Dec 28, 2006

Viva Output Records!, Ecstatic Sunshine dates, Sharon Jones w/ the Dap-Kings dates, new Damon McMahon song

When I read that Trevor Jackson's Output Records was done for a few months ago I was rather buggin out b/c well...his shit bangs, but I just discovered that apparently things have been reconsidered and now they're just taking a break...to return at some point...music to my ears! But as if that weren't enough, they are coming out with a double cd/dvd of stuff from Output in March! Yea-yuhh!! Read it (though I pretty much said it all) for your ownself.

Other stuff...dates to be aware of:

2/16 - Ecstatic Sunshine and the Santa Dads at Glasslands. Never made it to their two shows a couple of months ago, so I haven't really determined how much I like em yet.

This next show you don't want to miss:

2/2 - Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at Maxwell's. This lady and her gents will have you GETTING DOWN! It is delicious soul funk...I first saw her 2 years ago at Southpaw with a friend of mine who was into her. I had never heard her before. I listen to mainly electronic music and rock and I absolutely loved it. You will dance your ass off and be so happy with your own self!

And the last thing...Damon McMahon has been away working on new stuff...and what I assume to be one of the fruits of his time away is up on his myspace. It's called "Amen Dunes". It sounds very different from all of the songs on "Mansions". It's loud, electric. There are drums and he's kind of yelling/singing...kind of reminds me of the way he sings, "I'vvvvveeeeeee had a long day" on Inouk's "Nudie Suit". Only with Amen Dunes there is so much going on and it's so loud that I can't really tell what he's saying. It's an interesting change. Makes me wonder if it's an indicator of what's to come with the rest of his new stuff. We'll see. I think it's good to hear something new.

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Dec 26, 2006

Hollis Browne, Inouk, and the Glass dates

January shows:

Hollis Browne at Arlene's Grocery January 18th. $10 cover, but worth it! Just saw them play an excellent show at Kenny's Castaways last week.

Inouk at Pianos on January 17th.

The Glass at Ruff Club at the Annex on January 26th.

Yea-yuhh!

ps- RIP to the Godfather of Soul.
GOOD GOD!

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Dec 21, 2006

Upcoming Tim Fite Dates

Tim Fite, master of combining 99-cent samples with sharp, hip-hop meets country (if you can imagine such a thing) style lyrics has a nice little run of shows coming up in nyc soon:

Dec. 23rd, Jewltide 4 at Southpaw along with the LeeVees, Michael Showalter, and a dj set by Balkan Beat Box. Full info can be found on Southpaw's website.

Jan. 6th (my birthday!) at Union Hall with O'Death and Beat the Devil. 8pm, $10.

Jan. 24th at the Knitting Factory (in the tap bar) with Marshall Crenshaw. 8pm, $12.

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Dec 19, 2006

Electronic Battle Weapon 8 & 9 downloads, Boys Noize on Bentwave

After several failed efforts at finding the Chemical Brothers’ Electronic Battle Weapon 8 and 9 on ebay (I think Erol Alkan and Justin Roberston are the only ones who have promo vinly copies) I managed to stumble upon mp3 versions here.I also highly recommend listening to 6 and 7 if you haven’t heard ‘em yet.

Another thing I happened to stumble upon was Boys Noize sat in on WNYU’s radio show Bentwave last night. I couldn’t hear a lot of it because I was having a battle with a rather large dust bunny colony and their friends the dirty dishes all of whom have taken residence in my apartment. Luckily it has been archived and you can stream it or download it. It’s very nice! It has some Daft Punk to start and his remix of Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus later on. Alex also talks a bit about the various projects he’s been up to and some stuff he’s got lined up for next year.

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The Men Behind the Beards (and some of the best electro of '07)!

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Buuuusssy P! One of the electro masters of '07, if not the master. So much good stuff came out of his Ed Banger label, including more than half the people in this Best of the Beards post...


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Kavinsky...nothing seems to say French bad-ass better than some aviators and a little later than 5 o'clock shadow...and his dope track Testarossa.


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Mr. Flash with the long hair, full beard combo...don't let that first slow jam (Eagle Eyez) on his myspace fool ya, he definitely brought it in '07.


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Another bearded (and particularly woolly looking in this pic) Ed Banger...Mr. Oizo. He killed it a few years back with Flat Beat, and came back with assorted dopeness in '07, namely Patrick 122, Transsexual, and a bunch of great remixes. New Yorkers were even lucky enough to see him kill it in person at Studio B.


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A uni-brow is just a moustache that's lost its way. At least that's my justification for including Boys Noize in this post. He's goddamn 24, started dj-ing at 14, has his own label, and released a great album in 2007. He makes me feel like such a slacker...He also was busy killing it all over the world in 2007, including New York a bunch of times.


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Not too familiar with Aoki yet...but had to include that fu-manchu! Plus my sources assure me "his shit bangs as hard as busy p's". Hoping to find out on the 26th of January at Studio B (all the info is on the show list to the right).


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Dave 1 and P-Thugg sporting some stache/beard combos and jams that make you think it's '87 not '07, but in the best way possible. Expect insanity when they hit New York again in January.


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An extra fuzzy and spectacle free Erol Alkan. He keeps kids dancing with the help of the countless remixes that he did this year. Also just found out while doing this post that Erol is one half of upcoming remix duo Beyond the Wizards Sleeve.


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Felix has been around making his own filthy electro tracks since back when electro first came about. He hit New York hard at the beginning of November, and proved he hadn't disappeared with his release Vigo Blaktro and the Movie Disco.


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Tommy Sunshine...quite possibly one of the best hair/beard configurations out there. A great remixer, excellent dj, and reppin New York!


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Justice...according to them (about 4:40 into the clip), the monkey and the dog.The dog is definitely accurate for Gaspard's bulldog-esque stache/beard combo, but the debate rages on if Xavier's rocking love chops or pork chops...I really don't think I need to say anything about these dudes. If you have been following electronic music at all this year you have to know what's up with them. Ý, not †, not cross was one of the best releases of 2007. They were killing it all over the world this year... notably here in New York last week. Do not get me started on their great, all over the place Essential Mix...


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The almost invisible stache(s) of Guns N Bombs. Between their own tracks, the remixes, the mix tapes (1, 2, and 3) '07 was a busy one.


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MSTRKRFT...as if I needed an excuse to like Canada any more than I already do...I was somehow living in a pretty MSTRKRFT-free bubble until I saw them wreck Studio B during CMJ. While their album "Looks" came out at the end of 2006, they still brought it in '07 doing a ton of remixes including one of the best of D.A.N.C.E. out there. Also have JFK doing his solo remix thing. Have you heard Mr. Miyagi - Pick Your Poison?!


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Sebastien Tellier...another Frenchie with a serious beard-(hair)do combo. I'm still waiting for that track Sexual Sportswear to grow on me, but I absolutely loved all that crazy, weird, discoey stuff that he did with Mr. Oizo and Sebastian on the Steak soundtrack. His new album Sexuality should be out in February of next year with production by the non-bearded robot from Daft Punk, Guy Manuel.


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Simian Mobile Disco...if you guessed this one right that's pretty amazing considering those thumbnails weren't beards at all, but James and Jas' hair turned upside down. Come on...if James' hair was a beard it would be pretty awesome...not as good as their excellent album (one of the best of this year if you ask me) Attack Decay Sustain Release, or their amazing live show, or their great dj sets...but it would be up there.


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So Me, taking it back to the Wizard of Oz, rocking the cowardly lion beard in this pic. In all seriousness though...So Me is a renaissance man, or close to it. He had Americans dealing with horrible exchange rates and scrambling to import all the dope t-shirts he designed. Also responsible for all the great Ed Banger album covers, and his own jams. He also kind of made Kanye eat his own (dumb) words at the VMA's, now that he's asked So Me to direct his video for The Good Life.


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Thomas Bangalter along with his non-bearded Robot friend attempted to take over the world in their big pyramid with the Alive 2007 tour. I think most would agree they succeeded. There's always the Alive 2007 album to prove it...or the tons of other live sets all over the internet. Personally I like the versions without the Brooklyn hipster commentary.


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Crookers...pretty sure they are the only Italians on this list. Their remix made me love the Chemical Brothers' Salmon Dance (which I previously hated). I have to give big ups to Ryan at Electric Zoo for raving about them (and fidget house) for months and months before I wised up. I was just about to type "now if only someone could get them to New York"...then I read on their myspace: June, 21 2008 - "Crookers @ Studio B". Yesss!


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The Black Ghosts...I think DJ Touche's handlebars count as enough facial for both he and Simon Lord to be included in this post. One of my favorite bands of this year. Simon's vocals take you back to the old Simian days, but the beats are way more dance floor friendly. They also do remixes.



Supercycle...they get the "most serious about facial hair" award. That's how they got into this post in the first place. They randomly added me on myspace back when this post was changing from a joke into a serious (yeah right) possibility. I very rarely listen to random bands on myspace b/c 9 times out of 10 they are horrible, but Supercycle's default pic was a diagram of different staches, and their tracks happened to be pretty awesome. They are from Canada and they kill it. Don't get me started on Andy's stache...


And that's it for 2007's Best of the Beards. This crazy post could not have happened without Busy Paul who came up with the idea, helped search for beard pics, was part of the intense beard scrutinizing process that went down last Monday, and cropped the photos. Many thanks.

He has an email list of electro events in New York that you should sign up for if that's your cup of tea. If you like the blog, you'll probably like his list since our taste is REALLY similar (music twins in da house!). If you want to sign up just shoot me an email (showtrotta at gmail.com) and I will forward it to him.

Also...for those of you who are challenged in the facial hair department:

moustache bandanas
self adhesive moustaches
bearded caps

Wishing you a hairy and healthy '08 :P

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Dec 15, 2006

Ed Banger Records joins w/ Vice, Comp & Tour to come

The French label, Ed Banger Records (home to Justice, Zongamin, a bunch of others) just signed a deal with Vice to distribute in the US. What looks to be a nice little comp (Ed Rec Vol. 1) is in the make:

01 Mr. Flash - "Radar Rider"
02 Uffie - "Pop the Glock"
03 Krazy Baldhead - "Crazy Mothafuckas"
04 Vicarious Bliss - "Theme from Vicarious Bliss"
05 Zongamin - "Bongo Song" (Jackos remix)
06 DJ Mehdi - "I Am Somebody" (Paris version)
07 Sebastian - "Dolami"
08 Justice - "Waters of Nazareth"
09 Busy P - "Chop Suey"
10 Krazy Baldhead - "Revolution" (ParaOne remix)
11 Sebastian - "H.A.L."
12 Vicarious Bliss - "Theme from Vicarious Bliss" (Justice remix)

There are a whole bunch of parties scheduled in Europe, Canada, and:

03/29 New York, NY - Hiro Ballroom w/ Justice, Sebastian, DJ Mehdi, Busy P, and Alex English

Info from Pitchfork. There's also more info there, including the rest of the tour dates.

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Dec 9, 2006

More info on Chemical Brothers new release

Just got back from the Hollis Browne show at Midway. Will post a review tomorrow.

After the show I was talking to my friend Chuck (the manager of Hollis Browne) who is the one who turned me on to the Chemical Brothers and electronic music in general. He informed me that Pete Tong was playing two of the new Chemical Brothers tracks on Radio 1 tonight- Electronic Battle Weapon 8 and 9, which if things go as usual, will be released as b-sides. You can stream that show here. The site uses Real audio. Unfortunately you can't just scroll forward to the chems' tracks,but you can get through to them using buttons that skip ahead in increments of 5 and 15 minutes. Electronic Battle Weapon 8 starts a little before 20:20 and ends around 20:25. Once it's done you can get away with skipping ahead 5 minutes, but if you go for 10 you will be too far ahead and will miss the beginning of Electronic Battle Weapon 9, so just sit tight. There also is a link on the page to the track listing in case things get confusing.

My initial reactions:

Electronic Battle Weapon 8 - sounds like an old school Chemical Brothers track...going way back...reminds me of "Chemical Beats" with a lot of classic club anthem stuff layered over it at times. A little weird, but good. Need to give it another listen. Definitely a lot of good elements though.

Electronic Battle Weapon 9 - loved it from the beginning. It reminds me of a re-worked version of "Star Guitar". As it is I love "Star Guitar" and I couldn't imagine them doing anything to it to make me like it more...but I definitely hear it in Battle Weapon 9. It sounds totally different. There is a lot of other stuff going on, but in the best way possible. I'm not going to try to break it down because I have no technical knowledge and wouldn't know where to begin to explain it, but from the most basic standpoint: IT BANGS.

I really hope these are an indication of what's to come on the new album. I really love the Chemical Brothers, but must say something just didn't click with me with "Push the Button". When I saw them in Central Park last year all the songs from "Push the Button" really played out well live, but I hardly ever find myself reaching for that album. When I do, I enjoy it more than I remember, but not like their other albums...I would get stuck on those for days and days at a time.

Also, some more info on the new album courtesy of Wikipedia of all places:

"In the beginning of June 2006, Ed Simons announced on the chemicalbrothers.com forum that the band are indeed working on a new album, codenamed 'Chemical 6, and although no release date has been confirmed, some speculate it will see a summer 2007 release. Typically an announcement is made on the band's website two to three months in advance of the release of a new album."

Alright...I need to get to bed. Hollis Browne was very good. Unfortunately they are temporarily being overshadowed by my excitement over all the Chemical Brothers happenings. Tomorrow they will have their moment though.

Also big ups to anyone else who dragged their ass out there tonight. It was fucking freezing, or as Charles would say "madd brick".

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Dec 8, 2006

new albums for '07!

From Astralwerks' What is What newsletter:

"In the first half of 07 we are excited to announce a wave of amazing new albums from favorites Air and The Chemical Brothers, Willy Mason, and an astonishing new Sondre Lerche album. "

Music to my ears! A few days ago I found myself wishing the Chems would release a new album. Yea-yuhh!!!

There's no info up on the Astralwerks site about any of the new release yet, except for Sondre's. I think you can stream the new single, "Phantom Punch" there. The new album is supposed have much more of a rock sound. I saw Sondre play a show earlier this year at the Bowery Ballroom. He played a 32 song set, and a lot of it was the new stuff which he went on to record just a few days after the show. I must say they were really good. Still a hint of the good ol' Sondre pop sound, but really much more edgy than his previous stuff.

Alright...off I must go to eat something before heading to the Hollis Browne show.

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Dec 6, 2006

the Juan Maclean dj dates / Hollis Browne show

I don't know when the cut off for RSVP-ing is, but tonight the Juan Maclean is dj-ing an Astralwerks party at the wired store. More info on that here.

If you can't make it he's also dj-ing this Saturday at the White Room in Williamsburg. Flavorpill has all the info. New Young Pony Club and Thieves Like Us are also playing...it's the Modular Monthly party btw.

Also, Hollis Browne is playing another show this Friday at Club Midway in the East Village. It's only $5! Check 'em out!

They are also playing a show on the 21st if you can't make this one.

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