tiananmen square dance //

FISHING - “CHOY LIN”

Friends and countrymen, we are gathered here today to discuss the wealth of brilliance and creativity manifested in Sydney duo Fishing’s ethereal single “Choy Lin” and its dreamlike official video. Fully electronic, the jam boasts the muffled vocal harmonization that we’ve become used to hearing in witch house tunes that are steadily growing in popularity. Non-Western synth leads accompany deeply varied percussion beats, making for an epic, soundtrack-esque three-and-a-half minutes. The bright, frozen flute synth tracks towards the end bring the experimental “Choy Lin” to a dark, crashing conclusion. The mini-story represented in the gloriously crafted video that was produced, directed, and edited by Fishing themselves (aided by SPOD) is to the uninitiated viewer one of a boy warrior who undertakes a harrowing rescue mission and tragically fails to salvage the lives of his friends, plunging to a bloody, watery grave amid the fading strains. We’re not sure how much of the video is digital, but the lush collage landscapes cut and pasted with seemingly found materials are refreshingly fun to watch and re-watch, much like a Michel Gondry short film. Beautiful, surreal, and plaintive, do tha right thing and watch the official video for Fishing’s “Choy Lin” above, and then grab a free download of the single below. Afterwards, ready your hearts and minds for the upcoming self-titled 7”, due out on October 23rd via Waaga Records, if vinyl is your thing and you like to support the work of innovative audio and visual artists.

MP3 Download of “Choy Lin”, by Fishing (from the Fishing 7”)

COLLARBONES - “HYPOTHERMIA”

Australian neo-R&B duo Collarbones has a new album due out on the 28th of September that is also going to be a short film, much like Animal Collective’s “ODDSAC” was a couple of years ago, except not an experimental art film. Collarbones’ short, punchy Beaman Park EP was pretty legit, but we’re out of the loop and haven’t heard their debut album yet (whoops). Nonetheless, we casually had them on up our radar until they released “Hypothermia” on August 28th, and then we subsequently saw the trailer that was released for the upcoming full-length, entitled Die Young.

Holy shit.

Marcus Whale and Travis Cook (Collarbones) are really taking their synth-heavy chillwaving to the next level, M83 style. “Hypothermia”, featuring vocalist Guerre, is pitch-shifted into oblivion, making for a melodramatic, overly emotional jam that puts it on par with Bon Accord’s output in our book. Beats take center stage during the defacto chorus, punctuated perfectly with Guerre’s smooth, suave delivery and those shivering, heart-rending vocal snippets. We are head over heels excited about seeing this new film/album by Collarbones, and if it all sounds anything like “Hypothermia”, it’ll likely rank quite high on our albums of the year list that comes out each summer. Written in 2011 and boasting teenage ghosts and adolescent naiveté, Die Young was shot in Sweden by Paris-based director Michael Salerno. Do tha right thing, and grab a free download of this hard-hitting single from the upcoming album by Collarbones, and be on the lookout for the film Die Young.

MP3 Download of “Hypothermia”, by Collarbones (from Die Young)

MARSEN JULES - “SWANS REFLECTING ELEPHANTS”

Check out this kaleidoscopic art video for Marsen Jules’ “Swans Reflecting Elephants”. Straight from Kompakt’s 2012 installation of their yearly Pop Ambient series; which has been made relatively better known for occasionally featuring artists and bands like Battles, Emeralds, and The Field; Marsen Jules’ clatteringly beautiful ambient jazz entry certainly captured my attention the first time I heard it. A media collective by the name of Jutojo wed the track to a staggeringly beautiful moving slideshow of exotic images that appear to have been projected onto a wall surrounded by mirrors. While I could very well be wrong about the execution of this artistic mashup, what matters most in this piece is the tumbling sound of abandonment beaten out via prepared piano and brushes upon snares. Seemingly taken straight from either the early Squarepusher or the current Tim Hecker repertoire, digital whines and moans separate each haunting stab throughout the percussive five minutes, set off perfectly by Jutojo’s short art film. Never has the decay of civilization looked and sounded so lush and serene.

MP3 Download of “Swans Reflecting Elephants”, by Marsen Jules (from Pop Ambient 2012)

MP3 Download of “Whitecaps of White Noise I”, by Tim Hecker (from Harmony in Ultraviolet)

After being heckled long enough by my girlfriend to stop listening to Star Slinger day and night, I decided it was time to continue exploring the vast universe of retro-esque electronic music. Recalling the recently posted exclusive Teeel remix of Com Truise’s “IWYWAW”, along with other particularly hip and pleasant Teeel tunes I had experienced before (mostly via iso50), it was a fact that I had to see what more material the Moodgadget artist offered. Upon visiting his very user-friendly site, I was greeted with the alluring album artwork of most recent outing “Amulet”, which I had previously seen described on iso50.

As soon as I noticed that “Triangle Waves”, a song previously featured on “TSQ VOL ONE” was the opening track, I instantly began searching for a hard copy. Alas, Teeel’s “Amulet” is available primarily as a download via Amazon or iTunes, but I took it like a man. Boy, am I glad I did, because I will always lovingly remember this short, but very hi-fi and emotional synthpop mini-album. Taking the dark, hard-driving feel (feeel?) of Telefon Tel Aviv’s best work and melding that with the vintage savoir faire of Com Truise’s melodies, Teeel’s “Amulet” pleases both hipsters and electronic music aficionados alike with its ability to take a song to the brink and back with less than six tracks in three minutes flat. Do tha right thing and pay for a copy here or download this mix or that mix, both of which feature this brilliant musician prominently.

MP3 Download of “Sweet Camaro”, by Teeel

MP3 Download of “Galilean Moons”, by Teeel