The Radio Dept. - David [EP]
The Radio Dept. - David
[Labrador, 2009]
A four-track EP is no substitute for a long-awaited album, but at least it’s something to feed off in terms of the Swedish shoegaze mood. Needless to say, even one track, David, by The Radio Dept., brought comfort from the first listen, and has been in my playlist for weeks. An airy melody with a kind of trip-hop beat that wouldn’t be out of place on a Portishead album (old one more than the latest). Dark, brushed and blurred vocals, and a transparent and light orchestration that makes your heart miss a beat. It’s an unbelievably beautiful song, like morning dew disappearing in the sun.
Messy Enough is a more smooth and expected song. The rhythms is faster than the vocals, and the general sad mood prevails. Something to be expected of The Radio Dept. And the last two tracks are The Rice Twins’ (it’s a techno duo of Stockholm) remix on David - a lighter and more minimalistic version, with a different rhythm, almost (but not quite) stripped of shoegaze; and less-than-two-minute long The Idle Urban Contemporaries, a finishing guitar-string instrumental coda.
Waiting for the album now even more, because 13 minutes is definitely not enough…
Read & Listen:
The Radio Dept. Myspace
Labrador
David mp3
Canadian duo Junior Boys have released their third (after Last Exit and So This Is Goodbye) album. Those who loved their previous works, I’m sure will love this one too. We have here the same light electronica, sweet sugary melodies and Jeremy Greenspan’s vocals and something pretty and moving, something that makes you stay for another listen. On this album, it seems only the electronic skeleton is left, without any excessive stuff, and covered with warmth. Samples like I see you better when the lights are out stay in your head long after you’ve listened to the album. And what’s interesting, the danceability of the album are not hard in themselves. It’s the embodiment of flexibility in music, beautifully soft songs. If previously Junior Boys had more indie-pop trinkets about them, now what’s left is primarily rhythmic patterns. 
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There’s always something interesting going on in and around Broken Social Scene. Andrew Whiteman, one of the “old guys”, has mostly been associated with Apostle of Hustle (the band was formed in 2001), but he’s also been a significant part of BSS. Apostle of Hustle’s third full LP is an outstanding piece in the 2009 music collection. Sounds of Latin-American folk on the one hand, indie rock at its best in terms of loudness and crossing all borders - on the other. I really like the intro, Snakes: