Welcome to Make-Out Music, a music blog written by Ryan Sheridan, for those in search of the perfect pop song. Forget you actually gave freak-folk a chance and take comfort in discovering pop music that can still be sophisticated. Find the perfect remix, forgotten guilty pleasure, original sample or secluded Scandinavian sound with MP3s, interviews, features and original video mash-ups. Befitting a spot on your next mixtape, it's Make-Out Music: because getting to second base needs a soundtrack.
If you have comments, questions or music of your own you'd like me to hear, please e-mail ryan [dot] makeoutmusic [at] gmail.com. New music is always welcome. MP3s taken down upon request.
Monday, November 1, 2010
MAKE-OUT MUSIC’S GUIDE TO…JUNIOR BOYS
With a new album just a week away, we present to you our ‘Best of’ spanning three LPs, numerous remixes, comps and side projects
f for some reason you failed to hear 2006’s ubiquitious go-to electronic LP, So This Is Goodbye, now is your chance to catch up on one of the freshest, most detailed and romantic acts of the decade. Resembling the best parts of 80s R&B, New Order, Timbaland’s beats, glitchy techno, and, finally, Wham!, Junior Boys craft both dancefloor-ready and headphones-required indie electronic. They also happened to soundtrack my isolated yet adventurous freshman year of college.
This 13-song guide (.zip file available for download above) comes on the nearing release date of the Canadian duo’s third album, Begone Dull Care, and an accompanying world tour. Like most electronic acts, Junior Boys didn’t automatically adapt to the live setting. In fact, they were cold and awkward when I first saw them in 2005. They’ve since magically 2-stepped their way out of their shell. As evidenced by a gig I attended in Cleveland last night, the JBs have evolved into a crowd-pleasing, club-packing trio (includes extra live drummer) that I’d pit against any Girl Talk show (though they lack the latter’s horny, drunk female tween demographic).
Rather than simply highlight the accessible singles, our guide includes some of the newly-leaked tracks, remixes (including one by dance God Morgan Geist and one done for Sarah McLachlan…yeah, I know, but don’t knock it ‘til you’ve heard it), a live Frank Sinatra cover and even a rarity from departed member Johnny Dark, the mad genius who concocted Last Exit’s stuttering beats.
Enjoy this new feature, which will probably become monthly unless I get arrested for posting so much of one’s catalog. As always, follow the links above to purchase the LP. And if you n00bs have any requests for bands you’ve heard of and/or seen name-dropped but never actually bothered to check out, leave some requests in the comments section below and Make-Out Music will personally deliver your very own Best of collection. Fuck you, Time-Life.
Tracklisting:
1.) Bellona 2.) Hazel 3.) In the Morning (Hot Chip Remix) 4.) Like a Child 5.) Last Exit 6.) Bits and Pieces 7.) Birthday (Manitoba Mix) 8.) Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (Junior Boys Remix) 9.) The Equalizer (Morgan Geist Remix) 10.) Johnny Dark - HCD2 11.) The Animator 12.) Teach Me How to Fight 13.) When No One Cares (Frank Sinatra Cover Live iTunes Session)
t’s been a few weeks since Röyksopp’s third LP, Junior, leaked and despite its strong line-up of guest vocalists, I’ve concluded it’s a snore. So, let’s take today to harken back to a time when the Norwegian duo released not only interesting downtempo music but also interesting music videos that coincided with 2001’s Melody A.M. While that debut spawned four wonderful singles, only the third one, “Remind Me,” was animated by Tomas Nilsson. Nilsson, a design student at Sweden’s Linköping University, took us on a fascinating, day-long British commute using infographics to illustrate in fine detail how our daily objects (alarm clock, toilet, cereal, train, escalator) and environment (weather patterns) all function.
Nilsson is finally back. Earlier this month the animator returned with a new class project that took on the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Again, breaking things down to even the cost of Red’s bottle of wine, we see Nilsson’s engrossing use of infographics. Who knew Grandma was so high in fiber?
oday’s Friday, the official start of the weekend and if you’re looking for party music, cue Pony Pony Run Run. PPRR is a four-piece, falseto-loving band who calls France home. “Hey You,” the second track posted to its MySpace from the upcoming June-released LP, bounces along with the delivery of the Virgins. But where they fall short on genuine lyrical sentiment, PPRR indulges its sensitive side with lyrics like “Wish I was young enough / wish you were made just for me.” Questionable pedophilia aside, they’re sung by the band’s vocalist, known simply as G, with the breathy, precise and intimate vocals of Junior Boys’ mouthpiece, Jeremy Greenspan, and funk of Hail Social. If “Hey You” doesn’t fit your party’s playlist, then, well, that’s one party I wouldn’t R.S.V.P.
ho would have ever guessed that Grammy-winning, Classics IV-ripping offJohn Legend would have been featured on a MSTRKRFT track? Well, I suppose remixes make strange bedfellows. “Heartbreaker” is the culmination of one extraordinary symbiotic relationship that began with the Toronto duo’s 2008 remix of “Green Light,” which brought Legend to the dance floor and the embracing arms of the blogosphere. In turn, it only made sense that Legend made time to guest on this standout track for MSTRKRFT’s second LP Fist of God being released tomorrow.
Most tracks of this nature are comfortable enough to just let the guest vocalist coast on a repetitious lyric, but “Heartbreaker” allows Legend to do his thing — espousing a couple verses and a cathy-as-all-hell chorus over a punchy piano rhythm and thumping beat. This speaks volumes of MSTRKRFT’s discipline to sit back and let Legend turn “Heartbreaker” into a delicious electro-R&B jam. Now, if only they could have gotten “Green Light“‘s featured guest, André 3000, on this…
oday’s songs may initially bring your sexuality into question. And if they do, I must ask you to chill out, homophobe. They’re actually as close to the 80s pop sound we’d all like to remember than anyone this side of the Killers has gotten. Besides, the decade would have fallen to RATT had the music industry not turned a blind eye to sexually ambiguous pop stars (here’s lookin’ at you, George Michael). I’ll start this series out with five tracks from across Europe, all of which I’ve secretly been devouring since last year:
He was the mastermind producer behind Junior Senior’s “Move Your Feet.” Now fronting Danish chart-toppers Private, Thomas Troelsen unveils the bouncy and infectious “My Secret Lover.” It’s a song anyone a slave to their hormones could relate to: “I met you at the club no further comment / I said ‘Baby, let’s go back to your apartment and girl, take off your clothes, let’s make this place a mess.” While lyrically it may have been a bit crass for the 80s, the chorus’ vocal melody has been snatched from the Reagan era’s own King of Pop. Not to mention the music video’s intro, which sports the same cheap, green strobe effects seen in MJ’s “Rock With You.”
This haunting slow jam swings in beautiful harmony much in the same way Tears for Fears would have 23 years ago. Like Tears’ “Head Over Heels,” sweeping synths and desperate lyrics make “Rush” a heartbroken Swedish companion.
I’ll be honest: Whereas the other songs in this post come from genuine, established acts, “3 Little Words” brings the cheese as evidenced by the song’s music video. Still, London’s FrankMusik, a fashion school dropout, may just be 2009’s synth pop band to beat — that is, if you trust the BBC’s Sound of 2009 poll, which also ranked Passion Pit, another new favorite of mine, 2K9’s “best new music talent.”
Perhaps the most modern-sounding electro song of this bunch, Heartbreak’s “We’re Back” starts out like a B-side to the first Ladytron album. But once the first chorus hits, it’s the deep baritone of frontman Sebastian Muravchik going on about the disco that puts “We’re Back” somewhere along the Italo-Disco timeline. As a duo, Heartbreak also bares some resemblance to fellow Londoners Pet Shop Boys — in a retarded cousin (note the pasteled windbreakers and overly enthusiastic flailing) sort of way.
The fretless bass that travels throughout this song is most likely synthesized. The angelic voices probably are, too. But this song, along with all of Juvelen’s output, is some of the freshest synth pop I’ve heard in a while. Vocally, this Swedish seducer is the second coming of Prince. And while that’s probably most listener’s selling point, it’s the driving bridge at 2:53 that strikes like Hall & Oates on the verge of suicide.
Monday, November 1, 2010 
f for some reason you failed to hear 2006’s ubiquitious go-to electronic LP, So This Is Goodbye, now is your chance to catch up on one of the freshest, most detailed and romantic acts of the decade. Resembling the best parts of 80s R&B, New Order, Timbaland’s beats, glitchy techno, and, finally, Wham!, Junior Boys craft both dancefloor-ready and headphones-required indie electronic. They also happened to soundtrack my isolated yet adventurous freshman year of college.
oday’s Friday, the official start of the weekend and if you’re looking for party music, cue 
ho would have ever guessed that Grammy-winning, 
