I was quite excited to hear the new X-Press 2 single when it dropped through my door. After all 'Lazy' was brilliant (until it became hugely overplayed anyway... but I have great memories dancing around Buenos Aires to it during a monumental month-long bender!), and the last single 'Give It' (featuring Kurt Wagner from Lambchop) was another memorable anthem. So I was faintly excited when I saw that their new collaboaration was with Tim De Laughter from The Polyphonic Spree - who sings a traditional American Indian chant previously recorded in the 60s by Harpers Bizarre.
Sad to report then that it's terrible. Not the due to the vocal so much, but a backing track that's as lame and uninspiring as I can ever remember hearing, and which sucks all the goodness from the record.
However all is not lost. For Andy Weatherall - who of course originated from the same 'Boys Own' gang as Rocky, Diesel and Beedle - has turned in a cracking remix under his Two Lone Swordsmen guise.
It's a swaggering Garage Rock track that seems designed to slip onto a Sonic Mook Experiment compilation, and gets me curious about the forthcoming new TLS album 'Wrong Meeting' which is due on April 23rd. I've not heard the last couple of TLS albums, but had heard that Weatherall had gone a bit more leather clad and rawk. If they're anything like this I need to get on it... X-PRESS 2 - WITCHI TAI TO (TWO LONE SWORDSMEN REMIX)
The X-Press 2 single also contains an excellent house remix of 'Don't Make Me Wait' by Diesel. I was very tempted to post that up as well, but I don't really like posting two tracks from a single. Do check it out if you can though, it sounds like 'How Do You Plead' by Soofle (St. Germain), with bad-ass vocal loops and soaring Detroit strings. It's very very good.
Rather than post that though, i'll remind you of how good 'Give It' is (was?). I can't hear it without envisaging Kurt Wagner dressed as a Burroughs-style priest. Rarely has anyone sounded so holy on record.
Also being spun this week is a set of highly Zeitgeisty remixes of 'I Get Around' by Canadians Dragonette... with reworkings being provided by Van She, Ratcliffe (who I presume is Simon Ratcliffe from Basement Jaxx), Arthur Baker AND Midnight Juggernauts. Someone has deep pockets.
I decided to check out the original version, however after getting down to it nicely on the myspace I made the mistake of watching the video. Which has totally put me off the track!
It's a good song but I find all the pouting and lipstick lesbianism a bit, well, irritating.
But back to the remixes. Well I guess this is what Wikipedia describes as Blog House... a genre that thankfully I seem to have been absolved of responsibility for.
Aussies Van She are of course loved by all the blogs after a multitude of wonderful remixes. This one begins with a glossy Daft Punk sheen before hitting a, er, Daft Punk-esque Keytar breakdown accompanied by those obligatory cut-up vocals. If the vocals are too much for you, the single also has a dub mix. But I think I like this just the way it is.
First thing's first... I need a job. Before I commit myself to further years being an uninspired salaryman, I thought it was probably worth sticking out a plea for employment here.
I have many skills doing many things. But what i'd really like is to use my ears on a daily basis. And preferably at least some of my brain also. Please apply within.
Hot in the headphonesex inbox is a remix of Maximo Park's SIZZLING! 'Our Velocity' by cockney rebels Blamma! Blamma! Do you like glitchy SebastiAn style electro, and would you like to hear Paul Smith's voice pulled through a razor-laced mangle? Well in general i would answer yes to the former and no to the latter, however this is undeniably brilliant. Go on, deny it. I dare you. Ha! See! Brilliant.
Last weekend I had the good fortune to DJ (albeit for an exhausing 5 hour marathon) at Reading's lovely Oakford Social Club, after which they myspaced me with this fantastic video. It's by Scroobius Pip and Dan Le Sac, and the track is called 'Thou Shalt Always Kill'. Music Like Dirt (as often happens) hit the nail on the head by comparing it to 'Losing my Edge', but it's far more endearing and engaging than that world-weary masterpiece.
The messianic beard, the ill-fitting suit, the hilarious lyrics, the cutting social commentary, the banging gameboy beats... is there anything not to adore about this T.U.N.E???
I was going to post the mp3, however I believe you will fall in love with this more by absorbing the video rather than the audio. And i'm here, I hope, to make you fall in love.
My favourite bit? The repeated 'Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music' whilst photocopying his face. This is a future classic.
Scroobius & Dan are playing at the Oakford this Sunday. If you're anywhere within commuting distance of Reading you may want to check 'em out. The live show sounds interesting to say the least, and if i'm not suffering too much of a hangover (i'm going to the first match at LateWembley tomorrow... which involves hitting the pub at 11am) I may well nip over.
More raw meat booming out of the hps soundsystem are a couple of new records from French re-edit kings D*I*R*T*Y Edits. Both are dangerously hot. The first, volume 6 in the re-edit series, features Pilooski and new kid on the block Krikor taking on The The and Q Lazarus. The second record - entitled 'Dirty Space Disco Vol. 1' - sees Joakim (yes, Joakim!) and Pilooski jazzing up JJ Cale and Yellow Power.
It's very hard to pick a track to post since they're all excellent, however the one that's got me hitting 'repeat' the most is the Joakim re-edit of JJ Cale. I know very little about JJ Cale or this song, however it seems to have received the re-edit treatment in the past. I originally though that JJ Cale was the Welsh fella from the Velvet Underground. However wikipedia has re-educated me.
I have also learnt that the original comes from this album
Joakim of course is the French wizard responsible for one of the year's best albums - 'Monsters & Silly Songs'.
I promised techno, and i've been immersing myself (as I frequently do) in Detroit's finest after watching 'High Tech Soul' last night.
It's a documentary DVD telling the story of the creation and development of techno music, featuring interviews with all of the scene's legendary movers and shakers. It focuses of course on the Belleville Three: Juan Atkins (The Originator); Derrick May (The Innovator) and Kevin Saunderson (The Elevator); but also features interviews with Eddie 'Flashin' Fowlkes, Carl Craig, Blake Baxter, Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, The Electrifyin' Mojo, Kenny Larkin, Scan 7 and Stacey Pullen amongst others.
For anyone with an interest in the incredible sound of the motor city it's a fascinating watch. It's amazing how charismatic the main characters are, since they often come across dour and over-analytical in print. We learn that the first time Kevin Saunderson met Derrick May he punched him in the face (a reaction that Derrick often seemed to provoke!). We see Juan Atkins as the slightly crazed looking genius you're sure he had to be. There's bitching, gossip, a lot of mutual respect and of course a lot of fantastic music.
Here's a couple of trailers
If you order the film via this link you also get an exclusive Derrick May mix CD.
One of the artists eulogised in the film is Mike Banks aka Underground Resistance. Now by far the biggest shock of High Tech Soul for me, is that based on the brief glimpse we get, he appears to be white!
Now the only artist I can think of who's had such worldwide success but has still managed to keep his identity so secret is his namesake Banksy. As suggested by the fact that out of a 15 year recording career this is only the second picture i've ever seen (in the other he was wearing a mask on the front of Jockey Slut). But still, it hadn't crossed my mind for a second that he could be anything but black. I have never heard a white guy make techno music with as much funk and (dare I say) soul as Mike Banks' UR productions.
Co-incidentally there is a new UR record out this week, and it's another deliciously devastating missile. UR #71 is entitled 'Hi-Tech Dreams'... yet another bassline that your hips won't be able to resist with some stirring gospel wailing over the top. It's his best release for a couple of years IMO, and 'Lo-Tech Reality' on the flip is well worth your time as well... a darker track with a hip-hop beat and a voice saying 'i really don't understand any of this'. Reminds me a bit musically of 'Electronic Warfare', although lyrically it's very far from that call to arms.
This week has also seen a rare Detroit classic dusted off with some new mixes for a very limited re-release. I must admit i'd only previously heard this on Derrick May's 'Mayday' mix, and hadn't realised quite how sought after it was until reading about this re-release & seeing how many people were after it on the discogs page.
The original is a gloriously dubbed-out Basic Channel-style groove, and while that takes care of your feet, some lush chords take hold of your heart and out of control synths buzz around your head like insistent flies. This remix is by label boss Sean Deason, who gives it some more 4-to-the-floor drums that seem to have been sampled from 'Throw' (as posted last week).
Although the production has perhaps benefited from some modern methods, the mix retains a classic early-90s sound, and is no worse for it.
If you want a copy of this, don't hang about. There were only 1200 pressed and they're flying out. Beware though, it's gonna cost you. I was about to order from Piccadilly before noticing that it was nearly 20 quid for the double-pack!
I'm just about to tuck into a Convextion live set over at The Ill-Ec-Tro-nic. Not sure yet if it's any good, but it's got to be worth a bash...
I've been enjoying the country-punk of The Mules these last few weeks... and in particular the opening track of their debut album 'Save Your Face' (out next Monday).
'Polly-O' comes across like a spiky gypsified version of 'Feel Good Hit of the Summer' by Queens of the Stone Age. The Pixies gone country. Or something. A slightly disturbing tale of valium addiction, dead bodies and dogs, acoompanied by shouting, post-punk guitar riffs and some frantic drumming. Nice!
To be honest apart from this track they sound as though they'd be a far more interesting live proposition than they do on record... not that I've not enjoyed the album, it's just not what i'd usually listen to at home. I can imagine a chaotic gig being great fun though.
The band have a new single out to accompany the album, featuring a rather good remix by CSS / Cansei de Ser Sexy... who add add some bongos and squelching electronics to the track. I've been asked not to post that, so here's another nice electronic mix from the single. It seems to be by someone called 'Lights', but I can't quite work out which of the many bands called 'Lights' it is. The mix gets better as it goes along, with the backing getting increasingly hidden by layers of surface noise, clicks and distortion. I love the way the crackly accordian seems to struggle to get going towards the end, while the repeated piano chords still hold the track together. Nice finish as well.
It's not their best single by a long way, but a new 9-minute epic by the mighty iLiKETRAiNS can't go unmentioned. The historical subject this time is Spencer Percival, the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated. The video shows assassin John Bellingham waiting for the gallows, and although no 'Terra Nova', it does as usual really enhance the track.
They're playing live at Dingwalls next Thursday. I must get my ticket.
So while i'm deep in the indie-hole, I must mention Field Music. I posted 'In Context' from their most recent record ages ago, since when i've hugely enjoyed their second album 'Tones of Town'.
It's take a new single to get me posting again though. It's a double-A side, with side AA being a reworked version of 'Sit Tight' (from the album). Called 'Sit Tighter' it's a vast improvement on the album version, with the biscuit-tin backing replaced by confidently beefed-up sounds and a swirling psychedelia.
Finally, I still don't hate Ghosts. Although i'm still not sure who'd win in a bare knuckle scrap between them and The Feeling.
This is further evidence of their annoying knack for radio-friendly pop. I know many of you will hate it vehemently, but I have a soft spot for things that make me sing along in the car.
LCD Soundsystem were nothing short of awesome last night. A friend remarked that it was louder than a Megadeath gig he'd been to when he was 14, which i'm sure contributed to the feeling of dionysian abandon created during the gig. But in reality it's just watching a band who totally understand music and understand what makes great music... cherry picking the best parts of every band mentioned in 'Losing my Edge' before pumping up the volume and setting the synths to 'stun'. I would say more, but I have just come across a superb review on music like dirt which along with some great photos (as usual) says all that there is to say. The set was I think identical to last night's Astoria show, and if you substitute 'bored record execs' for 'kids leaping round like crazy bastards' you will pretty much have last night sized up.
It had been nagging me that the guitarist looked like one of the guys from Hot Chip, so it was good to have that one cleared up (it was him apparently)...
Worth reiterating is the pure jaw-dropping brilliance of the (pre-encore) finale - which saw 'Yeah Yeah Yeah' morph into a cover of Carl Craig's 'Throw' over the course of a percussion-frenzied 15-minutes of madness. I thought at one point 'hang on, is that the bassline to 'Throw'', before James Murphy jumped in with a falsetto'd 'Is your man the epitome of devotion? If he ain't... then he ain't a wise man, is he'. I nearly creamed myself!
I really wish I had an mp3 of the LCD Soundsystem version, but instead just revel in the glory of the full 15 minute 12" mix of 'Throw' (the album version was savagely cut). It's a record that has never strayed further than arm's reach of my turntables. And you must know it never takes much for me to slap up a bit of Carl Craig.....
Elsewhere i've been slowly ploughing through a gazillion emails that came in while I was away (no exaggeration). It seems there are a lot of bands playing a lot of gigs at SXSW. And a lot of DJs playing a lot of clubs at the Winter Music Conference. However I've not yet come across anything offering flights, accomodation and Tequila. So they will have to hit the 'deleted items' pile.
So to recover from all the junk (and late nights) i've been listening to the charming new album by 'How to Cure Dyslexia' - 'The Tempo of Bicycles and Boats'.
As well as making me reflect upon the cruelty of making 'dyslexia' such a difficult word to spell, the album puts me in mind of yr typically morose British singer/songwriter/urban poet. Morrissey; Bragg. That type. The two songs here are a bit more upbeat though & make me think of Badly Drawn Boy.
The 'band' are a little more experimental than this though, as suggested by the fact that they were formerly signed to Trevor Jackson's 'Output Recordings'. Which might help explain why they decided to record this album in a London gallery as an art installation. The punters could come & watch, or join in, or no doubt attempt to sabotage the sessions by feeding their children gallons of ribena and cutting them loose.
I'd have thought that the main benefit of this exercise would be to capture the little unexpected contributions of people strolling past, and to this end I can't really see the point - as there's no indication in the listening that it took place anywhere other than a recording studio. However setting the artistic pretentions to one side it's a nice dreamy record. And I like these two tracks in particular.
Finally, I 'found this under a stone in the mountains'.
It sounds like it's been taken straight off 'Human After All'. Depending on the drugs you've taken, it may make you dance. Or scream. Or weep uncontrollably.
I think the forthcoming album is something to look forward to with great anticipation.
Yay, i'm back. But very tired. However seeing as i'm off to LCD Soundsystem tomorrow night I thought i'd best show my face briefly.
So being a headphonesex holiday, it wasn't entirely without incident. However by the scale of my usual travel mishaps, getting lost on my snowboard & ending up in the wrong country (without passports or correct currency) as night decended was pretty mild beans. After all our refuge was a pretty nice bar that served up great food and cold beer. The only penance ended up being a hugely expensive taxi ride around the alps in an attempt to escape from Switzerland. Mind you one of our party, Ryan, was not feeling quite so fortunate as in the gloaming he climbed three mountains with a broken snowboard in an attempt to get back to France.
Look at these fellas getting some big air:
That's kind of what I was doing in my head as I flew over jumps literally milimetres above the powder, before performing a mental 1080 and crashing onto my arse.
They are German and called Saint Pauli. "We are from Hamburg. I hope you like our sound" they wrote. I do Max, I do. The Robot Rock is strong with these.
Like Morrissey, i'm Still Ill. Damn this interminable flu!
Fortunately my spirits were lifted yesterday when the postman brought new CDs from two Friends of Headphonesex - 'Adventures Close to Home' and 'South Central'.
Adventures Close to Home are celebrating the launch of their record label with a single by New York's Holy Hail, an excellent slice of no wave Tom Tom Club-style NY Funk.
Although backed with a remix by Bonde do Role (and apparently with more hot remixes to drop in the future), my favourite is this one by Shir Khan. It's got all those beats & bass sounds that kids love.
If nothing else, that remix reminds me of those South Central chaps. Which brings me nicely onto a new mix of theirs I have to share.
This sticks nicely to their 'lull you into a false sense of security with some fairly tranquil glitchy beats' template, before suddenly exploding hot, sticky heavy metal all over your fucking face. The swines!
This comes out on City Rockers in a Sunshine Underground vs South Central remix package that also includes a remix of 'Borders' (the new SU single). Also look out for South Central mixes of 'War Out There' by Radar.
Look: Holy Hail and South Central AND BONUS HADOUKEN!
For those who like your dance music a bit more Nintendo, I've been enjoying this 8-bit rocker remix of The Black Ghosts, forthcoming on Southern Fried Records.
Those are the black ghosts, and this is Boy 8-Bit who wot dun the remix.
The winning parts are those where the nintendo ninja comes out on top in the IK+ showdown with the evil ghosts. As the fight continues though, the ghosts gain supremacy and the lovely noises get slightly hidden in the mix. Still nice shit though.
Now ludicrously, despite still feeling shitty, i'm going away for a week's snowboarding. In my absence, why not perhaps buy a CD rather than leaching MP3s off the interweb?
I can't think of anything better to go for than this new mix CD on igetrvng. Why? It's mixed by Justine D of Motherfucker. It's got an awesome tracklisting. It's limited & beautifully packaged. And it's cheap as shit! $5 in the US or $7 internationally. Get on it!
I didn't intend to go into hiding after my last ultra-mega-super-post, but unfortunately I have found myself in the clinging arms of the sickness, and I have spent the last week sweating, swallowing pills and having very strange dreams.
I have also spent a long time wishing I had a stereo with a remote control. Reaching out from under the covers to take a sip of water has taken a 20-minute battle of will, so getting out of bed to reach the CD player has occupied the best part of an afternoon.
This was the best musical medication I discovered... a slow, sensual, disco jam from Hans-Peter Lindstrøm, which you can find on his 'It's a Feedelity Affair' compilation. The best disco you ever go to will be full of girls, and they'll be playing this.
I have found more aural anaesthetic in the shape of the excellent Joakim album 'Monsters and Silly Songs'. It's had plenty of praise elsewhere, and rightly so. There's a dazzling variety of tracks, not all of which I can recommend as a soundtrack to feverish hallucinations. The brilliant 'Love-Me-2' for example, sent me hiding beneath the covers as monsters descended from the ceiling. Much as depicted on the cover in fact...
So my speaker therapy has come from tracks like 'Lonely Hearts', which is probably the most 80's record made since the 80's. And that's saying something!
