EVERYDAYISDAYONE

There are a lot of bands who fuse electronic music with pop sensibilities, and I will admit, I like a lot of it. I’m a downright sucker for little blips and beeps hiding behind cutesy melodies. However, there are plenty of failed attempts, and it can be hard to trust bands who make that kind of music anymore. At least I thought that was true, until I discovered the projects of Ben Cooper.

Electric President is Ben Cooper and Alex Kane. Their songs are a perfect mix of human and computer, always straddling that line throughout every song on their full-length debut, which is self-titled. Morr Music released the album over a year ago, on January 24, 2006, and I am sad to say it has taken me this long to hear about them. Apparently, their song “Insomnia” was featured on the O.C., which probably would have made me doubt their legitamacy (shallow, I know - so are my friends) and avoid them completely, but luckily I listened to the album before discovering that. The video for “Insomnia” is really nice. It was made by Radical Friend, which is pretty fitting…considering Ben’s solo project is called Radical Face.

Radical Face is kind of similar to Electric President, but with a lot less of the computer / human interaction. Morr Music is also putting out the forthcoming album Ghost, which is due sometime in 2007. The album features acoustic guitar, piano, percussion, and presumably anything else Ben can get his hands on. Oh, and Ben’s trademarked hushed vocals. There is something very endearing about this album, it sounds like I know him, or it is being played for me personally, in my basement, or in a shed. There are a lot of standouts, particularly the second track “Welcome Home, Son”, and the track I posted below, “Wrapped in Piano Strings”, which features a beautifully layered, unforgettable chorus.

Ben Cooper is some kind of futuristic pop genius. He knows how to mix electronic music and pop music as well as anyone else I’ve heard. It doesn’t hurt that he is on Morr Music, which has consistently put out beautiful, electronic-pop music like B. Fleischmann and Styrofoam. It’s a shame he doesn’t tour often, but if he is spending his free time making more music like this, it’s probably for our benefit.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 29th, 2007 at 1:57 pm and is filed under songs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.