Introverted Dancefloor - Happiness is Such A Mess

This is music for musicians, and for those who like to think about their music as much as feel it. Introverted Dancefloor is the name of a new project from Bevan Smith, known for running a variety of monikers over time...Aspen, Skallender, Signer...and also for being one half of one the great NZ bands of the mid-2000s, Over The Atlantic. The new self-titled album from which "Happiness is Such A Mess" hails has taken four years to arrive. It sounds like it was an almost tortured genesis. Bevan deliberately put himself under a lot of pressure to create an album that was difficult to make. Limiting himself to only two synths, one mic, one filter and one effects processor, many of the songs were scratched and restarted. "Happiness.." demands quite a few listens to get inside one's subconscious, but it is a pleasure after several. And it is not just an aural experience, bringing with it some simple, hopefully helpful, existentialism...(!)

"If you ever feel unhappy,
don't forget that things are bound to change,
not that change is such a good thing,
there's a chance that things might get much worse" 

The stunning video that accompanies this single  was directed by Rowan Pierce, with photography by Matt Henley. Choreography was by Victoria Colombus with dancers Errol Anderson and Emma Martin. Bevan has been on the Carpark Records label since 1999 and says he feels grateful to still be one of what we know to be a stable of well-respected artists. But his continued presence on the label is not accidental. Here is an artist who must continue to interest music fans. And there is an integrity to the intellectualism he brings to it. It is also fun. A range of links are provided below to enable the reader to get to know Introverted Dancefloor better. Highly recommended. Watch out for the album release in September. Hopefully we will get a few more video releases ahead of the release date.

https://www.facebook.com/introverteddancefloor
http://carparkrecords.com/press/introverteddancefloor/
https://soundcloud.com/carparkrecords/happiness-is-such-a-mess-introverted-dancefloor
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/201762935/introverted-dancefloor

Introverted Dancefloor - "Happiness is Such A Mess"

Princess Chelsea - Frack

In space, no one can hear you giggle. Directed by Simon Ward (director of Lawrence Arabia's latest - also posted on this blog), this video is an ode to a variety of science fiction movies/shows (including Battlestar Galactica) and features spaceships, cryostatic bed hair and the Princess looking a bit bored in space. Psychopathic traits exhibited in terms of a lack of empathy for the loyal skeleton. Fun video. Great "futuristic" production. Also contains personal biblical themes apparently! You can buy the track at the link below.

 http://princesschelsea.lilchiefrecords.com/track/frack



Princess Chelsea - Frack

The Ruby Suns - Kingfisher Call Me

One of my singles of the year, "Kingfisher Call Me" from The Ruby Suns demanded a video of comparable quality, and here we have one, directed by Sweden's Frode & Marcus (Lykke Li, El Perro del Mar). Coming from an unusual tangent with a very hairy, very primeval-looking Ryan McPhun, it is not what I imagined for the song with it's 80s musical references, but works brilliantly. The song is off  The Ruby Suns' (keenly awaited) new album "Christopher", which was recorded, at least partially, in Norway. The album will be released in January 2013 on the Memphis Industries label. Knowing very little about Scandinavian mythologies, but still a little, I can picture the cultural fabric this video might be emerging from. We have ended up with a sort of Scandinavian forest psychedelia. I love it. You can find out more about The Ruby Suns at the link below.

http://www.memphis-industries.com/artist/the-ruby-suns/



The Ruby Suns - Kingfisher Call Me

SJD - I Wrote This Song For You

Sorry the blog has not been updated daily the last few days. I have been in Paris on a work trip. Following on from our recent sojourns into SJD-land, here is "I Wrote This Song For You" from 2007's "Songs From A Dictaphone" album. This was not the best of his albums...but still a very good one. If you would like to hear more, or purchase the album, it is available at the link below.

http://sjdnz.bandcamp.com/album/songs-from-a-dictaphone



SJD - I Wrote This Song For You (Round Trip Mars 2007)