R.I.P. : Nash The Slash

I spent my youth listening to a lot of Nash The Slash. I was too young to a big fan, and did not own any of his albums, however he was a favourite of my brothers, and he used to play his music almost every day. When you are a kid, though, and you see a man playing music dressed like a mummy, you become very intrigued.

If you are not familiar with Nash The Slash, aka Jeff Plewman, he was a Toronto experimental musician, who made a name for himself in the 1970's with the Prog rock band FM, and in the eighties as a solo artist. He was probably best known  in Canada as that weird, avant grade rock star, who wrapped himself in bandages, wore a top hat, and played an electric mandolin. But he was more than just an odd musician. Nash the Slash was an electronic pioneer, who had an influence on Gary Numan. and he was a performance artist who's live shows were a spectacle to behold.

Sadly, Nash The Slash passed way last weekend at the age of 66.

Chart magazine did a really good interview with Plewman in 2012 and they re-posted it today. Read it here.

Watch him below do a live version of "Children Of The Night" from just a few years ago.

New Music: Cut Copy- Let Me Show You

It's Friday....time to dance into the weekend!!!

Australia's best dance music crew are providing the beats tonight with their brand new single "Let Me Show You." And if that isn't enough for you the Cut Copy are planning on releasing a new album in the fall.

Careful with the music video. It is one of those psychedelic, strobe, epileptic seizure inducing clips.

New Music: Hockeysmith- Let's Bang

Hockeysmith are a couple of sisters, Georgie and Annie, who do all of their best work while residing in a caravan (trailer) park in southern England. The misleadingly titled Let's Go is a blissful piece of dream pop that features foggy electronics and distant guitars and a beat that you can very well dance to. Don't let the fade out at the 1:00 mark fool you - the song doesn't end and actually gets better from that point. Listen below

Five Star Songs: Hot Chip- Playboy

"Playboy" may be the funniest and quirkiest songs that UK dance band Hot Chip have ever written. As a matter of fact, the song appears on their debut album Coming On Strong, and when that LP was released a lot of people thought they were a bit of a joke act. The reason was that they were a bunch of white electro nerds who wrote silly songs and were influenced by stylized hip hop and R&B. If you look at the lyrics of "Playboy" you can see why. The song starts with a T.S. Eliot quote from the The Wasteland and then transforms into comical macho rap bravado- but the kind of bravado only a bunch of geeky British musicians could exert. A rap song (errr...electro pop song) that gives a shout out to Yo La Tengo.....perfect.


April, the cruelest month
I reckon this much could be a contender
There's only so much sorrow a man can take
I can't change my face, don't you remember

You know when I was on the road
That me and you was on the rocks, so low
Should never have got talkin' all that jive
Now there's only one way for me to stay alive

Drivin' in my Peugeot, hey
20 inch rims with the chrome now, hey
Blazin' out yo La Tengo, hey
Drivin' 'round poppin' with the top down, hey

Drivin' in my Peugeot, hey
20 inch rims with the chrome now, hey
Blazin' out yo La Tengo, hey
Drivin' 'round poppin' with the top down, hey

So long to contentedness
I reckon next time I'll march in favor
So long I've felt a blessedness
No more is this a taste I want to savor

I know how I dig you on
You can know only see, so far
But never was there more to say
Less, to do, before, turn away

Drivin' in my Peugeot, hey
20 inch rims with the chrome now, hey
Blazin' out yo La Tengo, hey
Drivin' 'round poppin' with the top down, hey

New Music: Holy Ghost!- Teenagers In Heat

This song is really great dance track....Why? Because former LCD Soundsystem main man James Murphy co-produced the track. Okay, let's give Holy Ghost! some credit for writing a good song, but thanks to Murphy this is probably better than anything they have ever done. Download the track below:

The track is taken from the album Dynamics which is out on September 10th via DFA.

New Music: Braids- Amends

Montreal band Braids are back with their first new music since the release of their excellent 2011 LP Native Speaker. The band will come out with a new 12" single  In Kind // Amends on June 12th. The release will include the songs "In Kind", "Amends", "Near Enough" and "A Dawn in Me"

Braids will also be releasing a full album some time later in the year.

The group have completely moved away from guitar music and embraced the electronic sound that lead singer Raphaelle Standell- Preston used so effectively in her other band Blue Hawaii. Listen to the first song from the 12", "Amends" below:

In Kind//Amends will be out on June 12th via Flemish Eye/Arbutus.

For fans of Grimes, Purity Ring.

New Music: Solar Year- Magic Idea + Music Video

Jamie Harley might be the best music video director going these days. The man has worked extensively with bands like Memoryhouse, How to Dress Well, Twin Shadow and Keep Shelly In Athens, making some of the most brilliant cutting edge music videos from the last few years. Here he takes slow motion visuals from a music festival, with a sea of thousands of ecstatic fans, and backs it with the laid back heavenly synths of Montreal's Solar Years' track "Magic Idea". Somehow the visuals and audio create a perfect symmetry that will leave the viewer in  hypnotic euphoria.

For fans of Grimes, Youth Lagoon, Jacques Green.

New Music: The Knife- Full Of Fire + Music Video

This new ninety minute triple LP coming from Sweden's coolest electronic couple The Knife is going to be fucking awesome. To lead with a single this good only proves the point that the duo's new LP will probably one of the best of the year. The hard driving Full of Fire is a techno monster full of industrial strength beats and pulsating synths that wouldn't be out of place on an old Nitzer Ebb album.

The music video for the track was directed by Marit Osberg who is a German feminist porn movie director. The video follows 16 people over the length of 10 minutes and features an occupy protest, a woman taking a pee in the middle of the street and a group of S&M participants. There used to be a goth club in downtown Toronto called The Sanctuary-something tells me this music and the accompanying video would have been very popular there. Watch below:

The new album is titled Shaking The Habitual and will be released on April 9th via Rabid/Brille/Mute Records.

For fans of Nitzer Ebb, Aphex Twin, Fever Ray.

New Music: Herve´- Save Me (Feat. Austra)

Save Me is the first single from Herve´'s forthcoming new album, The Art of Disappearing. The eerie electronic track features the warbling's of the equally spooky Toronto artist Katie Stelmanis, aka Austra. Watch the grainy video for the song below:

The new LP also employs the assistance of Niki & The Dove and Maria Minervia and will be released in the UK on March 4th via Cheap Thrills.

For fans of Austra, White Sea. 

New Music: Twigs- Weak Spot + Breathe

Here are two great tracks from the remarkable new electronic R&B artist Twigs. Weak Spot sounds like a quieter, more sexy version of Grimes while Breathe is more poppier and evokes Bat for Lashes.. Watch the two videos for the songs below and then head over to Bandcamp to listen to and purchase her 4 track EP.

New Music: Deptford Goth- Union

First post for 2013 features a leftover from 2012. Although, British electronic artist Daniel Woodhouse, aka Deptford Goth, is one new artist you definitely need to watch out for in the brand new year.

Union is taken from his new album which will be released some time this year on Merok. Listen to the minimalist, atmospheric, electronic R&B song below:

For fans of James Blake, How to Dress Well.

New Music: Halls- Roses For The Dead

Minimalist London electronic artist Halls recently released a new single, Roses For The Dead, that is definitely not for people who love bright, cheery music. The spacious dark synths and glitchy beats are complimented with Halls' droned gloomy voice who turns it into a song that is hauntingly beautiful.  Great headphone music that is reminiscent of Thom Yorke's The Eraser. Download the song below via Soundcloud.

Halls will release his new album, Ark on October 15th via No Pain in Pop.

New Music: Nite Jewel & Julia Holter- What We See + Music Video

Los Angeles electro pop artist Nite Jewel (Ramona Gonzalez) has hooked up with fellow Californian and electronic artist Julia Holter for a new song and music video as part of the compilation album Light From Los Angeles. The compilation is put out by arts collective Dublab and features many LA musicians including Sun Araw and Dntl. The album will be released sometime in October.

The track that Nite Jewel and Julia Holter contributed to the compilation is called What We See. The tune finds the pair singing with heavenly harmonies to a minimalist beat and light piano touches.

The accompanying music video has the couple strolling through the countryside, inspecting various forms of flora and enjoying a nice summer day. Watch below.

New Music: The xx-Angels

The xx are back with their familiar minimalistic haunting sound. I am probably the millionth person to blog about this today, but this band is that good and deserve all the attention that comes their way.
The new album from The xx Coexist will be released on September 10th.

Listen: