#1 Beach House - Teen Dream #2 Best Coast - Crazy For You #3 Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM
BEST TRACKS
#1 Crystal Castles - Vietnam #2 Jamaica - I Think I Like U 2 #3 Active Child - When Your Love Is Safe (Classixx Remixx) #4 Kisses - Bermuda #5 The Naked & The Famous - Young Blood BEST VIDEOS
#1 Coma Cinema - Only
#2 Mr Flash - Flesh
#3 Poom - Rollercoaster
So many others to choose from but I can't be bothered to write a large piece for something so fleeting.
It's been a while but i'm back after finally escaping the constraints of being offline. Normal service will be resumed and is now transmitted from a new location surveying Hackney (Pripyat).
Jamie is the pad happy beatsmaster very much at the heart of The XX's sound. Rated highly as a DJ and producer (Theodopolis London) he has recently been in the studio working on a track of his own.
What he achieves pretty much totally encapsulates the musical zeitgeist enfusing minimal dance, beats and dubstep rhythms. This 12" is pretty much a must have for not only XX fans but appreciators of this modern dance genre.
Kanye's had a busy time of it. Post the VMA embarrassment it would appear he has been thriving on the hatred. The new album is going to be released whenever his followers decree it and on the strength of some of this new material he looks to be back to his best.
THIS IS KANYE
Willing Taylor Swift to run on stage and kick over his MPC
VICE and Tiger Beer threw a lovely little shindig at latest hipster hangout XOYO last night which featured two super hyped bands and a buttload of free beer.
First up were Mancunian nu-prog post-Factory outfit Egyptian Hip Hop. After a pretty middling performance at Offset it was truly satisfying to see them on top form. With all their equipment working and no tantrums to be seen they raced through a set filled with amazingly put together songs smothered in a lush layer of reverb and delay, they fiddled and played with the knobs and switches at their feet turning super catchy licks into washed out sonic gems.
Next up on the Offset Redux stage were Kap Bambino. After some laptop tinkering Lead singer Caroline Martial steps onto the stage holding aloft some candles, her face painted with a focused glare as well as some crosses. As the first bars of industrial strength synth waves explode from the PA the whole crowd is instantly energized and rushes the stage.
It would be difficult to not mention Crystal Castles when talking about KB as their sound is so similar as well as their boy/girl setup, but they take the aggression of CC to a whole new level. Both singers are masters of the psychopathic stare and have a penchant for the odd stage dive or five but there is something more upbeat and perhaps even pop about Kap Bambino, more akin to Justice, Yeah Yeah Yeah's or Robots in Disguise than the Canadian despair heads.
Time for another track from Fools Gold's finest, A-Trak and Arman Van-Helden. For the video, director So Me uses live footage from the Fool's Gold "Day Off" labor day block party starring commandeered taxis and hotdog stands, sexy strangers, and a who's-who of famous friends: rappers, producers, indie rockers, graffiti writers and nightlife icons all take turns adding their own special sauce to the song, turning "Barbra Streisand" into one of this year's must-rewind clips.
Disney's very own scissor sister has been given the cold wave treatment in this remix that has been doing the rounds for a bit now. Slowed down by 800% it produces something of a nightmarish 30 mins of chilling audio. Justin Bieber - U Smile (800% Slower)
Good old dependable Chromeo: never ever deviating from their sound even on the third album. "Business Casual" comes out in a week or so following on exactly from where they left off with the last LP, seriously they may as well have called it She's In Control Chapter III. It would be easy to dismiss them as boring but their tracks are just so damn catchy and danceable it would just seem harsh. Looking forward to that Roundhouse gig in November the slot at Lovebox was far too short. Chromeo - You Make It Rough
It was the Jamaica album launch last night and of course we were in attendance to bear witness to our favourite Parisian shredders. Antoinne (tasty licks) looked a little serious at first whilst Flo (slap 'a da' bass) had a permanent grin across his face, but by the end with the crowd jumping all over the place, hand claps a'plenty Antoinne was rolling around on the floor one step away from lighting a very nice Fender Mustang on fire.
Finishing their show with an encore including an amazing Police cover and latest single "Short And Entertaining" was a fantastic end to a set full of gems from a stand out album. Though was pretty bummed they didn't play "Secrets" for some reason.
It's pretty easy to poke holes in Jamaica's musical makeup but behind all the simplicity their is some real skill and their live performances are incredibly tight. Not a band to be taken too seriously.
We have recently been made aware of this album and are tres excited about the band. On the surface they may look like characters from a Wes Anderson film with their Lacoste garb and Frenchness, just don't call them the Gallic 30H!3 (Or whatever that band is called).
Look out for an interview with the Housse in Disorder soon from yours truely (Ambassador to muscians Francais) but for now here's something for your ears and eyes (No we're not putting the promo up on download you'll have to find it yourselves).
If you like Jamaica but you prefer something a little more indie and electrified then this is the band for you. Oh yeah and they sing in French.
This is our favourite:
You can't beat arpeggiated claps
This is a painfully indie video but still a great track:
Young French author Carmen Bramly has a book out next week titled "Pastel Fauve" which is dedicated to every poppy seed's nightmare, Pete Doherty. Not only does the lovely Pete get the dedication but also features as a formative sexual fantasy for the main character, a fourteen year old girl on the cusp of losing her virginity...Not to Pete. That was that girl that he kidnapped that time and fed heroin to (Daily Mail artistic license). Remember that? Scandalous.
Anyway The Libertines are back soon so let's celebrate with some classic Pete Doherty and go on then a bit of Carl too...if we must.
Casey Afleck has been following Joaquin Phoenix around with a camera for a year in order to make a documentary about the somewhat troubled actors foray into the world of Hip Hop. (If real at all) it looks rather unsettling and if that Letterman interview has anything to go by it's basically going to be ninety minutes watching a man destroy himself. Kind of depressing. But its Joaquin Phoenix...with a big beard...rapping!
Mes amies! Daily Motion are running un contest for the best clips of the year so far. Click away for the amazing shortlist meanwhile here are some of our picks from the list:
We have no idea why this band isn't huge yet:
Utterly gorgeous in every way, like butter on toast:
Don't be swayed by the fact that Pat Grossi's alter-ego shares the name of a type of nappies this is a really great track. Classixx have taken a punt at a remix and it's another success from the stable of "that" Lisztomania remix, the absolute stalwart of indie discos everywhere.
Northern dub-step types have put their skills to good use on a great track from Daft Punk's "Human After All" record, turning into a bass loaded banger while still maintaining the original's melodies. Daft Punk - Make Love (Jeuce Rework)
Speaking of Daft Punk apparently Comic Con was all about the TRON LEGACY this year and we really really want to hear the soundtrack. No more fakes, although this one was actually really good from Pilot Priest:
Here's two tracks from Arnie's state that we are loving right now. Funeral Party are coming to the OBL at the end of the month. Ms. Perry can be seen in our dreams most nights with her squirty cream.
There's a bit in the full clip with this girl in a body bag on the side of the candy road...ruins the vibe a little.
Best Coast better than the rest on west coast...fo sho...until Dre comes back with that detox joint.
So beloved shoe company Converse have made another foray into music collaborations. This time with Kid Kudi, Rostam from Vampire Weekend and Best Coast. This NYC combination have come together to make an anthem for the summer, check out the video:
Watched the The Runaways movie last night featuring K-Stew and D-Fann. K-Stew taking on the role of Joan Jett in the manner of a grizzled dockyard worker from Queens. Seriously the scene where she's in the murky tub and starts shouting is bizarre. Oh and there's a bit where D-Fann attempts a Sharon Stone style breakdown in a phone booth and literally falls flat on her jailbait ass. So yeah essentially what we are saying is don't pay to see this film.
Oh the end is quite funny when they try and cram all the Joan Jett songs that people know into the last ten minutes without any real reason or explanation.
If fringes could kill...this Dior clad Danish threesome are coming up with some absolute gems and have already got a #1 in the land of Lego. That first single out earlier this month "My Secret Lover" is full of glorious bubblegum synth pop melodies and licks with a memorable "on the phone" vocoder segment straight from Chromeo's playbook. Guaranteed to put a smile on that face of yours.
So for the benefit of those who weren't there. Peaches came on stage at Lovebox on Sunday in a wheelchair with a busted up foot and still managed a stellar performance. Inspired it would seem by Andrew WK which we really love. That guy doesn't get nearly as much credit as he should. Anyway here's a teaser of the upcoming film of Peaches wheelchair show:
Here's a new band to get your teeth into. No tracks for you yet but we're working on that. This London twosome channel some exquisite Kitsune/Tellier vibes into some seriously smooth summer listening. Sensual Sports.
Midnight Conspiracy have achieved success before with our favourite Toronto terrible twosome with an excellent crimewaves remix. This Italo disco re-imagining of one of the darkest tracks from the record makes for a synthtacular time.
So it's that time again. Who is going to win the gong of death? For exactly 24 hours the winner will be shrouded in glory before being plunged into ultimate obscurity and ruin. More importantly for gamblers amongst us who are you going to bet on? Here's the list with some odds:
Dizzee Rascal – Tongue N' Cheek (4/1) The xx – xx (4/1) Paul Weller – Wake Up the Nation (6/1) Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea (6/1) Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More (6/1) Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can (6/1) Foals – Total Life Forever (8/1) Wild Beasts – Two Dancers (8/1) Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions (8/1) Villagers – Becoming a Jackal (10/1) Kit Downes Trio – Golden (10/1) I Am Kloot – Sky at Night (10/1)
Hold on! Dizzee you can't win again. Especially not with the disgustingly obvious sell out album that has has been raping the airwaves for the last year. Surely the Mercury's are about celebrating truly great albums that are well put together by brilliant musicians. Hold on! Biffy Clyro. We didn't realize the judges accepted whiny post-emo sweaty overly melodramatic noise. And finally...Mumford and Sons...laaame.
Dream Scenario #1:
The xx win...because however many billion times we listen to that album it will never get old, even though it is the sync-guy's go-to-record.
Dream Scenario #2:
Wild Beasts win on the strength of an amazing album containing an utterly glorious song:
Dream Scenario #3:
Laura Marling wins, marries Marcus Mumford, uses the prize money to go on a honeymoon in Alaska where he is eaten by a bear in an unfortunate picnic accident.
So Courtney's gone and done a fashion blog. Except shes not doing it, some poor assistant/intern/best-mate-turned-assistant-friendship-ruined-drug-mule is actually the one translating her garbled messages into fashion-y posts for her.
Oh and apparently CLC stands for Courtney Loves Cobain [shakes hand wildly in masturbatory manner]. We're pretty sure that girl in Shoreditch was there first...you can judge which one is worse.
Yet another song to stick on your Summer playlist. It seems bands are queuing up with that MGMT sound to try and steal the spotlight that they so willingly relinquished. Fact is this is a true lo-fi indie anthem and if that's what bands are pushing to make these days that's fine with us. Oh and its about kids and dope trainers + whistling...you can sing along
Massive props to an ex-housemate for making us aware of this one, what a track it is. Sounds oddly familiar to so many songs you've heard before but not in a boring way. It's like if James Ford, Does It Offend You Yeah?! Passion Pit, Karen O, MGMT, Phoenix and Filthy Dukes all got together to make some amazing hipster charity single, the cause being dancing your ass off at parties all summer long.
Bret Easton Ellis has been in town this week and we are going to hear him talk about perhaps his most celebrated and surely his most infamous book 'American Psycho'. As well as all the glorious violence, greed and darkest of the dark humour the book contains an insight into protagonist Patrick Bateman's fave records. Here are some of the stand outs on Patrick's mixtape:
"The Eurotrash girl tells me she likes my gazelleskin wallet. I tell her I would like to tit-fuck her and then maybe cut her arms off, but the music, George Michael singing 'Faith' is too loud and she can't hear me."
"My favourite track is 'Man On The Corner' which is the only song credited solely to Collins, a moving ballad with a pretty synthesized melody plus a riveting drum machine solo in the background."
"The dance single 'How Will I Know? (my vote for the best song of the 1980s) is a joyus ode to a girls nervousness about whether another guy is interested in her."
"Huey Lewis, a vocalist, musician and writer who just can't be topped."
Coming over here! Stealing our airwaves! Barging onto our playlists! If you are a fan of the Polish then why not check out Kamp! It's a super bit of shimmery electro from our friends from Lodz. Kamp! Distance Of The Modern Hearts
We cannot get over how good the new Mystery Jets album is. Not sure why it seems like a surprise they have improved with every release. Musically 'Serotonin' sits snugly somewhere between the original straight up earnest indie album and the sophomore 80's pop hits affair.
Apparently the dad got involved again and it seems like he has had a most positive effect. This is definitely one to put on the record player we get the feeling it would just 'sound better'.
Finally our favourite Parisian juvenile delinquents are back after what seems like an age waiting. Currently taking over the twittersphere with an innovative "Tweet us and we'll give you a free song" initiative.
Their return doesn't disappoint, "Made Of" has the feel of some of their more melodic tracks from the first album but comes with some serious rhyming in the verse straight outta 89'.
We love Best Coast. Not only are they fellow cat lovers but they also make amazing laid back West Coast surf rock. Boyfriend is the sort of track that we want to dance in slow motion to in a sweaty summer basement gig and then suddenly rush out into the cool night air as it climaxes. Best Coast - Boyfriend
We are not overt fans of Spotify but this playlist has been an absolute joy recently for whatever reason. It is full of gems that we forgot even existed as well as a few too many ruined by the world of advertising. Click on the link to be transported Tron like to the Spotify world. We picked out some of the best for you here though which include moving pictures yay!
D'ya'reckon?
"Blur or Oasis? Actually I like Pulp best. Fuck you I like Suede best!" (Probable conversation circa Britpop era)
A quick skim of hypem this morning revealed a new pop starlet that had completely past us by. She goes by the name of Sunday Girl and has recently had one of her singles given the Diplo treatment. You can get a copy of that track here.
What peaked our interest was the knowledge that her new single will be her downright sexy cover of the stunning Laura Branigan classic "Self Control". This is available to listen to on her myspace and there is a link to a Fenech Soler remix on the link above.
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