Electric President I know I talked about Electric President before, but that was before I got their album. Now I have their album; all is good with the world. Blissful electronic soft poppy goodness straight outta Florida, courtesy of Ben Cooper and Alex Kane.

I haven’t heard much about this duo, but I figured I’d get something if I technorati-ed them. The results included a high proportion of…livejournals? Not that there’s anything wrong with LJ (I have one; I call it my “brain dump”). Then I came across electricpresident.com (not the official site, but made by a prudent fan who “thought someone should register this site before some domain squatter put a thousand popups on here” and found that their song was on the OC. I don’t know if that explains the LJ posts considering that the episode was on weeks ago, but…I DUNNO! (I still have yet to watch The OC. If it’s addictive, it’s better that I never watch it.)

Anyhoo, the song featured on the show, Insomnia, is awesome. Take a listen:

[audio:http://music.diskobox.net/mp3s/ElectricPresident_Insomnia.mp3]

Electric President – Insomnia

This is definitely one of the album’s stand-out tracks. Also, the lyrics are awesome. I don’t usually pay attention to lyrics unless I think they’re especially good or craptastic; this is a good one. Download some more songs from m3 online or Electric President’s official site (also download the tracks from their EP, “You Have the Right to Remain Awesome”). Pitchfork gave the album a 6.7, but Tuning Fork provides a second opinion.

Sometimes a number rating, in this case a so-so 6.7 just doesn’t seem human enough. A 6.7 doesn’t tell the reader that this is the kind of record that can rescue a bad day and I am willing to give that kind of life preserver an 8. It isn’t easy to make electronic music sound like real live thinking feeling humans made it but with the addition of wailing and wild guitars powered by what I can only imagine is an ebow, live drums, acoustic guitars, a piano, and a human voice that stylistically bridges Why? to Postal Service yet Electric President have done it.

Yup. I don’t like numbers. I mean, they’re definitely useful, but it’s better for things like…measuring earthquakes. It’s hard to put a number on how something will make you feel. Electric President > 6.7. Another blockquote, because I can’t describe things:

If you listen carefully enough there are hundreds of hidden treasures on this record, black cloud lyrics I imagine slow dancing with Notwist, giggles, whispers, drop outs, mysterious buried sounds that hover gently over the entire record like ghosts…all things which celebrate just how personalized a home recording can be.

Yep. [nod nod]

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The aspect of a personal recording does make a big difference to me. Have you heard Beck’s super old stuff? Before his voice changed? The quality sucks, but it’s still awesome for some reason. I’d rather listen to some of that stuff than Guero.

The more I listen to Even Johansen’s (mm, this is your daily Magnet reference) Quiet & Still, the more apparent it becomes that it is my favorite album. Ever. Not just today, but over the few decades that I’ve been alive. It kinda bothers me that I’m unable to explain it; maybe you just have a gut feeling about a certain album you inexplicably love. Even may not have recorded it in his bedroom, but since he recorded and produced it by himself I think it feels more personal than On Your Side or The Tourniquet. I still don’t understand how “Quiet & Still” came to be so overlooked. It probably doesn’t help that since it’s under his real name, many people don’t know it exists. Rawr.

Anyhoo, Pitchfork gave The Tourniquet a 4.1. I’m not really surprised; I figured they wouldn’t like it. I’m surprised they mispelled his name though. And I’m surprised by all the references to other artists that I don’t particularly fancy, but are in the same realm as Magnet, according to the gazillion reviews I’ve read. NO MORE COLDPLAY REFERENCES, PLEASE? THANKS.

Musicbeet gives a neural review. I kind of like it, except I wonder if not being a fan of David Gray, John Mayer, Josh Kelley or Howie Day is a problem.