The Quixotic Engineer

For whatever reason I was introduced to an astounding number of terrific new artists this month. Perhaps having my headphones on 8 hours a day at work has something to do with it. In any case, here are this month’s Musical Box picks.

Ladytron’s new album Velocifero came out at the beginning of June, and it quickly became one of my favourite albums of 2008 so far. I’m not always big on electropop, but their heavy beats and thick synth layers really won me over. Helen Marnie’s haunting voice probably had something to do with it as well. If you like this song I recommend checking out “Tomorrow” off the same album.

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I’d heard from friends and other video game enthusiasts that Video Games Live was a fantastic experience and well worth going out of your way to see. Unfortunately, life got in the way when they came to Montreal a few months ago, but yesterday I was given a second chance. They were putting on a free show at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto, no more than a hour or two away from my current residence in Waterloo. I thought I’d do a little recap of the evening’s events, and hopefully convince you to check them out if they’re playing near you.

The show was scheduled to start at 8:30, but we got there at 7 to ensure a good spot (it was a free show after all.) There were Wii and Xbox 360 stations set up for people to play, as well as a Guitar Hero competition that went on throughout the day. There were a few cosplayers, including a troupe of Jedis and a dude in a fantastic Phoenix Wright costume. There were also hordes of people playing DS while they waited, so it was a good opportunity for me to take advantage of The World Ends With You‘s mingle mode feature.

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Here’s to another month of recommended listening!

I was linked to Los Campesinos! by Derek Tallon’s blog To Be Determined (he summarizes the video pretty well, with observations about “Big Eared Yellow Shirted Guy With A Fun Singing Accent” and “Shy Guy Who is Probably The Drummer.”) When I first heard them my inner cynic was cringing at the fake cheerleader sounds in the background, an effect that’s really overused in indie rock. Once I got over that, I really enjoyed their debut album Hold on Now, Youngster…, which includes highlights such as “Death to Los Campesinos!” and “You! Me! Dancing!” (it would seem that they’re rather fond of exclamation marks.)

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This month’s Musical Box is brought to you by Second Cup, who very kindly allowed me to leech their free wireless Internet without buying anything. *cough* Well, here’s last month’s musical discoveries (one week late.)

(If I keep posting Nav’s musical suggestions, I’m going to have to rename this series “The Copy/Pasted from Google Reader Box.”) The Internet tells me that Santogold (Santi White) is a music industry veteran, and there was a great deal of anticipation leading up to her debut release. I’m not hip enough to have caught a whiff of said hype, but I really like the album. Santogold has been compared to M.I.A., and the comparison is apt. It’s extremely hard to categorize her sound, she blurs the lines between pop, electro and alternative. The album has hits and misses, but the whole is well worth checking out.

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The Major’s Response – Cover Artists:

Despite rock ‘n’ roll’s widespread success across America, the major record labels were initially mostly uninterested in this new phenomenon. Indeed, until 1955, the independent labels had a “virtual monopoly” on rock ‘n’ roll artists¹. They were the leaders in the rhythm and blues market, and when rock ‘n’ roll took off they simply had to: “modify the arrangements, simplify the beat, and promote rhythm and blues as rock ‘n’ roll.²”

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