Whenever I encounter media dealing with time travel I do two things; pick apart the project’s treatment of the “rules” of time travel and bring up the 1985 film Back to the Future. Whether it’s the hiatus-taking NBC series Heroes, the Denzel Washington flick Déjà Vu, or the two-hour block of new Futurama episodes that aired on Comedy Central this weekend, for me it inevitably boils down to time-travel logistics and that Robert Zemeckis-directed, Michael J. Fox vehicle from the ’80s.
I mention this not only because I saw Masi Oka (who portrays time-traveler Hiro Nakamura on Heroes) on a re-run of Scrubs the other day, watched Déjà Vu recently, and was psyched by Futurama’s return, but because today’s first featuree is a blast from the past in more ways than one. The group in question, a duo comprised of Gruff Rhys (from Welsh Alt-Rock-group Super Furry Animals) and Los Angeles-based beatmaker Boom Bip called Neon Neon, is not only a Blogarhythms alum (for their Raquel EP) but their new album Stainless Style is itself a tribute to the 1980’s, specifically the life of auto engineer John DeLorean, whose flagship vehicle the DMC-12 was the car transformed into a time machine by Doc Brown in Back to the Future.
Both “Raquel,” an ’80s Club-Music revival (think “Jellybean” Benitez versus Shep Pettibone versus British Synthpop) dedicated to actress Raquel Welch, and “Trick for Treat,” with it’s jittery beats and filthy raps from Spank Rock & Har Mar Superstar, which were previously available on the Raquel EP are present here. But new songs — like the Cars-esque “I Told Her on Alderaan,” a shuddering Electro/Freestyle jam featuring Cate Le Bon called “I Lust U,” an M.I.A.-ish computerized-Dancehall-influenced banger titled “Sweat Shop” featuring Yo Majesty on suggestive guest vocals, and the funky Arthur Baker-influenced “Michael Douglas” — are just the material needed to pad-out a plush interior for an album built on the stainless-steel chassis of those two earlier cuts.
Watch “I Lust U” feat. Cate Le Bon
While it doesn’t cite the ’80s directly, or deal specifically with time travel, more songs dedicated to sexual decadence played out over a backdrop of retro electronics are the order of the day on French singer/songwriter Sébastien Tellier’s new record Sexuality. An eclectic composer and multi-instrumentalist who’s toured with Air, had songs featured in the films Lost in Translation & Daft Punk’s Electroma, worked with Tony Allen, and (until now) self-produced his albums, Tellier tapped Daft Punk-member Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo to produce Sexuality. The result is a stripped-down synth-and-drum-machine-based sound that recalls the syurpy-but-coldly-digital quality of old-school slow jams — particularly the R&B, Electro-Funk, and electronica (think Art of Noise’s “Moments in Love”) varieties — from the ’80s, lo-fi ’70s synth-Funk, and the icy lasciviousness of Eurodisco. This leaves us with a batch of slinky, synthy, throwback R&B joints, breathily sung in French & English, whose exclusive purpose is baby-makin’, the way they used to back in the day.
Sébastien Tellier “Une Heure”
Just remember not to play Sexuality around your Mom if you ever travel back in time in your own modified DeLorean. Not only could it cause a potentially devastating rift in the space-time-continuum, but it’d probably be pretty gross too.
- El Keter