Oh EPMD... how I miss those 1993 school days where I would pop in the tape I had bought at the library and get to know what hip-hop was really all about. The easy breezy days where I was a fat kid dreaming about marrying the girl I actually ended up marrying. They were good times...
Now in a "brand new you're retro" kind of way we've got that same energy back as Graeme Sinden (known to most just as Sinden) has brought the pain with a remix of "Run It". Fireeeeeee in the building. I'm so happy to see good hip-hop and fierce dance music paired together yet again. I mean, Sinden & The Count of Monte Cristal gave us the Kid Sister laced "Beeper" and therefore essentially rule this genre. Hell, they rule the game. Period.
This is what the end of your summer really needs... a jam like this.
Here's the original... this isn't a video so much as a collection of pictures. I don't really care to look at EPMD but the song is just sweet as they get...
This nugget was brought to you by Scion A/V... which I was initially sort of suspect about because (despite this site being riddled with ads) I'm always fearful about the level of involvement with a corporate sponsor in music. BUT Scion A/V has just brought selections of killer tracks over and over and over. That 45 King Remix Project? So fucking super fly. That Ghostface "Charlie Brown" set of remixes? Off the fucking chain. They have my respect.
I've got big things coming up in the next week... a review of recent Fabric cds that I've been sitting on, an interview with Howie B coming up, and all sorts of candies for youuuuuu. Keep it locked!
I'm very happy they managed to not have this one leak. I like being surprised by an album's release. They were pretty tight lipped about this one!
I've mentioned them in the blog a few times recently (*Cough*Flosstradamus Mercury Remix)... but I thought I'd post some oldies to get you ramped up for the new album!
NOTE: I will be back to put in 'backup downloads' soon. If YSI won't let you download it, there will be new links up shortly.
I've only been listening to this new album since I woke up... but I already really like it. AND I THINK YOU SHOULD BUY IT, NOT TRY IT ON FOR SIZE AND WAIT A FEW MONTHS AND FORGET TO BUY IT!
I initially wasn't sold on Bloc Party. I didn't like Silent Alarm... at first. I thought they were impostors or something. Boy was I wrong. On top of being wrong I not only loved the first album but became a strong supporter of the oft maligned A Weekend In the City. I also got to meet the band in between album one and two, and have to say Kele is one of the nicest front men I've ever met. So with all that said... please don't C&D me Bloc-Party's-label :)
Here's a little video to remind you why you fell in love with this band to begin with... I love that it's 'Helicopter' is about George Bush. It makes me feel good that someone can write a political song that doesn't make me want to sleep...
Ok I gotta haul ass to work. Getting a new boss and stuff... or at least a new owner. Which means today needs to be a BIG production day. Wish me luck! And be on the look out for my review of the new Fabric discs...
First off I hope you like the new layout! The other one was just a little cramped and I was having trouble moving things around. Hope you can all get down on this!
I hear people talking about classes and I realize that we are not far away from it being fall! I mean granted global warming has totally fucking destroyed any ability to predict weather (at least in the Midwest)... but summer is winding down kids. That's right; time for high school couples to break up (and then get STI's at uni), time to bust out the jackets (well at least the light ones), and time to have at it one last time (at least)...
Now, my life is confined to:
Going to work.
Working on other people's work outside of work (hard to explain).
Writing this blog.
Seeing my wife for like 5 seconds and watching X-Files.
Waking in a stupor from too much Diphenhydramine.
Repeat.
...so I'm not going to have some lager soaked, 'what happened over the weekend?', wild as hell summer blow out. My life is like the first album by The Rakes except for without all the booze and casual sex. So it's actually nothing like that at all. But needless to say, only 2 of those things are keeping me sane (wife and blog duh). My end of summer will be savoring the time I have with wifey before her classes start. After that it's me and the cat and the computer... blah...
ANYWAY... before we all descend in to boring-routine-ville let's have a little blast of summer here!
First one up is by NYC rockers Shy Child. I took a long time getting into them because I was really into Supersystem (which was the other half of El Guapo, a band that split up and produced Shy Child and the latter band) and just wasn't ready for more music like that. Not too surprisingly, Shy Child do sound somewhat like Supersystem... and now that Supersystem have broken up I'm way into them lol. I was on eMusic yesterday and found this gem which dance rock kids and dubstep heads will be all over...
I really like the original of that song and suggest you download that as well. I know they're from NYC but MRK1 is from Manchester so it makes it perfect Albion fodder. You know, he just released a dope single so I'm going to post the b-side. Hope he doesn't mind :) You should totally pick up his first two albums... one is as Mark One and the other MRK1. Both are future classics, not unlike Distance, Burial, Kode 9, and Skream... dope shit.
While on the summer theme... I was listening to the new Primal Scream yesterday and I really think the track "Beautiful Summer" is the best song on there (next to the "Can't Go Back")... I'm not sure how I feel about the album yet though. It must be hard having written Screamadelica, Vanishing Point, XTRMNTR, and Evil Heat... how do you top those albums? I mean, I'm sure other people like different albums better than those, but the point is, can anyone keep up constant quality like that? I guess it's going to take a few more listens for me to tell! In the meantime...
Lastly, I just had to post this after listening to it over and over. I normally go to the source for these things but this is obviously a "leaked" copy, so I can't imagine the label having a problem with this... this new Franz Ferdinand song is too dope. I hope it's not so dope I get C&D'ed or something. I'M TRYING TO PLUG THE SINGLE GUYS lol. Anyway, this will totally dominate your stereo in the near future any way you cut it... here's your first taste...
And just for fun... I just downloaded this Surkin remix of M.I.A.'s "Sunshowers"... Just to keep the summer vibe going :) M.I.A.- "Sunshowers (Surkin Remix)" Mediafire
Also, I can't remember if I mentioned it or not but I did a guest post over at the wife's blog, Polkadot Gumball. That blog is going to be the perfect fit the city dwelling (or city minded) girl who doesn't want to be a hipster washout... I really like what she's done with it and was honoured to be invited to post. Granted, we may share a bed, but it's still a big deal to invite someone to write in your blog!
AND BEFORE I GO... I know I've plugged it once in the last 7 days, but Frankmusik's new free EP went up yesterday and it's really fucking good. He'd given me one of the tracks a couple weeks ago and I was salivating over the idea of rest of them.
Annnnnnndddddddddd... one of the lovely people at Bang On Public Relations did me a MAJOR solid and did and interview with Foals for me because mine got all messed up. I got shut down by everyone (even, politely, by her) trying to follow up on the "missed interview" at Lollpalooza, but then she emailed me and said "Ok, send me the questions". So, hopefully, you'll be seeing/hearing that interview in the next couple days! Big ups to Bang On and Foals for real!
See you guys soon. I'm turning comments on so tell me what you think :)
LAST NOTE: The new Bloc Party album comes out tomorrow! Make sure you actually BUY the damn thing. Once again, it shows bands (and labels) that digital music can work! Eventually it will just be you, me, and the bands. The bands will have their own labels and release their own shit and have all their own rights (so they don't get raped). A&R people will merely help radio programming and the people will dictate what they REALLY like not what they are told to like. But then again, you already knew that because you read blogs lol... Here's the track listing...
The track listing for Intimacy: 01.Ares 02.Mercury 03.Halo 04.Biko 05.Trojan Horse 06.Signs 07.One Month Off 08.Zephyrus 09.Better Than Heaven 10.Ion Square
Herve is also, for sure at this point, part of the Arcadia Family. I don't know Mr. Herve, but a few of my friends are close to him, and that means if he's got new work I'm going to post it. He's probably gotten in the blog at least once a month here for a while so... here's another new alias track for your enjoyment!
Then I thought this was pretty interesting... it's not British but it connects back to Tricky, and his recent album, which got a decent amount of coverage here at Arcadia. Kotchy is... well here this explains it better...
"Kotchy is a producer hailing from Brooklyn and first stepped into the limelight drumming for Time Out NYC revered band “The Epochs”. He recently left the band to pursue his own musical direction as a solo artist. His first furor into the mainstream was with his remix for Tricky’s Council Estate on Domino Records, requested by Tricky himself to be the b side on his 7” release.
The first track She Made It Easy.... the debut 7" from Kotchy's album "89" coming this fall....She Made it Easy is a beautiful track with elements of Disco, touches of Prince and smacks of Pharell production."
I can't post it but check it out anyway...
EDIT: Ok, had to take that one down, but I give it a firm seal of approval. He for sure has something good going on there so I'd keep my eyes out for the release this fall. Instead peep his track "Bruce Fleetwood"... my stupid ass didn't realize this was the track I could post!
If you didn't get a chance to hear the other song or the downloads have run out here then go to this site and pick it up... and check out some more Kotchy over all!
I've got some other stuff to post but not a lot of time so... This is the best I can do at he moment... I'll be back soon!
So, somehow the magical sounds of the best band in the universe ended up on my iPod! Wonder how that happened! I don't know... I mean I was standing there watching it and thinking back to when I first saw them with R.E.M. in 1995 (or so) and being blown away. The previously posted video (about two or three posts back) of them playing while the fireworks were going off was so emotionally engaging... I held my wifes hand, watching these explosions in the sky, while they played "Fake Plastic Trees" and felt like the world was perfect. In fact why don't you peep this video I just found...
And closer up...
And focusing on the fireworks... I can't stress how awesome this was...
Anyway... this little recording that 'swim' made at Lollapalooza isn't the BEST quality out there... lots of bass thuds that distort the sound (take that all you people who said it was too quiet!)... if any of you are real smart and can correct that let me know... otherwise you have a somewhat distorted first 30 minutes of the best concert of the year. It's worth the download, I think. If you have better copies hit me up on my email!
EDIT: Now that the download has probably run out anyway... I found that Ocstwosway actually had a good rip of the XFM broadcast of Radiohead broken into three archives on his site! Here's all that jazz... his site is linked to the right...
01 Intro 02 15 Step 03 There There 04 All I Need 05 Nude 06 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi 07 The Gloaming 08 The National Anthem 09 Faust Arp 10 No Surprises 11 Jigsaw Falling Into Place 12 Reckoner 13 Lucky 14 The Bends 15 Everything In Its Right Place 16 Fake Plastic Trees 17 Bodysnatchers 18 Encore Break 19 Videotape 20 Paranoid Android 21 Dollars And Cents 22 House Of Cards 23 Optimistic 24 Encore Break 2 25 2+2=5 26 Idioteque 27 Crowd Noise http://rapidshare.com/files/137485980/Broadcast.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/137493060/Broadcast.part2.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/137497109/Broadcast.part3.rar
Hope you guys are enjoying the more regular posts :)
The advertising is going well and I'm glad that it seems you guys are comfortable with it and actually have interest in whats coming up. Those American Apparel dead stock shades are amazing... the rainbow ones? Ima get those and really be 'In Rainbows' har har har... what a dork... be back soon!
Ok, I'm going to admit something you regular readers already know. *silence*
There are artists and bands who get preferential treatment at Arcadia.
Yup. I know you can't believe it.
Total shock. I mean it's not like you've seen Klaxons, Late Of The Pier, Simian Mobile Disco, Heads We Dance, Black Ghosts or any other bands getting thrown into multiple posts (or frequently put on in their own post)... you never could have seen it coming, could you? It's ok. We'll get through this together...
By doing it more. That's always right right answer :) Doing it more!
Hehehehe... no but seriously? As a Blogger (or at least this blogger) you spend enough time writing songs/DJing/listening to music/doing a radio show/going to shows that eventually the line blurs pretty hard and people who are your idols become accessible (and in a best case scenario they become your friends). Then you want to take care of those people when the time comes, and your blog is the best way to do it.
Sidenote: In this brave new blogger world, this is the element that makes music "punk rock" as you can get... you the reader are only one step away from me (completely accessible), and two steps away from these artists (who more than likely are elated to have you as fans, and would treat you well if you met them in person). Example... I often tell artists what you guys have said about their tracks, shows, remixes etc... your input is going straight back to the source, which probably wouldn't have happened 5 years ago... but anyway... I digress...
One of the people I've been happiest to become acquainted with in the last couple of years is Monsieur Vincent Frank (aka Frankmusik). It's been difficult for me to talk to Vincent like a normal human being at times because I'm so overwhelmed by how good his music is (but then usually by the time I email him, all the air has been let out of my happy balloon, and there's no way I would talk to anyone *other than my wife* as if they were a superhero lol. This keeps me talking to him like a person thankfully). In my opinion, he is the future of honest, ingeniously produced, fresh as fuck pop music.
So, I may have said it before but, Frankmusik will never wear out his welcome here. I will always post what he has to offer, and undoubtedly will think it's amazing. He is, probably more so than anyone else, a major part of what I referred to the other day as the Arcadia Family (this is reflected in the fact that if you search for him on Google, Arcadia is the first page about 5 links down). I'll probably throw up links on the side to let you know who those people are if you hadn't figured it out.
For those of you who are (somehow) just hearing of Frankmusik, I promise it is totally more than worth your time to a) invest in Frankisum which was his first EP, b) go to www.theheathsofthornton.co.uk and join his club to get some free music, and c) track down the Black Ghosts remix of "3 Little Words" (I still don't know if this got official release outside of the Black Ghosts Mixtape album. I'm not posting my copy because I never heard of an official release). I think your life will be greatly enriched if you were to do so.
Here's a little taste of the new stuff...
Incase you missed out on the last few posts here's his bio info from All Music Guide...
"Frankmusik is Vincent Frank, a vocalist, producer, and erstwhile beatboxer from Croyden, England, whose compositions nod to the Crystal Castles' chiptune-fueled mania and Imogen Heap's intelligent, bittersweet electro-pop. His debut EP, Frankisum, was released on Apparent Records, a label he co-founded with David Norland, in the fall of 2007. He was signed to Universal/ Island soon after, boosted by the buzz generated by that disc. A full-length album was in the works for 2009."
Frankmusik is still a few months away from a new "official" EP that you can buy via iTunes... so you're probably wondering why I'm posting outside of being a friend/fanboy of his. Well, again, the aforementioned 'Heaths Of Thornton' site has new tracks that you can download for free... so that's worth posting about... but Frankmusik sent me a little glimpse of the EP coming this fall/winter and it's super fresh. I mean super fresh. The original point of the post was to try to get permission to stream it but... it looks like that will be saved for another day. Instead I'll give you a little blast of rad from the EP over at www.theheathsofthornton.co.uk.
There's only 7 days or 100 downloads on that so hurry... or go cop it at his site.
And please, again I implore you when an artist like Frankmusik gives you free music, if you like this new stuff buy his new and old stuff... cop the tracks he did with Baby Origami... because that's the only way this blogging thing is going to work. Trust me, a lot of labels don't have the budgets they used to signing new artists... unless you're in Coldplay you're not driving a Phantom these days. It's people like you and me who are keeping our favourite artists from having desk jobs (which seriously impedes writing music, let me tell ya). If the labels see that letting bloggers release tracks helps sell records it will allow artists to keep making the shit we're all cranking from our iPods.
P.S. I'm going to be doing a guest post for my wife's new blog Polkadot Gumball about sneakers. Be on the lookout for that :)
P.S.S. I'm still trying to figure out the advertising here. Anyone know how I can get the banners at the bottom of the page up at the top? My HTML is ok but I can't figure this out and I need to get them up there. In the meantime try to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see what you're missing. See you all soon!
So last night I watched the film adaptation of the Luke Davies masterpiece Candy (starring the late Heath Ledger)... and not only did it make me wonder if that film was more responsible than any other for his demise... but it made me think more about how we totally overlook Australia constantly.
I mean shit... The Presets, Van She, Modular HQ... That should be enough to keep people focused on Australia for a while but if not we can throw Ladyhawke into the mix.
This is the third post Arcadia has dedicated in some way to Ladyhawke... and in some small way I think that means that she gets a full on stamp of approval. Maybe even induction into Arcadia family?!? We'll see. She's not British, but she's living in London from what I hear, and she is from Britain's prison island (it's just a joke, just a joke) and I think that's probably enough to at LEAST put her in the extended family lol.
This remix is the type of stomper (especially for people who need to stop playing "Standing In The Way Of Control") that will get you wild in a club even if it's the first time you've heard it.
Released: 15th September 2008 myspace.com/ladyhawkerock ladyhawkemusic.com
Ladyhawke is the alter ego of New Zealander Pip Brown. After spending time in Sydney in various bands, she has upped sticks even further still, and now resides in London, where she wrote her forthcoming debut album (released 22nd September)
Other remixes on the release include The Shoes and Linus Loves
Having toured with We Are Scientists and Soulwax this year, Ladyhawke has also appeared at Glastonbury and will be playing Bestival on the Isle of Wight.
Nice stuff yeah? That Linus Loves remix is a fucking banger, I bet ya! Hope you enjoy. In the meantime... we've got ummmm... well more ads yeah? Quite a few lol! I'm trying to figure out how to make this less intrusive and more content oriented so... we'll see what happens. In the meantime bare with me... I haven't made shit doing this blog and frankly I'd be nice to so I could post more.
P.S. On a totally unrelated note, are we ever going to see a Late Of the Pier album?
Awwwww... it's 6:14am right now... and that's not a good thing. Went to bed at 2:30am or so... I'm having, uh, sleep disturbances do to uhhhhhh...........
Oh forget it. I don't feel well is the point. In fact "I feel like dying" so I don't know how I'm typing... but alas the show must go on.
Now I know I did a short "text post" about Foals, but here is what happened. When we showed up they were starting their set and that shit was PACKED. I mean, like the crowd for CSS was about 1/4 of the people there for Foals (and much earlier in the day I might add).
So I try to get a hold of their manager... and nothing. The original idea was since they had spare time I would show them around Chicago (shit I was trying to get them to go see Hollywood Holt lol), go out to eat, and get an interview done some time in between. Instead they were fucking maxed out doing press and stuff.
With little other choice I made my way to the FYE signing tent and was like "Hey, what's up. I'm supposed to be interviewing you today. I've been text messaging your manager and he's missing in action." They mentioned he was being pretty elusive and to tell him that they said to text him.
Then I get a text, something like "Hey sorry. We're really busy. Meet us at the Double Door later?"... ok sure! Problem was the show was sold out because it was Foals AND Battles. But, whatever, we got on the list and went right in. They tore it up for the 2nd time in 12 hours, and despite being fucking crazy awesome, we're admittedly showing signed of fatigue. They even said on the stage "We're very jetlagged. We're into the next day for us."
At this point I knew there was no interview happening. I've gotten done DJing and have wanted to be left the fuck alone and that certainly doesn't require the physical exertion they put out on stage... there is no way they want to deal with me after a couple days with no sleep. So I sent their manager a last ditch text and finally one saying "Your band seems pretty busy. I'll just email you some questions if that's cool. Have a good night!" and that was that...
Other highlights were getting to see Curt's famous ass for more than 5 seconds. It was his birthday and I got him the stupidest gift ever so I'm not even going to mention it. But it was nice to see him and Flosstradamus fucking killed it on the dance stage before Kanye took the main stage.
I told you guys I would get videos and pictures up from Lolla... and here you go!
And since these are all Radiohead videos... how about this gem?
So, here and there I throw in a little mention about my buddy Curt from Flosstradamus (shit they got mentioned in the last post)... I love their shit, I believe that Flosstradamus (and the children) are our future... and this guy doesn't even mention to me that he's remixing Bloc Party! Whaaaaaaaa? I had to text him the other night and congratulate/give him shit about it.
Anyway, by asking the right people politely, I got us a STREAM of the song.
Nope. Sorry. Can't let you download it.
In this case it really would be like taking money out of my friends wallet and handing it to you... and I hope you respect that. I try to stay away from streams but this I feel is appropriate.
The remix is sick as fuck... it's really electro-y... but there's a point where you totally want to mix in a Bonde Do Role song... which basically means it can find itself getting put into lots of different mixing genres (without sounding all over the place). The original is hype, this is remix just takes it to another level.
Now are you going to Lollapalooza to see both Bloc Party and Kid Sister and Flosstradamus? I hope so! If you can't make it, check this out and get a Bloc Party Fan Club Membership, as well as three versions of the single. Holla...
Anyway,ee ya there. I'll be the sweaty guy holding his jaw with the really hot wife. Post again soon!
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