Music Blogs

Sullen Electronic Sadsack: When is lack of hype the ultimate hype? How does an artist become crafty enough to convince his peebs and peons that a refusal to do any press, submit to any publicity and even shy away from performance altogether is in itself, the ultimate publicity stunt? West London dubstep hero Burial fits all of the above criteria and in the process has created a legion of fans who value his mysterious identity above all, perhaps even more so than his music. In a world of overhyped acts, reality TV shows and that monkey on your back screaming in your ear, "Buy Me!," the "artiste" who refuses to play by the game is a rare thing indeed. Or so it seems.

Burial's 2007 album, Untrue, is no secret. It received album of the year honors from the hallowed critics at Metacritic.com, I'll have you know. Following a handful of EPs, including the much fawned over, South London Boroughs, Burial's rise to prominence is only as surprising as his premeditated stance towards the media isn't. But then again, 20 somethings new to electronica might hear Untrue as something shockingly refreshing. And that's a good thing. The electronica revolution of the mid 90s that gave birth to Plug, Chemical Brothers, and Aphex was a grand experiment that never fully received its critical or popular due. Not yet 10 years past, it remains buried for future resurgence and reevaluation. Electronica (drum and bass, 2 step, trip hop ("oh my gawd")) has crawled back into its hole as we await further communication from Squarepusher and Portishead. Meanwhile, youngsters like Burial fill a much needed gap, bubbling up from the underground with ambient atmospheres, disembodied female vocals, and that all important signifier of contemporary beat culture: the dubstep groove.

Somewhere beyond dub's nauseous/organic air, considerably slower than drum and bass' kinetic fury and fully immersed in industrial menace, dubstep makes you feel as if someone has anesthetized your brain while injecting sugar into your limbs.

Burial's "Ghost Hardware" adheres to simple electronic organizational principles. In fact, it's downright pedestrian. A dubstep loop spins a chuckling groove, sizzling sounds fill the ears, menacing Terminator like effects rise up and spit steel in your face, and faceless female vocalists utter undecipherable gibberish. But it's not so much Burial's music as his message that compels. Burial is obviously a child of the dark side. Holed up in his west London flat, he must smoke constantly and never open the shades. Untrue is the soundtrack to a dangerous mind, a man seeing the world through a beautiful mask who doesn't realize his lovely tone poems are actually warning shots to the innocent. Be afraid, be very afraid. With his sullen face sulking on the cover art, you know this guy ain't Goldie.

Burial
"Ghost Hardware" (mp3)
from "Untrue"
(Hyperdub)

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Pinker Tones Party: My friends at Nacional Records continue to lead the electronic way. From Nortec Collective to DJ Bitman, these ambitious punters expose new artists with something grand to say. One of the hottest colors in the Nacional Records rainbow are The Pinker Tones. The Barcelona based group has literally exploded in the last year -- well, almost. The Pinker Tones were recently featured in The New York Times and on the A&E network; they performed on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, had a song featured on Ugly Betty, and have also seen heavy video play on networks like MTV Tr3s, mun2, and LATV. Following the acclaim for last year's Million Colour Revolution album, The Pinker Tones are releasing More Colours, a collection of remixes and collaborations with such acts as Kinky, Nortec Collective, Zeta Bosio, and Mexican Institute of Sound (MIS). Get with it, man!

The Pinker Tones
"Karma Hunters" (mp3)
from "More Colours! The Million Colour Revolution Revisited - Plus Exclusive Bonus Tracks"
(Nacional Records)

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The Pinker Tones
"Sonido Total" (mp3)
from "More Colours! The Million Colour Revolution Revisited - Plus Exclusive Bonus Tracks"
(Nacional Records)

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The Pinker Tones
"Love Tape" (mp3)
from "More Colours! The Million Colour Revolution Revisited - Plus Exclusive Bonus Tracks"
(Nacional Records)

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