Trying to sift through the world of music today in search of something decent is as difficult as trying to choose a camera in the middle of Tokyo's electronic district. Nevertheless, here are some musical outfits which I have discovered over the last few months that are worth a listen.
The first two groups are from the Toronto area and can be lumped into the whole electro-pop genre. Let's face it, electro-pop is "i"n and until us late 20 somethings get over our quarter-life crisis and let go of that 80's nostalgia that reminds us of our child-like innocence, we're going to be left with Debbie Gibson meets New Order for a while.
Parallels are a three-piece electronic band from Toronto comprised of vocalist Holly Dodson, drummer Cameron Findlay (formerly from Crystal Castles), and synth-man Joey Kehoe. Their sound is a bit of a mix of 80's synth and early 90's dance music. Now Magazine rated them as "Best Electronic Band of 2009". I saw them perform last November opening up for Glass Candy and was pleasantly surprised at how crisp their sound was. Their strengths definitely lie in Dodson's vocals and Findlay's composing abilities (obviously he transferred some of his Crystal Castles magic over to this band). Their full length album, "Visionaries", was released this past February. Here are their songs Ultralight and Reservoir.
Electric Youth are a pair of middle school sweethearts (see feature photo) from the GTA, whose name sake is derived from the Debbie Gibson song of the same title. Their electronic sound is infectious and needs to be played at bars and clubs in Toronto, otherwise you're depriving the public of synthesized heaven. Their sound is 80's personified, but god damn you just want to get up and dance when you listen to their beats. Unfortunately, currently they only have a limited edition EP that's only available at their shows (which I'm hoping to attend soon!). Here are their song's Replay and Faces .
From their humble beginnings playing their music in various New York subway stations (technically they are still going through their humble beginnings except that their popularity is exponentially growing), to finally releasing their debut album this past April ,titled "Weathervanes", the only word to describe the Freelance Whales is "WoW". Any band that uses a banjo and an accordion box (or at least something similar) earns instant points in my books. In some aspects, their sound resembles Death Cab, except that they take all the great elements of Death Cab and well...make them even better!! Thus far, Weathervanes is my early pick for album of the year, despite wayward critics like Pitchfork giving it a 4.2 (completely unwarranted). I saw them play at the El Mocambo prior to their album release, where they opened up for a couple of electronic bands whose names now escape me. Suffice it to say, most people were there to see Freelance Whales and nearly half the crowd left (it was a Tuesday) after they had finished their spectacular 40 minute set. Fantastic band with a fantastic sound.
And just for fun...let's all laugh at Justin Bieber!
Pitchfork gave music a 6 a fews years ago.