Mongoloid Gash

French people can make fuzzy poppy punk like they do in dalston?

2010-02-01T17:56:00.004Z

Drummer used to tour with the death set, there's a toxic avenger remix of one of their songs, their 1st gig was shut down cos they played too loud. Thats like loadsa hipster points.

Bonjour Afrique - To my place

Songs with summer in the title might chase away the fucking snow

2010-01-10T09:40:00.002Z

Nice little Lady Ga Ga cover from what used to be Dublin Duck Dispensary

No Monster Club - Summer Girl

This shouldnt be ok

2009-12-28T14:50:00.002Z

A musical husband and wife who play in different groups team up to knock out a christmas song. Vomit inducing premise. Startling results.

Dum Dum girls & Crocodiles - Merry Christmas baby (Please dont die)

Post a month, careful not to strain ourselves

2009-12-27T11:41:00.002Z

New shit from some of the dudes who were in the mae shi, basically check it if you liked the mae shi, if you didnt you're an idiot, piss off.

Signals - Spector

Normal service may resume at some point

2009-11-04T12:52:00.002Z

A friend told me about this and I cant not post it. Ciccone youth is a madonna obsessed sonic youth side project featuring mike watt.

Ciccone youth - Into the groove(y)

2009-09-04T17:29:00.002+01:00

The last song I posted was all summery, this is more in tune with the weather we can expect in London for the foreseeable future. Dark, fucked up and mesmerizing in a disturbed sort of way.

Zola Jesus - Somebody to love

Once more unto the beach

2009-09-03T00:04:00.003+01:00

Back again, same old pathetic excuses.

Summers pretty much over and I dont see why this wasn't a fucking hit single. People aint go no sense, but I write for a blog called mongoloid gash so what do I know.

The Drums - Let's go surfing

日本!

2009-07-08T17:34:00.003+01:00

Japan!

Happy End. Hosono is bottom-right.

Fronted by Haruomi Hosono (細野晴臣), one of the guys from Yellow Magic Orchestra (i.e. awesome disco maestros), はっぴいえんど (Happy End) was a band he was involved in before YMO. It was a progressive/psych/folk-rock band active 1970-'73. 'Kaze Wo Atsumete' (English trans.) featured on the BAFTA nominee Lost In Translation soundtrack compiled by Brian Reitzell (my favourite soundtrack of all time).
He's also founded his own label, called Daisyworld (the fucking hippie) and only releases things he likes.

Have a listen:

はっぴいえんど - 風街ろまん

はっぴいえんど - 抱きしめたい

Gotta do this shit more regularly

2009-06-22T16:54:00.002+01:00

Lip chewing

pupil swelling

rave music

Motor - Metal Machine

Motor - Death Rave

Circuit bent dubstep?

2009-06-09T11:22:00.006+01:00

When these are your instruments you are cool. It don't matter if you hang with Fritzl in your spare time or wank like David Carradine. You are still cool.

Partyshank are pretty much functioning as a springboard to make bass heavy dance music. First A1 Bassline and now Tek-One. Filthy filthy dubstep. Played with live drums and a load of circuit bent toys. Bug is deffinitely my favourite dubstep song right now. The fact that it is made with the stuff in the picture above is just a bonus.

Bug
Do Not Bend (This is wrongly named as Mate, Sorry)

it's summertime

2009-05-31T15:13:00.008+01:00

From the MySpace of Radiant Dragon

Sorry there haven’t been many posts recently. This has been due to a number of factors:

Examinations
Our stolen Internet no longer can be picked-up (Netgear, you are sorely missed. You too, SpeedTouch39EAFA.)
The library (and thus the Mecca of Internet access for us) is sofahway.

So, we are muchly sorry. But now, all there is to do is drink Frome Valley cider (the best ever – yes I’m totally advertising it for free: DRINK THIS STUFF) in a hammock erratically and unsafely tied to part of a mutilated mutant of a shitty garden, with the sun reflecting off my Macbook screen as I type. All for you, you lucky sods.

Alright! Radiant Dragon make music that's a cornucopia of cultural-genitalia clashing. If you like Yeasayer, Animal Collective, and real ethnic and folk music, give it a whirl.

Radiant Dragon - Cloud Seeding

It reminds me firstly of an organ in distant space, speaking through dreams in Animal Collective-esque distorted vocals, accompanied by cowbells and backwards slurs.

I like it. I really like it. I don’t know exactly where I’d listen to it though…Maybe an indie-disco with The Jetsons?

Radiant Dragon - Country

Shimmering backwards slurring erring records bleeding into a helicopter sound made entirely of violins, quickly morphing into a romping, soft, desert-island beat with clouded, vocoder-style harmonic voices. Country-and-western drums amalgamated with Theremin-like wails and dribbling robotic sentences. It’s certainly a conjurer’s cauldron concoction of contrasting categories (in musical terms). Unconventional and disparate. Give this a listen! I should expect they’d be good live. *I'm still listening* Oh good! I can hear more synths now.

Radiant Dragon - Oysters

This sounds like a Sunday morning radio classic from ten years ago mixed into a tropical beat, and Nirvana-influenced guitars strumming alongside rattlesnake tails and Bongo drums.

Radiant Dragon - Taman

Smoky Indian sitar-like oscillations softly penetrating the ear-drums with sea-shanty harmonicas (softly, and it works) pushing towards a snake-charmer’s rhythm, only more electronic, against Britpop beats.

Thus, to conclude, Radiant Dragon create really surprising amalgamations of things that just shouldn’t mix, but do, producing an eerie sound for the accompaniment to modern folk tales as a result. The only thing I don’t like is the name.

2009-05-14T10:06:00.002+01:00

I love anamanaguchi and Wavves are like totally cool and stuff apparently. You know they smoke weed?

Anamanaguchi - So Bored (Wavves Cover)

So I guess at this point I'm a fanboy?

2009-05-13T08:40:00.000+01:00

Backstage A1 Bassline interview @ Chew the Fat from Bullet Train Records on Vimeo.

Interview by Marco Del Horno from Rinse FM, who we have had up here before.

Don Diablo vs Example - Hooligans (A1 Bassline Remix)

Regression

2009-05-07T08:42:00.003+01:00

Piss poor scan of a lyric sheet paper airplane from MEN

Two bands today linked some what tenously.

Men is the new project from JD Samson of Le Tigre. They have a song on the new Kitsune. Do you really need to know more?

Off Our Backs
Credit Card Babie$
Simultaneously

Youves, who used to be Mirror! Mirror! have just released a mini album on Holy Roar. Dance punk is getting thrown around as a description but they have more balls than the rapture and their ilk. Closer to Black Flag than Black Strobe.

On Probation
Bigorexic

why am I not revising?

2009-05-03T22:59:00.004+01:00

Coming to terms with the hideous realisation that most of humanity is bathing in its own stupidity, I've been disenchanted with everything recently. But then I heard these and then everything was okay. Ish.

I'd heard of Deerhunter but never really bothered to check them out. I really regret that now, because I've only just discovered Atlas Sound (It's the solo project of mister Bradford James Cox.) I heard the track 'Recent Bedroom' and subsequently spent about 3 hours on Hype Machine stalking down some tracks. Unlike Kevin Shields (WHY DON'T YOU MAKE MORE MUSIC), he churns out flocks of tracks that are put up on the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound blog.

Bradford ^

He's kind of goofy-looking and I really want his children. Looking at this photo gave me the impulse to simultaneously shrug my shoulders, tilt my head to the side, raise both eyebrows and smile with my mouth open. Just for a second. ha. I bet you just did that if you were reading this alone.

His music is varied, from the finger-clickingly foot-tappingly jumping and clicking your heels together boo-doo-do-wah-dah-bap, dowahdowahdowahdowah-da-bap!

sort of thing that's exhibited in the Atlas Sound remix of Stereolab (below), to blippy, abstract sounds reminiscent of Animal Collective, to the soft pluckings of gentle notes turned downwards by the whammy bar, with droning voices drowned out by breathy vocals addressing things you can identify with through experience but would rather not think about. Probably. I heard Atlas Sound is playing a basement party somewhere in New Cross soon too, so I'll tell news when I hear news, but keep it on the down-low, kapeesh?

Please listen to these songs. They are really worth listening to. And look at the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound blog too.

Stereolab - Neon Beanbag (Atlas Sound Southern Baptist Remix)

We need some sunshine sometimes. DO DO DO DOWAHDAHBAP DODADADADADODADOWAHDABAP

Atlas Sound - Recent Bedroom

Simple, and incredible.

Atlas Sound - Requiem For All The Lonely Teenagers With Passed-Out Moms

What an amazing song. Eerie, narcotic (that was actually unintentional, ha), melancholic.

Atlas Sound - Cobwebs

This reminds me of My Bloody Valentine in that the vocals are

amalgmated with the droning guitars.

Atlas Sound - River Card

Reminds me of Air on The Virgin Suicides soundtrack.

Atlas Sound - My Car

Reminds me of David Vanderville/Saint Margaret.

You should listen to Crystal Stilts too. They sound like surf music got depressed. They're just brilliant. You need to listen to them as much as Atlas Sound.

Crystal Stilts - Graveyard Orbit

I do love whammy bars, a narcotic drum beat and a droning vocalist in a song.

Crystal Stilts - Spiral Transit

This reminds me a bit of The Zombies, The Velvet Underground and the kind of surf music from that scene in which Travolta and Thurman danced to (I'm going to stick up for Tarantino soundtracks here)

Fun Fact: Frankie Rose (the drummer) is from the Vivian Girls.

Grrr. Why box net so slowyslowslow?

Image courtesy of the Internet.

I made a mixtape for my kitchen with a load of these tracks and others to go with them and my flatmates really actually fucking loved it. They actually love me more for it. Their love for me has grown bounds. Really. I think It's pretty good too. Here's the tracklisting for those who want to copy. Sorry I haven't put up mp3s but I think some would definitely get taken down.

1. Stereolab - Neon Beanbag (Atlas Sound Southern Baptist Remix)

2. Atlas Sound - Recent Bedroom

3. Crystal Stilts - Graveyard Orbit

4. Sic Alps - Sing Song Waitress

5. The Concretes - Miss You

6. Iggy Pop - Nazi Girlfriend

(I can't believe Iggy Pop did a fucking insurance commercial)

7. The Zombies - Leave Me Be

8. Atlas Sound - River Card

9. My Bloody Valentine - Soon

10. My Bloody Valentine - Slow

11. Ringo Deathstarr - Swirly

Such a good name

12. The 5,6,7,8's - Blue Radio

This is an incredible rock and roll record. Just listen to it. It's fucking amazing.

13. Atlas Sound - Cobwebs

14. Atlas Sound - Requien For All The lonely Teenagers With Passed-Out Moms

15. Atlas Sound - My Car

Look at my preposterous flouting of the rules of the mixtape! Yes there is far too much of the same band.

16. Crystal Stilts - Spiral Transit

17. Mercury Rev - The Funny Bird

why.

Party in the city where the heat is on

2009-04-26T21:17:00.004+01:00

You know how some bands are better live in the way that some are better like Jade Goody? Mi Ami come in the first category. Recordings still make the crotch pop but it's in the flesh that pulses start to hit the hyper bpms. Touch and Go signed 3 piece with screeched vocals, rumbling bass and noisy guitars tied together by intensely pounding rhythms. Mesmerising, but in a flithy way.

Interview over at Parade of Flesh

Freed from Sin
New Guitar
Echonoecho

He just keeps them coming

2009-04-21T07:16:00.002+01:00

Tried to think what to write about these. The amount we post him I almost wrote about having a continuing love affair with the artist, almost wrote about banging tunes or T-Shirts screaming "I like it when the bass comes in." Then I realised there was no way I could string my ideas together in a juvenilely witty way so gave up.

The Ghost Frequency - Never Before Have I seen A Man Alive That Looks So Exactly Like A Skeleton (A1 Bassline Remix)

Alex Roots - Fake (A1 Bassline Remix)

Little Boots - New in Town (A1 Bassline Remix)

Frankmusic - Better off as 2 (A1 Bassline Remix)

all the honeys, makin' money

2009-04-20T01:10:00.000+01:00

...erm, hi

...this is a bit awkward, It's been a while.

Sorry.

(We have exams at the moment.)

Donk d-donk donk donk.

You must've heard about the Donk phenomenon by now. And heard Blackout Crew's 'Put a Donk on It'

"I look well sick in a UV light!"

Viceland Donk Documentary link.

Remixed Metronomy? ...Oh yes they have:

Metronomy - A Thing For Me (Blackout Crew Remix)

KASMS at Hoxton Square Bar & Grill

Pitchas by me.

Kap Bambino at The Old Blue Last

...Dos and Dont's?

Photos by me.

Just look at the bleeding mascara running down her snarling face. What a frontwoman.

SEE THEM LIVE.

Kap Bambino 'Blacklist' Album Teaser

Blacklist is out in May.

PS: Destiny's Child are reforming.

Getting there

2009-04-19T12:28:00.003+01:00

Worlds worst music blog still stumbling along...

La Roux - In For The Kill ( Last Japan Scream Re-edit)

Esser - Headlock (James Rutledge Remix)

2009-04-05T19:38:00.002+01:00

Remember when we used to post music?

We should start doing that properly again soon.

Marco Del Horno - Samurai (Rusko 'Safe Sex' Remix)

Italorection

2009-02-17T14:21:00.003Z

Italo-Disco (along with vintage electronica like Yellow Magic Orchestra, Moroder and Cerrone) has been popping its glittery head up everywhere recently, from blogland to clubs to trendy shops (like Colette in Paris). 20jazzfunkgreaks have been busy providing us with some gems of old and new for a while now, and Vice has cottoned on, resulting in a collaboration as some may recall. DJs at White Light have dropped some classic disco nuggets into their sets, and a keen ear may also see similarities between the hard-to-find Italo-Disco favourite Dancing in the Dark (Galactica Remix) by Mike Maureen and Friendly Fires' Paris feat. Au Revoir Simone (Aeroplane Remix). Italo-Disco fans include Ellen Allien and Mr. Flash, who have sampled Italo-Disco maestros such as Mr. White and Belle Epoque. A true fan should take a look at Hotmix, a label that created the CBS (Cybernetic Broadcasting System), once a radio station active from 2002-2008 (now there's Intergalactic FM instead). Hotmix is a label founded by I-F (remember Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass?) and other Dutch folks whose loins ache for Italo-Disco and with a penchant for rare, hard-to-find-on-vinyl and forgotten Disco and electronica gems of old. I think 20JFG would cream all over the CBS Top 100, a round-up of the best-loved 100 tracks of a year (you can find them on the internet now, well worth downloading). If you like Legowelt, Depeche Mode (ahh check out People Are People - I can't put up the mp3 LEST they lose any money), I-F (of course), early Kraftwerk and The Egyptian Lover, Bogdan Irkuk, Aeroplane, Glass Candy or Emperor Machine, then your pants will be made pleasurably damp.

Top tracks from The CBS Top 100 of 2006:

Zombi - Sapphire

Mike Mareen - Dancing In The Dark (Galactica Remix)

Belle Epoque - Loudefied - Troubled In Celebration

The Isolators featuring Bebe - Interdit (Ce Soir) (Freak Electrique Remix)

Jupiter Black - We Like Moroder (Divider Remix)

Mr. White - The Sun Can't Compare

Paul Ray - My Machine (FD Edit)

Neon - Skydiver

Liked those? Try these:

Low Motion Disco - Love Love Love (Aeroplane Remix)

Friendly Fires featuring Au Revoir Simone - Paris (Aeroplane Remix)

2009-02-12T17:44:00.003Z

I have been looking forward to this since I found out it was in the making. Less of an outright fucking club weapon than some of his other productions but still something special.

Esser - Work it out (A1 Bassline Remix)

One day i will get the hang of this

2009-02-10T00:31:00.000Z

Yet another obscene delay between posts

1st Up a Cadence Weapon track from an old Daytrotter Session. Live backing music.

Cadence Weapon - House Music (Daytrotter Session)

If the Vivian Girls were a little bit twee and British instead of tattooed punks from New York they might be Betty and the Werewolves

Betty and the Werewolves - Plastic

Not enough Drum and Base teaches people about the habits of mammals on the verge of extinction.

L.A.O.S - Panda Style

New music from some of the boys who made up Ratty Rat Rat. Completely new direction.

Is Tropical - I'll take my chances

One of these guys might have been in Lovvers. Not sure if its true but it wouldn't surprise me. I want this sung next time I am celebrating a year and nine months since 1 of the time my parents fucked.

Human Hair - Happy Birthday

Why do I bother

2009-02-02T03:35:00.002Z

Every time I post a remix competition no one sends me shit. I know this is because no one reads this but I hope this time will be different. Here you can get the sound effects from street fighter 2 and if you've got mad skills you can win gaming stuff. Geekcore.

Bit of a catch up

2009-01-08T11:55:00.012Z

Not done one of these in a while, despite having a load of stuff I meant to put up. So here is a pretty random mix of some of it.

A while back we mentioned the A1 Bassline remix competition, entries have been floating around for a while now, not sure any come close to the original but that doesn't mean they are shit. Just that the original really isn't.

A1 Bassline - Girl Thing (Fazhands Remix)
A1 Bassline - Girl Thing (Merk Meny Remix)
A1 Bassline - Girl Thing (NoNewYork Dirty Remix)
A1 Bassline - Girl Thing (Pirate Soundsytem Remix)
A1 Bassline - Girl Thing (Billion Dollar DJs Remix)

This little slice of 8-bit genius is the soundtrack to the best arcade game never made. The only problem with it would be the fact that you could never finish because you kept having to get up and dance half way through.

Anamanaguchi - Power Supply

Was I the only person who never knew that Dandi Wind was in Fandeath? What the fuck?

Dandi Wind - Mafu Cage
Dandi Wind - Searching Flesh (South Central Remix)
Dandi Wind - Searching Flesh (Jokers of the Scene Remix)

This cover is almsot definitely more for Sportsday fans than for Buzzcocks fans.

Sportsday Megaphone - Ever Fallen In Love

This is all heartfelt and lowkey, not exploitative at all. Pretty hard to deal well with what happens when fucktards get hold of explosives but I think this does.

Nitin Sawhney - Days of Fire (feat.Natty)

When all that shit kicked up over whose version of the sony donation christams number one game was best, I feel I was one of the few thinking Buckley should have just been a punk.

Jeff Buckely and Gary Lucas - Malign Fiesta (No Soul)

Welsh B'more remix of a dupstep tune?

Benga - 26 Basslines (Chesus and Rodski's 26 Waistines Remix)

hoorays all round,

2009-01-08T01:05:00.005Z

Because Kid Sister's debut album is going to be released soon (on the 27th). It's produced by XXXChange (that one out of Spank Rock), and it features A-Trak, Diplo, The Count & Sinden (and Kanye West but that man is a prick).

Anyway, here's something to get you in the mood.

Kid Sister - Family Reunion ft. David Banner (produced by Diplo)

In Other News,

Iconic 60s snazzy French musical tartlets are being re-released check here.

Merriweather Post Pavillion

2008-12-30T10:19:00.005Z

Ok, so I haven't been one of the lucky few able to listen to the final-result 9th Animal Collective album. But, I have been listening to these live videos of their performances via youtube!

'In The Flowers'

'My Girls'

'Also Frightened'

'Summertime Clothes'

'Daily Routine'

'Bluish' 'Guy's Eyes' - couldn't find these.

'Taste'

'Lion In A Coma'

'No More Runnin''

'Brothersport'

Yeah, that's it, make your mind up for yourselves. Lazy fuckers. It's out January the 12th in the U.K. on Domino.

As promised

2008-12-27T23:13:00.010Z

French bloke called Xavier who makes massive dance tunes. Always good to be unique.

Fucking chaos affected this post with bandwidth limits and various other wank. Hope everything works now. Let me know otherwise.

Don Rimini - Hools (Dirty Monkeez Remix) (Alt Link)
Don Rimini - Hools (Tanz/Tanz Remix) (Alt Link)
Don Rimini - Let me back up (Crookers Remix) (Alt Link)

Fires in Paris - Set in Stone (Don Rimini Remix) (Alt Link)

Jay Z - Jockin Jay Z (Don Rimini Remix) (Alt Link)

Verb - Pussy Stay on My Mind (Don Rimini Remix) (Alt Link)

Young MC - Bust A Move (Don Rimini Ravekid Remix) (Alt Link)

Numéro# - Star Model (Don Rimini Remix) (Alt Link)
The Count & Sinden - Hardcore Girls feat. Rye Rye (Don Rimini Remix) (Alt Link)
Ray Parker Jr - Ghostbusters (Don Rimini Ectoplasm Edit) (Alt Link)

new year's, smoo years.

2008-12-27T22:46:00.004Z

Free Stuff =

iTunes are giving away a free gift every day from yesterday to Jan 6th - go to the iTunes store and have a look for yourself. You might as well, it's free.

Head on down to Pure Groove's site to download 100 mp3s for free. And they're all super-duper.

It has been too long

2008-12-26T22:37:00.003Z

I have had to spend the holiday season restricted in the fucking wilderness. It has really rammed home a point for me.

Crystal Fighters - I Love London (Douster Remix)
Crystal Fighters - I Love London (Kid Cola Remix)

werd.

2008-12-26T17:52:00.002Z

20JazzFunkGreats (music blog people who are all raconteur-ic (neologism?) writing-about-music heroes) are writing for Vice now. Clickez ici!

i love the winter

2008-12-23T22:10:00.002Z

Credit: Emmy's Myspace.

I love winter. Mostly because I'm not a grumpy git.

Here is the soundtrack to your Christmas. Emmy The Great. This is the kind of music you should listen to when your heating is broken and you haven't got enough covers and the crappy little decorations are all falling off the fake silver plastic tree you bought from Morrisons and you're developing S.A.D. and thinking about all the vets in Lithuania killing themselves.

Emmy The Great is great. The lyrics she pours out are absolutely beautiful. I went up to her after the Pure Groove gig a couple of days ago to tell her this:
Me: You were great.
Emmy: Thanks!
Me: Your lyrics are really beautiful.
Emmy: Yeah well the ones I can remember [she sang a cover and forgot the lyrics]. Wow I like your coat!
Me: Oh thanks - my boyfriend says I look like a packet of Fruit Pastels...
Emmy: Yeah, you do kinda look like a Fruit Pastel lolly, but like in a good way!

Emmy The Great - Easter Parade
Emmy The Great - Where Is My Mind

Came across this today

2008-12-22T00:24:00.006Z

Don Rimini - Rave On (DJ Barletta Edit)

Seeing as people are loving any thing Barletta does and Don Rimini is sick, I thought I would wack it straight up. A full Rimini post is in the pipeline, just way to lazy, and I think my computer has G.R.I.D.S so it's harder than it should be.

Another one of these

2008-12-20T20:03:00.002Z

From The BPA's Myspace

The BPA is running a remix contest. Get involved and send us your results.

I hate the winter

2008-12-14T12:17:00.001Z

From Matt & Kims Myspace

This shimmery piece of happiness landed in our mailbox the other day. It's really helping me forget that it's winter and freezing cold.

Matt & Kim - Daylight (Yukon Ho Remix)

technotechnotechno - synesthesia special!

2008-12-13T01:10:00.002Z

haha. good tee. wastedgermanyouth

I like minimal. Minimal is fun. What makes minimal even more fun for me is because I'm special and have synesthesia (yeah it applies to words and letters too, with colours and genders). So, basically, I automatically visualise the music in a running reel of mutating, convulsing shapes and forms, and minimal techno forms the most interesting patterns and visualisations for me (along with noise rock, other music with complex structures, and singular raw sounds). So that's how I'm going to describe my favourite minimal techno! (i.e. rambling like a mentalist)

M I N I M I N I M A L M I X T A P E

Theodor Zox - Extruder (Maetrik Remix) (Tiefschwarz Fabric)
The sounds here are like schizophrenic ping-pong balls seeking out other notes like dogs sniffing your balls for hidden pieces of crack, and then whilst you're visualising tat image, someone comes along and half wipes it off with a wave of an echasketch over your mind.

GummiHz - A.A.K.N.Y. ( Tiefschwarz Fabric again...but it's just so motherlickin' good!)
In lateral terms, this is impossibly hard to describe in terms of visualisations, but I see it as four levels of visualisations for the different sounds laid on top of one another like tracing paper. In linear terms, it's a pulsating ping-pong beat that makes me want to dance like an Egyptian. There's something Egyptian about it! There is! I'm not insane!

Mark-Henning - Sicknote (from M.A.N.D.Y. fabric)
The best intro ever. M.A.N.D.Y. are amazing, their Fabric cd is incredible for minimal heads. Visualising this is like trying to understand an M.C Escher work, but lacking the stillness of the drawing - it's as if all the parts were moving all the time. Listening to this is incredibly distracting.

Ziggy Kinder - Chop Ziggy
It's like someone rewinding a chinese musical box, and then throwing chimes into deep water, and you're like "WHAT IS GOING ON"

Credit: I stole this image off Google Images. If you're pissed, let me know. If this image is of you - please tell me, how did it happen?

It - Woman In The Toilet (Stefan Goldmann Macro Version)
This would be really distracting to walk to because you'd match the beat if you were listening to it through headphones, then you'd get the i'm-wearing-new-shoes kind of anxious. Again, in terms of abstract-visualisations-ness, it would look like you're looking head-on down a slinky, and somebody at the other end is pushing it towards and away from your face, and this is causing the round shape of the slinky to change into morphing triangles, squares and diamonds (because the music is quite clean and precise and staccato.

Louderbach - Grace (Anxiety)
Imagine dropping a penny into water, and then imagine the process backwards repeated a thousand times.

Synesthesia is amazing.

If you liked that, buy these.

Always Check The Label:
Poker Flat Recordings
Kompakt
bPitch Control

Here's my alphabet for the record:

Totally addicted to...

2008-12-11T17:35:00.003Z

Big bassy electro. Not revoloutionary but if you like bass then these are for you. The clue is kinda in the title I guess.

DJ Barletta - Bass Live
DJ Barletta - Bass Live(Gingy Remix)
DJ Barletta - El Mo

les chansons de la nouvelle scene francaise (and the oldies too), und ein Deutsch Popsängerin

2008-12-10T14:57:00.010Z

Credit: Myspace

Coralie Clement is a sultry French pop songstress defined under the chanson genre, however, I think her music is a pretty far cry from the likes of Edith Piaf and Jaques Brel. She has some Chanson-ic elements to her music. Shes been around for a bit now, but I just discovered her earlier music and it's absolutely beautiful; archaic twee fused with the coolness of surf-rock and quintessential latin-influenced old French music. It's impossible not to like, and is impeccably French. Oh, and guys - she's fucking hot.

Coralie Clément - Ca valait la peine

Coralie Clément - Samba De Mon Coeur Qui Bat

Credit: this is my own photo, taken with a Sainsbury's Basics range disposable camera. (Seriously)

If you liked the Noemi track (earlier post) and Coralie, try these 60s songstresses:

Zouzou - Il est parti comme il Ètait venu
Zouzou - Tu fais partie du passÈ
Zouzou's music reminds me of The Velvet Underground but sexier and Frencher.

France Gall - Laisse Tomber Les Filles
Jacqueline Taieb - Bienvenue Au Pays
These two are cheeky Ye-Ye girls, singing along to more upbeat pop.

Françoise Hardy - Mon amie le rose
Beautiful.

By the way - look around Greenwich. Tom and I went into this record shop in Greenwich, and spent about 40 minutes to an hour rifling through all the bargain promos and found a massive amount of new and super-amazing music. We found: a Ratatat album, an Esser promo, Le Pop 2 (a collection of nouvelle French pop), some Clarky Cat, Busy P's 'Pedrophilia' EP, SebastiAn's MOTOR EP, Evil Nine - They Live (yeah, the albums were like £2 each!), Marco Carola Fabric 31 (absolute minimal goodness), Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams, and some new Lykke Li! And more. f u c k.

Here's the best of what we found:

Micachu - Golden Phone
Micachu is amazing. I've seen her live at DURRR and Pure Groove - this song is SO CATCHY AND GOOD. It's a great bit of simple pop music. I love this. Download this.

Ratatat - Mirando
Ratatat - Schiller
Ratatat are weird. Check them out!

Destroyer - Shooting Rockets (From The Desk Of Night's Ape)
This reminds me a bit of Bowie. He's a poet, and probably smokes loads of fags because his voice is a little croaky and strained (nowhere near Tom Waits though).

Holden - Tunis
More French pop! From Le Pop 2. It's one of those songs you listen to on your own whilst looking out of the window, or zoning out in the middle of a conversation at a party.

SebastiAn - Momy
Elastic band electro. 'nuff said.

IWASACUBSCOUT - I Hate Nightclubs
They're all broke up now. Bleepy indie-rock with straining vocals. They were on Abeano - check the label.

Busy P - To Protect and Entertain (Crookers Remix)
Busy P - To Protect and Entertain (Mr Oizo Remix)
Busy P = electro maestro, founder of Ed Banger and Daft Punk's manager (IN CASE U DO-NO) + Crookers + Mr Oizo. 'nuff said again.

Matt John - Io
Minimal techno ear sex from Marco Carola's fabric (31).

Credit: Kitty Hoff's Myspace

I'm not being a racialist, but whoever thought the German language was sexy? Nobody. Ever. However, this foxy 20's flapper girl styled German songstress Kitty Hoff proved me wrong and pulled it off. Yeah!

Kitty Hoff - Blaue Stunde
Kitty Hoff - Toc Toc Toc

Credit crunch beating nutritional advice

2008-12-09T11:32:00.004Z

From Eat Skull's Myspace

In an interview for Population: Doug Eat Skull say their music ended up the way it is beacuse they wanted to be in two bands, a Californian style hardcore band and a Californian pop band, but unable to think of a name for the pop band they mashed all their ideas together under the banner originally intended for their hardcore project. The result was a fuzzy mess of lo-fi goodness. Check it.

Dead Families
Dawn In The Face
Punk Trips

Steve Lamacq gets bored easily

2008-12-08T19:12:00.003Z

From the BBC

Last Thursday was Wear Your Old Band T-Shirt To Work Day, I didn't know this till someone came up to me with a camera, thinking my camden market Pixies T-Shirt was a conscious decision and not a choice based on the scarcity of clean clothes in my room. What the hell, it gives me a reason to post a Pixies song.

Hey (Diplo Devil Remix) - Pixies

No longer staying in big houses in the cuntry

2008-11-25T15:54:00.004Z

I know people still care, but why?

Trash Yourself and The Toxic Avenger - Song 2

goings-on in landan town.

2008-11-25T15:20:00.012Z

Monday 24th November, 2008 at Metro

This pikcha was taken from Turbowolf's myspace. It's also a sticker. I put it on my phone, and thus now my phone is a turbophone.

Not that I usually go to Metro (i.e. avoid like ze plague), but I went with Tom to catch Turbowolf and Team Robespierre (we missed the other bands). Turbowolf are awesome, and Tom is a total fanboy, wandering around in a Turbowolf Ghengis Khan t-shirt with the biggest grin on his face when they were playing. I can see why - they're an ACE band. Firstly, they just look like a rock band. They really do. Secondly, they can all play their instruments insanely well. Thirdly, the frontman is a mentalist (PLUS, HE IS THE BEST-MOUSTACHIOED MAN EVER and hot), and lastly, they interact together and seem more like a band than people thrown together. Which isn't what I can say for Robespierre. The crowd (though small) was entirely non compos mentis and wanting more when they finished their set. They wanted to play more, cue some arguing with some guy out back, this guy said no, but the crowd got all rowdy and started screaming so they went 'fuck it!' and played another awesome song complete with screaming guitar riffs, pure violence inflicted on the drumkit and yowling and yelping and rolling around on the floor from the frontman. ACE!
Roadspierre were on next. They set up quite oddly - leaving the drummer on his own 3 meters behind them on the stage whilst the rest of the team set up their keyboards and mics on the floor in front. They started playing their set (punk, but faggier). The thing that annoyed me was that the frontman and one of the guitarists interacted so much, leaving the drummer and the other guitarist out (the poor fella!) This led me to think of them as two bestest buddies liking the idea of forming a band, and recruiting two other poor sods they can completely ignore whilst they just help them sound halfway decent. Oh well, I still nicked a badge. (They're from Brooklyn too - the only time this place has failed me recently.)

Turbowolf - Bite
Turbowolf - Power

Later at DURRR:

(I love DURRR). Video Nasties are always a bit of a laugh, but I was BLOWN OVER by These Are Powers. A three-piece band, with a guitarist having a great time jamming (jamming is the only and perfect adjective), a drummer (using a really cool piece of electronic kit), and a beautiful, tall girl singer dressed partly like a 70s bond villan and partly like she'd raided Marlene Dietrich's wardrobe. (Cue lesbo-crush). Anyway, they make music sounding like pulsating weird party noise girlishly shouted over. Oh that was terribly written. I'm just going to rely on you hearing it yourself to be honest. Hot shit.

These Are Powers - Chipping Ice
These Are Powers - Little Sisters of Beijing

NEWStuffs:
VHS Deathscene is a boy (what I know) and his computer, based in the town of LANDAN (blud!), with a penchant for squeezing out shimmering, ghostly droplets of 8-bit that reminds me of the spooky levels on Mario 64. The pumping, twisted binary psychedelia is a little like Crystal Castles on magic mushrooms, or DMT perr-aps. (No website yet, folks.)

VHS Deathscene - Zombie Trash
VHS Deathscene - Magic Box

(P.S: zombies are ace.)

In Other News...check out THIS wacky guy!

Guessing this doesn't count as fashionably late?

2008-11-14T18:08:00.003Z

From the Vivian Girls' Myspace

Two bands today, one I was slow to post on and one I was slow to pick up on. Both are pretty fucking sick and hitting London for a string of dates in the near future.

First up are Vivian Girls (pictured above {if you hadn't worked that out give evolution a chance and don't reproduce}) who I have been listning too on repeat for a while now. Lo-Fi and punky and amazing and and and I fucking love them.

I believe in nothing
Going Insane

Second is Titus Andronicus. Again a bit messy, a bit shambolic, a bit brilliant. They're all literary and that as well, named after a play by some cunt, and with a song called Albert Camus.

Titus Andronicus
Waking Up Drunk

Japanese Bitch Sampling

2008-11-13T17:53:00.003Z

From ADAADAT

Something a little bit different today. I used to have the album Sample Bitch Story by DODDODO on my laptop but lost it due to technicalshitrapefuckwank. I found the promo for it a couple of days ago for 25p so I own a few of the tracks again. If you like your mental/japanese/sample-heavy/breakcore shit, then this is for you. She will be in London on the 16th December.

Waltz Core
WhiteHouse Disco
DODDODO Death

Emerging from the fuzz

2008-11-12T12:39:00.002Z

From Esser's Myspace

He used to be in Ladyfuzz (R.I.P), but has been making his own stuff for a while. Little indie pop songs which have a bit more edge live when Esser picks up his sticks again and lends a hand with the percussion. In the remix we have for you today though the beats are provided by Sheffields Toddla T and I for one am satisfied.

Esser - Satisfied (Toddla T and Ross Orton Remix)

Find yourself a new bassline boy....

2008-11-04T18:08:00.006Z

From Drums of Deaths's Myspace

Saw Drums drop this as an encore at DURRR, sounded better through fuckoff speakers but this aint half bad.

Late of the Pier - Bathroom Gurgle ( Drums of Death 'Bassline Boy' Remix")

mwooooaaam mwoam mwoam mwoooooooaaaaammm mwwwwoooammmm

2008-10-31T16:27:00.012Z

This pic is from the Jack Beats Myspace

Jack Beats is a new bassline virtuoso! I stumbled across sick beats blurting out of my browser, a rasping, throaty beat covering Safari in musical saliva molecules. If you like A1 Bassline, and you like raves and remixes, then I can pretty much guarantee you will like this. It's like you're in a rave in the 90s BUT THEN mwoooam mwoam mwa-a-a-a-a-a mwoaaaaaam mwooooammmmm *BANGgunshot* MWOOOAM MWOOOAM MWOOOOAM

Jack Beats have remixed Does It Offend You, Boy 8-Bit, A.C Slater, Black Ghosts, and Steed Lord, to name hhhhmmmmBUT A FEW. This will rape your ears with joyous melodies.

Boy 8-Bit - Fogbank (Jack Beats Remix)

A.C Slater - Jack Got Jacked (Jack Beats Remix)

This pic is from the Noemi Myspace

Went on the Pure Groove site and downloaded the 100 free downloads. The one that really stuck out for me was by this Frenchie songstress Noemi. Breathy French pop set against surf music, but very much made in 2008. Showed my flatmate this, who is into 60s French pop and was actually suprised it wasn't from that time.

A sexy song. Hot hot French singing over smooth surf riffs. Fuck, it's just impossible to hate. I'm playing it on repeat at the moment, followed by The Zombies' 'Leave Me Be'.

Noemi - Donne Moi Du Feu

The Zombies - Leave Me Be

I also came across a KAVINSKY REMIX of Sebastien Tellier. That made me cream.

Sebastien Tellier - Roche (Kavinsky Remix)

It's got Kavinsky's signture 80s synth but with the sexual pumping beats of Tellier dusted over with sensual vocals that the Terminator would play to his lady to make love to her. It's what robot sex from the 80's sounds like.

In Other News...gay?

digitalism rrrremix competition!

2008-10-31T09:07:00.003Z

Ok, so, basically, If you can fiddle about with separates and you think you're a bit good at it then DO IT because Jence and Isi want fans to remix 'Taken Away' from their new album. Submit before 17 November, and if it's really good the lovely chaps have said they will release it on a CD with other remixes. If you don't WIN-win, they'll give you loot. It's worth at least a BIT of a go! Go to their website for more information plus the separates.

thedigitalism.com

Beat your head against that wall

2008-10-27T18:01:00.000Z

The original of this somehow never became as annoying as it should have done the amount it was played on the radio over the summer.

Tilly & The Wall - Beat Control (James Yuill Remix)

We wrote "quasi-gothick-shriekathon" and they decided that shriekathon sounded shit.

2008-10-19T23:10:00.000+01:00

Photo taken by Alex Warren, from the DURRR Flickr

Title was approrpiated from a P.i.X interview, the quote mark engulfed bit is Kasms description of their own music. (Full understanding of unquote-marked bits will be arrived @ if you click the pretty blue bit {if you can't work out which blue bit, stop hindering human evolution and try and fuck a plug socket}) I think they play dark, angular, disturbed music, and I know they are an amazing live band. Sorta part of that scene called New Grave by some fucktards.

Toil & Trouble
Siren Sister

2008-10-15T17:11:00.000+01:00

Just saw this myspace bulletin from let's wrestle. God I love this band.

as you may or may not have seen we have been touring with Broom head McJacket but we have kicked off as we are "impossible to work with" which I don't think is true but each to his own and all that malarky so the rest of the dates with them have been pulled but never fear we are going to be touring with Good bands soon such as Fucked Up and The Vivian Girls two of the coolest bands around at the moment so you should come see us with those guys itll be fucking rad death to the jacket

love

Wesley Patrick Gonzales

Lets wrestle

I wish I was in Husker Du

mixtapes people have made me.

2008-10-14T15:00:00.002+01:00

M I X T A P E ( 1 )

1. Fluffy Hunter and Jessie Powell - Walk Right In

2. Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven

3. Amos Milburn - One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer

4. Robert Johnson - They're Red Hot

5. Nat King Cole - Straighten Up and Fly Right

6. Louis Jordan - Five Guys Named Moe

7. Ray Charles - I Got a Woman

8. John Holt - I've Got To Get Away

9. Chuck Berry - Come On

10. Sonny Bay Williamson - Polly Put The Kettle On

11. Louis Jordan - I'm Going To Move...

12. Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell

13. Tabby Thomas - Mmmmm I Don't Care

14. Don Drummond Junior - Movie Swing

My favourites from this mixtape are 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, and 13.

M I X T A P E ( 2 )

1. Throw Me The Statue - Lolita

2. Most Serene Rebublic - Where Cedar Nouns and Adverbs Walk

3. Echaskech - A Slow Day

4. Catherine Ferroyer-Blanchard - Chanson d'Amour (Satanicpornocultshop Remix)

5. Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve - A Path Through The Forest

6. How To Cure Dyslexia - Afternoon

7. TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me

8. Interpol - Untitled (Datassette Version)

9. Echaskech - Frequency Apogee

10. Todosantos - Acid Boys & Acid Girls

11. Lovely Chords - My Disco Is Broken

12. Radiohead - Nobody Does It Better

13. The Teenagers - Homecoming

14. Sebo K, Metro - Transit

15. Oval - Aero Deck

My favourites from this mixtape are tracks 7, 8, 9, 14, and 15.

Wow, that took some T I M E to upload. They're both really different. I'm not going to say who made them for me.

I'm getting more people to make me mixtapes too. If you want to make one for me, feel free!

yeah.

It's weird, the concept of a mixtape. We make them to impress our friends, or a girl or boy, and try to show them music they might like but really it's you that likes all the music and you just want the recipient to think you're well cool, like. wow, sorry this post isn't that funny. I've made up for it though. Click below.

In Other News...Skaghead Elephant

(oh, and remember; you should actually buy music sometimes, folks. Buy it here or here or here. If you like music, help the people that make it to keep on doing their shit.)

Religious coitus of young horses

2008-10-14T14:24:00.000+01:00

Foals and Holy Fuck are so gay for each other that they have recorded versions of each others songs while on tour to put out as a little vinyl reminder of their special time together.

Foals - Super Inuit

Holy Fuck - Balloons

Kids go to the seaside

2008-10-13T18:56:00.000+01:00

lotp's mascot (ta pell) From their Myspace

A full length version has finally arrived and god it's good.
Late of the Pier - Focker(Boys Noize Remix)

2008-10-06T10:26:00.002+01:00

A1 Bassline Remix Competition. Click the picture to see it full size.

Can't work out how to make the add link so just click here.

Down the road and take a right

2008-10-02T17:46:00.000+01:00

By Nicola Pea, stolen from Hatcham Social's Myspace

I am writing this not too far from the Hatcham Social Club. This landmark on my bus route home inspired the christening of Hatcham Social. Despite geographical proximity I have managed to miss out on ever seeing them live, but by all accounts they're pretty damn good. They're playing White Heat soon so I might pop down and see if they're as interesting in person as on record. Literate/Melodic/Dark/Indie/Punkesque/Pop?

Till the dawn

So So Happy Making

Penelope Under My Hat

So exited I am feeling all...

2008-09-28T19:16:00.000+01:00

From The Faint's Myspace

Just got tickets to see The Faint in November. Little bit happy in the pants.

The Geeks Were Right (Does it offend you yeah? Remix)

The Geeks Were Right (Disco Villains Edit)

The Geeks Were Right (Shadow Dancer Vocal Mix)

my mum's old records.

2008-09-16T16:39:00.000+01:00

My mumsie was cleaning out the loft the other day and she finally came across her old records from her days spent down Greek Street in the late 70s, hanging out with Smoothies and listening to disco. At the time, underground clubs used to spin a load of obscure disco, funk, electropop, and reggae and ska tunes from all over the world. I've found some absolute fucking gems.

Yellow Magic Orchestra is a Japanese electropop band formed in the late 70s. Along with Kraftwerk, they've been said to be pioneers of early synthpop/technopop and electropop. I found this vinyl lurking in the back of the record case. This record is just so fucking cool. I put it on and heard these weird electronic outta-friggin'-space sounds and I couldn't believe this record was like 1980/81. Then this sick funky low beat kicked in with these Japanese-sounding melodies sprinkled over this hot-shit super cool low beat and all these electronic beeps and I was mesmerised. IT'S SO FUCKING AMAZING.

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Computer Game (Theme From Space Invaders)

(Pee-Ess. SORRY. But I've had to use zshare, ugh. I'll put it onto box.net a-sap, but i'm using a funny old computer at the momento.)

Next up, following the synth/tech/electropop stuff is a slice of those good old techno zealots Kraftwerk. A-side is Computer Love (recently covered by new electropop/death disco renaissance virtuosos Glass Candy, included in an earlier post of mine). (Factoid of the day: Coldplay used a sample of it in their really gash song 'Talk' from X&Y. Listen to it. It's there. Right at the beginning too. I can't believe Kraftwerk okayed it.)

B-side: she's a model and she's looking good, I'd like to take her home that's understood, hum-- hum hum hum-hum hum hum-- hum-hum

Kraftwerk - The Model

Cocomotion is a shit-hot disco tune, filled with SICK-AS disco beats. It's like a proper old-school back-in-the-day track because it's like 10 mins long. Oh, fuck it, just listen to it:

El Coco - Cocomotion

(Tom hates disco but ignore him because he smells.)

In Other News...Swedish Gangsters Use Dwarf Theives

i'm making noise in the li-bra-rreeee {updated: photos finally up}

2008-09-16T14:20:00.002+01:00

Wednesday 27th August 2008

We trotted off to see Let's Tea Party last night in a completely-impossible-to-find place called Paradise in...oh crappycrapcrap where was it. West-ish. Kensal Green. The venue was WELL PRETTY (and the bands were good too).

At first in my head I was like oh dear, we're lost in a random part of London to see an obscure indie band or something that I've never heard of and we can't find the venue and we're going to miss the band and they might not even be worth seeing, etcetera, etcetera.
But they were fantastic. People were glancing back to their friends whilst standing and opening their eyes wide and raising their eyebrows and mouthing "they're really good" to one another. Like every five minutes.

First on was this shy fellow with a mixture of an American-Anglo accent I think, who played beautiful and chirpy sounds on guitars and ukuleles and sang about putting apple seeds in your eyes when you're a dead skeleton so apple trees can grow and you won't be completely useless when you're dead because you're really quite nutritional. He was called Lofty Heights. I just wanted to put him in my pocket and steal him. Like literally. I am a klepto.

Lofty Heights - Skeleton Apples

I was listening to his music as I watched the fringes of old lampshades up on the wall move in the summer wind and a pint of Scrumpy Jack's in my hand, holding onto my boy and looking at the people seated at the tables listening to this guy's soft guitar music with these sweet, honest lyrics and it was just a perfect summer evening for me. I sound GAY but it's true. Not many people were there but it wasn't empty. It was perfect.

{Edit: Check out Lofty's myspace again. He's used my review! Cheers, Loftyboy.}

(Haha. The Let's Tea Party myspace looks like a little kids party invite and when you scroll up the balloons look like they're going up. Awesome.)

Those multi-instrumentalist bastards of Let's Tea Party will make you feel talentless. Like when you see little kids with shit-hot mad skills and you think about your only achievements in life, which include grade 1 recorder and how you came 4th at Sports Day in year five and your mum was so proud. They whip out flutes, guitars, Keyboards, Drums, Percussion instruments, whistles, traffic cones and clap their hands and stuff. They're just really inventive. It's not poppy whistley hoo-ha indie music although the singer walks around the stage bare-foot and their influences apparently include giggles and such things... But it's just awesome.

Let's Tea Party - Barcelona

Tuesday 26th August 2008

I took some photos at White Heat on Tuesday. Here are some of the friends I made:

I can't remember their names.

We saw Fucked Up too. Sick. I should see punk bands more often. The lead singer was cuddly and also a fucking mentalist. He wrapped tape around his face. It was like he was trying to be in Mummies Alive. Here he is:

There was a lot of tape going round. And crowd surfing. And jumping into the crowd from the stage. And climbing up the stair banisters. And jumping onto people. That was one of the best crowds ever. These little indie kids with their granddad's jumpers and Sebago boat shoes just all went mental. It was like Lord Of The Flies.

Fucked Up - Baiting The Public

Look at Tom's post below for their cover of Justice's 'Stress'. It's really well done! Seriously, take a little looksie.

Monday 25th August 2008

Boys Noize played at DURRR. We were so tired we were almost falling over but we just had to stay because leaving would have been the biggest regret of my life. I WANT the track list. I was like "I'm so tired I have to leave" because my eyes were closing and it was like "ok, after this song. No wait, after this one. No...just one more. Ok fuck it, let's make ourselves ill." IT WAS AMAZING. And worth feeling like you're going to collapse out of tiredness for two days afterwards.

A-Trak- Say Whoa (Boys Noize Remix)
Tiga - Move My Body (Boys Noize Remix)

PEE-ESS. You should buy their Bugged Out mix.

Wednesday 20th August 2008

I had a good night. Saw Yeasayer at King's College Union fo' FREE. I swiped a Grazia from the hotel nearby because I needed to use the bathroom and it was just there (score!) There were loads. Then, some guy just gave me a ticket for the Yeasayer gig when I was standing outside handing out bits of paper that nobody wants. They're worth like £10. (That's actually the second time someone has done that. This sweet boy at Underage Festival gave me 2 because he got stood up. Bless him.) So I left Tom standing outside in the rain, handing out flyers and drinking cheap cider whilst feeling ill to watch Yeasayer in the warm and dry for free.

Yeasayer - 2080

I have to say 2080 is my favouritist of their songs. Or maybe Sunrise. Or maybe them all. Their album is good. Everything that comes out of Brooklyn is.
Other Brooklyn artists j'taime include Saint Margaret (and Animal Collective, of course).

Yeasayer - Sunrise
Yeasayer- Sunrise (Hey Champ Remix)

Yeasayer make music like an experimental, psychedelic folk/alternative rock synth gospel at a funeral for Dracula, invoking a Satanical space-age tribal music cult initiation scene (and that isn't even nearly enough adjectives to describe it). It's just fucking strange. And am I wrong, or does the singer remind me of Phil Collins? They're what Grizzly Bear would sound like on 60 acid trips.

Yeasayer -Wait for the Wintertime

And then after that we decided it'd be a great idea to take advertisements for 'massages' and give them to anybody we found wandering the streets of Landan Tahn at 4 in the morning. I think the best one we found was for a 'New Hot Sexy Black American Transexual'. I kept that one.

In other news...Sex Pest Seal

It's not just the E Talking

2008-09-13T16:44:00.000+01:00

The Soulwax documentary has just come out in the UK on DVD. Fuck its good. Spliced together from footage shot on one camera over the course of 120 shows by SaamFarahmand and interviews with Erol Alkan, Tiga, Justice, James Murphy, Klaxons, Kitusen, Ed Banger etc.... SAAM has in the past done videos for Klaxons, These New Puritans and Late of the Pier amongst others and puts the skills he picked up there to create possibly the best piece of cinema on dance music ever. Its been shown at Pure Groove and DURRR recently, both of who know their shit if our word aint good enough. The DVD comes with a live CD which is fucking incredible. Its best listened to as a whole, the tracks mix perfectly into one another, so go get your hand on the whole package and play it loud.

{Me and Tom, after deciding we weren't going to go to Fabric that night, popped over to Pure Groove to watch the screening. Oh dearie me. I must say we regretted that decision. Yeah, don't watch this if you're deciding to stay in for the night. It'll pump yopu with so much adrenaline you may be at rick or your eyes bursting if you don't burn it all off. - Bella.}

From Live at Fabric and 120 other places:

Teachers
Move My Body
Washing Up

Necro 8-Bit?

2008-09-07T15:57:00.000+01:00

From You Love Her Coz shes Dead's Myspace

Bleepy Bleepy Bleepy music loved by Kitsune. They are having to dodge Crystal Castle references left right and center and the comparison does, no matter how much they hate, make sense. Personally don't see that as a bad thing. They look and sound pretty fucking similar. You do get clearer vocals and from both members with YLHCSD though. Like CC they are pretty damn good at remixing other peoples work in their own style. Theres an interview with them over at OHH Crap! (link over on the left).

Me Versus You
Superheroes

Remixes

Foals - Electric Bloom (YOU LOVE HER COZ SHES DEAD Remix)
Dizzee Rascal - Stand up Tall (YOU LOVE HER COZ SHES DEAD REMIX)
autoKratz - Say The Same (YOU LOVE HER COZ SHES DEAD REMIX)

Pretorian Beeps

2008-09-03T14:07:00.000+01:00

From Mujavas Myspace

Bleepy dance music from South Africa. This guy has been making music for a while but is only now getting released outside of his home nation. Township Funk is out on Warp on the 15th September. According to Last.fm he got his break through when cab drivers discovered his music and began playing it to the people they picked up and selling them his cds. The music is simple patterns layered upon each other to create much more than the some of the parts. Pounding drums form the basis of most of his tracks with dark bassy synth lines over the top, then you get beeps and squeaks and occasionally vocals. Its all very rhythmic and kinda mesmerizing, have a listen.

Township Funk
Township Funk (Kalawa Remix)
Sgubhu Sa Pitori
Jozi
DJ Plugs

Letting everybody know that I was coming last

2008-09-01T17:49:00.000+01:00

From Sportsday Megaphones Myspace

Sportsday Megaphone has been around for a while but is only just releasing an album. Out at the end of September on Sunday Best . He plays quirky synth/guitar/laptop indie pop and creates distinctive remixes in a similar style. Really good fun and definitely worth seeing live. He cheered me up on Sunday after flash floods meant it took me 4 hours to get to fucking Watford where I only stayed for about an hour and a half, not sure what was worse the fact it took me so long to get there or that I had to go to Watford? Either way I forgot all about it watching his escapist little rants against Scientology and conformity. I am not posting any of his original tracks because you should go and buy his album when it comes out and get the tracks that way.

Remixes of Sportsday:

Body Fat (Nic Nell Remix)
Less and Less (GoodBooks Remix)
Bikini Atoll (Golab Remix)

Remixes by Sportsday:

The Rumble Strips - Alarm Clock (Sportsday Megaphone Remix)
Operator Please - Get What You Want (Sportsday Megaphone Remix)
Envelopes - Party (Sportsday Megaphone Remix)

Dante's Missing Chapter

2008-08-28T12:50:00.001+01:00

Spent the weekend at the hell hole that is Reading festival. I just don't get the idea of the festival experience. You get no sleep, the weather is always miserable at at least one point for whatever reason, too hot, too cold, too wet. The food is overpriced and makes you feel ill. The people are always the worst part though. {well boo-friggin'-hoo. How many times have you been? 3? - Bella} I go to festivals to see as many good bands as possible over a weekend. Not to spend the whole thing fucked up, setting stuff on fire and hitting bins with sticks. I don't see why people pay £150 to do this?
But what about the music?

Friday

The first band I managed to catch of the festival was Future of the left. (Mclusk y, Rice is nice) They played at a ridiculously early time for a band that good but were still able to blast through the haze of yesterdays chemical indulgence that hovered over those who got up in time to catch them. The second act I saw was a little bit of a change, John Cooper Clark's dark northern poems and banter were one of my festival highlights. Amazing to finally see the man live. (Twat)

These New Puritans dark art punk and the singers golden armor are better suited to poorly lit squalor than the middle of the day in a field in Berkshire but the songs are good enough to hold up to any setting. Navigate, Navigate (the Loving Hand Remix). Florence and the Machine to follow made for the second odd juxtaposition of the day. She was fucking incredible, shit loads of energy and stage presence and a voice to rival any at the festival. (Hospital Beds)

The 2 last bands of the day that I saw were 2 of things that I was most looking forward to over the whole weekend. First up was Late of the pier, check an earlier post for more gushing praise but they were as amazing as always. (Kids TV theme tune min mix form the mash up)

Then came the band that was the only reason I had spent all my money on a Reading Ticket for. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE!!! They are one of my favorite bands of all time and one that I never thought I would get to see. They did not disappoint, fucking hell. Morello is just incredible, the songs still sound so fresh and seeing them in a crowd with every single person screaming along to every word was one of the best live experiences of my life. Guerilla Radio (Soda & Suds Remix) (Bombs over Baghdad {Outkast})

Saturday

Day 2 started with Lovvers, seen them a couple of time now and they are just so good. The songs are loud and short and hurled at the crowd by reeling group of misfits. (Wasted Youth) (No Romantics). Go see them live. Next up came Jeffrey Lewis. Second time I have seen him in a couple of weeks and this performance was no where near as good as filed day. Some sound problems, no pictures and a set short on my favorite songs. This isn't to say that it wasn't good, just that it could have been better. The man is still one of the greatest songwriters around at the moment. (History of punk on the lower east side)

Another act that I saw at both Reading and Field day was White Lies. They played a good set of reasonable songs and are going to be doing so over the coming months to bigger and bigger crowds. Former tour mates of theirs Crystal Castles have just remixed one of their songs and made it so much better, which is really the only reason i am mentioning them again so soon. (Death (Crystal Castles remix)). I managed to see a bit of Los Campensinos! and wish I saw more, they seemed really good from what I did see. (Frontwards).

Next was Justice. After 2 days of guitars they were pretty refreshing and fucking mindblowingly good. They didn't play the dance tent because the festival organizers reckoned they would draw too large a crowd. Seeing the second biggest tent at Reading packed with people off their tits with happiness listening to electro made me realize how much the audience at Reading has shifted recently. This is meant to be a rock festival! Metallica (Now I wanna Sniff Some Glue-Ramones Cover) are playing for fuck sake. Justice should have been given their slot in my opinion, probably wouldn't have gone down well though if they were? (Fucked Up, Stress{Justice Cover}). I saw a bit of Bloc Party's set and they were impressive, pretty sure I even saw Kele smile, cant be sure though. Missed the Ting Tings earlier in the day, I say missed, I had no intention of going but apparently they were surprising tolerable. (Bloc party vs. The Ting Tings, Thats not My Flux). I watched most of The Killers set and they were really fucking good. Big anthems and finely tuned showmanship. Sandwiched as headliners between Rage and Metallica they had a bit of a task to not appear lacking and they didn't. (Mr Brightside ( Big Room Mix), Jealous Guys)

Sunday

My last day at Reading started with a clash. Xerox Teens or The Metros? I chose to see a bit of both. Xerox Teens dark angular music, like These New Puritans, is better suited to the dark but they were still pretty good. The singers cooler than thou stand still while wearing sun glasses at all times shtick has worn a bit thin but I still like them (How to reduce your chances of being a terror victim). The Metros played their scuzzy south London rock in their usual shambling way. ( Metros vs Toddla T). Both bands were good and will probably be playing higher up th bill next year. Next Came The Death Set. They dashed around the stage spinning and thrashing their guitars, one went up the speakers till he could reach the lighting rig. The music was messy and noisy and they finished their set by smashing guitars and even setting one on fire. I loved them. (Impossible {Etan Remix})
(Negative Thinking) .

I caught a couple of Holy Fuck songs and they were pretty odd but pretty good, wish I could have watched more. (Royal Gregory) (Lovely Allen). I missed the end of Holy Fuck because I wanted to go and see Johnny Foreigner and I am glad I did. Los Campensinos-esque really good indie-pop. (Champagne girls I have known)

From Emmy the Great's Myspace

They were followed by another highlight, the truly spectacular Emmy the Great. The tent was packed and utterly silent during the songs, people were truly mesmerized. One friend told me that he was nearly in tears. Truly incredible. (Where is my mind-Pixies Cover). The next act I saw couldn't really have been much rather from Emmy, (who the security guards took their ear plugs out for!) Cage the Elephant played a primal rock'n'roll show with the singer stalking the stage, emulating his hero iggy. They even played a stooges cover. Really good fun. (New Wicked Devil). Next cam my biggest disappointment of the festival, Wiley. I was really looking forward to this but it was fucking awful. The crowd was full of twats who seemed to think that the way to get to the front of a crowd is not to turn up early but to wait till a set has started and then charge drunkenly in battering as many people as you can on they way in. Wiley didn't help matters, he didn't so much play a set as dance around Rolex (Hot Chip, Wearing my Rolex( Live Lounge). We got it about three times, he dropped verses from it over other beds and dropped the synth line during other songs. Crowd pleasing showmanship from someone who needn't rely on it. What happened to the old Wiley? (Grime Kid). After Wiley played the entire crowd poured out, the Kills were up next, not a lot of overlap in fans apparently. This did mean I got in as close as I wanted to for the Kills set. They were amazing and a really good way to finish the festival. Writhing about on stage, wringing dirty guitar lines and howling brooding words, they were sick. (URA Fever JaZzzstePpa (Dubstep remx))

LATE OF THE FUCKING PIER

2008-08-18T16:31:00.000+01:00

The Mercury Prize 2009 winning album, Fantasy Black Channel has finally come out. The tracks, in one version or another, have been floating about for the better part of a year now, but they still sound so good. Go and buy this record. People are having trouble slapping a label on this, it really is just mental. No mutant genre mash up will really do this justice, all you really need to know is that its sick like Freddy Mercury in the eighties and you need to own a copy. They are also a fucking incredible live band, having seen them grace stages in bars, venues, festivals, a shop and even on one occasion a multi story car park, I can guarantee they will not disappoint. Check the photo below for the level of performance they put on even when playing in a shop. Its from their instore in Pure Groove. The gig started with them complaining that they had not been allowed to bring a light show, their response, bring a load of torches and give them to the people in the crowd to swing around for a DIY light show that actually turned out really well. You can see the torches at the front of the photo, below Sam testing Pure Grooves ceiling durability.

Picture by Gabriel Green

Broken (Fairy Lights Remix)
The Bears are coming (Emperor Machine Remix)
The Bears are coming (Beyond The Wizard Sleeves Remix)
The Enemy are the Future ( Sams Dance Edit)
Space and the woods (Primary 1 Remix)
Space and the woods (Barringtone Remix)
Bears are coming (Partyshank Remix)
Heartbeat (Zonagim Remix)
Heartbeat (La La Lepus Remix)
Space and the Woods (Neon Plastix Remix)
Space and the Woods (Blaze Tripp Remix)
The bears are coming (Haunts Remix)
Space and the Woods (Bolt Action 5 Remix)
Space and the Woods (Toxic Avenger Remix)

Here are a couple of separates, have a go at your own remixes and send them along.
Broken
Space and the Woods

wipe front-to-back if ya know where it's at.

2008-08-16T21:54:00.000+01:00

EXTREMECLOSE-UP of me in my HEALTH tee.

I saw HEALTH at the Old Blue Last about a month ago, and recently (twice in two days...fangirl, much?) with No Age and Lovvers (replacing the silly, passport-losing Dan Deacon) on the 11th August at Scala, and the 12th August at a Rough Trade East free in-store gig.

HEALTH do experimental noise-rock, but they don't entirely fit into that category because they throw in all kinds of weird and wonderful electronic bits and bobs.

There is something primitive and primal about the music these boys make. Not horny-monkey-rattling-the-bars-of-its-cage-because-its-balls-are-as-big-as-space-hoppers kind of primitive. Nor is it the kind of primal you envision epitomised by large, loutish, bawdy chauvinistic males watching rental porno with the Match Of The Day theme tune accompanying jiggling tits in the background whilst making fart jokes.

HEALTH - Triceratops

They do yowling and howling softly over hard, fast, unpredictable beats. Their music is weird, testosterone-fueled, and aggressive - pumped up to pulsating eyeballs with adrenaline so much that they're almost bleeding, yet seeping a kind of human self-consciousness - this quality caressing their music, making it original and unique. It's a kind of paradox: sophisticated emotions are unfurled and mixed with the primitive side of human nature at the same time. It's like something has been whipped out of your subconscious and this thing has been assigned a noise and you're so completely mesmerised you forget the band's there and get lost in a train of thought and forget to dance so end up looking like a bit of a weirdo. (Without getting too deep).

HEALTH - Glitter Pills

Just imagine Fuck Buttons having a panic attack whilst tripping on DMT but kind of masochistically finding relief in it at the same time. You should be frightened but you're not. Their music slips you into an eerie kind of trance, or suspense. It's like when Luigi Galvani thought he could galvanize dead frogs. There's a sense of excitement, foreboding, suspense, and guilt at this primordial desire at the same time.

This is a pitcha of the HEALTH gang. They're just a little bit pretty close up...

(from the HEALTH Myspace.)

I have no idea how they do more than one show a week. It would tire the fuck out of me. But these guys are from L-fucking-A (well, actually that's technically where they're based). They throw so much energy into their performances. They're without a doubt one of the best bands I have ever seen live. Performance-wise they are incredible.

They're mates with Crystal Castles too; they did a split with them (Health vs. Crystal Castles - Crimewave) which is worth buying on vinyl. And it has a well pretty cover.

HEALTH - Perfect Skin

Oh, and you have to listen to them very loud. The remixes are good too.

HEALTH - Heaven (NARKTRAX Remix)

HEALTH - Tabloid Sores (Nosaj Thing Remix)

In Other News...Twins banned from farms.

Day in a Field

2008-08-11T17:50:00.001+01:00

This weekend saw us heading down to the second ever Field day. Last year the festival was plagued with problems, sound quality was poor, not enough toilets or bars. This year there were more bars and apparently more toilets. If there were more toilets this year then I am quite glad I didn't go last time. The lines for the toilets were ridiculous and pretty soon people were going against pretty much any upstanding surface they could fine. I didn't ever experience any problems with the sound but there have been some murmurings to the contrary. I did experience problems with the weather though, and a new personal hate, umbrellas in crowds at festivals. They get in the fucking way and nobody can see anything. If you were one of the many many people using your umbrella to either hit me as you walked about or block my and everyone else's view, even when it wasn't raining you should be shot.

But this was a music festival in England, nobody expects thing to run perfectly. Then what would we have to complain about? But what about the music. The lineup was good, even with some of the better names on the lineup dropping out. Dan Deacon, (Lion with a sharks head) who you should go and see live whenever you can, he makes crowds look like this...

From Dan Deacon Myspace

Dan had his passport stolen and has had to cancel a string of European dates which is upsetting. The Mystery Jets also had to pull out due to illness. (Hideaway (Switch remix))

We started the day by watching a tiny bit of the Magistrates (The Inbetweens) from outside the tent. They sounded OK and having heard them referred to as Klaxons lite a couple of time I can kind of see why. After a little bit of wandering in the rain and pints costing the usual festival price of over £3 it was time for White Lies. They sounded impressive and by all accounts are one of the next big things in British music. They play big, dark sounding, atmospheric indie rock and are very tight. Theres no point posting a White lies track, they will be unavoidable in the coming months. However they used to be a band called Fear of Flying who to be honest I preferred, less Editors sounding more Video Nasties. (Threes a crowd,) ( Secret Eyes)

There were a number of singer song writers at the festival, we saw three who ranged from the Ok (Lightspeed Champion, Never Meant to hurt you (Good Shoes Cover)), to the very good, (Laura Marling, Its only my opinion) to quite possibly my highlight of the day, Jefferey Lewis. (Back when I was 4) The man is a fixture of the New York anti-folk scene and one of my all time favorite song writers. He is also a cartoonist of some skill and some of his songs are accompanied live by him holding up drawings to illustrate the songs.

The other contender for festival highlight was the Mae Shi. I saw them 3 times last week, Monday while flyering outside the blue last, no one offered me a bump, (Ali Love, Lost in the K hole (Live on XFM) ,but a very nice man offered me a ticket to the Mae Shi for a free, still very grateful. They were amazing, later that same night they played another show at DURRR, which was anything even better.

They looked like this. Photo from the DURRR flickr. Taken by Alex Warren.

They were great again at Field ay, although I would reccomend seeing them in as small a space as possible. ( See you again (Miley Cyrus Cover)

We did miss Benga, (Night (DJ Zinc remix) and Brodinski (Tiga, Sunglasses at night (Brodinski and Yuksek Remix) but all in all it was a pretty good day, at least in terms of the acts we saw.

suck on my disco debut.

2008-08-05T01:32:00.000+01:00

I like disco. But I'm not talking cheesy disco. When you think of disco now, you probably have a mental image of a double-disc CD sitting at the back of a dusty shelf in your parent's living room called '...And The Beat Goes On!! 40 Groovy Dance Hits of the 70's!' with a crappy tie-dye effect cover that they got for christmas in 1991.

The type of disco that I'm trying to articulate isn't the sort of disco played in clubs with psuedo-70s 'retro' knick knaks, a light-up dancefloor and leery old gay men lurking in the shadows luring eighteen-year-olds to do bumps of rohypnol under the guise that it's ketamine, either.

It's the stuff where the low pulse of the beat sends you into a narcotic trance. Where the synths and electronic frequencies have unprotected phonic sex with your eardrums. Where dirty, dark, and deep oscillations in the atmospheric pressure surrounding our ears cause a certain kind of pleasure in us, a sadistic pleasure at repressed fantasies.

Cerrone is a certified old-school disco maestro. He first appeared in my mum's record collection, and he's my favourite of all disco maestros. His new stuff isn't great. fact. But Cocomotion and Supernature are pretty sick disco tunes. Supernature in particular has been popping up in blogworld recently.

Cerrone - Supernature

Giorgio Moroder is unfortunately largely played in faggy electro bars where if you took a picture of the people there they would look like the best anti-MDMA advert ever. Despite all of this, his soundtrack to Midnight Express is pretty sick. 'Chase' (circa 1978) sounds like a tractor beam from a mothership from outer space pulsating beats with a smooth electronic lazer show enticing you into a disco-induced reverie.

Giorgio Moroder - Chase

Jan Hammer wears jackets that make the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air look like he should just give up and get a job in Woolworths. This is the realist shit. He also made the theme tune to a rather famous show. You know. That one, Miami Vice (which Craze put on his (fairly) recent Fabric mix). I was suprised when I heard Crockett's Theme whacked out by a DJ in PUSH a couple of Saturdays ago. The gliding synths over the soft electronic beats helped to create a soundsystem that you just wanted to shake your ass to. It starts as an ominous, lonely beat, gradually building up to a synth laid like a delicate tablecloth over gentle, rocking electronica, like that perfect virginity-losing fantasy you had before it was probably lost in an alleyway round the back of The End, when Erol's night was still his.

It's all pretty much UNASHAMEDLY 80s. Forever Tonight has everything in there. Just listen to those synths. And the drums! Holy fucking fuck. And there are about a billion other instruments I can pick out but don't actually possess the musical knowledge to name them (shameful, as I am actually writing a music blog), but I swear they're recognisable from most 80s TV shows about the zany antics of 80's America's young kids in big cities. I've thrown the extended mix of Forever Tonight because it has the most 80's beginning ever. And it's also almost minimal. In a way. Just listen to it:

Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme

Jan Hammer - Forever Tonight (Extended CD Mix)

Ok, now the new stuff. My favouritist noveau disco artists have to be Glass Candy and Bogdan Irkuk. Bogdan is hot shit. He's from Bulgaria. And that's all I know.

The Distant Message is the track I put on when I've been out and come back and can't go to sleep. Smooth-as-fuck electronica with beats to make love to your lady to, while the synthesised voices whisper hot messages of love in your ear. It appears here next to some other hidden gems.

Bogdan Irkuk - The Distant Message

Bogdan Irkuk - The Laws of Physics

Glass Candy, of course, have to be included in this post. Digital Versicolor is the track being played in the clubs at the moment, but I think Computer Love is more accessible. B/e/a/t/b/o/x/ is an awesome album. It's also one of Pure Groove's favourite albums (and that's pretty damn special, considering they only stock their 100 favourites at any one time). Pretty fucking special.

If you're a fan of italo-disco/death disco and want to be taken to synthesiser and drum machine heaven, put a slice of this in your mp3 sandwich. Computer Love is slick, and full of glittery, sexy electronic beat showers. Give it a listen then go buy the album.

Glass Candy - Computer Love

Events

Events you should check out in LANDAN town:

9 August - Field Day

11 August - No Age, Dan Deacon and Health

Oh, and - as it's the first post - here's a little treat for you.