There is no way of connecting these two tracks apart from the fact I was recently sent them both and they are both rather good.
This first one is by Dead Disco... who certainly seem to hang round with the right folks. The single is produced by James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco) and the video is done by Saam Farahmand - who did both the Klaxons videos. They also seem to have the main ingredients for success worked out... hot chicks, a good bassline, lots of eye make-up, and a single coming out on Fierce Panda - the label that seems to uncover more gold than a raid on Jimmy Saville's jewelery box. (But can they be forgiven for Coldplay?)
I have an mp3 of the track as well (sorry about the poor bitrate....) DEAD DISCO - AUTOMATIC
I also found lurking on my computer a Metronomy remix of their previous single. As you may know, I'm rather fond of Metronomy, and he does a great job here of isolating the pop and putting some nice electronic noises around it. Buy the Metronomy album. It's great.
You can hear the original version of that, plus some other tracks, over on their myspace. So go & say hello....
All you ravers out there might be more taken by this great new tune by French producer Danton Eeprom. Crisp beats, lush synth washes, some seriously phat bass noises and an insistent noodley riff at the top-end - all ingredients for a whole load of shapes on the dancefloor. Preferably performed in a cloud of dry ice.
It reminds me a bit of Claro Intellecto.... and this easily matches the best stuff he's put out. It's hitting the shops in September on Delta B records, so keep your eyes & ears peeled.
I've just been having a good chuckle, as ever, to the b3ta newsletter. Take a look at these:
I never thought i'd find a Star Wars parody funny again... this is great - editing in lines from other James Earl Jones films to make Darth look like a raving psycho....
'Oooooh. Baseball.'
I really really want to spend a day in stop-motion. Like this guy did.
Ah, look at these sweet little chavs trying to kill each other:
It was another super-sweaty Bromheads Jacket gig last night. And possibly better than the last one. The band were tighter; the venue hotter and the crowd even more mental. They tore through their set in a quickfire 30 minutes leaving everyone breathless & gasping for more....
I decided to take a couple of videos, but didn't realise my camera cut out at 30 seconds. So here's a couple of clips that should give you some idea of the craziness..... but do excuse the brevity, the darkness and the sound quality.
This is forthcoming single Lions On The Prowl. Which although great, doesn't come close to capturing the rush of the Bromheads live experience.
They're a truly great live band, and I urge you to try & catch them at one of the following dates:
AUGUST Sun 20th Aug - London @ Adventures In The Beetroot Field Party at the Lock Tavern. THIS IS FREE!!! Thu 24th Aug - St Albans @ The Horn FESTIVAL WARM UP SHOW Fri 25th Aug - Reading @ Carling Festival Sat 26th Aug - Leeds @ Carling Festival
SEPTEMBER Tue 12th Sept - Chatham @ We're taking Over, Tap n Tin Wed 13 Sept - Cambridge @ Soul Tree Thu 14 Sept - Bedford @ Roar Club, Esquires Fri 15 Sept - Darlington @ Club Strut Sat 16 Sept - London @ Frog, Mean Fiddler
Don't take a jumper.
I have to say I was quite impressed as well with support band 'The Natives'. They're not exactly what i'd normally listen to, but if you're into the kind of indie music that hits the top of the album charts I think you'll like them. They had an natural togetherness & presence on stage that reminded me of Oasis; some very catchy tunes; and a devoted fan club chanting & going generally apeshit down the front.
Since i'm looking at other blogs, i'm very sad to see that Gutterbreakz seems to have decided to call it a day. "...and that's me finished for the summer...and possibly for a lot longer...maybe forever. We'll see."
Nick was a massive inspiration for me setting up this blog, and also a great help in getting my file hosting etc. sorted out. Although I didn't read the blog so much after he got so immersed in Dubstep - a genre i've really tried to enjoy but which hasn't quite clicked with me yet - his enthusuasm was still inspiring.
I guess the end was on it's way when Nick decided to disable comments on his site, but i'm still surprised. He seems to have become quite a player in the dubstep scene.
His other passions are really in evidence on a truly magnificent podcast i've just been listening to. The music is incredible, the mixing and interludes are great, and the accompanying text a fascinating read. Great evidence for why I have so much respect for Nick, and why i'll be sad to see Gutterbreakz closing its doors (if it is to be the end).
Truly brilliant stuff, and a must-listen. Check it.
I should have directed you to the Daily Growl about, ooh, 7 episodes ago. He's doing what I had vaguely planned to do at some point and picking out the best tracks from the amazing cover CDs given away by Jockey Slut in its last year of existence.
Jockey Slut was the best magazine ever, and I bought it religiously for about 10 years (as it grew from black & white fanzine to glossy quarterly). I have still not quite recovered from the fact that it went under..... I bet they wished they'd stayed in Manchester rather than seeking pots of gold in The London. I know I do.
Anyway I discovered a ridiculous amount of fantastic music via these amazing CDs. Check the tracklistings here and bear in mind that this was back in '02, when most of these artists were unknown.
All five tracks you can download here are beyond essential. I can't even pick out one as a MUST HEAR...although if I was picking out 5 tracks from this CD I would certainly have included J.A.M.'s filtered French Disko classic 'Number One' at the expense of the Nextmen.
I was trying to work out how to describe it, then remembered that Pure Groove (on whose recommendation i'd bought it), had called it as pretty much like a Chemical Brothers remix of 'I Feel Love'. And since that's about spot on i'll leave it at that.
It's in fact a remix by Michael Ivins, bassist with The Flaming Lips. Quite what it's doing tucked away on the b-side of a 12" by Detroit rockers The Come Ons i've not quite worked out yet. I can only assume that they did a cover and then Michael Ivins remixed it? Whatever. That's not important right now. All you need to know that it's Moroder & Summers' classic pulled and distorted through a dirty mangle. THAT bassline remains of course, but it's augmented by overdriven wah-wahing guitars and a pounding kick drum.
I think this is a pretty limited twelve, as I was struggling to find it last week. Fortunately Pure Groove got some more copies in & I snagged one... not sure where you can find it now though. I had a quick scout of theusualplaces without turning anything up. So good luck vinyl hunters!
Luke Vibert, the pseudonym-happy Cornishman you may also know as Wagon Christ, has come back with a couple of great new releases on Aphex Twin's label Rephlex (probably my favourite imprint).
The first, Amen Andrews vs Spac Hand Luke, features two of his own pseudonyms in an album-length face-off.
Amen Andrews first appeared in 2003, in a series of 5 fantastic 12"s of pure unbridled junglist revivalism. I was assuming that this album would be compiling the best tracks from the singles, but it seems like entirely new stuff.
As the name suggests, the Amen Andrews tracks are completely obsessed with the Amen Break, and a little obsessed with, err, Eamonn Andrews.
The track i'm enjoying most is this one, 'Intelligent', as its ridiculous bass line makes me smile.
The Spac Hand Luke tracks are harder to categorise. The bass is still there, but the beats are a bit more funky, and the tracks are sprinkled with humourous samples of people like Tom Baker.
The first track on the album is the best example of this.... sounding like an entire Coldcut DJ set in a single track. I completely love it. If you love music (and London), you should too.
2003 also saw Vibert unleash some shimmering Metro Area-style disco with a superb album released as 'Kerrier District'. It went down a storm - particularly opening track 'Let's Dance and Freak' - so it's great news that Kerrier District 2 is out now. And it's even better than the last one.
Released on a budget 6-track CD or two 12-inch vinyls, it appears to consist of 6 mixes of the same track, which i'd guess is 'Let's Dance and Freak', but it's not immediately obvious.
This 'Ce Porte Mix' is probably not my favourite, however its lush mirrorballed groove should act as a nice counterpoint to the beats above. Also worth a listen are the slightly more jacking 'Disco Nasty Mix', and of course the great version by headphonesex hero (and Squarepusher's brother) Ceephax... where he manages to retain the funk whilst injecting the track with a nice dose of Ceephax mentalism. And a splash of acid. Much like Squarepusher used to do when he was good in fact.
I'm really surprised that the recent mini-album by iLiKETRAiNS has come out virtually unnoticed, for they're one of my favourite bands around at the moment... and certainly one of the most interesting.
This is the stunning video for recent single 'Terra Nova' - charting Robert Falcon Scott's tragic & ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Where they were not only beaten to The Pole by Roald Amundsen, but they all died for their trouble as well.
This is amongst the most moving 5 minutes in puppet cinema history:
Last year's 'A Rook House for Bobby' - which I mentioned in December, was easily in my top ten singles of last year. It really conveys the unimaginable burden Bobby Fischer must have felt as an unwilling pawn in the cold war.
"All this talk of a war, well it's only a game. All I ever wanted to do was play chess with you"
The MP3 i'm going to post is probably my favourite song by the band - and originally featured as the b-side to 'A Rook House for Bobby'. It's unlikely that many bands would have taken the nationalisation of the British railway system as inspiration for a song, however if you've ever felt that 'Progress' has actually turned out to be a step (or six steps) backwards you will be able to identify with the sentiments.
Reform. Reform. Oh you are taking apart, what we made with our hands and our hearts.
The chanting, beginning about half way through, is truly breathtaking. And seems to represent both the will of the people, and their helplessness in the relentless march of change. iLiKETRAiNS - THE BEECHING REPORT
These three tracks all feature on 'Progress Reform', along with the equally excellent 'No Military Parade' and 'Stainless Steel' ('Please don't go in the kitchen, That's where the knives are. And I won't be held responsible')
Just to prove that they're not all about historical anti-heroes, here's the two-part video for their debut single 'Before The Curtains Close', where an obsessive, jealous stalker promises of his rival 'i'll extract his teeth and make them into a necklace for you. A small token to apologise for the pain i've put you through'
Then in part two he escapes from the asylum....
Basically this is some of the most compelling music i've ever heard, so go buy the album now before they achieve the enormous success that is sure to be coming their way.
I got a cool CD in the post the other day from a band from Sarf London called Rosemary. I'm not too keen on the name but gave it a listen and hey, it's pretty bloody good.
It's a 2-track demo in advance of their (very limited edition) debut single out on August 7th.
Both songs are really strong, and i've spent the last week trying to work out which one to post. But I think i've settled on the the title track, 'Suburban Kings'.
It's a bit reminiscent of the Libertines, but the two singers work together well and when I heard it played before one of the bands at ACTH on Friday I noticed it induced quite a bit of head nodding and hip shaking.
I really like the b-side as well, which has a bit more of a Kinks vibe about it. They sound like they'd be pretty fun live.... you can and possibly should catch them here and then:
13th July – The Attic, Manchester, Kloot Clubnight 14th July – Brickyard, Carlisle + supporting the Fratellis 20th July – Tap’N’Tin, Chatham – Suburban Kings club night – the Rosemary residency 7TH AUGUST – PLEASURE UNIT, BETHNAL GREEN – SINGLE LAUNCH PARTY - 12th August – “Basstonbury” Festival, Kent + The Bishops 13th August – Brixton Windmill, Brixton – Lady Panda Alldayer with Lupen Crook + Mules + more 30th August – Water Rats, Kings Cross – Club Fandango
The first in an irregular series of videos from you tube. I don't have cable or satellite, so it's fun to see all this shit as it usually passes me by....
THE FLAMING LIPS - YEAH YEAH YEAH SONG "I've just bought some tickets, to see the Flaming Lips. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!."
MSTRKRFT - WORK ON YOU I must admit I'm not much of a fan of this video. It's a bit sub-Daft Punk, and makes the song sound like, well, an outtake from 'Human After All'. After the great video for 'Easy Love' I was hoping for better really....
KLAXONS - ATLANTIS TO INTERZONE Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Awesome.
THE HORRORS - SHEENA IS A PARASITE New video from deranged genius (and Aphex collaborator) Chris Cunningham.
SQUAREPUSHER - COME ON MY SELECTOR Classic Chris Cunningham business.
KRAFTWERK - THE ROBOTS
JUSTICE vs SIMIAN - WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS Makes me want to dig the record out again...
JUSTICE RELEASE PARTY - PARIS You've all seen it I know, but it's still great! Bounce dat ass!
All in all last weekend was a bit of a mad one. First stop on Friday night was the ACTH night at the Camden Barfly, where Moshi Moshi artists Hot Club de Paris and Lo-Fi-Fnk played live upstairs & Casper rocked the house downstairs (after deftly recovering from an Ableton disaster!)
I thought both bands were excellent fun. Hot Club de Paris seemed to be having a whale of a time on stage, and it rubbed off on me quite a lot. They came across a bit like the Futureheads but with more unaccompanied vocal harmonies. And more laughter.
I would like to recount some details other than that I smiled a lot, but the rest of the weekend seems to have put pay to my memory. This would be why i'm not a proper reporter type. I do remember 'Shipwrecked' (which I posted here before) being excellent, as well as new single 'sometimesitsbetternottostickbitsofeachotherineachotherforeachother'. You can listen to both on their myspace.
Lo-Fi-Fnk were a great laugh as well. Although I wasn't able to stay for the whole set I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw. A guy next to me was having the absolute time of his life, and we were both doing a lot of whooping & hollerin'!
Although I probably only saw half the set, they did play two of my favourite songs - 'City' and 'Wake Up' so I left happy!
I so want that gorilla t-shirt.
I've been listening to their forthcoming album 'Boylife' quite a bit, and apart from a couple of duff tracks it comes highly recommended. The pop thrill of the great tracks (there are about 5 potential singles here) more than make up for the few mediocre moments. It's released on July 31st so look out for it.
This is another of my faves. I love the line about 'laying on the floor, listening to your records'
Also if you've not downloaded it yet, you MUST grab the Justus Kohncke remix of 'Wake Up' I posted last week. It's one of the remixes of the year, no doubt about it. I can't get it out of my CD player!
Then Fabric was mayhem as usual, and far too full to be any real fun to be honest. Chances of getting in to see the Chemical Brothers? Absolute Zero. The music was great though. Filthy Dukes & Simian Mobile Disco were both playing fantastic tunes in the main room - although I found Digitalism to be a little disappointing save their last two tracks (Zdarlight & Jupiter Room of course!) which led to something between raving and moshing. Rashing? Mosving? Whatever it was fun. And at the end of the night George 'Micronauts' Issakidis played the Carl Craig mix of Theo Parrish & Colonel Abrahams' 'Trapped'. So that made me happy.
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Despite all this, the highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly The Wailers in Finsbury Park playing at Ken Livingstone's RISE festival. Now it hadn't crossed my mind for a second to go to this, and I can't imagine why not (well actually it was cos I hadn't really heard about it....). But I mean the frickin' Wailers, playing for free, in the sunshine. It's a no-brainer. No?
Well i'm glad I went in the end as it was a truly magical experience. Basically running through a Bob Marley 'greatest hits' selection, the band were tight as pvc hotpants, with incredible musicianship to boot. But what really made it was the atmosphere. With a mix of ages and races that you otherwise only really see at Notting Hill Carnival, every single person was beaming from ear to ear, singing their hearts out.
All roads then (eventually) led to the mental Marathon Kebabs in Camden. Best place in London for a late night drink & dance!
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Having just raved about The Wailers, reading this has made me think that perhaps I was more off me 'ead than I thought!! The reviewer wasn't all that impressed...!!
I might have enjoyed the manic Italian celebrations in central London a bit more if I wasn't in the middle of a 2 and a half hour odyssee from Whitechapel to Greenford, cursing London Transport and my increasingly all-consuming hunger all the way. If there's one thing we English are worse at then football it's transporting a person from one part of London to another.
I also now see that we are rank amateurs in the world of beeping horns. Reckon there were a few deaf pigeons this morning.
So with luck some kind of normal service might be resumed here. If I can continue not watching Big Brother that is...
I have no time to post, but I have just seen this from the b3ta newsletter and I can't not share it. Morrissey and Marr. On a bus. Full of kids. Going to Kew Gardens.
Enjoy Johnny Marr giving the wanker sign to an 8 year old.
And also the following conversation:
Child: "Where are we going?"
Moz: "We're all going mad"
Child: "I thought we were going to Kew Gardens"
Next week, the Sisters of Mercy lead a birdwatching expedition to Hammersmith Wetland Centre.
Anyone need any predictions made? I'm your man. Just cross my palm with silver and I'll get it completely wrong. If I was French i'd be very worried right now!
I think Italy deserved that one though. They were definitely the better side, and attacked with uncharacteristic verve. I suspect this has something to do with the two countries' respective records in penalty shootouts. The Italians REALLY didn't want to go out that way (yet) again. I know how they feel.
So I've been lucky enough to end up on the mailing list for Moshi Moshi Records, and last week I got another fantastic package in the post.
First up is a new album from Swedish Electro Poppers Lo-Fi-Fnk, who i've been eager to hear more of since their amazing debut single 'Change Channel' was picked up by Kitsune for one of their compilations. Yeah it was that good. Their new single 'Wake Up' was originally found on the b-side to 'Change Channel', but it's been re-recorded, beefed up and speeded up and it now sounds even more joycore. It's a great song as it is, but then the incredible synth break for the chorus elevates it into an unforgettable track.
However good though that is, i'm really torn about what to post because after spending most of the week listening to both versions, I think I now prefer this remix by Kompakt's Justus Koehncke - he of 'Timecode' fame, and one of the stars of Erlend Oye's legendary DJ Kicks album. Anyway, the more I hear this mix the more it's lodging into my skull. If he could only have found room somewhere for the glorious synth break of the original it would have been unsurpassable. But it's still fecking genius, and it certainly gets my heart pounding a lot more than 'Timecode', which I never got all that excited over.
You'll know after 3 seconds that you're gonna love this.
And listen out for the original version cos it's ace. In fact why don't you check it out on their myspace page?
I also have the forthcoming album by the band, but i'll post about that once I've had a chance to digest it a bit more.
Another treat from the label is this second seven inch from 'Best Fwends'. Cunningly entitiled 'Second Seven Inch'.
Coming on a nice slab of green vinyl, packed with 5 tracks, this is pure dumbass pop in 8-bits. It'll make you dance and smile and insert coins for an extra life once it's all done.
You like? Why not go to XXJFG for another track from the band.... it's cheesy house as you've never heard it before.
There's also a new album by Matt Harding forthcoming on Moshi Moshi. Called 'Expectation' it's not quite as far up my boulevard as the label's other releases, however I found plenty of songs to warm my cockles on the record, and if you're into a more folky americana vibe you will really like this.
My favourite song by far is this one, 'Close', whose harmonies reminded me of my favourite Joy Zipper songs. The harmonies also really fit the "becoming one" sentiment of the song - which is one of the most touching love songs i've heard in ages. "That's what i'm with you for, I guess that's why you want me too. I never feel unsure. I know I can rely on you". Beautiful stuff, and i'm liking this 10 times more each time I listen to it. MATT HARDING - CLOSE
Three very different songs from one great label. If they can keep on bringing out this kind of quality stuff, it'll be happy days all round. I'm really looking forward to seeing what newest signings 'Hot Club de Paris' have in store for us.
Speaking of which, this Friday night Moshi Moshi have an unmissable looking night on in Camden, with Lo-Fi-Fnk and Hot Club de Paris playing live, and DJs including Casper from Fluokids. !!Cashback!! So i'll be heading along to that, followed by Vitalic, Metronomy, Digitalism, Jackson & His Computer Band, Shy Child, Chemical Brothers, Simian Mobile Disco, Low Budget, Filthy Dukes (who run the night) and Micronauts legend George Issakidis at Fabric. Woot!! How fuckin' good does that sound!
Finally it appears that if you search for sex on Google you can now find me on Page 2!! Blimey. I must have a lot of disappointed visitors with their pants round their ankles.
Well with a thought for those in search of naked flesh, here are some breasts:
So England have crashed out of the world cup in depressingly familiar fashion. I mean lets be honest, did anyone actually think we'd win the penalty shoot-out? We've been there before once or twice. And it's inevitably ended in tears.
I don't know what was more ridiculous... the fact we actually seemed to be playing for penalties in the last 5 minutes (had Sven never seen us in a shootout before?) or that Jamie Carragher was brought on especially to take one.
Madness.
The disappointment is not so much that we lost but the fact that it was such a wasted opportunity. With the players we have we really should have gone on from there to win the tournament, but we just never looked like gelling as a team. Rooney, undoubtedly one of the best players in the world, was completely wasted after bizarrely being made to play up front on his own. Beckham was a liability. Gerrard & Lampard spent the whole tournament treading on each other's toes. It just goes to show that there is a bit more to football management then just putting your best players on the pitch. You need to pick a side that complements each other, and if that means upsetting some of your supposed 'star' players by dropping them, then so be it.
We were basically crap going forward for the entire tournament, and didn't create nearly enough chances. Thankfully however, I didn't have too many expectations from the side (or should I say manager). So it wasn't too painful when they did eventually cock it all up.
So it's another two years till we try (and fail) again at Euro 2008; then I might try & get over to South Africa for the 2010 world cup. I've not been to a tournament before, and that seems a decent place to start!
England's exit does leave something of a dilemma though. Who to support for the rest of the tournament? Well obviously having flukily beaten us in the last two tournaments (and i'm afraid to say done more than their fair share of diving, whinging and cheating), I can't support Portugal. France are a definite no no, since if they win the cup that'll give them more stars on their shirt than us. And THAT MUST NEVER HAPPEN!!!!! Italy certainly don't deserve to win given the disgraceful dive that got them past Australia (plus the fact that their league is currently being exposed as being more corrupt than their government).
So that just leaves the Germans. And, well, perhaps its time to let bygones be bygones and throw our weight behind the Krauts. They've performed heroically so far, they've put on a great world cup and I don't want to be the one to stop the party.
Yep, it's Deutschland Deutschland Uber Alles for me!! At the risk of putting the knockers on them, I reckon they'll beat France 2-0 in the final.
Gah... i've just watched this and now I want to cry. Please please please... can we not win the world cup just once in my lifetime? So I can die a happy man? And so that I can cry sweet tears of joy rather than the sour tears of disappointment.
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