Arms and Sleepers - Matador

Arms and Sleepers - Matador

Max Lewis and Mirza Ramic are without a doubt Arms and Sleepers, a duo from North America who have profusely spouted fantastic music since their first knocking of heads in 2006. In no particular order, Bliss was it in that Dawn to be Alive EP, Black Paris 86, Cinematique, Lautlos EP, Milkweed EP,  From the Inland Sea EP, The Motorist and of course this release, Matador (with a bside special edition release just out). Not bad for a 4 year run.

Matador is a special album, 10 tracks (11 if you’re from Europe/Japan) of trip-hop fused with ambient post-rock, a sprinkle of IDM and dripping with guest stars who all seem to have voices fit for indie pop music. The great thing about it, though, is that these voices are put to brilliant use on this album by taking a somewhat indie/folk specific voice and dropping it into a glitch-driven track with soft piano in the back, like in the case of The Architekt. This vocal treatment sets it apart from the rest of the Arms and Sleepers albums and EPs, which generally have little to no vocal participation. In a sense it makes Matador depart from the ‘traditional’ A&S sound, but thankfully not in a bad manner. 

Arms and Sleepers - Matador

The album is introduced by a calm track in Orly that sets up beautifully for the title track, Matador,  which is unmistakably trip-hop the second the beat starts. The Architekt follows, which seems to be the generally regarded ‘hit’ of the album, with vocals from Ben Shepard and Catherine Worsham (Uzi & Ari) who’s voices almost seem better suited to this style of music better than their own. Twentynine Palms follows, which is a much slower but no less fantastic track. It’s at this point you realise that every track has its own voice and is telling its own story, but no single song subtracts from any other.

The album is an entity that can be listened to any way you like, starting anywhere and finishing anywhere and you still feel as if you’ve listened to a whole soundscape of crafted beats, unique analogue instruments and layered vocals. The final tracks, especially Simone and Kino give off an airy ambiance fitting to movie soundtracks, the potential visuals flash before your eyes whilst listening.

The final track, The Paramour reminds of the title track again, with a chilled beat complemented by piano mixed together expertly with a voice used as an instrument rather than a vocal tool. Horns and other instruments permeate the track towards the end, and it’s a beautiful note to leave the album on, wanting more of the same but satisfied with what you got. - Last.fm - Myspace -

Hecq vs. Exillon - Spheres of Fury

Hecq vs. Exillon - Spheres of Fury

So, even though this video seems to have been doing the rounds quite a bit so far, not a whole lot is known about this song or video. The two artists, although relatively well known on their own, have never combined on a track before, and apart from a 'Spheres of Fury - Coming Soon' message on Hecq's homepage, there's not much information available about the collaboration anywhere else. What is evident, however, is that this song and video combination is AWESOME!

Tim Brown and Christopher Hewitt directed this fantastic clip, and the only available released information is that it was shot on a Canon 7D, a 30mm lens was used somewhere in the process, and the following 'overview':

"Born from a love of classic 80s war films Spheres of Fury is an action packed pastiche. The bravado and attitude that pours from these movies is nothing but a treat to watch, our modern remake aims to capture some of those magical moments but with a slightly comical, modern stance."
- Christopher Hewitt's overview

Not much to go on, but oh so much fun. The clip has amazing character buildup for the desperately short 3 minutes of actual music time, and yet there's unique characteristics for each of the people that you endear to. The only thing that detracts from this for me is the end credits, taking up another solid minute, 1/4 the entire running time of the video. It just wasn't that necessary for me. There is, however, a solid storyline that builds up to an amazing crescendo of this water fight in the middle of a field, and ties everything up with a neat little bow for the conclusion. In 3 minutes...

The great effectiveness of this I believe comes down to the fantastic actors and absolutely brilliant editing. The actors make this video seem like it's something anyone could make given a group of friends, some water guns and a promise of free dinner. I highly doubt this was the case, but something about this video just makes you want to jump out of your chair and make it yourself.

The editing makes every beat, every melody reflect an occurrence in the video and in turn makes the visual and aural aspects seem to blend together seamlessly. I couldn't imagine this video without the song, or listening to the song without looking at the video.

Unfortunately, that makes for a slight curse. Listening to the song without the video does show that the song is good, but what makes it great is the collaboration, the fusion that the video and song have. I can't listen to it without picturing the water shooting through the air timed perfectly to the glitching beat of the song, and that's a distraction. Perhaps this is down to being introduced to the song alongside the video first, which then linked the two. Although evidence of both the artists individual styles are evident in the song, it's packaged in a much more pleasing way than their other releases. I highly anticipate the Hecq vs. Exillon collaboration to hear what else they've come up with. I'll keep you posted...