Cardinal

Music Worth Loving: The Weirdo Electronica That I Was Obsessed with in 2009

This year has been an exciting year for the female pop performer, and it's not only because Lady GaGa has taken over (although I will admit I do love her so, what a surprise).  To think only a decade ago the top pop stars were blonde princesses, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Mandy Moore. Now, we find the expectation of the starlette being subverted, challenged.  Men were doing interesting things, sure, but it was the women who took control and pushed the expectations of music and presentation into whole new places. Below I present my list of the top ten albums of the year.

1. Fever Ray Fever Ray

My love affair with Karin Dreijer Andersson (and her brother) began some years ago with my life-transforming discovery of The Knife. The weird mixture of atmospheric synth sounds, steel drums, and the unsettling treatment of Karin's voice instantly won my heart. (I would easily place Deep Cuts and Silent Shout in my top lists of the decade.) Fever Ray is Karin's solo project, the album written while she was pregnant. This detail adds an interesting twist to the deeply obsessive lyrics, easily interpreted as desparate love songs. The album is perfection from start to finish, managing to be avant-garde, moody but never overworked.

2. Micachu Jewellery

I will admit that it feels a little punk to put an album at number two that clocks in at just over 30 minutes. (I wanted to put it at number one but that felt oddly political.) However, when writing this list I couldn't help but think of it in comparison to my list last year that found Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours at number one, primarily because I couldn't stop listening to the album and found myself needing to hear it start to finish. I sincerely feel that level of passion for Jewellery: I want to hear it all day every day. It's a surprisingly fun album, managing to find cohesiveness within its discord. What could easily have been a noisy mess is, in fact, a pop triumph.

3. Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

It all begins with "Lisztomania" and once hooked you can't turn it off. Not to mention, the faint French accent is quite charming. I feel like this album was pegged as top 10 material from the moment of its release. If you somehow managed to not hear it I recommend finding it as soon as possible.

4. Florence & The Machine Lungs

Florence Welch (aka Florence is a Machine aka Florence & the Machine) likens her voice to nuns falling down a well and I don't know if a more accurate metaphor could be chosen. Lungs was a favorite from the moment I discovered it. It's a magical explosion of sound: the layering of her incredible voice, bells, organs, strange guitar sounds... it's entirely otherworldly. Songs such as "Howl" or "Cosmic Love" (and the above "Drumming Song") are also some of my favorite love songs ever written, managing to exist as entirely human despite the fantastical imagery (my love is like a...werewolf?). 

5. La Roux La Roux

I first became aware of La Roux when her single "Quicksand" was included on a Kitsune Maison compilation sometime early last year. Her second single "In For The Kill" was... eh. I'll admit I was skeptical. And then La Roux was released and I had to admit that I was wrong (something I hate admitting). It is easily one of the ballsiest albums released this year. Her voice, her hair, the synths and keyboards (just listen to the amazing drum sound in "Tigerlily", it's life changing)... Somehow she manages to conjure early-80s synthpop bands such as Yaz or Erasure and still be entirely cutting edge. I have to say that the fact that she does it all in strange brightly-colored pegged suits with a gravity-defying remix of the pompidour only makes me that much more excited.

6. Miike Snow Miike Snow

Bloodshy & Avant, the geniuses that brought us the greatest pop song ever written ("Toxic", le duh), teamed up with singer Andrew Wyatt to create an incredible achievement of textural richness (written during a dark Stockholm winter you get the sense that this album was felt with eyes closed rather than composed). I had the pleasure of seeing them play Mercury Lounge some months ago and the synths actually seem to swallow you whole while Wyatt's soft voice manages to make some of the darker, more macabre lyrics seem light.

7. Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

I will admit that it wasn't until I was compiling this list that I remembered that this album even came out this year. I quickly flipped through my computer to track it down and give it a relisten and felt a little sad that I had neglected it for so many months. From start to finish it's an incredible amount of fun and Alex Kapranos's voice is just too good, somehow both rock star and showtune crooner simultaneously... I fell in love with it instantly then and I re-fell in love with it now.

8. Tegan & Sara Sainthood

I love Tegan & Sara in a borderline unnatural way so I suppose putting them on my top 10 is a little biased... Nonetheless, this album has been the only CD in my car since I saw them in New York Halloween weekend and I can still listen to it every single day and find myself excited in anticipation, so I think that's worth something. It's a compelling follow-up to 2007's The Con: while it is the first time the sister's wrote songs together (they typically write their songs separate and come together to forge a cohesive album in production) it is also each sister at her most autonomous. The voices are now noticably distinct, Tegan's a little deeper as Sara pushes the hauntingly childlike quality her voice can take further and further to great effect. I love them. You should, too.

9. Memory Tapes Seek Magic

Memory Tapes is (from what I've read) the mash-up of one-part Memory Cassettes, one-part Weird Tapes and the lead singer of Hail Social (who may or may not also be in one of those bands... I don't know). Nonetheless, this was the closest I got to a new Cut Copy album this year and it has been a surprisingly satisfying second choice. What could have easily been any other lo-fi weirdo electro project manages to be fun, quirky, and unexpected. Not to mention, the lyrics are hauntingly beautiful, despite simplicity.

10. Passion Pit Manners

As I get to the bottom of this list I realize that this was sort of the year of weirdo electronic projects... Passion Pit is no different, and while I will admit that I started as a superfan and then became incredibly self-conscious of that position and now find myself in a rather skeptical place (I think it's Memory Tapes fault... Let's blame them) I still have to admit that this album was an incredible first effort from a band that had previously been recording in their dorm rooms in Boston (and even the EP that is the product of such a set-up is amazing). The lyrics manage to be poetic and yet never try too hard, and it definitely is a daringly bold and confident album from start to finish (listen to "Sleepyhead" or "The Reeling").

Honorable Mention:

Neon Indian Psychic Chasms

Sort of like the strange lost mixed tape you discovered in your attic, this album is a continuation of the theme of weirdo lo-fi electronica that seems to dominate my top ten.

Lady GaGa The Fame Monster

Lady GaGa is sort of the woman to beat at this point in the pop world. I am embarrassed for Britney as I think of what poor Ms. Spears is going to have to do to remain "on top" (PLEASE, Circus was awkward for all of us, especially those of us who recognized just how incredible Blackout was, strange head shaving incident aside). I would have included the video for "Bad Romance" but I fear it will upstage the rest of the things on this list. (Hmmm... that statement makes me wonder if I made a mistake in not including it in the top ten proper... )

The Gossip Music for Men

I mean... enough said. Beth Ditto is genius.

Well Done

My Next Haircut?

My hair is usually short. Then, every two years or so I get this crazy idea that I want hair down my back and I spend a concentrated effort waiting waiting waiting for it to get long only to inevitably wear it up all the time, freak out, and cut it all off. I, surprisingly enough, although my hair is about as long as if ever gets (only once, 4 years ago, was it longer) have remained resolute in letting it grow. That was until I saw Tegan and Sara this weekend at Town Hall:

I mean, it doesn't help matters that I am completely infatuated by her, but that hair is just so good. It's short on the other side, too. Genius genius genius. Hmmmm. Do I schedule the appointment??

La Roux

This year, it would seem, has been the year of the quirky female pop star. "Quirky", in fact, seems too small a word to contain the ways in which the idea of the female singer has been subverted by the influx of new women. Challenging what is expected of the female performer, Micachu (of Micachu & the Shapes), Beth Ditto (of Gossip), the women of Royksopp's latest album, Florence Walsh (of Florence & The Machine) and Martina Sorbara (of Dragonette) are but a few of the women worth paying attention to, if only because of how un-Britney they are. [An interesting and related observation: the comments beneath each video are all debates regarding how attractive/talented/sexy/good their dancing is - is that really the point?]

Last night at Highline Ballroom I got to see La Roux, a group fronted by Elly Jackson who has, quite simply, the greatest reconstruction of the pompadour I've ever seen. She also just so happens to be a Mawi fan...

The suit was so ugly it was incredible and the MJ scrunched sparkle sock with strange loafer made me weak.

Also: her keyboardist was wearing the Christopher Kane for Topshop leggings and I was more than a little jealous...

La Roux returns to America in February to play Webster Hall (tickets: $25).

Tomorrow, in a year (I'm still fixated)

Another video of the Charles Darwin-inspired Opera with music by The Knife being performed at Hotel Pro Forma through next week. 

I am still upset it's not coming to the States; it looks incredible.

Since I'm so obsessed I share the most recent find:

Viktor & Rolf and Roisin Murphy

How did this escape me? Roisin Murphy, pop and fashion icon (Lady Gaga's inspiration...) performed during the Spring 2010 Viktor & Rolf fashion show, a beyond genius joining of hyper-talented forces (oft under-appreciated, I would argue).

Aside from presenting an exquisite show - and, admittedly, I love tulle and tuu-tuus more than any person should - Viktor & Rolf successfully infuse their works with commentary that extends beyond the expected scope of fashion. While most designers responded to the financial market with pared down shows focused on clean line and value, Viktor & Rolf took scissor to ballgown as visual representative of a cutback: "With the credit crunch and everybody cutting back, we decided to cut tulle ball gowns."

Very pregnant Roisin Murphy clad in a tuu-tuu suit (the seemingly only appropriate way to describe it) sang as the models walked the runway, singing two new songs, "Royalty" and "Demon Lover". 

While her role as the former front-lady of Moloko brought her much success, her solo career has found itself slightly neglected by a larger audience. Her first album was a brilliant concept album playing off of her unique voice and a keen sense of the potential for electronic sound. Her most recent album, Overpowered, however, is a true pop album, unchallenging except perhaps in choice of subject matter (for example in "Primitive" the opening line includes the phrase "primordial soup"). I am happy to see that she will release a third as I am beyond in love and think that if ever a time for such a forward-thinking pop star to achieve success it could be now. Though Lady Gaga might have her to thank, Roisin's subtlety needed the screaming loud visual assault of Lady Gaga's schtick to carve some space out in the pop world to new forms of representation that extends beyond the tanned blonde pop starlette.

    A complete video of the Spring 2010 runway show is available at the Viktor & Rolf website.

The 10,000th Reason to Go to Denmark

My long-time romance with Denmark, sparked admittedly by my taste for brooding men, the ultimate example embodied by poor, tortured Hamlet, has reached an all-time high. 

I, somehow, despite my long-time fanship, missed the announcement that Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer of The Knife had been collaborating with Hotel Pro Forma in Denmark to create a multi-media "Opera" chronicling the life of Charles Darwin. 

To attempt "explanation", currently on a far too brief tour (that does not include a stop in the United States) is an avant-garde reworking of an Opera as reimagined by Hotel Pro Forma and The Knife. From what I can gather on the internet, a website, a YouTube video, and an interview with Karin, the performance features a multi-media cross-tradition approach drawing on dance practices, reappropriating the "Operatic voice" and incorporating life video and audio mixing.

I have been intrigued by the Knife since an introduction to their music one summer while studying art in Paris. As fate would allow, Silent Shout came out just as my love for them grew. I was lucky enough to see one of their only United States performances only some months later, an experience I still treasure. The brother-sister duo have not worked in collaboration since that time, although Karin has since released a solo project under the name Fever Ray.

It is times like these when I wish European travel required less effort. The fact that the show will never reach the United States is quite sad, although I will refrain from reading into it. There is an audience for these things. If only there was a more active effort to create these works in a more public way (for they are going on - you just have to look).

The final performances are November 27 and 28th in Aarhus, Denmark and I spent my morning attempting to justify a trip.

If this isn't reason enough to love Denmark, let me provide further inspiration:

YouHeShe, located in Copenhagen, is one of my favorite shopping sites to date. My only struggle: the translation both from Danish to English and from Kroner to Dollar. I have learned, though that the conversion rate is quite good and actually works in the Dollar's favor, a rarity these days thanks to the success of the Euro. There are plenty of things us Americans recognize (Philip Lim, Vanessa Bruno) and then a wealth of compelling designers without American outlet that I have fallen madly in love with (Wood Wood, Stine Goya, Baum und Pferdgarten, Rabens Saloner, Zarah Voigt).

For continued delight, look through The V-Store, as well.

Farfetch is an incredible site bringing over 200 small boutiques a broader audience by managing an e-department store of their inventories. Not only from Copenhagen, the site also features stores from Paris, London and Florence. Organized into Luxe, Lab and Cult, it is by far the easiest to navigate (in English, pre-programmed conversion rates) and also the easiest to buy from.

Incredibly, the Danish site dedicated to Copenhagen tourism actually compiles a list of designers both new and established who have ateliers or boutiques within the city, a far more comprehensive list that I imagine most cities provide, especially as the fashion industry is still fairly new to the rest of the world.

Visit Copenhagen

If I have successfully intrigued you, allow to me add a few more to the list worth investigating:

Kamilla Antonio

Camilla Skovgaard

Stine Goya