These last weeks of fall have been too too too fast. I’ve been drowning myself in so much Breakbot that the last few weeks have been an electronic blur. Goblin was always on blast in my house around this time of year, and stumbling upon the first three tracks from IV’s debut album have brought me back to the north woods. IV is the product of two 22 year old graphic designers from Paris who create perfectly dark electronic music inspired by their love of Dario Argento movies and progressive rock. I’m loving the crunch they create with their minimal gear. These guys have only been making music for ten months, so be on the lookout for some big stuff in the future.

IV – Alaska (The Place Where We Were Hidden)

IV – The Beast

IV – Doppleganger

“To lose my life”, the first album by British outfit White Lies has proven to be very divisive among critics. While some have praised the band’s dark sound, huge riffs, and bewitching choruses as the newest sensation in Pop Rock, others have felt that the type of music they are doing has been mastered by the likes of Interpol with better compositions and especially…better lyrics.  Personally, despite clunky phrasing, songs like Death (with lyrics like “Could there be love beneath these wings?”) or Farewell To The Fairground are just irresistibly disarming. Especially when you see them performed live as I did last night in the Elysee Montmarte of Paris.

Suddenly, the hype that’s been built around these guys, in Europe at least, makes complete sense. Their show is tightly put together and they never sound even a little bit off. I don’t know if it’s the plain black clothes, the carefully chosen lighting effects, or lead singer Harry McVeigh’s baritone and his carefully choreographed gestures but White Lies just ooze with charisma from the moment they set foot on stage. Their performance of “To lose my life” on Letterman might look corny (with the whole “it’s raining rose petals” thing) but in the end it has the right effect. The impression of a torrential outpour of emotions.

Now whether or not White Lies are genuine about their dark sentimentality or are just putting up an act can be debated. But Anthony Gonzales of M83, an expert in portraying the music of teenage angst, remixed “Nothing to Give” into a 6 minute epic track that might convince you (as it did me) that White Lies truly believe what they say.

White Lies – Nothing to Give (M83 Remix)

White Lies – Death

White Lies – Farewell To The Fairground

I have been listening to the Florence and the Machine album Lungs which celebrated it’s physical release on October 13 for about a week straight. It wasn’t until just now that I think I really got a hold on it, and it has turned my initial romance with her in to a full blown obsession. An entirely chance discovery with great returns. I have lately (or maybe always) really been drawn to music that defies categorization. With one of her songs, you can never quite know where you’ll end up, but you’re always happy you came. Every so often, I am caught off guard with how beautiful her voice can be, operatic, soulful and frighteningly intense. When she sings, “I’m not calling you a ghost / just stop haunting me” a shiver literally runs down my spine. This girl knows how to deliver a line with a punch and the utmost sincerity at the same time. Tracks start almost a capella and build to a level of firestorm-like intensity (or how I would imagine a firestorm to be). One is constantly left guessing, but always feeling. It was so so hard to choose tracks from the bundle of joy that is this album (so go buy the rest of it and see what I’m talking about!), so I can only hope to have done it justice.

Florence and the Machine – Cosmic Love
Florence and the Machine – Bird Song
Florence and the Machine – Between Two Lungs

and because with a line like “No more dreaming like a girl so in love/so in love with the wrong one” it really was impossible to leave out:
Florence and the Machine – Blinding

Also would like to officially welcome new contributor Chuck P., check out his awesome post below.

A new artist you (maybe) haven’t heard about. Melissa Laveaux is a charming young lady with a very interesting back story and even more interesting music. Born in Montreal of Haitian parents, bred in Ottawa where she went to college and currently living in Paris, she blends folk music, Creole blues, and an amazingly entrancing voice in her album “Camphor and Copper” to produce a record of complex and subtle purity. Joy! I dare say.

Singing in English, French and Creole with a voice so warm you’ll feel like Ottawa is the capital of Barbados, Melissa brings us to places that feel both comfortably familiar and excitingly novel. She never goes for the easy guitar strum but rather for the more intricate guitar pick and keeps the listener yearning for more. This combination of three languages might be a barrier for some but actually adds more layers of authenticity. Even if you don’t understand it, the Creole songs are always a throwback to days of childlike innocence and optimism whereas the French and English songs tend to deal with more adult issues such as heartbreak or disillusionment. By communicating about her childhood in the way that she experienced it in her family household (i.e: in Creole), Ms. Laveaux manages to communicate a truly authentic emotion.

So check it out: a great cover of Beyonce’s “Crazy in love”, the soulful “My Boat” and “Ulysses” where she drops names of Greek poets before telling her “lukewarm lover” she wants to “break his knees”. Also, Camphor and Copper just got a digital re-release with bonus tracks available all over the world. Suffice it to say that the best way to reach out to others is to be yourself.

Melissa Laveaux – Crazy in love

Melissa Laveaux – My boat

Melissa Laveaux – Ulysses