Un[Detect]Ed

Un[detect]ed: a music blog to pick up the blips under the radar.

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EYE EMMA JEDI - PLACES (pre-release)

Sharing this quickly because it’s been a while since i heard band that blends the nice pentatonic-j-alternative-style riffs with the shouty-style singing. It’s a pre-release from Norwegian outfit EYE EMMA JEDI (me too); PLACES only gets an official release on the 26th of May. The song weaves in and out (instead of repeating that sick riff), becoming a different beast at every interval. Like the Norwegian weather. 

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London Grammar - Wasting My Young Years (Single)

Release: April 18,2013 Label: Dust And Metal Recordings

If London Grammar were not called by their current namesake, This Struggling Writer is sure that they would be called Hannah Reid’s Band or something to that effect much like how Paramore used to be called That Band That Hayley Williams Is In.

Wasting My Young Years is the latest single from the London trio of Hannah, Daniel, and Dot, but even This Struggling Writer is fighting all his willpower not to say that Hannah’s voice really overwhelms the sound of London Grammar. It isn’t in a bad way, it’s just the thing that happens when you have bollocks of luck to have a singer whose voice is frankly, more crystalline than that Swarovski crap.

After the gushing is done and the twinkle of crystal wiped from the eyes, you might find that Wasting My Young Years is great for its simplicity in down-tempo instrumentals, which lays the foundation for the vocals to shine to in all its deep sparkling timbre. The song never really climaxes in a fever-pitch-all-out sorta way that This Struggling Writer was anticipating. Its understated finish stays true to its downtempo nature and flow of its pandering love lyric, which ends with a yearning that is left hanging in the air.

Guardian Online recorded a fantagobulistic live version of the single below. 

London Grammar Website

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FuturaHelvetica - Terraform (Single)

Release: March 26, 2013 Label: Independent

When Singapore-based Ilyas Sholihyn is not being an editor for Bandwagon, he puts on his wizard hat and becomes the spritely FuturaHelvetica. His new release, Terraform, evokes strange scenes in This Struggling Writer’s head, somewhere between a bad game of Starcraft (that’s platitude, he was always bad at it) and in the middle of those gloopy aliens in Body Snatchers.

In between the airy organs, the thooom of the darkish bass, and glitchy clicks and claps, the refrain rings out, a riff that doesn’t really give you the feeling of a resolve, even up to the end. It’s a simple piece, but then again, you would want to keep things simple in an alien invasion.

Play It: after catching Body Snatchers (oh, the original one)

FuturaHelvetica Soundcloud

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Belgian Fog - Wait For Help

Release: February 19, 2013 Label: Independent 

Nobody knows much about Seattle-based producer Robert Dale, it seems. Only two things: one, he is a presenter on This Struggling Writer’s favourite internet radio, KEXP Seattle. Two, he has an alter-ego in electronic/pop act Belgian Fog whose name he admits came up randomly. Enough to vaguely register the thought “probably makes good music” in your head. And it’s good to be proven right.

His first single Wait For Help was released about a month and a half ago and a few but all music blogs stirred, but what’s interesting about this single is what it makes you imagine about more good material to come from Belgian Fog. There is an interesting turn of lyrical and musical pace as the verse shifts to the chorus, and the DIY-esque production values remind you of someone concocting a wicked potion at home; altogether, expect more quirky electronic/pop to come from this fella. 

Belgian Fog Soundcloud Belgian Fog Facebook

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MAASAI - Memories (Single)

Release: April 18, 2013 Label: Hybris  

Darn…someone said it already. MAASAI’s video single Memories sounds like Lykke Li’s I Follow Rivers.

MAASAI (the name taken from a Kenyan ethnic group that means power and force) is the ethereal Dominique Teymouri and Zackaris Ekelund, based in Stockholm. Signed to Swedish label Hybris recently, their first release is a good one, if not a somewhat ‘safe’ one, the sounds of Memories in a familiar triangle of pop/indie/electronic, set against a lyrical backdrop of a lost relationship. And basically, any video shot in Scandinavia gets This Struggling Writer giving reflexive nods and thumbs up. It’s not fair. it’s like playing a ‘get-out-of-critic-zone-free’ card.

And that chorus hook. 

MAASAI Website

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Kacey Johansing – Grand Ghosts

Release: February 26, 2013 Label: Independent  

Track List: #1 River #2 Pinecone #3 Grand Ghosts #4 Disappearing Act #5 Enemy #6 Honey Sugar Molasses #7 Into View #8 Only the Heart #9 Light in the Dark #10 Out to Sea

There’s something about the way Kacey Johansing sings that hits This Struggling Writer, like a gentle hand calming frayed nerves, or peace that floats in the quiet air in the middle of the night. Nostalgic is a music critic-y overused word for anything that makes you reminisce, and there is a tendency to label Grand Ghosts, her recent album, as that, but a more appropriate description would be … meditative.

In her album notes, she talks about how the songs are a form of homage to friends who have passed away in the process of making the record. In that vein, Grand Ghosts seems a fitting title. At times, Kacey Johansing  sings like a tortured soul, distant, like someone in your memory (listen to Grand Ghosts and Out to Sea; other times like a light spirit (Honey Sugar Molasses and Pinecone) The darkish vibe of the album: transient piano notes, distant strings and vulnerable guitars, give the chamber-pop/folk sound a nuance that is worth describing more than the cliché of “nostalgic.”

On a final note, an interesting anecdote behind Pinecone did make This Struggling Writer nostalgic.

Play It: whilst sailing into the horizon Favourite Track (so far): Out to Sea 

<a href="http://kaceyjohansing.bandcamp.com/album/grand-ghosts" data-mce-href="http://kaceyjohansing.bandcamp.com/album/grand-ghosts">Grand Ghosts by Kacey Johansing</a>

Kacey Johansing Website Buy the Album

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lovely video....and Kacey Johansing's got a new album out! It's been there a couple of months. Will review it next. 

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Lion Babe - Treat Me Like Fire (Single, MV)

Release - December 7, 2013 Label - Independent

When Bandcamp picked Lion Babe’s April single release Treat Me Like Fire as “heavyweight contender for soul song of the year,” This Struggling Writer was cynical of blatantly hyperbolic descriptions such as these which, sadly, were the norm in an industry built on hype and marketing dollars. Pushing cynicism aside, you would understand why Gothamites Jill Harvey and Lucas Goodman –the duo that make up Lion Babe – have warranted Bandwagon’s exclaim.  

Treat Me Like Fire oozes one heck of soul. Lion Babe gives nods at the right places – a lo-fi warm crackle here, a soul-thumping groove that is as simple as it is mean, and Jill Harvey’s vocals. Jill Harvey’s vocals. Smoother than a soft serve cone.

Another thing that This Struggling Writer did not realize, was that the song had come out much earlier, in December 2012, along with a video, that gave vivid meaning to their namesake (just look at that MANE in 00:51). More than just being a literal-lion-babe, the symbol of the lioness also fits the lyric in its suggestion that the allure of attraction is simply primal. 

Play It: in the middle of a grooving party. Will not work in front of a real lioness. 

<a href="http://lionbabe.bandcamp.com/track/treat-me-like-fire" data-mce-href="http://lionbabe.bandcamp.com/track/treat-me-like-fire">Treat Me Like Fire by Lion Babe</a>

Lion Babe Website

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Lo-Shi - Flasque EP Release date:March 17, 2013 Label:Call and Response Records  

Track List: #1 Rampant #2Piston #3 The Pink Lodge #4 Mother K #5 Calling MIR #6 幽客

Lo-Shi are two French producers based in Tokyo, Gotal (on guitars and loops) and Arbuste (on synths) who describe their sound as “NudeCouscousTaoistBeatCore.” (OK.)

The post-punkers recently released an EP’s worth of material that they named Flasque. Quite literally, the album was sold in memory-sticks packaged in small glass spice bottles containing real spices. It is nice to see when there is harmony reflected in the way artists express their craft; innovative packaging and production reflecting the concept of the album besides the usual format of CD and album art.

On a 2nd listen, it is interesting to see how the album opens itself up to you. Rampant, the mid-tempo opening track, invites you in like a slightly shady proposition in a noir film. The band likes to use looped and sampled videos from old movies to visualize their music. For example, take a look at the music video of Piston below.

Piston from Lo-shi on Vimeo.

Mother K, with its urgent rhythm, breaks the tedium that might come with post-punk’s repetition of loops, and the EP comes to a lifting ambient resolution in幽客(Yu-kaku). Sometimes you gotta take a chance with shady propositions; it could make for a fascinating journey. 

Play It: whilst walking through city alleys at night Favourite Track (so far): Mother K

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Indigo La End - Sweet Spider MV

Album: 夜に魔法をかけられて Release date: Febuary 6, 2013 Label:Eninal

This Struggling Writer wishes that he paid more attention to Japanese class in school. Then maybe he might understand the lyrics behind indie pop band Indigo La End’s music video of Sweet Spider, the first single off their album, 夜に魔法をかけられて(Yoru Ni Maho Wo Kakerete; which means something along the lines of ‘the enchanted night’ – forgive his piecemeal Japanese).

Interesting in this video is how each mini-narrative in the video is delivered through a specific colour lens. To This Struggling Writer, the Red girl would usually mean danger, but here it seems to represent a free-spirit and an exuberance of living. The mopey Green girl’s apprehensiveness subtly subverts how Japanese culture sees green like growth in Nature. The band’s blue tint shows the music, which explores feelings of yearning and nostalgia, and finally white brings it altogether in the last scene, a sign of resolution and clarity.

Indigo La End’s videos usually portray a sense of nostalgia, like a hazy memory. Perhaps it’s the Instagram-esque stylistics of their videos, but it brings out the flavor of their brand of sweet indie pop.

Added to the playlist is another track off the album, X Day. Time to re-open those Japanese books.

Indigo La End Website

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Teen Daze - The House On The Mountain EP

Release: April 9, 2013 Label: Independent

Track List: #1 Hidden #2 Eagles Above #3 Classical Guitar #4 Morning House

There’s nothing like immersing yourself in a great record with a backstory that complements the sounds to bring it together in a cohesive album narrative. And this is exactly what Vancouvian Teen Daze(moniker of producer Jamison Dick) has done in the latest EP, The House On The Mountain.

Imagine the natural light peering through your window gently rousing you to the waking hand of day. The house you live in is big and empty. The scenes that greet you as you take in your position on the mountains: the vastness of space, hand-carved by nature. Her hills, her valleys, her rivers, her canopies. Living in such a house on the Canadian Sumas in BC as he wrote the record, one can imagine the scenes that inspired him.

The album invites you into a placid, familiar place. Lush soundscapes flood over the warm, lo-fi crackles. The slightly distorted guitar samples dance like smoke wisps from dying embers. Jamison commented on his fascination with the sounds that could be sampled from the abundant kitchenware in the house; there’s a sense of nostalgic surrealism in the shakers in Hidden, or the pot clangs in Morning House. The House On The Mountain is a work of electronica that feels more nostalgic analog rather than cool digital.

Play It: by the fire Favourite Track (so far):  Morning House

<a href="http://teendaze.bandcamp.com/album/the-house-on-the-mountain" data-mce-href="http://teendaze.bandcamp.com/album/the-house-on-the-mountain">The House On The Mountain by Teen Daze</a>

Stream/Buy the album (proceeds go to funding the artist’s wedding!) Teen Daze Website

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Crescent - IRL EP Release: April 16, 2013 Label: //THIS THING// (AUS)

Track List: #1 Mercy (Crescent Remix) #2 #Aquarius (Tape Remix) #3 Burner #4 Pegasus

Leon Crescent has thrown the gauntlet. The Australian electronica artist has burst onto the Melbourne and Electronica scene with his first EP, IRL. And to This Struggling Writer, writing this review in the depths of the night seems an apt setting for this lo-fi glitch-hop-esque piece of art.

You are in one of those hazy college parties in someone’s basement, one of those hastily put together when the parents are out, the rush of alcohol and adrenalin coupled with a hue of forbidden excitement. Perhaps it is the influence of the Chicago footwork scene in the vibe of the EP, with minimal layers, throbbing beats, and sporadic, dulcet riffs. IRL finds a middle ground in an imaginary spectrum between electronica’s heavier bass-thumping artists and their ambient counterparts, resulting in a ‘ooh-that-hits-the-spot’ of a listening experience.  

After the album opener – an excellent, if not urgent-sounding, remix of Kayne in Mercy (Crescent Remix) – an edgier, darkish tonality courses through the EP. Burner, the third track, most typifies this sense of intrigue. The 4-track experience feels something like a Tokyo night scene out of Haruki Murakami’s edgy After Dark novel, and an Aphex Twin gig. Pass the red cups please.  

Definitely deserving to kick off [Un[Detect]Ed]’s very first review.

Play It: at a basement party Favourite Track (for now): Burner

Free Download of Mercy (Crescent Remix) Purchase IRL  Crescent