The essence of dance electronica, comprised by production perseverance and experimentation, lends itself to scrutiny for having particularly niche sounds. Modern ambassadors of the genre fight the battle every day of being tied down to similar themes and musical concepts, and even few are able to evolve from the monotony of the scene. Robert DeLong, the 26-year-old. multi-instrumentalist from Los Angeles has broken this barrier, almost effortlessly, with the release of his debut album ‘Just Movement’.
Growing up in Seattle, Robert DeLong had the opportunity to be influenced by bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, and Pedro the Lion, apparent if only in short glimpses in his music. After moving to L.A., playing in an indie rock, studying jazz and later earning a living teaching drum lessons, his current project almost seems an obvious outcome.
Signed to Glassnote Records, Robert DeLong presents an impressive repertoire of 13 tracks that comprises Just Movement album. Each track is deliberately crafted to expose the minor details of rhythm and emotional harmony with a complete twist on modern dance music. Fine layers of bouncy and catchy percussions provide the footing for DeLong’s natural and amiable vocals. The self-titled opening track, simplistic in sound, is reminiscent of the experimentation of Jimmy Tamborello’s solo project Dntel combined with the dance appeal of a Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs single. But with all its similarities, Robert DeLong stands on his own.
Right after the soothing first track, many more speechless moments occured for this impressed Editor. We are honored to blog about music every single day but Robert DeLong epitomizes the perfect rising artist. His goosebumps inducing music not only provides comfort at first listen but it makes one feel part of a new movement, a new sound that everyone must listen. ‘Global Concepts’ advanced the dance aspect of the album with playful instrumentation, rooted in natural organic drumming. Cheerful tracks like ‘Happy’ bring light to the experience with flirtatious whistles and prominent indie rock themes.
But not all is light-hearted electronica, ‘Survival of the Fitest’ includes slight elements of dubstep and industrial electronics and prevalent drop and release structures.
In short, Just Movement is simply just amazing. It breaths more like a mixtape than a coherent album but that quickly becomes irrelevant. Balancing different genres, exposing harmonies between his very own vocals and the beautiful production of every track, ‘Just Movement’ has won us over and will become a contender for top albums of 2013 lists.
Catch ROBERT DELONG live with us at SXSW, ULTRA and Coachella, as well as at these other cities:
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DATE
Tue 2/5
Fri 2/8
Sat 2/9
Tue 2/12
Thu 2/14
Fri 2/15
Sat 2/16
Thu 2/21
Fri 2/22
Sat 3/23
Sun 4/14
March 9-15
Sun 4/21
Jun 7-9
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CITY
Los Angeles, CA
Saratoga Springs, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Cambridge, MA
Washington, DC
New York, NY
Pittsburgh, PA
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco, CA
Austin, TX
Miami, FL
Indio, CA
Indio, CA
New York, NY
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VENUE
Amoeba Music (In Store)
Putnam Den
Underground Arts – Wolf Building
TT The Bears Place
U Street Music Hall
Webster Hall
Shadow Lounge
Popscene SF – The Rickshaw
Amoeba Music (In Store)
SXSW – Venue TBD
Ultra Music Festival – Bayfront Park
Coachella – Empire Polo Grounds
Coachella – Empire Polo Grounds
Governors Ball – Randall’s Island
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