Kordan | Fantasy Nation

FRESH BAKED
in NYC
Kordan
Fantasy Nation
2009| TwentySeven Records
B+

What do we do with dance pop? Are we actually expected to try to dance at their shows – so much of today’s dance music is overtaken by a sense of ambience, or a concentration on intellectualizing the lyrical content; trying to get down to M83’s “Graveyard Girl,” while considering Anthony Gonzalez’s use of 80s movie tropes, or grinding to LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends,” while dwelling on the concept of friendship seems relatively impossible.

I have spent a lot of my time on JM.com analyzing this decade in music from the point of view that indie kids spent the 2000s learning how to have fun again in the wake of hardcore and grunge. But, in retrospect, half of the reason I enjoy dance music is the contrast between the party and the higher-end thought. When a song loses content and is just about the bump ‘n grind, it loses the drama. The best dance pop bands from the 2000s expect you to dance despite the intellectualization, a song pushing you to have a good time directly in the face of the desperation in everyday life; not because of it. That’s why MGMT gets criticism from the intellectual elite while Passion Pit and M83 gain clout. So, in a way, the entire concept of modern dance pop is facetious. You’re not necessarily supposed to dance, it can simply be about recognizing that this music is of the sort that people usually dance to.

Which brings us to Kordan, and their debut EP, Fantasy Nation. Is this dance music? Sure: as opener “Fantasy Nation” kicks in, that’s immediately clear. The guitar lick is blisteringly hot, working itself over compressed bass tones, a clap track, and plenty of shakers. Simply, it’s urban-techno. But, as with all great dance pop, there’s a lot more. For Kordan, it’s the ability to be instantly familiar – pop music you’ve heard a thousand times before, but never quite want to turn off. As the chorus of Fantasy Nation tears itself open with, “And we are/ A nation made of fantasy,” there’s pure joy in the cityscape, the lights of Tokyo (much of the EP is centered around Tokyo), pleasure in technology, in the party, and in movement. “Fantasy Nation” on it’s own is a near-perfect dance track.

Through the rest of Fantasy, Kordan operates under a thick electric haze, drawing clear inspiration from My Bloody Valentine and The Wake. The EP’s third track, “Tokyo Tears” swells up with another blistering guitar line. Swooning vocals rush in and out, creating an even sharper sense of techno-urban sprawl. Lyrics come off in a mumbled, shoegazey mess, and are nearly impossible to pull out. It’s absorbed in atmosphere and not much else, but that atmosphere is incredibly satisfying. All four and a half minutes feel like they are edge. When you close your eyes, you are almost forced into imagining…well, something along the lines of Nintento’s F-Zero franchise. Which, for those of you who have played, is pretty fucking cool. According to the band, there is a strong narrative running through Fantasy Nation — but considering the vocal levels, it isn’t yours to parse out. So I’m sure there’s some kind of love story here, but the futuristic dystopia overrides.

I could go on and describe the other tracks on Fantasy Nation, but really, it’s more of the same. “Hologram” pounds away with a sense of longing, and a soaring, filtered chorus. This transitions into Fantasy’s conclusion, “Re-L” which manages to have a real sense of finality, a feat on such a short release. After 15 minutes of images, longing, and technology, we are returned to that initial sense of joy that immediately gripped in “Fantasy Nation.” In five songs, Kordan is able to pull a full circle.

Throughout this entire EP of dance music, I never once got up to dance. I didn’t want to barrel through my apartment spinning around, or hear it blasted over club monitors. In fact, the atmosphere is really best represented through a pair of good headphones in a dark room, not in a sweaty club. Kordan immediately sounds like dance music, but ends up being something more like it’s naval-gazing brethren Isn’t Anything. They have created a cerebral gesture, an atmospheric ride through Tokyo’s cityscape. The only criticism is one throwaway track (“Slouchy Girl”), which really is more of a bonus track for those who buy the EP. Fantasy Nation is one of the most pleasurable releases from a Brooklyn act this year, on or off the dance floor.

Download the EP here.

by Max Sebela

Stream “Fantasy Nation”