Listen Up - Pnau

In case any of you don’t know, Nick Littlemore is kind of a big deal…at least in Australia. Littlemore is also a very busy man, as he is not just a professional musician – he is one in two different groups, Empire of the Sun and Pnau (who we will be discussing right now).

Pnau (pronounced PAH-NOW I think) is an electronic pop duo out of Australia that is Nick and Peter Mayes (who is known in the Australian music world for producing and mixing various projects). The two of them come together to make some of the friendliest and most original dance music out there, and I am really loving every minute of it.

So far they have only managed to chart in their homeland, managing three top 40 albums and only one top 40 song, way back in 2008. No matter, the duo are doing great for themselves, and they’ve made quite the name and have a reputation for killing it time and time again. I’ve been listening to a lot of Pnau lately to write this, and I really am waiting for there to be a few songs I <i>don’t</i> like.

Their last record ‘Soft Universe’ is an amazing collection of songs that will make you feel and make you dance; each track different enough from the last, and yet the entire album is cohesive and has a fantastic feeling to it. Pnau manage to change things up while never taking things too far. Their sound is inviting and upbeat – never too hard, never too much. A few 80’s references and influences in there (especially vocally), but not too many to be repetitive or obnoxious. If you know anything about Empire of the Sun, you can somewhat imagine what’s going on here (only perhaps less instrumentation and more of a focus on the electronic).

Fun fact – before Pnau, Littlemore was in a duo called Teenagers that only produced one album and then the two members went their separate ways. Nick went on to do Pnau and Empire of the Sun, and his former counterpart went on to record music as a solo artist who goes by the name Ladyhawke. Who knew?

Here are a few of my favorites:

These are of course just some of the many wonderful tracks Pnau has to offer us, but I can’t put them all here. You’ll have to go investigating yourself.

Pnau has their own <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pnau/e/B001LHKZ2E/digital/ref=ntt_mp3_rdr?_encoding=UTF8&sn=d">store</a> on Amazon, so yes, their music is available in the US. AWESOME.

(note: if you’re looking for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Soft-Universe/dp/B005P13VRI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341805379&s=dmusic&sr=1-2">‘Soft Universe’</a>, it isn’t in their store [?!?!?!], but that’s ok, it’s right here)

And, of course you can look them up <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pnaupnau">online</a>.

PS – thanks to Van Go Lion for the <a href="http://popbangboom.blogspot.com/2011/10/5-qs-with-van-go-lion.html">recommendation</a>.