Toronto's Young Empires send us straight to the dancefloor with this mixtape for The Block. www.myspace.com/youngempires
01. Sabali (Vitalic Remix) - Amadou & Miriam
02. Lies (Herve Remix) - Fenech-Soler
03. Hour of the Wolf (Lifelike Remix) - Adam Kesher
04. Dance the Way I Feel (Armand Van Helden Remix) - Ou Est Le Swimming Pool
05. Snake Charmer - Bag Raiders
06. Wait & See - Holy Ghost!
07. All Night (Azari & III Remix) - Voltage
08. You Know I Know It - Tensnake
09. La Mezcla - Michel Cleis
10. Rain of Gold (French Horn Rebellion Remix) - Young Empires
If Satan threw a rave, he might ask Salem to headline. The much-hyped three-piece has, in the past couple of years, pioneered a sound called in different turns drag, haunted house, and even “witch house.” The genre involves recontextualizing chopped n’ screwed hip-hop to create moody, menacing soundscapes. Salem’s particular sound also takes cues from Chicago juke, shoegaze, and the gothy ethos of the 80s. Comprised of high school friends John Holland and Heather Marlatt from Michigan, and Jack Donoghue, who lives in Chicago, the band has put out a few recordings, including the acclaimed 2008 release Yes I Smoke Crack (Acéphale), and has created spooky remixes for the likes of Gucci Mane and These New Puritans. And their debut LP King Night emits a sense of utter hopelessness and refined beauty all at once. (more…)
There’s a natural chemistry between music and fashion, whether on the runway or in the nightclub. And no label fuses the two more seamlessly than France’s Kitsuné, a creative partnership known as much for breaking buzz bands through its record label as dressing trendsetters in its fashion line. As the fashion arm of the label plans its expansion into North America for 2011, The Block had a chat with Kitsuné’s founders, Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki.
Italian-Belgian duo Aeroplane’s video for “Superstar” pokes a little fun at the fashion world, with some obvious jabs at Lady Gaga (bacon accessories, anybody?). Aeroplane’s debut album We Can’t Fly is out digitally now, and in stores November 30th.
Being Canadian, loving Canada comes pretty naturally to us at The Block. We even love things that are stereotypically Canadian – snow, maple leaves, mounties, and even Corey Haim. And it looks like Canada’s all-around awesomeness is catching on: witness Colette’s We Love Canada fall collection.
Watch as Ben Sherman’s wife, former 60s scene-queen Daphne Sherman, gets creepy in retro horror movie style in Toro Y Moi’s video for Low Shoulder. Directors Elisha Smith-Leverock (whose work has appeared on SHOWstudio and Vogue.it) and Chris Murdoch (who filmed Juke magazine’s trailer with Dr. Martens) infused this video with tons of devil-worshipping style for a measly £300.
When you contemplate an inmate dominating the prison system through violence, charisma, and a luxurious handlebar moustache, what song pops into your head? If you’ve seen the UK prisoner biopic Bronson – now making new ripples with its international DVD release – you’ll immediately call to mind the urgent disco throbs of Glass Candy’s “Digital Versicolor.” The track is more haunting than catchy, featuring lyricist Ida No chanting ominously about primary colors over producer/keyboardist Jonny Jewel’s pulsing 80s-cop-show-theme undulations.
Dan Snaith, aka Caribou, is a man of many transitions. The artist formerly known as Manitoba has, over the course of his career, swapped names, locations and styles like some sort of Canadian Richard Kimble. Hailing from southern Ontario, but based out of London, England, the multi-instrumentalist just released his fifth LP, Swim. It’s a rhythmic, complicated, danceable album that sounds decades removed from the psychedelic headphone symphonies of 2007’s Andorra; yet, it is equally inspired and ambitious.
For Australian duo Canyons, the list of musical instruments they use on their EPs is as eclectic as their succession of DJ names (since this interview, they’re now known as DJ Tax and DJ Bill). Having released two EPs, Fire Eyes (on DFA Records) and The Lovemore (on A Hole in the Sky), Leo Thomson and Ryan Grieve, who also go by Leo Holiday and Ryan Sea-mist, are currently in studios finishing up their debut album (set to be released on Modular Records). The guys took some time from the busy schedule to make a mix tape for this issue of The Block, and after a few listens, we sat down to ask Leo a few questions.
Beach House contemplates music, success, and MacGyver
Words Miné Salkin Image Evaan Kheraj
“You look familiar,” she says. “I know you from somewhere, right? We’ve met before.” Lead singer and organist Victoria Legrand might sound seductive and gruff when she sings her dreamy, lovelorn tunes, but in the green room she’s relaxed and humble, walking towards me wearing retro blue denim and a smile that could melt butter. For Baltimore-based duo Beach House, it’s broken hearts and soulful crooning on the album, but kindness for a stranger. “Actually, I’d love to see you down some of this tequila,” she says, pointing at a full bottle on the table.
Guitarist Alex Scally sits down, brushing back his thick black locks to reveal he’s shaved his beard, but left a rather dapper-looking mustache behind. “Get tanked!” With only a couple of hours to settle in before blazing the stage at Vancouver’s Rickshaw, Legrand and Scally are relieved to be heading home soon after a tour that sold out at nearly every show in the country. Their third full-length, Teen Dream, released by legendary Sub Pop Records, has garnered much critical acclaim despite the pressures of their success with 2008’s Devotion.
Sitting pretty on a rather tired leather couch, Legrand and Scally are something adorable together. Instantly becoming friends when they met back in 2004, they finish each other’s sentences, poke fun, and make the other shriek with laughter. “I have to play off my own stupidity sometimes,” Scally says, while Legrand scrunches up her face at him. It’s easy to mistake a faint trace of love lingering between the lines, but their musical synergy is actually more platonic than that. By listening to songs like “Zebra,” “Turtle Island,” and “Gila,” it’s pretty clear that their brains have the same creative hardwiring. The two also share a penchant for thrift store shopping and retro instrument collection.
While Devotion and their debut set in motion their classic dream-inspired pop sound, full of whimsy and sprawling instrumentals, their latest album drifts into more melancholic realms. “This record, more than anything, has been the product of time,” says Legrand, leaning in. “We feel things more clearly now. When we were writing those songs, we became a lot better at creating more physical spaces out of our sound.”
As thoughtful and shy as they may sound on their albums, Legrand and Scally are both visibly disciplined, yet bubbling with extroversion. Abstaining from the tequila and beer they so graciously offer, they perk up and explain the joys of late-night MacGyver reruns. “We don’t get a chance to watch television on tour, but we’ve watched MacGyver. What an idiot,” Legrand says. “No way, MacGyver was killing it,” Scally defends. Part of the duo’s charm is flirting with the fine line between a joke and the truth. Legrand admits to practicing levitation to prepare for a show, while Scally frequently treats himself to tantric sex with strangers. “It just helps to reset my mind,” he says with an inscrutable smirk, visibly blushing in his dark green fleece pullover.
After the tour is over, the band will be ready to start writing again, but the tone for future music seems unclear. At the core of it, Beach House is all reverb-soaked, hauntingly beautiful soundscapes, not unlike a dream you can’t recollect even though the feelings still move through you. “Sadness, heartbreak, longing, all those things are in the music, of course,” says Legrand. “That’s what pop music is all about.”
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THE BLOCK MIXTAPE
by Young Empires
Mixtape: Young Empires
Toronto's Young Empires send us straight to the dancefloor with this mixtape for The Block.
www.myspace.com/youngempires
01. Sabali (Vitalic Remix) - Amadou & Miriam
02. Lies (Herve Remix) - Fenech-Soler
03. Hour of the Wolf (Lifelike Remix) - Adam Kesher
04. Dance the Way I Feel (Armand Van Helden Remix) - Ou Est Le Swimming Pool
05. Snake Charmer - Bag Raiders
06. Wait & See - Holy Ghost!
07. All Night (Azari & III Remix) - Voltage
08. You Know I Know It - Tensnake
09. La Mezcla - Michel Cleis
10. Rain of Gold (French Horn Rebellion Remix) - Young Empires
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