Tag: Tame Impala

Afterthought – Tame Impala

Tame Impala have released their new album, Deadbeat; their long-awaited follow-up to The Slow Rush. Inspired by the Australian ‘bush doof’ (outdoor rave) scene, Kevin Parker has reimagined his sound for the dancefloor. While this sounds like an exciting prospect, in general, the release underwhelms – in particular, singles End of Summer, Loser and Dracula are all relatively quickly forgotten.

That said, tucked away as the penultimate track on the album, Afterthought gives a hint of what the album could have been. It fuses Parker’s song-writing strengths with a catchy, melodic baseline. It’s just a shame that this approach appears to have been afterthought…

If you enjoyed that, I’m playing a set at Stokey Karaoke on 29th November where I’ll be leaning into an indie electro vibe. Expect Tame Impala, La Roux, TEED and more. Get in touch for details.

Walking on a Dream (TEED Remix) – Empire of the Sun

17 years on from its original release, Empire of the Sun have released a remix package of their biggest track, Walking on a Dream. The TEED version caught my attention, but the EP takes you on a tour of various genres (and levels of quality) with Wiz Khalifa, Axwell and Kaskade getting in on the act, amongst others.

If you enjoyed that, I’m playing a set at Stokey Karaoke on 29th November where I’ll be leaning into an indie electro vibe. Expect Tame Impala, La Roux, TEED and more. Get in touch for details.

TEED’s new album is Always With Me is out 5th December. I’ve been enjoying the singles so far (especially Desire and The Echo). It’s very much worth checking out what Orlando has to offer, as always. New name, same quality.

Hyperdrama – Justice

Iconic French electro duo Justice have released their first album since 2021. Tame Impala (twice), Thundercat and Connan Mockasin all pop up on vocals. All in all it’s a nice release but I can’t shake the analysis from this tweet…

French electro doesn’t need polish.

Bonus tracks: my two Justice faves: one classic, one newer.

Best of 2021

Happy New Year HME crew. I’m looking forward to what 2022 has to offer, but before then, one final post on 2021.

I’ve started to form a bit of a theory: are personalised end of year wrap-ups a bit like dreams? Everyone finds their own fascinating and everyone else’s immensely boring…

Anyway… here are my most played tracks of the year courtesy of Spotify and Soundcloud.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1EUMDoJuT8yJsl?si=5a431ddc80694d8d

Soundcloud here

Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind (Erol Alkan Rework) – Tame Impala

Why won’t you make up your mind?

Give me a sign.

Am I wasting my time?

Living in my head?

You’ll be sorry when I

Make up mine instead

The emotion of this Tame Impala track is taken up a notch by Erol Alkan. While the original lasts 3:19, this goes for a full 8:14, extending the band’s painful limbo and magnifying it to fever pitch proportions. And the lead electric guitars, already gripping, are elevated into full Ratatat-level raucousness. It’s a monster.

Jagwar Ma

Jagwar Ma aren’t afraid of a long track. In fact, I might even describe them as The Kings of the long track. The three-piece Aussie outfit come in a couple of guises. A lot of their solo work is quite down-the-line in a Tame Impala kind of mould. But I think they are at their best when they focus on vibe-building, especially when that vibe is chuggy, atmospheric and vaguely psychedelic. Check out 3 of my favourites below.

Best of 2020

Happy New Year music fans. As ever I’m pumped to bring you a load of new music this year, but before I do, let’s have one final post on the cursed year that was 2020. Here are my most played tracks of the year courtesy of Spotify. You’ll find some new ones, some old ones, some quick ones and some slow ones. Pop it on shuffle and enjoy.

Quick note – as ever there are a couple of albums on here that I’ve rinsed for chilling out. So expect some abrupt vibe changes. You’ve been warned.

Song Exploder

Something a little different for you to dive into today. Song Exploder is a podcast that gets artists to open up about a track they have made. It goes deep on why and how they made it. It will honestly add a whole new layer of appreciation to some of your top tracks and artists.

At the time of writing there are 194 episodes, each at about 20 minutes in length, so plenty to choose from. Scroll through to find your favourites, including: Phantogram, Fleetwood Mac, Tame Impala, Robyn, Bon Iver, Little Gradgon, Gorrilaz, Bonobo, DJ Shadow, Mobb Deep, and whole load of others. The best I’ve listened to so far was Caribou, explaining both the message behind Home, and the techniques he employed in the production.

You can subscribe via your favourite Podcast provider here. Shout out to Ollie Lyth for the recommendation.

The Slow Rush – Tame Impala

The Slow Rush is without a doubt my album of the quarantine session so far. It’s Tame Impala’s 4th and it’s a cracker.

Kevin Parker recorded this between native Australia and LA – and that provides a really nice window through which to understand the sound. It’s this awesome struggle between a lazy, beachy indie sound, and the more intense, highly produced electronic LA vibe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am.

Bonus track: Ben Gomori’s remix of Breathe Deeper gently lifts it up one notch. Lovely.

Photo credit: Neil Krug