Digits Blog

Schaatz

Schaatz is an electro-pop duo from Paris, and they’ve done a remix of “You’re Going To Age.” Adding lots of big sweeping synths and reversed cymbals, they take the song in a much spacier direction with a bigger beat. In addition to their remix work, they’ve also got a number of original tracks as well. Their electronic pop adds distorted and reverbed out vocals, adding a healthy amount of weirdness to the mix. These vocals combined with the smooth and sometimes delayed bass reminds me a bit of Nite Jewel.

They’ve got a bunch of songs on their myspace, where you can check out the unrelenting “Esterel Halliday”, the chilled-out “Vesuble Sexuelle”, and my favourite, “Barbara Lisa Chloe,” which I’ll share with you.

Digits – You’re going to age (Schaatz Remix)
Schaatz – Barbara Lisa Chloe

Also, some Europe in Colour news. As some of you know, from 2005 until we broke up in May 2009, I was a member of the electronic indie pop group Europe in Colour. During that time, we wrote a bunch of songs, recorded a 6-song EP, and played a lot of shows. Rebecca and Dave played on half of Hold It Close, and Rebecca sings lead on the song Warrant For Your Love. Well, we’re releasing our last two singles this week, for free download, because we’d like people to hear them. If you like them, please share them!

Europe in Colour – Cold Reaction
Europe in Colour – Satellite

Finally, for those of you in Toronto, I’m playing the first Synthfest Showcase at Rancho Relaxo (330 College Street) on Thursday January 28 with Stop Die Resuscitate and En Francais. Doors are at 9 PM, I’m on first, and the show costs $5. Here’s the event page on Facebook. Synthfest is an annual festival started by Andrew Pulsifer celebrating local electronic and synth-based bands. This will be its first installment as a showcase series, which will happen a few times before next summer’s festival.

The Selmanaires

Back in late October, I got to see Broadcast for the first time, at Lee’s Palace. The opening band that night was a group from Atlanta called The Selmanaires. I had never encountered their music before, but they basically stole the show. Impeccably tight and confident musicians, their music switched from genre to genre, sometimes in a single song. Generally I’d say their sound centered around electronic psych-rock, veering occasionally into disco-ish territory.

I spoke a bit with a couple of the members of the band and they were really nice, and extremely happy to be on tour with the legendary Broadcast. They were doing double-duty that night, performing in Atlas Sound as Bradford Cox’s backing musicians. Their most recent release is a lengthy EP called Tempo Temporal and it’s fantastic. The whole thing is streaming and purchasable on their myspace. I think I like the second half best: “Spun From Witch’s Daughter” has a great C.A. Quintet feel, “Deep Sleep” reminds me of the Talking Heads, and it finishes with the hugely epic “Vacant Land”, which was probably the highlight of their live show. The EP is great, the live show is even better. I can’t wait until I can see them again.

Here’s my favourite track from the EP:  The Selmanaires – Spun From Witch’s Daughter

Sinn Sisamouth

They also have a blog, wherein they introduced me to Cambodia’s most famous singer from the 1950s-70s, Sinn Sisamouth. His voice is amazingly haunting, and the production quality of the music (which I’ll guess has been affected by numerous tape transfers) has a really cool feel. Here’s his killer take on “A Hard Day’s Night.” I’ve managed to track down a couple of compilations of Cambodian music of the era, and they’re incredible. I have got to find more.

Sinn Sisamouth – A Hard Day’s Night

Hey!

Digits’ first album Hold It Close is being released today, and this website is being launched. What you can expect to see from this blog in the future: random thoughts about music, films, ideas, politics, and a steady update on all things Digits. For today, I just want to focus on the release of the record, which has been a long time in the works and I’m very excited about. I’d like to thank everybody that made this record possible: My parents, The Ghost Is Dancing, Chris Stringer, Bryanna Reilly, Basia Bulat, Terri Rodak, John Egger, Jeremy Finkelstein, CBC Radio 3, all my amazing friends…and a very special thanks to Dave and Rebecca who play with me on half the album, and to Roxanne who did all the designs.