New Project! + FLASHLIGHTS

Hey everyone. Ryan H. here, I have a new side project/side blog-thing going on. So when you check the TOME, why don't you just take a second to see what I've got going on at VIDEODRONZ (that is videodrone without the "e" and Videodrome without the "m" and the weird snuff films). The idea is that I post a couple of rad music videos/visual art projects from across the internet that are beautiful/breath-taking/terrifying and allow you to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my hard labor. Sound cool? Need a break from a work? Want something to post on your facebook page to show how cultured and quirky you are (OMG...LOOOOVE THIS!!!)? Then come on over to VIDEODRONZ. Have a suggestion of something I should check out? Or better yet, did you make a music video (all tracking shots, video overlays, and abandoned buildings, plz)? Let me know! I will gladly oblige. Now...on to the music.

FLASHLIGHTS Flashlights EP (05.2010, self-released)

For: Javelin, Hollagramz, Memory Tapes

Byline: So hot right now.

This is how I imagine Phoenix would sound if they weren't from Versailles and instead formed in a dank basement somewhere in the midwestern U.S. Actually, that is pretty much exactly how FLASHLIGHTS sound, to their credit. Somewhere, is in fact Boulder, CO, much more known as a playpen for the million-dollar babies of Marin County Democrats to stop bathing or wearing shoes and starting Grateful Dead cover bands than it is known for spawning deliciously sweet glo-fi basement party jams. But here we are. Granted there isn't an easy reference I can point to past 2009, but still, these three songs hold a lot of promise. Endlessly listenable and incredibly catchy, it is clear this duo listen to the right stuff and know how to process it through laptops and midi controllers. Sam Martin's spaced out synth lines revel in a deeply syncopated discohouse groove that makes it impossible not to imagine laserz and smoke machines. The strength of the music comes from how processed it is (an acoustic guitar line on "Diving Bell" is kind of embarassing), even down to Ethan Converse's oddly robotic voice, but you know, a sexy robot. A sexbot. Filtered but unbowed, Converse's falsetto is a compelling homage to Prince and Noah Lennox, and is one of the most flattering components of the album. Three songs, more than worth downloading, which you can do.....here.

FLASHLIGHTS Myspace

Ryan H.