Three Quickies

Vitalic & Linda Lamb, "Bells" - Good lord, The Internet At Large - there's been a new collaboration between Linda frickin' Lamb and motherfrackin' VITALIC out there for a few weeks now and you leave me to find out about it for myself? I mean, okay, fine, "22 Ghosts" it ain't, but that's still a pairing that's always going to get my blood rushing; given that my favorite thing for which Mr. Arbenz has ever been musically responsible is of course the famous MONSTROUS synth pitch-up-and-down of "La Rock 01", it should probably stand to reason that I'm all about the tracks that actually make him grab the Melody Bull by the horns, and it's becoming gratingly obvious that he's most comfortable doing that with the lovely Miz Lamb. That's not to say that "Bells" is totally free of all of his other hallmarks - lord knows it sure thrashes as relentlessly as anything off OK Cowboy, and if you'll allow me a moment of truly wretched glibness, the breakdown really is best described as ALL-CAPS UTTERLY GUITARDED. It's just that the most striking characteristic of "Bells" is how pretty it is, and not just by Vitalic standards - the glaring contrast between Vitalic's broken-sounding synths (especially the high one right out in front of the mix) and Lamb's angelic-sounding hints of language would be gorgeous no matter whose record you found it on. I really hope they keep working together - as much of a treat as it may be to stumble over their collaborations as they surface seemingly at random, I'd really just rather have more. A whole lot more. (Click here to buy a promo copy of "Bells" from Musichead.de)

Magnet, "Hold On" (Lindstrom remix) - I'm not quite willing to call this my favorite Lindstrom mix - there are, after all, the small matters of the LCD remix and the Franz Ferdinand remix and motherfucking BREAKFAST IN HEAVEN to deal with first - but give me a few months with it and I'm betting you'll see it breathing that rarest of air with the others. It really does bear repeating - Lindstrom may be one of the most consistently excellent purists in the game today (or at least when it comes to repping one's own aesthetic), but his songs aren't ever as fun as when they feature vocals. Most of the time when you run across this kind of dichotomy in an artist's work, it's usually got something to do with the fact that the artist in question is Not So Much when it comes to structuring their songs, but in Lindstrom's case, it's more simply that it's just so refreshing to encounter another human presence on one of his records - not that there's anything wrong with Lindstrom's schtick, natch, but variety, spice of life, blah blah blah. Of course, it also probably has something to do with his Midas touch when it comes to tracks to remix; I for one couldn't have even imagined Magnet shucked of all that miserably tedious mopey sincerity, but now that I've heard it like this I have no interest in hearing him any other way. (Click here to buy the "Hold On" single from Juno)

Tin Bangs, "City Lights" - And of course I can't go neglecting my indie rock peepz, especially when there's stuff as immediate and irrepressible as Tin Bangs' debut EP making the rounds at the moment. Leave the stylistic dot-connecting to other blogs - I mean, yeah, they sure do wear their influences on their sleeve, but the debt they owe to Interpol is about one-one thousandth as important as the FURIOUS OUTROCKING that takes place over the two minutes and thirty-two seconds that make up "City Lights", and let's not even get into the harmonizing in the chorus which'll be staying with you for quite a while. As far as I know, they're not being tipped for anything big over in England yet, which I have to assume is only a byproduct of the time it takes to ship a copy of the CD across the water (Tin Bangs are actually from the wilds of Canadia, although unlike yr Broken Social Scenes and yr New Pornographers they actually make with the rocking); if England went nuts over the Editors, they're going to go positively trail mix over these guys. We here in the US of States should be so lucky. (Click here to buy the Heavy-Handed Darling EP through IndiePool - I may have fucked up the link since it pops its own window up, so if it doesn't work, just visit the band's homepage and click on through. Also visit their MySpace to preview more songs - they're pretty good across the board)