Exclamation! [mfin!58]
16 December, 2013
So how are those End of the Year lists coming along? I mused about Dandelion's best-ofs elsewhere on the site, but otherwise I doubt that I could compile a relevant or comprehensive ranking of 2013's SMAAAAASH hits. So whatevs. Let the hardcore record collectors and music archivists sort that out. I'm still looking, ears still open. Next year needs to hurry along. Dump this Christmas mush. Set your radar for these two bands that use and abuse the exclamation mark!
!mindparade - I could begin to describe !mindparade – but then, it’d be a bit like pinning down mercury, or painting a sunset, or relating the patterns in a kaleidoscope to a blind man. Everything is Happening, their last LP, is a tilted world of dripping color, a pendulum that swings in uneven strokes between raw and loopy. Tracks race between dimensions, between dreams, burbling and sparkling and crackling. Just listen to “Time”, and try to figure out the genre – maybe a lost Motown soul crusher, that’s been warped over the years and squeezed through a psychedelic speaker? Compare with “Why”, a staggering blast of saxes and cascading flutes that hint at something monumental. If you really wanna jam someone’s radar, though, broadcast “It Is Strange…” into airspace, and watch pilots careen off course as white noise ambushes their ears. For a similar shake-up experience on the dance floor, pipe “Age of the Disconnected Man” into the speakers. Fun times should follow.
Should I draw some comparisons? MGMT comes to mind, particularly on “Gravitation” and “Better” – but then, !mindparade excel past that (especially on the latter – OH MY LORD THAT CHORUS), and it’s really beyond my power to say where else this cosmic power draws influence from, if not from their own divine meditations.
Should I draw some comparisons? MGMT comes to mind, particularly on “Gravitation” and “Better” – but then, !mindparade excel past that (especially on the latter – OH MY LORD THAT CHORUS), and it’s really beyond my power to say where else this cosmic power draws influence from, if not from their own divine meditations.
All I know is, !mindparade are a rare entity, and my ears and eyes are riveted. A few months ago, GoldFlakePaint unveiled Somehow (Parts I & II) – and UHHHHHHH. Let’s say this – Moody Blues + hip-hop. Hypnotizing. The groove slips into your head and pleads for infinity. A mystery floats in the chorus, a mystery that lingers after every listen. I’m dumb with awe and wonder. This is a single to get excited about. The next !mindparade album will pierce the stratosphere.
Love? Yes, love. Love to melt the snows, love to stoke the wood stove, love to warm a cup of tea.
Finnmark! is love. Not indie pop, although you could brand them that way. And yeah, they were on this this year’s Indietracks compilation. OK, fine, it’s indie pop. However, unlike those twee kids that trade voices and jump for glee, Finnmark! is one forlorn voice above the organ-y synth and bouncing bass. A post-punk-infected voice, you might add, but nahhhh, that’s just an uncanny resemblance.
We’re Not Köping is the first EP from Finnmark! on February Records, and it’s so lovely. An odd mismatch of cheer and brooding, the band celebrate simplicity yet play with convention, sometimes even teasing it and calling it funny names – but never in spite. The best mix-up is “Everybody’s Dying”, the happiest song you’ll ever hear about vehicular homicide.
But “Considering A Move To Sweden” is growing on me. Everything’s there – sad laments, wistful escapism, far-away vocals, spoken shuffling chorus, and a map of Sweden. Monochrome Set, maybe? Let’s all move to Sweden.
Love. I said it once, and I’ll say it again. Finnmark! is love. If you can’t catch it at once, then you must be a rock. Buy this EP (only two quid, you cheapskate) and swoon.
Finnmark! is love. Not indie pop, although you could brand them that way. And yeah, they were on this this year’s Indietracks compilation. OK, fine, it’s indie pop. However, unlike those twee kids that trade voices and jump for glee, Finnmark! is one forlorn voice above the organ-y synth and bouncing bass. A post-punk-infected voice, you might add, but nahhhh, that’s just an uncanny resemblance.
We’re Not Köping is the first EP from Finnmark! on February Records, and it’s so lovely. An odd mismatch of cheer and brooding, the band celebrate simplicity yet play with convention, sometimes even teasing it and calling it funny names – but never in spite. The best mix-up is “Everybody’s Dying”, the happiest song you’ll ever hear about vehicular homicide.
But “Considering A Move To Sweden” is growing on me. Everything’s there – sad laments, wistful escapism, far-away vocals, spoken shuffling chorus, and a map of Sweden. Monochrome Set, maybe? Let’s all move to Sweden.
Love. I said it once, and I’ll say it again. Finnmark! is love. If you can’t catch it at once, then you must be a rock. Buy this EP (only two quid, you cheapskate) and swoon.