I can’t understand half of what she’s saying, but whatever it is she says it well. Polica came onto my radar once I got to know the Midwest super group, GAYNGS, which they’re a part of. Justin Vernon is also involved with the supagroup and features on this newest Polica track, ‘Tiff.’
Vernon might actually be the only thing I didn’t like on ‘Tiff.’ His intro half way through the song doesn’t sound right and just wasn’t blended well, though his eerier presence afterwards fit in right. Other than that the song seems to be hit worthy, especially on the Hype Machine.
Just two days into the song, over 40 bloggers have already mentioned Tiff. The song actually, intentionally or unintentionally, brings up that they’re a “pawn in the hype machine” and I’m wondering how many bloggers admitted the same on their post.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/87129206" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]
Polica is a group from my area back in the day, the Twin Cities. But of course I forgot about all that and more importantly who they’re tied with when I moved to the Bay Area around the beginning of 2012. See, I kind of have a man-crush on their producer, Ryan Olson, because of his involvement in not just one, but two of my favorite Minnesota-based bands, Mel Gibson & the Pants and GAYNGS. Seeing that this is a remix though, I guess this won’t justify my love for Olson, but Alluxe does reinterpret him right.
Alluxe’s remix of “Lay Your Cards Out” takes on Channy Leaneagh’s original vocals, whom is also apart of GAYNGS, and speeds up the pace for a more danceable tune. What Alluxe especially does best is build on Leaneagh’s vocals and flushes ’em out just right for one sedating drop (done far better than the original). Leaneagh’s vocals, however, are a bit hard to interpret, as always, but I’m one for making up my own lyrics while listening anyways.
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This last sunday, The Local Show with David Campbell on the Current did an interview with the mix mastermind, Ryan Olson – founder of GAYNGS, co-founder of Mel Gibson and the Pants, and occasional bass player for Building Better Bombs. I posted it up on here because I’ve been lacking on the interviews, so I thought I’d do the next best thing, steal one!
Check out the recording of the interview in the full article!
When you start listening to the interview, you begin to realize Olson’s voice doesn’t sound quite right; that’s because he auto-tune’d it. It sounds strange (and stupid, to be honest), but after a couple of minutes it’s kinda funny (and still stupid). The interview covers a little about Olson’s past, some talk on GAYNGS and a lot about what he’s currently up to. At least half the show is taken up by Olson’s favorite music from the Midwest – a good eclectic taste. I cut out the second half of the show because Olson’s interview is only the first half. If you want to listen to the second half, go to The Current – more good tunes.
I took a couple of Olson’s best and featured ’em below: two from Mel Gibson and the Pants and one from GAYNGS. Let me know what you think of each song and the diverse sound Olson producers.
It was my original intent for this site, and always will be, to promote Mel Gibson and the Pants, along with a handful of others – and growing each day.
[audio:SlipperySlope.mp3,VolatileMixture.mp3,Cry.mp3|titles=The Slippery Slope of Giving Up,Volatile Mixture,Cry](Download Link in Full Article)
GAYNGS releases their first album, Relayted, today, so I thought I would feature another song of theirs to kick it off. This may not be “The Gaudy Side of Town“, but it sure as hell has some good vocals (especially the chorus), and one hell of a sax – and you know how much I love sax(ophones). The one thing I didn’t care for, though it’s not that crucial, is that the ending drags on for a while. It’s not necessarily that bad, but I kept on wanting to hear more of those smooth-ass vocals.
I had a little difficulty with classifying what genre GAYNGS would belong to (I think I mentioned this in the previous article on them). I would say soul or R&B, but a lot of the album has some featured artists that range from hip hop to rock. Check out the album on Amazon or hit me up for a link, and tell me what you think (especially if I hit you up with a link!).
[audio:NoSweat.mp3|titles=No Sweat](Download Link in Full Article)
I was prett-ay, prett-ay excited about featuring GAYNGS. Not only does the group reside in good ol’ Minnesota, but a one of a kind talent is heading it up, Ryan Olson. Ryan is one of the key members of Mel Gibson and the Pants. If you don’t know who they are, don’t worry, not many/enough people do; however, the group has some of the most talented sons of bitches I’ve ever come across.
But let’s get back to GAYNGS… I had a little trouble deciding what genre to classify the group (it’s not a strong point of mine), but I thought R&B fit best. You could also throw in electro, pop, rock and whatever else, but genres are all tending to mash up these days anyway. From the first song on the album, “The Gaudy Side of Town”, I was hooked. The production on it is phenomenal, and some of the vocals took my breath away, literally (well, not literally, but I wanted to emphasis the point). The only part of the song I didn’t really care for was the vocals @ around two minutes. I don’t exactly know who it is (not a lot of information out there on the album), but I recognize his voice in other songs and he sounded a lot better. Here it sounds like the back of his throat is closed off. Oh well, it hardly takes away from the song, I just needed to put a little criticism in there.
The full album will be released on May 11. GAYNGS will be debuting it at First Avenue & 7th Street Entry on May 14. It’ll be a prom theme based on the last song of the album, “The Last Prom on Earth”. Tickets will be $15 per person, so if you’d like to go… and don’t have a date… I wouldn’t mind a night out on the town ;). You can pre-order at Ticketmaster or at the door. Make sure to check back in, i’ll definitely be featuring more of this fine group.
[audio:TheGaudySideofTown.mp3|titles=The Gaudy Side of Town](Download Link in Full Article)
Mel Gibson and the Pants is one of the groups I love to show off to others; (1) because anyone outside of Minnesota doesn’t know about ’em, (2) the instrumentals are a complete mashup of a few different genres, unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, and (3) Harold Sander’s (MC for the group) voice is sexy as hell. They’ll actually be my most featured group on here after this is released (other features of MGP include w/ Guitar, as well as a single from the album, Beat it Loose). The group may not be the most prolific in quality hits, but when they hit it, they hit it right, and Paper Shaper Shifter hits it right…
Paper Shaper Shifter is one of the first songs I really got into with MGP. It’s a little different from their usual drum & bass, electro-rock beat, but still shows their unique style of music. As always, Harold Sander’s comes up with some interesting lryics, voiced in a stylish & saucy way. I was actually going to name this site after some of the lyrics off this song, “my biorhythm is awesome” (the site was originally going to be BiorhythmAwesome.com, among others), but I liked Silence Nogood best.
[audio:PaperShaperShifter.mp3|titles=Paper Shaper Shifter](Download Link in Full Article)