http://soundpoolmusic.com

http://www.myspace.com/soundpool

Origine du Groupe : North America
Style : Electro Disco House , Shoegaze , Psychedelic
Sortie : 2010

NEWS !!! NOW DESKTOPIFY THIS PLAYER HERE

t’s pretty amazing that a music scene as short-lived and ill-defined as “shoegaze” could have such a lasting effect. Named, to the bands’ chagrin, for the disinterested way they would look down at their feet while playing, the “shoegazers” created ethereal, often majestic sounds by camouflaging their guitars with layers of effects until they sounded more like synthesizers.

The style had its roots going back to texturalists like Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, and was more directly influenced by boundary-pushing indie pop bands like Felt, Cocteau Twins, Kitchens of Distinction, and the Jesus and Mary Chain. The British “indie dance” craze of the early 1990s gave the shoegazers a ticket to brief stardom, in the UK at least. The sculpted guitar haze worked surprisingly well with the then-prevalent shuffle rhythms. You could count the major shoegaze bands, all of them British, on one hand. Ride, Slowdive, Lush, and Chapterhouse are the usual suspects, though there were others, some lumped in erroneously because the critics had nothing better to do. When the Happy Mondays and Jesus Jones faded from public favor, the shoegazers followed. The scene was dead faster than you could say “Britpop”.

Yet it never exactly died. The original bands split up, but others started to spring up in the mid-1990s. Curiously, many were American. There seemed to be a consistent audience for bands that inverted the guitar noise of hard rock and turned it into something pretty and ponderous. The rise of electronic dance music gave these bands a new platform for their effects racks and reverb. And that’s pretty much where things stand, 15 years later.

The New York band Soundpool have been compared to Slowdive, but that really wasn’t fair. On the evidence of their first two albums, Soundpool simply weren’t nearly as good as that. You can’t just take a mysterious, pretty girl with a pretty voice, add those guitars, and end up with something substantial. Yes, you still have to have songs. And few of Soundpool’s made a lasting impression.

With Mirrors in Your Eyes, Soundpool have decided to emphasize the disco beats that have always been an element of their music. A good, clean beat that you can dance to can cover a lot of songwriting shortcomings, but leaders John Ceparano and Kim Field have improved in that area, too. This is still mostly in-one-ear-out-the-other stuff, but it provides a pleasurable, danceable experience while it’s there. Mirrors in Your Eyes is a very cool-sounding album, and that goes a long way. It could have come out ten years ago, or 15 years ago. Whether that’s a compliment depends on your perspective.

A crucial key to Mirrors in Your Eyes is that the electronic rhythms work. They’re crisp, sharp, and well-produced, retro rather than dated. Soundpool have gone all-in with the dance thing, too. These are big, club-ready beats, and better for it. The title track opens the album with a blast of filtered noise and what sounds like an actual synth, before the beat and a surprisingly funky disco bassline kick in. Field’s thin but beguiling voice slots in beneath the barrage, just where you’d expect it. This is the formula from which Soundpool work for the rest of the album, and most of the time it succeeds.

The centerpiece is “Makes No Sense”, which finds the all the album’s strongest elements coming together in one three-minute capsule of bliss. With a pounding four-on-the-floor rhythm, acid bassline, melancholy synths, and interplanetary guitars, the song sounds like someone held up a tape recorder in the middle of a packed club in 1992 while Saint Etienne was blaring. In other words, glorious. Elsewhere, “Kite of Love” and “Listen” work a more jazzy vibe, while “I’m So Tired” spins out into space in almost gothic fashion.

Inevitably, Mirrors in Your Eyes begins to suffer from some the tracks’ similar template. Some songs go on too long, lost in their own haze. But the only real dud is the limp Jesus and Mary Chain redux, where Ceparano takes over the vocals. Otherwise, Soundpool’s dancefloor excursion makes a pretty good case for shoegaze’s longevity.

by  John Bergstrom
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Tracklist :
01. Mirrors In Your Eyes
02. But It's So
03. Kite of Love
04. Makes No Sense
05. Sparkle in the Dark
06. I'm So Tired
07. That Sunny Day
08. Shelter
09. Listen

 

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http://www.chromeo.net

http://www.myspace.com/chromeo

Origine du Groupe : Canada , North America
Style : Electro-Disco , Pop
Sortie : 2010

On n’a pas si souvent que ça l’occasion de baisser les vitres de la 309 GTI ,de mettre l’autoradio à fond et de faire cracher le boomer en écoutant un bon vieux disque de dance music. L’occasion nous en est donnée avec le troisième album de Chromeo  qui se présente, tout simplement, comme le disque le plus fun de la rentrée 2010 !
Composé de deux canadiens, Chromeo joue une musique electro funk disco retro, assez irrésistible, comme a pu l’être en son temps celle des Rythmes Digitales sur l’album Dark dancer, ou encore l’electro pop régressive et jouissive du moins connus, mais non moins fameux, DMX Krew.
Après un fameux "DJ Kicks" paru en 2009, dans lequel le duo "Dave 1 + Pee Thug" faisait valoir ses références disco 80’s, Chromeo revient dans les mêmes dispositions avec un album produit cette fois par Zdar, alors que les deux précédentes l’avaient été par Tiga.
Guitares Rock FM, rythmes disco endiablés, synthés vintage, refrains et gimmicks hits des clubs estampillé 1985, le duo s’amuse comme un fou avec les clichés 80 ‘s et persiste dans un genre où il est passé maitre, à savoir l’art du recyclage toujours à la limite du mauvais gout. Mais justement, leur grande force est de ne jamais sombrer dans le mauvais gout et de toujours trouver le parfait équilibre pour que leur musique reste parfaitement écoutable et digeste de bout en bout. Résultat on écoutera "Business Casual" en boucle encore pendant une paire de jours.

par Pop Revue Express
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Tracklist :
01. Hot Mess (3:39)
02. I’m Not Contagious (3:39)
03. Night By Night (3:44)
04. Don’t Turn The Lights On (4:33)
05. You Make It Rough (7:19)
06. When The Night Falls (Feat. Solange) (3:31)
07. CDon’t Walk Away (3:30)
08. J’ai Claque La Porte (2:25)
09. The Right Type (3:54)
10. Grow Up (3:01)

 

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http://www.myspace.com/laab

http://www.valiza-tools.com

Origine du Groupe : France
Style : Electro , Glitch , Minimaliste
Sortie : 2010

Infographiste et peintre poursuivant à travers des productions calmes et raffinées un travail de mise en abîme des sens, Laab, que ce soit en live ou dj set, cherche toujours à amener l'auditeur là il veut : loin. Il débute son travail de composition électronique en 1994. De la techno minimale à l'ambient en passant par l'électro et le break, il poursuit à travers ses productions calmes et raffinées son travail de mise en abîme des sens souvent teinté d'humour. Exerçant depuis 1994 le métier d'infographiste 3D (voir les Tools de Bernard Stulzaft), peintre apprécié, sa culture pluridisciplinaire donne à ses travaux une approche réfléchie et résolument moderne. Ses compositions sont construites comme un film avec un important travail de mise en scène, tout s'imbriquant pour raconter une histoire.

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Tracklist :
01 - Right
02 - Left
03 - Radio Thing
04 - Ambigous

 

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http://www.amandaray.net

http://www.myspace.com/amandaraymusic

Origine du Groupe : U.K , North America
Style : Electro, Trip Hop , Alternative
Sortie : 2007

DIFFERENT STROKES

AMANDA RAY “BLACK ELECTRO SCI-FI CHICK”
BOBBI MISICK of TRACE Magazine

"How many black electro sci-fi chicks do you got going on out there?" asks Atlanta-based ambient singer/songwriter Amanda Ray. "I want to be the first."

Truth be told, the number of black female artists in America that stray from the current pop-music formula that pairs hip hop beats with R&B vocals and boy-crazy lyrics can seem depressingly low. But Amanda admits her style is always a little different. "I hate writing from one perspective," she says, "I want people to grow. Anytime I write, even if it's a love song, it's with a different twist."

Amanda's debut album Mirrored Images is chock full of "different twists." With a deliberate progression that drops the listener off in various far off fantasies, her voice sounds like that of a flickering pixie blowing into your ear, one syllable at time. Her appreciation for electronica came during her college years where she started devouring records from underground trip hop and experimental musicians in Europe, particularly the UK. She decided she had to go there. "I started listening to Mono, Lamb, Bjork, Tricky, Goldie and definately a lot of Portishead and because a lot of those groups came from the UK that naturally made me want to go. I talked my professors into letting me do an independent research in London...I felt like I needed to be there in order to break into the genre."

She was disappointed to learn that kids in the UK were listing to the same pop music that saturated top 40 lists in the States. After a six-month stay in London and a few recordings she headed back to Atlanta to finish her 2001 EP, "What's On Your Mind." Self-promoted, with the help of her local Tower Records, the EP was a big local success, even reaching the hands of an NBC producer who featured one of the tracks on the Today Show.

Fast foward a few years, to a major move from the ATL to NYC to work with Brooklyn-based production team Super Buddha and a month-long hospital stay due to scar tissue from a previous surgery that almost stopped production altogether, and we have Ray's first full-length album, Mirrored Images. She's not trying to break down any musical walls with this record, she says, but she does want to show the world that it can't pigeonhole this black female artist. "It's been hard because there's no other black women out there for me to follow," she says. "I had no blueprint. But I had a vision about who Amanda Ray is and I stuck to it."

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Tracklist :
01. Ripple Junction 05:13
02. Body Of Gold 04:59
03. Chicken 04:33
04. Hang On 05:44
05. Must Be Love 05:47
06. Mirrored Images 04:51
07. Stronger 05:44
08. Torn 04:46
09. When You're Gone 05:20
10. Wounded 05:08

 

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http://www.tire-laine.com/caravane.htm

http://www.myspace.com/lacaravaneelectro

Origine du Groupe : France
Style : Electro World , Electro Dub , Alternative
Sortie : 2008

From Official Myspace :
Le trio qui deviendra la Caravane Electro s'est formé vers 2000 à Lille autour de la pratique de la musique classique indienne : Jean Bernard Hoste aux tablas, par ailleurs batteur (Taraf Borzo), Ambroise Yon, jeune tablaiste pakistanais, et Benjamin Collier au sitar, guitariste dans des formations electrofunk ou dub comme DaTaz ou Dubians.
À l'époque JB Hoste fait déjà partie de la Compagnie du Tire Laine, collectif qui gère plusieurs projets musicaux influencés par les musiques tziganes. L'idée germe alors au sein de la Compagnie de confronter musiques traditionnelles indiennes et tziganes aux programmations electro, dans le cadre de concert d'un nouveau genre. La Caravane Electro donne son 1er concert en mars 2001 avec le Taraf Borzo.

Sans finalité discographique au départ, la formation étoffe son répertoire, et sort en 2003 avec l'aide de Cyrille Brugère, ingénieur du son du groupe, un mini album 7 titres qui suscite l'intérêt de nombreux professionnels et musiciens. On trouve sur ces morceaux un contrebassiste de l'ONJ (Nicolas Mahieux), des membres du Taraf Dekalé, le bassiste des Dubians (Marcos Cunat)

Parallèlement, le live s'enrichit de l'arrivée de la danseuse Manjushree et de Bergast, artiste plasticien, qui crée une installation de projection d'images innovante et originale, outre la présence de Lord Bitum au micro. En 2004, La Caravane Electro écume les festivals en France et à l'étranger (Sziget Festival de Budapest), se fait remarquer au Printemps de Bourges et aux Transmusicales de Rennes, invite Jamalski, Sista Scotie ou encore Mahabub Khan (Transglobal Underground) pour quelques concerts mémorables.

2005 voit la sortie attendue de l'album « tziganotronic », qui réunit 14 titres où l'on trouve à nouveau des musiciens invités : le Taraf Borzo, la chanteuse Norig, DJ Ill de Waz recordz. Mister Samy a désormais remplacé Lord Bitum sur scène. La Caravane Electro travaille sur de nouveaux projets live avec la fanfare Panika, et prépare déjà pour son prochain album quelques remix du Taraf Dekalé.

 

Tracklist :
01. Dehka
02. Fanfarelectro
03. Nu Gin
04. Gypsy Princess
05. Neil's Interlude
06. Ballad of Haïdouk
07. Klezmatik
08. Neil's Theme
09. Street number
10. Immense reward
11. La roulotte
12. Romane Tzigane
13. Radio
14. Farkass

 

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