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Hey there all you that missed me… I have had a series of things get in the way but I should be back to not making excuses and dropping sweet tunes consistently now.
Now to the music. I love Studio, and by that I don’t mean studio quality music, I mean the Swedish balearic duo of Dan Lissvik and Rasmus Hägg. These guys have produced some mind blowing jams over the last couple of years, and now Dan goes it alone with his own project that deviates slightly from the previous formula. Instead of the synth/guitar work of Studio, we encounter a groovier work that features Dan’s guitar work. His guitar is played in a very similar fashion to Studio, and in fact I think you’ll find it indistinguishable. This stripped down work allows the listener to really just groove along with the guitar with frequent exotic percussive sounds intermingled. These forms of percussion are what gives the music its depth. The listener encounters congas, bongos, wooden castanets, and many other international sounds that give us the impression that we are in a tent filled with belly dancers on a dune at 4am on an acid trip. For those of us that love Studio, I think you’ll find that this work comes freakishly close, especially on track B2…
This album contains seven untitled tracks, and I find that you will agree that the names of these tracks are less important than the middle-eastern late night thematics. Enjoy track B2 or track 6 as the cd would say…
Little Boots, arguably the best female DJ in the world, is at it again with another sweet mixtape. This one is entitled the “Automatic Lovers Mix,” and is an excellent follow-up to her “Computer Fairyland” mix from earlier this year. She utilizes a strategy of just enough retro combined with newer stuff and her own work. This ‘Automatic Lovers” mix is intended to be a survey of her work on her most recent tour, and I think you will find it complementary to her last tape. Keep your eyes and ears open for even more of her material… She is definitely one to watch for 2009. Here is the mix and a couple of videos to warm you through the holidays…
“Automatic Lovers Mix” – Little Boots
“Last Christmas” – Little Boots – Wham! Cover
“Meddle” – Little Boots – Live w/ Jools Holland
Little Joy recently released their newest work. A self titled album that provides what many sun-loving people will need during the coming months. Little Joy is the project that was created through a Lisbon encounter of the Strokes’ drummer Fabrizio Moretti and Rodrigo Amarante de Castro Neves of Los Hermanos. They decided to create a project that was independent of both of their previous work, and in turn developed one of the more unique albums I’ve heard this year. The sound is interesting because it combines elements of Los Angeles’s beaches, and thrusts in Rio de Janeiro’s tropicalia. I find the combo to be very summer ready, and it should provide some escapism from the dreary winter months that are currently setting in. Here is the first single from the disc, and the accompanying video, and a recent studio session performance of “Unattainable” for your enjoyment…
“No One’s Better Sake” – Little Joy
“Unattainable” – Little Joy
In addition to the previous night’s Vampire Weekend performance, I also was able to catch Yeasayer at the Sixth and I Synagogue. The dry venue that night combined with the religious nature of the venue left the crowd mostly serene at the beginning of Yeasayer’s performance. One got the feeling that a spiritual event was on its way, and Yeasayer delivered. Their psychedelic, futuristic, and “middle-eastern” tinged indie rock gradually built the crowd to a crescendo and aroused them off of their pews.
The highlights of the set were the new material throughout the opening, followed by crowd favorite tracks like “2080″ that really infused some energy into the audience. I am impressed by the direction of the group. They were not perturbed by the seeming lack of energy during the new material, and the audience’s unfamiliarity, and they ended up playing what might be my most memorable live experience of this year.
I am super excited for the next release from Yeasayer, which I anticipate in the beginning half of 2009. The performance’s psychedelic nature combined with the colorful soft glow of a multitude of moon globes was a transcendent experience that simply must be seen. Unfortunately, the boys are done for the year, but you can catch their simulate their live experience with videos and glow sticks for now. Hopefully, another professional video will hit soon as well, because the group was accompanied by a professional film crew for their set at the synagogue.
Here are a couple of videos of the aforementioned new tracks including “Tightrope” and “Ambling Alp” for your enjoyment…
“Tightrope” – Yeasayer
“Ambling Alp” – Yeasayer
“2080″ & “Tightrope” – Yeasayer – Courtesy of Blogotheque
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
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)
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)
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
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
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
