Danish group Selvmord’s hot track “OK” has quickly become one of our favorite track of Summer 2010. From what we’ve seen online, Selvmord is marketed in Europe as a rap group. But their sound has a bit too much of a teutonic slickness to file them neatly away somewhere between Tupac and Ludacris. If anything, Selvmord’s aesthetic, built upon its phat beats tastefully dusted with rough and dirty electronics, reminds us of Brit band Massive Attack - a kind of Nordic cousin to Massive Attack’s Mezzanine from the late nineties.  Selvmord’s music is the kind of thing you’d want to brood fashionably to in a loft while sipping gin and wearing vintage Helmut Lang… well, before the economic. (Actually, perhaps afterwards.)

THE MEANING

We realize, of course, that some people have a hard time listening to music in a language they don’t understand. Consider, for instance, how many people listen to American music around the world without knowing much English.

But we’re not ones to leave people lost in translation. The video does a good job at conveying the jist behind “OK.” A young Nordic vixen with smoky eyes reminiscent of Helena Christensen and guys with tats and a pissed off attitude, who, despite all their big words and macho posturing, still get paint thrown right in their face.

When we put the lyrics for “OK” through Google Translate, we were faced with a stormy tale of love, jealousy, sex, and betrayal, covered by silence but immediately revealed by a simple look in the eyes–all understandably laced with a dash of tasteful profanity.

THE VIDEO

MORE ON SELVMORD

• Check out the band’s YouTube page by Copenhagen Records right here.
• “OK” and Selvmord’s self-titled album is now available on iTunes.

Tags: Denmark, OK, rap, Selvmord

I was reminded how much I love Montréal by the new video “Yellowbrite Smile” from Israeli-South African singer Yoav. It’s a journey through the city’s streets and network of underground tunnels… but backwards, with what seems to be stop-start photography, slightly dizzying visual effects, and a jaunt through the California desert. The track is off Yoav’s second studio release, entitled A Foolproof Escape Plan.

MORE ON YOAV

Yoav’s first studio release Charmed and Strange was released in 2008, gaining recognition in Russia (a #1 single), continental Europe, and Canada. Despite his electronic-like sound, Yoav makes most of his music off  his Lowden acoustic guitar. The lean and mean “Club Thing” shows all the things one can with just one guitar and a little equipment.

YOAV ONLINE

Follow Yoav as he promotes A Foolproof Escape Plan on his official website, www.yoavmusic.com. The album is already out in Canada, and a worldwide release is just around the corner. (Sorry, it’s only an import in the States for now.)

Tags: Montréal, Québec, Yellowbrite Smile, Yoav

Beautiful cherry blossoms against a spring sky, perhaps?

Think again, and be sure to not get too close or you’ll feel a sharp sting.

These delicate, flower-like petals belong to a jellyfish. Combing by beauty and the potential for pain, the undulating sea creature is the key motif of the clip for “Graceful Ways” by Japanese electronica act Mondo Grosso headed up by Shinichi Osawa.  Made in the early 2000s, the clip is a great example of how one can make a powerful aesthetic impact with a small budget. The combination of sinuous beats and sultry vocals by Anis with footage of ghostly, pulsating jellyfish with tentacles beckoning can conjure an odd range of associations. Of course, the associations all depend on the person viewing it — very much Reader Response theory, for you lit theory junkies.

More Info

“Dangerous Ways”
Vocals by Anis (Monoral)
From Next Wave (2003)
Official Site | www.mondogrosso.com

Tags: electronica, jellyfish, Mondo Grosso, music video, Shinichi Osawa

Time to start practicing your tāmurē, ladies. And gentlemen, better learn how to impress your girlfriends with fine, thigh-firming paʻoti before a tāne with smoother moves beats you to it. Why, you may ask?

Because the biggest Tahitian party to rock the Hawaiian archipelago in 2010 is about to go down Saturday, March 27, 2010. Nella Media Group (the folks behind Go Airlines’s eco-chic in-air magazine Innov8) and Maʻohi Nui, purveyor of the finest Tahitian dance moves, have come together to rock Aloha Tower with earth-shaking ʻōteʻa and local grooves for Spring Broke III. And what better excuse is there party when it all benefits a local charity? Party down guilt-free to the sounds of Miko Sweet, Beach 5 and OOKLAH THE MOC and check out the latest fashions from Hinano. So even if you can’t make it for Hawaiian Airlines’ Honolulu-Papeʻete flight for spring break, you can still experience the full māʻohi flavor right here at home.

Interested?

Check out ticket details in the Kaila Hawaiʻi ʻAlemanaka (Calendar). And if you’re not convinced yet, check out some these clips of Maʻohi Nui at last year’s Spring Broke.

Tags: Hinano, Maʻohi Nui, Nella Media Group, Spring Broke III, Tahiti

“Kareho Koe”, the new clip from Tikahiri’s new album Merahi Kerekere, is finally up on YouTube in high resolution. Its dark, gothic atmosphere and slick production make it one of the more original clips out of Tahiti and French Polynesia to date.

Like Tikahiri’s video debut “Tapea te paari”, the band maintains its special brand of smoldering and brooding. But on this occasion, a female element appears as a mysterious woman who seems to lure one of the men into her grasp during the darkness of the night. Unfortunately, you need to speak pa’umotu (the language of the Tuamotu Archipelgo) to get the complete meaning of the song, and, alas, no translations have appeared yet. Somehow, I think you can get the song’s jist just by watching.

More Tikahiri on Kaila Hawai’i:

• Polynesian Gothic: Tikahiri’s back with new album & clip
• Tātau and leather – “Tapea te paari”, Tikahiri’s debut clip
• Polyneisan Paradoxes: Tikahiri

LISTEN TO TIKAHIRI’S MERAHI KEREKERE

Tags: Acoustic Rock, goth, Kareho Koe, Merahi Kerekere, pa'umotu, Tahiti, Tikahiri

Though this song sounded vaguely familiar when I first heard it on the excellent soundtrack for the  By Malene Birger’s Autumn/Winter 2010 show, I couldn’t think of the name of the song or the band. Because of its genius refrain, I found it quickly enough: “Bus Stop” by the Fatback Band. This particular version dates from a 1975 broadcast of the one and only Soul Train. I’m just in love with the style here, not to be mention the moves. Enough to show they can dance but not too much to seem like they’re showing off. Unbeatable.

Tags: 1975, Bus Stop, By Malene Birger, Fatback Band, Soul Train

Tikahiri, my favorite Pa’umotu goth band – and perhaps the only Pa’umoth goth band that ever will exist – is about to release their second studio album dubbed Merahi Kerekere. According to the band’s Facebook page, the discs are sous douane, which I’m liberally interpreting as “stuck in customs”. Luckily, three tracks are already up for listening on Reverb Nation. Two  of the  tracks (“A Tauahi Mai” and “Kareho Koe”) are in Pa’umotu, the language of the Tuamotu archipelago where lead members Aroma and Mano Salmon grew up. The other  (“Falling in Love”) is in English. (Note: no tracks in French, so Tikahiri’s right on par with indie bands in France métropolitaine.)

(more…)

Tags: acoustic, Acoustic Rock, Aroma Salmon, French Polynesia, goth, gothic, Mano Salmon, Merahi Kerekere, pa'umotu, Simon Pillard, Stephane Rossoni, Tahiti, Tamaki Hope'a, Tikahiri, Tuamotus

“Obsolète” by MC Solaar, just a great old school jam from 1994 off his second album Prose Combat. (I think 16 years can count as old school, especially in terms of the sound.)

I remember somehow getting my hands on Solaar’s album Prose Combat back at the old Tower Records in ‘95. I had no idea what Solaar was rapping about, the only thing I knew was that he trying to be marketed as an LL Cool J en français. Solaar’s style is smooth, but not like LL can if you remember the hooks on “Doin’ It”. Of course, this was before YouTube, when the only way to catch anything from abroad was satellite TV or some tape flown in. It was only last week that I came across the clip for “Obsolète” on YouTube. The first thing I notice is that Solaar is working a head-to-toe outfit that looks like Burberry… of course, before we saw that pattern everywhere, from umbrellas to underwear. That aside, what’s remarkable, it looks like everyone’s actually having a good time, even they were most likely all models hired for the gig.

Tags: 1994, France, French language, MC Solaar, rap

For someone who’s listenined to French music—or variété française, if you’d like the proper name—for nearly 15 years, I regret that I didn’t discover Jacques Dutronc earlier. Husband of the ever popular Françoise Hardy, the original yéyé girl from Paris, Dutronc holds a unique position in French popular music—irreverant and off-the-wall. The song that entirely caught me by the surprise was “Les gens sont fous, les temps sont flous” (People are crazy, the times are hazy). Just to confirm that nothing is indeed new, the combination of three-piece suit and freak beats brought to mind Beck circa 1990s, particularly “The New Pollution”. While Beck probably took after Dutronc’s British counterparts, the similarity of styling and performance attitude is interesting…

The original clip from French television in 1966:

Tags: Beck, Jacques Dutronc, Les gens sont fous, The New Polltion, yéyé

Just a brief note here, to avoid any further academic procrastination, but check out Kaila Hawai’i’s brand new station and online playlist on blip.fm. It’s a growing collection of the kind of music we like to live by: minimal electronica, groovy beats, a touch of World Music, a glass of variété française, and an occasional nod to Polynesia. Follow our new additions via Twitter.

Tags: blip.fm, Kaila Hawai'i, music, playlist