It’s a hipster Kanye cover! Luckily though both Hooray For Earth and Zambri (especially Zambri) are awesome, and this is therefore very enjoyable. HFE frontman Noel ducks the need to actually rap by disguising his voice with an ocean’s worth of reverb. Got to love those Zambri girls though. Fundamentally, this just looks like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?
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FRIDAY FIVE! 10TH MARCH
(00:18:07)
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1. Hard Mix – Now Her (04:02)
2. Human League – Never Let Me Go (Aeroplane Radio Edit) (03:57)
3. Zambri – On Call (03:26)
4. FOE – Tyrant Song (02:56)
5. Becoming Real – Closer (03:47)
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Some interesting noises emanating from this week’s Friday Five. As ever, it’s a ramshackle collection of bits and pieces from the last few days/weeks/months (delete as appropriate). This week, we have Aeroplane doing lovely thing to the Human League, Hard Mix’s brilliantly warped Now Her (from his Star Slinger split 7″ out last month), long-time favourites Zambri going a bit OUT THERE on us, interestingly dirty-sounding pop from FOE and a bit of lush downbeat electronica from Becoming Real. All awesome. Listen. Over.
In brief: So I first caught up with New Yorkers Zambri last August with the funky, dancey Easier. That was one of my tracks of 2009, and as a result the first time I heard w/Somebody I was kind of unsure what to make of it. Wildly different, it represents a moodier, more organic guitar-driven sound. And it takes a few listens to work its magic. But wow, it is magic. A beautiful, almost Cocteaus-esque slow-burner that codas with an exquisite, aching refrain worthy of Robyn. My only caveat is that I hope this is a sign of their versatility, rather than a change in direction, as both sides of Zambri are equally appealing.
See also: Well, Easier, obviously. But here‘s a pretty decent reworking of w/Somebody that retains the original’s defining characteristics while adding a bit of dancefloor fun to the mix.
Here comes part 3! Click back a few posts for parts 1 and 2. There’s a bit more obvious pop this time around, but a couple of tasty semi-obscurities and treats in there too. All good fun. 2009 has been a pretty good year in pop, I’m starting to think…
Numbers 30 to 21 are behind the clicK…
Apologies for the lack of updates of late. Holidays and fun (and then work) have intervened. On the plus side, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do…
First up, this is basically AWESOME. Zambri are a sister-led five-piece from NYC who deal in loose, funky, but most of all synthy party music. This could all be accused of being a bit too cool for its own good if it wasn’t so utterly loveable and full of fun. It sounds a bit like the Gossip, if they were any good.