MS MR: Secondhand Rapture

Sometimes good music arrives in flood-waves. There can be gaps where I'm twiddling my thumbs, waiting for new and long-loved artists alike to wow me with their lyrics, melodies, ways of seeing the world. But now, all of sudden, it's like the music gods have decided to lay in my lap the following: Olafur Arnalds; Austra's second album, Olympia; Patty Griffin's new album, American Kid; Antony & the Johnsons' Swanlights (thank you, Amanda!); and...

...MS MR's Secondhand Rapture. I'm still formulating my thoughts on this New York duo's debut album. Maybe I can compare it to a recent joyful experience of mine, one that's ongoing: I keep walking through my Hawthorne/Ladd's Addition neighborhood and noticing someone's street art; he or she (or they) are drawing colored chalk outlines around where shadows have hit the ground at certain times of day. In other words, no matter what time of day you may be walking past that parked car or fire hydrant or locked-up bicycle, you'll notice that this creative soul has helped draw attention to the beauty of the neighborhood, and to the elusive nature of time. We are forced to stop and think about evening, when the shadows stretch long and full. These shadows get covered up by black night and then slink away, like clockwork, in the morning. Over these past few weeks, when noticing this art, I've thought, "What time of day exactly did this-or-this occur? What is the artist thinking about when he or she does this?" MS MR's music is similar in spirit and tone. It wraps up mournful, hopeful, powerful stories in electro-pop gauze; it's music that's been dipped in that chocolate shell on ice cream cones that you love to crack through and savor as you hunt your way down the cone. Their music is cotton candy at a carnival run by Ray Bradbury or Francesca Lia Block.

Recommended for fans of: Florence + the Machine, Austra, Tori Amos during her choirgirl phase, Stephen Chbosky's the perks of being a wallflower, Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat, Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, Karen Russell's Swamplandia!, Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, David Lynch, Twin Peaks, and lovers of '80s horror flicks like A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Here are two videos for your curious mind, heart, and soul. Dare I say it -- Is "Hurricane" maybe my new favorite video of all time? I watched it and thought, "That's exactly how I think about things, deep in my core."

MS MR : Hurricane :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sj684zcmzw

MS MR: Fantasy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE5DXUfX0cc

Enjoy,
~N.