I can’t say this with the appropriate perspective, but I would agree that quite often, youth is indeed wasted on the young. Not so for Michael Angelakos, however; he seems to be determined to make the most of his. The talented 21 year-old musician and frontman of electro-rock outfit Passion Pit is not only enjoying early critical and (relative) commercial success, but he is – apparently - having a great time doing it. Last year’s Chunk of Change EP introduced us to a fresh-faced, high-voiced kid with a love for gooey sentiments and danceable synth-pop, making music for [...]
It’s been a long time (long time), I shouldn’t have left you (left you), without a dope beat to step to. Freaky freaky! A'ight folks, these are reviews I've been meaning to do for a LONG freakin' time. I mean it. Some of them I've been wanting to get out since March. Damn my laziness! I'll be doing a super quick opinion piece of bands that are getting lots of attention like Passion Pit, Miike, Snow, Neon Indian, Bell Orchestre, the Prodigy, and a few others. Not that "mainstream" isn't cool, well to hipsters it's probably not 'cause it's SO [...]
I initially planned to give each of these a full, proper review, but in the interest of time and the fact that when I usually make those kinds of promises I get distracted and never make good, I'm going to cover them all in brief here. Passion Pit - Manners I had mixed expectations going into hearing this one. Lot of good vibes from a lot of different groups of people, but not all of them are people I look to for good music. But for once Pitchfork [...]
Our Take On New Musical Works Jeff Bujak, Alive Like The Spine - It's an ethereal blend of many diverse colors and tonalities. Bujak's music conjures up images of grand piano sidemen of the past, yet looks into the future,...
I'm still spending 99% of my time editing Sasquatch pictures , but I took a couple minutes to post this week's Sirius XMU Download 15 playlist. Jake Fogelnest picks 'em and plays 'em, and I scribble down the track names and search for the links online. A match made in heaven. Now back to the pictures... Here's the Download 15 for May 30th . This is our 10th weekly installment! Thanks for the appreciative comments - keep 'em coming. Full track list after the jump. Previous Download [...]
There's always a problem with bands having full length debuts not living up to their first EPs. The list is long... Tokyo Police Club Ra Ra Riot The Death Set Los Campesionos Born Ruffians The Little Ones There are rare cases where bands succeed and the debut album goes far and beyond the first EP... (feel free to comment and add to [...]
One of my favourite things to do is generate entirely new genres by blending pre-existing ones into uber-pretentious hipster varieties. I then use this new tag to describe a tiny range of bands. Thus, I bless Passion Pit with the indie-electro-falsetto-dance-p op (nu-wave) label. There, doesn't that sound much better than "MGMT meets the Scissor Sisters"? [...]
Passion Pit Manners Columbia / Frenchkiss Release Date: 05.19.09 You’ll love this album … On the full-length debut Manners , Michael Angelakos appropriates and amplifies the elements that made Passion Pit’s Chunk of Change EP a success. He remains unabashedly loyal to his shrill voice, supplementing its high-pitched yelps with infectious pop hooks and relentless energy. Emerging last fall, Angelakos was just a sensitive northeastern frat-boy penning songs to his ex-girlfriend. The winter passes and he’s a boldly confident indie-star that records in fancy-studios with [...]
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars To refer to this as one of the most anticipated albums thus far this year is probably an understatement; throw out Grizzly Bear and this is the album everyone wanted to hear. Passion Pit finally have a full length, Manners , to help you make up your mind; are they worth all this hype? You'll have to make up your own mind on that one, as this album is sure to be a polarizing one for many listeners. It builds upon [...]
As the clamour grows around the release of Manners next week one remix has been ruling them all on the blogosphere - Calvin Harris's discotastic slant on The Reeling . With this post I hope to redress the balance to a more subtle, sweeter and well, less 'look at me, look at me' re-rub. You can't imagine my joy when this popped into my inbox - the press release claiming the original was screaming out for an Afrobeat take on things. Not the most obvious way of going for me but by jove it works. Wallpaper. had [...]
Mom's are the best. They're caring, sweet, motivating and most of all - honest. In honor of mother's day, I played a few of the most anticipated and most talked about albums of 2009 [so far] for my mom. Here she'll tackle the intricate details of Grizzly Bear's latest offering - Veckatimest , Passion Pit's Manners , St. Vincent's Actor and Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix . Let's get to it, shall we: Grizzly Bear [May 26 2009 - Warp Recs] Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks [...]
Passion Pit Manners Frenchkiss Records Out May 19th [85] 8.5 out of 10 stars The way I see it, Passion Pit is like the friend you have who’s always excited about everything. When he talks to you about [...]
Goodbye winter, hello spring. Every year, the retreating snow unveils a cabal of music to celebrate the change of season. Just in time, comes Cambridge, Massachusetts’ own Passion Pit with the lead single, “The Reeling” from the full length debut album, Manners. A synth pad starts this electro pop tune with a cheery yet [...]
Wes Miles pulls at his clothes like he wants to say “Free me from this earthly prison!” He stares into nothing. He turns this way and that with lifts and presses of one boat-shoed foot. Wes Miles does not stand still, and the rest of his band does not stand still, and no one in this cavernous room stands still, and everything jitters electrically. This is Ra Ra Riot’s biggest headlining show to date, and Wes nervously admits this between “Run My Mouth Off” and “Winter ’05,” halfway into the show as if he doesn’t want to jinx [...]
It's been quite the year for Michael Angelakos, mastermind behind Boston based Passion Pit. First, his belated Valentine's Day present turns into an indie hit, then he signs a record deal with French Kiss, and now how he's got a full band and a debut LP called Manners coming out. The musical growth between Chunk of Change EP and Manners is pretty hard to gauge given all that's happened. I was curious to see what would happen to the purity of Angelakos' original mission, and whether the addition of a band would [...]
Brief (yet longer than last time). Bold. Brazen. Burgeoning. Beautiful. The band's as-yet-untitled debut full length will see daylight in May. It will feature a collaboration with an NYC elementary school choir. Last week, PP recorded a WOXY Lounge Session. Visit the Cambridge based quintet on MySpace. View the complete setlist & many more photos AFTER [...]
Photo: Elizabeth Weinberg If your partner forgot valentines day you'd pissed off, right? How about if that same partner made you a cd to make up for it and I'm not talking about a mixtape either. Could you forgive him/her then? Well as a result of missing such an occasion, Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit has done just that. Originally as a Valentines gift, their EP, Chunk of Change , is one sweet apology. Passion Pit's jams are twee yet not excessively cute either. Its as though Passion Pit's tracks were the [...]
So I've consolidated my iTunes onto one computer this year , but as it is with the nature of music, my listening mode has changed. I've begun digging into the past for history and inspiration, and expanded on favorites with re-issues and deluxe editions from the 60s through the 90s. Despite that, most of my top tracks over the year remained in 2008 territory. 3 tracks that weren't came from 2007. Compare with my top 10 albums of 2008 and, for many, this is not a surprise! Since I pretty consistently blog these end of year lists [...]
I hate the hype. It’s dumb, really. Hype ruins good bands. Take a cool indie pop band like Vampire Weekend, add massive amounts of hype and if they do not sound like the second coming of Jesus to...
Having missed the entirety of their August residency at Pianos (hangs head in shame), I was beyond eager to check out the Cambridge based buzz act prior to their inevitable dive into the deep sea of hype. Having released one of my favorite EPs of the past 12 months (Chunk Of Change), I expected nothing [...]
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