New Music: Antimc, The Winks, Bracken

Still no mp3s due to Audioblog... here, I'll help: sighhhhhh. Ok, stay patient, as soon as I can, I will update.



Antimc - The Nogoodnick feat. Fog - It's Free, but Not Cheap (Mush 2006)


Antimc – It’s Free, But Not Cheap / Mush

Antimc (think Anti-MC aka Matthew Alsberg) is a producer with a great love for his synthesizers. He doesn’t love them in the ‘utilizes a lot’ kinda way (though he does), but he actually cares for them in the deepest meaning of the word. Within an Antimc song, you can hear Alsberg caressing, teasing and giving those playful little spanks (you know, the ones that keep a relationship interesting) to his wide array of synthesizers and keyboards, and his music responds with sexy grins to each loving touch. As well as contributing live instrumentation and exotic samples to his sound, the L.A. producer crafts a well realized and polished combination of electro-pop, post-rock and dancefloor-ready hip-hop. For mic duties, Antimc has enlisted scatter-brained indie-hop emcee Busdriver, hyped Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon and Bay Area true-hop mic-smith Saafir as well as Anthony Anzalone of the Mean Reds, Andrew Broder of Fog and Mark Mitchell of Clue to Kalo with mixed results. Busdriver and Broder fit the sound the best and are highlights of the album. Personally, I dig Antimc’s solo tracks the most (which goes as well for his previous work with Radioinactive), which easily show the promising producer and musician’s keen ear for catchy melodies, head-nodding beats and welcomed playfulness.




The Winks - Woolongong - Birthday Party (Ache 2006)


The Winks – Birthday Party / Ache

After listening to The Winks’ eighth full-length release (which includes 5 self-released CD-Rs), Birthday Party, I’ve come to the conclusion that Canadians snack quite regularly on snowflakes dipped in maple syrup. It makes sense really, other than creative indie-pop, those are their two major exports, and most everything else is coated in some kind of sweet before it leaves the country. Take Todd MacDonald and Tyr Jami for example: beginning as an improvised instrumental duo, MacDonald on mandolin, Jami on cello, their sound has become increasingly structured and poppier as their exposure has grown. And now they are hitting the states for their first official LP on Ache and their music is now a swirling blend of sugarcoated indie-pop fleshed out with memorable melodies through woodwinds, strings and percussion. Jami’s young Bjork meets Pit er Pat’s Fay Davis-Jeffers vocals clash with MacDonald’s more generic voice giving their music a good dose of unpredictability as the two trade verses on just about every song. Birthday Party does a good job of mixing up the sound on a regular occasion while remaining true to the current indie-pop blueprint; I wouldn’t be surprised if The Winks get doused in bucket full of hype (or maple syrup).




Bracken - Heathens - Heathens EP (Anticon 2006)


Bracken – Heathens EP / Anticon

Meandering away from the pastoral foothills of Leeds, England, Chris Adams suddenly found himself among the many brick stoops of Oakland rather than the wooden porches of his hometown. No worries though, the Hood co-founder has taken sanctuary in the Anticon collective where he is releasing his first solo material under the moniker Bracken. Expanding from the hypnotic fuzz of Hood’s experimental shoegaze-folk, Adams is taping together tattered loops, borrowing Alias’ cluttered hip-hop punch and laying down his trademark ethereal voice for his first release, the Heathens EP. The title track sounds like vintage Anticon, pairing lo-fi hip-hop with otherworldly pop, while We Cut the Tapes and Scatter builds from short, overlapping violin samples and avant-garde noises while Adams’ reverb-soaked croon washes in and out of your ears. You also get a reworking of Heathens by Why? and Alias that strips away some of the fuzz while Yoni Wolf contributes his catchy phrasing and charming nasal tone. This is a promising EP that should easily please both latter-day Anticon and Hood fans alike.