I mean, it’s basically what you all were thinking in your minds so why not make it a reality?
It’s true, we here at 2020k (thanks to our friend Jessica A.) are officially endorsing Ke$ha for president because who doesn’t want to make it a law for mandatory Jack Daniels teeth brushing?
Not Really.
Actually, we don’t care who you’re voting for but if you’re a United States resident and a registered voter, we’re asking that you do get to the polls today.
Major Update: Throughout the entire morning of October 27th, 2012, 2020k remained hopeful that the sparse reports of the death of Natina Reed from the R&B group Blaque were false. Not only were the reports of a life lost from a car accident reminiscent of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, who put Blaque together, but an interview with You Know It Got Soul showed Natina ready to make music once again with her group mates. Unfortunately, the reports were true. Natina Reed passed away at the age of 32 after being struck by a vehicle.
Though their discography is small, Blaque released a few great contemporary R&B albums. Their sound followed a pop formula, combined very standard production techniques and album flow, but had a sound signature to the period of which it was released. It was clean, wonderfully clean, and produced just enough to wiggle its way into the successful middle ground of the music scene during the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
Our deepest condolences go out to the family, friends, and colleagues of Natina.
Below is the original article…
We know nothing. Reports are coming in through Twitter following an apparent “exclusive” from Diva Whispers and follow up from That Grape Juice that Natina Reed from the R&B group Blaque has died from a fatal car accident on October 27th, 2012.
We remain skeptical. Put together by TLC rapper Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes who suffered the same fate on April 25th, 2002, we’re crossing our fingers that this is a hoax spiraled out of control.
Blaque spawned few hits in the urban-pop scene with their self-titled debut in 1999 with singles “Bring It All To Me”, “I Do”, and “808 (Remix)”.
2020k remains huge fans of TLC, so it’s only natural our hearts hold a small place for the group modeled after and mentored by its main influence.
This post will be updated as reports come in. We ask that you follow our Twitter for more live updates.
Update 1: Several Tweets from inside the industry have been published on the web. Please remember this still means nothing.
This is the first in a joint venture between Amber from Open ‘Til Midnight. In it, we combine our quite different thoughts on the newly released orchestral album “Gold Dust” by Tori Amos.
Amber takes the highly snarky and critical fan point of view, while 2020k focuses on the technical aspects of the recording and its final impact it makes with the end emotional result.
Both huge fans of Tori, RJ and Amber banter back and forth with Torisms and inside jokes as a way to portay a dialog between the two as they search to find a middle ground of sorts toward what they think of this 2012 release.
When 2020k first saw Fiona Apple at the MGM Grand in Connecticut (read our review here), she was enchantingly tired. Tired because she hadn’t slept the night before, but enchanting in the way she soldiered through the seventeen song set in that groggy fashion that Creativitypost.com mentioned as being some of the more creative human feelings. It was wonderful, and when our best friend Kristen Adams scored a pair of tickets for a birthday celebration we were happy to join her at the closing show of Apple’s Every Single Night Tour in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Stage AE – an area of the continental United States she hadn’t visited in twelve agonizingly long years.
Through the tour, we’d seen Fiona go through minor legal problems through the state of Texas for possession of marijuana and hash in an area that’s notorious for stopping celebrities for this reason. What would the closing show be without mention of it? Coyly and almost halfway through her set she started, while giving a smile toward an individual shaking his head off to the side of the stage. “I’m not dumb,” she proclaimed. “There’s a so much I could say and when I can say it..I’ll fucking say it.” That was that, and the show continued to uproars and screams.
In regards to screams, Apple warmly welcomed them. In fact, in the pause during “Get Gone” she allowed the audience to loudly exclaim their warm welcome back to the Pittsburgh area for what seemed like a few minutes, before smiling and continuing with the instrumental outro.
As the song finished, Apple looked off the stage and stated she wanted to act like it was the encore and do the encore now. The band, the staff, and even the audience looked perplexed. After all, “I Know” was only the sixth song in the set and while many of the numbers in the set were fantastically extended (especially “Sleep to Dream” which was performed two songs later and included an full band jam ending session with Blake Mills shredding in an endlessly powerful, musically confrontational manner), it wasn’t enough. What she meant, as she held her hands out in front of her was that she was going to give the audience one minute to do whatever they wanted because it was the last show and it was her “last chance to be an idiot.” She continued along the experimental monologue charmingly and ended it with “you got sixty seconds and this is your song and this is the encore“. After a scream of “GO!” the shouts began. She laughed, she smiled, and while she stated she was doing it because the pause in “I Know” was interesting, it was apparent from the smirks on stage that she was having the time of her life. Happiness personified. It was an artist’s interaction between all herself aspects of the venue, bringing them together in a sense of unity.
“Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)” followed in a rushed manner and dub-esque breakdown that ended in a more rocked manner, much like it has been performed in the entirety of the show and “Daredevil” off the new record The Idler Wheel… followed.
Though, it was the show’s ending number “Not About Love” of which floored the audience once more. Anyone who attended Apple’s Chicago show on the night of July 10th, 2012 knows the fury she can pack in the chorus of the song (click here to see what we’re talking about) and while she didn’t quite bring it to the volumes of that night, she did just fine. In fact, she continued the playful silent treatment to the audience by taking long pauses, even stopping to lay completely down on the piano’s stool (causing the entire band to heavily laugh, while waiting for the singer’s cue to continue through the song) in anticipation of more excitement and yells from the audience.
Afterward? She told the audience she loved them. Something she’s stated previously in interviews that she’s not used to comfortably stating. And oh, did she say it with pride, even looking into the eyes of the audience (and much to Kristen and my’s story, directly at the two of us).
Encore? Who needs one. She charged right into the gorgeous cover of Conway Twitty’s “It’s Only Make Believe,” left the stage, and that was that. Perfection and an optimistic Fiona Apple, glad to perform, but also glad to close the North American leg of the tour in support of her mid-2012 release.
Knowing Fiona Apple’s way of going about her artistic procedure, it may be a while before she’s back with new material and a new tour, but seeing The Idler Wheel.., which is one of the most well put together, stark, and fantastically written albums of 2012, and the rest of Apple’s best in a live setting is mesmerizing and enough for even the causal fan to be floored.
Setlist:
Fast as You Can
On the Bound
Shadowboxer
Paper Bag
Anything We Want
Get Gone
Periphery
Sleep to Dream
Extraordinary Machine
Werewolf
Left Alone
I Know
Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)
Daredevil
Not About Love
It’s Only Make Believe
Opener Blake Mills delivered a great opening set with “It’ll All Work Out,” “Hey Lover,” and an tearjerking cover of Santo & Johnny’s “Sleep Walk” [his album Break Mirrors is available via Amazon. As well as a great stream on Spotify].
21 year old Georgia native, Tennessee resident Christopher Kamas, known strictly by his last name Kamas is a Lo-Fi by Default artist who’s no stranger to the independent music scene. Known for his earlier releases via an official Bandcamp page, his latest 2012 release, Cerulean, has been properly released to a warm audience in it’s ironically digital-only glory (more on that statement later). The result? A jaw dropping collection of downtempo soaked ambient and heavily electronic numbers that explore polar sonic opposites within the same track span and dive deep into analog distortion and pitch bending that represent a stark, dismal emotional surface, while contrasting in representation of an extrasolar light under the grit of it’s dark exterior.
The appropriately titled opening track “Horizon” builds in a medium sized pad fade in before it empties into a temperate bass energy, complete with minimal rhythmic and human voice sampling elements. In contrast to it’s modest mixing technique, “Phillr” provides a more resonance feel in it’s glitch-esque sampling. The two, drastically different, do have an analogue tape feel and even contain clicks that help give the tracks stability and seamless blend from one track to another.
It’s quite clear from the first few tracks of Cerulean that this album is experimental and completely unique sounding to its genre. Although it does barrow from trip-hop influences, especially through the downtempo feel of “Radar East” and “Come Visit”, the interweaving of sound manipulation by means of warping the completed composition adds a breath of fresh air and quickly separates Kamas from the majority of Electronic music contemporaries.
Inklings of Boards of Canada do sneak through the cracks every now and then, channeling the duo a bit in “Don’t break it anymore” and also venturing toward their sonics with the static sounding song “Track Titled 5 But Got 6”, which is a short interlude track compised mostly of bass that fades into a following song, even shorter, but more melodic and called “Cloudland Canyon”. The two compliment each other well in that, just like the beginning two songs of Cerulean, they’re radically obscure from one another. The most Sandison inspired track seems to be “This Isn’t Just a Dream There’s Like Molecules and Stuff (featuring Powernap)” which carries one of the more mainstream sounding tunes of the record and provides a chill out vibe with layers and compression intricacies that need to be explored on several listens.
One of the more accessible and whole songs on the 2012 Kamas record is “Infinity Museum” which not only provides more of a traditional song structure, but also introduces several different genres that are interconnected into a single sound source. From a stereo sounding glitch opening, to drone stylings, and a standard beat, the ninth track demonstrates a feeling of eeriness, a connection with the darkness through lower sounding field-eseque recordings that come together to pull through a variance in direction with an optimistic melody that rides just below a head nodding percussive section that carries the songs drive and command. By the end, it’s the reverberation that carries out the track before it’s toned down to it’s meek beginnings. A return to form, but still bent out of shape and a slight morph and maturity in it’s final moments.
It’s interesting to note that “Ambient Piece For A film” was done in one take. Straight from a statement to us from Kamas, he declared “the song ‘Ambient Piece For A Film’ was the most out there I’ve done, being the fact that it’s all done live and in one take. I was twisting knobs and playing notes all at the same time, which is why there isn’t a lot of melody changes.” Considering this seems to be one of the more intricately put together pieces on Cerulean, it’s clear that a strong sense of humanistic appeal is poured into it and not just technically. Christopher continued, “[the song] was created after a long day of self loathing over where I was going with life, and out of all the cliches I was curious if I should stop making music or not.” Finally, he concluded “I kept making music, as you can see.”
“Ambient Piece For A Film” is the most experimental and shining moment on the Lo-Fi by Default release. Though the composition is more of an extended drone session that Belong would be noted for if they entered into a darker realm with their music, the metamorphosis of where the pads head are never predictable and so the song’s destination is impossible to be detected by the listener. Pitch bending, distortion, delay, reverberation, pulsing, structural building, structural tear down, and anything else you can think of is all present. It’s ever building, ever getting stronger while representing a desolate mood and hopeless life. Sometimes, a chord progression will shift to a brighter tone, only to be lost once most and eventually, without warning, the track ends.
It feels like a letdown after all of the building that “Ambient Piece..” does, but it only gives way to the second song on Cerulean that earns itself a medal for one of the top released tracks of 2012 – “Child”.
“Child” is a track that must be experienced. It’s warbling main synth melody sounds as delicate as the track name is and its melodic progression only gets backed by the monotonous, straight forward, scratched Trip-Hop percussion, warm & loud bass, as well as the main synthesizer line. If it’s naivity isn’t swallowed up quite enough for you at the surface, digging deeper there is mass analogue distortion that’s so natural, so crucial to the track, that it makes it a song worth listening to on repeat for hours. Clocking in at just over 2 minutes, its duration is meaningless in a world where the artistic value of Kamas’ ability as a producer, engineer, mixer, and composer is clearly demonstrated in such a short, simplified amount of time. It’s the entire package of this song that makes it so great. It’s also the in-distinctions, imperfections, and substandard sonic packaging that ironically turns “Child” and the majority of Cerulean into a solid work of art.
Though a seemingly dark album, the official release states the Kamas record is an album about love and stuff. “Loves You” explores a more streamlined genre hopping drone/downbeat Electronic world that’s a bit more optimistic and “Samurai” projects a bright and hopeful mood as well.
As mentioned earlier, Cerulean is only released digitally so far, via Kamas’ Bandcamp, but for a digitally released record it sounds warm. In fact, it’s one of the warmest independent releases of 2012 and is definitely in a league of its own with it’s ever morphing sonics and strangely complimentary contrasts.
It’s worth a download, it’s worth a headphone listen, it’s worth a lot of things. Cerulean, as defined in the opening statement of Wikipedia, is a color term that may be applied to a wide range of colors from deep blue, sky-blue, bright blue or azure colors through blueish green colors. Though Kamas’ record seems forlorn, after a few listens those colors and demonstrative feelings of sentiment do shine through in the most wonderfully vulnerable and gorgeously broken way possible.
Click Here for the Official Kamas Soundcloud page Click Here for the Kamas Bandcamp page Click Here to download Cerulean [Bandcamp] Click Here to follow Kamas on Facebook
We’re also happy to announce that Kamas has contributed remixes to the upcoming EP release of “Contagion” [Bandcamp] by 2020k.
In extremely upsetting news, Alaska in Winter has closed their official online store. A small statement and explanation for fans has been put up on the official Facebook page.
“Dear Everyone, I’m going to be shutting down the online store soon and closing my music business down (perhaps for a while, perhaps forever). I want to thank everyone who supported my endeavor- I really appreciate those of you who purchased CD’s, Cassette Tapes, Floppy Discs, T-shirts and other outdated mediums which contained my music… and I really hope that you enjoyed such things. For the rest of you who never knew, it was something that I put an incredible amount of time and money into as well as all the blood, sweat, and tears available in my body that went into releasing Alaska in Winter music on my own label, designing and doing everything by hand (yes, Brandon made every single one of the items you purchased or thought about purchasing) to bring you guys something special directly from me. I hope it was worth it. R.I.P. – A.I.W.M. store”
Initially, as a fan of Brandon Bethancourt’s musical endeavors as Alaska In Winter, 2020k feared the for the worse. Those who have followed the project knows of the suffrages and sacrifice made for the stunning discography and art that has been put together throughout the years. However, it seems as though this is more of an official closing of just the online store.
So, what does that mean? Support independent art. Make your purchases now, before it’s too late and they’re not available in these physical formats anymore.
Dear BT/The Stiffler Brothers/The State Fair of Texas,
Sometimes we ask the tough questions in life. Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? How did “Gangnam Style” reach number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100? And of course, when will all of those Furby’s we had in the 90’s come to life, Gizmo style, and destroy us all because we forgot to feed them for more than a decade?
Little did we know that the aforementioned questions would mean next to nothing to our lives once electronic dance pinoneer Brian Transeau, better known by his initials BT and also known as the person we’re directing this open letter to would take his personal smart phone, or maybe it was his business phone, out of his pocket, and snap a picture of a menu put together by the Stiffler Brothers at the State Fair of Texas. Now, we’re gonna skate to one question and one question only, and as alangley10 so elegantly asked in the comments section of your picture, HOW THE HELL DOES ONE FRY LEMONADE?!
I’m not the only inquisitive mind either! Users itsmadamk and afournilr are also profoundly confused. In fact, Sarachelle82 stated that her stomach and arteries hurt while looking at this particular photograph and I can only imagine the reason for such anguish is because of the need to know how to make fried lemonade.
So look, BT. There are Thirteen Angels sitting on your broken windowsill. THIRTEEN. That’s an unlucky number, I’ll have you know and I believe that the only way to send them back to heaven is to find the answer to this question. You and I don’t even have to share the answer if you know it. We can hide it in Our Dark Garden (no, really, I’m lying, if someone comments or Tweets me, I’m totally updating this post with the answer).
Are you still in Texas?! Can you go back?! I mean, this is a question that is sure to be even more pressing when my best friends and I sit down to partake in the Presidential Debate Drinking Game, thentry to provoke the moderator through the television to ask one of the candidates how they would evenly distribute the goods if they were given an unlimited amount of Fried Lemonade from the Stiffler Brothers, or from the State of Texas.
In closing, please help shed some light (or Hikari) on this deep, pressing issue because it’s Gathering The Darkness around here.
Update: Ladies and Gentlemen, the beloved friend and blogger Amber over from Open ‘Til Midnight has solved the mystery! Let us share the Last Moment of Clarity
Update 2: Krissy, fellow Pittsburgh resident, and re-designer of the Official BT website tweeted us with some interesting information as well! Check out the TED link.
Mystery fully solved. So whattayasay, Brian? Next time you’re in the ‘Burgh, you wanna make some Fried Lemonade with the locals?!
Alternate Ending: Best friends provide option number two for creating fried lemonade. Just, so, you know, you aren’t frying ice cubes and risking burning your house down. (Please don’t try this at home)!
If The Stars are Eternal So Are You And I was released June 19th, 2012 [iTunes]
Recently, Garbage announced a contest in collaboration with Beatport to remix “Automatic Systematic Habit” from their first record in seven years, Not Your Kind of People. During the time of the albums release, 2020k was unable to give the project a proper review because of alternate artistic endeavors, but has decided to touch upon it and display his own remix of the song!
2020k on the track: “Automatic Systematic Habit (2020k Remix)” is a work of art inspired by the Garbage track of the same name from their record “Not Your Kind of People”. The album inspired several instances throughout the track, including the Remixes opening voicemail lines. A work of labor and love, the 2020k remix hopes to bring in a fresh, personal and alternate perspective to the aggressive arrangement originally put together by Garbage, while remaining true to its original intent.
That being said, this review is a collaboration article between 2020k and Open ‘Til Midnight. You can read the full, unabridged text from Amber Waves via this article. Our words are in our standard text color, while Amber goes blue.
Driving right in: For the technical aspects of Not Your Kind of People, Garbage goes for an aggressive approach to mastering. According to the TT Loudness Meter the album ranks under an average dynamic range of 5dB (although the vinyl pressing of the record shows a world of difference in range levels). In fact, the highest average bit of dynamic range on the entire record reads at about 6dB.
It’s noteworthy that save for their debut, Garbage has always been a bit loud and fill their records with enough angst that its sound isn’t perceived as loud for the sake of being loud, but a bit noisier to maintain their emotional drive behind the angst driven records the grunge titans have come to be about. Is this the best mixed album of 2012? No. But, is it alright sounding? Yes. While the sonics never stop their assault, it doesn’t seem like there’s much unwanted, audible distortion.
The best display of this hot mixing technique comes with the debut UK single of the record, “Battle In Me”. Its punctuating riff-stops evoke “Supervixen”, a tune that remains one of the band’s very best creations. Sexual magnetism churns and boils over in this track, complete with military-esque drums and shameless lyrics, making for a strong track that highlights the album. “Let’s take a torch to the past and the future/Let’s make out/I won’t tell your girlfriend.” Well Shirley, if you insist… – “Battle In Me” is the most rebellious track on the record, a fully produced force that builds from minimal vocal and electronic effects, that fall beneath Manson’s strong vocals. “It takes a lot to shake me,” Shirley laments, but by the time the chorus builds to its triumphant warrior-esque approach to song structure, it’s layers upon layers of guitars, mixed with semi-distorted vocals and pounding percussive elements, the excitement is through the roof.
Upon listen after listen of Not Your Kind Of People, it’s apparent that production value was a huge part of what went into this record and what made it fun. On “Automatic Systematic Habit,” the album’s opener, front woman and lead vocalist Shirley Manson’s vocals contain delays, reverberation, vocoder effected, filtered, and enough stereo buffer sounding effects on the dry vocal, as well as the wet tracks as well that the robotic (or systematic) feel to the song is heard instantly. This technique is also heavily used on “The One”.
Interestingly enough, Shirley’s vocal lines aren’t at the forefront of this mix for the most part of the song’s duration. In fact, it’s the dense guitar tracks that take center stage. It’s not only the album’s opening track that takes this approach, but the majority of the album. It works to a positive effect, giving Not Your Kind of People more of a band feel as opposed to what could have been done instead and what sometimes is done on band records (giving the vocalist the shine, while the band plays background).
“Man on a Wire” – A brilliant, addictive riff that reminds me of the hip-grooving riff of Finger Eleven’s “Good Times” draws the listener to the full-out rocker chorus on this tune, inspired by the documentary Man On Wire, the tale of a man who tightrope walked illegally between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. The song transcends into a “Screw the world, you can’t stop me” anthem to sing loudly with, a working-class battle cry against the powerful doubters looking down upon them. Delicious!
“Control” – Oh my God, this is pure sex. Sonic Tupelo honey with the gritty seething anger Shirley conjures so well makes for a stunner of tune. There’s a true sense of madness here, a journey down a very bad rabbit hole, hurtling towards the bottom without a hope in hell of survival. “Drown us with the burdens of our sins/Maybe I’ll look you in the eye, tell you, ‘You don’t want to die’/Maybe I’ll hold my breath and jump right in.” These are some of the best lyrics the band’s ever delivered, and I will be playing this one repeatedly in days to come. For anyone concerned that the darkness of their earlier work was long gone, fear not: it’s here. Come lose control.
While the quieter tracks may ask some to lose control, they certainly contain more of the shining moments on the sixth studio album by the band. “Big Bright World” recalls mature/electro-pop excellence, while “Felt” supplies more of a soundscape for the dream pop world to live inside. Elements of electronic music are infused with pop influences throughout the entire album’s run and they’re definitely translated well into the body of work this collective has released over the years.
The Deluxe Edition of Not Your Kind of People offers four extra tracks that are absolute perfection and should have remained on the standard edition of the album.
“What Girls Are Made Of” teeters through a lone opening of a kick and snare sample, with live guitar instrumentation. Feminist lyricism such as “We can bleed for a whole week straight every month and the pain doesn’t phase us” throw themselves unapologetically into the opening lines of the track, before a breakdown explodes into a mad yell “Haven’t you heard I let you off with murder? ..And I’ve been drinking again. It helps to block you out cause if I stop to think, I swear I’ll lose it.” While it’s definitely a geared more toward a female empowerment anthem, post-stressful event involving intimate human interaction, it’s point is certainly relatable all around. At the mid-way point, things calm down with a simple melody where all of the songs parts seemingly follow each other for a few bars, before breaking off into their own respective elements and disintegrate into the track’s chorus.
“Bright Tonight” recalls the 90’s and something The Smashing Pumpkins would stumble upon. In fact, that’s not the only portion of the Garbage record that conjures up Billy Corgan. The Title track does as well. Although, different. It’s slow, meandering melody carries us into the album’s namesake, and I confess that I’m a little bored by this tune. This one’s b-side material at best: the lyrics are immature and Smashing Pumpkins captured this sort of vibe better in their track “We Only Come Out At Night”. Were this an instrumental piece, I feel it might work better, and perhaps Shirley forced lyrics onto this one to fit a sprawling melody no one wished to discard. This almost encroaches into M83 or Explosions In The Sky Territory, or perhaps Stars, if the words are set aside. Passable, but brought down by the attempt at an anthem for the band and their ‘darklings’.
All in all, do Garbage still have what made them trailblazers in the 90s?
Happily, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. While it’s crucial to note that the band explicitly set out not to evolve but rather return to their roots, this doesn’t make the endeavor unimpressive. The Garbage sound still holds up as ever, pushing grunge and pop into a fusion dashed with electronic play. Mercifully, the album steers away from hit-and-miss album Beautiful Garbage‘s overly saccharine zone, returning instead to their self-titled debut with the informed restraint of Bleed Like Me. The result is a solid album that fits well within the catalogue, and while it may not outshineGarbage or Version 2.0, it holds its own quite nicely with its older musical siblings. It also soars and pulses with that irresistible vibe of the “perfect roadtrip album”, making it a great choice for a late Spring/Summer release. The mixing leaves a little to be desired in places, however, which pulls the album away from perfection.
In true Garbage style, the gang has showed us they can progress through the stages of their respective careers and still come together to release a record that’s cohesive, heavy, and unique. Though Not Your Kind Of People does suffer in places, it’s still an album worth having in your 2012 collection.
Amber’s album rating: A
2020k’s album rating: 3.5/5
To read the unabridged version of Open ‘Til Midnight’s review of Not Your Kind ofPeople please click here
CLICK HERE TO STREAM AND VOTE FOR THE 2020k REMIX OF “AUTOMATIC SYSTEMATIC HABIT” IN COLLABORATION WITH THE BEATPORT COMPETITION.
Purchase Not Your Kind of People Vinyl Edition [Amazon]
Purchase Not Your Kind of People Deluxe Edition [Amazon]
Purchase Not Your Kind of People [iTunes]
When we reviewed Lana Del Rey’s debut album Born To Die we mentioned that the album was a great release to put a dent in the first quarter of 2012 (click here to read the review in its entirety). With the re-release of the record coming out in a Paradise Edition, filled with nine new tracks and coming out on November 13th, it looks like it’ll also provide the latter half of the year with a cinematic soundtrack to die for. Not only is there a string heavy cover of the standard “Blue Velvet” (popularized by Bobby Vinton, Tony Bennett, and an 80’s revival by Angelo Badalamenti in the David Lynch movie by the same name) that was featured in an H&M commercial, but the lead single of the project, Rick Rubinproduced “Ride”, features a brilliantly emotional music video clocking in at just over ten minutes.
A voiceover starts and ends the production and remains poetic through it all but the most haunting and, well, most Del Rey is toward the conclusion of the visual in which she states “I believe in the country America used to be. I believe in the person I want to become. I believe in the freedom of the open road. And my motto is the same as ever, I believe in the kindness of strangers. And when I’m at war with myself…I ride. I Just ride.”
Sexualized pinball scenes, a tire swing you’d die to spend a few minutes on, and a bunch of lovers and bikers fill the video and places yet another staple in absolute flawlessness and attention to nostalgic and somber attitude that Lana Del Rey’s music and visual accompaniments have become.
Born to Die: Paradise Edition tracklisting
1. Ride
2. American
3. Cola (Pussy)
4. Body Electric
5. Blue Velvet
6. Gods & Monsters
7. Yayo
8. Bel Air
9. Burning Desire (iTunes Bonus Track)
Their mystery ridden, complex story lines that have been presented through the project’s YouTube account have created a tight knit following through the digital-only BOUNTY and ; in concert releases. 21st century marketing, combined with technological outlets and creative expression that walk a tightrope between nimble accessibility and brilliant experimentation are just surface level scratching of what Jonna Lee and Claes Bjorklund have accomplished together.
For two years, the electronic duo Iamamiwhoami have taken the internet and the international music scene by storm, causing a blindsided firestorm of acclaim from the blogosphere and MTV, even going so far as to receiving a 2011 Grammi award for Innovator of the Year. All this notoriety, and yet the project still did not have full release or proper judge of character behind the masks of the project.
In fact, it seemed as though it would stay that way. In a recent interview, vocalist Jonna Lee proclaimed the two lone tracks released after the BOUNTY series, “; John” and “Clump” were created as an epilogue of sorts. While it was an ending, the songs were presented right before their first live concert and the only information we’d been given on behalf of the duo was that of which was streamlined through iTunes releases and YouTube videos. Many took it as the end of the musical venture as a whole and hope seemed to be severed.
With the debut of kin, their first physically released album, the creative force has left their mark even further and continues to expand through these live shows and magazine interviews. What once was thought of as a project which came to a halt is now continuing at unstoppable speeds and kin proves the band worthy of doing so.
kin is crafted through versatile means that dip through hints of downtempo, industrial, trip-hop, chillwave, and all around electro genres that are packaged together under an umbrella of pop composition and experimental production techniques. While the first few listens recall voices of pioneers within the alternative dance community, Iamamiwhoami brings creative drive through their approach to the mixing and recording process.
Specifically speaking and most noted are the vocal approaches. The entirety of Iamamiwhoami’s discography has a precise vision in every aspect of its processes, but a strong focus on remaining fresh in terms of vocal production and recording is felt. Jonna Leesings in a very different tone than her contemporaries and on top of that is heavily effected in reverberation and delay to create an extremely dense world, thick with emotion and euphoric bliss.
Sonically, the record doesn’t have the largest dynamic range. It averages at about 6dB, but manages to give itself a very spacious vibe through smart use of equalization techniques. This is most touched upon on our track review of “Sever” but has also been mentioned elsewhere. In fact, the only place where kin seems to suffer from being too loud is from the minimal arrangement on “In Due Order” but upon listening to the album in it’s entirety, the track maintains the balance that the rest of the album has. Also, listening to the record on vinyl gives a vastly different listen, so we recommend to give that physical version a listen!
All in all, kin is a deeply conceptual journey from start to end. A look at different aspects of the human psyche, all interwoven into a greater whole that’s able to effectively and elegantly portray these folk-esque stories through means of sing/dance in a way that’s new and refreshing in the world of 21st century music and technology.
Album rating: 4.5/5
BUT WAIT! WE HAVE SOME DROPS FOR YOU! TO CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF IAMAMIWHOAMI’S DEBUT ALBUM, WE’RE GIVING AWAY THREE COPIES OF THE STANDARD EDITION OF KIN!
The standard edition of kin comes in a folded digipak and features both the album, as well as a DVD that features all of the videos released for the kin project! THERE ARE THREE GLORIOUSWAYS TO ENTER! Are you ready to Play..?
First way to enter:Like us on Facebook and leave a comment on this article telling us your favorite Iamamiwhoami moment so far and/or your favorite song from kin!
Second way to enter:Follow us on Twitter and tweet the phrase “This Rascal wants to win a copy of #kin by #iamamiwhoami from @Twenty20k. Give me the Goods!”
Third way to enter: Leave a comment on this post (make sure you enter a valid email address) letting us know your favorite Iamamiwhoami moment so far and/or your favorite lyric from the duo.
One winner from each way to enter will be selected on October 21st, 2012 and will be contacted via email so we can gather shipping information and sever these copies from our office! What are you waiting for?! Be a good worker and give us your submission A.S.A.P.
kin was released June 11th, 2012 via To Whom It My Concern & various September dates through Cooperative Music.
Purchase kin via towhomitmayconcern.cc | Purchase kin vinyl/DVD via Amazon.com (2020k recommended) | Purchase kin CD/DVD via Amazon.com | Purchase kin Digitally via iTunes | Purchase kin videos via iTunes
I mean, it’s basically what you all were thinking in your minds so why not make it a reality?
2020k 