You kids today, with your Metric, and your Shiny Toy Guns (Carah Faye Charnow or Sisely Treasure or Carah Faye Charnow) -- your electronica synth sounds and your sexy, female vocalists.
You should listen to LADYTRON.
Because it's got two sexy, melodic, wailing vocalists, that are kind of like if Janis Joplin is still alive and pushing the aural envelope in the 2000s, and not caring if all "sounds the same".
And because it's got "TRON" in the band name. So it's topical. Ish.
LADYTRON, for those who don't know, is a long-time electronic band from England (Liverpool?) that has bravely not stuck to any stylings, and made greate music for more than a decade. Kate Bush and Lady Gaga owe these people.
And the reference to Joplin is intentional. One of the criticisms of LADYTRON's work is "it's not consistent". No, no it's not. Thank goodness.
That's because their sound is innovative. They're always doing slick, complex, changing craftsmanship, without getting stuck in what's "in" -- so they're not riding the crest of in-vogue electronica, they're out playing in their own deep water. Think Janis Joplin doing electronic, melodic wailing as she cuts her own swath through the genre.
And the "not consistent"? Brian Eno allegedly called them "the best of English pop music" -- and look how consistent he is (but I dig him, too).
Then add another female vocalist, so in addition to Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo (who also do synthesizers), add Daniel Hunt (electric guitar and synthesizers) and Reuben Wu (#### it, more synthesizers).
This compilation album has seminal songs from 2000 through 2010 -- plus a couple of brand-new tracks. The collectors edition has a photo book, if you're into that kind of thing (I am).
Check out the album. So worth it.
Now I probably need to go pre-order Gravity The Seducer
-- on vinyl. Because my kids are going to grow up with vinyl.(Oh, and I do totally dig Metric and Shiny Toy Guns. Can you believe Carah's back? I know.)
