By GINA VIVINETTO and BRIAN ORLOFF
Published February 22, 2004
For the hipsters, or those who aspire:
On the prowl for new music? Here's a lineup of exciting - and offbeat - new discs to appeal to your inner hipster. Check 'em out and impress your friends with your hep cred. Don't be surprised if, after a few spins, you're donning Converse and rushing off to Urban Outfitters for the latest threads and decor.
DIZZEE RASCAL, BOY IN DA CORNER (XL/MATADOR) This 19-year-old British rapper has them gaga in the U.K., and it's not because he's an MC of lyrical wit. In fact, raise your hand if you know what the heck Diz is rapping about. What's coming out of his mouth on Boy In Da Corner, finally released in the United States, is unintelligible, but the beats are skittering and superquick - so quick, you feel at times like whiplash is inevitable.
Diz incorporates "exotic" sounds into his deft mix: Asian melodies and frantic bass lines that sneak up on you like a snake, while our MC blasts like a blitzkreig with rhymes that seem to make no sense, coated with an irresistibly thick Cockney accent. The effect is trippy, unsettling and intoxicating. Diz's disc is like a roller coaster, tough to take in its entirety - in the beginning. But once you stop resisting, you find yourself on line again. B
- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic
AIR, TALKIE WALKIE (ASTRALWERKS) Air, a dreamy French electronic duo composed of Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin, is a favorite of uberhip film director Sofia Coppola. Coppola gave the Gallic guys a boost in her film, Lost in Translation, featuring their ambient, nervy composition Alone in Kyoto as the film's emotional centerpiece.
If that string-soaked masterpiece and Coppola's ringing endorsement don't rush you to the record store, consider the band's sophisticated pop skill. The languid disc unfurls around haunting piano-led melodies and twinkling, spacey countermelodies. Sounds like Cherry Blossom Girl overflow with sleek texture and eerie coos. Though the band traffics in swooning electronic structures, all chilled and detached, the music is hot indeed. A-
- BRIAN ORLOFF, Times correspondent
STARS, HEART (ARTS & CRAFTS) Stars is a master at the twee pop tune with a dose of grit. The Canadian group relies on whirring electronic samples and subtle bleeps to shade its gorgeous synth-pop. Songs build on tender layers of strings and the electronically pasted harmonies of Amy Millan and Evan Cranley. Sunnier tunes such as Elevator Love Letter demonstrate a sense of humor and warmth that's often absent from lesser groups' self-serious recordings. B+
- B.O.
SUN KIL MOON, GHOSTS OF THE GREAT HIGHWAY (JETSET) Hiding behind the ominous moniker Sun Kil Moon is Mark Kozelek, formerly of the Red House Painters. Here, Kozelek pushes his very Neil Young-esque voice forward, offering a batch of acoustic tunes whose imposing structures will sweep over you, dusty and bare as the Western plains.
Songs play like nostalgia trips, with Kozelek recounting breakups or his patchy relationship with his father. Carry Me Ohio is especially stunning with a folksy feel that captures longing so smartly you can't help but take notice. B+
- B.O.
METRIC, OLD WORLD UNDERGROUND, WHERE ARE YOU NOW? (EVERLOVING) Canadian popsters Metric, fronted by the sexy Emily Haines, derives its delicious tunes from influences ranging from Blondie to the Breeders. How blase but in control does Haines sound? Yeow!
This is a taut, zippy disc of political and romantic musings laced with undeniable hooks. Tunes like Combat Baby, with its syncopated, synthesized beat, give Haines plenty of room to vamp it up while Dead Disco is pure ecstasy girded by a propulsive, jangly guitar riff. A-
