Posts tagged: active child
So I have been in love with Active Child since magically stumbling upon his She Was A Vision 7” released through Transparent Records over a year ago. Then the Merok release of his Curtis Lane EP blew me away. But his new full length album You Are All I See has quickly become my favorite album of the year. Soaring electronics, trickling harps, emotional croons - all the elements of Active Child’s style are here but they have grown and matured to this genre bending explosion of power, disparity, love, and bliss. This should make its way on to all Top 10 lists for 2011. Jaw-dropping. Much love to Hypem for the album stream.
Active Child recently finished his debut LP You Are All I See, set for a release on August 23. He paired up with How to Dress Well on a track for the LP titled Playing House, which is a match made in dreams. Last week Active Child tweeted “this aint no bedroom record”, this track definitely proves that. Blows me away.
At first I was a bit averse to hear Active Child trading in his harp for the drum machine, but now I just can’t stop listening. Killer hooks, sultry croons, and that combo with How To Dress Well. It’s pretty clear that Active Child’s first full length will be one hell of an effort. August 23 will be a good day.
Wow, these scaled down versions, are heartbreaking.
this session found a way to melt the world. absolutely breath taking.
Active Child once again succeeds in breaking my heart.
For my 100th post and to welcome the end’s nearing finale, I’ve finally broken down and decided to make my top 25 releases of the year. So, here we go:
Power experimental-pop duo from Florida bring a stunning debut of bristling electronic beauty.
- 24. Candy Claws :: Hidden Lands (twosyllable)
Amazing album from Colorodo natives in which every song uses parts of different songs to make a whole.
- 23. Geographer :: Animal Shapes (Tricycle)
San Fran trio’s second release, full of huge hooks and soaring vocals. Also, killer cello lines.
- 22. Future Islands :: In Evening Air (Thrill Jockey)
Hailing from Baltimore, FI’s powerful vocals, new wave style bass lines and fresh beats make this one a 2010 must.
Solo debut for lead singer of Iceland’s Sigur Ros. An intimate and grandiose ode to growing up and growing old.
Tight production, killer guest spots, and the unstoppable fire that is Big Boi’s lyrical and vocal style makes for one hell of an album.
- 19. Kordan :: The Longing (Last Bummer)
Dream pop of the highest, coziest caliber. Dark, fire place songs.
- 18. Glass Vaults :: Glass EP (Jukboxr)
New Zealand based duo bring a fresh and melancholic EP of ambient tribal music. The end result is a fantastic foray through a collapsing relationship.
- 17. Javelin :: No Mas (Thrill Jockey)
After a string of 12”s on Thrill Jockey, the duo releases their first full length full of old funk hooks, feel good beats, and helium vocals.
Will Wiesenfeld of Los Angeles released his debut album on Anticon and it is all glitch pop of the most personal and introspective caliber.
- 15. Sufjan Stevens :: Age of Adz (Asthmatic Kitty)
The weird robot opus that officially revives and destroys the use of auto-tuning in 25 minutes. Amazing composition, existential lyrics, and a brave live show to go with.
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Mind blowing new release from UK producer Kieran Hebden that takes the slow build of electronic music to a whole new level. This release solidifies Hebden’s place in the electronic world.
- 13. Gem Club :: Acid and Everything EP
Heartbreak, loss, pain, purity, hope, glory. All in just 6 tracks.
Foals dark, almost operatic at times, sophomore full length finds them in new territory where their old math rock sensibilities blend into a heavier and more desperate context.
- 11. Mount Kimbie :: Crooks & Lovers (Hotflush)
Minimalist dub-step virtuosos released their debut full length this year to much anticipation and acclaim. A tour-de-force entrance into the underground post-dub scene hot on the heels of two amazing 12”s. Group to watch 2011 right here.
- 10. Gold Panda :: Lucky Shiner (Ghostly Int.)
Gold Panda is having a hell of a year. Two singles and a full length, a world tour, and a number of festival runs. His brand of electronic finds influence from Eastern and Indian music while holding onto the glitch/IDM sensibilities that are flying around the UK. A solid, heavy hitting record in which every song is different but all meld into one perfect piece.
- 09. Active Child :: Curtis Lane EP (Merok)
With a voice like an angel and the harp lines to match, Los Angeles based Pat Grossi has been picking up steam doing jaw dropping remixes and crooning around the country. His 6 song EP takes him to the next level with heavy handed catches, powerful lyrics, and an ethereal weightlessness.
She Was A Vision by Active Child
- 08. Thee Silver Mt. Zion :: Kollaps Tradixionales (Constellation)
Montreal rockers have found the perfect blend of post-rock, classical, stoner metal, and desert for their new album. Masters of massive, this album feels like the longing culmination of the group’s ground breaking body of work. Simply amazing.
Kollaps Tradixionales - THEE SILVER MT. ZION by Constellation Records
British upstart sounds like he’s taking notes from aspect of electronic, with an Amon Tobin found sound quality at times to almost direct cues from Burial. A beautiful minimalist electronic debut. This kid is going places, and fast.
Pariah - Prism by luciusanorak
- 06. Tame Impala :: Innerspeaker (Modular)
Aussies out of nowhere, delivering one of the best, most brilliantly produced rock and roll albums of the past decade. Flawlessly capturing the sound of old 60s and 70s psychedelic, Innerspeaker brings it back to a time when people just wanted to rock out and have fun.
Tame Impala - I Don’t Really Mind by defacto
- 05. Wild Nothing :: Gemini (Captured Tracks)
What began as a solo outfit at just the beginning of the year has evolved into a band that rocks like their from England, talks like they’re from California, and is actually from Virginia. Awesome music to groove to, in whatever sense of the word you want.
Wild Nothing - The Witching Hour by halloweengum
A change in form for the Montreal producer, but certainly in a solid direction. Dark, moody ambiance, entrancing pianos, solid remixes and heavy drum hits, this EP was a stand up knock out of the year.
CFCF - Before and After Light by RVNG Intl.
- 03. James Blake :: CMYK EP (R&S)
One of the most brilliant names to emerge this year, the British minimalist dub-step proved his weight in gold with the CMYK EP, which sampled enough R&B and pulled enough beats to make it the stand out electronic release of the year. This is definitely the name to watch for 2011. Things are going to get massive.
- 02. The Soft Moon :: The Soft Moon (Captured Tracks)
Brooklyn’s own Captured Tracks made an amazing discovery when they found San Francisco based The Soft Moon (aka Luis Valasquez). A brilliant, brooding dark-wave piece, this album quickly became a defining album of my year, turning the bright and colorful streets of New York into a gritty underworld reminiscent of things I had only seen in photos from the 70s and 80s. Intense, driving bass and guitar with raw noise and energy that takes this debut to higher realms. A journey, a piece of music, a work of art.
Say what you will, but Cleveland experimental ambient art outfit have created one of the most emotionally loaded, brilliantly composed, and artistically crafted albums. For being wordless, shapeless compositions, so much is expressed in such a short amount of time. Beautiful, poignant, reflective, moody, atmospheric, dark, bright, glorious, exalting. Emeralds have always been affective but this album is their opus for sure. Soundtrack of the future.
Emeralds - Goes By by Haunted Ghost
So, there it is, my list for the top 25 of 2010. Say what you will, feel free to argue or comment or add to it.
Keep Shelly In Athens remixed Steve Mason’s Boys Outside, which is also the perfect moment to share Active Child’s splendid remix of Lost and Found. Both turn his tracks into something of their own, something rather unique. Apparently Steve Mason is working on a dub version of his album titled Ghosts Outside right now.
Steve Mason - Boys Outside (Keep Shelly In Athens remix)
Steve Mason - Lost and Found (Active Child Remix)
Most of the time, disconaivete just knows what to say. Which is why you should follow them. And also listen to these two amazing songs.
Marina and the Diamonds :: Oh No! (Active Child Remix)
Marina And The Diamonds - Oh No! (Active Child Remix) by Nialler9
Once in a while you find a musician with the Midas touch, someone who is able to take any song and turn it into absolute gold. Los Angeles based Active Child is exactly that. This time he transforms Marina and the Diamonds’ total blow-out 80s aerobics pop song Oh No! into a sparse, crushing roller coaster of self-actualization and self-doubt. The harp laden finale with the sample of Marina singing “I’m lonely” over and over gives the song an entire new atmosphere and meaning. Where the original was an anti-materialist anthem for change and independence, the remix is a plea for a connection, a cry in the dark. Also, what Active Child does with his remixes is add his own vocals and instrumentation rather than simply working with what’s there. It becomes almost a collaboration of sorts, like a living and growing organism. A sad and beautiful organism.
Also, here’s what the original sounds like:
