Geneva Jacuzzi - Cannibal Babies

In the wake of David Bowie's death, it seems almost trivial to discuss music by other artists. When someone as beloved and admired as David Bowie passes, there is a lot of reflection about that persons legacy and the memories of their life. Bowie in some way or another arguably effected every musician making a go of it today, and ultimately changed the way we think about and process popular and independent music. How could anyone ever come close to filling such a polarizing figure's shoe? The answer is, they couldn't. There will never be another Bowie, but instead of searching for his successor we should really be celebrating the vast trove of sonic visions he bestowed upon us. Bowie paved a path for glam and funk artists of the 70s and even spawned a new wave of outsider music that framed the sound of the 1980s. His embrace of music videos, synthesizers, and androgynous imagery are what eventually made possible the exuberant pop music we hear from artists such as Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Adam Ant, and even Madonna. Today, Bowie's presence is inescapable, and his high wire dance between pop and the avant garde, still viewed as something of true admiration. We can easily point out his influence over large artists like LCD Soundsytem and even Lady Gaga, by why not probe the lesser known acts like Geneva Jacuzzi, who really shine in the ultra violet light of the weird. Jacuzzi has been weirding people out since 2008, with her own brand of sleaze-pop, that stands in line with with artists like Ssion, or Ariel Pink. The synths are heavy, the beat banging, and the vocals echoing through an endless slinky, dripping with motor-oil. The video here for Cannibal Babies, is filled with minimal imagery: Jacuzzi languishing infornt of a white background as the pixels distort in and around her. She's clad in a Bowie-esque unitard and her teeth glisten with a dark substance, as she sings about "cannibals coming out of my sex." Jacuzzi dredge's up feelings of nostalgia for ancient discos packed with popping freaks. While at the same time she consistently brings a vibe entirely her own to her tracks, giving this and all her songs a blurred sense of the past and the future. Bowie may have written the book, but he no doubt would have given a thumbs up, to the next chapter, being written by Geneva Jacuzzi and other's not unlike her.

Under-heard Releases of 2015

~Salad Boys - Metalmania This group of Kiwis slipped under the door of the 015, with a breezy set of carefully constructed guitar pop. With a pop punk drive and post punk vibe, Salad Boys fits comfortably among the canon of New Zealand indie rock. Equal parts The Skeptics and The Chills. Some of the more acoustic songs on here have lush sound that is so often lost on modern acoustic Pop songs, where the strumming is not wittled down like a brittle pencil, but rather built up with layering and chorus pedals. Metalmania is a delightful dream and deserves many more spins. ~Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion Coming off the heals of a Broadway stint, as well as the release of one of the most infectious pop songs ever written, Carly Rae Jepsen was poised to take the easy way out. Put Max Martin in a room, pen a few lyrics involving emojis and dunzo. Call Me Maybe part 2, making it rain. Instead the Canadian Pop star, went a different route. Channeling 80s new wave and disco, as well as early 90s house, Emotion is the sort of record you might expect from Kyli Minogue or even Robyn, at times. Its as a progressive as it is accessible and keenly focused on production and content. Nearly every song on the album can worm its way into your head, and yet it remains estranged from top 40 list. One could make the argument that I Really Like You is the sequel to Call Me Maybe, and maybe it is, but there are so many other tracks on this album that prove that Jepsen has transcended her breakthrough hit. I Didn't Just Come Here to Dance, Warm Blood, and All That are perfect examples, of a pop artist blending her influences into deeply moving, emotional dance songs. If you had originally written this one off, don't. I urge everyone to return to a record that critics will no doubt point to in 10yrs time. ~Tamaryn - Cranekiss Cloaked in a dark, gothic sexuality, Tamaryn's Cranekiss is the sort of record Robert Smith would have loved to contribute to in the late 80s. Shed is the psychedelic wooziness that penned Tamaryn into the already overcrowded Dream Pop field. Instead she take the full step into pop-hood, with a massive record bursting with glittering synths, jagged guitars lines, and Linn Drum like percussion. With a simpleton's perception one might say, Tamaryn moved from Lush like sound to something in the realm of Siouxsie Sioux, though that comparison falls short of what is actually constructed here. The sounds our lavish and grandiose, yet still dark and yearning. Tamaryn lives more in a world of Kate Bush the way she transforms a croon to whisper, flexing her range in each track. Returning to the production, this record was made in partnership with Shuan Durkan, guitar mastermind behind Weekend, who released one of the best records of 2013, Jinx. Often we hear albums of this nature are purely derivative, aping outdated sounds of the past. Though with one spin of Cranekiss it is obvious that these songs are far more than a blast from the past, but rather a string of modern Pop songs, cast in a Goth-like house. ~Tory Lanez - Say It Tory Lanez is a Canadian rapper/singer who optimizes what it is to be a Hip-Hop artist in 2015. Created by Kanye and perfected by Drake, singing and rapping on the same track is no longer a novel thing, but simply the norm. The staggering presence of Fetty Wap's Trap Queen to the hurtling rise of Ty Dolla $ign, Pop music is currently populated by minimalist R&B. What's different about today's R&B comes in the vocal delivery, often molasses intoned croons are coupled with staccato, ratatating; where the syllables bunch together and drop, like a mouth full of pebbles. Tory Lanez does nothing to disrupt or reinvent the current Pop-mosphere, but he has tapped into its best parts, producing a truly excellent club banging slow jam. Say it opens with the slow slink of an unwaveringly catchy keyboard line, before the meat of the song, a chorus of backup singers chime in with chill inducing, "Ooo Yeah.." What would otherewise be a fairly basic track is doubled down in the hook department, through the use of the backup singers and Lanez's breathy delivery. Not to be missed, this summer song stays warm through the winter.

Soko - Lovetrap ft. Ariel Pink

Sleaze-Poppies Soko and Ariel Pink team-up for a very Arielied out ballad to true lugh-ve. Sounding a little bit like a creepier version of Love Is The Drug, Lovetrap explores the darker side of New Wave and Glam. Sometimes you can get totally wrapped up when you're in a relationship, man. Sometimes you're with some babe who just can't let you breathe man, and like all you really wanna do is go down to the arcade. Or drink a beer. Or smoke a cig in bed. You know? Anyway, Soko knows. She totally gets it. That's what this whole things really about:

The Drums - I Can't Pretend

New Drums single. Affected affection on display in this sparkly, straight forward tune. Dig:

Robyn Hitchcock - Ghost In You

For Mr. Hitchcock's latest addition to his catalogue he cover's the Psychedelic Furs' wonderful Ghost In You. Sounding a bit like a cut from Punk Goes Acoustic meets Suede, Hitchcock paints his own version of this New Wave classic, in a very bare yet appealing shade.

Cymbals - Erosion (video)

Cymbals surreal green-screened out video for their best and latest single, Erosion. Spinning skulls, toothless babies, melting dogs, cigarette cupcakes, its all here in this fun and wacky clip! The totally wavy visuals work for with this rawkin New Wave anthem:

Craft Spells - Breaking The Angle Against The Tide

Craft Spells home spun blend of New Wave, synth pop is expanded with a more orchestral, brooding layer of textures. Leaning slightly towards the dreamier side of things, Craft Spells keep the vox to a whisper and turn the strings to the Max-o-Pumpkins level. It's really not the sort of song that screams single, but there is something about the way this group crafts guitar parts the certainly keeps me hooked!

Everything But The Girl - Native Land

Look Back In Anger: Everything But The Girl were a British duo from the 80s and early 90s, who bounced around between New Wave and Blue-Eye Soul. You may remember their one ginormous hit with the Todd Terry remix of Missing (such a dope track!). Here's the group accompanied by Johnny Marr on guitar (& harmonica), tearing through a dreamy, jangle-folk number. Totally worth nerding out on:

Part Time - Seashells

The latest from Part Time is a psychedelic trip into the simplistic mysticism of beach front choreography. This is a slinky pop song, filled with punchy brass synths and a timeless vocal line. She walks on the seashells indeed!

New Order - Round and Round

When the Earth does falls under the New World Order, and we're all enslaved by the lizard people, I hope they at least appoint Bernard Sumner as the new Emperor. This week I'm delving into the deepest crevasses of Third Rock's greatest electro-group of all time. Yes, my love for New Order is undying. I'd shout it from the tallest mountains and lowest valleys - the rolling rivers and flowering meadows. Why? Well, duh they're super terrific, always have been, and they just kicked off an epic US tour, with Holy Ghost!, I might add (see you at Williamsburg waterfront tonight?) Anyway, its just one of those weeks, when Joy Division just won't do, so throw on some Substance and say, "Woohoo!" This is an extended 7" version of Round and Round, one of the singles from Technique. Check it now

Holy Ghost! - Teenagers In Heat

If ever there was a song(and band) that was biting a tremendous chunk out of New Order (in the best possible way!) its Holy Ghost!. Currently the BK duo are plowing through a a string of US tour dates supporting New Order, (and they'll both be rockin the park in Williamsburg next week wutttupppppp!!!). Later in the summer we'll be treated to HG's new LP, but until then here's a new single! No doubt, you've already heard this song on the most recent mixtape from CitiesInDust , but I was bumpin this jam this morning and felt the need to throw it up as well. This is one of the poppiest songs the group has yet released, and really it feels so right. So plug those earbuds in, bud..cuz really we're all just teenagers at heart...and right now in the heat, too!

Girls Names - Hypnotic Regression

This jingle jangle, post-punk, guitar warped, echo chambered, drone popper, is a true new neu wave ear tickler. Girls Names(w/ the world's worst band name), despite this track's title, have progressed from their fuzz-pop origins to a more intricate and accessible sound. Shedding the noise for dissonance and delay, GN seem to be channeling both Flock of Seagulls and Echo and the Bunnymen, without biting too much from either group. This is a rad tune, so give it a quick spin:

Empress Of - Hat Trick

One of my favorite new acts these days, Empress Of continues to be Impress-Of. The Brooklynite's latest single is a whirling, kaleidscopic, magic-card theme head trip. Dripping with detuned brass synths and stumbling snares, this one really makes me weak in the knees. When it comes to female vocalists doing the woozy, Neu Wave thing EO seems to stand above others like Sleep ∞ Over, or Still Corners. So jump into this mud bucket and let the glittering slop consume you!

Swimming with Schecky Moskowitz / High-roglyphics / Paisley Parts

Crocodile Downey Jr. + a PeeWee's Playhouse-esque backdrop + Fauxie Sioux on bass = Never big in America

Right below the letters "MBU", you will find The Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe tagging (think more the-kid-who-spray-painted-the-grossly-disproportionate-human-weiner-on-the-deer-crossing-sign than Basquiat) a white room with blueish spray paint to the sound of My Bloody Underground's "Monkey Powder", featuring vox from Ride's Mark Gardener.  There are a series of these "music videos" (Carson Daly's turning over on the set of Something You Should Know: The Duran Duran Fan Documentary) to accompany most tracks off MBU.

Now so far down there is the video for Norwegian shoegaze outfit, Serena Maneesh's "Drain Cosmetics" from their 06 self-titled release (which even features some handy work from Sufjan Stevens...which reminds me, where the f are the other 48 state-based albums?)  The pasty, artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince-looking dude is lead singer, Emil Nikolaisen who is currently in the studio writing/recording, so be on the listen-out for new S-M in late 09.  In the mean time, check the S-M Myspace, and drown in the noisy, neo-psych, shoegazy bliss of the semi-new "Oxygen Please".