THE BEST FOR GUESTS SPECIAL

A month from today, 2011 will be history. Quantic physics says that, nowadays, the absolut second is  faster than decades (centuries!) ago.

I don't know if I believe in that theory. Maybe our lives have become so filled with the emergency of images, sounds, information and our brains are still adapting to assimilate the velocity of it all.

Fact, theory or impression aside, it's time to look back and start to build the compartment in our minds where 2011 will live.

Chaotisch's musical compartment is going to be a collaborative one (thanks to Fernanda who came up with the idea).

I invited musicians, music bloggers, record labels and friends to name their favorite music from 2011. The rules were simple: they should pretend they owned chaotisch und charmant for one post. The starting point was to name their top 5 albums of the year but they could name songs, artists, singles... whatever they wanted. The way they wanted. Total freedom.

The 2011: BEST FOR GUESTS SPECIAL starts tomorrow. A huge thank you to everyone – artists, music lovers, record labels, friends – who accepted the invitation to participate. I hope you enjoy.

PS: if you want to participate, feel free to email me your list(s) to chaotisch.charmant@gmail.com. If you could also send me a picture of you it'd be fantastic but that's not mandatory. Total freedom, remember?

I'll be happy to post your choices.  

moustache of insanity

Moustache of Insanity is Nik and Bill from London. They make indiepop with some 8-bit - game-ish vibe. I'm not really into that kind of music but they manage to use the right amount of blips mixed with punk-ish guitars and insanely fun lyrics.
Nothing else to say. Listen to 'We Need More Awesome' from their latest release Album of Death and see what I'm talking about.



At their bandcamp you can name your price for more awesome (totally fucking awesome) tunes!

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INTERVIEW 51. azure blue

For a long time, I hear people saying that we know more about the space than about the oceans. That always seemed odd to me since I can touch the ocean with my feet. As I grew older and smarter (?) I started to understand the reasons why’s that. Perhaps for the same reason – or infinite others – some people have this connection – maybe bond is a better word – with the salty water that surrounds us.

And maybe the idea of grandness is better understood with the ocean since the grandness of the space is too abstract to our little minds to understand.

From the deep ocean comes Tobias Isaksson. Actually Tobias comes from Sweden and Azure Blue – his electronic project – comes from the ocean. A dreamy and crystalline ocean with gentle  and warm tides. 

Tobias is no stranger to music fans, since he was part of Irene and Laurel Music. 

"If Laurel Music was the sound of a lost first love and Irene was the impossible dream of endless summer, Azure Blue is the night after the day after. "

Rule of Thirds is the name of his debut album and it'll be released next Wednesday (November 23) via Hybris. "The Catcher in The Rye" is the first single.

The Catcher in the Rye by Azure Blue

Here's our interview. Tobias talks about his love for the ocean, his debut album, pre-release anxieties and perfect pop songs.

keep reading...

MUSIC TO SEE. #16 (stop motion edition)

Here we have three videos, each using different stop motion techniques.

 loose fit. table beggar


hudson. against the grain


cold mailman. time is of the essence

put on a funny hat on your funny hat

DINNER FOR ONE PLEASE, JAMES.  PUT ON A FUNNY HAT ON YOUR FUNNY HAT (independent, 2011)

Wandering through pages on Last.fm I stumbled upon Dinner For One Please, James; an artist with only two songs, available for free download.
After listening to the beautiful and playful 'What A Wild Cat That Cat Is', I tried to find out more about this artist/band.
The task proved to be quite challenging since there's a song written by Michael Carr that has the same name as this musical project. Also a gazillion artists recorded it... apart from the Last.fm page, there's no page mentioning the artist (only the song).

While 'Josie's Juice Bar' goes into a more fun-minimal-retro synths path, 'What A Wild Cat That Cat Is' puts the electronics in the background and focuses on romantic-fun vocals, acoustic guitar, bass and whistles.
The song can be interpreted as a love song for a cat or a girl. In both cases, the idea is brilliant because... well... just the idea of a love song for a cat already is great (!!!) and - if you go for the second option - the cat is the metaphor for a girl, which is pretty clever to me, specially considering the way the idea is developed in the lyrics.




DOWNLOAD
Josie's Juice Bar
What A Wild Cat That Cat Is

i didn't want to make out (i wanted to kiss)

LONG WALKS ON THE BEACH ~ I DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE OUT (Independent, 2010)

Fritz Kramer, a journalist from Washington DC, spends his free time playing with a computer, strumming guitars, beats, claps and xylophones.
'I Didn't Want To Make Out' lines are the perfect example to describe the feeling of this one man project. Using a sweet, twisted and innocent storytelling he says that 'I didn't want to make out / I wanted a kiss...' and there's nothing much to do after hearing these words followed by a beautiful "keyboard solo" (forgive my ignorance, but, is there such a thing called keyboard solo?).

DIY... bedroom pop... lo-fi... doesn't matter. This is fucking good indiepop.

Check his bandcamp page. There you'll find a few songs to download.



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