Quite Village - “Circus of Horror”
The two gentlemen behind Quite Village are Matt Edwards and Joel Martin. In the electrnoic world Matt is known for his label ReKid / Radio Slave. Both Matt and Joel appear to be pretty well known in the electronic scene but their new upcoming album, Silent Movie, due out May 12th on iK7 records in the states appears to be in a genre all on its own. With all the genre bending going on these days, this is not a rare occurrence.
I have yet to hear the new album but the one song, “Circus of Horror”, is available for download so I’ve had some time away from the computer to soak it in. From an instrument standpoint, everything but the kitchen sink is basically thrown into the mix - flute, guitar, bass, chorus, horror film screams, sirens, strings. The glue of the song is a deep, thick guitar riff that opens up the track. Joel and Matt continue to layer this riff with the plethora of sounds from the instruments mentioned above. Adding a scream and siren here and there.
One true testament of a great song is the feeling associated with every listen. If a song can create certain sensations that never seem to die off with each listen, you know you’ve got something. With “Circus of Horror” the feeling is both of vintage horror and James Bond cool. I’m not a die hard fan of vintage flics but I do find them intriguing and the 1960’s era movie soundtracks basically blow away any modern day attempts. It’s clear that Matt and Joel are fans of the vintage flics. In fact, one of their inspirations was Italian film soundtracks along with acid rock, soul, orchestral music and even their own electronic influences. The album title itself came from the inspiration of Martin Denny’s Exotic Sounds album.
What is Martin Denny doing these days? Lives in Honolulu, HI and has his band, Martin Denny Combo. Give them a listen on their myspace page and you’ll understand where Matt and Joel are coming from.
Blair over at Music for Robots gets the credit for introducing me to Quite Village. And according to Blair who’s listened to the full album it’s full of masterpieces like “Circus of Horror”. And according to Pitchfork, it’s a stoners dream record. Either way, stoner tunes or more freaky vintage chill outs, I’m in line on May 12th to get my copy.
Download: “Circus of Horror”
Visit their official website - http://www.quietvillage-silentmovie.com/ and:
- See tracklist
- Sign up for updates
- Stream five tracks from album
- Watch an interview with Matt and Joel
Catch Quite Village on tour this summer:
- London - Stag & Dagger: 5/15
- Montreal - Mutek Festival: 5/28 - 6/1
- Barcelona - Sonar Festival: 6/19 - 6/21
New Design, New Music, New Season
As you can see, I’ve been messing around with my blog theme. If you know bloggers, you’ll know how antsy we get after about a year with the same blog design. We’re always trying to find ways to make it look cleaner, sharper and in my case, hip to be square.
I’m happy with this new template as I like the posts streaming down the left hand side versus the middle of the two side bars. And I like having two sidebars as half the point of a blog is to direct readers to other places in the blogosphere so it’s important to have plenty of room over there.
Hope you enjoy the new look. Keep an eye out for a new top banner design. I plan to really tweak that up.
As for music I’ve been jamming too, the new M83 and Cut Copy have been the perfect soundtrack to these coming summer months. M83 called his new album Saturdays = Youth because of the obvious, when you think of Saturdays you think of youthful teenage years. His just happened to be in the 80’s watching John Hughes movies and listening to Cocteau Twins. So it’s fitting to say that since summer also reminds us of youth that the release date for his album is perfect timing indeed.
Cut Copy’s new release, In Ghost Colours, is another album that fits nicely into the coming summer days. Their sound is similar in the sense that they mix in that 80’s vibe with the synth melodies. But the two albums in general take on a life of their own. M83 takes the drama of the 80’s and injects it into every song. Cut Copy on the other hand takes the 80’s dance club scene and pumps it through modern day machines and out comes a new age electronic genre that has been coming our way for some time now but there is no question they are going to help lead the revolution.
Stand out tracks for Saturdays = Youth are “Graveyard Girl” and “Couleurs”. The later is an eight minute long jam that rises and rises in it’s presence with each synth line becoming larger then life itself. The opening base line is this fuzzy synth effect that is reminiscent of a lot of the French dj’s such as Justice and Busy P. Gives the song a real tough interior but then you lay a nice floating clean synth line over top, a classic 80’s moment is born. He adds an echo effect on the guitar chord that enters about 3 minutes in and from there he keeps adding more percussion and more deep synth lines. It’s one heck of a ride. In fact, I’ve queued it up for my morning alarm song and it works perfectly. I set it to go off about 2 or 3 minutes before I really want to wake up to ease me into reality.
Graveyard Girl is the single off the album and there’s a great video that was directed by Matthew Frost. Pretty classic 80’s theme here. Distressed teenage girl with no friends hides out in the graveyard and the popular guy who becomes infatuated with her. While he knows it’s not cool to dig the outcast, he can’t help but dream about being with her. Ah, those confusing teenage years.
- Stream “Coulers”: (Real Audio) (Windows Music Player)
- Download: M83 - We Own the Sky (Maps Remix)
- Download: Maps - To The Sky (M83 Remix)
Watch the video for “Graveyard Girl”
- Purchase Saturdays = Youth: (Amazon MP3) (iTunes)
- M83 plays at the Middle East Downstairs on June 2nd (Purchase Tickets)
In Ghost Colours is great because it flows like you’re at a club with one song connecting to the next. There are themes that pop in and out. Most notably the theme to the single, “Lights & Music”, you hear showing up towards the end of tracks or stuck in the background. They really did a great job with this album and I look forward to hearing how the live version comes out. They play the Paradise Rock Club on May 12th (Purchase Tickets). Why we get stuck with another Monday night electronic show I have no idea. Oh wait, I know, because Boston is awkwardly stuck up in the northeast and bands either skip us or make a quick trip up here after a weekend long binge in NYC. However, I will say that Hot Chip put on one heck of a show for their Monday night gig so maybe the cure for NYC hang overs is playing an epic show the next night. At least that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.
- Stream “Lights & Music”:
- Download a remix of the track “Hearts on Fire” by Joakim by just signing up for Cut Copy’s mailing list. Do that HERE. And Stream the remix below
- Buy In Ghost Colours: (eMusic) (Amazon MP3) (Modular)
