MP3: River - Akron / Family

Akron / Family make psychedelic folk rock - like the sparkling imagination of the Flaming Lips applied to a sing song round a camp fire - and their next forthcoming album just might see them turn into a household name (in those cool households with lots of jazz records and an espresso machine at least).

The album, wonderfully entitled Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, is out on 11 May 2009 in Europe.  BlackPlastic is currently loving 'River' - it's a pondering, whimsical and beautiful song and it sounds like staring out at the starlit night sky with a loved one or a good friend.  It's one of those songs that just keeps changing - rather aptly, somewhat like a river it builds and twists.  The clarinet accompaniment that comes in about midway through the second minute is good, but the song really takes off mid-way through when it begins to shimmer and the marching band percussion comes in.

A swirling whirlpool of knowing vocals and careful melody - download here (right click, save as).

The album is available to pre-order at Crammed and anyone that pre-orders will get an MP3 download of the album straight away.  The band are also touring Europe from May 16, details here.

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Album Review / MP3: More - Double Dagger

BlackPlastic doesn't really like 'metal' anymore. Maybe once, but not anymore.

Some records, however, get lumped into this genre and yet transcend them. Test Icicles violent punk metal may have taken inspiration from metal bands but it also took inspiration from grime and disco. Similarly, Death From Above 1979's only album often got classed as metal but it did much more.

The same is true of Double Dagger's latest album, More.  Double Dagger's third album, it was created in an abandoned office on the fifth floor of a building housing Baltimore's Current Gallery (an artist run gallery and studio space). With everything above the third floor in a state of disrepair the band had to run cables out of the windows and down to the lower floors to power their mics and instruments and they relied on ceiling tiles and cubicle dividers to create soundproofing whilst the band's drummer, Denny Bowen, set up the drums in a separate room but then knocked a hole through the wall so the band could still see each other.

Less than glamorous the conditions may have been but they did enable a longer recording time and, with the inclusion of a few cheap microphones, gave the recording a fantastically rough and distorted sound. Combining metal with the stripped back minimalist percussion and basslines of early post-punk, the experimentalism of the Pixies and vocals that sound like Hold Steady's Craig Finn on a rampage, Double Dagger are the hardcore metal band BlackPlastic can like.

And that's because beyond the initial abrasiveness there is an ear for melody that transforms these songs. Just check the chorus of 'No Allies' - the vocals may try and shout you down but the hooks are irrestibly catchy. There's a lovely clash of sounds on this album and it's like listening to a metal album made by someone who just can't help but make catchy tunes - again this is demonstrated perfectly by the spoken intro and punchy chorus of 'The Lie/The Truth'.

Don't be put off by the shouts and the labels. A single listen to More proves that Double Dagger have made an album that achieves much more than anything by any band concerned with genres could - it might be hardcore, it might be noisy pop... BlackPlastic doesn't care, it's just awesome.

We have a copy of 'The Lie/The Truth' available to download here (right click, save as) - if you like it check out the album. More is released on 3 May on Thrill Jockey. Pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD or LP .

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MP3: Counterpoint (Remixed by The Chain) - Delphic

More Delphic news as their single 'Counterpoint' (reviewed by BlackPlastic a couple of weeks ago here) has been remixed by The Chain and is available for download over at the R&S site.

The fact it's up for download at R&S is perhaps no surprise as The Chain are Dan Foat and Nathan Boddy, the former being the label's A&R for R&S (sorry, acronym overload...) but also a relatively well known DJ and producer.  The duo have previously released together as Foat & Boddy on Mule Electronic and Nathan has also released under 'Office Gossip' on the label he co-runs, Winding Road.

The Chain are soon to release their debut 12", Letting Go / Geo, but in the meantime check out this mix of the emotive 'Counterpoint'.  The influences of Detroit techno are clear and the mix has a dubby feel but is shot through with a lovely twinkling synth that really comes through in the break.

Head on over to R&S Records to grab the download.

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Single Review: Under Control (Alex Metric Remix) - Freeland

When BlackPlastic first heard this mix of Freeland's Lead single from the next album on the radio whilst making dinner it wasn't long before focus was abandonned, the volume cranked up and arms were flailing all over the room in something that may or may not have resembled dancing.

'Under Control' continues Adam Freeland's move towards a more rock orientated sound and features a vocal from someone who sounds very much like (but presumeably isn't) one James Murphy. It's quite good...

...But dammit, this is better. Alex Metric's remix jams a square peg in a round hole and whacks it with a mallet several times and the resulting mess is lovely. Featuring the kind of frictional, discordant synthesizers that make BlackPlastic get hot and sweaty over anything that comes out of the Soulwax stable in combination with a jagged, fuzzy rock edge, this mix takes the original to new heights. All it needs is a little more length and a more climatic finale.

What's more, it's available as a free download over at Freeland.fm. All you've got to you is give up your email address.  You can also download a digital version of the single there or get a vinyl / MP3 bundle (with FLAC options).

Do it.

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MP3: We Are The People (Kotchy Remix) - Empire of the Sun

One of the highlights from Empire of the Sun's dreamy debut, 'We Are The People' in its original form has lovely Fleetwood Mac-esque guitars and more those falsetto vocals.  Kotchy's remix gives the track a stuttering percussive backing and as the rain pours down outside BlackPlastic's window this track suddenly feels appropriate - less like the summery days of 'Walking On a Dream' and much more like an overcast, melancholic lazy day - and it's rather nice.  Best of all is the break with a rumbling bassline that strips back to the vocal before reintroducing the beat.

Kotchy, with his funky, almost subdued but effortlessly sexy productions and hushed vocals looks like one to watch.  Head over to RCRD LBL to check some of his own work (BlackPlastic particularly recommends 'Sing What You Want').  His debut album 89 is out soon and EP I'd Have To Be High drops next week.

Download We Are The People (Kotchy Remix) by Empire of the Sun (right click, save as).

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