ISoA's Best of 2010

NOTE: This list will be updated with songs and music and pictures galore until the end of December! Please keep checking back!

Sorry I haven't been around. I've been trying to figure out what to do. In my opinion if I can't give you guys my all then... there is no point in even trying...

Normally that would lead to me saying I'm packing it in... BUT that's not what I want to do. I want to pull my extraordinarily depressed head out of my arse and get back to work.

All the experiences I've had with this blog have been brilliant! I mean whether it was bowling with Klaxons, or FreQ Nasty interviewing me lol, I can't imagine anything cooler. It would be insane to give up now. Plus I still have archived stuff you guys want to hear/see for sure and how could I possibly deprive you of that?

Enough blather... this is why you came here...
BEST OF 2010
Remember this is (mostly) based on U.S. release dates (unless the album didn't come out here *cough* TMB)!

Best Albums:

It would be hard to beat the epic scope of Plastic Beach and the inclusion of "Cloud Of Unknowing" sort of seals the deal on it being my "record of the year". I will say that Surfing The Void was a very very very close second.

Gorillaz - "Plastic Beach"
Klaxons - "Surfing The Void"
To My Boy - "The Habitable Zone"
The xx - S/T
Editors - "In This Light And On This Evening"
Ellie Goulding - "Lights"
Foals - "Total Life Forever"
Hot Chip - "One Life Stand"
M.I.A. - "Maya"
The Chemical Brothers - "Further"

Best Singles:

This time Klaxons win as they rightly should! If I could I'd give 'em like every award for best everything (which I almost am) so we'll save some time here and say that the narco-dreamscape vibe of "Twin Flames" wins both best single and best video of the year!

Klaxons 'Twin Flames' from Trim Editing on Vimeo.

Klaxons - "Twin Flames" (Best song also best video!)
La Roux - "Bulletproof"
To My Boy - "Hello Horizon"
Gorillaz - "On Melancholy Hill"
Ellie Goulding - "The Writer"
Foals - "This Orient"
Kele - "Everything You Wanted"
Frankmusik - "Fear Inside Of Me"

Best Breakout Artists:
She Is Danger
Gorillaz - "On Melancholy Hill (She Is Danger Remix)"

Best Non-Brit Dance Album:
Matthew Dear - "Black City"

Best Non-Brit Album:
Kanye West - "My Beautiful Dark Fantasy"


Best Remix Of The Year:
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance (Starsmith Remix)"

Best Concert Of The Year:

Klaxons
This is fun because there's a nice story with it.

Well let's start at the end and work our way back to the beginning. Right as we parted company, on our second night with the Klaxons, Jamie Reynolds said "Never has something so negative, in my mind, brought about something so positive"...

What is this negativity you ask? It's around 1:12... it probably worth you knowing that my radio show is called "The Spirit Of Albion" :)


And what was the positivity? The fact I ended up making friends with my favourite band after that mess.

I went to the Klaxons show at the Magic Stick with the expectation that I would have some time to talk to them. I'd already talked to their manager so it was a sure thing (but I kind of expected it to be like 5 minutes, and a hand shake, and off we go). Instead it turned into hanging out with the whole band til 2am and going bowling. Then getting an invitation extended to join them in Chicago the next day blew the lid off of awesome and we entered some new realm of awesome lol...

Highlights:
Bowling with Jamie and creating our own new technique; surprisingly I won which made no sense...
Bursting into song with James singing Kajagoogoo's "Too Shy" (as he could not remember the city of Kalamazoo)
Simon inviting us to Chicago where the list read "Guy from Detroit"
Exposing the band to Bell's beer one of Kalamazoo's greatest exports
Hearing loads of awesome stories that I'd never read in a magazine, or write about here
Jamie bought a fucking CROSSBOW because that's how truck stops in America work
Making friends with one of my favourite bands of all time


Lowlights: (or "The stupid shit I say to this band every time I see Klaxons")
James: "So I guess the original version of the album sounded more like 'Echoes'"...
Me: "(Me thinking of the sound) You mean like Ride? Like shoegazey music?!?"
James: "Umm, no, like the song 'Echoes'"
Me: "Oh, yeah... *awkward pause*"

Me: "Anthony, I'm really glad I didn't realize who you were last night. I think I would have geeked out" Note: For those of you who don't know Anthony Rossmondo was Pete Doherty's replacement in The Libertines which is this blog's other favourite band
Anthony: "I'm really glad that you didn't do that"
Me: "Yeah me too, me too" (if you picture me acting like Scott Pilgrim that scene just comes alive with how retarded I was acting)

As far as a review of the live show: The shows both nights were great but the Chicago show had more energy than the Detroit one (largely due to crowd size). They really killed nearly every song they did but one of the biggest tunes was "Flashover"... they do a great job with their poppier songs? But the intensity of their harder songs sort of transforms the crowd and everyone is sort of in tandem (like the "Twin Flames" vid without the nudity lol)... further proof of this was "Atlantis To Interzone" which literally was an amazing bolt of sonic energy bouncing around the room. I've seen them perform 4 times and this tour has been their best so far. They seem more centered, more grounded, and generally happier dudes... or maybe I just caught them on a couple great days and had a wonderful time? Perhaps I can confirm that next time they roll through the Midwest...

I could continue to blather about fun times but let's just say Klaxons are as nice in real life as they are in your heads.




Ok I've got some work to do... but there are literally pages and pages of written material for this I simply have to go back and proof read. I figured if I was going to disappear for months I'd come back with something big lol. Love you guys... thanks for the on going support!

Klaxons - Surfing The Void coming to the the U.S. soon!

It is no secret that here at Arcadia we are huge fans of Klaxons... I haven't written a review for their new album yet because I want the review to be a little deeper than "OMFG IT'S SO GOOD" lol... In fact I realize that I don't have a whole lot of objectivity with bands like them and Bloc Party so it takes me longer to review the material.

WHILE we are waiting for that... hows about you kids enjoy this live version of "Echoes" in anticipation of their new tour!

Klaxons - "Echoes (Live @ Village Underground)"

Here's some press to tide you over...

“one of the best pop albums of the year – but still one of the most individual and ambitious.” – NME

“Even at low volume, it sounds astonishingly loud and euphoric – a self consciously epic record of rampant
ambition and deliberately arcane weirdness.” – Nylon

It’s been 3 years since Klaxons burst onto the music scene, injecting a dazzling and much needed moment of rave
hedonism into the midst of indie tedium with the truly original and enormously influential Mercury award-winning
album Myths of the Near Future. The band is back with the eagerly awaited follow up, Surfing the Void. This ten
track offering was produced in LA by rock legend Ross Robinson (Sepultura, Slipknot, At the Drive In, The Cure)
and written over the course of a three year long musical journey, it’s a brilliantly diverse and engaging alternative rock
record. While the record is now available to lucky fans overseas, stateside fans that can't wait to download the album at
iTunes on September 21st. The record will see a US physical release in the coming months on tinyOGRE Entertainment.

With the release of Myths of the Near Future the Klaxons burst into the consciousness of music fans everywhere,
going platinum in the UK and gold in Australia, France and Japan. Their debut release earned the band a Mercury
Award, two NME UK awards (Best New Band, Best Album) as well as two NME US awards (Best International Band,
Best International Song). Surfing the Void is already a smash overseas, launching in the top 10 in the UK, France,
Japan, Australia and Germany. Following some fantastic European dates this past summer and performances at
festivals like Reading & Leeds, the band are set to kick of a nationwide headlining tour on our side of the ocean.
Don’t miss your chance to see the band’s riveting live show in a city near you this fall!

We were given a taster of what to expect – or perhaps what not to expect - with the teaser track ‘Flashover’
being streamed on their site and via first single ‘Echoes’ fantastic video. Now it’s time for the full sonic explosion.

“villainous guitar rambling, dread-in-the-gut bass lines, and stentorian falsetto shrieks. But even Klaxons’
most ominously rambunctious tracks grind out plenty of bug-eyed dream pop chants.” – Spin

“it might be time to sit up and pay Klaxons some respect.” – BBC


TOUR DATES
Hoboken, Maxwells – 19th Sept
New York, Bowery Ballroom – 20th Sept
Washington, 9.30 Club – 21st Sept
Brooklyn, Music Hall of Williamsburg 22nd Sept
Boston, Paradise Rock Club – 24th Sept
Columbus, The Basement – 28th Sept
Detroit, Magic Stick – 29th Sept
Chicago, Lincoln Hall – 30th Sept
Minneapolis, Triple Rock Social Club – 1st Oct
Vancouver, Venue – 4th Oct
Seattle, Chop Suey – 5th Oct
San Francisco, Great American Music Hall – 7th Oct
Los Angeles, Filter Magazine Culture Collide Festival – 8th Oct
West Hollywood, Troubadour – 9th Oct

Surfing the Void Tracklist:
1) Echoes
2) The Same Space
3) Surfing the Void
4) Valley of the Calm Trees
5) Venusia
6) Extra Astronomical
7) Twin Flames
8) Flashover
9) Future Memories
10) Cypherspeed

Holy Fuck... this is awesome... Klaxons hip-hop Dalliance!

Well we heard that Klaxons wanted to work with Dr Dre. And some people thought that would be awesome (including myself) but the likelihood of that happening is probably rather slim... (their closest hip-hop collabo so far was the one I blogged about back during Pitchfork Festival with Cadence Weapon *pictured above... I searched forever for a picture of them together and then found it on their Flickr lol*)...

BUT NOW THIS DREAM HAS BEEN PARTIALLY REALIZED! A BBC Covers album is coming out with loads of covers including Klaxons cover of Blackstreet's "No Diggity" (which was, of course, produced by Dr Dre). It is quite simply the fucking most awesome idea that has come to fruition in quite sometime. They are heading into second album territory and we need things like this to whet out palate until we get to hear that...

So I now present to you, my friends, in all of it's radio ripped 128kbps sounding glory, the cover...

Klaxons- "No Diggity (Blackstreet Cover/Radio Rip)"

Klaxons- "No Diggity (Blackstreet Cover/Radio Rip)" YSI

Now you say to yourself, "Why is this asshole giving us a radio rip and not the song in it's full glory?"... first off, I don't have it... second off, if I did I wouldn't post it... I really really like the Klaxons and want them to make money! My blog is not about depriving people of income it's about promoting bands I like (so BBC when you come here to kick my ass lay off please)... when the covers album comes out make sure you pick it up! There are TONS of other artists like Hard-Fi, Maximo Park, The Fratellis, etc that you (the discerning 'Arcadia' reader) will probably love if not at least be entertained by!

This was a surprise post I didn't even intend on making but once I found this I KNEW you guys would want to hear it! Check back soon for more interviews and more awesome tracks.. until next time!

Come with me, come with me...

Sooooooo... I've done loads and loads and loads of Klaxons posts. I mean fucking loads. I am pretty fanatical about the band... which is something that's kind of weird to me when I really think about it. These are a few guys, close to my age (or are my age), who for all intents and purposes are doing the same things I'm trying to do with my life (write music for a living... albeit quite a bit more successfully)! I'm not trying to say I have anything close to their musical chops, what I'm saying is they are just dudes who write songs... as Scroobius Pip would say, they're "Just a band"... yet they still inspire a sense of wonder in me. To get so excited about a band seems goofy when you're closer to the source... having said that though, I'm still dorking out about them and will continue to in the future... hopefully I'll run into them again at Pitchfork this summer and be able to give them the "Atlantis To Interzone" remix that State Crime is working on...

I know some of you have expressed interest in a "best of" post... but instead of doing something that would make the record company kick my ass... I'm going to give you some new live tracks from Minnesota Public Radio...

We're I to do a best of, however, it would look like this.... if I'm missing anything let me know!



Remixes
Magick (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)
Golden Skans (SebastiAn Version 1.2.0 Remix)
Golden Skans (Erol Alkan's Ekstra Spektral Dub)
Golden Skans (Surkin Remix)
Golden Skans (Switch Remix)
Golden Skans to Interzone (So Me Remix) which is technically a mash up...
Atlantis To Interzone (Digitalism Remix)
Atlantis To Interzone (Metronomy Remix)
Atlantis To Interzone (Crystal Castles Remix) off Xan Valleys E.P.
The Bouncer (Gorky Remix)
The Bouncer (South Central Remix)
Gravity's Rainbow (Kavinsky Remix)
Gravity's Rainbow (Gun's'N'Bombs Freakout Rmx)
Gravity's Rainbow (Nightmoves Remix)
Gravity's Rainbow (Soulwax Remix)
Gravity's Rainbow (Van She Remix) off Xan Valleys E.P.

EDIT
There were a couple I forgot and Cohen was nice enough to point this out... here's the ones I missed...
Atlantis To Interzone (Ayia Napa To Interzone Tapedeck Remix)
Atlantis To Interzone (Germlin Remix)
Atlantis To Interzone (Hadouken! Remix)
Atlantis To interzone (Yukski's Saucisses Wanna Dance to Dance Remix)
Atlantis To interzone (mr miyagis bootleg remix)
Golden Skans (David E. Sugar remix)
Gravity's Rainbow (Todd Edwards Main Mix)
Gravitys Rainbow (To My Boy remix)
It's Not Over Yet (Crimp Yr Hair DJs Remix)
Magick (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)

B-Sides, Live stuff, and Demos
Hall Of Records
Electrickery off Gravity's Rainbow CDS
The Bouncer (live) off Golden Skans 7"
Golden Skans (live) off Golden Skans 7"
My Love (Justin Timberlake Cover) live @ BBC and is getting released on the next single!
Gravity's Rainbow (DEMO) no longer available for download, but previously available on Myspace
4 Horsemen Of 2012 (DEMO) no longer available for download, but previously available on Myspace
Atlantis To Interzone (DEMO) no longer available for download, but previously available on Myspace
The Bouncer (DEMO) no longer available for download, but previously available on Myspace
Totem (DEMO)
Golden Skans (DEMO)

And then these puppies...

Klaxons- "It's Not Over Yet (Live on MPR)"
Klaxons- "It's Not Over Yet (Live on MPR)" zShare

Klaxons- "Golden Skans (Live on MPR)"
Klaxons- "Golden Skans (Live on MPR)" zShare

Klaxons- "As Above, So Below (Live on MPR)"
Klaxons- "As Above, So Below (Live on MPR)" zShare

On another topic... as the last days of rainy shitty dark weather are dwindling down... I've been using these crap days as an opportunity to enjoy dubstep in it's best environment next to a) a dark alley or b) night time... I've been trying to get myself more well versed in dubstep... and while I was searching for music I got this gem from a friend at the radio station I work at... how fucking awesome is this!

Junior Boys- "Double Shadow (Kode 9 Remix)"
Junior Boys- "Double Shadow (Kode 9 Remix)" zShare

Then I got a new comp that I fucking LOVE called Tectonic Plates, and this fantastic shit was on there...

DQ1- "Wear The Crown" zShare

You can get the rest of Tectonic Plates on eMusic...

Although this isn't British, heads up to those of you in Chicago this week... you might want to check out Outdanced on Tuesday May 22... my boy Curt is DJing solo (as Dj Autobot, not as 1/2 of Flosstradamus) and Crystal Castles are playing a live show. Sam and I saw Crystal Castles in Miami a couple times and they were awesome (even though their sound system sucked... which wasn't their fault)... nice people... a good time will be had by all...


Flosstradamus Vice Records Mix (Original Demo) YouSendIt

Flosstradamus 3 Peat Mix zShare

Crystal Castles- "Black Fag"

Crystal Castles- "Alice Practice"

Crystal Castles- "Alice Practice" zShare

And since I did a Klaxons post...
Klaxons- "Atlantis To Interzone (Crystal Castles Remix)"
Klaxons- "Atlantis To Interzone (Crystal Castles Remix)" zShare

Speaking of clubs and music... there is an awesome DEMF (errrrr... Movement) afterparty this NEXT weekend with Ghostly International's own Audion that you should go to... unless you have something much cooler to do... which I highly doubt... BECAUSE GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL IS THE GREATEST LABEL ON EARTH (*cough* sign us please)...



OK... I'll be back soon... hope you guys are enjoying the recent posts! Please leave comments, it keeps me posting more... if you're going to be at the Chicago show, or at DEMF let me know...

...and sign up for eMusic... I'm broke...

Klaxons Live At Coachella

So... I deliberated for a while on this one... what do you do when you have awesome music... that has kind of shit sound? Do you post it?

I think if the content is amazing enough the answer is yes.

I tried to figure out the best way to copy the Klaxons show at Coachella. I settled on running it through my "Windows Stereo Mixer" or whatever because I couldn't figure out how to do it on my Mac (I'm sure there was an easy way but I was pressed for time because I only realized a few mins prior to them taking stage that I should do this) so... basically what you have here is what you expect out of live streaming audio... glitches and all.

Klaxons- "Live At Coachella"

At the end of the day I've heard 10,000 bootlegs with sound 1/9 as good. I've got some Franz and some Bjork I'd never post because it sounds so bad. Some Dirty Pretty Things too.

The little gaps suck but... unless you did the same thing I did... or someone else posts this same thing... this is all we've got. None of the glitches are so bad that they ruin the songs... hopefully they stream video live for Pitchfork or something you guys can record it same way I did and we'll get it right!

So I hope you guys enjoy this.... and I hope someone else posts a better version lol!

If you download it and decide the glitches are too much (you fussy fucker) then check out Klaxons @ Transmusicales Festival 2006.

From Chicago To Interzone

Klaxons... at... Schuba's... last night... fucking amazing! I mean completely fucking amazing. I was a little worried because of the recent Mixmag article where they talk about not playing the bass or singing or anything and having an awful show and I'm thinking "this could be a disaster".

They came on an launched into "The Bouncer" and, although it sounded awesome the crowd kind of bounced their heads and that was it. This happened for a while and I think Jamie warily made the comment "This isn't as good as our last Chicago crowd" and from there on out the audience was nuts... I mean fucking nuts. It was one shoulder push away from a fucking full on mosh pit.

I honestly have to put it up there as being of the best shows I've ever been to. They musically were perfect, you could tell they were there in the moment, and they were really trying to make an impression. IF YOU LIVE IN A TOWN WHERE THE TOUR IS NOT SOLD OUT THEN BUY TICKETS! You do not want to miss this...

So as a little inspiration here's a couple tracks I haven't posted before on Arcadia...

Klaxons- "Atlantis To Interzone (Digitalism Remix)"

Klaxons- "Hall Of Records"

Just a funny little note... last night when I was talking to the band after the show Simon goes, "Didn't I slag your show?" and I was like "Yeah, but it's ok. No one took any offense to it. In fact the manager at the radio station was like 'You've brought us international fame' so it's all good" and they laughed... and then he said something like "No, I was just kind of making fun because Albion over in England is connected to this band the Libertines and that's really what I was making fun of" and I was like "Yeah, I, uh, don't know about that!"... *cough cough*... Nope, not me, I don't know anything about The Libertines/ Babyshambles/ Pete Doherty, nothing... never heard of em.... hahahaha...

Here's the rest of the show dates... as I said you better rush to try to get these fuckers!
17 Apr 2007 8:00 P
7TH STREET ENTRY (Age: 18+) MINEAPOLIS, MN
19 Apr 2007 8:00 P
LARIMER LOUNGE (Age: 21+) DENVER, CO
21 Apr 2007 8:00 P
EL PLEX (AGE: 18+) LOS ANGELES, CA
22 Apr 2007 8:00 P
RICHARD'S ON RICHARD'S CABARET (Age: 19+) VANCOUVER, BC
23 Apr 2007 8:00 P
CROCODILE CAFE (ALL AGES) SEATTLE, WA
24 Apr 2007 8:00 P
DANTE'S (Age: 21+) PORTLAND, OR
26 Apr 2007 8:00 P
POPSCENE @ 330 RITCH SAN FRANCISCO, CA
29 Apr 2007 8:00 P
COACHELLA FESTIVAL (ALL AGES) INDIO, CA

Real quick before I let you go here... I wanted to post these streams that are over at Spinner... looks like Maximo Park and the Horrors are getting releases here in the USA! Although, I heard the Maximo album was a little difficult (I'll have the final say on that though)!

Spinner’s 3x3: Maximo Park
Tracks: Apply Some Pressure, Going Missing, Kiss You Better
Recorded from Brixton Academy, London

Spinner’s 3x3: The Horrors
Tracks: Count in Fives, Crawdaddy Simone, Gloves
Recorded from Red Eyed Fly in Austin, Texas

Thanks for stopping by... I'll be back asap with more awesomeness for ya...

A Return (and some shit talking)

Goldie and me @ Ultra Music Festival


Wanna hear a funny story?

So, I sent an e-mail to Klaxons manager earlier... he had said as we got closer to the Chicago show I should send him an e-mail, and if they had a little extra time I could stop by to say hi.

So I rifled off a little letter and went back to watching Klaxons stuff on YouTube before I went to work (because I'm a big dork like that)...

So, I'm watching a video of them doing their NME tour diary (pt 1) and all of a sudden they're talking about doing liners for radio shows (what a coincidence seeing as they did one for me)...

And then all of a sudden they are, on camera, doing the liner for MY radioshow (fucking mental)!

Now before you keep reading, watch the video... I'd start the video @ 1:01...



"Probably the shittest fucking radio station on earth, isn't it?"...

HUH? Now what are the chances? What are the chances that I would send that e-mail (which had stemmed from them doing a liner for my show) and then I would immediately watch a video of them slagging my station (whilst doing that liner)!

It's all good though... I actually think it's funny... obviously they don't know me, the station, or our show so there is no harm in it... had they said "The guy who does the 'Spirit Of Albion' radio show is a loser who eats cat shit for breakfast" I probably would have had a problem with it... I'm sure it sucks to not have any free time and to have people like me with their hands out asking for something constantly...

I'm going to go so far as to say I actually kind of liked it (don't get me wrong... for the first couple of seconds I was like "What the fuck?!?!") because now thousands of people have heard of our tiny little show and are part of 5 seconds on the Klaxons history! I'll also go so far as to say I'm the biggest Klaxons fan in America so I don't care either way now lol... (BUT, it goes to show you though that you should be careful what you say because you never know who it's going to get back to)

Long story short... I got an email back and their manager said I can pop by for at least a picture... so keep your eyes on this spot for that!

While we are talking about Klaxons... I would like to take it upon myself to start a letter writing campaign to let Rolling Stone know what the fuck is up... they gave "Myths Of The Near Future" a two star rating. Two out of five.... I think the Ashley Simpson album got a better review than this... the review is a catty little snippet that has nothing to do with the band or their music; it's more just a slam on "New Rave"... If you believe in Klaxons let R.S. know they are retards and that they post crappy band wagon hopping bands all day long, and give them good reviews as well, so they shouldn't be talking such shit... here's the review...

On the sliding scale of terrible ideas, a U.K. "New Rave" scene rates somewhere between cat juggling and Studio 60. Until now, the best case you could make for old-school Madchester-era rave was that at least it didn't have any revival potential. But the Klaxons have made a bold entrance with the club hit "Atlantis to Interzone," dressing up in fluorescent wizard robes to chant, "Horses want to dance/But find their wings are damaged!" On Myths, they expand their suspiciously indie-ish rock riffs with tales of centaurs ("4 Horsemen of 2012") and Cyclopses ("Isle of Her"). Glowsticks are go! Or not!

Send it snail mail or go to this link here

But anyway... Sorry I was gone for so long! Miami ended up being more of a handful than I had expected. Granted... it was the most amazing time of my life. But I thought I was going to be able to post "live" from down there and that didn't happen. The hotel where WMC was at this year had internet you had to pay for and the internet at my hotel didn't work.

(If you don't like name dropping I wouldn't keep reading... I don't think I'M that special, but I do think that the people mentioned below are that special)

So I'm sorry I didn't get that info to you guys... but I ended up meeting Matthew Dear, Felix Da Housecat, Spank Rock, Oxy Cottintail, The Presets, BT, Paul Van Dyk, Keoki, Roger Sanchez, George Clinton, Goldie, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, Vince Lawrence, Busy P, and a bunch of other people.... we hung out with Crystal Castles, my buddy Curt from Flosstradamus (who is THE COVERSTAR OF THE CURRENT URB MAGAZINE SO Y'ALL MOTHERFUCKERS NEED TO PICK THAT SHIT UP AND SUPPORT MY BOY, YA HEARD?!?!?), and Larry Tee (who has by far the best single I heard at this year's Winter Music Conference called "Licky" featuring his good friend Princess Superstar, remixed by Herve)...


Here's me and Larry @ Karu & Y. He was supposed to play the closing set but Paul Rauhofer decided he wanted to play instead. Don't ask about the outfit... or my facial expression... I was hot... I was sweaty... I'd been dancing... I smelled bad... let's just not talk about it.

Really the most baller part of the whole trip wasn't meeting all these crazy people at Ultra and all these fancy places, it was hanging out with Larry Tee who is the coolest, most down to earth person I've ever met in the music industry.... he (thank god) swooped me up at 3am in downtown Miami and saved me from a bunch of crackhead zombies... I'd met him a few years before at the IDMA's and have talked to him online over the years but actually getting to spend time with him was the highlight of my trip...

Here's a couple more pictures I thought you guys would enjoy...

Here's me and Fatboy Slim


And me and Carl Cox

Let's get into the music... After that we will get back to a long rambling essay on "New Rave", but I'm not going to force you to scroll through it to get to the music... this is the shit I've been enjoying the most recently...

Klaxons- "Atlantis To Interzone (Metronomy Remix)"

Bloc Party- "The Prayer (Phones Full Metal Jackin Remix)"

The Sunshine Underground- "Put You In Your Place (South Central Remix)"

Justice vs Simian- "Never Be Alone (DJ Hell's Bavarian Gigolo Remix)"

M.I.A.- "XR2 (Tigerstyle Remix)"

The Black Ghosts- "Face (Switch Remix)"

Ok, now time for me to weigh in on New Rave...


I was thinking about it more and more recently... and (as I'm sure you already knew) there is no such thing as "New Rave". HOLD ON, HOLD ON. Rewind. There is a New Rave scene but it's not the music... really...

To say it's a media construct is obvious and stupid. But really New Rave is a renewed interested in flourescent colours. And a desire for a new style of rock because the last drop of the Libertines legacy basically hit rock bottom with the Holloways, Milburn, and other bands from that ilk. New Rave came about because white males want to dance but "dance music" is too gay and punk (the other musical genre where people "dance") is too exclusive.

The funniest part about it is that New Rave came from a joke in a Klaxons interview with NME!

New Rave is really just a way to describe rock's "movement" towards dance music (but away from the commercial "trancey pants" end) and away from the "old guard" in British rock music. Now don't get me wrong... I love the old guard... but I only want to hear those types of songs from those bands! I don't want to hear one more band write a fucking Libs song! It's the same thing that happened in the U.S. for years after Nirvana. The "modern rock" scene in the United States is STILL just a stagnant pool of Nirvanawannabes.

So, basically, there is no solid musical thread for New Rave and that's why it doesn't exist. If there truely was roster it would be Klaxons, Shitdisco, Crystal Castles, Datarock, Goose, and CSS but not really. Then on the electronic side you've got Simian Mobile Disco, Justice, Digitalism, and a couple other people.

But that's too few bands so the music press have tried to apply it everywhere. It's kind of how people talk about how there's "something in the water" in Virginia because you've got Missy, Timbaland, and the Neptunes.... but, in all honesty, that's it! Same with "New Rave"...

Are Hot Chip "New Rave"? I don't think so. There are a lot of rock bands that get remixed (and have been for years), and there are a lot of electronic bands or duos or artists who appeal to rock fans. It would be easy to sling the New Rave term around to Chemical Brothers or anyone who's ever gotten an Errol Alkan remix. Primal Scream are the original New Rave band if you follow this logic. Also by this logic The Rakes Phones remix of "Retreat" is the first real New Rave song.

At the end of the day... "New Rave" is a fashion statement about wearing clothes that don't match with bright colours. It's early 90's nostalgia for a pre-9/11 world. It's young kids wanting their own Summer Of Love and people my age wanting to revisit their glory rave days... it's rock music wanting to dance and dance music wanting to rock but.... there is no cohesive whole and it's hard to make a case for it even existing (unless you're trying to sell magazines or records). It's about ten real bands, ten DJs/producers and all of them are so progressive they won't be sounding very New Rave for very long, as they are real artists! New Rave is a way for NME is make lots of money (which is fine because this is what their job is)... New Rave does not exist...

At this point this whole thing is going to collapse or grow out of it's prior constraints and the term won't be applicable... in the meantime shitty as bands like Enter Shikari will fall off, and somewhat more interesting bands like Hadouken! will either make new crazy mutant music or cease to exist... in the meantime bust out the glowsticks and mosh to your hearts content...

The term will not be used again on this blog...

Here's the Dance Your Pants Off Mixtape (which is not strictly British I might add):

The Presets- Are You The One? (Van She Remix)
Gossip- Standing In The Way Of Control (Soulwax Remix)
Justice vs Simian- We Are Your Friends
Klaxons- Gravity's Rainbow (Van She Remix)
Justice- Waters Of Nazareth
Digitalism- TVTV
Simian Mobile Disco- Boat Race
Crystal Castles- Alice Practice
The Futureheads- Worry About It Later (Switch Remix)
The Rakes- Retreat (Phones Remix)
These New Puritans- Elvisss (Demo)
Shitdisco- I Know Kung Fu (James Ford Remix)
Datarock- Fa Fa Fa
Goose- Low Mode
New Young Pony Club- Ice Cream (Van She Remix)
Depeche Mode- Never Let Me Down Again (Digitalism Remix)
Muse- Supermassive Black Hole (Phones Remix)
Forward Russia- Nine (Napoleon IIIrd Remix)
Brakes- All Night Disco Party (Herbert Remix)
Franz Ferdinand- Outsiders (Isolee Remix)
Klaxons- Magick (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)
Editors- All Sparks (Cicada Remix)
Bloc Party- The Prayer (Phones Full Metal Jackin Remix)
Hot Chip- Colours (Fred Falke Remix)
Goose- Low Mode
Dead Disco- City Place
Soulwax- NY Excuse (Justice Remix)
Client feat Pete Doherty- Down To The Underground
Robbie Williams- Lovelight (Soulwax Ravelight Dub)

A great deal of these tracks have been posted on the blog over the last year... most of the people I've talked to in the U.S. (including DJs) don't know shit about all this new music... so this list isn't redundant as you think it is... and a couple people asked for some suggestions so there they are!

P.S. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IF YOU DON'T ALREADY HAVE IT IS THE NME DANCEFLOOR DISTORTION CD THAT CAME FREE WITH THE MOST RECENT (November) KLAXONS ISSUE OF NME! It's mixed by Simian Mobile Disco and is one of those CD's you'll listen to in ten years and think "Aw! The good old days all on one cd!"

Also you can click below and get a lot of the songs and bands mentioned at eMusic!

Magick from Gravity's Rainbow (via Atlantis and Interzone)

So... I had said I was going to do a (possible) Bristol/Trip-hop post here on Thursday (which is now almost Friday)... and I had a sudden change of plans...

See perhaps the greatest electronic rock band of my generation (sorry New Order, for all intents and purposes you're not my generation... same goes for you Depeche Mode but I love you too) did a FUCKING LINER FOR MY RADIOSHOW and now I feel the need to do a KLAXONS post...

I know... you're thinking the same thing I'm thinking... "how did you get the coolest fucking band ever (read=KLAXONS) to do a liner for your show?"... I would answer that but... well it would take the mystery out of it... so instead we will all just celebrate with some good ol' Klaxons demos... sounds good yeah? I know I've posted a few of these before but why not again!

Klaxons- "Gravity's Rainbow (Demo)"

Klaxons- "The Bouncer (Demo)"

Klaxons- "Atlantis To Interzone (Demo)"

Klaxons- "Four Horsemen of 2012 (Demo)"

Klaxons- "Totem (Demo)"

I have to say... if you haven't heard "Myths Of The Near Future" yet first a) hit your self in the face for being silly and then b) go buy it because it's fucking MDMA-zing (cough)... seriously though, please go pick it up because your life will not be complete without it... you think I'm saying that because of my current circumstances, but I'm saying it because it's hands down going to be the best album of the year... like, for the rest of the year I'm going to have to not say "this is the best album" because this one took the cake (and early on I might add)! Bastards!






You know... when they get to that "COME WITH ME, COME WITH ME, WE'LL TRAVEL TO INFINITY..." bit in "Gravity's Rainbow" I always say to myself "These guys are the greatest band ever"... from now on I will think "These guys are the greatest band ever, and they did a liner for my show"... and since I can say that? I will die a happy man! (If you wanna hear the liner then listen to the show tomorrow night 7-9pm EST on 89.1 WIDR FM... or check it out @ http://www.widr.org)



I'm sure by now you know you can get Klaxons "Xan Valleys" E.P. at eMusic... now about be a good time to stop fucking around and purchase it!

WHOO HOO!!! PARTY!!!

OH yeah... how you like these apples. I've had a counter up for roughly 2 months (give or take a day) and I broke 20,000 hits this morning. That is totally mental to me... 20,000 hits in such a short period of time! Since I couldn't have done it without you (well I suppose I could have but that would have been pretty crazy) so I'm going to try to give you the BEST British "BEST OF" I can come up with! I haven't quite finished my list so instead it's just going to be a rough overview of the best bands/tracks of the year...

LET'S GET IT STARTED (shoot the imaginary stereo for playing BEP.. cause they suck... and WILL leave wet spots on your couch!)

I would say my favourite song of the year is probably "Boy From School" by Hot Chip... it's perfect mixture of Simon & Garfunkle melancholy and filter house grooves was the most amazing musical combo this year (next to Timberlake/Timbaland but that's another story... here's the Erol Alkan Rework...

Hot Chip- "Boy From School (Erol Alkan's Extended Rework)"

Then we have a track from The Streets... it's pretty obvious that "Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living" is going to make a lot of people's lists this year... but this track (which is an improvement on the already great original) will likely be overlooked...

The Streets- "When You Wasn't Famous (Professor Green Remix)

And of course Arctic Monkeys are the most important band of the year... the new 'Oasis'... and I don't need to tell you anything about them... here's a live one from KCRW!
Arctic Monkeys- "Fake Tales Of San Francisco (Live @ KCRW)"

I don't know a lot about Sunshine Underground other than the name is from a Chemical Brother's song... but they are pretty sweet.. here's a fun live track from the London Calling festival...
Sunshine Underground- "Commercial Breakdown (Live @ London Calling, Amsterdam 1.4.06)"

Guillemots (which I STILL do not know how to pronounce) wrote one of the most touching albums this year (in fact 'Trains To Brazil' easily will make it into my ten best songs of the year) and this is a beautiful b-side off their EP...

Guillemots- "Sea Out (B-Side)"

I wanted to post the video for "Trains To Brazil" as well... it's fucking awesome...


I know I mainly talk about Pete Doherty but his former partner Carl Barat, and his band Dirty Pretty Things, are just as relevant and just as exciting as the Libertines use to be... however without the drama that Babyshambles were surrounded by DPT were largely overlooked this year... and so was this bonus track at the end of their album... (if you buy the limited edition vinyl version this is on the bonus 7 inch.. sweet song)

Dirty Pretty Things- "B.U.R.M.A (Hidden Track)"

Ah the Kooks... my friend Lolly, who is mates with them, introduced me to them earlier this year just prior to the "THEY ARE FROM MUSIC SCHOOL" backlash... because of this I have no tainted view about them and really enjoyed their album... this is a wicked cover of Gnarls Barkley...

The Kooks- "Crazy (Gnarls Barkley Cover @ Radio 1 Live Lounge)"

...and speaking of covers, and speaking of The Kooks, Lily Allen hit both bases this year while taking the piss at the same time... after making a bunch of remarks on how worthless The Kooks were she went ahead and did this at Radio 1's Live Lounge as if to beat them at their own game... then to prove she was still indie friendly she dueted with Alan from The Rakes... game, set, match!

Lily Allen- "Naive (Kooks Covere @ Radio 1 Live Lounge)"

If you've been reading this blog you know I love dance music... and Klaxons were the biggest thing to happen this year in British dance music... this is a demo version of their cover version of the old rave classic 'The Bouncer' (that was a mouthful)!

Klaxons- "The Bouncer (Demo Version)"

Here is an AWESOME 2 part Klaxons performance... fucking ace...



This song is about a girl being raped and killed... I think... that's a bit dark for me so instead I just bop around not listening to the words.. works well.. you should try it... anyway.. Larrkin Love's skank funk was so successful they almost beat Babyshambles for the best white reagee influenced band this year! Here's a live rendition of the song from London Calling festival...

Larrikin Love- "Happy As Annie (Live @ London Calling, Amsterdam)"

Of course no 'best of' comp would be complete without the next Arctic Monkeys The View... they haven't quite taken the world by storm but you can TRUST they will be on my 2007 list as well.. these guys are going to take over the world.. and this song will help them do it! Here's a demo of their biggest track thus far... an homage to their friends the Wasted Little Djs...

The View- "Wasted Little DJs (Demo)"

The Fratellis are little lad rock-y for me... BUT I generally still dig them just because I like overly masculine bands with insane egos (Kasabian, Oasis)... and these guys have got that one nailed!

The Fratellis- "Dirty Barry Stole The Blackbird (B-side)"

Ahhhh... The Pipettes... the prettiest girls you've never met... this track was a refreshing step away from the norm with one of the most catchy choruses in 06... here's a live one from Radio 1's Blue Room...

The Pipettes- "We Are The Pipettes (Live @ Radio 1's Blue Room)"

...and why not just give you their super weird Austin Powers-esque video...


...and last but not least... my favourite midget Lady Sovereign... I think I already posted this but this is one of the songs that didn't make it to the album... I heard her do it live and it's a nice addition to any Sov collection (for all you completists out here)! This is actually from 2005 and got a 4 star review over at Pitchfork...

Lady Sovereign- "The Broom (B-Side)"

Actually here is sort of what that sounded like...


So that's that! I will (as I said) still be doing a 'best of list' before Christmas and will keep giving you more tracks from this years best artists until the 1st (if everything goes to plan)... so, thanks again for stopping by and PLEASE feel free to leave comments!

P.s. If we blow through a BUNCH of these YouSendIt links really fast I will throw some other sort of links up if you guys request them!