| Young Magic — Still Life (May 13th, 2016) |
Young Magic — Still Life (May 13th, 2016) 
♦•♦ Komu je album určeno? Labužníkům progrese ve world music se špičkovými nahrávacími studiovými postupy, zkrátka, nekompromisním fans. Třetí celovečerní album Young Magic je zároveň nejosobnějším prohlášením globálně zaměřené zpěvačky původem z Indonézie — Melati Malay. Album bylo inspirováno návštěvou rodné země po smrti jejího otce. Po rozsáhlém výzkumu, či snad doslova vyhrabávání rodinné tradice, se vrátila do Brooklynu a začala transformovat své pocity a osobní objevy do těla Young Magic. Je zde obvyklá kohorta spolupracovníků, předně australský producent a zvukový režisér Isaac Emmanuel, americká violoncellistka Kelsey Lu McJunkins, jihoamerický bubeník Daniel Alejandro Siles Mendoza a jazzy/elektronický producent Erin Rioux. “Still Life” zní jako svěží, expanzivní deštný prales, podobně jako předchozí dvě alba “Melt” a “Breathing Statues”. Zde je však více sentimentu, záměrného mixu různých vlivů, tvarovaných do soudržnějšího soundu. Jistě, stále jsou zde hudební prvky trip–hopu, ostrovní garáže s injekcí dubstepu, zasněných, dnes už klišé — IDM 90. let, avšak tyto prvky jsou už méně zjevné a tak celková ‘sondáž do studákovy duše’ je přirozenější. Dále, uslyšíš gamelan rytmy, poskytujíc třpytivý tep — nesnaží se však přímo napodobovat indonézské hudební tradice, případně tradice Javy a Bali. Pokud máš rád éterický a vícevrstvý zpěv s dynamickou basovou linkou a měkčími kytarami, album je tvoje. Je zde také naléhavost, nádherné smyčce, harfa a něco, co zápaďáci nazývají “freely floating midsection”. Album má měkký, uvolněný a jemný zvuk. Je to podmanivá, intenzivně osobní reflexe, představující zatím nejvýraznější signál uměleckého růstu Melati Malay. Ideální nahlédnutí do jejího života.
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia ~ Brooklyn, New York
Genre: Dream pop, trip–hop, electro, and global influences
Album release: May 13th, 2016
Record Label: Carpark Records
Duration: 31:31
Tracks:
01 Valhalla 3:24
02 Lucien 3:38
03 Sleep Now 2:59
04 IWY 3:41
05 Held 4:03
06 Default Memory 3:26
07 How Wonderful 3:23
08 Homage 2:50
09 Sky Interior 2:47
10 Valhalla (Reprise) 2:20
℗ 2016 Carpark
Melati Malay & Isaac Emmanuel
Description:
• The limited edition Deluxe LP includes clear vinyl, and a digital download card.
• The beginnings of Young Magic’s new album, Still Life, coincided with singer Melati Malay revisiting her own, in her birthplace of Indonesia. Having lost her father the previous year, she returned to the island of Java to reconnect with her family, dig up stories, and begin work on a new collection of music.
• “My father had been somewhat of a mystery to me,” Melati says. “How did a boy from the Midwest end up in the jungles of Borneo during the 60s, trading his watch and a carton of cigarettes for the gravestones of the indigenous headhunters?”
• The search led Melati deep into her family history. She rented a small shack by the water for a month, and with just a backpack and microphone, began recording — unraveling a past of superstition, black magic, and ties to the Javanese royal family.
• “I’ve always felt torn, like some kind of hybrid existing between two worlds,” Melati says. “Born to a Catholic father and a Muslim mother, growing up bilingual, attending an international school in Jakarta where all my friends were from different countries…in a city of 30 million people where the clash between poverty and affluence is extreme.”
• Still Life is a deeply personal and idiosyncratic record, somewhere close to the enchanted electronic pop realms occupied by Björk and Broadcast, yet unique to Young Magic. Found sounds and textures feature prominently across Still Life, including the Javanese gamelan, blossoming into ecstatic bursts during the climax of “Lucien.” Melati grounds the textured sonic world with arrows direct to the heart, like the arresting “How Wonderful” where the singer overflows with regret for “all those things I never said.” This is as deeply personal as the group has ever been.
• “In a way, Still Life became a kind of antithesis to a world where people tell you who to pray to, what to buy into, and who your enemies should be. It’s my reaction. Still Life is my way to celebrate music from all corners…my home without borders.”
• Upon returning to New York, her home of 10 years, Melati put together a group of musicians and began reimagining these new musical works inspired by her personal metamorphosis. She enlisted NYC–based cellist and composer Kelsey Lu McJunkins, Detroit producer Erin Rioux, Bolivian percussionist Daniel Alejandro Siles Mendoza, and Australian producer/songwriter Isaac Emmanuel, her longtime collaborator.
• Still Life inhabits a gorgeous, kaleidoscopic world, as delicate and intricate, as it is expansive and immersive. It walks the line between organic and mechanic, where dusty field recordings weave between warm Moogs and Prophets, where jazz breaks bump next to broken drum machines. It’s meticulously crafted outsider pop, made by obsessives, for obsessives.
Label: http://store.carparkrecords.com/
Website: http://www.youngmagicsounds.com/
Bandcamp: https://youngmagic.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youngmagicsounds
New York City cellist Kelsey Lu McJunkins
AllMusic Review by Paul Simpson; Score: ***½
• Still Life, the third full–length by Brooklyn–based Young Magic, is easily the globally conscious dream pop group’s most personal statement to date. The album was inspired by lead songwriter and vocalist Melati Malay’s homecoming visit to her native Indonesia following the death of her father. After an extensive period of digging up family lore, she returned to New York and began translating her feelings and personal discoveries into Young Magic songs. Malay and her usual cohort Isaac Emmanuel are joined here by musicians such as New York City cellist Kelsey Lu McJunkins, South American percussionist Daniel Alejandro Siles Mendoza, and jazzy electronic producer Erin Rioux. Still Life sounds as lush, expansive, and rainforest–like as the previous two Young Magic albums, but there seems to be more of an affected, yearning sentiment to it. The release also seems more focused, blending the group’s myriad influences into a more cohesive sound. Previous recordings melded musical elements such as trip–hop, U.K. garage/dubstep, and dreamy mid–‘90s IDM (a la Seefeel), and while those sounds are still present, they’re less overt and more natural–sounding than before. Gamelan rhythms provide a heartbeat for these songs, but it doesn’t sound like they’re directly trying to emulate Indonesian musical traditions. Malay’s ethereal, multi–layered vocals mesh comfortably with the resounding bass tones and soft guitars on songs like “Sleep Now.” “Held” is Young Magic at their most blissful, with rolling drums, gorgeous strings and harps, and a freely floating midsection. “Default Memory” is the album’s soul–searching highlight, with more insistent but still dreamy rolling drums, gently buzzing synths, detailed production, and sighing vocals that revolve around the longing hook “but I would like to be with you.” The album has a soft, loose, and delicate sound, but it never feels weak or hopeless; Malay’s sentiments are always urgent and sincere. Still Life is a captivating album of intense personal reflection, and marks a significant amount of artistic growth.
Review
Collin Robinson | May 6, 2016 — 2:02 pm |
• It’s been a hell of journey tagging along with NY–based experimental pop duo Young Magic as vocalist Melati Malay rediscovers her Indonesian roots through sound on their album Still Life. We’ve heard “Lucien,” “Sleep Now,” and “Default Memory,” all of them either sonically or lyrically were beautiful invitations to explore with Malay. The gamelan — an ensemble music of Java and Bali in Indonesia made up mostly percussive instruments mixing metallophones played by mallets and hand–played drums called kendhang — is largely featured on the album, and it makes for exquisite textures and layers. Malay’s delicate vocals glide over the beautifully unorthodox and inventive aesthetics for a gorgeous experience. Still Life is streaming in its entirety via WNYC. • http://www.stereogum.com/1875588/stream-young-magic-still-life/mp3s/
• Text Emily Manning: https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/meet-kelsey-lu-the-classically-trained-cellist-who-won-over-wet-and-dev-hynes
• Interview by Alex: http://altcitizen.com/interview-young-magics-breathing-statues-is-like-a-waking-dream/
• By Radu Lupo · On 28. Juli 2014: http://11plus3.de/isaac-emmanuel-young-magic/
_____________________________________________________________
| Young Magic — Still Life (May 13th, 2016) |
Genre: Dream pop, trip–hop, electro, and global influences
Album release: May 13th, 2016
Record Label: Carpark Records
Duration: 31:31
Tracks:
01 Valhalla 3:24
02 Lucien 3:38
03 Sleep Now 2:59
04 IWY 3:41
05 Held 4:03
06 Default Memory 3:26
07 How Wonderful 3:23
08 Homage 2:50
09 Sky Interior 2:47
10 Valhalla (Reprise) 2:20
℗ 2016 Carpark
Description:
• The limited edition Deluxe LP includes clear vinyl, and a digital download card.
• The beginnings of Young Magic’s new album, Still Life, coincided with singer Melati Malay revisiting her own, in her birthplace of Indonesia. Having lost her father the previous year, she returned to the island of Java to reconnect with her family, dig up stories, and begin work on a new collection of music.
• “My father had been somewhat of a mystery to me,” Melati says. “How did a boy from the Midwest end up in the jungles of Borneo during the 60s, trading his watch and a carton of cigarettes for the gravestones of the indigenous headhunters?”
• The search led Melati deep into her family history. She rented a small shack by the water for a month, and with just a backpack and microphone, began recording — unraveling a past of superstition, black magic, and ties to the Javanese royal family.
• “I’ve always felt torn, like some kind of hybrid existing between two worlds,” Melati says. “Born to a Catholic father and a Muslim mother, growing up bilingual, attending an international school in Jakarta where all my friends were from different countries…in a city of 30 million people where the clash between poverty and affluence is extreme.”
• Still Life is a deeply personal and idiosyncratic record, somewhere close to the enchanted electronic pop realms occupied by Björk and Broadcast, yet unique to Young Magic. Found sounds and textures feature prominently across Still Life, including the Javanese gamelan, blossoming into ecstatic bursts during the climax of “Lucien.” Melati grounds the textured sonic world with arrows direct to the heart, like the arresting “How Wonderful” where the singer overflows with regret for “all those things I never said.” This is as deeply personal as the group has ever been.
• “In a way, Still Life became a kind of antithesis to a world where people tell you who to pray to, what to buy into, and who your enemies should be. It’s my reaction. Still Life is my way to celebrate music from all corners…my home without borders.”
• Upon returning to New York, her home of 10 years, Melati put together a group of musicians and began reimagining these new musical works inspired by her personal metamorphosis. She enlisted NYC–based cellist and composer Kelsey Lu McJunkins, Detroit producer Erin Rioux, Bolivian percussionist Daniel Alejandro Siles Mendoza, and Australian producer/songwriter Isaac Emmanuel, her longtime collaborator.
• Still Life inhabits a gorgeous, kaleidoscopic world, as delicate and intricate, as it is expansive and immersive. It walks the line between organic and mechanic, where dusty field recordings weave between warm Moogs and Prophets, where jazz breaks bump next to broken drum machines. It’s meticulously crafted outsider pop, made by obsessives, for obsessives.
Label: http://store.carparkrecords.com/
Website: http://www.youngmagicsounds.com/
Bandcamp: https://youngmagic.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youngmagicsounds
AllMusic Review by Paul Simpson; Score: ***½
• Still Life, the third full–length by Brooklyn–based Young Magic, is easily the globally conscious dream pop group’s most personal statement to date. The album was inspired by lead songwriter and vocalist Melati Malay’s homecoming visit to her native Indonesia following the death of her father. After an extensive period of digging up family lore, she returned to New York and began translating her feelings and personal discoveries into Young Magic songs. Malay and her usual cohort Isaac Emmanuel are joined here by musicians such as New York City cellist Kelsey Lu McJunkins, South American percussionist Daniel Alejandro Siles Mendoza, and jazzy electronic producer Erin Rioux. Still Life sounds as lush, expansive, and rainforest–like as the previous two Young Magic albums, but there seems to be more of an affected, yearning sentiment to it. The release also seems more focused, blending the group’s myriad influences into a more cohesive sound. Previous recordings melded musical elements such as trip–hop, U.K. garage/dubstep, and dreamy mid–‘90s IDM (a la Seefeel), and while those sounds are still present, they’re less overt and more natural–sounding than before. Gamelan rhythms provide a heartbeat for these songs, but it doesn’t sound like they’re directly trying to emulate Indonesian musical traditions. Malay’s ethereal, multi–layered vocals mesh comfortably with the resounding bass tones and soft guitars on songs like “Sleep Now.” “Held” is Young Magic at their most blissful, with rolling drums, gorgeous strings and harps, and a freely floating midsection. “Default Memory” is the album’s soul–searching highlight, with more insistent but still dreamy rolling drums, gently buzzing synths, detailed production, and sighing vocals that revolve around the longing hook “but I would like to be with you.” The album has a soft, loose, and delicate sound, but it never feels weak or hopeless; Malay’s sentiments are always urgent and sincere. Still Life is a captivating album of intense personal reflection, and marks a significant amount of artistic growth.
Review
Collin Robinson | May 6, 2016 — 2:02 pm |
• It’s been a hell of journey tagging along with NY–based experimental pop duo Young Magic as vocalist Melati Malay rediscovers her Indonesian roots through sound on their album Still Life. We’ve heard “Lucien,” “Sleep Now,” and “Default Memory,” all of them either sonically or lyrically were beautiful invitations to explore with Malay. The gamelan — an ensemble music of Java and Bali in Indonesia made up mostly percussive instruments mixing metallophones played by mallets and hand–played drums called kendhang — is largely featured on the album, and it makes for exquisite textures and layers. Malay’s delicate vocals glide over the beautifully unorthodox and inventive aesthetics for a gorgeous experience. Still Life is streaming in its entirety via WNYC. • http://www.stereogum.com/1875588/stream-young-magic-still-life/mp3s/
• Text Emily Manning: https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/meet-kelsey-lu-the-classically-trained-cellist-who-won-over-wet-and-dev-hynes
• Interview by Alex: http://altcitizen.com/interview-young-magics-breathing-statues-is-like-a-waking-dream/
• By Radu Lupo · On 28. Juli 2014: http://11plus3.de/isaac-emmanuel-young-magic/