Syclops Has His Eye on You

Syclops lends itself as a bit of a mystery. Little is known of the “Finnish trio” featuring Sven Kortehisto, Hanna Sarkari, and Jukka Kantonen since they don’t tour, do interviews, take press photos, or reveal much information about themselves. The “band” does however play live shows, but only for themselves, not audiences. “They” want the listener to experience their music and enjoy it unencumbered by other things like biographical information, stories, and the like. The fact of the matter is, the ambiguous Finnish trio is actually a front for the one man project of interview-shy, leftfield producer Maurice Fulton (Mu, Kathy Diamond). Why hide behind an obscure trio? I’m not really sure, but one thing I do know is that after a handful of singles including this year’s brilliant “Where’s Jason’s K?,” Fulton will be dropping his debut full-length as Syclops I’ve Got My Eye On You on DFA in June.

I’ve Got My Eye On You expands on the dark electro disco of the January 2008 Syclops single “Where’s Jason’s K?”/”Monkeypuss” (DFA) with more left of center madness. The Sheffield, UK producer’s main success under the Syclops alter-ego is that he manages to take his twisted view of disco, soul, funk and electro and turn them into solid catchy tracks. “Where’s Jason’s K?” follows an addictive hammering bassline over minimal beats for most of the track’s length. Fulton adds a cowbell here and there before the song reaches a pinnacle at its midpoint with organ freakouts and other bizarre shit. The B-side of the single, “Monkeypuss” is a acid house infused affair, harsh and bassy, primed for the dirty dancefloor.

With the brilliant Hercules & Love Affair album already under their belts this year, DFA looks to do it again with I’ve Got My Eye On You on June 10th. Previous single “K” will appear on the album along with the other tracks listed below.

[MP3]: Syclops  ”Monkeypuss”

“Where’s Jason’s K?” Single, DFA; 2008

I’ve Got My Eye On You Track Listing:
1. “NR17”
2. “The Fly”
3. “Naoka’s F”
4. “5 Out”
5. “Nelson’s Back”
6. “Where’s Jason’s K?”
7. “The E Ticket”
8. “Mom, The Video Broke”
9. “I’ve Got My Eye On You”
10. “A Lovely Sunday”

Disco Italia: Essential Italo Disco Classics

Italo-disco has played an important role in electronic music since its beginnings, surfacing in a variety of forms over the years. Acts like Little Boots, Hot Chip, In Flagranti, Ricardo Villalobos, Sally Shapiro, Glass Candy, Chromatics, along with most of the Italians Do It Better label, and others continue to reinvent the genre to today’s dance music standards. Disco Italia: Essential Italo Disco Classics (1977-1985), takes italo-disco back to its roots. Re-edited original classics by leading producers of the time and tracks appearing for the first time on CD come together on this compilation by crate diggers Strut Records.

The physical disc is packaged in a four panel digipack complete with rare photos, original sleeve artwork from each release, and extensive liner notes by electronic music writer Bill Brewster. The comp drops via Strut on May 27th. Pre-order, track listing, streams, and more on the label’s micro site.

For past italo gems and other festive tracks, check out Lovefingers.

[MP3]: Firefly  ”Love (Is Gonna Be on Your Side)”

12″ Single, Emergency Records; 1981

Quiet Village Makes the Old Sound New with Silent Movie

I wasn’t alive in the 1970s, but I have a very vivid image burned into my memory on what they were like from old family photographs, film, televison, magazines, and other imagery. Some things that immediately pop into my mind when I think of America in the 70s are big cars, crotch riding bell-bottoms, polyester, leisure suits, badass moustaches, curly hair, sideburns, tacky carpets, tinted glasses, maximum amounts of chest hair, uninspired architecture that we’re still living with today, and for some reason the color orange. Not really sure where orange fits into the whole story, but for some reason, it’s there. Oh, and what was the deal with putting brick in the interiors of homes? I’m not talking about exposed brick, but brick built on low rise walls behind couches and shit like that. Weird.

Anyway, I mention these manufactured “memories” because flashes of what I described in the previous paragraph rushed into my head on first listening to the debut full length, Silent Movie, from Quiet Village. When the 70s jive groove kicked in on the beginning of “Circus of Horror” all I could picture was a moustached Matthew McConaughey crusing around in his Corvette in Dazed and Confused. Quiet Village’s sound, however, isn’t as simple as that. The old school funk edge gives way to dreamy and drugged-out disco, while the groove continues to kick in the background. Images of muscle cars and moustaches soon fade and the listener is cast into a spooky, swirling, and exotic haze.

Silent Movie begins peacefully with the sounds of waves churning onto the shore, samples of chirping birds, and beautiful relaxing symphonic compositions on “Victoria’s Secret.” As a whole, the album proves to be difficult to pin down, as it explores a variety of styles where samples and original sounds blend seamlessly. This could be due to Quiet Village members Matt Edwards (aka Radio Slave) and Joel Martin having a wide range of influences. Edwards is better known for his techno hits, while Martin is an ex-film editor and music fanatic.

The aptly titled “Pacific Rhythm” brings together slight elements of reggae and surf tunes rooted in freaky funk and topped with symphonic strings and sexy female vocals. It’s one of the only songs on the 12-track LP that contains vocals. The elegantly composed “Utopia” features beautiful finger-plucked melodies, percussion sections that sound like drops of water hitting an echoey cavern floor and effervescent keys.

Edwards truely shows his diversity on Silent Movie, revealing his softer side as most of the album washes away the stresses of the listener, that is, until you pop off your headphones and are thrust back into reality. Highly reccommended for kicking back as the warmer summer months creep up on us.

Silent Movie is out on May 13th via !K7 Records, preview some of the album and order it on their micro-site here.

[MP3]: Quiet Village  ”Circus of Horror”
[MP3]: Quiet Village  ”Pacific Rhythm”
Silent Movie, !K7; 2008

pic of the week — super fat tuesday

Today is Super Tuesday, marking the closest thing this nation has ever had to a national primary, “the largest simultaneous number of state U.S. presidential primary elections in the history of U.S. primaries.” Twenty-four U.S. States are voting today, but delegate rich Pennsylvania won’t be participating despite efforts by Rendell to push the primary date ahead to today. I’m kinda bummed that we won’t be voting until April 22nd, but province American Samoa will be??? WTF!? It is possible, however, that after today, PA may become a pivotal state in the Dems race. We’ll see.

We’re fully behind the Barack Obama campaign here at the FRICTION NYC camp as you can see by the banner over to the right hand side of the page. Seems like a lot of other artists and musicians are in the same boat. Take Daedelus, for example, who put together the rather short hip-hop infused disco-house track below to show his support for Obama, under side-project moniker FMB (Fire Magic Blood). The track features Shafiq and Taz of Sa-Ra fame.

Today also marks Mardi Gras (as most everyone knows), which is why I chose the above picture for this post, which captures masked Mardi Gras revelers on a bus in 1977 New Orleans. The photograph was taken from Slate Magazine‘s “Carnivale” collection, “images of vibrant carnival festivities throughout the world, which come to an end on the day before Ash Wednesday each year, for many Catholics and non-Catholics alike.”

[MP3]: FMB (aka Daedelus)  ”Obama”
Single; 2008

Hold On

Above pic via thecobrasnake

Here’s a track to get you hype for the weekend. Smooth enough to put on in the afternoon as you watch the second hand tick ever so slowly, but it also has enough disco kick that you can carry it over into your early and/or late night partying. Be sure to check out DFAers Holy Ghost! at one of their upcoming shows in New York, Boston, Miami, or Toronto.

[MP3]: Holy Ghost!  ”Hold On”
Single, DFA; 2007

For some Friday laughs, head over to two.one.five magazine for their “All Time Worst Celebrity Drunks” feature. Seriously, it’s hilarious and will waste a good chunk of your day, the Orson Welles thing had me rolling.