Telepathe’s debut album, Dance Mother, will be released on April 14th on IAMSOUND, and in support of this album they are playing a slew of upcoming shows (dates below). They’ll be heading down to Austin for SXSW, then hitting the east coast and midwest with Ladytron and The Faint. Telepathe returns to New York on April 15th for a record release show at The Annex.
Telepathe is Melissa Livaudais and Busy Gangnes. The duo has further developed their layered, synthetic sound on this debut album. They combine killer melodies, trance-inducing loops, drum-machine driven experimentation, intensely personal lyrics and haunting vocal melodies to make a new sonic purity that gives themselves the confidence and stylistic singularity to transcend genres. Produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek and featuring guest vocals by TVOTR’s Kyp Malone and !!!’s Shannon Funchess, Telepathe’s full-length debut is a stunning achievement presenting dark but forward-thinking hybrid pop music for the next generation.
Dance Mother has been augmented with remixes by Chairlift, The Big Pink and Atticus Ross, best known for his production work with Nine In Nails and collaborating with Trent Reznor. IAMSOUND has been collecting videos of various artists talking about Telepathe. Contributors include Diplo, The Mae Shi, No Age and many more here.
Tracklisting: 01. So Fine 02. Chrome’s On It 03. Devil’s Trident 04. In Your Line 05. Lights Go Down 06. Can’t Stand It 07. Michael 08. Trilogy: Breath Of Life, Crimes and Killing, Threads and Knives 09. Drugged 10. So Fine - Chairlift remix 11. Devil’s Trident - The Big Pink remix 12. Michael - Atticus Ross remix
Tour Dates: Mar 18 - NY Noise Party @ Mrs. Beas / Austin (SXSW) Mar 19 - ‘Sup Magazine & This Is Music @ Malverde / Austin (SXSW) Mar 19 - Other Music/Heeb Party @ Red 7 / Austin (SXSW) Mar 20 - Waterloo Records / Austin (SXSW) Mar 21 - Urban Outfitters / Austin (SXSW) Apr 01 - Turner Hall / Milwaukee * Apr 02 - First Avenue / Minneapolis * Apr 03 - Metro / Chicago * Apr 04 - Metro / Chicago * Apr 06 - Phoenix Theatre / Toronto * Apr 07 - Theatre Telus / Montreal * Apr 08 - House of Blues / Boston * Apr 10 - Webster Hall / New York City * Apr 11 - Webster Hall / New York City * Apr 13 - The Trocadero / Philadelphia * Apr 14 - 9:30 Club / Washington DC * Apr 15 - The Annex / New York City (Record Release Show)
California based (and D.C. native) Michael Zapruder rolled through Ardmore, Pennsylvania recently on an east coast tour. Supporting his new record, Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope, he played a mixture of old and new favorites from the new album.
Zapruder, probably best known for his contributions as the curator of the Pandora.com musical project, has a voice reminiscent of early Tom Petty meets Elliot Smith. While familiar with his work, this was my first chance to get to see him live.
His live show is pretty faithful to his albums, with the exception that he doesn’t travel with a drummer while on the east coast.
I picked up the album and chatted with him a bit after the show. Not only is he a great musician, he’s an all around nice guy. I headed home and immediately fell in love with the new CD. If you have a chance to see him on tour, do so. It’s rare to find a musician so good, humble, and yet still so accessible.
Ecstatic free jazz percussion is the premise here, but with chalky, scraping electronic contrasts and mid-range harmonics. Tapes of Paul May’s percussion work, which accelerate and decelerate with wild abandon, have their malicious residues renewed and reconfigured by Platform’s active and gestural programming.
To May’s passion and high energy, Platform often adds lighter, more edgy textures, creating the sense of high energy contained through concerted self-restraint. “The Last Barber” accomplishes this most plainly: the bristling electricity of May’s looped scrawl and scribble is matched with the feral, almost tidal motion of Platform’s textures and solitary keyboard strokes. It’s far from the only penetrating moment here, however, as each and every one of the discs twenty minutes possesses clarity in its restraint and an astringency and head-rinsing litheness of touch that is almost cleansing.