Hadouken! – Music for an Accelerated Culture — music review
IF you poll random Brit youths, some may be acquainted with Grindie (Grime MC + Indie Rock — I know they don’t agree with this classification, but deal, they are) superstars Hadouken!, but here in the States, especially the “cultural wasteland” of California (dubbed by worldly East Coasters), you’ll get empty stares.
Let me help remedy that. Soooo…
IF you love slick speak, thick layered sounds, quick synthesizer bender-ing (think electronic slide whistle), look no further than Leeds’ Hadouken!’s debut, Music for an Accelerated Culture.
IF you want to be reminded that the 80s are dead but can be brilliantly resurrected (simply said, melt up super-sized synth/sequenced 120bpm Dance beats + EmoPop sardonic glibness + Grime’s Hip-Hop delivery + Rock’s angry intensity + Punk mentality = genre-bending fresh), the look and sound of Hadouken! will wake you up.
IF your idea of an awesome music experience is halfway Jump-up DnB sample-y stuff, halfway guitar-drenched Grebo, with a persistent rebellious biting tongue/lyrics oft offered in a rapidly rapped envelope with a cooler-than-thou kiss, check out ‘Get Smashed, Gate Crash’ and ‘Game Over’.
IF you crave sassy mashes of videogame blips with undercuts of Mariachi acoustic guitar strum-offs (reminiscent of the Flight of the Conchords theme) and buttery bongos and snare drum rolls, ‘Spend Your Life’ was created just for you. More videogame zips and zaps (chiptune snippets) encapsulated with wall of sound Breakcore fuzz can be found on ‘What She Did’.
IF you want a song to embody your ability to tech-pimp your love for Hadouken!, ‘Crank it Up’ is like a step-by-step tutorial.
IF you were wondering if Hadouken! frontman James Smith could really carry a tune, try ‘Declaration of War’, ‘Driving Nowhere’, or ‘Wait for You’. He’s not bad; yummy accent.
IF you want dossiers describing youth and youthful encounters (ah those rickety raunchy college days/daze/mistakes), ‘Liquid Lives’ and ‘That Boy That Girl’ are right up your alley (watch the videos below). NOTE: On this same thread, ‘Tuning In (H! re-rub remix)’ is not on Music for an Accelerated Culture, but I strongly suggest you get a hold of this hilarious single any way, any how. (Listen to it below).
IF you were searching for Clockwork Orange sound that’s part BiGod 20, part gangster noir swing, part military march, part Hardjump Irish jig, part orchestral warmup scales, performed with Adam Ant sass, ‘Mr. Misfortune’ (perfectly blurted with a slight lisp) will make you grin.
IF you want to be reassured that all of humanity is connected by common inexplicable marionette strings of life: the ups and downs of hunnies and monies, give ‘Spend your Life’, ‘Driving Nowhere’, ‘Declaration of War’, and ‘What She Said’ a listen.
IF you’re lucky to have a loving hubby like I do, he’ll track down all the Hadouken! you want, even though finding a tangible disc isn’t easy here in the States. at. all. That’s okay; I like the empty stares.
TRIVIA TIME: Guitarist Dan Rice’s nickname is “Pilau”, which in Hawaiian pidgin means physically rank or untrustworthy and basically a dick persona-wise, but in this case, it probably is just the take on pilaf, “fancy rice”, we can only hope.
Hadouken! hit stateside (digital only) October 28th.
Download Deluxe Version (with six extra tracks) only at hadouken.co.uk. –OR– Find a vendor
About the Author
Hadouken! – That Boy That Girl (promo video)
Hadouken! – Liquid Lives
Hadouken! – Liquid Lives (making of)
Featuring the cutest drummer/skateboarder ever (besides my hubby), Nick Rice
Hadouken! – Tuning In (H! re-rub remix)
No real video, just audio
