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VILLA KANG – an experimental, alt-pop producer/songwriter working in Toronto - releases “Touch of Evil” as a free download to build some buzz before the launch of his EP which is set to be released in August.  “Touch of Evil” is the first track to be released from the EP boasting a distinct opening instrumental hook, and a strong melodic vocal delivery drawing comparisons to “Beck and The Gorillaz (Our Vinyl)”. 

When asked about what we are to expect for his upcoming EP Villa Kang said, “I’m definitely playing with a lot of different elements in this recording process.  As a songwriter I’m chasing hooks. I love pop music or any kind of music where there is a distinct melody that stays with you even after you’re finished listening to a track.  I really want to create that for my audience, but at the same time I want to create a unique sound with the production for those vocal tracks to live in. Right now a whole bunch of stuff is influencing me.  My roots have always been the punk music and hip-hop I grew up with but now I’m just into anything I come across on the internet that exists to push music in new directions. I love what Diplo did for Usher on Climax, have just become a huge fan of The Neighborhood, binged on the Weeknd, OF, Deadmau5, Grimes, The XX and so much more. I’m just into what’s happening now and think its awesome to be a part of it.  I guess you’ll be hearing all those elements come together in some way.”

To celebrate the release of the EP, Villa Kang will premier his live band in Toronto followed by a multi-week tour of the East Coast (both Canada and US – Dates TBA). 

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villakang:

If you haven’t checked out Hallucinating Arkansas by now…click on the photo.

1000xpm:

New Animal | The Sound That It Makes

While anxiously awaiting for something new from my favorite artists of 2011, this track released about a month ago (with accompanying vid below) shows that they’re still on track for making the same great sounds that still have me listening (and for a long time, I suspect) to their great, self-titled debut. Which can be found at their bandcamp for *free*. I’d apologize that I keep on mentioning these guys, but I just keep wanting people to listen!

thedigitalouthouse:

Made in Heights - “Skylark Interabang?!”

As much as I wanted to grace your screens with a picture of Alexei Saba’s very attractive face, I can’t discredit Kelsey Bulkin’s vocal contributions to Made in Heights’ music. So here is an artistically ambiguous photo from their Facebook.

Excellent independent music has never been hard to find in Seattle and this is partially due to local icons like Saba (aka Sabzi) who is also known for his ingenious work with Common Market and Blue Scholars. Made in Heights only has two albums, both of which are annoyingly good, making it difficult for myself to feature just one track. I can’t be the only one who likes sonically ethereal indie with the tiniest bits of hip hop. Can I?

Whatever the case may be, I recommend listening to everything they’ve ever made together.

Mountain Range - With Skates

Thoughtful light percussion. Mellow beat. Twinkling synths. Lush ambience. Oh so chill.

Villa Kang’s opening lyric “through a broken diamond” delivered on top a of a hazy, glitch-hop, blissed beat, effectively introduces the listener of “Hallucinating Arkansas” to an isolated speaker who sees only  a world of apparitions and clouded memories.

The track boasts lush,  reverbed vocals over dream-sequenced instrumentation that heavily samples Memoryhouse’s “To The Lighthouse”.  The production uses the strongest melodic aspects of “To The Lighthouse” to create its primary instrumental hook and Villa Kang’s vocal melody works well over this sample.   

The lyrics are strong if read, however the production points more toward their aesthetic and mood rather than content.

The Production’s chorus sounds almost like a duet between Memoryhouse’s Denise Nouvion and Villa Kang.  The sped up sample of Denise’s voice, like the production on Villa Kang’s voice,  makes the phrase less about the lyric and more about the evocation of something lost, which is really what “Hallucinating Arkansas” effectively conveys.  

“Hallucinating Arkansas” lyric content deals with isolation, fragmented memory and a lack of identity. The speaker is trapped, trying to reach out, trying to connect but is inevitably lost in a cold place.  A place that can only be described as a bizarro “Cheers (TV Show)” world where, as Villa Kang laments in his Chorus, “Out Here No One Knows Your Name.”   Ultimately, however, the track’s conclusion employs David Bowie’s voice from a 1973 Interview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZtHxP4EMV0), where he fittingly discusses identity, religion and his celebration of life.  How existential.

Download it for free here: SOUNDCLOUD, FACEBOOK , OR WEBSITE

Villa Kang’s “Radio Dada” punches the listener with a blast of rich imagery, a quick staccatoed vocal delivery and creative lyricism.  The track clocks in at 1:16 and feels like a psychedelic experiment of The Ramones highjacking Hip-Hop.   

In many ways “Radio Dada” works as an antithesis to “Hallucinating Arkansas”.  Its fast, its vocal is up front and its lyric seems to exist more as an artistic statement, than as an exploration of mood. 

The song’s title refers to Dadaism, an early 20th Century art movement who’s sole purpose was to be anti-bourgeois, and anarchistic while ridiculing the meaninglessness of the modern world. 

Employing this ethos in his treatment of psychedelic hip-hop, Villa Kang works actively against the genre’s standard 4:00+ song, and use of tired imagery. Moreover, Villa Kang’s lyrical sources are noticeably diverse and pulled from popular culture to create a swirl of lyrical impressionism. 

Just as Dadaists created art that was visibly “anti-art”, Villa Kang uses a JDilla inspired psych hip-hop beat, to create a brand of fun, psychedelic, “anti-hip-hop”.

Download it for free here: SOUNDCLOUD, FACEBOOK , OR WEBSITE

boyattractions:

Clearing – “Blank”

No Kings honcho and impeccable soundsmith Lee Noble lifted some of our SOPA blackout blues this morning with a newly-minted vid by Geoffrey Sexton, who’s previously helmed clips for the likes of Pink Priest and Sparkling Wide Pressure. This time around he’s teamed up with Clearing (Police Academy 6/Skylines’ Joseph Volmer), who recently hit up NK with the coyly-named No Titles cassette. Sexton’s refreshingly crisp (read: not Archive.org) collage pairs unsettlingly well with Volmer’s slow drones, which Noble compares to “Baraka-soundtrack-era Dead Can Dance and Philip Glass”. 

Related: I never had a chance to properly gush about it due to my September-December hiatus from BA, but Lee Noble’s Horrorism is (still) an absolute killer of a record, and one that ranked high on my theoretical best-of-2011 list. Bathetic is unfortunately sold out of the goods, but you can still snag a digital copy from the good folks at Boomkat.