Under the radar #25

Lightspeed Champion's Devonte Hynes (Credit: Ophelia Wynn)

Lightspeed Champion, "Falling Off Lavender Bridge" (Domino)
Hyped on: A Plague of Angels; Brooklyn Vegan; DoucheBagFace
Official site
MySpace

Who: Test Icicles was a blog-hyped East London noise outfit that featured a comically brazen live show and one of worst band names of the past decade. After disbanding in 2006, one-third of the group, Devonte Hynes, picked up an acoustic guitar and turned singer-songwriter—but a particularly inspiring one, who sings just like Ed Harcourt with more of a Conor Oberst emo-for-grownups ethic.

What: “Bridge” was recorded in Omaha, Neb., with Saddle Creek vet Mike Mogis, who provided the foundation for Hynes’ obvious love for American roots music: lap steel, banjo, woodwinds and violins all appear on the album’s 10-minute heart, “Midnight Surprise.” With throwback boy-girl harmonies (without a wink of irony), “Tell Me What It’s Worth” can go toe-to-toe with any of the great Brill Building homages being recorded by She & Him. Bluegrass-tinged “Let the Bitches Die” is darker than the music lets on.       

Made for: Fans of lush instrumentation and weird hats (Hynes frequently rocks furry headgear, even in summer). The dozens of people waiting for a Test Icicles reunion tour.  

X-Factor: Though reared in a London suburb, Hynes, who speaks with a proper English accent, was born in Houston, Texas. – MR


The Presets, "Apocalypso" (Modular)
Hyped on: The Music Slut; Comfort Music; TLOBF
Official site
MySpace

Who: In the U.S., recent chart-toppers include Josh Groban, Jack Johnson and Danity Kane. Australia? They prefer the Sydney-based electro-rock stylings of Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes, who, as the Presets, recently hit No. 1 with their second release “Apocalypso.”
 
What: A few places have tagged the Presets with the “new rave” label (think Klaxons), and touring with the Rapture brought the duo some NYC dance-rock associations, but these are misnomers. On their admittedly harsher second record, the group is more thump than groove…or, say, more Nitzer Ebb than Hot Chip/Daft Punk. But it’s not all noise; the band’s pop tendencies (such as on the chorus of their native hit “My People”) provide a warm contrast, and often outshine its industrial-lite assault.
 
Made for: Rivetheads with a secret love of Top 40. Dance-rock fans who veer towards rock. People who think VNV Nation would be perfect if they were Aussies.
 
X-Factor: Daniel Johns of Silverchair has collaborated with the Presets, both on their records and on a side project called the Dissociatives. – KM


Priscilla Ahn, "A Good Day" (Blue Note)
Hyped on: Kevchino's Indie Music Blog; Rocketfuel; My Crazy Music Blog
Official site
MySpace

Who: Priscilla Ahn grew up as Priscilla Hartranft in a rural Pennsylvania town called Bernville and cut her teeth on open mics in the greater Philadelphia area, often driving 90 minutes or more to perform a single song. She made an early fan in Philly singer-songwriter Amos Lee, who helped get her signed to his label, Blue Note—also home to a certain velvet-voiced chanteuse to whom Ahn is frequently compared (Norah Jones, dummy…what, you haven’t been hanging out at Borders lately?).

What: Ahn makes gentle, twinkling folk-pop and sings it with such unforced sweetness that even the angst-ridden metalheads of podunk Pennsylvania probably get dewy-eyed over it. Blue Note is, predictably, pushing the album’s most maudlin song, a cello-laden high school diary entry called “Dream,” but hey, it’s working—the song turned up on the season finale of “Grey’s Anatomy” and landed Ahn a spot on “The Tonight Show.” But it’s the quirkier numbers on “A Good Day” that really showcase Ahn’s unique talents, especially a gorgeous shy-girl love song called “Wallflower” and the almost rockin’ “Red Cape,” which suggests that Ahn has a very bright future when she puts some more distance between herself and her open-mic folk roots.

Made for: Teenaged girls with acoustic guitars and LiveJournal accounts. Young romantics looking for something hipper than Norah Jones to play at their next candlelight dinner date. Anyone who’s a sucker for a pretty, unaffected female singing voice.

X-Factor: “A Good Day” was produced by longtime Beck sideman and drummer extraordinaire Joey Waronker, who deserves a lot of credit for mixing up the record’s sonic palette. Dig the almost psychedelic arrangement on “Astronaut” and the trippy vocal loops that close out the album. – AH