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10 Troll names to know in music
We all knew it would come to this, we just didn’t know it would happen so fast. At one time the term “Troll Music” carried the stigmata of inaccessibility-- few dared to even attempt to enjoy it. Much like Jazz in the early Forties or Punk in the early Eighties, only those outsiders with serious gumption and possibly a death wish dared to enter Troll clubs to hear a local act; the music and the culture was coupled with violence, drug use, and criminal activity. iTunes wouldn’t even sell Troll-produced albums until 2008. But the age of ignorance is past. Thanks to social media, word of mouth, and some brave and brilliant stars, what used to be known as Troll Music is finally hitting the mainstream.
maniThreshed destiny
This alt-punk Warmblood trio from Los Angeles, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Karkat Vantas, Multi-instrumentalist and producer Sollux Captor, and drummer Aradia Megido, has been making serious waves in the Socal punk scene. Often compared to Anti-flag in their prime, their fame is well-deserved for lush instrumentation and the kind of production we’ve seldom heard since Modest Mouse’s 1999 gem The Moon and Antartica.
Their live shows are renowned for a frenetic sense of energy, owing partially to the fact that two of the members are telekinetics. Their intelligent (if a little vulgar at times) lyrics and political lean make paying extra attention to this band pay off, though it’s just as easy to put the LP on and be carried away by the razor-sharp beats and smart engineering. Vantas’ wailing guitar and hoarse vocals might scare some potential fans off at first, but give it a song or two. In his most honest moments he evokes Jeff Mangum in his sincerity, often going for notes he knows he can’t hit just to prove what he believes in is worth striving for. And you really need to check out a video of Captor performing onstage to believe it-- until you’ve seen someone simultaneously playing three keyboards with his arms folded (remember, the guy’s a psychic), it’s impossible to believe. Captor’s matesprit Megido keeps thing moving with lively rhythms that step beyond what you’d expect from Punk rock in the post-protest era. On a few tracks off debut LP Life in a Load Gaper, it’s her precise, almost math-rock beats that carry the mosh anthems that keep L.A. on its feet.
Check out this summer’s Living with Cancer EP for an excellent glimpse at what makes maniThreshed destiny something worth believing in.
flyingTrapeze
This Atlanta hip-hop duo consisting of perpetually sopored-up MC Jelly G’z (Gamzee Makara) and plucky paraplegic DJ peanutBullter (Tavros Nitram) is picking up where Outkast seems to have left off. Their music is not about self-aggrandizing, or even bashing rival MCs. It’s about inclusion, unity, togetherness-- and it’s fun as hell.
Makara’s lyrics tend toward the silly and nonsensical-- he’ll go from rapping about sopor pie to trying to eat human food to bashing George Bush (I don’t think he’s realized the man is no longer president) and then back to sopor pie on the same side of one record. His flow has been criticized as “lazy” but that’s unfair. You can tell he always knows exactly what he’s doing as he lilts just behind the beat or sneaks in a bit of drawl, Big Boi-style, grinning through not-quite-rhymes like Waxin’ like a melty candle up on ya moirail/ Gonna ask her real nice, “wanna fill a red pail?”/ Come back chica what ya runnin’ from scurred/ I’ve got some wicked visions likes none of yas heard, word.
But it would be unfair not to give Nitram his due-- the wheelchair-bound DJ cranks out arena-shaking beats decked out with more texture and flair than the Prodigy at his most prodigious or Mix Master Mike at his most masterful. Where else but in Nitram’s hyperactive imagination are you going to find beats like those of chart-topper Fresh Baked: the track starts with innocuous finger snaps before unfolding into a synth-heavy funk groove, Gamzee’s deep vocals supplying the low end with his stuttering s-snap these fresh-b-baked p’s/ trap-peze s-stacks up green over a tuned-down sample of a Betty Crocker ad for freezer pies from the Sixties. Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra-supplied horns bring the track to a crescendo over the lines come on brother, we gon’ get heard/ hating on each other is just absurd/ join me sister, we gon’ get seen/ all this hatin’ is just obscene. It’s one of 2011’s best moments in music, bar none.
The sense of enjoyment that comes from flyingTrapeze’s music is irresistible and we’re anticipating great things from the upcoming LP Up To The Wire. Your move, Kanye.
Kanaya Maryam
The first time anyone heard the name Kanaya Maryam was when she joined Rose Lalonde onstage during the indie-rock diva’s headlining Coachella performance in 2010. She simply strode onstage, exchanged polite cheek kisses with Lalonde, and took her place before a covered table that had occupied a corner of the stage all evening. Rose smiled knowingly and simply sat down to enjoy the song. Operating a bank of sampler pedals in perfect conjunction with a collection of bluegrass and folk instruments, Maryam proceed to take each one in turn and create an enchanting soundscape; beginning with a simple mandolin, she added dobro, chorus guitar, and pedal steel, looping and adjusting and fine-tuning with the kind of attention and care we expect from Sufjan Stevens, on indeed Lalonde herself. The audience was captivated as she stepped before a hammered dulcimer and began to sing.
Until just recently, she’s been biding her time in relative obscurity; a memory and a seldom-viewed youtube recording the only proof of her existence at all. But something about her haunting alto, her ethereal dulcimer-playing, and the fact that Rose Lalonde gave up her stage with a smile stuck in indie rock’s collective consciousness.
And then suddenly in May, Maryam resurfaced with a blog and a three-song self-titled EP. The first pressing sold out in less than two hours. A slew of record contract offers followed, naturally, but Maryam continued to defy expectations by denying all of them. The 12 minutes and 41 seconds of the Kanaya Maryam EP have been on constant loop here in the Doublefork offices; to say it’s made an impact on us would be grossly inadequate. What the Kanaya Maryam EP has done is codified everything once could plausibly desire from folk music. Glowing with natural beauty, not unlike the artist herself, the EP transports you to an unearthly place. The only instruments she uses are strings, but the sounds she evoked from them are expansive and her vocal range is vast. She writes and records her own arrangements, obsessively rerecording in her home studio in Manhattan until she’s completely satisfied with every note. These arrangements are lullabies, vacations, journeys. And then she starts singing.
Maryam’s voice is difficult to compare to any other on Earth, simply because unlike many of her Troll contemporaries, she makes no effort to sound human. Her vocals are in English, but her inimitable accent and broad range (she explores eight octaves over the course of these three tracks) disguises her words. Which is tragic, really, because her evocative imagery and brilliant phrasing rival anything written by Colin Meloy, Justin Vernon, or Robin Pecknold, considered by many the Three Wise Men of modern indie folk. Handwritten lines like I searched for you in the quicksand caves/ you questioned my fingers with licks and laves adorn the EP’s back cover in jade green cursive, deepening the rare beauty of their imagery. But the meanings remain opaque; Maryam refuses to answer questions about her lyrics.
All summer, no one knew where Maryam would pop up next. She went on to make guest appearances with Antony and the Johnsons, Janelle Monae, and Bon Iver, but all anyone could talk about was that EP and when she was going to release more. In an recent exclusive interview with Doublefork, Miss Maryam has revealed she’ll be independently releasing the album Via Dolorosa in spring 2012, and she’s also revealed Rose Lalonde will appear on the album. We can’t wait, but in the meantime we’re going to go back to listening to the EP.
Equius Zahhak
Sometimes all one needs is a second chance, as in the case of Equius Zahhak. The famously musclebound Coldblood from Munich (seriously, the guy could bench Jerry Only in one hand and Glenn Danzig in the other) began his career with a wildly experimental album entitled
Pferd Bogenschießen that can be compared to Mike Oldfield’s prog classic Tubular Bells except with a bit more improvised percussion and a bit less refinement. The album had a strongly industrial sound, and was complimented in small circles for its originality and strong structuring. It wasn’t bad, but needless to say, it was far from the success Zahhak was hoping for.
Zahhak was disheartened by his failure, and rather than try his hand at another album he moved halfway around the world to get his masters’ degree in Robotics from Tokyo University. It was there he discovered two new joys in life. The first, of course, was classical music-- he ended up splitting his major and applying his undeniable skill in composition to the orchestra. He is famously unable to play any actual instruments; his inhuman strength renders viola or cello he touches to splinters in moments. The second was none other than then-classmate Nepeta Leijon, now his moirail. Of course, this was before the wildly popular J-pop idol ascended to fame.
Zahhak is notoriously hard to work with, much preferring to work alone than to collaborate with anyone. He was known for his short temper all through school, often railing unfortunate underclassmen in German for making mistakes in circuitry or tuning.
Applying his two incongruous skills, his independent nature, and the fortune he’d accrued in grants, he began to build robots to do the playing for him. By the time he received his diploma, his chamber orchestra of 48 musicbots was complete.
The Zahhak Chamber Orchestra, now based in Kyoto, continues to wow international audiences with its flawless performances of classical music from all eras. “There is no limit to my enjoyment of Classical music,” Explained Zahhak in a Doublefork interview from June, “Following in the footsteps of history’s greatest artists is an honor beyond anything I could have imagined when I was writing my own music. When compared to the beauty of a Beethoven concerto or a suite by Mussorgsky, my original works were simply obscene. It is the tradition of classical music, the class, the ceremony that appeals to me, and I am proud to be a vessel through which this heritage can flow.”
And boy does it flow (oops- sweat pun!). Equius’ army of trolloid instrument-playing machines never fails to impress, the result of constant hard work on their conductor’s behalf. “Of course I have to work on them a lot,” he explains, “as the wear and tear of frequent use can affect the sound of their performances. The slightest deviation in tone or tempo is unacceptable. Every performance must be delivered with the utmost standards of perfection. The composers deserve no less.”
Nepeta Leijon/ ネペタ レジョン
It’s impossible to mention Equius Zahhak without bringing up his inseparable moirail Nepeta Leijon, the Osaka-native pop sensation who’s skyrocketed to fame in the last two years and shows no sign of slowing down. Some combination of her unending cheer and feline smile, her genuinely good music (thanks in no small part to the huge collection of Japanese producers and DJs who can’t wait to work with her) and her life’s-a-party attitude and adorable antics have captured the hearts and minds of the land of the rising sun.
Riding the roller coaster of fame is no easy feat, especially in Japan, where pop stars are expected to work tirelessly in a variety of medias. A star may go from singing and dancing live onstage to voice acting for a game or anime in the same day. Frequently, a pop idol will be expected to act in films or on TV and model as well. Add to that sponsorships and product marketing, and you’ve got more than enough in your bento box. But Leijon handles it all with aplomb, her boundless energy carrying her through.
Her success can be chalked up in large part to Equius Zahhak himself. As her manager, he’s ruthlessly selective towards her potential musical partnerships, even going so far as to say “If I weren’t around to provide my moirail guidance, she would accept every offer she’s presented. She doesn’t know any better. The results could be disastrous. However, through careful consideration and selection, I ensure her every career move is a strong and solid choice, and that her morals are not compromised.”
To date Nepeta has released two albums and a DVD, appeared in one film and two TV programs, shot a calendar, voiced three anime and two video game characters (most of whom had cat ears, a nod to her cat-ear-shaped horns), and toured Japan twice, even crossing the sea to tour China. Such a prolific performer may seem headed for an early burn-out, but Leijon shows no sign of slowing down-- quite the opposite in fact. Pre-selling out a European tour in advance of a new record launch practically guarantees an American tour to follow, and she recently announced she’ll be reprising her voice-acting roles in English for the localizations of her various animated and digital alter-egos. As far as we’re concerned, if she can keep coming out with tracks like the Fantastic Plastic Machine-produced Hot Tin Roof
or DJ Strider-cut love like catnip
, we’ll be plenty happy.
When asked if she foresees any potential roadblocks to success in the U.S. she cheerfully replied “Nope! If nyan-cat can make it in the states, than I can too, nya!”
Feferi Peixes
We need Rhythm & Blues. Sometimes we need to put on a record that conveys the personal connection, the soulful emotiveness, the raw emotion that this wonderful music has the power to convey. But in these emotionally guarded times, it’s difficult to find music with that genuine soulfulness that was once the herald of the genre. We’re being forced to look outwards, to alternative rock (Mumford & Sons) or post-folk (Bon Iver) for music that conveys any emotion at all.
Enter Feferi Peixes. By making the decision to place her in the Troll colony on Human-governed Earth, Peixes’ mother-simulacrum and immediate royal predecessor forever eliminated the young Troll’s chance to rule, as she would have done were the planet not already peacefully administered. But now that the shadow of Her Imperious Condescension no longer looms and she’s free to make her own choices, Feferi splits her time between running various charities and foundations and playing music, often in free concerts. Based in La Jolla, California, she’s frequently spotted at Sea Word or the San Diego Zoo, playing with animals and cutting generous checks to conservation efforts.
Fortunately, her privileged education was not wasted completely on the fine points of statecraft. Phenomenally talented at the piano, Peixes has been giving recitals since she was three sweeps old. No one was surprised to discover her voice was similarly enchanting.
Doublefork had a chance recently to listen to a rough cut of the upcoming album Jewel of the Sea, starkly piano and voice, and what we heard was very inspiring. Her complex arrangements and gripping lyrics are constantly engaging, and her smoky voice is always right where it needs to be to capture you and draw you beneath the surface of her emotive, honest songs. The topics of the album’s 11 tracks skirt the cliche at times, but she has her own take on everything-- that’s one of the things that makes this album to worth checking out.
Unsurprisingly, many of her songs have themes about water or the ocean. Lyrics likeTo kiss you or cull you, I don’t know/ I’m twenty thousand leagues below or I look at your eyes and I almost spill/ you’re like a shark going in for the kill almost seem like puns until you consider the onetime princess spends over half her time underseas. The record sometimes serves as a porthole to her own world.
But it’s the emotion of her performance that makes Peixes’ mean something. Artists can donate money all day and still no one will like them (cough, Bono, cough) if they don’t come through as genuine. And Peixes defines genuine. She spills her seatroll guts to the listener throughout the 43 minutes of this record, any by the time it’s over you can’t help but feel as though you know her a little bit. Take for instance this lyric from the track Condescension: Capture me and toss me down/ to lay on cracked and thirsty ground/ but keep my anger and my screams/ this chess game doesn’t need two queens. It’s personal and raw and beautiful, and above all moving. And isn’t that was R&B is all about?
Eridan Ampora
The oughts’ (2000-2010) revolution in music was a very, very quiet one. Technology enabled anyone to create music, and the internet allowed them to share it. For Eridan Ampora, this was a boon-- when the Seattle-based Seatroll shoegazer fell on hard times, he used music as an outlet. “Sometimes, it w-was all I had,” stuttered Ampora in an interview with Doublefork in October. “I slept on the streets when it w-was warm enough, and under bridges w-when it w-wasn’t. W-which w-was the case, usually. But I has this little Casio keyboard I saw one day inna thrift store w-window, and I could usually get batteries, and so I’d play music to, you know, cope.” Fortunately, Ampora’s time spent homeless was short, but even after his living situation improved thanks to one of Feferi Peixes’ numerous charities, which set him up with an apartment and a job, he never stopped making music. “Once I got settled in and got a laptop, I was making youtube videos every day.”
Of all the talented Trolls on this list, Eridan Ampora is the one you’re least likely to know. Which is kind of ironic, because his soulful, boy-in-a-basement pop ambient jams invite you to share in his life. Combining the best aspects of The Postal Service and Boards of Canada, his airy digital instrumentation flows seamlessly in complex and multilayered arrangements, and his wavering croon could bring a tear to the most cynical eye (we’d know, after all, we’re music critics). His lyrics are insular, self-focused, almost apologetic-- take the first line from his demo, Aquarium: left me by the seaside/ what did I do wrong/ fireworks fade to black/ how can I be strong. The following five tracks tell a similar tale. There aren’t a lot of happy moments, but it’s not a depressing album-- think The Decemberists’ Castaways and Cutouts and you’re on the right track.
It’s true that Eridan has a bit of ground to cover to catch up to already established musicians such as maniThreshed Destiny or Kanaya Maryam, but we’re including him on this list because he represents a huge demographic of performers these days, artists like Youth Lagoon or Owl City, who start out recording music on their laptop and end up gaining recognition and fame for their talents. In a similar way in which Trolls are making Hip-hop, Punk, Folk, and every other genre under the Sun (or any other celestial body of your choice), Eridan Ampora has demonstrated that a jilted Troll with a macbook can create beautiful and haunting tunes just as well as any Human. And that’s why this list was labeled “10 Troll Names To Know In Music”, and not “10 Names To Know In Troll Music”. Because the era of “Troll music” is over. It’s Music, dammit, and whether it’s being created by Human or Troll, it doesn’t need a modifier.