Carly Rae Jepsen

"Call Me Maybe" is THE song of 2012. I absolutely love it. It's so happy and exciting and fresh sounding. It makes me feel so good. The lyrics are cute but true to life, Ms. Jepsen sings well and the production is great, especially the orchestral swells that fill in the space during the chorus. It's an instant classic pop single, something we need more of so badly in this cultural dry well of the new millennium. A lot of other people like it too: so far it has spent 9 weeks at no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It also seems like it came out of nowhere. Who is Carly Rae Jepsen? Well, she's from Canada. And she actually released a whole album in 2008 called Tug of War, a collection of gentle folk rock songs. In short, absolutely nothing like "Call Me Maybe". Skip forward to September of 2011, when "Call Me Maybe" is released as a single for her extended play album Curiosity. The song is immediately a hit, and has become an even bigger hit since then.

I'm going to ignore her associations with Justin Bieber, and just focus on something positive, like her clean cut image and good sense of personal style.

The Curiosity EP is pretty good. Of course nothing else on it is as good as "Call Me Maybe", but I like "Curiosity" and "Picture". Both of them have two things that Ms. Jepsen needs to do more of: good hooks, dance beats, and electronics. Ditch the acoustic guitar, turn up the Yamaha keyboard and digital processors.

"Call Me Maybe" was also released with a bunch of remixes, only one of which (the Almighty Club Mix) really stands out. Honestly, what "Call Me Maybe" really needs is a hardcore techno disco reworking by, ehum maybe some of the neo electro artists I've spotlighted here. Imagine it in the hands of Grum or Adeyhawke? Just give me credit after.

Fortunately, Carly has a new album coming out this fall called Kiss. It's make or break. If Lady Gaga is our new Madonna, Carly Rae Jepsen can be the next Kylie Minogue if she wants to. In other words, just as entertaining, but way less pretentious and bitchy. There is a void for uplifting disco queens she can fill. Go Carly!

New Find: Cusax

Tonight I sat at Starbucks sketching and listening to Cusax's "High School Romance" over and over again. It's truly a masterpiece and a musical highlight of the month for me.

Cusax - High school romance

Cusax combines the talents of Chris Faccone (Savage House) and Chris Stallone (80s Stallone). They have just one EP appropriately called "Got That Feeling". Just listening to "High School Romance" almost gives me goosebumps. It is SO good, melancholic yet driving, with a hypnotic repeating center melody and yearning, aching sky high synth swirls. The rest of the EP may not have the same magic but are still serviceable neo-disco synth instrumentals.

They are offering their EP here for free. Grab it.

Moment of Electro Zen

Speaking of Harold

I may have spoken too soon when I suggested Mr. Faltermeyer is in some sort of exile.

While he did drop off the face of the earth after scoring Tang and Cash in 1989, Faltermeyer is back. Cue the "Axel F." theme.

Apparently the director of the 2009 film Cop Out asked Faltermeyer to score the film, and that Faltermeyer did.

The jury's still out on this one. Should Harold Faltermeyer have stayed in retirement? You be the judge.

Giorgio Moroder records with Daft Punk

Giorgio Moroder, the electronic music pioneer and "father of disco" who wrote and scored dozens of soundtracks from the '70s and '80s, has teamed up with neo electro act Daft Punk for their upcoming album.

Daft Punk, despite their newfound celebrity in the post-millennial era, have actually only released three proper studio albums in the past two decades, the last of which was the highly controversial 2005 Human After All. That album was actually my introduction to them and it holds a special place for me in the summer of '05 when I graduated from high school. I loved it then and I still do now. But after their live album and score for Tron, it's going to be interesting to see what they do next.

Now Moroder, who is age 72, has recorded a rap with Daft Punk in which he speaks about his life and career making electronic music. They set him up in a recording booth and asked him to speak about his experiences from each decade starting with the '60s while speaking into microphones from the corresponding era. Supposedly he asked if anyone would know the difference and the sound engineer responded "They will know." Because this is Giorgio Moroder we're talking about.

Nile Rodgers and Paul Williams are also working on the album.

If you look at Giorgio Moroder's discography, it's lengthy on collaborations but short on straight up studio releases. But I guess when you're the person who created "The Chase" for Midnight Run and helped Donna Summer make the prototypical trance song  "I Feel Love", you don't need to prove yourself. Not surprisingly, his work also drops off the radar in the early '90s (although not before one last tango with Ms. Summer with the excellent "Carry On") and has not done any producing that I'm aware of this century. But because his original works were so mesmerizing and his physical appearance in the '70s and '80s so cheesily memorable (handlebar mustache, aviator sunglasses), he has been cited as the source of inspiration for countless electronic music artists across several generations and is a household name. Which means that since he hasn't made many appearances, he's ripe for a comeback. He's already expressed interest in working with Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. 

Now if only someone could coax Harold Faltermeyer out of the shadows.

Paging Electric Youth

Although they have a pretty short discography, Electric Youth has made up for it in content. Bronwyn Griffin supplies the vocals and Austin Garrick is presumably doing the rest.

They have just one self-released album to their name, The "Replay" EP, which has only two original songs and then four mixes of one of those songs.

They also made an excellent contribution to the legendary 2009 Valerie and Friends compilation called "Faces". Seeking out the compilation is worth it alone for that track with Ms. Griffin's soaring voice.

What have they been up to this year? As far as I can tell, just one appearance on the track "Wish It Could Last" from the Pelifics EP "Lifetime".

Bottom line: they need to do more. Right now. Electric Youth? Where are you.

Upcoming Kolour Kult Performences

• August 2: Building 16
• August 24 (my birthday!): Downcity Sound Stage