Those crazy Brits, hollering “Cheerio, darling” or “bollocks” every so often, spelling color with a ‘U’ and dressing themselves in “knickers.” This April, they’ve decided to export a few more of their musically talented across the Atlantic and straight into American pop culture.
We’re obviously hyped for another wave of U.K. loving, because the British are so fetch. Why else would we all dawn such terrible attempts at accents every Saturday night when we’re hammered and hitting the town?
We’re hoping the tariffs won’t be too high, because this could very well turn into an electronic remix of the Boston Tea Party. To be honest, we’re feeling just a smidge like Paul Revere. The British are coming, indeed.
Estelle
ALBUM: Shine
LABEL: Homeschool, Atlantic Records
West London R&B singer Estelle hits the mic somewhere between Missy Elliott and Beyoncé. This singer/rapper’s new album “Shine” flaunts collaborations with will.i.am, Kanye West and John Legend. With a star line-up like that, how could we expect anything less than magnificence?
Her album is a fusion of beats from pop and blues to old school rap and reggae. In many of the songs, the rhythm’s origin is hard to trace, but not hard to dance to.
The standout track on “Shine” is also her new single, “American Boy,” featuring Kanye West. The song praises American cities, while criticizing men’s fashion. The results are outstanding rhythm and a kickass attitude “I really want to kick it with you. You’ll be my American Boy.”
“Wait a Minute (Just a Touch)” featuring will.i.am rocks a beat reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin films. Estelle shouts her rap lyrics, and her self-confidence is refreshing every time the track plays “You’re staring at a woman that’ll slap your ass to the floor.”
The attitude doesn’t stop there. “Magnificent” experiments with reggae beats, while “Come Over” hails a more political tone. Any way you shake the tracks down, you’re asking for rocking beats and a party attitude.
65daysofstatic
ALBUM: The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties EP
LABEL: Monotreme Records
65daysofstatic is an instrumental math-rock band from Sheffield, England. “The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties” is an EP that features two mixes of their second single from their last album “The Destruction of Small Ideas” along with two brand new tracks, “Antique Mall” and “Goodbye 2007.”
The new album is excellent if you’re looking to dabble into layer upon layer of heavily instrumental techno-like post-rock. For the rest of us, the constant looping can be daunting, to say the least.
“Goodbye 2007” features a simple looping melody busted out on bells and features rolling drum solos. It’s difficult to enjoy without focusing attention on each element, and picking out the beeping of computers and breaking machine-gun like rhythms.
The track titled “Dance Parties (Distant)” features a loop of men hollering “They’re gaining ground” and a dance-club-like techno beat. The chaos can make you feel like you may or may not be on a hardcore acid trip, because the music changes tones every few seconds. Throw in voices of little girls and a passionate scream, and it’s suddenly a bad trip. Take this EP with an open mind. If you try and process everything, you’ll be overwhelmed.
Frightened Rabbit
ALBUM: The Midnight Organ Fight
LABEL: Fat Cat Records
“The Midnight Organ Flight” is Scottish indie-rock band Frightened Rabbit’s sophomore album, and, from what we can tell, Frightened Rabbit will be around for a while. The album is bass-free, which gives it an acoustic feeling.
The album hits its high point when it is boiled down to coarse lyrics and acoustic guitar and emotional lyrics as is featured in “Heads Roll Off” and “The Modern Leper,” which shouts achingly, “So I cut out all the good stuff. Yeah, I cut off my foot to spite my leg.”
The band’s remorseless self-exposure is refreshing and heat-wrenching, never overly emotional. The result is a departure from whines and moans associated with emotive tracks. The new spin on passionate music can be attributed to the raspy, unforgiving voice of Scott Hutchinson, Frightened Rabbit’s lead singer.
“Fast Blood,” which lends its lyrics to the album’s title, is a tad overdone, but most of the album is torn down to the necessities, a powerful voice and talented guitar picking.
The lead singer’s sexy accent adds something extra to most of the tracks, and may be the main ingredient in the band’s soul. The album is painful, vulnerable and powerful, to say the least.
Robyn
ALBUM: Robyn
LABEL: Konichiwa, Interscope Records
Circa 1997, Robyn opened our hardening, fifth-grade American hearts with that hit “Show Me Love.” She isn’t technically British, but discrimination is un-American, so we couldn’t resist giving the sassy Swede’s new self-titled album a shout-out.
“Robyn,” which hit the states on Tuesday, is dance-pop magnificence in its simple lyrics and pounding bass rhythms. A few songs, like “Konichiwa, Bitches” tout self-confident lyrics and Robyn’s exploration into white-girl rapping. Robyn shouts “I’m so very hot that when I rob your mansion, you ain’t call the cops, you call the fire station.”
Even her heartfelt ballads, like “With Every Heartbeat” and “Be Mine” are powered up with heavy techno beats. It’s difficult to let any of this music bring you down. Its dance-inducing rhythms will most likely inspire a bounce in your step as you drudge toward chemistry lecture.
What’s more is the album’s constant rhythm induces the feeling of a single, cohesive work, so often lost in over-produced albums of singles that are often pushed out one after another.
