STACK NZ Jan-Feb #59

MUSIC

FEATURE

FKA Twigs

Tiny Ruins

St Vincent

Flying Lotus

points in Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis’s stuttering cut-up funk? So perhaps a better starting place on this electronic, hip-hop experimentalist from LA – who is the nephew of Alice Coltrane – are those earlier albums. One of the most anticipated names on the Laneway bill because he could present a set that divides the audience into ‘genius’ and ‘what was the hell was that?’ factions. St. Vincent Four albums in to a career that was always very impressive but never quite cracking it, the lady born Annie Erin Clark really nailed it with her self-titled album last year which was on nearly every list imaginable. All the elements of edgy pop and guitar-driven NewWave-references are there but she too (isn’t this the prevailing trend of the past five years) has moved firmly into fuzzy, sometimes discordant electronica. But there’s also real soul in what this gal from Oklahoma andTexas (who got her start in the choral pop of Polyphonic Spree and Glenn Branca’s 100-piece guitar orchestra, two more different groups you could hardly imagine) brings. Make the time to check out her 2009 Actor album also. Went past far too many people, that one.

Music this clever and innovative doesn’t come often, but you do wonder how it can be shaped on the day. That’s why we have Laneway. Little Dragon Sweden is really pumping out the talent from the hippie-trippy world music vibe of Goat to Lykke Li and any number of pop stars (Robyn). This electronica outfit caught a lot of attention for their second and third albums ( Machine Dreams in 2008 and Ritual Union of 2011) but last year’s Nabuma Rubberband didn’t seem to get the same traction here. Or indeed anywhere, if you look at ‘those lists’. However it was nominated for the Best Dance/Electronica category at the Grammys. Expect them to sideline some of their more home-listening experimental stuff in favour of the banging pop-electronica end of their spectrum. That would be sensible.

TinyRuins The debut album by Hollie Fullbrook aka Tiny Ruins Some Were Meant For Sea (2011) is definitely worth buying, but it is very much an at-home listening experience. She found it hard to translate its intimacy to easily distracted audiences. However last year’s Brightly Painted One broadened her musical palette, brought in a band (Tiny Ruins are now a group) and the songs should have greater reach than the front few rows. It also won her Best Alternative Album at the New Zealand Music Awards. Both albums appeared in ‘best of’ lists in their respective years so she’s got a small but strong body of work – and some solid international touring miles behind them – to suggest this could be a highlight of the day. FKA Twigs Debut albums don’t come much more impressive or consistent than LP1 by Tahliah Barnett (aka Twigs, and latterly FKA Twigs) who brings erotica, r’n’b soul and a choral sound (true) together with smart beats, electro-soul and some redefining of the possibilities of studio production.

For more reviews, overviews and interviews by Graham Reid see: www.elsewhere.co.nz

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