Mastodon and Feist’s split seven-inch is finally available digitally as of today. Even better: you can watch the new tag-team video for “A Commotion,” as covered by Mastodon, and crossfade between the synchronized versions.
Tomorrow is the third Saturday in April, which means that independent record stores across the world will face an influx of limited-edition vinyl, avid fans, and rabid audiophiles. With myriad releases hitting shelves, we’ve provided you with some of our most anticipated picks to make Saturday’s shopping (relatively) quick and painless.
On the heels of her big win at Canada’s Juno Awards, Canadian indie songstress Feist has just released a video for her song “Bittersweet Melodies,” the latest off her 2011 release, Metals. Directed by Holle Singer, the video features the work of Argentine photographer Irina Werning, whose acclaimed photo essay Back to the Future captures present-day recreations of photos from the past.
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/02-Wilhelms-Scream.mp3|titles=James Blake: “The Wilhelm Scream”]
After gaining significant attention in 2010 with three EPs — The Bells Sketch, CMYK, and Klavierwerke — London-based electronic producer James Blake is releasing his self-titled full-length on Atlas Records. The EPs established Blake as a new go-to producer, whose soul-noir brand of dubstep has surprised many with its low-energy beats and restrained, ultramodern approach. Blake’s music is a staggering, spacious collage of R&B and nu-soul samples suspended over deep drum kits, skittering glitch pulses, and highly saturated vocals.
But with so many musicians following the same avant-garde, cut-and-paste approach, Blake’s earlier music doesn’t so much break barriers as it tests fertile grounds. Though the EPs contain danceable grooves and imaginative arrangements, they remain stamp-less, sounding like the supplementary material to an experimental music seminar on producing and remixing beats.
“Limit to Your Love,” the first single to his upcoming album, covers Feist, reducing the original to its simple piano phrase with a tension that lies somewhere between nerve-biting silence and wall-shaking bass. But more importantly, the song reveals a voice capable of channeling the faint intimacy of Bon Iver and the soulful croon of Bill Withers. It’s a warm vocal style that is crucial in realizing Blake’s appeal.
Designing under the name Never Sleeping Inc. is the whimsical, multi-talented artist Ben Chlapek. At first glance, Chlapek’s illustrations may appear as mere childlike cartoons, but upon further inspection they reveal humorous, and often dark, undertones.
