Raúl Baduel & The 48 Laws of Power

Fontan Early Morning
Shout Out Louds Walls (Fontan Rework)
Turzi Buenos Aires
Time & Space Machine Zeitghost

In Early Morning, Swedish (associates of ear-candy creators Studio) Fontan take the kraut-rock genre back its hidden roots, stripping the noodly elements of Hawkwind, while maintaining the genre's expansiveness into one tightly wrapped package of compact rock kosmisch. For all the avant-garde talk about Can, Cluster and their Germanic ilk, it's easy to forget that was a reaction to and celebration of rock. Damien Suzuki didn't take it all that seriously (I've been pushing for an archive of misheard Can lyrics for years now). I have an incredibly soft-spot for the Shout Out Louds and think they're also as adept at working with space and mood as Fontan (and more so than the XX - zzzzzzz), which is why it's delightful to hear Fontan's take on Walls, which takes it time teasing out the baroque elements from the original, surrounding it with richly produced psych elements, Eno-isms and a fabulous guitar lead. The Shout Out Louds will be here on May 7th, playing at Cabaret de Musee, tickets available from Greenland. (Fortuitously enough, I got an e-mail from Big Hassle with the Fontan rework in it just as I was writing this post up. Psychic PR agents.).

In the same vein, the Parisian group Turzi seemed to have lost the plot and ended up in the same deep, dark swamp of self-seriousness that produced Iron Butterfly's Innagadavida and Vangelis' more paranoid elements. Moderation in all things is key. Time & Space Machine show us that it's good to feel young and gifted again.

Phil Lynott sounds like he has a cold

Taken By Trees Watch the Waves
The Crêpes What Else?

Eminently tasteful music is always in great danger of becoming the soundtrack to your next car shopping experience, or given the staggering decline of the auto industry, your next brush with an iPod commercial on a transit shelter. Chairlift's Bruises* or the career of Feist, for example. Give me a softly strummed guitar, a beat you can clap along to, and a woman with a voice that shifts between tender and listless depending on the listener's mood, match that with an animated silhouette dancing on a picnic bench and we've got a campaign.

Victoria Bergsman had already proven her music licensing credentials, having sang on Peter, Bjorn & John's Young Folks, as well as with The Concretes, so felt that rather than establishing her own brand of fair trade coffee, she'd make some more music. With production duties handled by Dan Lissvik of Studio, we have the second album from her solo project, Taken By Trees' East of Eden, recorded in Pakistan and heavily referencing Sufi music, trance states and maybe even a John Steinbeck novel.

Yes, of course there's a National Geographic short film about her "journey." The album will be released by Rough Trade on September 7th.

Dan Lissvik has also recently paired up with Fredrik Lindson (of The Embassy) under the moniker The Crêpes to release a super-limited LP (& much more available mp3/CD release) called What Else? that's a soft and subtle homage to dusk, summer pop & (I'm assuming) the Traveling Wilburys.

Chairlift Bruises (Juan MacLean Remix)

Speaking of iPod commercials, here's the Juan MacLean remix, which only becomes recognizable at about 3 minutes in, and is far superior to the frightening 8-bit work-over that Passion Pit treats it to.