Parlez-vous Freezepop?
Either I've lowered my US-music radar 100% or I've just happened to miss them all these years, but somehow indies synthpop band Freezepop has flown under my radar since 2000. Hearing them for the first time this weekend after my sister forced me to play Guitar Hero 2, I scrolled down the list of gag-me-with-a-spoon metal and classic rock songs until I found one which I liked, and this happened to be Less Talk More Rokk by a quiantly-titled band Freezepop. After having the song get stuck completely in my head for the entire night, I decided to do some research on this band using the intarweb, expecting them to be some sort of one-shot technotronic US band you never hear from again after one mediocre album. But I was very, very wrong. After hearing the samples that they offered on their webpage (freezepop.net), I was convinced that there is a brightly shining glimmer of hope for US artists yet. Freezepop is pretty much what capsule's LDK album would sound like with less cute-pop and more synth thrown in, along with smooth rhyming lyrics bundled in a wonderful, warm sounding voice. Their style is definitely "synthpop", with some techno, club, 80s revival and frenchpop blended in for good measure. In fact, I'd be quite surprised if jpop wasn't an inspiration for them. Freezepop are so cool that they write songs in French and Japanese just for the heck of it and not necessarily making sense, something I vowed to do if I ever got a recording contract of my own. In fact, they're so extremely cool that they covered the Jem theme song. THE JEM THEME SONG!! AHHH (check it out on YouTube). The samples convinced me so much of their greatness that I bought their album Fancy Ultra-Fresh (that is SO a shibuya-kei title) on their personal online shop, for the very low price of $12, along with their new single Less Talk More Rokk that comes with a limited edition signed poster (that's how indies they are). Now, watch it be that everyone who's anyone knows about Freezepop already and I'm all like WOAH *spasm*. But you should definitely check them out on YouTube. And stay tuned. Is there hope for the music industry I abandoned years ago?
RAM RIDER is having a new song featured in the movie Amazing Nuts!, a collection of short animated films. The sample I heard of it is definetely...different. Sounds more technoey and less discoey than what I've come to expect of Rammy, but time will tell.
My parents told me they couldn't find a Wii for me for Christmas (surprise? not really). I don't know if they're joking or not, because they pulled the same stunt with me when the DS first launched. I hope they get more Wiis in before Christmas (I think they are), because it totally looks awesome.