| Columns
:
Ear Candy
|
Last Updated:
Jul 1st, 2008 - 10:02:17 |
In Rainbows
Hercules and Love Affair
Hercules and Love Affair
DFA
The Village People classic “Y.M.C.A.” celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, a song with a dance as ubiquitous and gleeful at parties and sporting events as Soulja Boy’s monster smash “Crank Dat” that ruled ’07. As the rapper’s chants of “super soak dat ho” was a euphemism for ejaculating all over a girl, which teenyboppers recited, comedian David Cross jokingly compared the two phenomenon in his Best of 2007 list posted on the blog Brooklyn Vegan: “Almost as great as middle-aged white people gleefully singing a song celebrating a place to go for anonymous gay sex during the 7th inning stretch at Yankee stadium.”
Touted as the great dance track of the year, “Blind” begins with a joyous bounce in the spirit of “Funkytown,” as Tyler Pope’s sheen bass and Morgan Wiley’s calypso of kinky Donna Summer keys rush through the ear canal with the euphoric glaze of Alkyl nitrite. The instrumentation alone is thundering and sweaty gay disco to the maximum, but what pushes this single over the edge is the heavenly vocal performance of Antony Hegarty, known for his fragile Bryan Ferry reverb on ballads such as “You Are My Sister.” There are no dance instructions and it’s unlikely that “Blind” will be played at ball games, but it’s just as much of a gay anthem as “Y.M.C.A.” is.
The difference is, there’s no gimmick when it comes to Hercules and Love Affair. The songwriting of Andrew Butler, Hegarty and Nomi is marvelous enough to stand alone. However, there’s an interesting back-story to this collective, formed in the after-hours clubs and underground parties of NYC. Getting his start at 15 as a DJ in a leather bar, Butler is a ripe aficionado of dance music and his friendship with lesbian party-thrower Kim Ann Foxman led to him writing songs for her theme nights. Once Hegarty planted the seed by introducing transsexual vocalist Nomi, the Love Affair began.
What separates Hercules from the Hot Chips, LCD Soundsystems and Cut Copys is that they’re more Castro than Manchester. It seems that everyone just wants to dance right now and Butler plucks from the brightest strobes on the rainbow: Sylvester, Boystown Gang, Bronski Beat and Patrick Cowley, to name a few. Combining this with an affinity for O.G. techno and house, “You Belong” is one of many gems worth rabid repeats. With Antony Hegarty purring in the background, Nomi sexes up the dance floor: “You belong to him tonight, there is nothing I can do.”
Only twice do the B.P.M.s slow enough to warrant skipping (although the two US bonus tracks more than make up for this), as Butler keeps things pulsating like Studio 54 in its heyday. From the addictive ecphonesis hustle of “True False/Fake Real,” to the trumpet fueled boogie-woogie of “Hercules Theme” or the mellow “Iris,” Love Affair exist somewhere between KC & The Sunshine Band, Erasure and Madonna in an era before AIDS.
“Some of the greatest achievements in culture have been masterminded by people who were taking lots of drugs and having copious sex. And many of the absolute best clubs in the world have been filled with both,” Hegarty recently told The Guardian. But, those times have passed — or have they? — THOMAS MATICH
Let Yesterday Bee
Sebadoh
Bubble and Scrape [Reissue]
Sub Pop
Another re-release from indie-rock aristocracy. Like Pavement and Sonic Youth, Sebadoh, though not as successful, had an equally distinct impact arguably delivered in a more unique manner and a baffling, self-aware vigor that made Pavement look as though they carried themselves with slovenly entitlement on lo-fi fuzz-blur drone-pop of the late-‘80s and early-‘90s. Bubble and Scrape is their fifth album, from ‘93, and it’s quite potent, arguably their most unhinged. Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney's relationship was steadily crumbling and would lead to Gaffney’s second band departure, but not before contributing thorn-laden spurts of punk-ified indie noise. Barlow, meanwhile, blooms as an endearing love song writer of heartrending, humanist urban twilight ballads, debuting one of their most celebrated tunes, “Soul and Fire.”
Presented here are 15 bonus tracks of alternate takes, acoustics and some random hit-or-miss experimentally straining noise takes that the die-hards might flip over. It is certainly vital to return to this dynamic, flavorful snapshot of an intelligent, sardonic trio of masterful musicians and bask in one of their most definitive, possibly overlooked, moments. — JEFF MILO
Sigur Rós
Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
XL
Sigur Rós has joined the collection of bands that employ a well-regarded producer (Flood) in hopes of bringing a new perspective to their work ... only to deliver a sub-par record. This one brings a sound based more on organic instruments and drum beats than any of the band’s previous work. “Ara bátur,” a track that utilizes 90 musicians and was recorded in just one take, still seems to be missing something. Perhaps because the Icelanders are now adhering to a more simple song structure or that the electric guitar isn’t being bowed. Sigur Rós has unfortunately dropped a record that doesn’t triumph its predecessor. How unfortunate indeed. — JOHN BOGOJEVICH
The Dials
Amoeba Amore
No Fun Records
Courtesy of Chicago, via Ann Arbor’s No Fun Records, The Dials' Amoeba Amore is a fine document of garage rock’s lasting power. Tinged with the Mysterians farfisa sound and more than a few Devo-isms, the album sounds like the natural progression of a garage band from the ‘60s into the ‘80s. Songs like “3 is Better Than 4” and “18” are poppy Teenage Jesus and the Jerks dance romps, while more straightforward jams like “Antonio” keep the band grounded in its powerpop-esqe principles. Imagine The Slits, Nikki Corvette, The B-52s and Suicide making a baby; the child would surely be as beautiful as Ameoba Amore. — ERIC ALLEN
in my ear
Kings County Caravan
Hey brain draining hipsters, is it no sleep 'til Brooklyn for you? Well, mosey on down to the Lager House on July 8 to get a taste of one of BK’s better alt-country acts, Kings County Caravan. Maybe you can hitch a ride with them and listen to some of their current faves:
Willie Nelson
Red Headed Stranger
Leonard Cohen
Songs of Love & Hate
Radiohead
In Rainbows
My Morning Jacket
Z
Ween
12 Golden Country Greats
Putnam Murdock
Fiction
Magnolia Electric Company
Sojourner
Richard Hell & the Voidoids
Blank Generation
Etta James
Greatest Hits
Kings of Leon
Because of the Times
|
|
|
 |
