Molly O’ Poverty

The Stuff I’m Listening To Lately » m-flo

July 2nd, 2006

I’ve held off writing this post long enough. Not because I didn’t want to… but because I wanted to do this band justice, not in some rushed posting.

The J-pop group m-flo first came to my attention via a short post on arjanwrites back in late 2004 or early 2005 about the Scumfrog Space Cowboy Disco edit remix of “I Wanna Be Down” (The album version features Ryuichi Sakamoto, although I’m not sure to what extent his talents are featured in the remix). I searched high and low and was never able to find a digital file of that remix. Finally, I broke down an ordered the 12″ vinyl from Juno Records even though I don’t own a turntable. Once I got that digitized and gave the remixes a listen, well, I was hooked. Then came an even lengthier obsession.

I desperately wanted ASTROMANTIC, the album “I Wanna Be Down” was taken from. I tried the usual routes (amazon.com/co.uk) and sixty days after placing the very expensive order –it was something like $55 US– the order was cancelled inexplicably. Finally, as a last resort, I ordered it from G.E.M.M. the global music “store”. You can find practically everything there, even obscure stuff; Someone somewhere in the world most likely has it… and has it for sale.

After what seemed like forever and expending a great deal of energy and resources, I finally had ASTROMANTIC in my hot little hands. And let me tell you, it was no disappointment. In fact it was beyond genius. Amazing. Fantastic. And gorgeous. I was humbled by the sheer force of their talent and the incredible, clever songs.

Now on to the music. What’s stunning is their ability to seamlessly blend genres –hip-hop, pop, DnB, electronica/dance, even jazz– with their rapid-fire vocal style singing/rapping in Japanese, English and, on one song, in Spanish. I can’t imagine the genius it takes to write raps in multiple languages, because the words can’t just rhyme or flow, they have to make sense if translated all together. So much of their stuff is accessible and quite radio-friendly; I stunned that more people haven’t picked up on them and recognized their insane talent.

Most, if not all, of m-flo’s recent songs feature a collaborator whom they credit in their song titles as “Loves so-and-so.” (The have a thing about capitalizing their funky song names.) A vocalist named LISA was the third member of the group but she left before ASTROMANTIC was released; They seem to be doing alright without her.

Luckily for everyone, ASTROMANTIC and their latest offering, BEAT SPACE NINE is now available at the iTMS. And they’re perfect for summer. Here are my best-of picks:

Miss You (Loves Melody.) - Yes, DJ, play that music louder. All over the place… in a good way.

STARSTRUCK ~ “The Return of the Luvbytes” - Generic beats but guest vocalists’ steal the show. “Let’s Go!”

Vanessa / Bloodest Saxophone - m-flo gets jazzy with simple, superb results.

WAY U MOVE / Dragon Ash - This could be a Red Hot Chili Pepper’s song… until the two-minute mark where it all shifts into high gear and becomes an altogether different/fantastic song. Fans of Daft Punk should love this. [Inexplicably one of their best cuts is not offered on iTunes.]

Get On! / Crystal Kay - A fusion of all kinds of styles is present here, including delightful whistling. Almost unclassifiable. This song just makes me giddy. (I know they’re not saying this, but I keep hearing the urban slang word for booty: bedonkadonk.)

Astrosexy / CHEMISTRY - starts off with a great Deee-Lite -like intro and morphs into something BT might produce. Bonus: can you spot the famous techno sample mixed in there?

the Luv Bug / BoA - I love this song! One of the more instantly accessible songs. Just beautiful.

I Wanna Be Down (Loves Ryuichi Sakamoto) - So glitchy and cut up yet smooth, graceful and rhythmic. m-flo is the only other band I can think of that even comes close to matching the production style of Brian Transeau.

Taste Your Stuff (loves BENNIE K) - Totally radio-friendly. Better than anything Gwen Stefani is doing. Heavier guitar and video game sounds… Why is this not a hit?

Loop In My Heart (loves EMYLI & YOSHIKA) - Couldn’t you just hear Beyoncé doing this? She should stop putting Jay-Z on her records and collaborate with them. Sadly, 95% of American’s will never even hear –or recognize for that matter– the sheer talent of the m-flo boys just because they’re primarily a Japanese language act.

SO EXCLUSIVE (love Sowelu) - My favorite track off BEAT SPACE NINE. “Oh my, if it’s alright.” Yes, it most certainly is. Better than “alright” in fact. As I said before, I can’t resist a song with hand clapping.

A.D.D.P. (loves MONDAY Michiru) - A great cut. Shows you what m-flo is capable of… all in one song. Almost entirely in English, too. Wish I knew what the title stands for; all I can glean is “analyze” and “process”.

HEY! (loves Akiko Wada) - Genius. Take well-known backbeat. Make it spacey and soulful. Rinse and repeat.

There you have it. Not all the tracks… just some of the ones that I think are especially good. You should definitely check out both their albums and the remixes available. Enjoy!

p.s. Did I say “genius” too much?? It’s the only word I can think of to describe their phenomenal talent.

Entry Filed under: Not Free