Category: electropop
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Daft Punk will undoubtedly be this year’s most successful electronic music duo (even if much of their latest album was produced with live instruments), but Australia’s Empire Of The Sun won’t be kept down under on the charts for much longer if there’s any justice in this world of pop. Just listen to “Alive,” the…
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I started covering Paola & Chiara over a decade ago when I was writing a world music column called Import Zone for Lollipop magazine. (I couldn’t find every column I wrote about them in, but I did manage to find the one with my review of their 2002 album Festival, which you can read here:…
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Austra hail from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but chances are you probably already know that. After all, their 2011 debut, Feel It Break, was listed on numerous critics’ best of 2011 lists, following a year of positive reviews. The Toronto Star and New York even named it the best album of the year. Basically, Feel It…
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Boards Of Canada have always put out fascinating music. While much of it has been relatively mellow, many of their songs being downright ambient, there’s also been a sense of foreboding about many of their compositions. Their long-awaited new album Tomorrow’s Harvest has all of these elements. There are some fairly calm songs, but most…
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The last album by CSS, otherwise known as Cansei de Ser Sexy, was 2011’s La Liberacion. While “I Love You” and “Hits Me Like A Rock” were uber-catchy pop gems, the rest of the Brazilian band’s third album felt somehow misguided. And their second album, Donkey, was only slightly better. Their first album, however, was…
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no·blesse o·blige [noh-bles oh-bleezh; French naw-bles aw-bleezh the moral obligation of those of high birth, powerful social position, etc., to act with honor, kindliness, generosity, etc. Origin:1830–40; < French: literally, nobility obliges Noblesse Oblige is a duo consisting of French-Caribbean performer Valerie Renay and German producer Sebastian Lee Philipp. While they’re new to many…
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“We’re up all night to get lucky,” Pharrell Williams sings as the now famous Daft Punk single “Get Lucky” comes to an end, but chances are you will be up all night to listen to this record. The thing about Random Access Memories is, it’s such a seductive and enchanting album that once you start…
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It seems like just yesterday Little Boots — otherwise known as Victoria Hesketh — released her amazing debut album Hands, but it actually came out in 2009, and so four years have passed between Hands’ release and the release of her sophomore effort Nocturnes, which was released on May 3, 2013. There are a couple…
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Until recently, I thought that Diplo and Major Lazer were two different people. Alas, I was wrong. Diplo is Major Lazer, Major Lazer being his reggae-ish alter-ego. Although many of the songs on Free the Universe stray pretty far from reggae. And I have to say — this is a very difficult album to digest.…
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It’s hard to believe but Norwegian singer-songwriter/DJ Annie has been releasing music for over ten years now. OK, so technically her debut album Anniemal dropped in 2004, but she was DJing and releasing underground singles like “The Greatest Hit” as far back as 1999. Anyway, man, time flies. I feel like I just bought Anniemal…
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When English singer/songwriter Charli XCX — born Charlotte Aitchison — was 14 her parents loaned her the money to finance her debut album. The album, which Charli wrote entirely herself, was made and called 14, but it was never officially released, though promotional copies were sent out. Charli was quick to put the album behind…
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Empire of the Sun’s 2008 debut Walking On A Dream was an electro-pop masterpiece that ranked very high on most critics’ year end best lists and was almost universally loved. I read several music magazines — not to mention websites — and I don’t recall reading a single negative review. Now the Australian duo of…
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The Knife is a duo comprised of brother and sister Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson, the later of which has released some glorious electro-pop during recent years under the name Fever Ray. Shaking the Habitual is their first proper album of new material since 2006’s Silent Shout. It’s difficult to put my thoughts about…
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When Sneaker Pimps dismissed their intoxicating singer Kelli Ali after just one album — the brilliant trip-hop masterpiece that is Becoming X — I was devastated. There were two bands I was obsessed with at the time, Garbage and Sneaker Pimps. And the idea of Sneaker Pimps sans Kelli was as absurd as the idea…
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Kelli Ali is probably still most famous for being the singer on the late British trip-hop/electro group Sneaker Pimps’ first album, Becoming X, which was released in 1996 at the height of the electronica frenzy. Sneaker Pimps had a big hit with their single “6 Underground” and the single “Spin Spin Sugar” was hugely successful…
