Not Made For Love EP

Like I blogged about earlier this month, Metronomy is coming to Vancouver (again) on Oct 13th! Tickets can be purchased at Scratch Records downtown.

I was lucky enough to hear their latest EP, Not Made For Love, before its official release date (Oct 5th). The EP has three original songs on it and four remixes of two of the three songs. The three originals ("Not Made For Love", "Do The Right Thing", and "What Do I Do Now") maintain Metronomy's abstract funky-electro style from their first album, Nights Out.

"Not Made For Love" is a sad song and speaks out to those short term lovers. "Do The Right Thing" is relaxing and makes me want to do exactly what the song entails. In "What Do I Do Now", I love the crazy keyboard/computer-like notes. This one is a little more upbeat than the other two, which I really like. It's mainly instrumentals (there are vocals but they are so computerized it's hard to make out what they're trying to communicate). I do like this attribute; I think it's pretty cool. At the end of the song, the lyrics ("what do I do now?") are made coherent and repeat until the end, which is a very nice touch to the song. "What Do I Do Now" makes me excited for what their future album is going to be like.

The remixes that follow the three originals are fairly good (which are produced by Joakim, Leo Zero, Wild Geese and Alalal). The Alalal remix stands out the most to me. I think it's because it uses the elating synth-based peak of "Not Made For Love" throughout the entire remix, making it a little more upbeat than the original.

The band is moving away from having a computer as a live band member so they have gained two new members, a drummer and a bassist (their previous bassist left the band). I'm definitely excited to see Metronomy perform with four human members instead of three humans and a computer. I love computer incorporated music but there's just something about having a real drummer that appeals to me more than having a computer drummer.

You can listen to most of the EP on the band's myspace.

Remix: "creating something fresh out of something stale"

I really do enjoy other people's definitions of the word, remix. In the documentary film, RiP: A Remix Manifesto, there is a sound clip that describes a remix/mash-up as: "creating something fresh out of something stale." I don't necessarily agree with this entirely because I think some remixes are improving, and/or interpreting, sources of media that are already excellent. Though, this sound clip does apply to a remix I've recently gotten in to.

Steve Aoki did an unbelievably amazing remix of...Good Charlotte's "Misery"; don't judge until you listen. It's pretty hard to ignore the emo lyrics (no offense to Good Charlotte lovers) but the beat and the completely new genre structure of the song make it so enjoyable to listen to, and dance to. I have a new found respect for Aoki.

Good Charlotte - Misery (Steve Aoki Remix)

Shelter

The Xx are a newly formed band from England. Their influences apparently fall all over the music genre spectrum. Their original song, "Shelter", is dreamy and nice but I can't help but like the remix by Them Jeans more. The remix keeps the dreamy attribute and adds a steady drumbeat, which makes the song a little happier to me.

The Xx - Shelter
The Xx - Shelter (Them Jeans Drum Edit)

The Resistance

Muse's fifth album, The Resistance, has been officially released in North America now (Sept 15). After listening to it many times, I've decided to do a song-by-song review because I can't sum this album up completely without taking every song into account.

"Uprising"

This song is the first song of the album and the first single. With a groovy bass line, the song starts off making you want to dance or move in some sort. The clapping hands captivate a unitary feeling of rebellion alongside the lyrics. Then, the guitar comes in and the song gets a little more intense. At the end, a multitude of Matthew Bellamy voices come at you and your imagination starts to march at this point. I think this is a good song for a first single. It's similar to the structure of "Time is Running Out" from Absolution but is a little more rebellious.

"Resistance"

In my opinion, I think this song should've started the album off. The faded-in extra-terrestrial sounds and synths would've made a great start to the LP. Maybe it wasn't chosen as the beginning song because it's the title track of the album. At first, I didn't really like this one. The chorus put me off; the short "it could be wrong"'s got to me for some reason. But I did really like the beginning/end and the verses so I gave the song another chance. And now I'm convinced the song is about the love E.T. and Elliott shared, which makes me really happy.

"Undisclosed Desires"

This song starts off mischievous and has many electronic aspects to it. I can imagine the remixes that will be produced with this one in the near future. I really like the lyrics of this song and the quiet whispering that goes along with them. "Undisclosed Desires" could definitely be used as the second album single.

"United States of Eurasia (+ Collateral Damage)":

I've had some troubles with this one. I enjoy the beginning and the end a lot but the middle, I'm still not too sure of. The beginning starts off with piano, voice and orchestra. Then, an explosion of guitar and Queen-like vocals come into place. This part just doesn't sound like Muse to me. The lyrics are Orwellian and I do like that effect but I don't really like the end of "United States of Eurasia", where it's just Matthew Bellamy saying "Eurasia" in different octaves over and over. But then the song transcends into "Collateral Damage" quickly after this. This part is a beautiful piano-based and orchestra/vocal-accompanied sample of Chopin's "Nocturne in E Flat Major". And in the background of this part, there are sound clips of airplanes flying and children playing; it lets your imagination float away into a movie.

"Guiding Light"

This song has an epic-rock guitar solo but that's about it. It's more like an extended interlude to me.

"Unnatural Selection"

Organs are always good in my books. They don't last long but the song quickly turns into something that kind of reminds me of "Citizen Erased" and "New Born" from Origin of Symmetry. I'm not really into the "Hey!"'s during the chorus but I appreciate the relation they have to the overall essence of the song. Near the end of the song, the music slows down, which I really like. The organs come back at this point and a guitar solo pops up. Then, it goes back to the original structure of the song and I'm kind of reminded of System of a Down for some reason...

"MK Ultra"

Perhaps some background knowledge of the title of this song is necessary. MK-ULTRA was apparently an undercover research program dedicated to the chemical interrogation of an individual's brain. Besides the meaning of the song title, this one is well produced and kind of reminds of "TSP" from Absolution.

"I Belong to You/Mon Cœur S'ouvre à ta Voix"

When did Matthew Bellamy learn French? I guess that is a question that's straying off on a tangent. This song is really good and was obviously influenced by different genres; it slightly resembles an R&B/50s song with a modern Muse twist. Very romantic.

"Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt 1: Overture"

Here's where things get really good. Things get really dark in this song, which I love. A large orchestra is used for most of it with eerie guitar effects and vocals. I'm starting to think that Muse should start producing film soundtracks.

"Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt 2: Cross-Pollination"

Finally, an amazing piano solo. There's one of these on every Muse album and it's one of Matthew Bellamy's many talents. This part goes from a piano solo to more orchestral rock music then back to more piano and classical-inspired music. At the end, it sounds like a choir is present, which is a really nice touch to the end of this part.

"Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt 3: Redemption"

The beginning of this part reminds me of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" except less depressing and more averring; obviously a really nice end to the album. It's like everything is "starting over again".

So there you have it. Apologies for some short song reviews but all-in-all, I like the album. It's not my favourite but it is a well produced and thought-out album (I would hope so, it took them 3 years). And whether you enjoyed my song-by-song review or not, The Resistance can be interpreted however you like. To me, it seems like this album could go alongside an Orwellian movie about romance, aliens, oppression and rebellion, which in the end, finishes with a happy ending.

Muse - Uprising (2009 VMA Performance)

Made

Metronomy, my favourite band of last summer/fall, is releasing new music and coming back to Vancouver on October 13th. They are going to be performing in a slightly better venue than last time; The Red Room. It's only slightly better because you can see everything that's going on, unlike the Biltmore.

Apparently, the band is going through some changes so it will be interesting to see what they come up with in the near future. Their new song, "Not Made For Love", will be officially released September 21st. For now, I have a remix by Astronomer, which is very good.

Metronomy - Not Made For Love (Astronomer Remix)

Dis-moi ce que tu pense...

Boys Noize did a "Euro remix" of his original remix of Sébastien Tellier's "L'amour et la violence". I love the original and the Boys Noize original remix as well. Though, after listening to the original BN remix, I kind of wished that the Boys Noize remix had a heavier beat so it could be played in a dance club.
The original BN remix has a slow beat. It takes the electronic ending of the original and stretches it out throughout the entire remix, which is really nice considering that is the peak of the original song. But it isn't fast enough for a club.
I saw that there was a "Boys Noize Euro remix" of "L'amour et la violence" about a week or so ago. I quickly became intrigued and realized that Boys Noize granted me my previous wish of this song.

Boys Noize is coming to Vancouver on November 6. He'll be playing at Celebrities, which isn't my most favourite venue but in the case of seeing Boys Noize live, it will have to do.

Sébastien Tellier - L'amour et la violence (Boys Noize Euro remix)

We Can Watch The Stars Come Out

September has begun and things still don't seem to be organized yet. But that's besides the point right now.

Here's the point. The Scottish electronic musician/DJ, Calvin Harris (formerly known as Adam Wiles), released his second album, Ready For The Weekend, in August. I wasn't really into this album as much as I was into I Created Disco (2007) but "Stars Come Out" is a good one and makes me want to go to the dance club asap. This song has given me the desire to dance like a lunatic again.

Calvin Harris - Stars Come Out