echoing vocals, is immediately memorable, reverberating with more attitude than all the previously mentioned bands put together. "Cruella" is the album's real standout, buried at the end of the disc, and led by an aggressive, propulsive beat and singer Finn Vine's strutting hoot as he hollers about the notorious 101 Dalmatians villain. It's regrettable that no U.S. labels picked up on White Rose Movement before they were lost in the shuffle of British '80s revival bands, particularly after they played several festivals in the States supporting this album, but with any luck their next release won't suffer the same fate.
(emilyzemler)
www.whiterosemovement.co.uk/
White Rose Movement - Love is a number (Kick, 2006)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 17:40 | link | commenti (2)
Tags: rock, pop , uk , white rose movement
Nouvelle Vague
The best compliment that can be paid to Nouvelle Vague's self-titled debut album: it isn't as arch and smirking as a collection of bossa nova versions of new wave classics by fetching French and Brazilian chanteuses would suggest. Based on the concept alone, Nouvelle Vague seems similar to the work of jokesters like the Mike Flowers Pops or Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine, but though the album is definitely playful, it works on a sincere level enough of the time to be more than just a goof. In fact, Nouvelle Vague's best moments are a tribute to how well written the words and melodies of these songs are; that they can withstand, and even thrive in, such different arrangements is no small feat. Smooth, smoky ballads, such as the opening track, "Love Will Tear Us Apart," provide many of the album's highlights. The Cure's "A Forest" gets a tropical twist, complete with jungle sound effects, while the Sisters of Mercy's "Marian" remains as dark as ever but is now much more delicate -- call it gotha nova. On the other hand, the cover of the Dead Kennedys' "Too Drunk to Fuck" is a giggly, sassy, mischievous standout that bears virtually no resemblance to the original. Likewise, the serpentine version of Killing Joke's "Psyche" is radically different from the original, nor does it quite fit in with the rest of Nouvelle Vague's bright, breezy feeling, but its spooky vibe makes it one of the album's most interesting tracks. Two of the best covers come from a couple of the least well-known bands on the collection: Tuxedomoon's "In a Manner of Speaking" is transformed into a gorgeous, completely convincing torch song, and Josef K's "Sorry for Laughing" closes the album on a sweetly languid note. Not all of Nouvelle Vague is this inspired -- the version of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" is overly fussy, and while the covers of songs like "I Melt With You" and "Making Plans for Nigel" are nice enough, they don't have the spark of the album's best moments. But even at its worst, Nouvelle Vague is still pleasantly witty background music. This unlikely, but mostly happy, marriage of new wave and bossa nova will probably disappoint or displease purists who believe that every version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" should have the brooding intensity of the original, but everyone else can enjoy the album's playful elegance.
(heather phares)
www.nouvellesvagues.com/
Nouvelle Vague - Friday night saturday morning (Nouvelle Vague, 2004)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 17:16 | link | commenti (1)
Tags: pop , bossa nova, france, nouvelle vague
Siouxsie and The Banshees
Siouxsie and The Banshees - Cascade (live in Italy, 1982)
Siouxsie and The Banshees - Night shift (live at Royal Albert Hall London, 1983)
Siouxsie and The Banshees - Melt! (live at Royal Albert Hall London, 1983)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 20:51 | link | commenti
Tags: new wave, post punk, punk rock, siouxsie and the banshees, uk
The Knife
There’s a blistering world to be found here: The dark horizon with flashing, multi-colored lights penetrating sweating bodies infused with ecstasy and lust. The way the hands move, slipping down skintight clothes of club hoppers, their minds a rush of movement and emotion. If ever this was captured in a four minute time, it’s Heartbeat, the bittersweet beginning to the Knife’s innovative Deep Cuts, which could very well mean a number of things: A play off of the band’s name; the seething emotions left penetrated from the sharp vocals; the scathing pseudo-sexual lyrics.
The brother-sister duo (Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer) isn’t conventional by any standards. When they won a Grammis (Swedish Grammy) award for best pop group of the year, they didn’t show up, but instead sent two representatives wearing gorilla costumes with the number 50 written on them.
If Deep Cuts is any indication, the Knife is never going to be just another band.
If the album’s lead in is the rave, then Girls’ Night Out is the 4 a.m. trek back home, coming down off the high and loving the moment. Andersson’s voice is barely decipherable, lyrics and vocals an instrument, a complement to the scolding beats. When the two sing together (like the hauntingly melodic One For You), it’s an odd mix of pitches and juxtaposed emotions that don’t match up but don’t have to; the expressions are in the placed notes and dropped sounds halfway done or don’t even have a beginning. Andersson can make even the most wavering note, the pitch she’s obviously heading for, hang in the air for some time before pulling back. It’s jaunting and you’re left to finish it for her if you dare.
Rock Classics is the most vocally clear song, the whispered back-up vocals underlining cheap beats, while Is It Medicine sounds like Gwen Stefani decided to be a guest (though decidedly better). Dreijer comes into his own You Make Me Like Charity while Andersson sounds like a child on the edge of a adulthood, ready to spread her wings and forget ever wanting to be a teenager. The track is less than the sum of its parts, but it’s haunting to hear Andersson change as many pitches as she does while repeating a verse continually before the music overcomes the vocals altogether.
The Knife, and the Knife’s Deep Cuts, is anything but conventional. A sweeping, nearly genre perfect swirl of colors and sliced emotions rearranged and out of chronological order, Deep Cuts is an underground horror film character study that goes in every which direction at once. Lyrics be damned, the emotions are in the instruments, vocals included.
(trustxdialect)
www.theknife.net/
The Knife - Pass this on (Deep cuts, 2003)
The Knife - Heartbeats (Deep cuts, 2003)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 14:32 | link | commenti
Tags: indie, electronica, synthpop, sweden, the knife
Gourmets
Shivaree
Shivaree - John, 2/14 (Rough Dreams, 2002)
Shivaree - Goodnight Moon (I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump, 1999)
www.shivaree.com
Film School
Film School - Like you know (Hideout, 2007)
Film School - 11:11 (Film School, 2006)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 16:19 | link | commenti (1)
Tags: post punk, us , film school, shoegaze
Tags: post punk, us , film school, shoegaze
No Privacy
No Privacy - Blood over Denmark (Crime and Punishment, 2007)
No Privacy - The Shadow! (Crime and Punishment, 2007)
www.noprivacy.net
Hercules and Love Affair
It may be 2008, but no one's told Andrew Butler. This New York DJ/Producer, under the pseudonym 'Hercules and Love Affair', likes to rock like it’s 1977, providing Carter administration survivors with some good material for nostalgic journeys into the days of bell bottoms, roller derbies, and the occasional Saturday Night Fever. With Hercules and Love Affair, Butler brings disco into the new millennium hard and strong. Disco is defined as “a style of popular music for dancing, usually recorded and with complex electronic instrumentation, in which simple, repetitive lyrics are subordinated to a heavy, pulsating, rhythmic beat”, and Butler sets out to deliver just that; not a bastardized “update” on the genre, but a proper record that nails every aspect of what gives disco the reputation as an insane guilty pleasure its garnered over time. Featuring the more than capable voices of Antony (of “& the Johnsons” fame), solo siren Nomi, and the seductive tone of DJ Kim Ann, Butler's record sports ten consistently charming tracks that prove monstrously entertaining when taken both in small doses and huge gulps. Take for example the lead single “Blind”; laden with hooks and a layered lung stretching vocal performance from the male third of the vocal trio, “Blind” serves as an appropriate choice for lead single, introducing listeners to the Hercules and Love Affair sound with a pulsating beat that envelops as much as it grooves. Even at a deceptive six minutes long, “Blind” never grows tiring, instead providing seemingly endless amounts of dance-floor joy, perfectly embodying what Butler attempts to create with his Hercules and Love Affair experiment.
While the loose Greek mythology concept introduced in “Hercules’ Theme” and “Athene” is abandoned for most of the album, the tone is not; each song in its own way carries a certain sense of confidence that is easy enough to relate to, providing a key aspect to Hercules and Love Affair’s charm: at its peak, the album is pure entertainment, a feel-good record that provides almost an hour’s worth of dance-hall bliss.
www.herculesandloveaffair.com/
Hercules and Love Affair - Blind (Hercules and Love Affair, 2008)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 20:30 | link | commenti
Tags: disco, house, us , hercules and love affair
Tags: disco, house, us , hercules and love affair
The Chameleons UK
With two years, numerous radio sessions, and incessant gigging under their belts since their debut single, "In Shreds," the Chameleons came to the studio determined to make a great first album with Script of the Bridge. To say they succeeded would be like saying Shakespeare did pretty well with that one Hamlet play of his. Script remains a high-water mark of what can generally be called post-punk music, an hour's worth of one amazing song after another, practically a greatest-hits record on its own: the John Lennon tribute "Here Today," "Monkeyland," "Pleasure and Pain," "Paper Tigers," "As High as You Can Go," the breathtaking closer, "View From a Hill." Starting with the passionate fire of "Don't Fall," Script showcases how truly inventive, unique, and distinctly modern rock & roll could exist, instead of relentlessly rehashing the past to little effect. The scalpel-sharp interplay between the musicians is a sheer wonder to behold, the Dave Fielding/Reg Smithies guitar team provoke nothing but superlatives throughout, and John Lever and Mark Burgess make a perfect rhythm section -- while the crisp production of Colin Richardson and the band adds delicate synth lines and shadings, courtesy of early touring keyboardist Alistair Lewthwaite, and just the right amount of reverb and effects on the guitars. Add to that the words of Burgess, one of the few lyricists out there who can tackle Big Issues while retaining a human, personal touch, and it all just adds up perfectly. The best one-two punch comes from "Second Skin," a complex, beautifully arranged and played reflection on the meaning of music and fandom, and "Up the Down Escalator," an at once harrowing and thrilling antinuclear/mainstream politics slam. [An important note: avoid at all costs the original U.S. vinyl issue on MCA, which not only switches the song order but removes a full third of the songs.](ned raggett)
http://www.thechameleons.com/
The Chameleons - Less than human (Script of the bridge, 1983)
The Chameleons - Monkeyland (Script of the bridge, 1983)
Client
"We wish to be judged on our artistic merit, as opposed to our personalities," so says Client B, 50 percent of the anonymous duo that makes up Client. Apart from the semiobvious facts that Client appears to be made up of two young women (apparently from the north of England given their accents) and that they are the first signings to Andy Fletcher's (of Depeche Mode fame) Toast Hawaii label, not much else in the way of biography was on offer by the time of their 2003 eponymous debut. What is easily discernible is that Client retains a strong penchant for the lost days of synth pop, when the likes of the first Human League albums were all the rage. Further inspirations according to Client B include "the decadent artists...Klimt, Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley." Their first single, "Price of Love," mimics the robotic, bloodless vibe of that era backed by an intensely catchy melody. A second single, "Rock and Roll Machine," attempts a less pop-oriented groove that focuses on the seedier side of their persona. Throughout 2003 the group performed live at a few select dates in Europe while also DJing classic electro tracks at various clubs in and around the U.K. In September of 2004 the duo returned with City. A third member, Client E, joined for the third album, Heartland. The album also marked a change of label as it was released by Metropolis.(joe silva)
www.client-online.net/
Client - Here and now (Client, 2003)
Client - Rock and roll machine (Client, 2003)
Client - Down to the underground (feat. Pete Doherty) (City, 2004)
White Rose Movement
Taking their cue from dance-driven '80s bands like Depeche Mode and Duran Duran, London's White Rose Movement apes the best aspects of their predecessors, reveling in edgy dance-punk riffs and swaggering vocals laced with gyrating synth beats. Unlike their peers in Franz Ferdinand, the Rakes and Bloc Party, however, White Rose Movement's debut never really found ground in the States despite its arguably better quality of songs. U.K. singles "Girls in the Back", a sharp, speedy number with a hooky chorus," and "Love Is a Number", a layered, synth-based track with echoing vocals, is immediately memorable, reverberating with more attitude than all the previously mentioned bands put together. "Cruella" is the album's real standout, buried at the end of the disc, and led by an aggressive, propulsive beat and singer Finn Vine's strutting hoot as he hollers about the notorious 101 Dalmatians villain. It's regrettable that no U.S. labels picked up on White Rose Movement before they were lost in the shuffle of British '80s revival bands, particularly after they played several festivals in the States supporting this album, but with any luck their next release won't suffer the same fate.(emilyzemler)
www.whiterosemovement.co.uk/
White Rose Movement - Love is a number (Kick, 2006)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 17:40 | link | commenti (2)
Tags: rock, pop , uk , white rose movement
Tags: rock, pop , uk , white rose movement
Nouvelle Vague
The best compliment that can be paid to Nouvelle Vague's self-titled debut album: it isn't as arch and smirking as a collection of bossa nova versions of new wave classics by fetching French and Brazilian chanteuses would suggest. Based on the concept alone, Nouvelle Vague seems similar to the work of jokesters like the Mike Flowers Pops or Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine, but though the album is definitely playful, it works on a sincere level enough of the time to be more than just a goof. In fact, Nouvelle Vague's best moments are a tribute to how well written the words and melodies of these songs are; that they can withstand, and even thrive in, such different arrangements is no small feat. Smooth, smoky ballads, such as the opening track, "Love Will Tear Us Apart," provide many of the album's highlights. The Cure's "A Forest" gets a tropical twist, complete with jungle sound effects, while the Sisters of Mercy's "Marian" remains as dark as ever but is now much more delicate -- call it gotha nova. On the other hand, the cover of the Dead Kennedys' "Too Drunk to Fuck" is a giggly, sassy, mischievous standout that bears virtually no resemblance to the original. Likewise, the serpentine version of Killing Joke's "Psyche" is radically different from the original, nor does it quite fit in with the rest of Nouvelle Vague's bright, breezy feeling, but its spooky vibe makes it one of the album's most interesting tracks. Two of the best covers come from a couple of the least well-known bands on the collection: Tuxedomoon's "In a Manner of Speaking" is transformed into a gorgeous, completely convincing torch song, and Josef K's "Sorry for Laughing" closes the album on a sweetly languid note. Not all of Nouvelle Vague is this inspired -- the version of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" is overly fussy, and while the covers of songs like "I Melt With You" and "Making Plans for Nigel" are nice enough, they don't have the spark of the album's best moments. But even at its worst, Nouvelle Vague is still pleasantly witty background music. This unlikely, but mostly happy, marriage of new wave and bossa nova will probably disappoint or displease purists who believe that every version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" should have the brooding intensity of the original, but everyone else can enjoy the album's playful elegance.(heather phares)
www.nouvellesvagues.com/
Nouvelle Vague - Friday night saturday morning (Nouvelle Vague, 2004)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 17:16 | link | commenti (1)
Tags: pop , bossa nova, france, nouvelle vague
Tags: pop , bossa nova, france, nouvelle vague
Siouxsie and The Banshees
Siouxsie and The Banshees - Cascade (live in Italy, 1982)
Siouxsie and The Banshees - Night shift (live at Royal Albert Hall London, 1983)
Siouxsie and The Banshees - Melt! (live at Royal Albert Hall London, 1983)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 20:51 | link | commenti
Tags: new wave, post punk, punk rock, siouxsie and the banshees, uk
Tags: new wave, post punk, punk rock, siouxsie and the banshees, uk
The Knife
There’s a blistering world to be found here: The dark horizon with flashing, multi-colored lights penetrating sweating bodies infused with ecstasy and lust. The way the hands move, slipping down skintight clothes of club hoppers, their minds a rush of movement and emotion. If ever this was captured in a four minute time, it’s Heartbeat, the bittersweet beginning to the Knife’s innovative Deep Cuts, which could very well mean a number of things: A play off of the band’s name; the seething emotions left penetrated from the sharp vocals; the scathing pseudo-sexual lyrics.The brother-sister duo (Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer) isn’t conventional by any standards. When they won a Grammis (Swedish Grammy) award for best pop group of the year, they didn’t show up, but instead sent two representatives wearing gorilla costumes with the number 50 written on them.
If Deep Cuts is any indication, the Knife is never going to be just another band.
If the album’s lead in is the rave, then Girls’ Night Out is the 4 a.m. trek back home, coming down off the high and loving the moment. Andersson’s voice is barely decipherable, lyrics and vocals an instrument, a complement to the scolding beats. When the two sing together (like the hauntingly melodic One For You), it’s an odd mix of pitches and juxtaposed emotions that don’t match up but don’t have to; the expressions are in the placed notes and dropped sounds halfway done or don’t even have a beginning. Andersson can make even the most wavering note, the pitch she’s obviously heading for, hang in the air for some time before pulling back. It’s jaunting and you’re left to finish it for her if you dare.
Rock Classics is the most vocally clear song, the whispered back-up vocals underlining cheap beats, while Is It Medicine sounds like Gwen Stefani decided to be a guest (though decidedly better). Dreijer comes into his own You Make Me Like Charity while Andersson sounds like a child on the edge of a adulthood, ready to spread her wings and forget ever wanting to be a teenager. The track is less than the sum of its parts, but it’s haunting to hear Andersson change as many pitches as she does while repeating a verse continually before the music overcomes the vocals altogether.
The Knife, and the Knife’s Deep Cuts, is anything but conventional. A sweeping, nearly genre perfect swirl of colors and sliced emotions rearranged and out of chronological order, Deep Cuts is an underground horror film character study that goes in every which direction at once. Lyrics be damned, the emotions are in the instruments, vocals included.
(trustxdialect)
www.theknife.net/
The Knife - Pass this on (Deep cuts, 2003)
The Knife - Heartbeats (Deep cuts, 2003)
submitted by: Zeitgeistmusic at 14:32 | link | commenti
Tags: indie, electronica, synthpop, sweden, the knife
Tags: indie, electronica, synthpop, sweden, the knife
