#Upset The Rhythm

[mymelodic-chapel]

John Maus- Songs (Hypnagogic Pop, Synthpop, Minimal Synth) Released: March 20, 2006 [Upset the Rhythm] Producer(s): John Maus

[innovacancy]

Ed Schrader's Music Beat O'Brien's Pub, Allston, MA 18 November 2024

[trevlad-sounds]

Audio Obscura–Through Nuclear Skies-00:00 Me Lost Me–Real World Me Lost Me-03:17 Bonfire Hill–The Colour of Pomegranates-06:32 Burd Ellen–The Hermit-12:03 The Twelve Hour Foundation–Cascade-18:58 The British Stereo Collective–The Meyer-Bergman Experiment-21:21 Faex Optim–Rodan-24:13 Rapid Eye Electronics Ltd REEL–Droad Eastville Vending-29:05 Spray–Hammered in an Airport-32:54 Vieon–Inter-City-36:42 TSR2–Boat-43:00 Loopatronica–Point Attractor Intro-49:49 concretism–39 Furnival Street-52:15 Pulselovers–Aethelbald and the Golden Dragon-57:45 Scanner–Rhyme and Rebus-1:01:51 Pefkin–Smoke Drift-1:05:48 spaceship–Mercie Field-1:09:54 Gagarin–Wonderdusk 1-1:18:57

[dustedmagazine]

Ed Schrader’s Music Beat — Orchestra Hits (Upset the Rhythm)

Photo by Goopcat

Ed Schrader’s Music Beat has come a long way since we last crossed paths on the 2012 debut Jazz Mind, an altogether more punk and percussive outing that first paired Ed Schrader with the bassist Devlin Rice. “Even now, even on record, there’s a strong whiff of performance art to what Schrader does, the live spectacle implied in whomping, ritual rhythms and a shout-sung delivery that is as much poetry slam as punk rock,” wrote a much younger Jennifer Kelly for Dusted that year.  Three other records have come in the intervening years—Party Jail in 2014, Riddles in 2018 and Nightclub Dreaming in 2022—along with a growing suavity and new wave lounge-i-ness. 

With Nightclub Dreaming and now Orchestra Hits, Schrader has settled into languid romanticism with a baritone croon that might remind you—a little—of Bryan Ferry at his most sex positive. You can also hear echoes of new wave bands. “Into the Knotted Tree”’s urgent rhythms and trebly twinkles, all slathered over with smooth-ness, sounds a bit like The Thompson Twins. “Waterfront” grooves in an ominous, dystopic way that makes me think of the Fixx. But go ahead, pick your own late-1980s, early 1990s synth obsessions—New Order, Depeche Mode, Kakagoojou—Schrader’s Music Beat resonates with the whole darkwave period.

Is that a slam? Not at all. Orchestra Hits are sleek and sensual, prickling with glitchy synth tones and seething with pheromones on the prowl. “I Turn the Ocean Blue” looses agitated howls that are, nonetheless, perfectly styled and coifed. “She won’t…. she won’t return,” cries Schrader and it’s like Future Islands at a rave.  “Roman Candle” pulses with dance-floor hedonism, aches with post-bender regrets. It’s hard to tell if these songs celebrate youth and beauty or mourn it from a remove; there’s a bit of both in every track.

And indeed, that combination of surface and undercurrent, rave-up and desolation, dance beat and aria, is what makes Orchestra Hits so compelling.  There’s never been a shortage of “everybody party now” songs, nor can an honest person deny their appeal. But “everybody party cos we’re all gonna die” has always felt infinitely more compelling. Ed Schrader’s Music Beat drinks champagne on the edge of a precipice, tossing the bottle down and waiting to hear it shatter.

Jennifer Kelly

[bandcampsnoop]

6/13/24.

Marcel Wave is not necessarily the normal fare for Cincinnati label Feel It Records. But this is a co-release with UK label Upset The Rhythm - and it does fit that label.

Marcel Wave (England) are made up of members from Sauna Youth and Cold Pumas. The vocals are courtesy of Maike Hale-Jones. This really recalls Dry Cleaning. I'll also give a shout out to some other older posts that might tickle your fancy if you're enjoying Marcel Wave: Placement, and recent posts of Ain't and Porridge Radio.

[ourladyofomega]

It's about time they returned. Welcome back, Es.

🖌️: Musheto Fernandez

[funkpunkandpunkfunk]

Kaputt - Very Satisfied

[senorboombastic]

a/s/l: Parsnip

Remember the days of the old schoolyard? Remember when Myspace was a thing? Remember those time-wasting, laborious quizzes that everyone used to love so much? Birthday Cake For Breakfast is bringing them back!  Every couple of weeks, an unsuspecting band will be subject to the same old questions about dead bodies, Hitler, crying and crushes.   This Week: Off the back of releasing their…

[dougwallen]

Screensaver review for NME Australia

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

Snake Chain, “Architecture,” Snake Chain. Upset the Rhythm, 2022.

[rookflower]

squirrelflight my friend squirrelflight

[mymelodic-chapel]

John Maus- We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (Synthpop, Hypnagogic Pop) Released: June 27, 2011 [Upset the Rhythm/ Ribbon Music] Producer(s): John Maus

[allyougottado]

i love this cover a lot… cthylla's voice is SO CUTE

[nightmun]

Here’s a comic that’s based on an idea from @hear-that-music-in-the-air! Since it’s kinda long half of it is under the split so it doesn’t stretch too far 😅

Bonus panel:

[dustedmagazine]

Screensaver — Decent Shapes (Upset the Rhythm)

Screensaver, out of Melbourne, churns out a sleek and stylish roar. Bass lines pulse like throbbing veins. Guitar chords clash and clang. Drums rumble like seismic tremors, pummeling till the surface cracks. Synthesizers sluice a dark-toned, futuristic drama over all of it. And, the singer, one Krystal Maynard keens and yelps and trills with an early 1980s glamor that evokes—no dis intended here—prime Pat Benatar. (You’re laughing, but try A-Bing “Guilt” with “Love Is a Battlefield,” and tell me what you hear.)

Screensaver was originally a long-distance collaboration between Christopher Stephenson, a veteran of EXEK and Spray Paint, then based in Austin, and Maynard of Bad Vision, who lived in Australia. Stephenson later moved to Melbourne, where Screensaver continued in the usual, flesh and blood way. This is Screensaver’s second full-length album, following 2001’s Expression of Interest, a churning, tunnel-visioned dystopia of a record, made of the same basic elements as this one but not as cleanly realized. These songs are polished and precise, the sounds furiously executed but cleanly separated. They reflect back at you in a black mirror sheen.

“Guilt” is the first single, a volcanic eruption of synth punk energy, anchored by pavement-shaking bass and drums, but shot through with sci-fi space sounds and ultra dramatic lead vocals. Maynard’s voice is surrounded by cavernous echo; she lives, musically, in a dank, reverberating space that turns even the most mundane observations (“Want to eat all of the calories/have a break-down when it suits me”) into cries of defiance.

But actually, most of the words aren’t mundane. Screensaver manages to be topical without getting awkward or over-literal. “Future Trash” slips some astute observations about consumerism in between its shimmering blasts of synth tones. “Severance Pay” and “No Vacation” critique the workplace, in the most thumping, propulsive way. I’m not quite sure what “Drainer” is about, but it eddies and whorls like dark water going down the sink and is maybe the disc’s best, most banging cut. This is eruptive, large scale punk where every element pops and night comes on with astonishing speed. It’s a blast and a threat and an omen, and you need to hear it.

Jennifer Kelly

[bandcampsnoop]

12/17/23.

Static Shock Records (London, England) is celebrating their 15th anniversary with this release from Hygiene (also based in England). The band has released music before on Upset The Rhythm.'

This is melodic pop punk. The Bandcamp page mentions Swell Maps; I would counter with a cross between Neutrals and Art Brut.

Static Shock does distribute through Iron Lung, Ebullition, and Sorry State in the U.S.