Alone On A Mountain Top

Au Revoir Simone “And Sleep Al Mar” – It’s actually kind of refreshing to hear something as creepy and lecherous as this song come from an all-girl band. There’s no shortage of songs about older men desiring sexy young boys and girls, but good luck making a top ten list of songs sung from an adult female perspective about lust for teenage boys. This song is considerably darker than Au Revoir Simone’s previous material, but the band doesn’t overdo it, keeping the sinister vibe fairly subtle and cinematic rather than over-the-top and theatrical. It’s rather like a feminine version of Thom Yorke’s piano-based songs on the last two Radiohead albums. (Click here to visit the official Au Revoir Simone site.)

Architecture In Helsinki “Do The Whirlwind” – Though I normally use the word “joycore” as an adjective these days, this song would fit into a hypothetical genre of the same name rather comfortably along with recent music by the likes of United State Of Electronica and The Go! Team. “Do The Whirlwind” sounds like a direct descendent of the Tom Tom Club’s classic “Genius Of Love” not just in its floaty, low-key funk, but also in how it employs cutesy vocals to deliver deceptively heavy lyrics. (Click here to buy it from Remote Control.)