Ditz

Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Viewpoints

Media Credit: 991.com

Welcome to the new section!
Women who grew up reading girls' magazines like Seventeen and CosmoGirl were lulled into a state of musical ignorance. Sidebar articles singing the praises of "the latest cutie rapper" or the "new pop sensation" make the cruel assumption that females all possess a blind inclination towards mediocre, trendy music. We'd like to break with that mentality by reviewing some things you may not have heard of. In this inaugural effort, Anahid Yahjian recommends a band that's more than just the flavor of the week.

After hearing Ladytron's new single play through my car's radio late one recent Saturday night, I knew the disc jockey who had introduced it was a total hack.

"I think it's being sung in French," he had said. "I think."

Halfway into it, a female monotone began reciting what I came to realize were slavic words--definitely not French. As the synthesizers gave way, it hit me: this was Bulgarian.

My first instinct was to call the radio station and let the DJ in on his paid-for ignorance. After listening to the phone ring for far too long, I gave up and instead turned to look the band up. Turns out the foreign lyrics are nothing new.

The first single off Ladytron's fourth album Velocifero--slated for a June release--"Black Cat" is one of the band's many tracks that feature singer/keyboardist Mira Aroyo's native Bulgarian. Paired with fellow bandmates Helen Marnie, Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu's various synthetic and instrumental contributions, "Black Cat" is--as most of the band's work--perfect and addicting.

Born and bred in England, Ladytron is the collective miracle of keyboards, guitars, drums, synthesizers, rhythm boxes and Marnie and Aroyo's vocals. Most of the singing is done by Marnie, who sounds like a melodic Kim Gordon a la "Bull in the Heather"--the video of which conveniently includes Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna, who Marnie also sometimes echoes.

The band sounds like what you would get if you filled a blender with Air, Nine Inch Nails, Goldfrapp and "In the Flesh" Debbie Harry and hit puree. Even then, though, there would be something extra that had to be drizzled on top--pixie dust, or maybe even a circuit board or two. The resulting sound is completely their own, making Ladytron one of those bands that will never have a genre. It slips out of your fingers just when you think you've got it figured out and slaps you in the face with some of Aroyo's adorable Bulgarian or 604's "CSKA Sofia" and its Aphex Twin ambient gurgles.

"Black Cat" is a steady layering of sounds, an innocent twinkle slowly overtaken by an army of synth and drum tracks. Each track exists like a cat with nine lives, dying completely for a few seconds only to reanimate soon after. There are moments when the song digresses to just Aroyo's flat, heavy drawl complimented by nothing but that initial twinkle; the synths slowly creep back in, sneaking in the drums and the rest of the song along with it.

Though not much else is known about Velocifero, if it sounds anything like the single and past Ladytron albums, it's safe to say it's probably going to be an electronic masterpiece. 2005's Witching Hour was pretty much flawless, housing the underground hits "Destroy Everything You Touch," "Sugar" and "High Rise." A bonus version of the album was later released with remixes--good remixes, by the way--by the likes of Simian Mobile Disco and James Iha (of Smashing Pumpkins fame).

Ladytron has put up a free download of "Black Cat" as well as the album art for Velocifero up on their website, along with dates for a tour that will be passing through L.A. at the Fonda on May 29 and 30. Needless to say, I've already downloaded the track, copied the album art into my iTunes and am planning on dancing my way into the Fonda next month. Whether that hopeless radio personality will be able to figure all this out for himself, however, is beyond me.

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