I stumbled upon this duo last week and really started enjoying their stuff. Though I'm sure the average indie fan (which seems to be their demographic at the moment) will dismiss them as following the increasingly derogatory genre of chillwave, Elite Gymnastics run through moments of spoken word, breakbeats, and shoegaze.

Pitchfork did an interview with them today that shows a refusal to rehash and copy this terrible movement of independent music as templated product. (See faux-vintage photography, pointless filtering, and overplayed "nostalgia for the unremembered" decades.)

Here's my favorite quote: "JB: I'm not super into 4chan, but it's a well-known example of the kind of thing that is ultimately more constructive and interesting than somebody Tumblr-ing a bunch of pictures of things they bought or girls with unrealistic body types that they'd like to sleep with or beat. We're interested in the weird, wacky, message-board-y sites rather than narcissistic tweeting about what clubs you're going to tonight or posting GIFs of your favorite things from "Mad Men"." Whoever defends 4chan and hates on "unrealistic body types" is awesome. Nuff said.

Elite Gymnastics - so close to paradise

I just completed a CSS3 cover field that uses WebKit's 3D transforms. Because the Chrome team hasn't integrated 3D transforms yet it only works on Safari. Check it out here.

A new track came to me recently, and I was inspired to fire up my amp. Quickly I realized that El Ten Eleven, through all the melody, layers waves and plays with tone in an exponentially more ethereal way than any of it's contemporaries.

Cease and Persist pushes pop harder than any of their previous songs and at times finds itself lost in thought.

El Ten Eleven - Cease And Persist.mp3

It's been a while so I'm officially giving an explanation for my down time.

This past May I moved to San Francisco for a pretty demanding job. Though most non-professional bloggers I know of are also busy as all hell and I've actually been going to more shows than I ever did in Providence or New York, I haven't found the effort to post. It's obvious to me that blogging just isn't a top priority right now, and I've been avoiding writing this sort of message because of this comic.

Anyway, in case you were interested. I have been listening to a load of music. I've been loving (along with everyone else) Washed Out and his new EP, Life of Leisure, I adore what I've heard from DMST's upcoming album, Other Truths, and seeing Dirty Projectors, Japandroids, and Oneida has made my last few months.

Out

Obviously Bitte Orca is a triumph, but I've been swept off my feet by its centerpiece. It's the cornerstone of ethereal vocals that glues the album and spouts its namesake. Every time I listen to Useful Chamber it's rejuvenated and enjoyable. It's wonderful to feel my mind tugged by chords and melodies that have little in common with those of pop and rock, and when the catchy synth line from the opening of the track is reimagined through Angel and Amber's voices I can't help but bask in the gust of sound.

Bitte Orca isn't for everyone, and neither is Useful Chamber. But the track is unique in a time when so much of what we hear is repackaged and regurgitated. I love remixes and cliche chord structures, but it's the progressive sounds that give me shivers.

Dirty Projectors - Useful Chamber.mp3 more