Nastinos

Archive for the ‘Featured Artists’ Category

The Polish Ambassador is jumpsuit wearing David Sugalski, self billed on his myspace as ‘half diplomat, half groove generator, all asexual cyborg. Indeed it’s not merely his music, but the make-up of his entire character and back-story which help create an intriguing and unique listening experience.

The Polish Ambassador – Earth vs The World

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His facebook page lists his hometown as ‘The Infinite,’ and Sugalski commonly references his early days in outer space long before he came to earth to spread his electronic beats to the masses. Currently residing in Our World (more specifically California USA) The Polish Ambassador does not do much ambassadoring (-adjective, doing ambassadorry stuff) these days, he simply makes varied and interesting electro beats for us to listen, and dance to.

The Polish Ambassador – The Electro Kids Just Want To Dance

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To date he has 3 full length albums; Dimplomatic Immunity (2007), The Phantasmal Farm (2007) and I Found Him, Now I Must Kill Him (2008). Each one blends together elements of early computer game music with intelligent drum beats designed to make earthlings dance, each track is layered with synthesized bass and futuristic melodies which pay homage to his upbringing in the far reaches of the universe.

Space shenanigans aside, in a time where many electronica artists are blasting our ears with heavy bass and pounding drums, the The Polish Ambassador provides a much lighter melodic sound. Some may find this boring, but the beats are very danceable in a head nodding way and his ability to evoke mood in his lyric-less pieces is something that is much harder to create than it is to listen to.

The Polish Ambassador -  Infiltrating The U.N.

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Spotify Links

Diplomatic Immunity
The Phantasmal Farm

It has been almost two years since angry art-noisers Heart/Yeah? – aka Warren Myles and Jack Fabian – realised they weren’t that angry anymore and decided to pack away their distortion pedals. They’ve grown up a lot since then, and from those ashes emerged the much friendlier-sounding Urgent Talk, with the addition of Roo O’Hare on viola and vocals. Having released their debut double E.P. ‘&’ and ‘&&’ last year, they now return with their first full-length album.

‘Alexander, IV’ is a natural progression for the band, retaining their trademark string and computer counterpoints, quirky alt-pop arrangements and boy/girl vocal harmonies, but presenting it in a more cohesive and polished package. They manage to convey much of the energy which marks out their live performances, but do so without the singing tipping over into ’shouting’  which it can so often do in these shows. I do feel some of the vocal parts here need to be pushed a bit more to the forefront, however, particularly O’Hare’s as the natural singer of the band. A little bit more attention to this facet in the mixing would have gone a long way to improving the overall sound, as next to the abrasive percussion and full instrumental parts, the vocals can sometimes sound a little feeble and the harmonies underwhelming. A shame, as when done properly, this is one of Urgent Talk’s most endearing features.

© Graham Shackleton

It is on track 4, ‘Owls’, where the vocals are at their best and we get a glimpse of what the band are capable of, with a dynamic theatrical performance of onomatopoeiac melodiousness that even Kate Bush would be proud of. The intricate interplay between the vocals, strings and acoustic guitar create some truly sublime moments, reminiscent at times even of Vaughan Williams’ own ornithologically-themed work, ‘The Lark Ascending’. Williams, however, had not heard My Bloody Valentine, and the song breaks into an epic ‘Loveless’-inspired outro. This particular influence is also reflected on tracks ‘Are You Going to Redbridge’, and ‘You Let Me Sleep in the Car’, though it avoids being derivative, and this development is perhaps the most ear-catching feature of Urgent Talk’s growing confidence and evolution as a band.

With this release, Urgent Talk again underline their huge potential, without fully realising it yet. I still feel that they are in need of a more organic drum arrangement. Without it, they may struggle to find the subtle dynamism needed to push their songs to the next level, though if ‘Owls’ is any indicator of the future then the signs are promising. The band still have a truly unique sound, and there is no doubting their creativity, nor their inspired genre-crossing range of motifs. They are now taking a hiatus, during which time they plan to work on their sound and live show, along with assorted solo projects. With a little fine-tuning, there is no reason why Urgent Talk can’t come back bigger and bolder than before. Perhaps this album does not befit the title ‘Alexander the Great’, but it is certainly ‘Alexander the Very Good’.

Rating – 8/10

‘Alexander, IV’ is out now on Dear You Records and can be downloaded for free (128k version) or £2 (320k version) at: http://urgenttalk.bandcamp.com/.

Urgent Talk – Palindromes

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Urgent Talk – Owls

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Urgent Talk – Untitled

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Warren John Myles has long been a stalwart of Sheffield’s anti-establishment subterranean music scene, though you would be forgiven for not instantly recognising his name, as he is perhaps more familiar for his work in art-punk anti-emo noise combo  Heart/Yeah?, and more recently, violinear electro-folk pop trio Urgent Talk. It may therefore be a surprise to hear that ‘No Drama’ is in fact his third solo album release, following on from 2007’s ‘Gameboy Songs’ and last year’s ‘Coughs’.

‘No Drama’ marks a significant departure from Myles’ earlier work in both scope and conception. I think it is fair to say his first two works were more exploratory pieces, charting Myles growth as an electronic artist and gameboy connoisseur, and it was perhaps an overemphasis on this particular ‘instrument’ that turned-off many a snobbish muso which meant the musical depth and quality of songs such as ‘I am the tiger from clipart’ remained largely overlooked. Even yours truly must hold his hands up and apologise for this. ‘No Drama’, however, is no avant-garde statement, but one of serious artistic intent. The electronica remains, but it is primarily developed from an acoustic guitar with samples mixed through his laptop, producing a quite remarkable range of sounds and offering a much more versatile platform upon which to explore his songwriting skills.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not pop in any highly-polished, Trevor Horn sense of the word. Nor will it be storming the charts or be covered by this year’s X-Factor winner. I imagine the raw, bedroom production will not be to everyone’s taste, neither will his strained vocal parts, but if you look past these for a moment, Myles’ pop sensibilities come shining through. He has a real ear for a catchy hook, and a great sense of harmony, and though his voice is admittedly not the strongest, it has a fragile quality which really captures his human vulnerability, and gives us a glimpse of the man behind the entertainer and exhibitionist we are used to seeing shed his shirt on stage. Myles has always been a very poetic and insightful lyricist, something perhaps not fully conveyed in the noise records of his past. In this context though his words shimmer with a heady mix of surreal beauty and satirical social commentary. In fact, it is a more mature Myles, as both a songwriter and individual, who shares with us his own personal reflections on growing up and settling down, epitomised in the song ‘Little Coney’. This song in particular has an incredibly infectious dancebeat melody you can’t help but hum and tap your foot to, a vibe somewhat ironic considering the song’s opening line: ‘now why would I want to stay out in a club?’.

This is an impressive offering from Myles, which firmly cements his place as one of the most innovative and exciting artists currently performing in the Steel City. Furthermore, ‘No Drama’ can be downloaded in its entirety completely for free at: http://theeeldance.blogspot.com/2009/08/warren-myles-no-drama-dyr07.html. Therefore you have no excuse not to check it out!

Rating: 7.5/10

Look out for my review of the new Urgent Talk album in the next week, also from Sheffield’s ‘Dear You Records’ stable.

Warren John Myles – Little Coney:

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Warren John Myles – And When I Die Throw My Body In:

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Warren John Myles – Bagshot Balloon Factory Theme:

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The other Saturday (6 June 2009) we trotted across to the red side of the pennines to catch the multi-talented, multi-aliased 2 many Djs (or is it soulwax?) at the Manchester Academy. After the customary wrong turn finding the hotel, and the vastly overpriced taxi to the venue (damn you 6-seaters!) we had a brilliant night.

First, for those of you who need to catch up, a little background, concentrate because it get’s a bit messy!

(To skip the background and go straight to the gig review get your click on here.

2 Many Djs are made up of Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele who first found international fame as part of Soulwax, their full on alternative electro-rock band who have album releases spanning back to the mid 90s. Soulwax releases “Leave The Story Untold” (1996) and “Much Against Everyone’s Advice” (1998) was followed by 2002’s first release under the 2 Many Djs guise, “As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt. 2.”

“As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt. 2.” is a fully licensed mash-up album whose tracklisting can be found here. A lot of 2 Many Djs remixes failed to make the album due to problems obtaining the rights to the original tracks, but many of these have cropped up on the unofficial releases (As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt. 1 and Pt. 3-11) which are in fact, bootlegged radio shows they have performed for various stations throughout their time. There was also a bootlegged recording of a mix for BBC Radio 1 in 2005 released under the moniker “50′000′000 Soulwax Fans Can’t Be Wrong.”

Ok, so, after 3 more official Soulwax releases, “Any Minute Now” (2004), “Nite Versions” (2005) and “Most of the Remixes . . .” (2007), there followed a documentary release “Part Of The Weekend Never Dies.” Of course, in between these were the countless number of remixes, radio stand-ins and live shows they performed all around the world, and with that, we should be just about up to speed, well, sort of.

And so, to the present (which will be the past when you read this!) and the June 2009 tour of the UK. We caught them at the Manchester Academy on Saturday 6th June 2009, click here for the review.

Also a word on their immediate future, they have said they plan to release 24 new compilation albums which will be put out their via their own online radio station called, strangely enough, Radio Soulwax. At the time of post this has yet to go live but I have heard on the forums over at soulwax.info that it is expected to launch this month.

Ok, peace out, i’ll leave you with the soulwax edit of MGMT’s Kids. Remember, check out my gig review for these guys here!

MGMT – Kids (Soulwax Edit)

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All work and no play makes Nastino a dull (and infrequent) blogger.

Of course, when play is your work, you can have as much fun as singer has Tigs has fronting her band.

After standing through a pretty awful thrash metal band at Brighton last month, my spirits needed lifting and my ears were in need of some vocal medicine. Chew Lips were next up and they were able to succeed on both fronts.

Chew Lips are a 3-piece electro-pop outfit from London who make music to dance to, not in a smack my bitch up way, it’s more of a Hot Chip vibe, or a more chilled out CSS. Infact, debut single Solo (see below) gets carried along by a wave of beeps, blips and beats much like Kylie’s Slow, only it’s much much cooler.

Of course, it’s inevitable (and probably fair) that they are compared to another female fronted 3-piece in the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, but I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. Tigs is every bit as enthusiastic as Karen O and Chew Lips’ music has a slightly more electro sound than YYYs which suggest there’s certainly room for the both of them.

At the Brighton show singer Tigs got excited enough to climb on to a speaker set before realising she couldn’t get down without utilising the ‘jump off and fall over’ maneuver, great stuff. I then spent the latter half of the show wondering if she had an actual beauty spot or it was stuck on, it was only when I bumped into the band at a nearby chippy afterwards I realised it was a little heart drawn on her cheek.

These guys are not sneaking by too unnoticed. Steve Lamacq has already tipped them to succeed in 2009, a quick listen at their myspace should help you see why. Check out debut single Solo below.

Chew Lips – Solo

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Whilst sitting about today not doing very much I stumbled across a track by St. Louis band The Pragmatic. The track, Circles (see media player below), carries you through on a wave of synth led bass and melody the likes of which I last heard on tracks from MGMT.

A quick look into the band shows that I appear to be pretty late to the game, they apparantly had a number one track on Hype Machine over a year ago. So, did they fail to live up to the hype? Maybe, or maybe they have spent the time refining their sound for an assault on the mainstream.

Andre Anjos from the band has musical pedigree after founding the Remix Artists Collective (RAC) and subsequently putting out many remix’s to an appreciative web audience. Having said that, I did not appreciate The Pragmatic’s murderring of Justice’s Phantom found on their myspace.

They have recently released a free EP which you can download from here, this EP is led by the title track Cirlces and includes 4 more tracks which show good versitility in their use of synths and loops.

In truth, although this EP is a solid listen, I’m not holding my breath that they will come over to the UK and make an MGMT sized splash anytime soon. But, if they can capture the finer points of EP tracks Circles, You Blame Me (see media player below) and Academy, and work these in to a full lenghth album, then I for one would welcome them with open arms.

The Pragmatic – Circles

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The Pragmatic – You Blame Me

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First, a warning. If you’re of a nervous disposition I would recommend that you stop reading here and forget the band mentioned exists, their music can only cause you pain.

For the rest of you, imagine a sound somewhere before the skittish melodies of Holy Fuck meets the chaotic mess of a sound from Sikth, that’s where you’ll find this unsigned UK 3-piece.

Their debut release is the self titled EP which contains 5 tracks simply named “untitled 1,” “untitled 2,” … and so forth. In truth, each track could be a mini album in it’s own right, moving from edgy guitar, through apprehensive synths, to hectic, agitated beats and back again, and again, and possibly again before the song is over.

Each section of the songs sounds great on their own, but that’s only half the battle, with the varying styles and tempos within each song the arrangement is the key to making an listenable experience. Great news! They’ve pulled this off with aplomb!

Their work is something that needs listening to, I wouldn’t recommend that you use it as background music while you do the washing up, my guess is that this will probably result in some broken crockery. I would, however, recommend that you purchase this EP, leave yourself free from distractions, plug in some good quality headphones and play this through with the attention it deserves.

The band itself comprises of Tom Rogerson on piano, keyboard and occasional vocals, Matt Calvert on guitar, synths and electronics and Adam Betts on drums (and a bit more electronics). As talented as they collectively are, my attention was drawn to drummer Betts when I saw them as part of this years Great Escape Festival in Brighton. The live drummer gave the guys a presence that few electronic artists I’ve witnessed can match, and Betts keeps up the pace and intensity superbly.

You can listen to the EP at their MySpace or get a feel for them with the lead track below (untitled 1).

Three Trapped Tigers – 1

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“When I was a little kid I was addicted to TV, I watched a lot of 80s cartoons and movies & I used to love it, so I wanted to make music as if I was in the 80s making a tune for a cartoon or a Sci-Fi movie!”

Futurecop! creator Manzur Iqbal reveals the inspiration behind his musical project in an interview with oohcrapp.net music blog. So, did he succeed? Absolutely, on so many levels!

These guys put out a sound that places you slap bang in the middle of the 80s, although it’s not the 80s I heard the first time around, it’s almost a modern (or futuristic if you will) reincarnation of the decade that is everything I wish my local 80s night was but isn’t.

Current favourite track ‘Karate Kids’ (below) begins with a soft synth sound not too unlike the intro to Petshop Boys ‘West End Girls,’ this quickly gives way to epic sounding bleepery which captures the mood of the movie the title refers to, go on I challenge you not to imagine a bit of wax on wax off as you listen!

I saw them live as part of the great escape festval in Brighton this year (2009) and, despite catching them by accident, they happened to be one of my highlights of the weekend. So much so infact, that after sitting at the back of the room with my whiskey and coke, I was quickly risking death clambering on stools and tables to see who was making that sound. Turns out it was Futurecop! and they deserve a listen.

Check them out on their MySpace or check out the tune below.

Futurecop! – Karate Kids

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