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Eyedea and Abilities, "By the Throat" (Rhymesayers)
Hyped on: Imageyenation; Dropkick's Kiosk; Apes with Guns
MySpace
Who: Rapper Mike “Eyedea” Larsen is a Midwest freestyle legend, winner of the prestigious emcee battle at Scribble Jam in 1999 and HBO’s “Blaze Battle” in 2000. His DJ partner, Gregory “Abilities” Keltgen, has also won his fair share of battles on the turntables. They’ve been making music together since 1998—originally calling themselves Sixth Sense—but like a lot of heroes of the hip-hop underground, their recorded output has never quite crossed over to a broader audience.
What: What are they putting in the water in Minneapolis? The same scene (and label—the stellar Rhymesayers) that gave us Atmosphere, Brother Ali and P.O.S. now serves up this brilliant little bastard offspring of punk/grunge guitar squall and El-P-inspired hip-hop/industrial stomp. Eyedea’s verses remain as striking as ever (sample, from “Burn Fetish”: “The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing me that I was him”) and Abilities can still find fresh ways to rock a turntable (check the thrillingly choppy opening riff on “This Story”). But the real headline here is the duo’s newfound love of melody—even at their most aggro, songs like “Spin Cycle” and the very Nirvana-ish “Junk” are downright catchy, with anthemic choruses and massive guitar hooks.
Made for: Ballsy DJs spinning all-ages warehouse parties. Hoodie-wearing mall rats who freely mix hip-hop and punk on their iPod Shuffles. Underground hip-hop heads who still listen to old Bad Brains records.
X-Factor: Eat your heart out, Lil Wayne: Eyedea plays most of his own guitar parts, as well as bass, keyboards and percussion. – AH
Wild Beasts, "Two Dancers" (Domino)
Hyped on: Pop Tarts Suck Toasted; Splice Today; Black Cab Sessions
MySpace
Who: Like so many bands, Leeds quartet Wild Beasts debuted at this year’s South by Southwest, capturing attention mostly via frontman Hayden Thorpe’s Antony-meets-Thom Yorke booming falsetto. But, like so many bands, after the laminates were packed away, the band returned to England and we sorta forgot about them.
What: “Two Dancers” affirms that Thorpe has the vocal chops to carry a band’s entire career. But here’s the thing: Second frontman Tom Fleming is no slouch, either. On a two-part suite that shares the album’s name, Fleming displays a deep, Bowie-like contrast to Thorpe’s altitude. Both styles work in perfect tandem on “All the King's Mean,” which serves as a pastier version of “Area Codes”—name checking a bunch of girls in North England cities we’ve never heard of. Tightly wound opener ”The Fun Powder Plot” moodily progresses from Afrobeat to repeated line, “This is a booty call.” Guess it was tightly wound until that point.
Made for: “This Is Our Lot” best showcases the album’s inspired rhythm section (Flemming and drummer Chris Talbot), possibly intriguing fans of the Dodos.
X-Factor: The band originally went by the name Fauve, a French translation for “wild beast.” – MR
Washed Out, "Life of Leisure" (Mexican Summer)
Hyped on: Hipster Runoff; Ca Va Cool; Off the Radar
MySpace
Who: Just another dude in his bedroom making synth-pop on a laptop…or the first-generation culmination of an emerging subgenre? South Carolina’s Ernest Greene, under the moniker Washed Out, knows all too well the confusion that comes with a rapid, blog-hype-driven rise. He posted some tracks online, and has quickly been touted/lampooned as a new leader of the “chillwave” (aka dreamwave) movement (whose habitués include fellow recent flavors-of-the-month like Neon Indian and Memory Cassette).
What: It’s little wonder why Washed Out has been getting so much Web press—this is exactly the sort of music writers and critics love to “discover.” It’s stylistic and stylish: ‘80s-based vocal ambient synth-pop executed with an appropriately “washed out” and distantly lo-fi aesthetic. And it’s fully realized without being pre-packaged or overly exposed (which is to say, the closest thing we have to “indie” anymore). Greene possesses a fine-tuned sense of what works in this genre, and moves his seemingly effortless tracks along at an interest-keeping yet unhurried pace.
Made for: Music bloggers. Small indie festival bookers. Small indie films. The wee, waning hours of a hipster party. Collaborators and remixers. Long, nighttime drives from campus to visit your parents’ house. Dorm rooms during quiet hours.
X-Factor: Living at the speed of modern music: Greene says he’s only been working on Washed Out since the end of June, and never imagined the project would get anywhere near this much notice, especially not this quickly. Might more time (and money and attention and fans) help his comfortably casual output, or hurt it? – KND
