Klaxons | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The London-based Klaxons feature the combined talents of Jamie Reynolds, James Righton, and Simon Taylor. Despite being a rock band at the core, Klaxons are heavily influenced by dance music, particularly the late-80s/early-90s U.K. rave movement. (Reynolds has even dubbed his band "nu-rave" to further emphasize the inspiration.) By the time Klaxons released their second low-key single, they had become a favorite of publications such as NME and wound up signing with Polydor Records. As the group set to work on its first album, the Modular label issued a brief singles compilation entitled Xan Valleys in late 2006. Myths of the Near Future, the full-length debut, was then released in early 2007 on both sides of the Atlantic. That same year, Myths of the Near Future won the coveted Mercury Prize. In 2008, Klaxons began work recording new songs. Purportedly, the bands label Polydor felt the songs were too experimental and rejected the album. Subsequently, Klaxons did re-record the album with producer Ross Robinson. In 2010, Klaxons released the material as its sophomore effort Surfing the Void. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: Xan Valleys Released: 2006-10-16 Tracks: 6 Duration: 20:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Gravity’s Rainbow (02:35) 2 Atlantis to Interzone (03:18) 3 Four Horsemen of 2012 (02:29) 4 The Bouncer (02:14) 5 Gravity’s Rainbow (Van She remix) (05:24) 6 Atlantis to Interzone (Crystal Castles remix) (04:12) |
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: Myths of the Near Future Released: 2007-01-29 Tracks: 13 Duration: 59:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Two Receivers (04:18) 2 Atlantis to Interzone (03:18) 3 Golden Skans (02:45) 4 Totem on the Timeline (02:41) 5 As Above, So Below (03:58) 6 Isle of Her (03:54) 7 Gravity’s Rainbow (02:36) 8 Forgotten Works (03:26) 9 Magick (03:30) 10 It’s Not Over Yet (03:35) 11 Four Horsemen of 2012 / [untitled] (19:42) 12 As Above, So Below (French version) (03:47) 13 Electrickery (02:19) |
| Myths of the Near Future : Allmusic album Review : Breathlessly anointed by the British press as pioneers of the "new rave" movement, Klaxons arent quite as radical on Myths of the Near Future as theyve been made out to be -- but theyre not as grating as the hype around them would suggest, either. Their sound is closer to dance-punk than revamped Madchester giddiness, more like Bloc Party before they got very, very serious than the Happy Mondays or Stone Roses. "Atlantis to Interzone" is the bands most overtly dancey song. Opening with shouts of "DJ!" sirens and guitars that sound sampled, but arent, then segueing to beats and rhythms that soar and plunge like a roller coaster, the song is the closest approximation of what a "new rave" would actually sound like. Fortunately, though, Klaxons dont limit themselves to a strict diet of shouty vocals, angular guitars, and loping basslines (though these are all present and accounted for on less interesting tracks like "Magick" and "Four Horsemen of 2012"). Myths of the Near Futures layered, deep-focus production prevents the bands sound from getting too boxed-in, elevating "Forgotten Works" and "Isle of Her" with choral vocals and a chilly atmosphere reminiscent of Gary Numan, "Ashes to Ashes" Bowie, and the colder side of Wire. Paradoxically, Klaxons more classic leanings are what make Myths of the Near Futures best songs sound fresh. "As Above, So Below," "Gravitys Rainbow," "Golden Skans," and "Its Not Over Yet" range from brisk, witty pop to radiant ballads, but they all boast hooks and melodies that many of Klaxons more straightforward indie contemporaries would be proud to call their own. Its a little uneven and definitely not the reinvention of music as we know it, but Myths of the Near Future is a strong enough debut to survive a level of hype that has crushed other bands, and enjoyable enough to return to when the hype dies down. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: A Bugged Out Mix Released: 2007-10-01 Tracks: 27 Duration: 2:04:43 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Breakbeat Metal Music (04:22) 2 Tasty (07:19) 3 Butterfly (02:30) 4 Shooting Tigers (Play Paul remix) (05:01) 5 Artology (06:12) 6 Dry (04:48) 7 Breaking Bones (05:29) 8 Ride Baby Ride (Strip mix) (04:46) 9 Audiotonique (05:59) 10 It Doesnt Matter (05:11) 11 Stress (03:40) 12 Moon Unit Park 1 (07:38) 13 Its Not Over Yet (Brodinski remix) / Aleister Crowley - 666 (07:09) 1 In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus) (03:16) 2 Shame on a Nigga (02:54) 3 King of the Flies (03:50) 4 They Dont Want Your Corn, They Want Your Kids (02:35) 5 Garden of Earthly Delights (02:29) 6 Sorry for Laughing (02:54) 7 Im Not a Juvenile Delinquent Rock, Rock, Rock (02:32) 8 Zen Archer (09:30) 9 Night (03:16) 10 Caramel (02:54) 11 For Kate I Wait (03:51) 12 Me, White Noise (06:09) 13 We Blame Chicago (05:37) 14 Its Over (02:45) |
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: Surfing the Void Released: 2010-08-20 Tracks: 10 Duration: 38:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Echoes (03:45) 2 The Same Space (03:11) 3 Surfing the Void (02:30) 4 Valley of the Calm Trees (03:16) 5 Venusia (04:07) 6 Extra Astronomical (03:17) 7 Twin Flames (04:19) 8 Flashover (05:06) 9 Future Memories (03:42) 10 Cypherspeed (05:08) |
| Surfing the Void : Allmusic album Review : Nu rave felt like a distant memory by the time Klaxons second album Surfing the Void appeared, much longer than three years after their debut Myths of the Near Future kick-started the style’s day-glo mix of rock and dance, winning the Mercury Prize along the way. Accolades like these meant expectations were high for the band’s follow-up, especially from Klaxons’ label. Surfing the Void had a famously difficult birth, with an entire album’s worth of songs scrapped for being “too uncommercial” and aborted sessions with Simian Mobile Discos James Ford among other producers. The band’s work with Slipknot and At the Drive-In producer Ross Robinson got the green light from their label; while Klaxons don’t quite go from nu rave to nu metal on these songs, the album is so dense, urgent and shrill that they sound more like their namesakes than they did before. They get their most accessible song out of the way first: The single “Echoes” is downright ingratiating, from its huge choruses to its undulating basslines. From there, the band dives headfirst into a sometimes baffling but rarely boring prog-industrial-psychedelic fusion. They don’t just surf the void, they do their best to fill it with hard-edged music and ayahuasca-fueled lyrics about time travel and spiritual enlightenment, at once conveying and causing sensory overload. Klaxons showed a fondness for chaos on Myths of the Near Futures “Atlantis to Interzone” and “Four Horsemen of 2012,” but it’s a full-blown love affair on the title track. With its furious, simultaneous piano and guitar riffs, “Surfing the Void” recalls a trippier “Atlantis” as well as two completely different songs playing at the same time. Meanwhile, “Flashover” invents metal-prog-pop, somehow turning the phrase “myriads of silver discs” into a hook and making its abrasiveness catchy. Klaxons are no strangers to blending pop and more challenging sounds, but this time it sounds like more of a struggle. “The Same Space” shows the band still has a flair for bittersweet melodies, even if this one is doing battle against a thuddingly heavy beat. Though Surfing the Void is less accessible than Klaxons’ debut, it’s still so tightly structured that things never get completely out of hand. “Venusia” wants to scale Muses heights, but its density and straightforward structure elude epic status. What may be most interesting about Surfing the Void is Klaxons newfound earnestness, which feels like a byproduct of how hard it was for them to get the album made. Where they used to be cerebral smart alecks dropping allusions to Pynchon and Burroughs, they now sing equally cryptic but heartfelt lyrics about “true horizons” and “imaginations opening.” This idealism, along with the music’s sheer density and strangeness, will fascinate some -- but while Surfing the Voids admirable boldness is hard to dismiss, it’s also not especially easy to like. Ultimately, it’s a difficult album on many levels. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: Landmarks of Lunacy Released: 2010-12-25 Tracks: 5 Duration: 22:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 The Pale Blue Dot (04:05) 2 Silver Forest (03:29) 3 Ivy Leaves (03:29) 4 Wildeflowers (04:03) 5 Marble Fields (07:19) |
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Love Frequency Released: 2014-06-16 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:05:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 A New Reality (04:27) 2 There Is No Other Time (03:35) 3 Show Me a Miracle (03:25) 4 Out of the Dark (04:50) 5 Children of the Sun (03:56) 6 Invisible Forces (03:42) 7 Rhythm of Life (05:28) 8 Liquid Light (03:06) 9 The Dreamers (04:29) 10 Atom to Atom (04:32) 11 Love Frequency (04:36) 12 Love Frequency (Tom Rowlands remix) (07:40) 13 Show Me a Miracle (produced by Redlight) (03:12) 14 Everywhere My Heart Goes (04:35) 15 The Big Squeeze (03:24) |