Kavinsky / Outrun On a dark and fateful night in the year 1986, a young man named Kavinsky accidently crashed his Testarossa Ferrari on the way to his girlfriend’s house. Vanished and gone, he reappears in 2006 as a zombie to make electronic music and to find his girlfriend once again who has already moved on with her life. Thus is the story of Vincent Belorgey’s alter ego Kavinsky on his newest 2013 album, Outrun. Brining French house synthpop to the forefront once again, this album immediately transports you back to the 80s and keeps you there. Inspired by all the classic 80s car chase movies and 16-bit video games, Belorgey takes the best sounds and concepts from all this iconic time and fuses the best parts of it into the fourteen track album. Extremely reminiscent of fellow French natives Daft Punk and Justice, Belorgey really delivers his story telling side on this album. “ProtoVision” delivers a dubstep vibe out, but has a bad to the bone guitar solo that literally lasts the entire song and brings forth visions of mullets and flying round house kicks. “Testarossa Autodrive” recalls Kavinsky getting his old wheels back and driving into super speed, and the highlight “Nightcall” is the conversation Kavinsky has with his long lost girlfriend. 80s music was designed to move your feet, and that’s exactly what this album will do.
TMurray
/
Show Me
When I overheard TMurray (Thomas) tell a friend his self-produced EP was to be released soon, my ears peeked immediately. Upon hearing the three songs on Show Me, I became an instant fan and hope you will as well. Track one, “Confused,” a tale of desire and intrigue, sways back and forth, capturing the very essence of having to make confusing choices. Beautiful, genuine and humble describe the title track “Show Me.” Thomas shines here, emotions captivated and floating on a beautiful voice. And what R&B/hip-hop EP or album wouldn't be complete without a shout out to its origin? Well the 843 gets it from T. with the final track “Ruff Riders.” A little busy at times, but time will give T. a chance to work out the kinks. The album has a lot of keys and synthetic beats and original. Bottom line, though, this EP holds the promise of a bright future. He also produced this album. For a chance to listen and help a hungry musician, please contact him at tcmurray8@gmail.com. Remember this is an independent release.
Atoms for Peace /
86
Amok
Thom Yorke’s second album away from Radiohead is particularly interesting; the songs seem to be written from completely different directions. It’s as if Yorke started with warped electronic noises and worked his way inward to create a melodic structure. “Before Your Very Eyes…” starts the album off with a groovy guitar melody, tapping drums, and Thom’s swooning vocals, fooling listeners from the get-go. About two minutes into the track, the synths steal the focal point and stay there, more or less, for the remainder of the album. The track “Default” is a perfect example of Atoms for Peace’s use and mastering of combining programming and live drumming. “Default” contains the perfect marriage of programmed beats and kit drumming with live percussion. Although this album is home to a few songs that could fit right in on a Radiohead record, it should still be looked at as the product of a completely different project. Most creations produced by “supergroups” turn out to be disappointments, but this particular album is the exact opposite.