Memoryhouse >> I'm not breathing without machines

Memoryhouse - "Lately (Deuxième)" (a.k.a. just "Lately")

(Beko DSL, 2009 [digital single] [France] / Arcade Sound Ltd., 2009 [digital-only EP] [Canada] / Inflated Records, 2010 [ltd. 7"], Sub Pop Records, 2011 [re-recorded CD-EP])

Memoryhouse barged into the crowded field of female-fronted dream-pop bands like a 4WD Ford F-550 dualie with Truck Nutz plowing into a herd of quail or endangered salamanders on an organic commune.  By using a low speaking voice instead of a shout at a loud party, it's often easier for one's voice to be heard, and Memoryhouse got noticed by doing essentially the same thing.  They're an example of the occasional good band that is propelled to star status by the indie music blogs and review sites, whilst getting basically zero notice from actual music magazines.  Chalk one up for new media over old media.  I really think this is one of the most important bands out there today, but unfortunately they often get dismissed as the poor man's Beach House, which is laughable.  Yes, both bands are on Sub Pop, both are boy-girl duos making depressive, dreamy music, and both have names ending in "House," but Beach House have a different, more "masculine," non-spacey, almost campy, "Euro-friendly" sound, in my opinion.  I think of their quiet stuff as just segues in between their singer's throaty bellowing, whereas for Memoryhouse the quiet stuff is the framework of everything.  I think everyone can agree that Beach House has no ties to the "chillwave" trend, whereas Memoryhouse does.  This is one of those songs that really re-established my love of music in the often dreary modern musical climate.

Original 2009/10 version:

2011 re-recording:

Mash 'em up!
Note: I will be taking down the Sub Pop version after a certain amount of time.

Yes, this song has been released by four different labels so far, though the first two are digital-only "labels," so I don't know if they count.  The Sub Pop re-recording has more prominent (DEVASTATING) piano, an ultra-powerful vocal performance, and, to top it all off, the addition of some amazingly nuanced violin.  It also has less of that thumping chillwave beat that's in the '09 version. Confusingly, the original version is subtitled "Deuxième," which is French for "Second."  So there must've been an earlier (still unreleased) version, which means the Sub Pop re-recording is actually a third version.  Got that?  Overall, it might be the best re-recording I've ever heard, and it almost singlehandedly rescues Sub Pop from the abyss of irrelevance.  (Easiest way to tell which one you have: The original version is 3:23 long and the Sub Pop one is 4:05.)

I don't know if this song is comparing having a broken heart to being on life support in a hospital, but one has to assume that it is.  When Denise distantly pleads "Shut me off," it has to be one of the most devastating lines ever uttered in any song.  Denise pretty much has a built-in Autotune in her throat, which makes her singing very unique, kind of like that of Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval.  They each like to split individual syllables into different discrete parts.  Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel is my favorite at this technique, used to particularly stunning effect on their debut album Ferment (which is my #2 favorite album ever).  This way of singing gives the vocals a cool stop-motion effect, like you're listening to an old movie reel with a hitch in it.  Evan Abeele's guitar playing is cinematic and pastel-like, and I think both he and Denise play synths on the song.  The music video does not feature Denise or Evan:

With only one digital EP and one 7" to their name, the 'House hit the pavement hard in 2010 on an ambitious headlining tour of indie clubs:

In August of that very annum, my sister & I saw them at One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans, with opening acts Twin Sister and a new local band called Kindest Lines.  Partly due to a thunderstorm and extreme heat, the turnout was quite low, maybe 40 or so people, but it was great to see the 'Mem rock a club with a large stage and a top-notch sound system.  They had a third member in tow on electric bass.  Denise seemed bored and distant, looking at the ceiling a lot, and she never once said anything to the crowd.
I bought the "Lately" 7" on limited colored vinyl at this show from members of Twin Sister who were manning the merch table; it's obviously one of the finest singles I've ever bought.  The b-side is a nicely trippy, deconstructed, chillwavey remix by Teengirl Fantasy.  I pretty much went to that show just to see them perform this song, and it was worth trekking into the heart of the French Quarter on this ridiculously hot / stormy / humid night.  I had my sister film "Lately," but she can't find the clip anywhere.  Sorry.  She also lost her clip of Twin Sister doing a tremendous rendition of "The Other Side Of Your Face."

iPhone pic by my sister, near the start of their set.

My 7" bought at the 2010 show; too bad it's not on black vinyl for better sound quality.  Yes, I like the "Dutch Angle" photo technique.
Notice the nearly-identical color scheme / photo treatment / clothing on the cover of their 2012 album.

Some of this song's vocals (pitch-shifted higher) were sampled in the downtempo / dream-rap (er, "cloud rap," as Generation Z calls it) song "Breaking" by a one-off supergroup called Seeing Suge.

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Planets with similar climates: Slowdive - "Losing Today" (1991), Julee Cruise - "Falling" (1989), Low - "I Remember" (original 7" version) (1998), Velour 100 - "Stare Into Light" (1996), Chairlift - "Cool As A Fire" (2011), Ella Fitzgerald - "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" (1961), Yo La Tengo - "Damage" (1997), Red House Painters - "Drop" (1995), Portishead - "Roads" (1994).