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You get Chinese Man, the French trip-hop collective and my newest musical discovery. I was enjoying the night at Muka, a hip underground French wine bar in San Francisco, when I heard “Miss Chang” (video is below) off the owner’s playlist. Utilizing influences from around the world, it’s some of the best genre fusing I’ve ever heard. Each track on their 2011 release Racing With the Sun is unique and inspired.
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Megan Slankard | Performer Magazine – March 2011

Megan Slankard
A Token of the Wreckage
San Francisco, CA

“Sultry, warm with a golden glow”

Megan Slankard releases her fourth record in good company, aided by engineers David Bryson (Counting Crows) and Jerry Becker (Pat Monahan). A Token of the Wreckage includes 12 tracks of polished singer/songwriter anthems. The record features a consistent Americana sound, leaving Slankard to shoulder the responsibility of standing out with her unique songwriting and sultry voice.

The album opens with “A Token of the Wreckage,” a title track with such strong pop sensibilities it’s unmistakable as her first single. Subsequent tracks follow suit with comparably sharp production. “The Happy Birthday” offers a nice shift with its simple concept and upbeat swing. It’s songs like these that shine a light on Slankard’s clever lyrics. On “The Pain of Growing Up,” she itemizes a list of growing pains, including unfulfilled travel desires and working at Home Depot. It’s an honest track with an underlying melancholy that one can only hope isn’t completely autobiographical for her… not that there’s anything wrong with working at Home Depot.

Thoughtful construction and clever wordplay are the highlights on Slankard’s new record. A Token of the Wreckage is a generous collection that maintains its momentum from start to finish. (Daily Acts)

Produced by Megan Slankard and Jerry Becker // Mixed by David Bryson at Dancing Dog Studios // Mastered by Michael Romanowski in San Francisco

- Keane Li

The Soonest | Performer Magazine – July 2011

The Soonest
Quarters EP
Berkeley, CA

“San Francisco dream rock with a darker side”

The Soonest’s latest release, Quarters EP, exemplifies the phrase, “less is more.” The San Francisco rock band, formerly known as Lion Riding Horses, sound much bigger than their four-part roster might suggest. While it only boasts four tracks, the production on each song exhibits a noticeable level of care.

The EP opens with “Ghosts,” a song appropriately titled with its haunting characteristics. Guitar arpeggios layer nicely with echoing sustain as vocals float listlessly across. Frenetic drum riffs propel the track forward, taking the dream pop characteristics of the song into a heftier level. The following track, “I Don’t Mind,” seems most reminiscent of the popular indie pop songs of our day. The boisterous drum riffs remind the listener of bands like Vampire Weekend, though The Soonest delivers in a manner more serious. “King” offers a bit of ballad with its longing lyrics and pop-influenced background vocals. The loving touch of ambient sounds and songwriting extend into the EP’s final track, “Ready.”

Vocals and instrumentation are rich, and the pacing of builds and lulls work refreshingly. It’s a balance that’s hard to execute. As a set, Quarters EP works effectively as an intro to a band already on the rise. (Self-released)

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Lori D. Brackney and Jose Rosa at Ex’pression College for Digital Arts

- Keane Li

As a songwriter, I really appreciate innovative production, the implementation of diverse instruments and brevity used appropriately. Recently added to my current producer heroes —Butch Vig, Brian Eno and Kanye West — is Danger Mouse.

Brian Joseph Burton (born July 29, 1977), better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is a Grammy Award winning, American musician, songwriter and producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z’s The Black Album with instrumentals from The Beatles’ White Album.

He formed Gnarls Barkley with Cee Lo Green and produced their albums St. Elsewhere and The Odd Couple. He produced the second Gorillaz album, 2005′s Demon Days, as well as Beck’s 2008 record, Modern Guilt. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Producer of the Year category five times (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011), and won the award in 2011. In addition, Burton worked with rapper MF Doom as Danger Doom and released the album The Mouse and the Mask and the EP Occult Hymn.

In 2009 he collaborated with James Mercer of the indie rock band The Shins to form Broken Bells. The group’s first album was released on March 9, 2010.

Danger Mouse was listed as one of Esquire magazine’s seventy-five most influential people of the 21st century.

The pinnacle of music for me combines soul, rhythm and ambience, and thus I’m a big fan of genre bending like quirky hip hop (Gnarls Barkley) or grooved out alt-rock (Gorillaz). Danger Mouse & Jemini’s Ghetto Pop Life provides such a funktastic experience.

On his recent album, Rome, he collaborates with Italian composer Daniele Luppi, and features guests Jack White and Norah Jones. The addition of orchestration pushes toward the spaghetti western feel, utilizing vintage equipment and musicians featured in the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with a soundtrack composed by another Italian composer, Ennio Morricone.

Danger Mouse creates great examples of musical escapes, sounds that take to another place and time.

Making people dance and making people think don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Sometimes you can do both with a catchy beat and thoughtful lyrics. It’s the songwriters’ unicorn to craft a tune that’s catchy enough to ensnare a listener while being lyrical with such a quality that the song is not promptly dismissed. By now we’ve all heard Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” a song with all the characteristics of a successful pop track with absolutely zero substance. It’s fascinating, really, and I’ll admit I listened to that horrible track more times than I should’ve… for research, of course.

Here are a few of my recent favorite finds — artists that balance well the heavy and the high.

I’m absolutely loving Oh Land‘s debut self-titled second album (recommended by suki). Born Nanna Øland Fabricius from Copenhagen, her music exhibits all the eccentric characteristics that make me admire sounds from Scandinavia. Unlike more obscure stuff, Oh Land utilizes catchy melodies and driving percussiveness, which I’m happy to discover is actually a word. This isn’t surprising as Pharrell Williams is listed among the production credits.

It’s no surprise that I love hip hop. I recently purchased Lupe Fiasco‘s Lasers, an album that reminds me a lot of T.I.‘s Paper Trail in terms of celebratory anthems mixed in with more somber tracks featuring meaningful messages. His rhymes are seldom corny — an adjective that can describe at least several verses on even some of the best rap records — and the production on the record is strong. It’s a nice follow-up to Lupe’s previous albums, and it serves as a good replacement for T.I.’s somewhat mediocre recent release.

From the UK and the year 2006 comes Through the Windowpane by Guillemots (pronounced “gillimotts”), another recent discovery of mine via a recommendation through a beer-loving lady friend. What struck me most about them was their fully orchestrated sound — open, lush and ambient, it’s something I really resonate with. Their third studio album, Walk the Line, was recently released on the 18th of April. I’ll make an effort to check it out.