Miike Snow – Miike Snow, Album Review & Giveaway

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Miike Snow
Miike Snow

Downtown Records
out May 12th

[67]
[Rating Scale]

[rating:67/100]
I swear, I thought it was a typo.

Luis asked me, “Have you ever heard for Miike Snow?” I honestly answered, “No”, but told him that I am always down for new music and after hearing a clip of their stuff, I had to agree and say that I could write an honest review of their self titled album, which debuted on May 12th of this year.

Inner monologue ensued. “Miike Snow? Two I’s? Luis was on his iPhone so maybe he hit 2 i’s by accident?” As I tried to figure it out, I visited the Miike Snow myspace page to find out that he indeed had not made a mistake. Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson, and Pontus Winnberg make up this ecletic band from Sweden (which explains the ice block on their well-designed album cover), which was named after the controversial movie director and producer Takashi Miike from Japan. This guy made his mark for making extremely bloody, sex-filled anime-type movies.

So yeah, as I was about to hit ‘play’, I must admit I was a little bit scared. Was I going to hear a Nine inch nails type rock? Was it going to be Sin City like electro-hard, drum and bass? Honesty? I had no idea what to expect and intrigued, I threw on my headphones, turned up the volume, and let it fly.

And with the first few beats, a smile crept up on my face and my head was bumpin’ to ‘Animal’, the lead single, the lead track and by far, the best song on the album, giving a very nice “Huey Lewis, Passion Pit vocal collabo”, as my friend, Dave so eloquently put it. The song is so damn catchy; the beat starts off-beat the vocal staccato and you kind of find yourself boppin around the room for no reason other than just to… err… bop… around.

[audio=http://pmatunes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/01-animal1.mp3,Miike Snow - Animal,download]

The progression from track one to eleven is seemingly a reflection of their influences; you can feel and hear the electronica of europe with the feel of emotional filled vocals that resemble the bands coming out of Brooklyn as of late. The album, as a whole, transitions seamlessly from one track to the other, with the drum and bass acting as the core that brings you along for the chill ride.

After listening to the tracks several times, I get the feeling that these guys picked the name Miike Snow not to represent the blood, gore, and sex, but to pay homage to another fellow artist who never let critics deter from his vision. Being artists, I found holds true to the last track ‘Faker’, which starts out sounding like a ring-tone rap, MIDI-sounding track. At first, I was a little turned off, but figured that this was done on purpose with the properly titled song. Just like Jay-Z’s cry to do away with the ring-tones that flood and degrade hip hop, I thought ‘Faker’ was Miike Snow’s way of saying, “Do away with the fake, and here’s our call for real music.”

[audio=http://pmatunes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/11-faker.mp3,Miike Snow - Faker,download]

Even now, I am looking forward to the Swedish trio of Wyatt, Karlsson, and Winnberg to jump several fold from this self-titled debut to an even more eclectic follow-up album, which I boldly predict will propel them into the forefront of the indie world.

That is, if the remixes to this remix-vulnerable album doesnt already do that well in advance (yes, to all of you aspiring producers/djs, remix these songs and let’s see what you got!)

To enter to win a copy of Miike Snow, leave a comment with your thoughts on the tracks you’ve just sampled, or (if you’ve listened to it) the album. Make sure you leave your name/email address in the provided fields! Entries will be accepted until June 22nd

Richard Yoon is contributor here at Pretty Much Amazing. While he’s not runnin’ around the hospital or listening to music, he is blogging over at Music is My Hot Hot Sex.

by Richard Yoon on June 15, 2009 ‡ 2 reactions