Ever since their bouncy 2004 debut Bright Like Neon Love, Melbourne-bred electro-pop rockers Cut Copy have always remained faithful to the original, ’80′s-inspired synth-pop sound developed on such songs as “Saturdays” and “Future.”

2008′s follow-up, In Ghost Colours, found the band working to with complex new instrumentation, incorporating angelic choirs, distorted guitar riffs and heaven-sent soundscapes. Crunchier cuts like “Lights & Music” and “Hearts on Fire” demonstrated Cut Copy’s increasing New Wave influence, yet ultimately remained true to their underlying pop penchant.

Zonoscope–the band’s third studio album, to be released on February 8–finds Cut Copy taking their sound to still newer heights. Namely, outer space.

“I know we’re going crazy, but I need you now,” lead singer Dan Whitford sadly croons above a series of signature Cut Copy echoed coos and hazy, ambient electronica on the chorus of the album’s first single and opening track, “Need You Now.”

The song is a solid representation of what lies ahead: Intergalactic bleeps and blips, tribal disco rhythms, bleak lyricism and atmospheric sounds recalling that of French electro-master M83 all come together to texture the space-pop opus that is Zonoscope, Cut Copy’s most seamless and cohesive collection yet.

“Pharoahs & Pyramids,” another highlight on the album, finds the band working on top of a dazzling disco synth pattern, an abundance of hand-claps and bright, light electronica, somewhat reminiscent of Hercules & Love Affair‘s ’90′s House revivalism, while songs like “Take Me Over,” “Corner of the Sky” and the Beach Boys-esque “Where I’m Going” all recall the bouncy pop revelry of the band’s origins.

Aside from the album’s catchier cuts, it’s clear that Cut Copy have also decided to take a few chances and push their musical limits beyond the confines of a typical track on Zonoscope: “Strange Nostalgia for the Future,” for instance, works against a strangely looped string of organic electronica reminiscent of something one might hear on Sigur Rós‘ Takk…, while “Sun God,” the album’s epic 16-minute tribal closer, plays like a 2011 update to Donna Summer‘s iconic disco number, “I Feel Love.”

“Please, please, please, won’t you give your love to me?” Whitford repeats again and again as the track slowly builds on top of grooving synthesizers and a driving percussion (plus cowbell!), ultimately giving way to spine-tingling waves of ambient rhythms and danceable synth grooves. It’s gorgeous, to say the least.

With dreamy electronica production and sublime, hook-filled pop songcraft, it seems the sky is not the limit for Cut Copy–they’re too busy exploring the stars.

“Take Me Over”

“Take Me Over (Thee Loving Hand Remix by Tim Goldsworthy)”

Zonoscope will be released on February 8. (iTunes)

Sounds like: The Presets, Cut Copy, Empire of the Sun
Genre: Synth-pop, dance-pop, electronica

After my post about Jodie Aysha, I was reminded of another act that my buddy JJS of It’s The Money Shot! breathlessly told me about months ago. I’ve waited for far too long to do this Introduucing piece, but the time has finally come!

Garçon Garçon (adorable name!) are Nathan Mahon and Nick Tsirimokos, a synth-pop male duo (gorgeous men!) hailing from Sydney, the land where all good synth-pop acts are born (please see Cut Copy, Sneaky Sound System, Empire Of The Sun, et al.)

While there’s not too much information about these sexy specimens quite yet aside from this extremely likable video introduction, Garçon Garçon have released two demos available for download on their Facebook page thus far: “Take Me Out” and “Maybe Tonight.”

Both songs are smartly crafted electro-pop concoctions, teeming with ’80′s-inspired synthesizers and romantic, forlorn vocals. Very New Wave, very accessible, and very, very catchy.

I’m especially obsessed with “Maybe Tonight”: “Maybe he’ll be out there tonight, maybe he’ll be somewhere tonight / But if I had a love, he’d never go away from me,” Nathan sings sweetly above a cool stream of dreamy synthesizers and 8-bit electronica. Oh, how my heart melts!

I suggest you snatch both of these up immediately.

DL: Garçon Garçon – Take Me Out

DL: Garçon Garçon – Maybe Tonight

While we wait to hear more, Manhunt Daily posted an in-depth interview with Garçon Garçon recently, outlining their musical interests and influences (Nick listens to LCD Soundsystem and M.I.A.! Nathan listens to The Knife and Sigur Ros!), their thoughts on being out in the music industry, and what we can expect to hear from their upcoming EP.

It’s a must read!

Garçon Garçon’s debut EP, entitled EP, will be released Summer 2011.

Passing by Fenway Stadium on May 6, the street was paved with red and white. Pedestrians mobbed the street. Drunk men in Red Sox jerseys swerved into my path with their drunker girlfriends, while small children ran rampant and unrestrained. The air still reeked of stadium hot dogs and spilled beer as I waited in line to enter into the House of Blues. Making my way deeper into the venue however, remnants of the outside world soon began to slip away as we came to greet a dark, moody stage.

The set-up seemed minimal, if not dilapidated at first, complete with cracked, dusty glass boxes, old looking suitcases and knickknacks, and a large, weathered screen. It was only as the performances carried on through the show that the set took on a new life–the lanterns burning bright inside the glass boxes; the harmonium being played inside one of the suitcases, the screen turning into a mangled, metallic structure–molding Jónsi’s on-stage world into a multi-colored show of nature and the elements.

Later that evening, Sigur Rós‘ lead singer and beloved Icelandic figure Jónsi Birgisson would bring his Go Tour 2010 to the House of Blues in Boston, an innovative showcase of the singer’s talents as a musician and his flighty imagination as an artist.

All in all, Jónsi had performed nearly the entirety of his solo album Thursday night, beginning with the sobering beauty of “Stars in Still Water” and “Hengilás,” moving into the bouncy, alive territory of his sparkling up-tempos including “Go Do” and “Sinking Friendships,” and ending with the colossal, earth-shattering sounds of “Grow Till Tall.”

Given his status as the lead singer of Sigur Rós, I had assumed the Icelandic crooner would stick to what he’s come to be revered for–his voice. And truly, he did: With each song, Jónsi delivered his signature vibrato and alien cries and extended howls, at one point holding a note for what must have been over thirty seconds. His voice is just as it sounds on record–wrought with emotion and tenderness–meaning that I’d find myself getting choked up more than once as the night progressed.

Yet Jónsi did more than just sing. In fact, it seemed as though the artist took turns at each instrument at some point during the night as he moved across the stage, plucking away at the piano, the guitar, and even playing the xylophones along with the rest of the band.

As a troupe, the group worked together effortlessly. While Jónsi would be trashing about onstage singing or playing the piano, one player would be sliding together stone bowls into the microphone, while another would sit on the floor and thoughtfully pluck at the harmonium. All together, it was nothing less than organic.

While the whole of the concert seemed to envelop the entire audience, it was undoubtedly the finale that truly had the crowd speechless. As the noise of “Grow Till Tall” grew increasing distorted, it pushed the speaker’s deep bass capacity to the max, making it seem as though the entire room was shaking (or was it?) The strobes flashed like lightning, the instruments jarringly crashed atop one another, and the screen behind the band was shattered to pieces in a massive, threatening rain and wind storm that grew increasingly violent and blinding. All was destroyed in the end, leaving nothing behind on the screens and no one on stage. That is, until the band re-emerged for their final bow to wild applause and cheers from the elated crowd.

Jónsi’s show captures and bottles the essence and magic of the live performance, unleashing a torrent of color and sound onto the audience who, like myself, looked on with nothing short of wonder and awe.

See this tour while/if you still can–it’s entirely worth it.

And now, a montage of clips from the show, which do a little bit more justice than the photos.

Jónsi‘s new album is going full steam ahead!

Go, his first solo endeavor, will be released on April 5 across the world. Above is the album’s cover art which, according to the singer’s website e-mail, was conceptualized by his sisters Inga and Lilja. Aww.

At the same time, the Sigur Rós singer is preparing his first tour of North America. Judging by the e-mail, he’s going Gaga in terms of set design: “We wanted you to know we are going for broke on this and it ain’t in any way going to be Jónsi alone on stage with an acoustic guitar, no sirree.” Then again, everyone’s broke in Iceland.

Check out all the dates for the upcoming Go tour below, which will go on pre-sale beginning February 9:

April 6 Vancouver, Canada Vogue Theatre
April 7 Vancouver, Canada Vogue Theatre
April 9 Seattle, WA The Showbox SoDo
April 10 Seattle, WA The ShowBox SoDo
April 13 Portland, OR Roseland Theatre
April 15 Berkeley, CA Zellerbach Auditorium
April 16 San Francisco, CA Palace of Fine Arts
April 18 Indio, CA Coachella
April 21 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
April 22 Lawrence, KS Liberty Hall
April 24 Minneapolis, MN Pantages Theatre
April 25 Minneapolis, MN Pantages Theatre
April 26 Milwaukee, WI The Pabst Theatre
April 27 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
April 28 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
April 30 Toronto, Canada Sound Academy
May 1 Toronto, Canada Sound Academy
May 2 Montreal, Canada Metropolis
May 3 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
May 5 Boston, MA House of Blues
May 6 Boston, MA House of Blues
May 8 New York, NY Terminal 5
May 9 New York, NY Terminal 5

For more details, check out Jónsi’s official site.

Jónsi Birgisson‘s had a pretty busy couple of years.

Starting with the release of Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust with Sigur Rós in 2008, the Icelandic vocalist took some time off this year to prepare the release of his fabulous, ethereal collection Riceboy Sleeps, a collaborative effort with his boyfriend, Alex Somers.

Now, he’s on his own.

On March 22, 2010, Jónsi will release his first solo album, entitled Go, on Parlophone Records.

According to the album’s press release, the singer’s debut encompasses “a backlog of songs Jónsi had written that didn’t seem to fit within the Sigur Rós context,” many of which will be in English.

When he began working on ‘Go’, Jónsi initially though he would be making a low-key, acoustic album until, as he says, “somewhere along the line, it just sort of exploded.” That explosion resulted in sheer aural fireworks. Not a straight ahead pop record, nor rock, folk, ambient or electronic, it encompasses all of these to create an expansive musical palette that’s been brought to life by Jónsi alongside a number of free-spirited collaborators.

‘Go’ completes a personal journey for Jónsi away from the wordless and near-brutal sonic monoliths of Sigur Rós’ untitled ( ) album, and is a bold stride beyond the career-redefining pop of ‘Hoppipolla’ and even the explosive percussive assault of the last album’s ‘Gobbledigook’.

Along with the announcement of the new album comes a new website for his solo work, which is worth checking out merely because of what happens when you hover and click on each letter of his name on the site’s opening page. Isn’t that cute?

But more than some nifty graphic design, Jónsi’s official site overs up a free download of one of the upcoming tracks from the album, “Boy Lilikoi.”

As you might have expected from the press release, it’s entirely different from what you’ve heard in the past. While the music may borrow from Sigur Rós’ back catalog, the song’s structure is entirely unexpected: It’s vibrant, energetic, bold and, dare I say it, accessible. I can’t believe this is Jónsi’s work!

And now for the tracklisting which, much like any other Sigur Rós release, is mostly a pile of silly words that sound like the noises you make when talking to babies.

Go Do
Animal Arithmetic
Tornado
Boy Lilikoi
Sinking Friendships
Kolnidur
Around Us
Grow Till Tall
Hengilas

Can’t hardly wait!

Purchase more from Jónsi on iTunes | Official Website

Arguably one of the world’s greatest trance DJs, Dutch producer Tiesto has continued to redefine the boundaries of trance music with his signature emotive style and arena-ready sound for over fifteen years.

For his fourth major studio release Kaleidoscope, the premiere producer of trance sought some of the music scene’s most dynamic characters, ranging from global superstars (Calvin Harris, Sneaky Sound System, Nelly Furtado) to an assortment of lesser known, left-of-center acts (Tegan & Sara, Bloc Party‘s Kele Okereke, Sigur Ros‘ Jonsi) The result? A powerhouse collection of single-worthy uptempos bursting with indie cred and trance appeal, appealing to both the body and soul.

One standout involves Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, who had her first taste of dance with her 2006 album, Loose. Replace the generic Timbaland-produced beats of that album with a flurry of glittering, electro-encrusted pulsations, and you’ve got “Who Wants To Be Alone,” a devastatingly addictive dancefloor haunt guaranteed to delight on repeat time and time again.

Other winners include Emily Haines‘ turn on the storming “Knock You Out,” which plays like Ladytron on E, the warm synth pulsations of the Cary Brothers-assisted “Here On Earth,” and “You Are My Diamond,” a throwback to the days of pure, ‘90’s pulsating bliss. The track is made all the better thanks to a shamelessly celebratory, sugary sweet delivery from Kianna Alarid, known best as the lead singer of Tilly and the Wall.

“Feel It in My Bones,” featuring indie darlings Tegan & Sara is perhaps the album’s greatest track, and undoubtedly the epitome of the album’s intentions. As Tiesto’s cool, calculated trance vibrations shudder underneath, Tegan & Sara’s smart-pop sensibility lift the track and create something new; the result becoming a celebration of the art of collaboration.

Simply speaking, there’s not a bad track in the bunch–at least in terms of the vocal offerings. The album’s only drawback can be found in its five instrumental tracks, included as a kind of overcompensating injection of Tiesto trance, lest we somehow forget who’s in charge behind the scenes of all of these guest spots. Sadly, they do little for the album here, aside from providing long, unnecessary breaks between the meat of the album. Skip them, and you’ve got one hell of a solid set.

Kaleidoscope is unlike anything Tiesto has done before (and surely nothing its guests have recorded). In spite of what could have been a risky undertaking (whether or not devoted fans of each genre will come to embrace this album remains to be seen), Tiesto’s fifth studio album is nothing short of excellence–allowing indie music the pulse it never knew it needed and dance music the lyrical sophistication it has so stubbornly ignored. Hearing the two genres come together? Well, that’s why this is nothing short of a musical dream come true.

Kaleidoscope will be released on October 20.

Purchase more from Tiesto on iTunes | MySpace | Official Website

You know how I proclaimed the upcoming Basement Jaxx album to be the “Compendium of Cool” after seeing the tracklisting and whatnot? Well, I think the duo’s been one-upped already.

Enter DJ Tiësto, renowned Dutch DJ and electronica extraordinaire. For his aptly-titled fifth studio album, Kaleidoscope, Tiesto’s teamed up with a most colorful array of artists, from electro-pop staples (Calvin Harris; Sneaky Sound System) to completely left-of-center vocalists including Sigur Rós‘ lead, Jónsi, and indie-pop/alt-folk sweethearts Tegan & Sara.

Just check out the über-awesome list o’ tracks:

1. Tiësto feat. Jónsi – Kaleidoscope
2. Tiësto feat. CC Sheffield – Escape Me
3. Tiësto feat. Kianna – You Are My Diamond
4. Tiësto and Sneaky Sound System – I Will Be Here
5. Tiësto feat. Priscilla Ahn – I Am Strong
6. Tiësto feat. Cary Brothers – Here On Earth
7. Tiësto – Always Near
8. Tiësto feat. Kele Okereke – It’s Not The Things You Say
9. Tiësto – Fresh Fruit
10. Tiësto feat. Calvin Harris – Century
11. Tiësto feat. Tegan & Sara – Feel It In My Bones
12. Tiësto feat. Nelly Furtado – Who Wants To Be Alone
13. Tiësto – LA Ride
14. Tiësto – Bend It Like You Don’t Care
15. Tiësto feat. Emily Haines – Knock You Out
16. Tiësto – Louder Than Boom
17. Tiësto – Surrounded By Light

And if that wasn’t enough to set your hearts ablaze, here is the literally amazing Masashi Muto-directed video for the first single, “I Will Be Here,” featuring Sneaky Sound System’s lead singer, Connie:

A 2009 upgrade to “The Robot”? Now that’s something I can appreciate.

Kaleidoscope is due out on October 6 from Ultra Records.

Purchase Tiesto on iTunes | MySpace | Official Website

I’m fairly certain I love literally everything about Sigur Rós. To date, they’re still the only band capable of making me cry on command on the basis of their artistry alone (Takk… being the greatest offender of them all).

On July 20, Sigur Rós lead Jónsi Birgisson and his boyfriend Alex Somers will be releasing their first album together, Riceboy Sleeps off of Parlophone Records. (Cuteeee!) The collaboration, which originally began as a series of art exhibitions, has been in the works for two or three years. According to the accompanying press release, the 9 track instrumental album was recorded with in Iceland using acoustic instruments, strings by Amiina, and the Kopavogsdaetur Choir.

Have a listen to a track from the upcoming album called “Daniell And The Sea” below. Much in line with the Sigur Rós visual aesthetic as of late, don’t expect anything showy–unless you consider abstract, shadowed images of children and grainy film to be showy.

Click below to hear more from Sigur Rós!