BRSKY is the Florida.

FL Music Spotlight: Sleigh Bells

Floridian Derek E. Miller and Alexis Krauss, a.k.a. Sleigh Bells may have just formed world’s first… hardcore girl pop band? Their story begins in late 2008 when Derek E. Miller–former guitar player for post-hardcore notables Poison the Well (FL!)–waited on Alexis and her mother (guess life is less hardcore after PtW). Derek was looking for a female vocalist for a new music project, and, as the story goes, Alexis’ mother volunteered her in what surely was an excruciatingly embarrassing moment. In her teen days, Alexis sang in a girl pop group of indeterminate quality… we doubt Derek was too picky, in that regard. Before long, Derek and Alexis were making music, and not too long after that, word of their live shows and first few singles were gaining viral momentum around the web. By the end of 2009, Sleigh Bells buzz was leaking to mainstream media outlets. With only a couple tracks recorded, Sleigh Bells managed to land at #57 in Pitchfork’s top 100 list of 2009 with “Crown on the Ground”

(If the song doesn’t load, go here)

With all this hype before even releasing an EP, let alone an album, could Sleigh Bells meet expectations in 2010? With the release of Treats last month, we think that they have. In fact, Treats is currently boasting a remarkable 87 average review on Metacritic.com, very unusual for an album this edgy. The reviews seem a little inflated, perhaps for the hype, but we won’t deny the quixotic appeal.

Here is our official review:

Sleigh Bells – Treats

77/100

Their music is very loud, abrupt, and noisy… an unlikely backdrop for the happygirl vocals of Alexis Krauss, who repeats whimsical little mini-hooks against a storm of distortion and machine fuzz. As challenging as some of the tracks may be, we like this album because we can’t think of a genre-bender quite like it right now. Sleigh Bells managed to first fuse together two massive, adrenaline pumping styles–hardcore and crunk hip hop–but then took it a step further by sprinkling it with soft, feminine synth pop vocals. Occasionally the sonic shitstorm stalls long enough to hear Alexis chirp something about “your boyfriend”, immediately cut off when overdriven, heavily stacked chunks of “melody” resume the assault on your eardrums. The compression and overdriven distortion are usually so heavy that they nearly mute out the vocal tracks when the two coincide – this usually would constitute a production error, but this seems consistent with the spirit of Treats: Unrelenting, unpolished, provocative machine “pop”. Treats may be too much for most listeners, but if you hear about them performing near you, GO. Sleigh Bells is a recipe for a fun live show if nothing else. They’re in Brooklyn now (who isn’t?), but with roots in the Sunshine State, Floridians should keep an eye on Sleigh Bells.

Machine Drum Returns to Miami

Attention 305: Thursday, May 20th, Machine Drum returns to Miami to headline (((Shake))) / Get Low at the Vagabond. Shake is a weekly event at the Vagabond that showcases hip hop music. Once each month Shake takes on the moniker “Get Low” as part of a showcase of bass music. Hip hop and bass are definitely two popular ingredients in Machine Drum’s music, but let us take a step back to properly mark the significance of this show.

Back before the chirpy, pop-sampling “glitch hop” that we know today, there were a few guys out their blazing the trail for re-sampled hip hop and funk. Prefuse 73 you probably know. But not far behind was Machine Drum a.k.a. machinedrum a.k.a Travis Stewart, bringing a more aggressive sound to the game, with more emphasis on rap and early hip hop (pre-Diddy).

Travis has been on the “indie electronic” trail since the early 2000s, mixing up his own blend of surgically modified hip hop music from his then-headquarters in Orlando. His connection to Miami comes way of Merck Records (2000-2007), Miami’s almost-famous IDM label that helped boost the career of Tycho, among others. There he established himself as one of the progenitors of experimental hip hop, going on to score some commercial success – like selling beats to Adult Swim. Not bad. Travis currently resides in Brooklyn, where we can only assume that chin-stroking hipsters (yes, that awful word) are debating the merits of album art as we speak.

Interested, but not sure if you’re down with his music? Rumor has it Bill Brasky will be there. Also, performing will be Miami’s dubstep alpha, Juan Basshead as well as friend-of-the-blog, Afromonk. And if that’s still not enough, then try a few of these:

Blind Horse Falls into Pool

MERRITT ISLAND — A blind horse wandered into a swimming pool after escaping from its stable on Friday. Whooaa Nelly!

The horse was discovered by homeowner Stephanie Wittman, who, coincidentally, is also blind. Well no, but that would be pretty funny?

Animal enforcement officers managed to get the horse out of the pool by luring it to the shallow end. No word on how the blind horse was lured, but carrots on sticks come to mind. Here’s an actual picture:

The horse, whose muscular, veiny body loosely wields the strength of hundreds of men, managed not to kill anyone, a true miracle. The horse, unfortunately, suffered a chipped hoof and was blown up on site.

OK, that’s not true either, but if you’re really interested in the benign details of the rescue of this terrible sightless beast, please visit the Bay News 9 article.

Special thanks to BRASKY correspondent Jacqui Clark for bringing us the story.