Got a couple of videos that caught my attention on Google Reader that I thought I would share. The first is a live performance of “Genesis” by PT-Music favorite’s Grimes, unearthed via Jimmy over at Head Underwater. The second vid is a crazy schizo mind-fuck by Sweden’s Planningtorock of the track “Living It Out.” There is also a tight Laurel Halo version of the song which I also threw in below.
Posts Tagged ‘Laurel Halo’
Two Vids // Grimes + Planningtorock
Friday, November 4th, 2011Laurel Halo // Constant Index (Actress Violet Remix)
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
Last weekend, I moved a massive amount of music (100Gb+) off my laptop to an external hard drive. So, proportionally speaking, I have a lot fewer full albums and a lot more random mp3s floating around my library. I figured I would go through these track misfits and feature one or two each week that I like. Some will be recent, others will have been from 5+ years ago (when I started getting into blog-downloads), but all will be good.
The first one is an industrial Laurel Halo remix by Actress Violet who, despite my mad google skillz, I could not find any details about. Gone is any resemblance to the original track (which you can stream below via Altered Zones): no singing, no layered rhythms, and most surprisingly no synths. Actress Violet instead opts to creep-ify the track by adding machine pulsations, discordant groans, and grinding beats. In fact, if it wasn’t for the occasional keyboard chime, I would be convinced that this wasn’t even remotely related to Laurel Halo’s original. Check them out below:
Grimes // Heartbeats (Laurel Halo Remix)
Friday, May 6th, 2011
[Photo: Chuck Rogers]
I’ve got an idea! Let’s smash together my two most recent obsessions on a track and see what happens. That’s what Laurel Halo decided to do by reworking Grimes’s “Heartbeats” into a cosmic swirl of audio foam. Check out the magic below (courtesy of the always great Disco Naïveté):
Laurel Halo // Aquifer
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
It just seems like yesterday I was taking a look into Laurel Halo’s King Felix EP… Well the Brooklyn synth goddess is back with an upcoming June released follow-up EP, entitled Hour Logic, on label-of-the-year candidate Hippos in Tanks. Regardless how you might feel about the music, you got to admit that when it comes to album art Laurel Halo ranks at the top (King Felix featured Sandia National Lab’s Z-Machine while Hour Logic‘s Matlab collage can be seen above).
Fortunately, the first track to come out of the new record is just as stellar as the cover. “Aquifer” is a sprawling five-minute taking you through the soundscape of a futuristic rain forest. Present are electronic raindrop trickles, harmonious digital bird screeches, and cavernous sonic enclaves as you meander down the river’s path. Second only to RxRy when it comes to providing lush visual imaginary for the listener, Laurel Halo not only keeps your ears captivated, but also your imagination. Check out the track below:
Laurel Halo // King Felix EP
Saturday, February 5th, 2011
Instead of doing a complete list of my forgotten favorite albums of 2011, I figured I would dedicate a post to each one (a sort of “please forgive me” approach). The first is a spacey 4 track electro-pop EP from Brooklynite Laurel Halo that seems to have been recorded in 2050 and somehow time traveled to the present. Side-A opens with “Supersymmetry” which, coincidentally, was the first track I heard from Laurel Halo as it was on the tape Bobka sent out accompanying his Report V.II. Sounding like a cross between Martian music and an 80s Eurovision entry from Italia, “Supersymmetry” is 5+ minutes of intricately woven textures, melodies, and lyrics that combine in amazing fashion (who’d think slow moving electro-organ bass pulses, a blown out electric guitar rip, and is that electro-flute?? work so well together).
The thing I love most about Laurel Halo is how she creates music that is equal parts antique and futuristic — take the track “Coriolis” for example. The chime-like vocals on that seem like they were taken straight out of an 18th century oratorio (and the violin plucking certainly emphasizes this notion as well) while having the dominant instrumentation being digital/analog synths gives the track that out-of-this-world feeling. This duality to the music is also incorporated with the album cover (shown above): the Z-machine at Sandia National labs is an incredible piece of equipment that tests materials in high temperature and pressure — conditions you’d see after the something like the Big Bang.
I don’t, maybe I’ve been watching too much Top Chef where they take ultramodern spins on classic dishes in practically every episode so I might be hypersensitive to the issue, but regardless, Laurel Halo’s King Felix makes for a great listen. Check out the track “Supersymmetry” below and supposedly you can cop the complete EP from her website (if you can navigate it!). If you want a physical release, order it from RVNG Intl. or Hippos in Tank.
Lindsay Lohan // Tri Angle Remixes
Monday, July 26th, 2010
I’m always uneasy when new genre names are coined (re: chillwave), however, the term “witch house” to describe the molasses-moving, symbol-drenched signees to the all-too-appropriately-named Tri Angle Records is incredibly apropos. When I first heard that a collection of these slow-mo, “drag” artists were set to unveil a six-track mixtape paying tribute to the fallen starlet Lindsay Lohan, ironically entitled Let Me Shine For You, I was more than surprised. I was dumbfounded.
Maybe it’s the bizarreness of the project coupled with the adventurous nature of “witch house” music, but somehow this mixtape works incredibly well. Bookended by the dischordant, haunting efforts of Babe Rainbow and Oneohtrix Point Never, Let Me Shine For You is filled with 22 minutes of Lohan tracks raised and reassembled in the most unlikely of ways. No doubt, the highlight for me is PT-Music favorite Stalker’s dismantling of “Disconnected”, creating a post-apocalyptic theme song that is Road-ready.
In a completely unrelated move, NY artist Blissed Out created a “Lindsay Lohan Fuck U Edit” to Pink Priest’s track “Sleep Ranger”. I think he gives this shadowy reworking the best description possible:
the +lindsay lohan fuck u edit+ is a combination of those sounds and the thoughts of the darkness of success. it was recorded to be heard in suvs across the galaxy, with the bass all the way turnt up, while girls dressed entirely in the black summon spirits with a ouiji board.
You can check out both the Stalker remix as well as the Blissed Out track below. If you want to download Let Me Shine For You in its entirely, head here to do it.
Stalker // Disconnection (Disconnected)
Pink Priest // Sleep Ranger (+Blissed Out’s Lindsay Lohan Fuck U Edit+)
