Matt And Kim - Lightning - Printable Version +- Music Discussion (https://www.music-discussion.com) +-- Forum: Music Discussion (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4) +--- Forum: Pop/Dance (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=12) +--- Thread: Matt And Kim - Lightning (/showthread.php?tid=7587)

Matt And Kim - Lightning - Music Head - 07-10-2012 online listen reminds me of MGMT too pop/synth heavy for me 1.3 from me and a converted 2.2 from the pros at allmusic from the album - Let's Go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOyIJn7uNVM released Oct 2nd, 2012 Bio - from allmusic Keyboardist Matt Johnson and drummer Kim Schifino create the giddy, punky pop music of Matt & Kim. The two came together in 2004 while attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and sessions for their debut album began two years later after a spring tour with Meneguar. Featuring vocals from both members, the self-titled album was released by the iHEARTCOMIX label in fall 2006, and several festival appearances (including stints at Lollapalooza and the Siren Music Festival) kept the band's profile high in 2007. Matt & Kim continued touring throughout the following years, taking a brief break to record material for their sophomore album, Grand, which appeared in early 2009 on their new label home of Fader and cracked the Billboard 200 at number 165. Sidewalks followed one year later and, helped by a video that saw the pair stripping down to their birthday suits in the streets of New York City, charted much higher, peaking at number 30. Their fourth album, Lightning, was self-produced by the band again and saw the light of day in November of 2012. Album Review - from allmusic On their fourth album, 2012's Lightning, the hyperactive duo Matt & Kim don't do anything too unexpected. There are no string sections, no guitar solos, no children's choirs, no introspective ballads about deep feelings; it's just Kim's drums backing Matt's array of cheesy synth sounds and impassioned vocals on ten songs that have a punky heart beating under a thick coating of modern pop gloss. This time out, it seems like maybe Matt's done a bit more exploring on his synth and discovered a few new sounds, giving the music an added dimension. Like their previous albums, a majority of the songs careen and bounce like dogs let off their leashes. "Now" and "Much Too Late" are the perfect examples, Matt's yearning vocals and kaleidoscopic keys riding Kim's whirlwind beats straight into the part of the brain that makes you want to get up and run around. Regarding those whirlwind beats of Kim's, a lingering question -- why you would make the drums sound as precise as a machine when you have such a powerful drummer -- remains unresolved. No matter what the ratio of machines to drums may be, though, the rhythmic underpinnings are fierce enough to give the songs a huge boost of energy. Along with the songs designed to get pulses racing, they aren't afraid to dial it back some from time to time; the super hooky "Let's Go" cuts the tempo in favor of an almost funky late-'90s groove, "I Said" is a rubbery midtempo ballad that injects a smidgen of melancholy into the proceedings, and the album-ending "Ten Dollars I Found" almost gives lie to the "no ballads" clause in their contract. Matt & Kim duet on this quiet piano-led singalong that ends the album on a very sweet note. Lightning is no kind of departure, but the slight variations in sound and the slightly expanded emotional palette mean that it's an improvement over the last record or two. Track Listing 1. Let's Go 2. Now 3. It's Alright 4. Not That Bad 5. Overexposed 6. I Said 7. Tonight 8. I Wonder 9. Much Too Late 10. Ten Dollars I Found