Just Jack's "All Night Cinema" and Miike Snow's "Miike Snow"

I'm a big fan of pairings - wine and cheese, beer and sausage, cookies and more cookies. . .Some things just work all the better when they have a little friend. The same can definitely go for albums. Much as I like to listen to songs and albums over and over again until I never want to again for that week, there's something nice about the groove created by two albums that have complimentary flows and vibes. Plus, you still get to enjoy the obsessive continuity of listening to an entire album. Such is the case for two fantastic recent releases, Just Jack's All Night Cinema, and Miike Snow's self titled debut. Both albums share a certain disco influenced grooviness paired with vocals that have the restraint of indie rock for a musical experience that lives between chill and dancey.
To be fair, this is not my first time extolling Just Jack, but All Night Cinema truly deserves its own rant. With his tongue in cheek and obviously accented rhymes, Jack Allsopp (aka Just Jack), has often been likened to the Streets. Having enjoyed much less success, that is where the similarities end. Whereas Mike Skinner's lyrics speak of growing up in urban London, Allsopp's are a bit more emotional and much less angsty. The album kicks off with the jaunty string laden "Embers," which ebbs and flows into some truly lovely cinematic crescendos. It's immediately followed by the micheviously jaunty "253," that has the same effect on me as the carefree sounds of Badly Drawn Boy. There's the same prominent use of strings with the addition of the harmonica and carefree whistling to set the tone for lyrics like "over years the love receeded / a bit like her old man's hairline." Delving deeper into the disco spectrum are foot tappers like the amusing "Doctor, Doctor" and "Goth in the Disco," but one of my favorite songs (that incidentally sounds most Streets-like) is the mellower sounds of "Blood." With a recessed hip-hop beat and lyrical content hinting at some seriously fucked up family issues, there's a a cool sinister edge to Allssopp's sound that reminds me of those songs of his that grabbed me to begin with.
The disco beats and male vocals of All Night Cinema make a smooth transition into Miike Snow's excellently produced self-titled debut. Though seemingly novices on the scene, these Swedes have written and produced for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Britney Spears, and Daniel Merriweather, alongside producer legend Mark Ronson. Not bad for street cred. And it doesn't hurt that the album is pretty fantastic - I think their sound is something like a cross between the disco-danciness of Jamiroqaui combined the orchestral pop of Arcade Fire and a bit of house music effects thrown in. I'm actually a fan of the entire album as a continuous listen (which is rare), but I think the first three songs are absolutely killer. There is the lilting, undisputable single "Animal" that begs to be accompanied by a light show and oversized shades. It's followed by "Burial," which is echoey, dripping, hipster bliss, much in the same vein as Animal Collective, with those grand sweeping bits that makes everyone go nuts when they hear Arcade Fire. But the song that gets me everytime is "Silvia." It has a ton of film and TV potential emotionally and sonically, though lyrically it won't do much, so I think it's a song destined to be enjoyed for the sake of enjoyment. It's echoey and space with heady synths and sounds; but despite the electronic-ness of it, there's the Coldplay type piano which grounds it in pop, as well as aching wistful vocals that make you love Silvia just a little bit too.


Just Jack on MySpace
Miike Snow on Last FM
Bunch of free Miike Snow mp3s and remixes!!