I have some wicked live Simian Mobile Disco tracks to give you... BUT first I implore you to check out my favourite new band on the internet. Heads We Dance are about the coolest shit I've run into in a minute. Right at the moment that I've become totally wiped out by the never ending queue of "samey" sounding blog-house in my iTunes this band emerges out of nowhere restoring my faith in internet music. They make songs that feel comfortable in a playlist with stuff from the Kistune Maison albums as well as Depeche Mode and New Order. They site PKD and all sorts of other shit that I love as influences. And they sound fucking awesome... so check out their myspace, listen to their songs, download the tracks below, and make a note that you heard it here first. Because these guys will be big soon. (Speaking of big... they've got DatA & Yuksek remixes on the way... how fucking baller is that?)
Ok... now SMD... I've been waiting for this for quite a while. The last time that all the planets aligned and every (dance) album that came out was awesome was roughly 1997 (really it was the tail end of 1996 and the beginning of 1998)...
Back then you had Sneaker Pimps, Fluke, Orbital, Aphex Twin, Photek, Atari Teenage Riot, "Homogenic" by Bjork, Dj Shadow, Prodigy, and a host of other bands who were releasing great albums all at the same time. But most of all you had the Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk. And all of these bands together orbited around the awesome magazines and products of the time (The Face magazine, Wipeout XL videogame, Playstation) and for about a year and a half it looked like the future was here (even in America).
Now we have a new Daft Punk and Chemical Brothers in Justice and Simian Mobile Disco. I mean I realize they sound nothing like their predecessors (ok well maybe there's some Daft Punk in there) but they are the two flagship bands that are going to make this summer (and this year) fucking awesome!
So that's it. Hopefully you're excited about music as I am now. I'll be back soon. I've got those other tracks to post... I'm just so busy. In the meantime... how bout you join eMusic? lol...
This is the greatest day for Libertines fans since the Janie Jones single... I don't even know what to say... other than... I'm a dork... VIVE L'ALBION! I don't think we'll ever hear another album from the Libs but who cares... DPT and Babyshambles are great on their own.. and this song is quite fun... so lets just enjoy this nugget and praise the lord they're both alive!
SO... I finally have something new to offer you folks... as far as I can tell this hasn't been posted anywhere else yet. I don't think I'm going to give you a long into... I think I'll give it to you straight no chaser.
So here it is...
The title track from the Happy Mondays new album "Uncle Dysfunktional"...
Just in case you've been living inside a bubble and know nothing about British music...
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1985, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day (aka "Moose" or "Cowhead"), keyboardist Paul Davis (aka P.D), and drummer Gary Whelan. Bez would later join the band onstage during a live performance after befriending Shaun Ryder (known to him as "X") and served as a dancer/percussionist. Rowetta Satchell joined the band to provide backing vocals in the early 90s. They have stated that the band name is a take on the title of New Order's song, "Blue Monday."
I wish I could give you more than this but... but wouldn't be right... I'm sure the WebSheriff will be riding in on his horse in no time so take advantage of the song FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES while it's up!
To whet your whistle a little more... here's a recent interview on Transmission from this year...
So I hope you enjoyed... I have another post in waiting and I still have some promo tracks to get you... so keep checking back... AND LEAVE SOME COMMENTS!
You guys know I fucking love Metronomy... in the last couple months I've been listening to him (errrrr...them? is Metronomy a band now?) quite a bit. His remix material is on par with the other giants in the game like Phones and Crystal Castles so everyone and their mom ask come to him to get a piece of his magic... Architecture in Helsinki, Infadels, Magnet, Dead Disco, Roots Manuva, Franz Ferdinand, Temposhark, Sébastien Tellier, Klaxons, Box Codax, Max Sedgley and The Young Knives just to name a few...
NOW you can add quick up-and-comer Kate Nash to the list. Just in case you weren't aware... here's a little history on Ms Nash from Wikipedia...
"After a few gigs, Kate uploaded her music to the popular website MySpace. Her music soon began to receive support from users of the site and Kate soon found herself a manager (also through MySpace) and began to look around for producers for her music.
Fellow MySpace star Lily Allen has stated that she believes Nash to be the "next big thing" and has also garnered support from publications such as Vogue and NME, the latter dubbing her as 'chavtronica'".
Here at Albion we're more than happy to support "the next big thing" (or basically already becoming big thing) and we love remixes so I couldn't be more happy to present to you the Metronomy remix of the new Kate Nash song "Foundation"! Please leave comments so I can get a feel for what you think of it...
This is essentially just a cut and paste but there isn't anything I can tell you about the new Fader better than the guys AT the Fader lol... I still can't get over how fucking cool it is that you can get one of the best culture/music/art magazines in America for FREE, with music! I'm not even shilling for them... free shit is just baller. I realize this isn't British but I'm sure if you comb the magazine hard enough there's SOMETHING Brit in there lol...
DOWNLOAD THE FADER ISSUE 46 ON iTUNES FEATURING JERRY GARCIA http://www.thefader.com/podcasts
You can download the PDF and podcast here - http://www.thefader.com/blog/articles/category/podcasts
Here's the tracklisting: "Cryptical Envelopment" 3/1/69 - Fillmore West "Turn On Your Lovelight" 1/24/71 - Seattle Center Arena "New Speedway Boogie" 5/15/70 - Fillmore East "Tore Up Over You/Legion of Mary" 4/7/75 - Keystone, Berkeley "Candyman" 6-11-76 - Boston Garden "Terrapin Station" 12-29-77 - Winterland, San Francisco
THE FADER IS DEAD
"The Fader Magazine Presents Its Annual Icon Issue: A Tribute To The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, With Contributions From Jerry's Bandmates, Family, Friends & Peers, Plus The Voices Of The FADER Generation Of Artists
Available on Newsstands and iTunes
New York, NY: The FADER magazine—the definitive voice of emerging music—releases its annual Icon Issue, this time taking an in-depth look at one of the most consistently relevant forces in popular music: Jerry Garcia. The Grateful Dead was an incredible musical force that defined its generation, with Garcia as its de facto leader, to the point that the band is almost synonymous with the ’60s. Yet the Dead—and Jerry especially—remained an active force well into the ’90s, and the band's power and influence has anything but diminished since their final show. In fact, Jerry and the Dead are as relevant now as they've ever been—a constant inspiration and obsession for the current generation of musicians that The FADER celebrates issue after issue.
It is also telling that The FADER's 46th issue hits newsstands on the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, and notable that The FADER's tribute focuses on the early years of the Grateful Dead, when Garcia was a young rocker obsessed with authentic American music like folk, bluegrass, the blues and the jug bands of the ’20s. The photographs in the feature come exclusively from 1966, 1967 and 1968, including never before seen images. The entire feature is comprised of "as told to" style interviews full of untold stories and reflections on Garcia's life from those who knew him best, including Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Adams Garcia, the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, his friend David “Dawg” Grisman, his collaborator Ornette Coleman, his manager Richard Loren, and the Dead's legendary soundman Dan Healy, among others. Artists from The FADER generation also give accounts of their experiences with Garcia's life and music and the impact it has had on them. Contributors include Devendra Banhart, Brightblack, Modest Mouse, Animal Collective, Dungen, the Hold Steady, the Meat Puppets and many more.
“There are so many misconceptions and prejudices regarding Jerry and his legacy,” said Alex Wagner, Editor in Chief of The FADER. “We wanted to dig deep and show our readers that he's an incredibly relevant and inspiring figure—an honest to goodness rock star who very much deserves his place in the canon of modern music.”
As the Icon Issue also doubles as The FADER's Photo Issue this year, the rest of the feature well of The FADER's 46th issue focuses on extensive photo portfolios from some of the magazine's most dynamic contributing photographers. The photo features includes stories on underground eco leaders in Philladelphia, gang life in the shadow of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and the golden days of the itinerant gypsy community known as the Roma. As always, F45 will also be available via iTunes in its entirety, with corresponding audio podcasts, and as a free download at www.thefader.com.
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
JERRY GARCIA, with contributions from:
Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Adams Garcia “There was an aspect of his playing that kind of reached through the dimensions and affected how people felt about things. There was a certain kind of musical catharsis going on sometimes when he played. After a while things became so fluid and sparkling and sort of gorgeous, I found it very touching and moving and loved it. I still do.”
Bob Weir “We lived together in Watts…Everybody brought their own music for everybody else to enjoy…at the same time we were all listening to the radio and deconstructing what we were hearing. We just had no idea what we were up to, every possible direction was a possible direction. The world was full of endless possibilities.”
Mickey Hart “I remember the end of it. We were sitting in a meeting saying, ‘What are we gonna do?!’ and Jerry drew this snake that was eating its tail. He said “This is us. We’re eating ourselves.’
Richard Loren “I was riding a camel around the Pyramids and the Sphinx when suddenly I looked over to my left and saw a stage. It all kind of hit me. A light bulb went off in my head and I thought God, you know, the band should play here!”
Devendra Banhart “The Grateful Dead are the reliable band. They are the sonic, aural equivalent to warm water. They give you these options and choices and it’s all a world of maybe. And the realm of maybe is what really makes a trip comforting. They are that comfort. Suddenly the water isn’t going to boil and it isn’t going to turn ice cold, it’s going to stay warm.”
Geologist, Animal Collective “There’s also the parking lot. I try and say this to Animal Collective fans. In the indie world or whatever, there is a lot of pretension and exclusion in the attitude, like, ‘This band and this music are mine, and I have no interest in anyone else being a part of it.’ At Dead concerts, these old hippies would be like, ‘Oh is this your first show? Welcome to the party! Congratulations, that’s great!’ One day I hope the parking lot of an Animal Collective Show will feel like the parking lot at a Grateful Dead show, just an overwhelming sense of fun and community.”
About The FADER Founded by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen in 1998, The FADER magazine is the definitive voice of emerging music and the lifestyle that surrounds it. Through in-depth reporting and a distinct street sensibility, The FADER aggressively covers the most dynamic breadth of music and style emanating from the fringes of the mainstream to the heart of the underground, and was also the first publication in history to be released on iTunes. The FADER is the authority on what's next."
So yeah... I'll be back asap with some awesome new shit. I've just been so busy I haven't been able to thinkg much less write a blog. Speaking of busy... y'all motherfuckers better be at the State Crime show @ Smartshop on Friday. I just bought a bunch of new records from Ghostly to play so you better be there!
ps. I've got some promo shit from Parlophone to put up too so be on the look out for that as well... later
So I finally figured it out... how to get any and every song ever in the history of the world.... and now my hard drive is filling up so fast I don't know what to do. There is no way in hell I will ever be able to listen to all this music if I keep downloading at the pace I've had for the last couple of days.
In the last two days I've found albums I'd lost YEARS ago that I've been dying without and I couldn't be happier to have them back. I'd be lying if I said I didn't nab some pre-releases as well but you guys know I end up buying them anyway so it's all good... It's hard to decided whether I should post some of that stuff but... I figure I might as well. The point is to get you guys hyped to buy the album, right?
I don't need to give an into to NYPC... I've posted enough about them already... they have a new album coming out called Fantastic Playroom... if you liked their other stuff you'll love this. You can buy it the day it comes out... don't even need to hear what it sounds like.. trust me... well then again if you don't just download this!
I take pride in the fact that, as far as I can tell, I'm the first person to post this so far on the internet... To My Boy rock... nuff said... er... buy the album.. it's called Messages.... and if that's not enough info refer to earlier posts... I'm in a hurry and I'm tired!
And this may not be the NEWEST thing on the block but it's baller... I fucking love this guys and I'm sure you do to... I hope their record company gives me the album early (pretty please!).... Hopefully you all caught the Black Ghosts mixtape last week...
Ok, I'm done for the night... I've got DEMF all weekend and I can't be bothered to keep typing... hope this whet your whistle for all these awesome upcoming albums.
P.s> OH.. before I forget... even though this isn't British... when the Matthew Dear album comes out? Buy it. It's amazing.
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)
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!
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...
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...
Well... Hype Machine has not posted ANYTHING I've put up for weeks now. I have no idea why! I've written letters and I've gotten no response. Because of this, until I get an answer, I will no longer be using Hype Machine. Instead I will be using Elbo.ws only... I do hope, however, that this gets resolved because I like Hype very much...
IN THE MEANTIME... be looking for another "Best Of" Klaxons post... (hey Andrea... girl who asked for "Hall Of Records"... I'll put it up again if you ask! Just so that I know you're there)
You don't love me, you just love my doggyst... errr, music. And you're really gonna love me today...
You know who we love here at Arcadia? The coolest motherfucking band I can think of at the moment... The Black Ghosts. As I've been searching for more dance rock bands to sink my teeth into I've found few that match up to, say, Klaxons... that is until I hear The Black Ghosts. And while it'll be a little while before we see if they achieve the same success (they are currently working on their album for Southern Fried Records) they certainly seem to be in a position where they could steal the crown. They are one of the few bands I've been obsessively listening to since I got back from Miami (put into my consistent rotation of Klaxons, Justice, Simian Mobile Disco and "Youth Alcoholic" by Fox N Wolf) so I'm very very very happy to present you with their new mix tape!
Following their new remix work - spicing up new singles by The Dykeenies ('New Ideas') and Gossip's forthcoming re-release of 'Listen Up', London duo The Black Ghosts have released details of a free exclusive 30 minute mix available for fans to download. The mix features 24 tracks ranging from Electrelane to Metronomy, The Whip to Beck all spliced together in typical Black Ghosts fashion (gothic-electro-pop).
The Black Ghosts
30 Minute Mix May 2007 Track-list...
Harco Pront "Night"
Emperor Machine "Rimramramrim"
Clinic "The Second Line"
Soul Savers "Rumble Fish" (Simian Mix)
Supercollider "Darn Cold Way Of Loving"
Electrelane "The Valleys"
The Jonzun Crew" "Space Is The Place"
Good Books "Leni (Crystal Castles Mix)
Heaven And Earth "Feel The Spirit"
The Firebirds "Soul Sonata"
Blowfly "Sesame Street"
Silver Apples "Lovefingers"
Gianfranco Reverberi "Nel Cimitero Di Tucson"
Metronomy "Trick Or Treatz"
Milton Hamilton "My Love Supreme"
101 Strings "Karma Sitar"
Can "Vitamin C" (Ghost 1 And Ghost 4 Edit)"
Zongamin "Spiral"
Brian Eno "Sky Saw"
Frankie Valli "Beggin" (Pilooski Edit)
The Whip "Muzzle #1" (The Black Ghosts Mix)
Beck "Sexx Laws" (The Wiseguys Mix)
The Black Ghosts "Amyway You Choose To Give It" (Fake Blood Mix)
The Dykeenies "New Ideas" (The Black Ghosts Mix)
Here is their crazy awesome video for "Anyway You Choose To Give It"...
And here's "Something New" (which is comprised of tour footage of your new favourite band)...
And just in case you're luck enough to live in England check out the Summer Festival dates:
June 23 2007 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL Aug 25 2007 CREAMFIELDS Liverpool
If you go you have to take pictures for me! In the meantime I'll cross my fingers and hope they tour the U.S...
Well... the two biggest albums of the year have leaked... Simian Mobile Disco's "Attack Decay Sustain" and Justice's "†"...
Most of the Simian Mobile Disco has been floating around for a while now... I'll still buy both despite tracking some of the songs down on the internet... it's just the way to be... not buying these albums if you like these artists is like saying "nah, I think I want good music to go extinct... I only want to hear HUGE pop records"... because if you don't buy the albums and see the shows? Then record companies can't sign people... it is a business after all!
Palms Out Sounds is organizing a "DON'T POST JUSTICE" downloading ban of which I am a full supporter... just get it when it comes out... if you HAVE to download the Simian Mobile Disco album please buy it... anything else is dirty pool and you know it!
One thing I was surprised to find the other day whilst on the Hype Machine was that it doesn't look like anyone has posted the ORIGINAL version of "Never Be Alone" by Simian. Of course that song is the one that got remixed and became Justice Vs Simian's "We Are Your Friends", which in turn created the current landscape of indie friendly dance music. Apparently the song didn't catch on when it first came out in 2004... at least not the way it did last year... shows you there's always room for a comeback... anyway, I've become re-addicted to the original and I thought I'd share it with you folks... It's better than posting one of the new tracks (I can sleep at night posting this)... but who needs new stuff when you've got this?!?! It's quite the banger by itself...
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.
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.
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...
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...
AND WE'RE BACK... I think I'm on a roll with this new music... so we'll just keep it going...
Seeing as I'm going to see Klaxons on Sunday and Monday, I thought I'd put some of their opening bands on here... first off is Metronomy who is tipped for big big things this year. Unlike some of their counterparts that they haven't seemed so fond of Klaxons really seem to like Metronomy so I'd say he's a shoe in for "Break Out" of 2007!
Here's the low down from Wiki:
"Metronomy (Joseph Mount) is an electronic artist from Brighton, United Kingdom. In live shows his backing band is The Food Groups. He has also done remixes for Architecture in Helsinki, Infadels, Magnet, Dead Disco, Roots Manuva, Franz Ferdinand, Temposhark, Sébastien Tellier, Klaxons, Box Codax, Max Sedgley and The Young Knives."
Next off is Foals. I think that's a pretty shit name. Baby horses. Doesn't do much for me. BUT their music totally does... I was listening to their WOXY performance and some of these demos a LOT this week and am for sure playing them on Albion tonight... here's a really dope demo...
Here's the new Foals video for their song "Hummer"
A search on Wiki for The Whip provides us with info about a melodramatic play from 1909. Errrrrr... don't know what you tell you about The Whip... this song however is fucking fantastic... Imagine a perfect world where Joy Division never made "Atmosphere" and it ended up being made later as a New Order song, that's what "Frustration" is... the synths are very reminiscent of the latter I don't think they're rip offs in the slightest... this is quality shit and they have made a fan out of me overnight...
Then I have a couple recommendations (as they opened for Klaxons) that I don't have songs for... The KBC (not to be confused with The KBC Band) play the electronic rock thing in a direction that isn't quite the one that works for me... but I figured I should mention them because them seem to write a decent tune (although I couldn't find one on the internet for the life of me... check out the Myspace link above...
Here's a blurb from Wiki on The KBC: "All three members of the band were in the same class at school together and are currently signed to DIY Manchester label High Voltage Sounds. Since their limited debut 7”, Trippin, hit the independent record store shelves, the band have established themselves across the UK and Europe, playing alongside ¡Forward, Russia!, The Sunshine Underground, The Paddingtons and The Strokes. They also run their own nightclub, "Club Sandwich", in their hometown, Preston. They were handpicked to play the unsigned stage at Glastonbury in 2005, and have since enjoyed radio support by Marc Riley, Zane Lowe, XFM and Steve Lamacq. The band are currently set to release their debut album, On The Beat!, in the summer of 2007."
Another hotly tipped band has been Maths Class, who also don't seem to have any leaked tracks lying about... stay tuned to see if I can find out more about them... they didn't tour with Klaxons as far as I know but I imagine it's probably not long... I see them, more likely, playing with Shitdisco...
We'll that's it for this post... stay tuned for more new music AND MAKE SURE YOU LISTEN TO "THE SPIRIT OF ALBION" TONIGHT FROM 7-9 PM EST!!! The request line number at that time is (269) 387-3603... we'd love to hear from our readers!
I thought it was time for a more proper Hadouken! post. To tell you the truth the first time I heard them I wasn't sure if I liked them or not. They were so different from the flouro wearing bands out there that I was in a state of musical shock... but that turned out to be a good thing. Now I drive to work in the morning pumping "That Boy That Girl" and find myself sending their YouTube videos to friends and asking their management for a liner for my radio show lol (perhaps we can get through this one without being called the "most shittest fucking radio station on earth"... see prior post if you don't get that joke!).
Just in case you don't know anything about Hadouken!... well I actually don't know anything about them either... how come no new bands have bios?!?!?!? I was going to give you some background but I have none!
Here's what NME has to say about them though: "''London lot Hadouken! are the freshest thing on the site this week by miles. They sound angry, they sound smart and they sound like something youll be hearing a lot more of in the coming months. Best tune 'That Boy That Girl is a savage, snarling work of genius that makes me want to smash bottles over my head. In a good way." NME"
I don't want to steal their thunder so I'm not going to post "That Boy That Girl", or the b-side "Tuning In", because you should go BUY those... but I do have a version of "Dance Lesson" that seems to be at a low enough kbps that their label won't get upset (but it's still decent enough to want to listen to it repeatedly). I also thought I'd throw up the Plan B remix they did seeing as it's fucking dope...
Now another band I'd like to post about is South Central... only problem is I don't have much to tell you about them either! I can't find any info really other than their Myspace... apparently they've been opening for Klaxons and, if I'm to believe what the posts on their Myspace say, the Klaxons boys called them "cunts". Maybe that's a good thing... anyway you cut it they make some good music. I've been really really into their Sunshine Underground remix (p.s. did that come out here in the U.S.? The Sunshine Underground album? I want it but I can't find a place to download it!) recently... check their shit out @ Myspace.
I don't think South Central have an album out yet.. but they do have a real interesting video where their directors blew all the money on blow and strippers... check it out below... South Central - Castles Of Heroes
NOW DON'T GO JUST YET! THERE'S STILL LOADS OF COOL SHIT TO DOWNLOAD!
It's fucking free Fader Magazine/podcast time again! I have to tell you guys I love this shit... seriously... let me tell you why...
We don't have Internet at work anymore (because they thought we weren't doing any work, even though our checks are performance based so we get screwed if we don't do work... I know, it doesn't make sense)... and the boredom is skull crushingly awful when you're dialing phone numbers for 5 hours straight... so it's nice to be able to save a PDF on a flash drive, drag the podcast with it, and make work time a little more exciting... The Fader makes life a little more worth living for those few hours everyday... I wish they put out MORE PDFs and podcasts because when I'm done reading their shit I have to retreat to lesser magazines to take their place until the next issue comes out...
Here's a little more info:
New York, NY: The FADER magazine, the definitive voice of emerging music, releases its 45th issue, putting Smog genius Bill Callahan on the cover after 20 years of heartbreak evolved into his current album, Woke on a Whaleheart. It's the first album under his real name instead of the "Smog" moniker, and The FADER finds out the full story. Also gracing the cover is producer Polow Da Don: a not-so-secret weapon who has crafted cutting-edge sounds for everyone from Fergie, Ludacris, R Kelly and the Pussycat Dolls. You may have also heard his current monster smash "Throw Some D's" by Rich Boy. Polow is radio's next super producer.
Also knocking socks off this issue are Noah Lennox, better known as Panda Bear from Animal Collective, and his new album flooding with “me-me-ness,” Gyptian and his regal aura of roots reggae, the fantastic damage of Atlanta's snottiest punks known as Black Lips, the demented mindgarden of Mobb Deep's legendary Prodigy and intimate portraits from Kabul by photographer Stephen Dupont. As always, F45 will also be available via iTunes in its entirety, with corresponding audio podcasts, and as a free download at www.thefader.com.
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE On the covers:
Bill Callahan
“I don’t think I write in character as much as Randy Newman does, but it’s probably closer to being in character [than being me]. I always think I’m telling universal stories.”
Polow Da Don
"I’ve become the main guy, that means producers are following me. What that means is real music comes back, because what I do is real music. When that happens, then I did my job.”
Also between the pages:
Noah Lennox
“I feel like when I listen to an Animal Collective album, I can be like, ‘This part of the song, there’s a lot of me in that part.’ But with Person Pitch it’s just like flooding with me—me-ness.”
Gyptian
“I’m not the artist to separate from music. Wherever I hear music, ears dem cock up. Like Shabba say: Deejay ears cock up when they hear boom riddim.”
The Black Lips
“We ended up singing Lynyrd Skynyrd with the cops and stuff, joking around. They had to take us to jail because the mushrooms were a felony. But we made them laugh—we played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who was gonna take the charge.”
Prodigy
“We were like, ‘We gotta bring back that feeling.’ Not bring back the old music, because we never go backwards with that, but if we could capture the old vibe…”
And of course, The FADER’s own Gen F section where the most essential artists bubbling up from the underground make their debut appearance. This month’s artists include DG Yola, Dion, David Vandervelde, Munga Honorable, Turf Talk, Wild Beasts and Bunji Garlin.
And as usual you get a free podcast... Here's the tracklisting.
Black Lips, "Hippie, Hippie, Hoorah (Live in Tijuana)" Rich Boy (produced by Polow Da Don), "Boy Looka Here" Prodigy, "Return of the Mac" Hi-Tek f Dion, Q-Tip and Kurupt, "Keep It Moving" Bill Callahan, "Diamond Dancer" Dandi Wind, "Slumlord" Turf Talk, "I Got Chips" Bunji Garlin, "Brrrt" Munga, "Flipping Rhymes" The Presets, "Are You The One (Van She Tech NYC Rush Mix)" Panda Bear, "Bros (edit)" David Vandervelde, "Can't See Your Face No More" Gyptian, "Serious Times" DG Yola, "Ain't Gon Let Up"
Hells yeah! *That Presets track is fucking baller... I play that non-stop every where I go... when we were down in Miami we were at two different events they were playing at (Mansion, and Churchill's) and I only ended up seeing ONE SONG! We were too busy both times to stay and watch (but we did get them our demo) and I'm heart broken about it. Hopefully I'll get to see them soon!*
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST! I wanted to drop a little info here about Saturna... you've seen them here on Arcadia before (even though they aren't British) because I feel like people who listen to some of the bands on this blog will be into them. They've employed a more epic feel to newer tracks making a perfect mix between shoegazey atmosphere and balls out indie rock reminsciesnt of the best bands of the 90's (Pavement, Stone Roses, Pixies, Ride).
I know most bloggers get loads and loads of demos (I should know... I just sent all my demos for State Crime to Fluo Kids, Discobelle, Acid Girls etc) from people and most of them end up not making it onto their sites, but these guys really have something special. I'm actually proud that these guys wanted me to post their stuff... that's how good they are! This new track "Roll Down" is fucking fantastic. I hope you guys enjoy it! I should also mention as well there was a Saturna post over @ Milk Milk Lemonade and you can hear more of their music on Myspace.
When these guys blow up (and they're on the cover of magazines like Fader or something like that) just remember where you heard about them first!
Hope you guys enjoyed the post... as always comments are welcome... I'll be back asap to bring you more new British music!
(P.S. I'm not sure if they wanted me to post to their MP3s or link to their stream so I'm just going to post "Roll Down" via YouSendIt... there will only be 100 downloads and you've only got a week to get them.)
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!
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...
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!
The most important week of my life (thus far) is almost upon us and, let me tell you, I'm so stressed out I've got cartoon birds flying over my fucking head. All the last minute shit is enough to make your brain pop... for those of you not following the story this far, my songwriting partner Sam and I are going to Miami for the Winter Music Conference is hopes of someone signing us (at least for a single, huh Ghostly International?)... our little outfit called State Crime will hopefully be your favourite non-genre defined electronic duo by this time next year! It's going to be a lot of fun but I'm also having so many panic attacks that my chest breaks out in hives and I feel like I'm dying and all the other fun things that come with being a total worry wort... hopefully in a couple weeks I'll have SOME good news for you folks!
I don't have a lot of time to do this post... so I'm just going to throw up some dope grime joints I found on Myspace. One of the coolest things about Myspace is getting these songs (most of which never end up getting an official release)... for example, Klaxons posted their demos on Myspace for a short time and those were the coolest recordings I had heard in a LONG time... way to connect to your fans! (BTW We will be doing that with our Myspace soon once we have all of our tracks sorted out)... tell me what you guys think of these...
I like to post some cool footage when I do these grime/dubstep posts... so here's Kano vs Wiley (complete with Mortal Kombat screens)...
AND BY THE WAY, Speaking of fun stuff... FADER Magazine has a new digital issue and podcast out and I thought I'd throw that shit up here so you can get your "cool" on... I love the Fader (as you very well may know)... in fact I think they should sign me to their label (wink wink)...
Here's some info:
"THE FADER MAGAZINE PRESENTS THE 'SPRING STYLE FANTASTIC' ISSUE
Annual Spring Style Issue Presents Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Gang Gang Dance And The Season's Fiercest Looks, Available on Newsstands and iTunes
New York, NY: The FADER magazine, the definitive voice of emerging music, releases its 44th issue, steamrolling into Spring 2007 with an exploration of the give and take between music and style through the most vibrant and relevant musicians, designers, scenes and looks currently bubbling. The 'Spring Style Fantastic' celebrates the reemergence of one of hip-hop's most innovative groups of all time, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, as well as the emergence of one of rock & roll's most forward thinking and fashion-forward outfits, Gang Gang Dance.
Also inside the book is a feature on China's effervescent underground rock scene, a look at the hip-hop coming out of Washington DC that seamlessly incorporates the capitol city's traditional sounds of go-go, a feature on Austin's emotional instrumental rockers Explosions In The Sky, and a Lite Brite meditation on some of music's most interesting collaborators like Pete Doherty & Mick Jones, Princess & Diamond, and Becky Stark & Devendra Banhart by visual artist Ian Wright. The jam-packed issue also includes an incredible fashion feature blowout shot on the streets of Dubai, India, by photographer Andrew Dosunmu. As always, F44 will also be available via iTunes in its entirety, with corresponding audio podcasts, as a free download at http://www.thefader.com/blog/articles/category/podcasts
Highlights Include:
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
"We heard MC Ren flipping over the beat really hard one time and it just stuck with us...We started speeding up and before we knew it we was doing something new and we didn't even recognize it no more. We didn't even know it was that different because we was so secluded with each other."
In the '90s, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony were the originators of a totally new sound in hip-hop: they combined their fast-rap, sing-song flow with dark tales of ouija boards, the Other Side, murder and redemption--and sold millions upon millions of albums in the process, making them the darkest crossover stars on the charts. They've never gone away entirely, but now they've signed a major label deal in partnership with A-list super-producer Swizz Beatz, aligned themselves with all the right people including Akon, Mariah Carey, Three 6 Mafia and more, and have created a new batch of songs that pushes their innovative sound even farther forward. Bone Thugs never lost their cult fan base or their status as icons, but few people could have expected them to explode back into relevance on this grand of a scale.
Gang Gang Dance
"I started meeting thugged out house producers and thugged out gay dancers and everyone was just rocking out and I was the one playing drums and there were dancers hanging off poles and lesbian MCs who hated my guts because I was this white dude, but slowly I started to win them over and they were in my face freestyling like, 'Uh! Keep it tight!" -Gang Gang Dance's Tim DeWit
Gang Gang Dance is probably the most sonically forward-pushing band on earth, constantly evolving and pulling more and more sounds into their extremely weird universe while never straying far from a bottom heavy, danceable club beat. Yet while their music is incredibly diverse, what makes them so important is their stubborn insistence on chasing down all of their interests and impulses no matter what the cost. Starting with the band's de facto leader Brian Degraw who is also an extremely accomplished visual artist and DJ, every member of the band has innumerable side projects always at play, and while it might be holding the band back from the international success it craves, it also keeps them inextricably tied to downtown New York City in a way that is inspired, revitalizing and totally, unthinkably cool.
Also between the pages
The Chinese Beat: Millenial Beijing and the lost art of rock & roll
Explosions in the Sky: The carefully plotted emotional outbursts of instrumental rock's best band
Washington DC hip-hop: Raised on Reganomics, go-go and the neverending pursuit of freshness, Wale and Tabi Bonney rap for the capitol
It Takes Two: A tribute to collaborators by visual artist Ian Wright featuring: Becky Stark (of Lavender Diamond) & Davendra Banhart; Pete Doherty (of Babyshambles) & Mick Jones (The Clash); Princess and Diamond (of Crime Mob); Youssoun N'Dour & Cheikh Lo.
On The Corner: Street style and Dubai, India, photographed by Andrew Dosunmu, styling by Mobolaji Dawodu
And of course, The FADER's own Gen F section where the most essential artists bubbling up from the underground make their debut appearance. This month's artists include Amy Winhouse, Fam-Lay, Voxtrot, No Age, Mr Vegas, The View, and Chrisette Michele."
They've got The View, so there's your vaguely British connection... also got some info on my man Fam-Lay (who's back I more or less had to jump on top of when going with Pharrell and the Star Trak gang up to VIP @ Dragon Room in Chicago) who's new joint is going to bring the beeper back...
So yeah... that's that... feel free to leave comments as they are always appreciated! I was trying to get a contest up here to win a free 7" but I never heard anything.. if I do I will post it up so make sure to check back!
Grrrr... you know I wanna be her more... you know I do. But this is so fucking tough! I'm seriously going to put it in my Palm to do a post every three days when I get back from Miami. Ok? So you wish me luck (and get my signed with your voodoo) and I will post a lot more...
Seriously though I am sorry...
ANYWAY... I said I was going to do a Phones piece. There is a great article about him in XLR8R this month, with a lot of it focusing on his Epic Man records. I haven't really herd much of that but you can grab those records over at Kitsune.
Here is the lowdown on Phones/Epworth from Wikipedia:
"Paul Epworth is a British indie music producer. He's worked with and/or remixed many successful British indie bands, including Bloc Party, The Futureheads, Babyshambles, Goldfrapp and The Streets. He is also a well known remixer, working under the name Phones. His debut single under the Phones moniker, "Sharpen The Knives" is due out on French label Kitsuné in November 2006. He was also in the band Lomax.
In 2006 Paul Epworth began started making music under the name Epic Man. His debut single, More is Enough, features Plan B.
From his official site: 'I always wanted to make exciting music. The stuff that made the hairs on your neck stand on end. that magic factor that could be about a song, a sound, a voice, a rhythm, or just silence.........space...... I've written songs since I was 13, played with a cassette deck and sampling keyboard from the age of 11, and began recording with a band at 17. I realised that the studio was the pinnacle of musical creativity, the place where the imagined becomes material. I set about learning the laws, understanding the principles, and disregarding most of them in favour of instinct. In my journey into sound, I have dub mixed on a 4-track, recorded orchestras for (sir) george martin, been pelted with full cans of beer for my love of low frequencies, worked without sleep for three days flat, met some heroes (and villains) and performed with some truly exceptional musicians. I hope the music I am lucky enough to be involved in making, conveys to the listener some of the magic experienced in creating it.'"
Hope you guys love this... I think Phones writes some of the greatest shit out there... So PLEASE make sure you go check out his other work and the bands that he has worked with! I'd write more but I gotta get to work so the new boss doesn't fire me!
So I still haven't been around as much as I would like to be... I'm working on it. Doing and album (or rather demos) you end up having way more shit to take care of than you can even remember to do. I'm trying to hit all the bases and make it happen this time... so if any of you have a good hookup in the electronic music world and want to help your favourite blogger it would be appreciated!
ANYWAY... I have a renewed faith in "new rave" (if there is such a thing... which of course there isn't... just a large coincidence that people started noticing dancy bands again) right now. I like my British rock and I like my dance music (as you very well know from the multiple "new rave" posts... I want to shoot myself for using that word) so it fucking rocks my world like nothing else. I can't tell you anything you don't already know about the scene at the moment but I can offer up some sweet tunes.
Hadouken are like the most absurd fucking band I have ever heard. They come off like a dare... but they are also completely enchanting in some way. Like a white Spank Rock kind of... kind of. Except not. There really isn't a parallel. I just suggest you check them out. Why not start out with their indie kid bashing single "That Boy That Girl" and their wicked Bloc Party remix of "The Prayer"...
Another band who's songs I've had stuck in my head recently is These New Puritans. Their demo for "Elvisss" is fucking awesome (we played it on 'Albion' Friday night)... I first heard it on NME's Dancefloor Distortion that Simian Mobile Disco did and have been in love with it ever since... after you download the song, peep their website that has LOADS of demos (and bits and bobs) that you can download! These guys are the greatest band you may not have heard about if you live here in the U.S... expect to hear more of them on our show!
Speaking of Simian Mobile Disco... if you weren't aware James Ford from SMD did the production of Klaxons "Myths Of The Near Future"... but it doesn't just stop there! He has also done productions for others and remixes for the likes of Shitdisco! Below is his banging remix of "I Know Kung Fu" (btw I totally suggest you pop over to eMusic and pick up both of their E.P.s because they are totally worth it... and of course if you sign up for eMusic from this site you make me a little money lol)...
Tomorrow I'm going to try to post again... I want to do a post on Paul Epworth (aka Phones) because he's been a super big part of the scene... hopefully you guys will dig it... in the meantime, thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave some comments... you guys are the best!
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