(Credit: Brad Smith/Ninja Tune)
Hyped on: Audiversity; Covert Curiosity; Weirdo Encyclopedia
Official site
MySpace
Who: Tony Simon, a.k.a. Blockhead, is best known as the primary beatmaker (and, more recently, MTV sidekick) for indie rap phenom Aesop Rock, but he’s been releasing amazing instrumental hip-hop albums under his own name on the Ninja Tune label since 2004’s severely slept-on “Music by Cavelight.”
What: Blockhead mixes light and dark on his palette better than nearly any other producer in the game. A strutting drum loop and hilarious vocal samples butt up against melancholy keyboards and a ghostly opera aria on “The Strain”; eerie, sped-up voices float across an irresistible funk backbeat on “Put Down Your Dream Journal and Dance.” Everything from soul divas and blues guitars to analog synths and syrupy strings gets thrown into the Blockhead blender and comes out as the saddest, spookiest music you ever wanted to shake your ass to.
Made for: Fans of Ninja Tune’s uniquely bent take on instrumental hip-hop. Hardcore crate-diggers and obscure sample fiends. Anyone fed up with the paint-by-numbers beats on most mainstream rap records.
X-Factor: Just before “Uncle Tony’s Coloring Book” was scheduled for release, Blockhead parted ways with Ninja Tune and decided to put the album out by himself. Hey, if it can work for Radiohead, why not for Blockhead? - AH
Working For a Nuclear Free City, “Businessmen & Ghosts” (Deaf Dumb and Blind)
Hyped on: Regn Youth; Muzorama; Pitchfork
Official site
MySpace
Who: The name suggests Ralph Nader go-green posturings, but WfaNFC copped its title from a lamppost sign, and went back to programming genre-spanning electro-rock albums without missing a beat. The band is from Manchester, the city that (as every alt-music fan with a DVD player knows) birthed the rave-rock scene starring Happy Mondays and New Order.
What: “Businessmen & Ghosts” is a double album covering almost too much territory…pace it a bit, fellas. “Donkey” raves up with intense techno bass (think the Prodigy) while folding in shards of raw and melodic guitar whips (think Sonic Youth). “All American Taste” starts with a jazzy acoustic loop, then blows up with a hyper-compressed, “Kid A”-borrowing shred. “Get A F---ing Haircut/Innocence” builds on a rickety blues loop, then deconstructs into feedback and bot-voice confusion before transitioning into pitter-pat drumming, haunting vocals and squiggly analog—a classic Mondays formula.
Made for: Fans of Gorillaz, the Beta Band and Stereolab—beat-happy, electronic/rock hybrid groups that defy genres and confound music scribes globally.
X-Factor: Like their Mancunian brethren, WfaNFC is active in the live club scene, having remixed bands like the Rakes and Starsailor. “I’ll take the coughs of the vocalist before he did a take and turn them into beats,” says keyboardist Phil Kay. - MR
Foreign Born, “On the Wing Now” (Dim Mak)
Hyped on: Can You See the Sunset From the Southside?; Faronheit
Official site
Myspace
Who: This Los Angeles–based four-piece—Lewis Pesacov, Matt Popieluch, Garrett Ray and Ariel Rechtshaid—have been kicking around the SoCal scene for a few years now. With a couple of EPs already under their skinny belts, the band has hooked up with L.A. indie impresario Steve Aoki to release their full-length debut on his tastemaking Dim Mak label.
What: From the sound of it, the time it took for Foreign Born to craft “On the Wing Now” was well spent. They conjure epic, well-crafted and beautifully produced anthems that embody everything from classic U2 to the Arcade Fire. They build huge, climatic crescendos that can sweep you away in the most pleasurable way possible (and give Coldplay a run for their grandiosity). “It Wasn’t Said to Ask” plays like an outtake from Echo & the Bunnymen’s album “Porcupine,” while the haunting melodies of “The Nights Tall” are dreamy and seductive. Altogether, this is in line to be the among the best Los Angeles releases of 2007.
Made for: Anyone that misses the way U2 sounded on their first few albums. “Serious” music fans sick of hype/style-driven bands. Old-school alt-rockers who remember staying up late to watch “120 Minutes” on MTV. Bloggers looking for a new band worthy of falling in love with and hyping to the top of the college charts—and beyond.
X-Factor: Foreign Born were featured in a live performance on the series premiere of NBC buzz show “Chuck” playing the song “Into Your Dream.” You can see it for yourself all over the Internet. - SS
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