The xx

The xx – “Crystalised”

If it isn’t blatantly obvious to you by now that Britain has no shortage of incredibly talented, effortlessly cool, young bands, then you might need to have your head checked again.  Based on the strength of their self-titled debut album, it won’t be long before South London’s The xx becomes your new favourite Brit band (Arctic who?). Describing their sound is different; but for reference points, think melancholic nouvelle pop with a sparingly used drum machine, combined with lyrics about seduction, isolation and despair in the vein of The Cure, and the almost-whispered, haunting vocals of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft.  They’ve also turned out a solid remix of fellow Brit buzz band Florence and the Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love”, have been known to cover R&B singer Aaliyah (Remember her?) live, and, why yes…Pitchfork does love them. Catch these guys in Toronto opening up for Friendly Fires at the Phoenix on December 2nd – it might be the last chance you’ll get to seem them at such a (relatively) small and intimate venue – and check out the video for “Crystalised” here.

Gallows – “London Is The Reason”

Frank Carter doesn’t particularly give a fuck if you like him or his band.  The lead singer of U.K. hardcore punk outfit Gallows, is the Johnny Rotten for our generation; a nihilistic, heavily-tattooed beanpole whose penchant for onstage antics (stage-diving, spitting on people, starting fights, getting inked, etc.) almost match his outspoken antics offstage (a brief list of Carter’s targets: NME, racism in Britain, the “band” Brokencyde, and Mickey Mouse.  But luckily for hardcore punk fans everywhere, Carter and the rest of the band – who are rounded out by guitarists Laurent Bernard and Stephen Carter, bassist Stuart Gill-Ross, and drummer Lee Barratt – can talk the talk, because the music they make walks the walk. “Britain is fucked. Grey Britain is all about what’s going on socially, politically and economically in the UK and how it affects us,” Carter explained recently in an interview with Kerrang! as the premise behind the band’s  second album.  You can practically taste the band’s blood, sweat and fury in the relentless “London Is The Reason”, and the solo at about the 2:05 mark of the song is wicked enough to give anyone whiplash. If you missed these guys at Warped Tour, they’ll be opening for (sigh) AFI at the Sound Academy on November 10th.  Somebody give these guys their own headlining tour!

Radiohead  – “These Are My Twisted Words”

What a tricky and curious bunch those Radiohead fellows are.  First they release an unannounced album, available as a pay-what-you-want download.  Then they play the Grammy award ceremony – with a full marching band nonetheless! – an appearance which doesn’t go over well with at least a few people.  Oh, and we can’t forget that head-scratching inclusion of  the stellar “15 Step” on the godawful Twilight soundtrack. So when the blogosphere and message board denizens got in a tizzy over a rumoured new Radiohead EP  that was supposed to be released awhile ago, it had many asking:  is Thom Yorke just crazy, or crazy like a fox?  While we didn’t get a new EP, we got this new above-average song instead, which my friend pretty-accurately described as ‘a distant, sped-up version of [Pink Floyd's] “Careful with That Axe, Eugene”.  So to answer the aforementioned question about Thom’s sanity:  a little bit of Column A, a little bit of Column B.  But when we keep getting songs like this, does it even matter?

BLK JKS – “It’s In Every Thing You See (Daytrotter Live Session)”

Nice to see that even Rolling Stone occasionally gets one right.  The quartet – who hail from Johannesburg, South Africa (which, by the way, is home next summer to a little soccer tournament known as the World Cup) – were recently featured on the magazine’s “Bands To Watch” list.  Philly DJ Diplo (who should seriously be considering a job in A&R – the man is good) recently called them the “African TV On The Radio“, and for good reason; their debut album After Robots, incorporates dark, atmospheric guitar-shredding and elements of African music known as kwaito that’ll provide more than a suitable replacement in the face of TVOTR’s hiatus.  The band – lead singer and guitarist Lindani Buthelezi,  guitarist Mpumi Mcata, bassist Molefi Makananise, and drummer Tshepang Ramoba – recently stopped by The Horseshack in downtown Rock Island, Illinois to record a session for Daytrotter.  Listen to “It’s In Every Thing You See” and more here.

Matt & Kim – “Daylight (DJ Troublemaker Remix feat. De La Soul)”

When people came up with that “good things come in threes” saying, they probably had Matt & Kim in mind.  Recently the Brooklyn couple’s music video for “Lessons Learned” won the MTV  Video Music Award (insert your own “MTV still plays music videos?” joke here) for  ‘Breakthrough Video’, they performed the original “Daylight” on Jimmy Kimmel, and now we have this nifty remix by the legendary Long Island hip-hop group.  I’ve been listening to this song at least five times a day for the past week and I’ve yet to get tired of it.  This song is so catchy that it makes me want to jump around the room, run through a field of daisies, and crash a car into a swimming pool (Okay, maybe not that last one).  Best line?  “Captain of the hook, but I’d rather play the pirates.”

HEALTH – “Die Slow”

I caught the final twenty minutes of these guys’ set at the packed-to-capacity Bovine Sex Club during NXNE, and it was probably the most frenetic twenty minutes of my life.  It was about two in the morning and I was completely exhausted, yet still managed to be completely blown away by the energy of the LA noise rock quartet. There’s a good chance that you’ve heard these guys without even realizing it.  Remember that Crystal Castles song, “Crimewave”?  The song was originally performed by HEALTH, and the Toronto duo’s version appeared on the band’s remix album, last year’s stellar HEALTH//DISCO.  The band recently released their sophomore album, Get Color (yes, the American spelling), and “Die Slow” is the first single.  If you’ve heard anything by HEALTH before, you know what to expect: buzzsaw guitars, thrashing synths, and incomprehensible lyrics, all held together by B.J. Miller’s powerful tribal drumming.  For those of you who aren’t convinced, check out the video for the song, and be sure to stay till the end for the bloody orgy.

J. Period & K’Naan feat. Kardinal Offishall, Steele and Bajah – “Belly Full (Messengers Remix)”

J. Period & K’Naan – “Relationships Lay (Messengers Remix)”

I recently got the chance to see K’Naan perform at the Ryerson Parade and Picnic this past September, and despite being terribly familiar with his music, I have to say I came away with a newfound appreciation for the Somalian-born, Canadian-bred MC.  He is incredibly talented, down-to-earth and writes refreshingly conscientious lyrics – an increasingly rare trifecta in hip-hop today. So I was quite intrigued when stumbled upon The Messengers: A Tribute to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley & Bob Dylan mixtape project, a collaboration between K’Naan and mixtape DJ/producer J. Period, which pays tribute to the three aforementioned musical icons.  What could have a trainwreck in the wrong hands, turns  out to something quite unique, thanks in large part to the rapper’s charisma and genuine admiration for the men whose songs he’s rapping over (in this case, Marley’s “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)” and Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay”). I’d give the slight edge to “Belly Full” – K’Naan’s laidback flow is better suited to the funky beats and rhymes of Marley (special mention to Kardinal Offishall, who delivers the killer line, “Instead of Twittering, why don’t you go feed your mind asshole”), but all the songs honour the messages of peace, love and understanding that all three artists have tried to promote.  Hip-hop could use more projects like this.  Download all three mixtapes for free here.

Caving – “Rap’s Grateful Dead”

You aren’t going to hear this one written up in the pages of XXL Magazine, nor is likely to be featured on Okayplayer anytime soon.  But true rap fans need to hear this song – not only because it utilizes a clever sample from Jay-Z’s “Encore” – because this could very well be the future of the mashup.  The man behind Caving is one Andy Dixon, who hails from north Vancouver, and has recently been taking raps accapellas and pairing them with world music beats.  The final results he’s been putting up solely on his MySpace and for good reason to – this shit ain’t exactly legal kids.  But it is a curious approach to the mashup given the popularity of the (for lack of a better term) ‘Girl Talk-ADD’ approach of cramming as many songs as possible into one.  Don’t forget his name, because you haven’t heard the last of it. (via EXCLAIM!)

Blakroc – “Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)”

The term “rap-rock” doesn’t usually conjure up the most positive connotations, but damned if The Black Keys aren’t going to try to chase away some of the negative stereotypes associated with the genre that was responsible for (cringe) KORN and (bigger cringe) Limp Bizkit.  Enter Blakroc, the newest project from the Akon, Ohio-based duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, which takes their noisy, swampy blues-rock and pairs it with the finest lyricists from…Wu-Tang? Yes, you read that right, this Damon Dash-helmed project features vocals from several of the Clan’s finest, including Raekwon, RZA and nine other hip-hoppers.  The concept seems simple enough; throw these guys in a little Brooklyn studio to lay down some tracks, get them smoking, drinking and cracking jokes, and see what they come out with.  The world will get to hear the results of this interesting musical experiment on November 27th, when the self-titled Blakroc EP is scheduled for release.  If you liked GZA’s remix of the Black Lips’ “The Drop I Hold”, then you’ll love first single “Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)”, featuring Mos Def and Jim Jones. Listen to it and watch some video footage of everyone in the studio over at the very elegantly-designed Blakroc website here.

Arkells – “Ms. Jackson (Outkast Cover)”

So apparently the best rock band to ever come out of Hamilton (Sorry Blackie and The Rodeo Kings!), the Arkells, are fans of Outkast.  Who’d have guessed it?  Last week was the 2nd annual Warchild Canada Busking For Change in Toronto, which sees musicians – including the Arkells’ Max Kerman and Dan Griffin- take to the city streets in the name of raising money for charity. The occasion even inspired them to break out a cover of this “little-known” gem from Big Boi and Andre 3000  – watch it here and catch the whole band when they play back-to-back nights at Lee’s Nov. 27th and 28th.  As for Outkast…reunion in 2010? Please?

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper feat. Yo-Yo Ma – “With a Little Help From My Friends”

Just watch.  Only in Canada…