“Too Much” opens like the kind of mannered micro-soul slowburner you’ve probably come to associate with Junior Boys — a deep plunge of gleaming synths, percolating hi-hats, and a taut guitar note nervously ticking just under the surface. But while JB’s Begone Dull Care from earlier this year settled for a predictable monochrome, Desktop’s jam slips into full-on ’80s electro-funk revival on the chorus, mixing nasally exuberant harmonies with a pair of slick, rubbery synth lines that shimmy and shake their way right through the song’s blissed-out outro.
Desktop is a collaborative project between Keith Thompson (Johnny Headband/Electric Six) and Zach Curd (The Pop Project/Suburban Sprawl Music), and so far they’ve recorded three impeccably constructed synthpop gems, which can be either pre-ordered or downloaded for nada via their website. If you order the physical 12″, you’ll also receive a floppy disk that reportedly contains audio files of the tunes as well (although it could very well contain the software for Oregon Trail, because who, aside from my parents, still has a computer with a floppy drive to check?).
Earlier this summer, Mr. Curd also dropped a free and equally awesome EP of some solo recordings on his blog, which run the gamut from orchestrated exercises in Jon Brion-esque whimsy to auto-tuned R&B vamps to ragged cuts of power pop glory, like this little number “I Promise” posted above. The scattershot focus of the EP lead me to believe that these songs were just a bunch of random ideas he had floating around in his head that he happened to find time to record, which just goes to show how unfair it is for one man to hoard so much talent. Of course, I’m talking about the man who took the lengthy hotline number* for the In the Wheelhouse podcast and somehow turned it into a catchy jingle, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
*Try calling, night or day: (646) 462-4161 ext. 97895
Desktop, Zach Curd, and free music on your computer
Desktop – “Too Much”
“Too Much” opens like the kind of mannered micro-soul slowburner you’ve probably come to associate with Junior Boys — a deep plunge of gleaming synths, percolating hi-hats, and a taut guitar note nervously ticking just under the surface. But while JB’s Begone Dull Care from earlier this year settled for a predictable monochrome, Desktop’s jam slips into full-on ’80s electro-funk revival on the chorus, mixing nasally exuberant harmonies with a pair of slick, rubbery synth lines that shimmy and shake their way right through the song’s blissed-out outro.
Desktop is a collaborative project between Keith Thompson (Johnny Headband/Electric Six) and Zach Curd (The Pop Project/Suburban Sprawl Music), and so far they’ve recorded three impeccably constructed synthpop gems, which can be either pre-ordered or downloaded for nada via their website. If you order the physical 12″, you’ll also receive a floppy disk that reportedly contains audio files of the tunes as well (although it could very well contain the software for Oregon Trail, because who, aside from my parents, still has a computer with a floppy drive to check?).
Zach Curd – “I Promise”
Earlier this summer, Mr. Curd also dropped a free and equally awesome EP of some solo recordings on his blog, which run the gamut from orchestrated exercises in Jon Brion-esque whimsy to auto-tuned R&B vamps to ragged cuts of power pop glory, like this little number “I Promise” posted above. The scattershot focus of the EP lead me to believe that these songs were just a bunch of random ideas he had floating around in his head that he happened to find time to record, which just goes to show how unfair it is for one man to hoard so much talent. Of course, I’m talking about the man who took the lengthy hotline number* for the In the Wheelhouse podcast and somehow turned it into a catchy jingle, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
*Try calling, night or day: (646) 462-4161 ext. 97895