BRITPOP EXPLOSION! Oasis vs Blur LIVE!

I have always been an ardent Oasis follower. The first time I heard "MAY-BAYYYYYY... I DON'T REALLY WANNA KNOWWWWW... HOW YOUR GAH-DEN GROWSSSS" I was hooked. "Live Forever" is the first song I ever learned how to play on the guitar (in fact it's one of the only songs I 'actually' know how to play as I'm not a guitar player... *in the most pretentious I went to art school way* I'm a SONGWRITER lol). I cannot count how many of the best moments of my life were surrounded or soundtracked by Oasis songs. So many fantastic moments.

Like, how about when my friends Melissa and Lizzy and I went to see them with Travis (the band not a person) in Detroit? We were only like 17 or 18 (which meant Meli Mel was a couple years younger than that) and we got soooooooooo fucking drunk. This college age guy in front of us was drinking Jim Beam and buying us beers, and he would keep turning around and beign like "WOOOOO You're my bro man! Oasis are fucking SWEET man!" and letting us take swigs of his pint. If memory serves me correctly I had a joint on me that we smoked with him (who's joint it was evades me but oh well) and it made Lizzy really sick cause she was already so drunk. Frat boy brings me my third and last beer (which I guzzle thinking 'they're bound to play plenty more songs so I better blow this down so when they finish an hour from now I'll be straight to drive') and as soon as I take my last sip Liam goes 'fuck you good night' and the show was over.

Needless to say I almost killed us going home. I frankly it was one of maybe three times I have driven drunk (WHICH I DO NOT CONDONE AND THINK IS HORRIBLE SO DON'T DO IT!) and it was sooooo difficult. When we got home it was as though I had climbed Mount Everest and I was so proud we got home in one piece (btw thanks for that God!). They ended up staying at my house because it didn't really seem to make sense and... if my memory serves me correctly... my girlfriend walked in on the three of us in bed the next morning and was ready to kill me (if she didn't come in she at least stopped by). Now, nothing happened, I didn't do anything with either one of them, they were just my friends, but we all just sat around in bed giggling and being retarded because I think we were still high... and it was one of those bonding moments that makes you friends for life.

We got to see one of the greatest bands of all time. We got royally fucked up. We were saved from certain death (did I mention it was raining buckets, I had the car on cruise control because I didn't know better and almost ran into a bunch of cement dividers because the 'move-over-arrow-highway-sign' was turned off?). We got free Ian Brown solo album singles outside the show. We got to see Noel sing acoustic 'Masterplan'. We had a major laugh and got to do everything fun (and stupid) that teenagers do in one night.

Of course, I've seen Oasis many times since (most of which have been plagued by rain and near death experiences) and I will tell you each time I go it strengthens my feeling that the world is an ok place. That other people see the magic I do in Oasis... in fact it goes a little something like "I think you're the same as me/ We'll see things they never see..."

Their new collection Stop The Clocks (UPDATE: you can stream the whole entire thing over here at AOL= Oasis, 'Stop the Clocks'), which is a greatest hits album with new tracks AND a concept video has just come out and I thought I would celebrate by posting some live stuff to stir up some nostalgia. Here's some tracks from The Point in Dublin, Ireland... it's all Noel, no Liam, in all of his coked out Be Here Now glory! If nothing else make sure you check out 'Stand By Me' which is labeled 'Sand By Me'... ooops!

Oasis- "Be Here Now (Live @ The Point, Dublin, Ireland)"

Oasis- "Stand By Me (Live @ The Point, Dublin, Ireland)"

Oasis- "D'You Know What I Mean" (Live @ The Point, Dublin, Ireland)"

This right here is the best performance I have ever seen them do:


And I really love this song... both are off Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants which I think is the album everyone dislikes except for me...


And since I mentioned Travis... I thought I'd give you this to jog your memory...

Travis- "Driftwood (Live @ Link Cafe, Glasgow)"

Now............... as much as I am a major major Oasis fans with posters in my living room, posters in my bedroom, Oasis ring tones, stickers on my car, and ringtones on my phone... I do like Blur a lot as well. I suppose in the Blur vs Oasis war, I'm more on the Oasis side though. HOWEVER, I own every single Blur album and 13 had a profound impact on my life. And Think Tank. And Parklife. Memories of driving to Bath from London listening to Badhead falling asleep in the sun. In fact when I was younger I used to think I wanted to be Damon Albarn when I grew up (even though everyone said he was a twat). In fact I used to carry a picture of him in my binder during high school (him and David Bowie along with a chat transcript of a 5am GMT chat with the Thin White Duke himself). I own ever Gorillaz album, I have a huge poster in my living room, a dvd and loads Albarn related stuff on my Amazon Wishlist (hint). So having said all this... I will post some Blur as well. Just to appeal to you all.

Blur- "Beetlebum (Live @ Brixton Academy)"

Blur- "Girls & Boys (Live @ Brixton Academy)"

Blur- "Song 2 (Live @ Brixton Academy)"

Sorry I haven't been around for a few days. I'll make sure to post TONS over the weekend... in fact I'm going to start right this second!

Trip Hop You Don't Stop

After yesterday's post I started thinking about some of the music that made me who I am today... like what band is it that shattered everything I knew before and rebuilt my senses to appreciate the finer things in music? As I was trying to figure out what artist/band I was going to use for my post was shocked when I realized I haven't really posted much Massive Attack in the past. In fact I don't know if I have posted any, at all! Which is insane seeing as my favourite bands are as follows: Joy Division, The Libertines, Babyshambles, Mobius Band, Crystal Skulls and Massive Attack (ok so there are a couple more but...)

Massive Attack were/are one of those bands that made me think "wow, this is exactly what I have always wanted music to sound like." At 15 I was aware of Massive Attack through their connection to Tricky (who I was obsessed with) and knew they came from Bristol (just like my other favourite band at that time, Portishead, who are still one of my favourites) and little else. I bought their album Protection first and I enjoyed it quite a bit (I was already familiar with the dub version No Protection and didn't know it, but that's another story) but I really went bonkers for them when I heard Mezzanine.

Mezzanine is an album of total opposites that work in harmony. It is dark, and distant. Cold and isolated. Warm and breezy. Full of fear and hatred. An album about love and heartbreak that sees both the silver lining on the cloud and the shadow cast by it. It is one of those albums that was such a labor of love it basically broke up the band. Here's a little description from Wikipedia on the album:

Massive Attack's third album, Mezzanine, was released in 1998. Mezzanine showed the band moving towards an extremely dark, tense sound filled with distorted guitars and a combination of drum machines and live percussion that lacked the laid-back, jazzy nature they had occasionally shown in their previous albums. Original member Vowles, dissatisfied with this change in sound, left the band. He was replaced by Neil Davidge, who worked with Del Naja for much of his material on Mezzanine.

Mushroom (Andrew Vowles) didn't return to the group and Daddy G (Grant Marshall) has been 'spending time with his family' since Mezzanine.

Although some critics have said that Massive Attack haven't put out anything good since 1998 I, personally, disagree have enjoyed every Massive Attack release since. In fact even went so far as to see them live a couple months ago. It was really a sight to see but I felt like the show would have been better had it not been at the Riviera in Chicago. The acoustics in that place SUCK and every band I've seen there has not sounded quite right (it's been as though they couldn't hear themselves sing! Elizabeth Frasier and Horace Andy who are LEGENDS were all over the place, unable to hold onto notes or keys or anything). I would like to see them at another venue someday and suggest that if you get the chance you go see them. Even if their show gets screwed up (like it did when I saw them) it's still worth seeing!

Anyway... I thought I would try to give you the FULL Massive Attack experience here and post a little something from all over their catalogue... I hope you all enjoy this and if I can I might try to sneak a couple more remixes in either later tonight, or maybe I'll do another Massive Attack post... I dunno...

Here's the remixes:
Primal Scream- "Exterminator (Massive Attack Remix)"

U.N.K.L.E.- "Rabbit In Your Headlights (Reverse Light Massive Attack Remix)"

Garbage- "Milk (Massive Attack Classic Remix)"

Massive Attack- "Daydreaming (Blacksmith Remix)"


Here's some album tracks:
Massive Attack- "Lately" off Blue Lines

Massive Attack- "Man Next Door" off Mezzanine


Massive Attack- "Small Time Shot Away" off 100th Window

Here's some videos... the first one is the 'unreleased' video for 'Angel' which is EPIC... the other two are new videos off their 'Best Of...' called Collected.







And while I still have your attention I would like to thank you all for stopping by... as you can see below the numbers recently have been AMAZING! Keep coming back! I love you all! I'm not making a fucking penny off this shit (I don't think) but it makes me so happy that I'm making people's day just a little more fun! THANK YOU!

Re-ee-eee-wind!!!

SO... I've been posting a lot of dancey stuff recently (duh) but I decided to go a little old school today... I was organizing my mp3's (hold on! where did my pocket protector go! *cough*) and I found this mix I got for free from Ministry Magazine. I don't read that shit anymore (because since I've gotten older I'm more of a strictly Ghostly/Warp/Kitsune kind of guy as opposed to labels like Defected and shit like that... not that I'm above it or I don't love it... but I digress) it's just not my style, BUT this fucking mix cd is off the fucking chain! It's this sort of summery-disco-filter-jersey-paradise-garage-house that is perfect to throw on while driving to the beach on the hottest day of summer.

The summer of 2001 I tore my arse off rollerblading, I would mow down some of those strawberry chews (like those healthy Starbursts?), bust out a few bottles of Dasani, and throw this into my stereo whilst whacked out on painkillers on the way to the beach (you thought I was being healthy didn't you! Yeah right! I was fucking loaded!) Needless to say, that was the 2nd best summer of my life (I think this last Summer was the best because of my girl and the festivals we went to) and this cd was instrumental in its perfection (that and the hard narcotics for my temporarily missing butt cheek). In case you were wondering which issue of Ministy and what cd... it was the 'North vs South' issue (featuring two neon clad lassies hitting each other and wrestling), the cd was for a Ministry club nite called 'Rulin', and the Dj was Jazzy M. Here is the most out of control track on that comp... if you want more of this get at me... I know it's not as 'rock' as most of the dance I've put up BUT this is British club music and I want to cover all sides of the Brit music sphere.

Jazzy M- "Jazzin The Way You Know" YSI

Jazzy M- "Jazzin The Way You Know" zShare

Now taking it WAYYYYYYYYY further back... I thought I would post some 808 State. When I was 14, music started taking a turn for the best. All of a sudden this band Prodigy started a rumble with their monster track 'Firestarter', and along with them they brought loads of other electronic groups with them onto the shelves my local record store. I was devouring Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin, Photek, Josh Wink, Atari Teenage Riot, Daft Punk, Bjork, Orbital, Crystal Method, Moby and all the other groups you HAD to check out back then when you were trying to build a broad palette to draw from as you create an electronic record collection. Then I started getting into the flavour of the moment... stuff like Dj Shadow, Morcheeba, Roni Size, Tricky, Portishead and other great bands of that time period. BUT I also starting going backwards and checking out the bands that I had grown up with like Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, and New Order. And then I found 808 State. I found they had worked with Bjork (something fairly new to me) and Bernard Sumner from New Order (something I had grown up with) and I decided they were the perfect duo. I immediately fell in love with Ex:El. If you haven't you should too. This record helped me learn to appreciate the structure of electronic music, and that it too can offer the world pop songs you can sing along with.

808 State feat Bernard Sumner- "Spanish Heart" YSI

808 State feat Bernard Sumner- "Spanish Heart" zShare

So that's it for now... I appologize that it was a sort of rambling nostalgic post... as of tomorrow I'll be back on track... BTW I wanted to say thanks to all the visitors over the weekend... I got over a thousand hits since my last post and I don't know how it happened... but PLEASE keep coming back!

The Man That Fell To YouTube

This is what my daydreams look like inside my head...


No time for a big long post... I'm headed out of town... I so I can promise another post asap.. but make sure you check out the previous Babyshambles, and Aphex Twin posts! There are plenty zShare links if the YSI ones are dead! Anyway, here are some Bowie covers to tide you over if I don't get to post again...

The Futureheads- "Let's Dance" YSI

The Futureheads- "Let's Dance" zShare

Arcade Fire- "Five Years" YSI

UPDATE: LINK REPAIRED!!!
Arcade Fire- "Five Years" zShare

Too Much Rock N Roll (Babyshambles)

Well yesterday I broke the 3,000 mark... I've gotta say... it makes me feel MIGHTY good... mighty good... GIVEN the fact that the counter has ONLY BEEN UP FOR 3 WEEKS and I hadn't been posting for months... long story short I went from getting no hits, to 20 hits a day, to 50 hits a day, to a hundred hits a day, to 300 hits a day and on and on... and seems to be a lot of you are coming back for 'more' as well! There seem to be quite a few return visitors! I mean this morning with no new post I got over a 150... weird shit...

Day Date Page Loads Unique Visitors First Time Visitors
Thursday 9th November 2006 247 166 146
Wednesday 8th November 2006 202 150 138
Tuesday 7th November 2006 329 235 213

Seems to be there a few people posting Babyshambles this week... and they are climbing up the Hype Machine with the quickness... now I thought to myself... "Hmmmm... should I do another Shambles post? I do one just about every week... Is that dumb? Maybe I should... I wonder if I can get Parlophone to give me access to the new tracks soon.... hmmmmm..." and finally just decided that it's easier to just do the post than to sit around thinking about doing it. I don't have time for that shit... thinking that is...

BUT HERE IS SOMETHING I DO HAVE TIME FOR! I have a few favourite blogs. Everyone of couse reads Stereogum, and I really like Rbally, Acid Girls, Fluo Kids, and Discobelle... but above all I love me some Palms Out Sounds! They are the coolest blog on the block, with a distinct hip-hop bent, that covers everything from Jay Z and NaS, to Spank Rock and my boys Flosstradamus. Right now they are in the running to get to do exclusive coverage of the new Jay Z album Kingdom Come but they have to win this blog competition over at Roccafella to get it. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help them out. Either stop by Palms Out Sounds or head over to Rocafella to vote for them. Please, it doesn't take that long, I want to blogosphere (nay, the world!) to see that hip-hop ain't just 50 Cent and Dipset, it's crazy Mash-ups and B-more mixes! Thank you for your time.

So before I post the songs, check this out...

Pete is now running around with shirts that say 'Too Much Rock N Roll' and 'Drug Free'... who would have thought... maybe Liam Gallagher will say that he wants to hang out with Pete now and trade parenting tips... seeing at Liam's Little James and Pete's Astile both have the same mommy Lisa Moorish. Nothing heard as to whether Kate is actually pregnant with Pete-Child-No-2 but it does seem to be confirm that they are to marry... I don't mean to sound like a tabloid. I just can't get enough of Pete Doherty.

Just in case you forgot what it was like when he was on drugs... take a look at this video of he and a couple of the Shambles lip synching to Snoop Dog!

Ok, enough of me talking... here are the tracks... these are mostly newer tracks, and hopefully some of them will be on the upcoming 'Blinding E.P.'they are releasing on Parlophone... I should let you know NONE OF THESE ARE THE ACTUAL FINAL VERSIONS OF THE TRACKS, THEY ARE EITHER LIVE OR GOOD QUALITY DEMOS!!! The first two are from the 'Paris Rehearsals' which sound great, the second one is an acoustic version of 'Beg Steal Or Borrow' and 'Jeane' is a great track that has been floating around in the wilderness and I don't think it has any connection to anything... the last two are Live @ Paradiso Club in Amsterdam, which was actually recorded for Radio 1. The sounds quality, even though they are live, is GREAT and I really have enjoyed this set. I might post more off it in the future (thank you to 19mark78 from French Dog Blues Forum for the CD from this show)! I've posted the files in both YouSendIt and zShare because it seems to be that some of my shit doesn't show up on the Hype Machine or it's just numbers and shit... and I figured if I posted all the songs on both it couldn't go wrong (crosses fingers)! Enjoy!

Babyshambles- "French Dog Blues" YSI

Babyshambles- "French Dog Blues" zShare

Babyshambles- "I Wish" YSI

Babyshambles- "I Wish" zShare

Babyshambles- "Beg Steal Or Borrow (Acoustic)" YSI

Babyshambles- "Beg Steal Or Borrow (Acoustic)" zShare


Babyshambles- "Jeane"

Babyshambles- "Baddies Boogie" YSI

Babyshambles- "Baddies Boogie" zShare

Babyshambles- "Janie Jones (Live)" YSI

Babyshambles- "Janie Jones (Live)" zShare

BTW... Charles and I are talking about putting an RSS or XML feed from my the blog here to the 'Albion' site so we can combine the latest news with your mp3s (and make the whole thing a little more professional). The record companies, and the bands, and (most improtantly) the fans/listeners have been flooding in there recently so it only makes sense to put both sites together. So make sure to check back and see if we actually did that... like the magical Albion t-shirts I never made!

UPDATE 11/11/06
I GOT OVER 750 HITS TODAY! SO HERE'S THE COMPLETE BABYSHAMBLES GLASTO PERFORMANCE!

Aphex Twin: Selected Classics Off Lots Of Albums

So we've been on this jacked up dancey-pants thing for a few posts... and I thought I would take it down a notch. Take it down A LOT actually.

I haven't posted any Aphex Twin before and I thought now would be a good time. I was looking through my computer at work and saw this Warp Records/London Sinfonetta album I reviewed for WIDR a couple weeks back and I thought I should post some songs from it. Then I thought... well shit... why not post a bunch of Aphex Twin!

Of all the songs I could post I would say that 'Flim' (off of the ubiquitous 'Come To Daddy EP') is by far my favourite. For many years, whether happy or sad, I've had this fantasy that when I die (if there is some afterlife) 'Flim' will come on shortly afterwards, filling the void, and I will know everything will be ok. Morbid, yeah, but it's such a beautiful song that I think it is what 'heaven' sounds like if there is such a thing.

Most of these songs tend to lean in the more 'pretty' or 'ethereal' direction, which is not really an accurate portrail of what Mr. Richard D. James' music is like at all (I say this because I know there are a fair amount of younger kids who read this blog and I don't want to have them pick up 'Hangable Auto Bulb' and freak out and never trust anything I say ever again!)... but these are some of the songs of his songs I like most.

ALSO! Don't forget to actually go out and buy his stuff! I'm not just posting this for you to get free music. I'm trying to get you to either a) rediscover Aphex Twin, b) say "Oh, maybe I should have bought this album!", or c) pick up his work for the first time. There is a LOT of music here and I don't want to feel like an idiot for posting it. Based on Aphex interviews I'm going to assume he wouldn't give a shit but his record company probably would...

Aphex Twin- "Polygon Window (Arranged by Kenneth Hesket)"

Aphex Twin- "Prepared Piano Piece 1"

These first two are from Warp Works & 20th Century. That album also includes John Cage, Squarepusher, Tom Jenkinson, Gyorgy Ligeti, Conlon Nancarrow, Steve Reich, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Edgard Varese. That album I suggest checking out if you are into both IDM and NPR.

Here's my selection of favourites:

Aphex Twin- "Alberto Balsam" off I Care Because You Do...

Aphex Twin- "Flim" off Come To Daddy E.P.

Aphex Twin- "Tha" off Selected Ambient Works 85-92

Aphex Twin- "Nanou2" off Druqks

Aphex Twin- "Windowlicker" off Windowlicker E.P.

PLEASE, if you enjoyed this go pick some Aphex Twin over at Amazon!

I Heart Hot Chip (and NYPC)!

I mentioned in my last massive post that I fucking LOVE me some Hot Chip. I also mentioned there are loads of awesome remixes of them, and awesome remixes they have done. Here are a couple more to whet your whistle. There are a shit load of remixes they have done for other people over on eMusic... and today would be a good day to sign up for that free trail! Why you ask? Well, as of I think the 21st of this month they are CHANGING THEIR PLANS... from now on you will get FEWER SONGS in your monthly plan UNLESS you sign up now. So for $20 a month you can STILL get 90 songs, unless you sign up after the 21st and then you only get 65 or something. The specifics are not at my fingertips but it's something like that. So why don't you get your free trial on, help out you favourite blogger, and get loads of free songs! Check out the banner at the bottom...

Anyway... These files are megabyte heavy so keep that in mind... probably WICKED for Djing with (for all you Final Scratchers, et al) but will also take a grip to download if you have shitty internet. The Booka Shade one is about 16mb, and the Maida Vale one about 8mb or something. Whatever, just download them... and leave some comments.

Hot Chip- "Just Like We Breakdown (DFA Remix)"

Hot Chip- "Just Like We Breakdown (Booka Shade Vocal Mix)" YSI

UPDATE:
Hot Chip- "Just Like We Breakdown (Booka Shade Vocal Mix)" zShare

Hot Chip- "Over And Over (Maida Vale Session Version)"

Here is the video from my fav Garfunkel-meets-filter-house Hot Chip song "Boy From School":


And the live version...

Now the other band I kind of have a crush on is New Young Pony Club. They kind of remind me of CSS but not (maybe it's just the whole dance-y band with a front woman thing). Melding the sleeze of Kelis' 'Milkshake' and cocaine aloofness of Miss Kitten they have quite probably written the best song about sucking dick/fucking/(insert sexual deviancy here) that we will hear in 2006. They still have the same party vibe as CSS but also can take that in a more headphone worthy direction as well. I actually screwed up and said that they were Austrailian (it was because Van She remixed them, and they are signed to Modular... why would I NOT think they were Aussies?) but they are actually from the U.K. which is something I am very pleased about. I can't wait to play this shit on my show!

New Young Pony Club- "Ice Cream (Original)"

New Young Pony Club- "Gotta Get Into You" YSI

UPDATE:
And just because you love it...
New Young Pony Club- "Ice Cream (Van She Remix)" zShare

Make sure to check back for more mp3's and heartfelt endorsements about your (soon to be) favourite bands!

I can give you... what. you. want.

Well another Monday and the weekend seems SO far away. There was a nice write up over a Pitchfork about the Lady Sov show (that I also write about yesterday) from this last weekend and it made me wish that the fun and relaxation of the weekend was here again. Instead I'm stuck with a painful, puss filled strep throat that is giving me chills and totally fucking up my whole steez. Awful isn't it? When you're steez is fucked? Hahaha... we all know Mondays tend it suck in general so I am going to do what I can to make today unsuck a little for all of us!

I don't really need to tell you about my love for the supposed New Rave movement... but I haven't let you know how much I ADORE Hot Chip. Hot Chip are almost constantly in my cd player (which is basically Apparat, Ellen Allien, Audion, Spank Rock, Klaxons, DFA 1979, Ladytron, Joy Division... you get the picture) and I find my self taking out their cd, putting another in, and immediately taking that out and putting it back in. I mean I love Arctic Monkeys but I'm kind of surprised Hot Chip didn't win the Mercury Prize. Maybe they should change their name to Hot Shit (that was awwwwwwwwwful)! Anyway, it's hard to think they could be any better... but a slew of remixes are at least equal if not better than their amazing originals. I like the song 'Colours' but I LOVE Fred Falke remix of it. He's been making the rounds doing a remix for everyone in the world with his boy Alan Braxe.... and just in case you didn't know Alan Braxe co-wrote Stardust's 'The Music Sounds Better With You' along with Benjamin Diamond, and Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter... so he certainly has the songwriting chops to pull of something EPIC!

Hot Chip- "Colours (Fred Falke Remix)"

I want to post MORE Hot Chip but I think I ought to wait at LEAST a day... HOWEVER I am not opposed to posting some more Braxe and Falke action... I realize this isn't British but I quite like Kelis and this disco redux of her new song 'Bossy' makes me long for the days when she and Pharrell got along and the world was alright... and I was still privy to knowing shit the public didn't. Like back when this picture was taken...

Kelis- "Bossy (Alan Braxe& Fred Falke Remix)"

BTW I got this song off a Music For Robots comp at the Mobius Band show.. you should also go get it.. it's pretty smokin!

The next group needs no introduction... I've been posting the shit out of everything the Klaxons have done for months. I'm sure you also already know everything about them. This new song shows what their eagerly anticipated full length might sound like. Also while you are here check out their video for the new single 'Magick'! It's well good!

Klaxons- "Golden Skans"


And for no good (i.e. no Brit associated) reason I bring you New Young Pony Club... basically just because I LOVE Van She Tech... I hope Van She Tech does an album... I suppose until then we have the Van She album over at eMusic and all the Modular stuff like the Soulwax album over there...

New Young Pony Club- "Ice Cream (Van She Tech Remix)"

P.s. Has everyone else seen the commercial that has the NYPC song in it? Like for a computer or something? Oh, I got it now.. it's Intel... here's the commercial, and then the video just for kicks!





And last but not least... I thought since I'm all dancey, I mentioned Soulwax, and I want to encourage you to go to
eMusic, I thought I'd post this wicked Ladytron remix! Anyway... make sure to keep check back regularly and I will do my best to provide you with the hottest Britshit out there! VIVE L'ALBION MOTHERFUCKERS!

Make way for the ESS-OH-VEE!

I'm sorry I didn't get around to doing any posts since Tuesday... I've been way busy and life has been insane... but that doesn't really matter so I'll get on to the post... actually, really quick before I do that... I would like to thank everyone who has decided to try out the free 25 song eMusic trial from my site... I was surprised to see that every time I take money out of my bank account it just comes back! Also, the numbers of people who have just been visiting have been staggering (I mean something to the tune of even if I don't post 135 people a day still come to the site) so thanks to everyone who stops by! You have no idea what it means to me! On those shitty days where I think I'm going to get fired from my job for no reason, and my 'friends' are stabbing me in the back, and everyone is asking for something... you guys make my life better by just stopping by! You should think about adding my feed to your blog reader eh? Hehehehe...

Sooooooo... last night I went to Chicago to see Lady Sovereign at the Metro. It was fucking fantastic. She was a slightly inebriated from the beginning and actually exclaimed "I'm just drunk and fucked up... whooooo" after a couple songs letting the crowd know if they had not yet figured it out. No doubt the girl likes a pint, but I mean she was really rowdy! This made the show more interesting than the last time I saw her, but her voice did suffer (as well as her ability to enunciate her lyrics) as a result. No bother though, because the energy was through the ceiling. She actually managed to make the show more cohesive in the second half hour starting with her cover of the Sex Pistols "Pretty Vacant" which was awesome (and is going to be on a future episode of "The O.C." and will appear on the new O.C. covers comp from the show... if you were expecting a disasterous cover of a classic song you are wayyyyyy off the mark... it's fantastic). EssOhVee was supposed to stick around and 'DJ' after the show but I don't think she ever made it there. I saw her talking to fans from inside her bus outside the Metro and she and I even exchanged a little playful round of sticking our tongues out at each other before she and her DJ shut their door. I cannot confirm or deny if she did do the 'afterparty' in the Metro balcony (as Heather and I went downstairs to check out MSTRKRFT at the Smart Bar for a sec) but I would think not........... Heather and I hailed a cab, rode up to Andersonville, walked 4 blocks to our car, got straight on Lakeshore, went to 94 (all of which took no time at all), and about a half hour later on the toll road I passed Lady Sov's bus (how do I know it was her's? Well the back said 'www.celebritycharters.com' or some shit, and the little camper in front of the bus was the same one that was outside). I don't think anyone went home disappointed though! I really really really recommend that you go grab 'Public Warning', or jump on eMusic and get the more indie-friendly 'Vertically Challenged'. You might as well sign up from here yeah? (If you do I will love you forever!)


Here's a fun little interview with the Lady herself... at the end she declares that the best part of being S-O-V is being a midget?!?! She is a funky little monkey...




There's also still quite a few dates on the tour... I would recommend you get out there and see her!

11/05/06 The Varsity Theater Minneapolis 18+
11/07/06 Fox Theatre & Cafe Boulder AA
11/10/06 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver 19+
11/11/06 Neumos Seattle AA
11/12/06 Wonder Ballroom Portland AA
11/14/06 Club Mezzanine San Francisco 21+
11/15/06 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles AA
11/18/06 Empire Ballroom Las Vegas 21+
11/19/06 House of Blues-San Diego San Diego AA
11/22/06 Gypsy Tea Room & Ballroom Dallas 17+
11/23/06 The Parish Austin AA
11/24/06 Meridian Red Room Houston AA
11/26/06 The Parish New Orleans 18+
11/27/06 The Beta Bar Tallahassee AA
11/28/06 Studio A Miami 18+
11/30/06 The State Theatre St. Petersburg AA
12/01/06 The Loft Atlanta AA

I wanted to post some awesome shit that no one has but I guess I don't need Def Jam trying to sue me... so instead here is 'Public Warning (Live)'... I know people probably thinking I'm sucking Def Jam's dick and that's why I keep posting Sov tracks but truth be told it's just because I fucking love her... I hope she get's Gnarls Barkley sized success... because hopefully a little British female MC can open some doors for more females or more Brits... speaking of... Dizzee Rascal! Where's your new album at? This would be a good time to get one out!

Lady Sovereign- 'Public Warning (Live)'

Well I wanted to post more but both zShare and YouSendIt are being shit... as soon as I have a post ready... even if it's short... I'll throw it up... Probably something full of British hip-hop? See doesn't that sounds yummy? Keep it tuned... or if you can't wait go check out some Lady Sov or Fat Jon or whatever at eMusic!

What a fantastic day(s)! (Inbetween Days, and some stuff from YouTube )

Ah... the start of another week. Hopefully a fantastic and enjoyable one. It's already started out pretty well! I don't know how it is in your part of the world but where I'm at it's sunny and about 70 degrees out... which is awesome because it basically went from summer to winter here in Michigan. I'm supposed to make the call to get my car fixed today and hopefully register for the Winter Music Conference coming up in March (which is going to be fucking rad... I haven't been in three years... four years in March rather). I better buy my plane ticket soon... anyone else going?

Monday is always a good time to bring something new into view... I was sent some mp3's this morning of a band called Inbetween Days (presumably named after a song by The Cure? Am I right on this one?). Their new release 'Right Here Waiting' is on Remake/Remodel, which just scored a hit with ‘Heaven Hides Nothing’ by Monster Bobby (who refered to as 'Svengali/guitar player with The Pipettes'). Their music tapped into something that I was really obsessing about over the weekend which is the sort of innocent pop music in the 90's which we don't really hear anymore, and if we do, it often isn't any good or it's actually a band that made that music in the past (read=Lemonheads). The closest thing we have had to this naive idealistic pop music is (ironically) The Pipettes, so it's no big surprise that this new relase from Remake/Remodel is following one from Mr. Pipette himself.

Here's some info from the Inbetween Days press release:

"‘Right Here Waiting’ / ‘Single Thing’ was recorded at Fortress Studios, and mixed by Ian Gore (Babyshambles, Larrikin Love, Brakes etc.) at Metropolis Studios

Inbetween Days formed in October 2005, and in a very short space of time have established themselves as one of the “must see” bands on the London gig circuit. Recent support slots include gigs with Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, The Boxer Rebellion and The Roger Sisters.

Their sound combines elements of skewed 90’s Americana/ grunge (The Lemonheads and Dinosaur Jr.), and the exuberance of Britpop (Ash and The Longpigs) to create a modern fresh rock n’ roll sound, custom-made to be blasted out of FM radio stations across the globe."

Me thinks these guys are going to be huge. With this release I'm sure they are going to make heads turn quickly as you can't even get past talking about them without mentioning 'Arcadia' faves Larrikin Love, The Pipettes, and (cough) Babyshambles. A little more than ten years back their song 'Right Here Waiting' would have fit perfectly onto the soundtrack for uber-cool-cult-series 'My So Called Life' and undoubtedly would be perfect today for 'The O.C.' and it's indie-laden soundtrack. They are bound to introduce the younger kids to a kind of music they weren't really old enough to listen to, and bring listeners in their mid-to-late twenties back to a time when they were in school before the world fell apart. I give them a big thumbs up and urge you to check them out. Per request of the record company, mp3's will only be up for a week (until 11/06), and I figure the best way to make sure they are only up for that long is to put them on YouSendIt! So keep that in mind when you download!

Inbetween Days- "Right Here Waiting"

Inbetween Days- "Single Thing"


Also check out this live video for Right Here Waiting!

UPDATE: Or you can get it right here!


I also wanted to mention their single is coming out in late November, and signed copies of said single are available to pre-order from RemakeRemodelRecords.co.uk!

Since I was mentioning music from the 90's... I was watching that VH1 'Alternative' show that I love so damn much and I saw some amazing videos from my teen years that I haven't seen in a while... on top of I watched the 'Definitely Maybe' DVD that my girl got me I felt inspired so much by it that I HAD to put these up for you folks. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!















AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST I wanted to give you a link to Sam Flanagan who did the fantastic 'Water Lilly' mash-up I posted the other day! Leave a comment telling him that was some fire! And tell him who sent ya!

Check out music at eMusic and get a free 25 song trial!

Party like it's 2999!

So, I'm still on this sort of beat heavy tip right now. I just can't shake it! For a long time now being a radio dj has overshadowed my being a club dj. I just lost my interest in dance music for such a long time. I mean, Naked Music couldn't manage to take it to the 'next level' after 'Lost On Arrival' (and I was mostly buying their records for quite some time... although you notice everyone on that comp has since become Dj-household names), and I loved the stuff going on over at (Michigan favourites) Ersatz and Ghostly International but didn't have money or time to change my 'deep house' style... and I dunno... I really could have given a shit (for the most part) up until the recent (imaginary, because once again this didn't happen over night) new rave explosion and the resurfacing of good artists who I kind of forgot about or ignored since 2004! I mean I seriously forgot that Trentemoller existed! Had it not been for the fact that my girl started throwing 'Lost On Arrival' on the cd player once and a while I'm not sure 'new rave' would have caught my attention, but after I started dancing in her living room after work a couple weeks in a row I caught the fever again... and many months later that has lead us to this post!

First off (as a continuation of yesterdays post of the SMASH remix The Streets did for Ghostface Killa) is a song I didn't even know about for a long time.. it's The Streets soft, string filled meditation, on how Mike Skinner isn't what he sings about but is rather a mouthpiece for the streets themselves. I think that sentiment has since changed but it's a great song from the 'All Got Our Runnins" E.P.
The Streets- 'The Streets Score' (Zshare)

Second off is something that think isn't on any E.P. or anything... but this is The Streets live (I think) on Radio 1...
The Streets- 'Turn The Page (Live)'(YSI)

I don't think I've posted this before... this is the video Mike Skinner made for the Bloc Party 'remix' he did...


Here is the 'Tulips' remix off of the single of the same name by Bloc Party. I have seen this version referred to as the 'Club Version' as well. Pretty sweet remix... surely one of my fav Bloc Party remixes, of which there are TONS... so I will post more in the future in anticpation of their new album!
Bloc Party- Tulips (Minotaur Shock Remix)' (YSI)

Here is the video for the original version of 'Tulips':


I know BLK:MRKT posted this first to much acclaim and Pitchfork attention, but it's been a couple weeks so I think it's ok to repost it... I think it was first up on Diplo's Myspace so hopefully the record companys don't yell at me... why would they? this certainly isn't some super great quality file... it's merely a teaser... or a demo.. or something...
M.I.A.- 'XR2' (zShare)

Lastly, here's a Sov track that, as of right now, shows no signs of being put out here in the U.S. It was a remake of her song 'Nine 2 Five' that The Ordinary Boys decided they wanted to remake and she guested on the track. Pretty nifty... I have NO idea what this came out on NOR do I know what the original '9 to 5' came out no... notice that here in America artists never release non-album singles or e.p.'s... they just put there shit on soundtracks lol... anyway... the Lady Sov album comes out on Halloween so make sure you cop that! I know I'm going to!
Lady Sovereign vs The Ordinary Boys- 'Nine 2 Five' (zShare)

Here is the video Sov and the Boys:


So hopefully that will get your motors' running... you can check this out before you go to the club! Also, before you go out, check out my radioshow The Spirit Of Albion tonight on WIDR and stream it. It's going to (obviously) be beat heavy... be it hip-hop or rave music or post punky dance tracks.. it's going to be SWEET!


OH! As usual... can find Bloc Party, Lady Soverign, and others over @ eMusic! I didn't get around to scooping up anything new from there yet because the system was down the other day

Turn The Bass Up Real Slow (Oi! Oi!)

Today I was thinking what groovy thing do I have to offer that no one else had posted? Well, I just figured that out a couple hours ago as I was looking over my 'carry-on' cd collection. There was a free cd that came with MUSIK magazine a few years ago that Cassius had mixed that had all sorts of cool shit. Some Black Strobe, Goldfrapp, Metro Area, Audio Bullys... but most importantly the track of the day. Cassius feat Ghostface Killa (The Streets Remix).

On top of posting something you don't see every day I'm posting the song because I really love The Streets (I realize I say 'I love...' in every post, but would you rather have me posting shit I don't like?). 'Original Pirate Material' was basically the album that soundtracked my moving away from my family and living on my own in Chicago. Hell, I remember when 'Has It Come To This?' came out I hurriedly went down to Gramaphone Records up on Clark to pick up the import single (I used to be a big 2step junkie). I still play that record sometimes when I'm out djing but mainly I just keep it for my own turntable.

Ghostface, on the otherhand, is an artist I like (saw him this summer at Intonation Festival, which is the same place I briefly met Mike Skinner of The Streets as he was running off to get food post performance) but have never really gotten into... maybe I should go buy Fishscale!

Cassius feat Ghostface Killa- 'Thrilla (The Streets Remix)' on zShare

Cassius feat Ghostface Killa- 'Thrilla (The Streets Remix)' on YouSendIt


I might post some more Streets tomorrow just to keep up with the trend... I've got some good b-sides on my comp at work... Or I might go pick some stuff up at eMusic and post some shit from there... they have scheduled downtime till 8am so I'm going to have to wait but it's worth it... they have EVERYTHING FROM GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL... which just makes me the happiest person ever... speaking of, is anyone else going to see Christopher Willits?




Hope you guys enjoy the track.... you know how I would know if you did? If you left me comments!

P.s. I had to take down the ad at the top of the page for now. It just seemed too tacky... I know I've been hammering away at the eMusic thing, but it's kind of tongue and cheek because I know until I have something you guys really want (or one of the bigger bloggers gives me props), I know you aren't reading this shit anyway!

Water-Lily! (Stone Roses vs Lily Allen)

As you proceed to the download, take a minute to savor the fact that you are (as Mp3Hugger and Stereogum both already informed you last week) about to hear the best mash-up of the year! I really enjoy Lily Allen's music, and am a BIG Stone Roses fan, so this is just about the coolest thing ever. A fancy pants Dj by the name of Sam Flanagan produced this absolute gem of a track and hopefully he is getting the much deserved attention. There's not a whole lot to say about it other than that! I imagine you all know who the Stone Roses (whose track 'Waterfall provides the instrumental) are and I doubt anyone hopping around mp3 blogs doesn't know the name Lily Allen (whose 'LDN' provides the vocal) so let's leave it at that for now!

Lily Allen vs Stone Roses- 'WaterLily'

In other news... both Rbally and Clever Titles Are So Last Summer called it quits today. The blogging world is at a loss without these two. Please take a moment to see what you are missing. Maybe some day we can convince them to come back!

Finally, before I go off and go to sleep... I know that if you stop by here you are very familiar with Pete Doherty's band Babyshambles (speaking of there's ALLEGED talk of a wedding with he and Kate Moss, and supposedly he's back in Arizona at the Meadows Clinic for more rehab, and Courtney Love is saying she helped Pete get clean and... I better stop... I'll get back to this another time... I'm sure, probably minus the wedding, it's bullshit). But I haven't really mentioned a lot about the OTHER Libertine's singer, Carl Barat, and his band Dirty Pretty Things! Their album 'Waterloo To Anywhere' was EASILY one of the best albums of the year, and quite possibly one of the best debuts (especially from a band emerging from the ashes of another band) in years. I just thought it was about time to post some DPT!


Dirty Pretty Things-'Puffin On A Coffin Nail (Demo)'

Btw... speaking of free music... you can get 25 free mp3s from eMusic.com. If you click on the lovely link below and sign up I get a nice kickback! But seriously, it's WAY cheaper than iTunes, I'm acutally a member myself, and they've got loads of music that you've already seen on this blog. I know some people take issue with this sort of promotion, but in order for me to keep taking the time to post, I gotta be making money somewhere lol! GO CHECK IT OUT!

Yowza Yowza Yowza (Field Music, Fields)

If only I could actually get paid for this. Cause this would be the best job ever. Blogging that is. (sigh) ANYWAY... It's about time that I posted about Field Music. I fucking love them (obviously or I wouldn't be posting about them). I make sure we play them NO LESS than once a month on the show, but it ends up being almost every week. It's hard to describe them but apparently UNCUT magazine said they sounded like "Wire produced by the Beach Boys". They site their influences (on myspace) as "The Left Banke, Serge Gainsbourg, My Bloody Valentine, Stravinsky, Stax & Motown, Thelonious Monk, Roxy Music, Talking Heads, The Neptunes and Peter Gabriel", which I would say is pretty accurate!

However, I don't think it's QUITE a good enough explanation so how about something from allmusic.com:

"Hailing from Sunderland, England, indie/art rock trio Field Music consists of siblings Peter and David Brewis, as well as founder/director Andrew Moore. Their colorful blend of Beach Boys melodies filtered through a post-rock aesthetic has drawn comparisons to the New Pornographers and the Futureheads -- drummer Peter Brewis was a founding member. Their self-titled debut was released in 2005 on Memphis Industries Records, followed by Write Your Own History in 2006. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide"

That's a little better innit? From what I understand Field Music shares members (or former members) of both Futureheads (mentioned about) and Maximo Park. They did a STELLAR remix of 'I Want You To Stay' that completely changes moods from the dark tense angular original, and instead embraces the warmth and pomp of, lets say, 'The Masterplan' by Oasis... which of course means that it rivals the original as far as classic status.

Here's the video for Field Music- "In Context"


And then here is some live Field Music doing "Tell Me Keep Me"


Field Music- "You Can Decide"

Field Music- "You're So Pretty"

Maximo Park- "I Want You To Stay (Field Music Remix)"

I while we are posting about Britbands with 'field' in the name it wouldn't be quite right to finish the post without mentioning Fields. They are the folkier and more... well instead of trying to explain that way, lets say they are more Guillemots than Maximo... got me? Good stuff.

Here is the allmusic.com once-over:
"Prior to the release of their first album, Fields offered a special band-approved mixtape to fans through their website and MySpace page, including songs that give newcomers some idea of where the British five-piece is coming from: along with three of their own songs, old-school folk-rockers Pentangle and Linda Perhacs, synth pioneers Silver Apples and an eclectic batch of current indie rockers like Sufjan Stevens, Thurston Moore, Broadcast, Smog, and Jaga Jazzist all make appearances. This blend of eccentric acoustic folk, electronic washes of sound and shoegazer guitar drones is a fine starting point for Fields, who construct their own music out of all of these influences and more. Based in Birmingham, Fields consist of singer and guitarist Nick Peill, Icelandic born singer and keyboardist Thorunn Antonia, guitarist Jamie Putnam, bassist and keyboardist Matty Derham. and drummer Henry Spenner. Signed to the Black Lab label, a British indie with a distribution deal with Atlantic Records, Fields debuted with the teaser EP Seven from the Village in the summer of 2006. The band's full-length debut, produced by Michael Beinhorn (The Bronx, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pete Yorn), is set for release in early 2007."

It kind of has the sound of a much rockier Mama's and The Papa's or something like that. Lots of harmony and melody but it's still got the hard guitars. They have this totally crazy awesome video (with wicked claymation/computer animation) here @ Minivegas.co.uk. You can pick up their recent EP over @ eMusic! Make sure to click on the link below to get there!

Lazy Sunday (Mobius Band, Larrikin Love)

So today Heather and I are going to see Mobius Band @ Macs Bar in Lansing... I'm like super stoked. They became one of my fav new bands after I heard their songs 'Electronic Piano' on the Ghostly International compilation 'Idol Tryouts 2' (which is the best comp I've heard in forever... I listen to it EVERY DAY and it's been out for a while now). NOW I KNOW they aren't British. But I'm going to post a song of theirs anyway because they deserve more exposure. I would like to post 'Electronic Piano' but I don't want Ghostly International to be mad at me. In fact I kind of want them to sign me, but I've got to get my record done first so we'll avoid talking about that again for a while!

NOW ON TO THE BRIT POST! I was very very very impressed by Larrikin Love and their album 'The Freedom Spark'. There is a song on the album called 'Meet Me By The Getaway Car' that sounds like the type of song I would hate... it kind of has a reggae vibe, it has a horn section, loads of dubby effects... but unlike some awful ska-tinged trainwreck, it mimmicks Babyshambles doing their best to reclaim this sound from the 'Less Than Jakes' of this world (I fucking hate that band and hope they fucking rot in hell btw). It is engaging, has interesting lyrics, has a nice pace, never really goes overboard, and is all around awesome. I played it on the show a couple weeks ago and Heather was like "Is this Babyshambles?" (and trust me, she knows about the Babyshambles... I have pictures of them all over my side of the room... I know... I'm a total 15 year old girl sometimes when it comes to music) and I told her no but this is the same sort of sound they've been going for as of late. I do not think Larrikin Love will be a one album wonder. I think they will be able to up the ante with more mature song writing and be awesome. Maybe LL and BS should tour together? In the U.S.? Yeah right!

Anyway... until my dreams come to life here's something to keep you tied over...

Larrikin Love- "Meet Me By The Getaway Car"

And here are some tracks from the stellar Mobius Band WHO, (btw), were nice enough to say they would play 'Electronic Piano' for me today even though it's not part of their set list. What a bucnh of cool guys. Seriously go get their EP 'City vs Country', their album 'The Loving Sounds Of Static', and their ubercool track off 'Idol Tryouts 2' @ eMusic!

Mobius Band- "A Hint Of Blood (demo)"

Mobius Band- "Starts With A Bang"

Mobius Band- "The Loving Sounds Of Static"

Check out Mobius Band @ eMusic!




UPDATE:When they played 'Electronic Piano' tonight I decided they are my favourite new band. Such nice guys. I made sure to buy all their merch they had lol!

Music Sounds Better With You

Mmmmm... yummy New Rave... I know, I know... I can't shut up about it... why you ask? Well it's not just that the structured infectious rhythms that are more exiting than they were in years past but it's... I dunno... fun to think about the kids being out there and doing the same thing that I did every weekend...

See (and I'm sure people will either a) dispute this or b) won't understand why I would do such a thing) but I didn't get down on the Ecstasy popping, amphetamine fueled, cocaine binge that most people get into when they go to raves back when I was into them. The principal reason for that is that I actually LIKED the music! By itself! Granted when Tyler and I were dancing to Thomas Bangalter DJing (from Daft Punk, who we had happened to meet on Michigan Ave in Chicago earlier that day) when we were 17, maybe we were a little drunk... BUT STILL the sweeping filters... the funk guitar lines... the dense Rhodes pianos? They were complete and utter magic. The night we saw him he started out with the opening notes of Stardust's "Music Sounds Better With You" (which he co-produced with Roule favourites Benjamin Diamond and Alan Braxe) and then went into another song, totally avoiding the former until the very end of the evening... where he then cut/pasted it into an extended mix where it took about 5 minutes for the beat to drop... and it finally did... I'd never been happier! And we grabbed hands and we jumped up and down and screamed and wondered why every other young person in the world wasn't there.

At the end of the evening we waltzed back into downtown Chicago... slightly hungover and very dehydrated from dancing... found a Duncan Donuts that opened at 5am... got some coffee and doughnuts... then walked down to Union Station and all five (I didn't mention the other three... Matthieu, Matt, and Nick were there as well) of us went and fell asleep ON THE FLOOR IN THE AMTRAK BOARDING LOUNGE! That would never happen in a million years now... (due to 'national security' a bunch of hungover teen agers would be thrown in a jail if they were lying on the floor in the station much less sleeping!) but anyway.. the whole thing was perfect.. and wild and spontanious.. and I got to meet one of my heroes... and those are some of my happiest memories....

Back then the kids didn't show up (well at least not for the music... they showed up for the drugs and that killed the scene), but now they are and they ARE there for the music! And hopefully they have great experiences like I did... Here is more new rave stuff piggy backing on the post from a couple days back... throw this on and get your motherfucking rave on...

The Futureheads- "Worry About It Later (Switch Remix)"

Franz Ferdinand- "The Fallen (Justice Remix)"

Hot Chip- "Boy From School (Errol Alkan Extended Mix)"

This One's Optimistic!

Ok... so if you read this blog with any sort of regularity you know that I LOVE Babyshambles. I don't think I'd be doing most of the shit I'm doing (blog/radioshow/getting back to writing songs/djing) if it weren't for the inspirtational music that Pete Doherty writes. I mean seriously there has not been a talent (and a personality) that has been so large since, well, Kurt Cobain. Of course, even suburban mom's who read 'People' Magazine know that Pete has had a serious problem with heroin not unlike Mr. Cobain but hopefully we are looking at that being a thing of the past. This associated press article basically said Pete has slipped up, but the NME one points out that the only dissatisfaction with Pete was about his not attending court ordered appointments as expected. Cross your fingers, hope he gets better, and then tours America... he can stay at my place if he does lol...

"Here is a repost from the NME:
Pete Doherty's rehab progress reviewed in court
Singer is moving house to help kick drugs

Pete Doherty appeared at the Thames Magistrates Court in London today (October 18) for a review of his drug treatment.

The Babyshambles frontman has to attend court periodically after pleading guilty to drugs charges in August.

Doherty's defence counsel Bruce Clark said he believed the singer was getting clean, saying that he had even moved house to help with his rehabilitation.

"On the whole, progress is being made," said Clark. "He's given up a lifestyle he's been living in the East End, which is not the best place for him to be. There are alternatives for him, though. He is now living at an address outside of London."

However the district judge, Jane McIvor, was not completly statisfied with Doherty's progress, explaining that: "Weekly appointments under the order had not been as successful as expected".

The singer however insisted he is taking his rehab seriously, telling the court, "I've been going to NA (Narcotic Anonymous) meetings and seeing a counsellor separate from The Priory."

Doherty will return to Thames Magistrates Court in January when his progress will be reviewed again, BBC NEWS reports."

So there you have it! Parlophone has an signed Babyshambles for their new E.P. which should be absolutely AWESOME. As a little teaser I thought I'd put up some newer stuff that may/may not be on the new E.P.! Hopefully you guys dig this stuff... make sure to leave comments so I know what you think!

Babyshambles- "Stone Me What A Life"

Babyshambles- "Fixing Up To Go"

BTW: Just in case you hadn't noticed... there had not been a counter on the site up until yesterday. In less than 24 hours I've gotten 186 hits... which I think is... awesome... so big thanks to everyone who's reading the blog. I couldn't be happier about it... that is unless y'all could POST SOME COMMENTS... that would be kind of cool lol...

What a surprise (Lady Sovereign)

Well fuck me... Lady Sovereign just went to number one on TRL. How fucking mental! It's fantastic! I am sooooooo fucking glad Heather and I got tix to see her @ the Metro (Nov 3) when we did. I knew that shit was gonna sell out! If you remember correctly here at 'Arcadia' we've been going ape shit over Sov for some time. So much so that the girlfriend and I went to see her at Intonation Festival this summer (with Bloc Party & The Streets)... I know I said I was going to post the pictures AGES ago so I though this was a good chance to finally get the Sov one up...

The thing I really love about Sov her distinct British-ness, which surprisingly translates well here in America since her smart-ass lyrics are universally funny. Her video that reached number one (fro 'Love Me Or Hate Me') is down right piss your pants funny. The part where she turns into a large unshaven ball of armpit hair? Genius... I could maybe do with a little less product placement (Verizon phone) but that has also probably helped get tune into peoples heads so that that they WOULD vote for her on TRL! (Check out the article Pitchfork posted earlier about this monumental achievement.)

I figure we can go ahead a post a Sov track in honour of her making the 'big time' her in a America. I'm going to post the track that Chocolate Industires and Adult Swim had on their 'Chocolate Swim' EP which is Spank Rock's 'Hoodie' remix. The radiostation I work at threw a festival/fundraiser for the station a couple weeks ago and we had Spank Rock play the supporting slot of RJD2. They were the MOST phenominal show I've seen since... well... Lady Sov this summer lol... seriously though... go out and cop 'YoYoYoYoYo' right now. Although I can't help but assume if you are reading mp3 blogs you already own it lol.

Lady Sovereign- "Hoodie (Spank Rock Remix)"

UPDATE:

Pitchfork posted this track today courtesy of Def Jam so I thought I'd throw it up. Same as always recently I'm going to throw it up as a YouSendIt file so it's not going to be up for very long! Get it while you can! (Speaking of... what does everyone think of ZShare? I saw BLK:MRKT is using it so perhaps I'll start up with that.)

Lady Sovereign feat Missy Elliot- "Love Me Or Hate Me (Remix)"

I was going to post another song from a band that I got an electronic press kit for.. but then I realized they were American. So, having said that:

HEY MUSIC LABELS THAT ARE TRYING TO CONTACT ME! I love your stuff and I appreciate the interest in the blog! It is a British music ONLY blog however! So when you send stuff please keep that in mind... it can be techno, hip-hop, rock whatever... as long as it is British... or has British people in the band at LEAST lol...

Buy music from Lady Sovereign! You can 'pre-order' her new album (which comes out on Halloween) from that link!

Or, you can check out her epic E.P. 'Vertically Challenged' here on eMusic! And while you're at if you can get 25 free MP3's in their two week trail that costs you nothing and that you can cancel at any time. I went ahead and did it the other day and that is why I've got them linked up now. Because getting free music is sick... and even when it's not free it's cheaper than iTunes!



Buy music from Spank Rock at eMusic as well! They have like three different versions of their album, plus a single, and some songs off a comp! AND YOU COULD BE GETTING THEM FOR FREE (just in case you didn't read what I just wrote lol!

I'm back (for the 2nd time) and I've got the FEVER!

How awful of me... I haven't posted anything in AGES... I know this has happened before but there are actually decent reasons this time... life has been crazy though recently. My grandfather who raised me died, I started school again, my closest friends completely stopped talking to me for no known reason, I've taken on the responsibility of being assistant musical director at the radio station I work at, and loads of other things... shit has just been very busy, depressing, and irritating. I also had my '.Mac' account shut off because I didn't pay for it (oops!) and now I have to find a new way to get my pictures and music up! I've just been about ready to top myself from the stress... so of course you know that means... DANCE PARTY MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

I've been spending a lot of time getting back into dance music BECAUSE of the lovely dance-rock-hybrid-monster that is New Rave. Now, I mean, come on... it's not like I forgot about dance music BUT it's just so fucking tempermental that it's hard to follow. The tide changes CONSTANTLY inter-genre and what is interesting or even enjoyable changes from one release to the next. Today's totally awesome new record/new band can easily be a total laughing stock if it gets into the wrong people's hands (read= electroclash) or frankly stuff moves so quickly an artist can make their whole catalogue sound crappy after one mind-altering (or worthless) record! So having said that, somehow 'New Rave' (as it has been dubbed by NME) had not yet grown stale, become uninteresting, or anything of the sort... in fact at this point the genre seems to be learning from it's own (or their predecessors) mistakes. More and more bands are showing up and one can't help but get the feeling most of them aren't brand new band wagon hoppers but rather groups who never got off the ground because of the death-knell of whatever former genre they belonged to.

One band that has really grabbed me in particular has (obviously) been the Klaxons. Obviously if you have been paying any attention AT ALL it's obvious that they are this genre's Nirvana (i.e. they didn't come first, and they may not be the absolute best but they are first on the scene) and their unbridled enthusiasm is extremely refreshing. In a musical landscape where most music is about a) guns & cocaine, b) cutting yourself and how you parents suck, and c) stupid rehashed love songs it refreshing as FUCK to hear songs with names like "Atlantis To Interzone". They make me want to fucking go mental when I hear their songs and even though I am a whole ocean away from the action it brings back the feelings I had when I was a 16 year old kid listening to Jeff Mills play in a field somewhere.

Another band that has totally gotten me way psyched (and this is a total cheat) is Van She (and Van She Technologic)... the reason it's a cheat is this is a Brit-Music blog and, well, they are Austrailian. I guess you could say 'Well Austrailia is England's prison island!" and then we can try to get away with it lol! The Van She single 'Kelly' is awesome, but sticking with the New Rave fever it's Van She Technologic's remixes of The Presets, Daft Punk, New Young Pony Club, and the Klaxons that are making me excited.

For the sake of trying to stay consistant with the blogs central theme I will post BOTH The Presets (Aussie) and Klaxons (Brit) and their respective Van She Remixes. I know I already posted that Van She/Klaxons remix a few months back but this is totally worth mentioning again because they are that fucking rad!

Klaxons- 'Gravity's Rainbow (Demo)'

Klaxons- 'Gravity's Rainbow (Van She Remix)'

The Presets- 'Are You The One?'

The Presets- 'Are You The One? (Van She Remix)

You can hear more Klaxon Demos Here on their Myspace but they are no longer up for download (thank god I already saved em)... also here is the Pitchfork Review of the Klaxons EP. Then after you do that check out Van She Tech and the The Presets... and then once you've done that...


Buy stuff by Klaxons!

Buy stuff by The Presets!

Buy Stuff by Van She!

ALSO... did anyone else pick up that NME a couple weeks ago? The one with the Klaxons on the front? That fucking thing was DOPE AS SHIT.. at least the cd that came with it that Simian Mobile Disco mixed. I might put some of that shit up here if you guys demand it!

Say hello to The Breakers

The Breakers may be the first band to contact me (well second I guess... Mars Patrol you were first!) with a completely original message (i.e. not "Dear Sir/Mrs. We are a band that plays music like the one you have in your profile!") about their music. Referencing a post here on Arcadia, and my love for both Babyshambles and The View, they contacted me saying that I should check out their music. It took me like 5 seconds to realize that this was the same band that was written about in the NME as a band that could be the next Arctic Monkeys. So what makes them so special you ask? In a crop of young bands that share really similar themes and songwriting styles, these guys (or at least their songs) stick out as being the Real McCoy... what do I mean? Well, here's an analogy for you... if the Monkeys seem like kids you would see swilling beer and oogling girls at a pub, then (perhaps) The Breakers would be the guys who are watching the Monkeys staring at their birds', while considering kicking their asses. Personally, I think one of the coolest things about them is that you can hear them and their music before they blow up and their label brings in some big producer... meaning this stuff still sounds raw and awesome. Mark my words this is only the beginning for The Breakers...

The Breakers- "Life And Times"

So... go add em to your Myspace... and tell em 'In Search Of Arcadia' sent you... no seriously... leave a comment and shit... and while you're add it leave a comment here too...