Upcoming Show - Fleet Foxes - 10/03/08 - Preview

October 2, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , , , , | No comments

Unfortunately, I won’t be at the Fleet Foxes’ appearance at The Black Cat this Friday the 3rd. The good news is that I will be seeing them later tonight at the Starlight Ballroom Dance Club in Killadelphia. The Foxes might be the best act to come out this year, and their blend of folk-indie-gospel-church-psychedelic beard rock is undeniably fresh. If you didn’t score a ticket to their Black Cat show this time around definitely don’t make the same mistake again. Here are a few Fleet Foxes tracks to stoke your fire for this Friday’s show. The first is a collaboration with Wilco on the Bob Dylan song “I Shall Be Released” that they recently released to inspire people to vote, and the next is a remix by The Twelves that appeared on The Twelves’ Episode II mix that came out back in August. The last track is my favorite song off of the Foxes’ self-titled release from earlier this year entitled “Ragged Wood,” enjoy and don’t forget to support the artists…

I Shall Be Released - Wilco w/ Fleet Foxes

White Winter Hymnal (The Twelves Remix) - Fleet Foxes

Ragged Wood - Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Little Boots vs. Designer Drugs, Computer Fairyland Mixtape

October 1, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , , | No comments

One of my favorite acts out there right now is Little Boots, Victoria Hesketh, formerly of Dead Disco out of Blackpool, UK. She is one of the best chicks that mix. She does some mean stuff and recently has been remixed by some other top talent. 

This remix has been “Stuck on Repeat” this week. If you haven’t grabbed this Designer Drugs remix of Little Boots’ “Meddle” you definitely need it. Designer Drugs does some great remixes and if you like this remix check out their other work on their myspace.

In addition to giving you this great remix, here is Ms. Hesketh’s mixtape entitled “Computer Fairyland,” which I can assure you is also a great time…

Computer Fairyland Mixtape - Tracklist

01. Be Beat Girls - For Same Man
02. Hercules & Love Affair - You Belong (Riton Rerub)
03. Purple Crush - Physical Attraction
04. Popular Type - Febbre del Discotheque
05. Black Ghosts - Repetition Kills You (Emperor Machine Dub)
06. Trans X - Living On Video
07. Leon Jean Marie - Bring It On (Little Boots Remix)

Computer Fairyland Mixtape - Little Boots

Meddle (Designer Drugs 80s Coke Jam Remix) - Little Boots

Futurecop! - New Mixtapes

October 1, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , , | No comments

I love Futurecop!. These guys have been featured on a consistent basis on the Valerie group site, and their mixes typically feature a great selection of 1980s hits while touching on today as well. I posted a live set from their Australian tour earlier this summer, and although that tape is solid the following tapes are even more focused. Here is their newest tape the “Euro Mix,” and their “We Are The Future Mix” that they released earlier this summer on their personal blog. Their idea is that music should be as much a free experience as possible, and they consistently have given away some awesome mixes… Here are the two newest Futurecop! mixes and their accompanying tracklists…

Euromix - Tracklist

01. Kryptonite Pussy- Yo Majesty
02. Big Dancing- Bounce Camp
03. MIA- Bucky Done Gun (Futurecop! Remix)
04. Girl and the Sea- The Presets (Cut Copy Remix)
05. Adeyhawke- Into Me
06. College- Teenage Colour (Maethelvin Remix)
07. Eyes Like The Ocean- Futurecop!
08. All Too Vivid (Original Mix)- Vega
09. Space Thieves- Futurecop!
10. Follow Me (BMX Remix)- Panther DLX

We Are The Future! Mix - Tracklist

01. Madonna – Borderline
02. Cameo – Word Up
03. Phil Collins – Sussudio
04. Belinda Carlisle - We Want The Same Thing
05. Janet Jackson – Principle Pleasure
06. Jermaine Stewart – We Don’t Have To Take Clothes Off
07. Futurecop! – Tonight’s Hero
08. Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes
09. Bruce Hornsby – The Long Race
10. Kenny Loggins – St Elmo’s Fire
11. Robert Tepper – No Easy Way Out
12. Simple Minds – Don’t you (Forget About Me)
13. Futurecop! – Transformers
14. Robbie Robb – In Time (Futurecop! edit)

Euromix - Futurecop!

We Are The Future! Mix - Futurecop!

Monolith Festival - Justice

October 1, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , , , , | No comments

 

Office Space-d Electronics

Office Space-d Electronics

 

The most epic performance of the Monolith Festival was Justice’s closing set on Sunday the 14th. The build up for this show was outstanding, and it really seemed that Justice was the feature act of the entire weekend. This is exactly what Monolith needed for its closing act, and the crowd was hyped. Justice opened with a short set of a few songs including from the best of my memory, “Genesis” and “Phantom.” Then mid-song Justice blew a fuse out on their personal circuit board and the lights that were linked up to their board just went silent. The fuse was repaired quickly and we got back to the action after a little crowd anthem of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.” The set continued for about 45 minutes or so when, mid “We Are Your Friends,” Justice then blew out another fuse or circuit, and the lights were off again. Justice was visibly upset about their equipment’s failure, which led to the lights in the venue coming on and Xavier de Rosnay groveling for our forgiveness. The crowd kept enthusiastically singing “We Are Your Friends” for about 5-10 minutes while we hoped and prayed that they would fix the equipment a second time. News soon came that they were not going to be able to fix the equipment, and Justice began taking a scene from Office Space and ripping circuit boards out of their set-up and crushing them on stage. The crowd was left with the impression that Justice had another couple hours of face-melting music left in the tank, but that they wanted to play those tunes just as much as we wanted to hear them. Enjoy some new Justice here on their new Planisphère instrumental experimentation which was featured during the Dior Homme set they released earlier this year… And as an additional bonus here is Justice’s rejected Fabriclive mix that they released late in 2007…

Planisphère (Part 1) - Justice - Planisphère

Planisphère (Part 2) - Justice - Planisphère

Planisphère (Part 3) - Justice - Planisphère

Planisphère (Final) - Justice - Planisphère

Xmas Mix - Justice - Xmas Mix 2007

D.A.N.C.E. - Justice - Monolith Festival 2008

Genesis - Justice - Monolith Festival 2008

D.A.N.C.E. - Alternate View - Justice - Monolith Festival 2008

Monolith Festival - The Avett Brothers - Unreleased Material!

September 25, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , , , , , | No comments

Another great performance of the Monolith Weekend occurred Sunday the 14th with Concord, NC’s The Avett Brothers bringing some mountain music to the venue. The Avetts recently released their “The Second Gleam EP,” which contained many acoustically focused numbers so it was great to see them back in their normal state. At this point in the weekend, the crowd kind of needed some relaxing music to allow them to give their bodies a rest and to gear up for Justice later that night, and the Avetts brought that with just enough energy to keep the party going. The Avett Brothers recently signed with Columbia records and have started gearing up for their next [Rick Rubin produced] album’s release slated for early next year. Until then enjoy these two unreleased tracks “Laundry Room” and “Standing With You” from the Monolith set. 

“Laundry Room” - The Avett Brothers - Monolith Festival 2008

“Standing With You” - The Avett Brothers - Monolith Festival 2008

Monolith Festival - Vampire Weekend - New Material!!

September 25, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , , , | No comments

at Monolith Festival 2008 

 

at Monolith Festival 2008

 

I recently caught Vampire Weekend at Monolith Festival at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO. I was very impressed by how well they translated to a fun-loving live act. The thing that I really came away with was how talented these guys are. They played just after 7pm and played the sunset with the moon rising out behind them. Their new material is awesome. The played two new tracks “White Sky” and “Little Giant” during the Monolith set, and then just this week they released another new track entitled “Ottoman” on the Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist Soundtrack. “White Sky” and “Little Giant” really tap into the Afro-Beat styles that they can really expand upon. I appreciate seeing them focus this aspect of their sound, and it really made for two danceable tracks even though a majority of the audience had yet to have heard them. These two videos are of “White Sky” and then “Little Giant,” from Monolith Festival 2008. Additional copies of both of the songs are available for download from their set in Glasgow earlier this year, and I have attached their new track “Ottoman” as an additional bonus. A quite a bit more Monolith Coverage will follow…

 

“White Sky” - Monolith Festival 2008

“Little Giant” - Monolith Festival 2008

“The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance” - Monolith Festival 2008

White Sky (Live at ABC Glasgow) - Vampire Weekend

Little Giant (Live at ABC Glasgow) - Vampire Weekend

Ottoman - Vampire Weekend - Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: Soundtrack

French Kicks - Swimming

September 25, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , , , | No comments

If you like low-fi indie rock, the French Kicks’ new album entitled “Swimming” could be one of your finer selections of this year. Their previous work is relatively strong, but I think that this album is a solid start with this group. This past month or so has seen a strong series of releases in this genre, and the French Kicks’ album has firmly planted itself among the strongest of the group. The fun starts with an opening track containing some soaring psych vocal sections, several cool guitar riffs, and some slightly sparse almost white noise-esque percussion. Most of the drumming here sounds a little muted, yet adds interest instead of leaving the work boring. For some solid indie rock with a touch of lo-fi, enjoy these two tracks by the French Kicks… 

Abandon - French Kicks - Swimming

Said So What - French Kicks - Swimming

Hockey - Mind Chaos

September 6, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , , | No comments

I will be attending Monolith Festival next weekend, and I am excited about the festival’s recent addition of Portland, Oregon’s Hockey. I love The Rapture, and Hockey’s sound is eerily similar at times. I know that this Portland group must have heard The Rapture’s 2006 album “Pieces of the People We Love” the opening track “Too Fake” on Hockey’s “Mind Chaos” patterns itself directly after “Whoo! Alright, Yeah… Uh Huh” on The Rapture’s album. Fortunately, for both Hockey and our ears the album diverges from this point on. If you like Ghostland Observatory, The Rapture, Miss Fairchild or !!! I think you will appreciate Hockey. I’m excited about seeing them, and hopefully they will more than make up for Chester French’s recent action of dropping out of the festival. Overall, Mind Chaos is a great album that displays a greater diversity of sound than The Rapture’s album, and at times dabbles in many different musical memories while fresh the entire time. Enjoy these two tracks from the album. “Song Away” conveys visions of Mellencamp, and  “3am Spanish” brings some Tokyo Police Club style guitar and bass work. Don’t forget to support the artists…

3am Spanish - Hockey - Mind Chaos

Song Away - Hockey - Mind Chaos

Marching Band - Spark Large

September 6, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , , | No comments

One of the better Swedish releases of the year is Marching Band’s “Spark Large.” Last year gave us a large influx of Gothenberg artists, yet this band from Linköping is almost better prepared for success in American indie circles. The success of The Shins signals that Marching Band should do just as well on our ears. I love this album. The acoustic guitar work here is spectacular, and continues the Swedes tendency to bring sunshine directly to our ears. If you think you might like a gloriously sunny version of anything the Shins might have produced then you will love Sweden’s Marching Band. My favorite song here is “Gorgeous Behavior.” Enjoy…

For Your Love - Marching Band - Spark Large

Gorgeous Behavior - Marching Band - Spark Large

Make Up Artist - Marching Band - Spark Large

MGMT - Metanoia

September 6, 2008 in Music | Tags: , , | 2 comments

MGMT finally released their epic psychedelic song “Metanoia” on Itunes this past month. I love this band and Metanoia is one of their best live tracks. MGMT’s album Oracular Spectacular is one of the best albums to come out this year, and this release simply continues upon, and in effect, finishes off the album. This band from Wesleyan is defined as psychedlic synthpop for the most part, yet “Metanoia” is them utilizing their psychedelic strength. This recent release is basically their band’s answer to a “Bohemian Rhapsody” of today’s generation with a touch more of a Pink Floyd quality. Although I cannot post the track in its entirety, here are a couple of youtube streams that should give you the entire track.