Firstly...if you haven't already seen it, here's the live video/performance of Simian Mobile Disco's new track "Synthesize" at Area 10:
There's also another new Simian Mobile Disco track "10,000 Horses" which Pete Tong recently dropped on Radio 1. A rip of it has been floating around but is pretty scarce so check Hype Machine for it while you still can. Just to give you a preview...here's what Busy P had to say about it:
"I want to ride those horses naked on a beach with James & Jas! Beautiful track. It is already Summer thanks to SMD. Really like the Detroit vibes in both these tracks.. watch out Kevin Saunderson! I will play it, playlist it and i can't wait to kiss a girl in the middle of Space's dancefloor while dancing to '10,000 Horses..."!
I don't know if I'd go that far, but I do really like the track and can't wait for their show at the Highline Ballroom here in April (in the midst of a massive tour of North America with a small run of European dates in the middle):
Simian Mobile Disco - North America/Europe Tour Dates
Mar 12 2009 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver Mar 13 2009 - SEATTLE, WA Neumo’s live Mar 14 2009 - MEXICO CITY, MX MX Beat Festival live Mar 15 2009 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA Mezzanine live Mar 16 2009 - The Music Box at The Fonda, Hollywood Mar 17 2009 - SAN DIEGO, CA Casbah live Mar 27 2009 - MIAMI, FL Ultra Festival live Mar 28 2009 - Ultra Music Miami Apr 3 2009 - Marmande, France, Garorock Festival DJ Set Apr 4 2009 - Platinum Club, Lille DJ Set Apr 9 2009 - London AITBF @ Fabric DJ Set Apr 10 2009 - London Mixmag @ Matter DJ Set Apr 11 2009 - Spain Barcelona Nitsa DJ Set Apr 12 2009 - Manchester, Warehouse Project, DJ Set Apr 13 2009 - Deep Fried Funk DJ Set Derry Apr 17 2009 - CHICAGO, IL Metro live Apr 17 2009 - CHICAGO, IL Smart Bar dj Apr 18 2009 - TORONTO, ON Guvernment live Apr 19 2009 - MONTREAL, QC Club Soda live Apr 22 2009 - BOSTON, MA Paradise live Apr 23 2009 - NY Highline live Apr 24 2009 - PHILADELPHIA, PA Transit live Apr 25 2009 - BALTIMORE, MD Sonar live
I can't tell you how many times I've almost written this post. The weather in New York today is BOSS (which is my overly used word for today). Don't mind that "Severe Weather Alert". It's awesome out.
Such weather warrants demands listening to this album:
Tracklisting:
1. Jurgen Paape - So Weit Wie Noch Nie 2. Erlend Oye - Sheltered Life (Remix)/Fine Night (Acapella) 3. Cornelius - Drop (Kings of Convenience Remix) 4. Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better 5. Erlend Oye - Radio Jolly – Jolly Music/Prego Amore (Acapella) 6. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Rubicon 7. Avenue D - 2D2F 8. The Rapture - I Need Your Love 9. Erlend Oye - Lattialla Taas – Uusi Fantasia/Venus (Acapella) 10. Erlend Oye - 2 After 909 – Justus Kohncke/Intergalactic Autobahn (Acapella) 11. Erlend Oye - The Black Keys Work (Phonique Remix) 12. Jackmate - Airraid 13. Royksopp - Poor Leno (Silikon Soul Remix) / Erlend Oye - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Acapella) 14. Skateboard - Metal Chix / Erlend Oye - Always On My Mind (Acapella) 15. Ricardo Villalobos - Dexter 16. Minizza - Winning a Battle, Losing The War 17. Morgan Geist – Lullaby / Erlend Oye - A Place In My Heart (Acapella) / Ada - Luckycharm / Erlend Oye - Intuition (Acapella)
I remember finding out about this album 2 days before it was released. Picked it up from Virgin on my way to class on a beautiful spring day and bugged out the first time I listened to it. It's the perfect spring album. It opens with a chick singing German sweetness into your ears...the sounds of water droplets...and it just proceeds to get more and more awesome from there...with Erlend Oye singing over pretty much every track. Like so many things, it's great and not explainable.
Go get it. Listen to it today if you're in New York or somewhere that is suddenly and awesomely warm. The cd also has great liner notes from the Norwegian himself explaining things to keep in mind when you are deejaying which are definitely worth reading.
This was so much more difficult to do than last year's post, mainly referring to the top 20 shows list. Last year I had to narrow it down from 88 shows/dj sets. This year I had to narrow it down from 122. It took me 4 hours alone just to figure out who I had gone to see this year, never mind the deliberating...
A few things:
I didn't make a list of Top 10 Albums/EP's because there are quite a few that came out last year that I haven't gotten to listen to that would probably be in the running.
I will however say...Lambs Anger by Mr. Oizo is my number one album of 2008. I think it has a really complete, cohesive album feel. I also think it does a great job of showcasing Mr. Oizo's weirder side that is present in his earlier releases, but also includes a great crop of new bangers. I even don't mind the Uffie track which up until this point was something that was not possible. And of course, my four favorite little words - Vous êtes des animaux!
Some other albums that came out in 2008 that I got to hear and like to varying degrees (most, quite a bit) are (in no particular order):
The Rapture - K7! Tapes The Whip - X Marks Destination Cassius - CASSIUSPLAY: Nike+ Original Run Surkin - Next of Kin EP Soulwax - Part of the Weekend Never Dies The Black Ghosts Mixtape The Black Ghosts - self-titled Jamie Lidell - Jim Lord Skywave - self-titled Boys Noize - Bugged Out! Presents Suck My Deck Simian Mobile Disco - Live from Soho Runaway - Wurst Edits #6 Eamon Harkin - Wurst Edits #5 Louis La Roché - The Peach EP Friendly Fires - self-titled Evil Nine - They Live Des Peres - The Adventures Of Cowboy and Miniman Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours The Bloody Beetroots - Rombo EP M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Plus honorable mention to WhoMadeWho and Friendly Fires who were completely new to me and excellent during CMJ!
Non-electro shows (not ranked - all pretty awesome): 1/19 – Tim Fite @ Joe’s Pub 7/25 – Ween @ McCarren Pool 8/17 – Sharon Jones @ Central Park Summerstage 8/3 – Jamie Lidell @ Central Park Summerstage 8/8 – Radiohead @ All Points West 8/9 – Radiohead @ All Points West 10/15 – Jamie Lidell @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg 11/9 – Jamie Lidell dj set @ Public Assembly
Jamie singing "Little Bit Of Feel Good" during his dj set:
11/20 – Sondre Lerche @ Bowery Ballroom 12/12 – the Tallest Man on Earth @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
More bests and other random-ness:
Best of 2008 - Soulwax Best Facial Hair – Paul (for the Logans) Best Namer of Facial Hair - Busy George for coming up with "the Logans" Best Nickname - Miqueeee Le Teque! Best Electro Twinz - Busy George & Sebastien Tellier Best People I’ve met through my blog – too many this year, though I think Mitch is the only one I actually hang out with. Best blast from the past who I now hang out with regularly (yay!) – Van Scott Best electro-related work moment: My boss asking if he should rub Vicks on his chest before listening to most of the music I put on. Best family supporter of banging jams – my brother, through his incessant repetition of “Mr. Oizo” and “Busy P” in French accents, despite the fact that he would probably hate their music if I ever made him listen to it. Plus this year I even got him to listen to Soulwax and he has kept "Much Against Everyone's Advice"! MVP’s – red bull, purple Adidas high-tops, and the purple & green low-tops. Best Excuse to Dance during the daytime – Sunday Best at the Yard Best Week Ever: Tie! The week of August 6th which included Soulwax at Irving Plaza, Underworld's Beautiful Burnout Art Jam opening, and All Points West. AND the week of CMJ which was awesome thanks to Brooklynvegan. Best dj set by someone whose stuff I didn’t know at all prior: – Trus'me at the Yard People who should come out of going out retirement: Busy Jason and Busy George
Also, thanks to Busy Paul, Miquee le Tequeee, and Eddie (shtuuuk) for hitting dancefloors all over the city with me. Thanks to BV for endless hookups. Thanks to Mike for letting me interview Karl Hyde (amazing!). Can't wait to see what '09 will bring!
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I just did a massive update to the shows list in the left sidebar. February & March look awesome and April is on its way. In care you're reading with RSS:
February 7 - Matthew Herbert at Studio B February 7 - Josh Wink at Sullivan Room February 13 - Xavier de Rosnay (Justice) and Busy P at Webster Hall February 13 - Trouble & Bass Valentine's Death Prom with DJ Craze, Trouble & Bass DJ's (DTL, Star Eyes, The Captain), and a special surprise live act at Studio B February 13 - Sharon Jones & the Dap-kings at Nokia Theater February 14 - Sharon Jones & the Dap-kings at Nokia Theater February 17 - Fujiya & Miyagi and School of Seven Bells at Le Poisson Rouge February 20 - Primetime meets Fixed with Trevor Jackson, House of House, Eamon Harkin, James F&%^# Friedman, JDH, and Dave P at Studio B February 20 - Felix Da Housecat at Webster Hall February 20 - Tim Fite at the Bell House February 21 - Cut with special guest Rye Rye at Studio B February 27 - Dim Mak Night with Steve Aoki, Autoerotique, and Felix Cartal at Webster Hall February 27 - David Byrne at Radio City February 28 - David Byrne at Radio City March 7 - Glass Candy, Nite Jewel, Twisted Wires, Mike Simonetti (dj set) at Le Poisson Rouge March 7 - Alan Braxe at Studio B March 10 - Guns ‘N’ Bombs, Heartsrevolution, autoKratz and Beni at the Studio at Webster Hall March 13 - Calvin Harris dj set at Webster Hall March 14 - "Infinity +1" Tour with A-Trak & DJ Mehdi at Studio B March 20 - Boys Noize Records night with Boys Noize, D.I.M., and Shadow Dancer at Webster Hall March 21 - Cut Copy at Terminal 5 March 21 - Mr. Saturday Night with Todd Terry, Ewan Pearson, and residents Eamon Harkin & Justin Carter at Santos March 26 - The Prodigy at Roseland March 26 - Friendly Fires at Bowery Ballroom March 27 - Friendly Fires at Bowery Ballroom April 1 - Sebastien Tellier at Le Poisson Rouge April 3 - MSTRKRFT and the Bloody Beetroots at Webster Hall April 3 - Deadmau5, the Whip, JDH & Dave P at Roseland April 10 - Crookers at Webster Hall April 15 - The Tallest Man On Earth at Bowery Ballroom April 23 - Simian Mobile Disco at Highline Ballroom
Tickets go on sale Thursday, February 5 at 12 noon (EST) via Live Nation with a pre-sale from 10 am - 10 pm on Wednesday, February 4.
The group hasn't played New York since 2006 and is making the trip back in support of their new album Invaders Must Die, out March 3 on Take Me To The Hospital/Cooking Vinyl with a worldwide digital release on iTunes set for February 24. Check out the video for the first official single, "Omen" below as well as the Prodigy's album-dedicated microsite for the video for Invaders Must Die and additional info on the band's latest release:
According to NME, Friendly Fires are coming back to New York (and North America) along with The Soft Pack, and White Lies in March and April as part of the NME Presents North American Tour:
March 24 - Washington - Black Cat March 25 - Philadelphia - First Unitarian Church March 26 & 27 - New York - Bowery Ballroom March 28 - Boston - Paradise Rock Club March 30 - Montreal - Les Saints March 31 - Toronto - Lee's Palace April 1 - Ann Arbor - Blind Pig April 2 - Indianapolis - Radio Radio April 3 - Chicago - Double Door April 4 - Minneapolis - Triple Rock Social Club April 7 - Seattle - Neumo's April 8 - Vancouver - Richard's on Richards April 9 - Portland - Doug Fir Lounge April 11 - San Francisco - Slims
I saw Friendly Fires 3 times during CMJ and once last month at the Annex. They're dancey & poppy in a rocking way. Their album is great. Check them out!
WhoMadeWho has a video out for their track "This Train" (which was released digitally last week and will also be available on The Plot 7" out March 6th.
The video is totally weird, NSFW, and wild which is everything I've come to expect from the leotard-donning Danish trio, plus there are some extra creative touches as the video was done by Chicks on Speed (whose track "Surfer Girl" was recently remixed by WhoMadeWho which you can also read more about here). Check it out:
Some great new (mostly) Frenchies are coming to Webster Hall:
The Valerie Collective is not just a music blog - it is a group of like-minded DJs and musicians from West France that fuse authentic 80s synths with modern indie/electronica. They sound like Daft Punk doing an '80s movie soundtrack... their tracks are startling in their consistency, mood and feel; they offer a sense of a time that never existed, but we all somehow understand… a future that once seemed possible. Their retro/futuristic artwork (by The Zonders) sums it up nicely.There are several artists under the collective's umbrella, (including College, Anoraak, Russ Chimes and Lovelock – all of whom will be performing).
You can download some tracks by Anoraak and Russ Chimes over at my dance post on Brooklynvegan, plus a new one - "Sentinel of Love" from 33Hz (who will also be performing live at Webster on Friday).
There's more info on Steve Moore of Lovelock, plus more College and Anoraak tour dates in a post by Black Bubblegum there too.
And...a good way to play catch up on your Valerie game (other than just checking out their blog) is to check out some informed suggestions from Dreamtard.
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Hey there….so things are moving forward….Tomorrow you’ll be able to buy “This Train” on iTunes. The track is from our forthcoming album “The Plot” which will be out March 23rd. Add to all this, that the single “The Plot” - yes, it’s also the name of one of the tunes on the album - will be out March 6th. It’ll be out on both 12″ and 7″, something for the young hipsters and for the hip youngsters as well. The track list “The Plot” 12″ : 1) The Plot Original Club Mix 2) The Plot Noze Remix 3) The Plot The Mole Remix 4) The Plot Discodeine Remix Gomma 1 The track list “The Plot” 7″: 1) The Plot (album version) 2) This Train (album version)
The band has also remixed a track called "Surfer Girl" by Chicks on Speed which recently became available on iTunes as well.
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There's something surreal and awesome about having to walk past a huge dinosaur skeleton, and into a planetarium to get down. If you haven't experienced it yet, here is your chance to for Free! I have a pair of tickets to give away. Email showtrotta at gmail dot com with "OSB" in the subject line and I will randomly pick a winner and will let you know if you've won sometime before noon on Friday. Full info on the party is below:
I first went to see Trus'me deejay on a whim after liking some of what I heard while researching for "the Week In Dance". By the end of the night he had packed the Yard's humble little dancefloor full of sweaty bodies, fittingly getting down to some perfect summertime house & disco grooves. It was one of my best nights out in New York last year (it made the top 20 which I hope to post sometime next week) which is pretty impressive considering I had very limited familiarity with his music prior to going to the party.
I impatiently waited for him to come back here all the way from Manchester which he thankfully did in October, and now he's back again this Friday for the first party of his new monthly residency at APT. Linkwood and Kon & Amir will be deejaying as well - definitely check it out if you're around!
All the info you need is on the flyer below. Also, if you're on Facebook be sure to add Trus'me NYC to your friends to stay in the loop about the future parties.
This Sunday MeanRed (party throwers whose events make me reintroduce the term "rager" into my vocabulary with absolutely no regret) are bringing the party back to 88 Palace (a dim sum restaurant in a Chinatown mini-mall that they take over once the dining is done and turn into an awesome place to party). Their last party there was great and I'm sure this one will be nothing short of the same:
I was just reading the obscene number of blogs I read during lunch and came across a great feature on Mr. Oizo over at XLR8R (who graces their cover this month). I didn't do a Top 10 Albums list this year (top 20 shows and various ridiculous superlatives are on their way, hopefully next week) because I know there a lot of albums that would be in the running that I never got to listen to in full. One that I did get to listen to that definitely would be in the top 10 (dare I say, perhaps #1) was Mr. Oizo's Lambs Anger.
The article on him, Mr. Oizo: Master of Puppets, over at XLR8R does a great job of exploring his creation of Lambs Anger as well as some of his past, less accessible work (both music and film).
Not only is the article very well done, but the photos that accompany it are very fitting (good job XLR8R!). Can you capture the French/Quentin any more accurately than this photo?!
The brothers and all at Chemicals HQ thank you for your loyal support in '08, and we wish you peace, love and happiness in 09!
As the year winds down, we have one last surprise for you here at The House Of Chemical. As the track is already a must play for ringing in the midnight hour, The Chems have whipped up a special New Years' Eve edition of "Midnight Madness".
This version has been serviced to DJs only for NYE, however we'll be posting the track up here tomorrow for your streaming pleasure. It will no doubt turn up in some of your favorite DJs sets tomorrow night as well (and do be sure and support your local DJ and local music scene).
Sorry things are quieter over here than I would like. I have December 24 - January 4th off from the 9 to 5. I'll be spending a good chunk of it in suburbia hanging out with the fam and nerding it up on the internet so there will probably be a lot of updates then. In the meantime I just added a ton of dates to the shows list (stuff for tonight and this weekend too, so don't let the snow keep you from hitting the floor!). Here's what's up for now - keep checking back, I'm usually always updating it:
December 19 - Fool's Gold Family & Friends Holiday Bash at Twelve21 with DJ Premier, Cipha Sounds, the Brothers Macklovitch, Sammy Bananas, and Nick Catchdubs
December 19 - My Cousin Roy and Jesse Mann at APT
December 19 - DJ Harvey at Love
December 19 - Play It Loud at Lounge 87 with DJ Drilla, Darshan Jesrani of Metro Area, Son of Sound, and Doug Gomez
December 19 - LA Riots at Le Royale
Decemeber 20 - Fixed with In Flagranti at Studio B
December 21 - Frankie Knuckles and Danny Krivit at Cielo
December 20 - 33Hz live at Le Poisson Rouge
December 26 - Ladytron dj set, Le Castlevania, and Grandmaster Flash at Webster Hall
December 31 - Studio B New Years Eve with deejay sets from Sinden, Jokers of the Scene, Scott Henry, Reid Speed, The Captain, Star Eyes, Cowboy Mark, Alexander Technique, and Van Scott. Grandmaster Mele Mel, Mickey Factz, and Ninja Sonik live. Afterhours with Echospace and Taimur & Fahad.
December 31 - Prime Time New Years Eve at Santos with Invisible Conga People, Mike Simonetti, James F!@#$%^ Friedman, and Eamon Harkin
December 31 - Matthew Dear, Drop the Lime, Michna, and Mike Servito at Le Poisson Rouge
December 31 - Rude New Years Eve at Glasslands with Heartsrevolution and Nick Catchdubs
December 31 - Famous Friends ' & Palmsout Epic New Years Eve at Europa with Kill the Noise, AC Slater, the American Dream Team, Udachi, Bradley D, and VDRK
January 2 - One Man Party (Steve from Soulwax) and So Me at Webster Hall
January 3 - Afrika Bambaataa at Le Poisson Rouge
January 16 - Disco3000 NYC with Trus'me, Linkwood, and Kon & Amir at APT
January 17 - Fixed with Max Tundra at Le Poisson Rouge
January 23 - No Big Deal with Moulinex and Xinobi at Europa
January 24 - Modeselektor and Housemeister at Bowery Ballroom
January 24 - M83 at Irving Plaza
January 29 - Fixed at Studio B with Lindstrom
February 6 - Fixed with Little Boots (live) at Studio B
Awesome Norwegian electronic duo, Royksopp, are celebrating their birthday today and giving away a new track (their first studio release since their last album the Understanding came out in 2005) at their website. The site is being re-designed soon, perhaps to coincide with the release of their new album? which did not come out 2 months ago.
The wonderful new venue that opened downtown this year has shifted from 100 Lafayette Street to 96. According to the Santos Party House blog:
"...we have been able to recreate the exact same club, only 8 feet further down the block, simply by shifting the walls and parts of the ceiling to accommodate the new location.
Our patrons will notice a slight shift in the sidewalk, as well as a wider stairway leading down to the lower level. As a result of this move, we now have a larger amount of space on the left side corridor of the club. We were also able to shift the entire front entrance and windows of our building, leaving the upper portion intact."
Awesome Italian dj/production duo the Bloody Beetroots have just released a piece of heavy, piano-ey bliss in the form of a track called "Butter". Butter is featured on the Beetroots' Rombo EP (tracklisting below), which gives you an idea of what to expect from the pair's full length album, scheduled for release on Steve Aoki's label, Dim Mak in 2009. Check out the dope EP cover from Turbo Krapfen on the right and download the track below:
Shockhound (which looks like a pretty interesting new site for following artists) recently interviewed Xavier and Gaspard of Justice from their hotel room bed. Yet another enlightening and entertaining (much like the duo's documentary, A Cross the Universe, which is out in the US in 5 days. Did you pre-order your copy ?!) experience:
Transcript of the interview if you'd rather read it here.
I haven't really gotten into Passion Pit, but came across this video that Etan (from Passion Pit) created with a friend. It's short and sweet...and has robez (aka robots...):
The Hives and Cyndi Lauper have recored "A Chrismas Duel" together. It's pretty fucked...and awesome. You can stream the track over at the Hives' website and download it for free after registering there. You only have until the end of the day though, as tomorrow & Tuesday it will be released for purchase in the UK and US respectively.
Tracklisting: Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head (Bootleg with New Order) Spinning Around (7th District Club Mental Mix) Wow (Death Metal Disco Scene Mix) Love At First Sight (Kid Creme Vocal Dub) Slow (Chemical Brothers Mix) Come Into My World (Fischerspooner Mix) Red Blooded Woman (Whitey Mix) I Believe In You (Mylo Mix) In Your Eyes (Knuckleheadz Mix) 2 Hearts (Mark Brown's Pacha Ibiza Upper Terrace Mix) On A Night Like This (Bini & Martini Mix) Giving You Up (Riton Re-Rub Vocal Mix) In My Arms (Sebastien Leger Vocal Mix) The One (Britrocka Remix) Your Disco Needs You (Casino Mix) Boombox (LA Riots Remix)
Where is the Soulwax KYLUSS Remix of "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"?!
Yes, I skipped 11...it was in the works last week but then I got sidetracked. It will be up soon though. In the meantime, I'm jumping straight to #12. This video combines many of my loves, namely:
1. Adidas (seriously...the blog colors are inspired by a pair I had, the kicks the "t's" in "showtrotta" are wearing in the header are another) 2. Pilooski 3. Pilooski's edit of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons' "Beggin"
Ups to Miquee Le Teque for (unknowingly) bringing this to my attention - btw you can download that fine Pilooski edit over at his blog.
I'd never (to my knowledge at least) heard a Deerhunter song despite them being blogged about all over the place recently, until yesterday. Check out this edit the lovely British duo, Simian Mobile Disco, did of their their track "Octet":
Ete d'Amour, the people responsible for booking all the amazing deejays that had Santos rocking every Thursday night this summer have announced the line-up for their Christmas d'Amour party happening December 18th:
I was hoping/expecting a more France-based line-up, but whatevs. Should be good.
Remember how I told you about this? Well...Alan Braxe, who killed it at Santos back in August, has been added to deejay at Webster Hall the same night as Lifelike (December 12th)!
The Soulwax documentary, Part of the Weekend Never Dies is finally being released here in the US! It will be released December 9th, but you can pre-order it from Insound, here.
You can check out 2 different trailers for the film here, read a lot of Soulwax-related posts here, and read my review of their most recent New York show (along with other bands at the Insiders "micro-festival" last month) over at Brooklynvegan.
Insound has the new Justice documentary, A Cross the Universe, available for pre-order here. It will be released on December 9th.
It's one of the best films I've seen this year and it comes with a live cd of a show they did in San Francisco. You can check out the trailer and tracklisting here, and read my review of it over on Brooklynvegan. Get up on it...
Whomadewho is my favorite new band I saw at CMJ this year. Here is the video for their new single "TV Friend". It will be released on the 24th of the month (along with a remix by Hot Chip) through Gomma. Their new album The Plot, will be out March 2nd.
Horribly late with the mid-week video this week, considering it's Monday.
Last summer I was sitting in my apartment in a funky mood, not really feeling like going out...and then I saw this video on New York Noise and it instantly put me in a good mood - I went to Studio B (don't remember who I saw) and had an awesome time:
Sorry this is a day late! I started this post yesterday, but never got to finish it until now. Anyway...
Was anyone else very unhappy when Simian (the band, before James and Jas decided to properly mobilize their disco) broke-up? I was!
Luckily we got SMD, the Black Ghosts, and Lord Skywave, as well as Alex Macnaughton's band, Doloroso (who I am long overdue to give a listen to), out of the deal, which pretty much makes up for it.
I'm sure many of you are aware that Simon Lord (former lead vocalist of SMD, and current member of the Black Ghosts and Lord Skywave) did guest vocals on the excellent SMD track, "I Believe". This is probably as close as we'll ever get to the original Simian :( Here's a video of James Ford, Jas Shaw, and Simon Lord (3/4 of Simian!) performing it together, enjoy!:
On Thursday the BUSY P 1 WORLD AIR FORCE 1 makes its North American debut exclusively at 21 Mercer Street.
Ed Banger Records’ own Busy P, So-Me and Justice will be there to celebrate. Music will be provided by Ed Banger Records.
Hold on one second! It's not so easy. If you want the shoe then you're gonna have to be quick! Busy P is ready to take to take on all challengers in a game of BUSY P-ICTIONARY. Those daring enough to take on and defeat him by being the first to guess what Ed Banger Records Designer So-Me is drawing will earn the chance to buy one of the limited pairs available that day.
First come, first challenged.
Thursday, October 30. 4pm.
Nike Sportswear 21 Mercer Street New York, NY 10013
I am out of vacation days otherwise I would totally be 'ousing Busy P at Busy P-ictionary and beginning my first foray into sneaker collecting as opposed to dancing them into the ground.
Peep the rainbow man's kicks here and if you go, make sure he doesn't chshit!
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In the midst of the beginning of CMJ madness here in New York I managed to sneak off to a non-CMJ event - Puma Presents: My Favorite Things with Trus'me (& a bunch of other deejays I wasn't familiar with - the only one I saw last night was Gino Grasso who spun some good disco!). It was originally going to be at APT, but had to be switched to Le Souk at the last minute for some reason. I was initially excited about the change of venue because the past few times I've been to APT it's been absolutely dead, but then I remembered being at Le Souk once a few summers ago and it being pretty hellish. Luckily last night was an exception. I walked in right around 1 and the place was packed with people (a few of whom were questionable) dancing...on a Tuesday night...in New York...the way things should be. Anyway...Trus'me's set was very good...lots of good discoey/housey stuff, classics, edits, etc. Serious fun to get down to.
I first saw Trus'me deejay at the Yard back in July. There's a review of it here along with a link to download part of his set from that party.
And...I have finally gotten a digital camera. No more shitty cellphone pics! Here are a few from last night:
Positif is going to be the first single released from Mr. Oizo's new album, Lamb's Anger. It will feature the original version as well as "Negatif" - a remix of the track by Mr. Flash (a snippet of which is streaming on his myspace), an LFO remix, and a track called Lambs Garbage (unfinished). Here is the cover art:
Here's a promo video for Lambs Anger, the new album from Mr. Oizo, out on Ed Banger Records November 17th. More info on the release including the tracklisting and cover art can be found here. Since my previous post, another track from the album "Two Takes It" has been made available for streaming on Mr. Oizo's myspace. Check that out and the promo below:
New York, NY- The economy may have fallen on hard times, but that is no reason any New Yorker should have to miss the premiere of Pete Tong's "Insiders Music Series" on October 24th at The Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza which has become one of the most anticipated events of CMJ week. To prevent this impending crisis we are introducing the "Hipster Bailout" plan. Beginning today a limited number of tickets will be made available for $30.00 while supplies last. Once exhausted, a second limited allotment of tickets will be made available for $40.00 with all tickets returning to normal pricing once these allotments are fulfilled or the day prior to the event, whichever comes first.
The new ticket prices haven't gone into effect yet, but should be here at some point today. Get up on it!
In case you were wondering/obsessively planning your CMJ-ing: Pete Tong Presents "Insiders Music Series" Set Times: Doors: 7PM Soulwax's 'Part Of The Weekend Never Dies' Screening: 8:00-9:00 Rob Da Bank: 9:00-10:00 The Whip: 10:00-10:30 Rob Da Bank: 10:30-11:00 Luciano: 11:00-12:00 Late Of The Pier: 12:00-12:30 James Lavelle: 12:30-1:30 Soulwax: 1:30-2:30 Pete Tong: 2:30-3:30 2manydjs: 3:30-close
Another awesome related development:
In a ground breaking move; international top rated radio program, BBC Radio 1's "Essential Mix" will be recording the entire performance to broadcast globally on Friday, October 31st. The Essential Mix has established a tradition of broadcasting the hottest live dance and DJ events throughout the world; from Ibiza to the UK and now the Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza, attendees of the premier Insiders event will become a part of history.
Also good to know:
With an extended night of music, The Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza will be implementing a special re-entry policy. Ticket buyers will be guaranteed re-entry until 12AM. After Midnight reentry will be allowed on a first come first serve basis. A limited number of CMJ badges will also be honored.
In case you missed 'em, here are some previous posts about Soulwax.
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I will spare you another "I <3 Soulwax and can't wait until they are back here in New York in 9 days" tangent...but here is a video, or rather some stills accompanied by David Dewaele explaining exactly how they sonically devastate the crowd:
Just found out from Pitchfork that Justice will be screening the documentary A Cross the Universe while they're on a dj tour of North America in the next couple of weeks. One will screening will be happening at...
NYC's IFC Center at 7 p.m. on October 30, and also features a post-screening Justice Q&A.
This also the same night as the already sold-out party at Webster Hall featuring dj sets from Justice, Busy P, SebastiAn, and So Me.
Will keep ya posted w/ info re: the screenings. Here's the trailer for now:
Tracklisting for the CD accompanying the DVD release (Dec. 9th US, November 24th for most of Europe):
01 Intro 02 Genesis 03 Phantom Part 1 04 Phantom Part 1.5 05 D.A.N.C.E. 06 D.A.N.C.E. Part 2 07 DVNO 08 Waters of Nazareth (Prelude) 09 One Minute to Midnight 10 Tthhee Ppaarrttyy 11 Let There Be Light 12 Stress 13 We Are Your Friends (Reprise) 14 Waters of Nazareth 15 Phantom Part 2 16 Encore 17 NY Excuse 18 Finale
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D'oh! I knew this would happen eventually! Sorry this is a day late. I actually thought about posting a video yesterday, multiple times, and just never did it.
Today's mid-week vid is an oldie but goodie - Mr. Oizo's "Flat Beat". The main reason I'm posting it, aside from it being great, is I've been reading a book called French Connections: From Discotheque to Discovery which has been very interesting so far and has clarified a lot about French dance music that happened before I was listening to any electronic music at all. Yesterday (when I originally intended to post this) out of nowhere I got to a part in the book where the author recounts the events leading up to Mr. Oizo's signing to F Communications which include his father selling Laurent Garnier a car! Crazy stuff...
Some other things of note: Mr. Oizo has a new album coming out on Ed Banger Records on November 17th. It's called Lambs Anger and the cover features a particularly less-animated version of Flat Eric.
Two new tracks from the album ("Z" and "Positif") are streaming on his myspace. I absolutely love both of them. "Z" is great, especially the breakdown around 2:30. "Positif" is awesome too - I seem to have developed a thing for computer generated voices. (if you have too, I highly recommend checking out Fardoche whose stuff is in a similarly weird vein as Mr. Oizo's and features tons of cgv's). Tracklisting (with some crazy titles) for Lambs Anger below:
i'm writing this as a sort-of open letter to the people at emi. i'm signed to mute records(for the last 15 years, actually), and as mute is owned by emi that makes me an emi artist. as some of you might know, the record business is falling apart. revenues are down, cd sales are plummeting, people are losing their jobs, etc. things at the record companies, especially the major labels, aren't looking so good. one bright spot in this dismal retail firmament is the sale of music on-line through portals like i-tunes. the dance music equivalent of i-tunes is a site called beatport. beatport, and other similar sites, enables you to preview dance tracks and then, if you like, buy them. the average cost for a track on beatport is twice or three times the cost of a track on i-tunes(which makes sense, as the tracks are a lot longer). emi happily allow their music to be sold on i-tunes, but they don't allow their(and, by extension, my)music to be sold on portals like beatport. for over a year now i've been asking people at emi why they won't allow their electronic dance music to be sold on beatport and i still haven't received a good answer. one might think that in a time of rapidly dwindling revenues that a viable and proven outlet like beatport might be greeted ecstatically at emi and the major labels. but no. very simply, i don't know why emi won't allow their(and my) dance tracks to be sold on beatport(for an average cost of around $2.00 per track), but i do know that by not allowing their electronic dance music to be sold on beatport that emi have denied themselves very considerable revenue and have limited the audience for their electronic dance artists(not to mention remixes done for their non-electronic dance artists, like radiohead and coldplay). many dj's live in urban areas with great indie-dance shops, and many dj's buy vinyl and cd's on-line from great indie-dance shops, but there are thousands and thousands of dj's who pretty much only buy their music from sites like beatport. and with emi refusing to allow beatport(and similar sites)to sell their music it basically means that tens of thousands of dj's around the world don't have access to any of the dance records being released by mute and emi artists. so this is my letter to anyone at emi who might be reading: by not allowing your music to be sold on sites like beatport you are losing money daily and seriously compromising the careers of your electronic artists(like, for example, the chemical brothers, me, massive attack, etc). i can't see why you(the people at emi)wouldn't remedy this immediately and allow people to buy your records on beatport and similar sites. thanks moby
Radiohead is having a remix contest for their track, "Reckoner" from In Rainbows like they did for "Nude" a few months back. More info on the contest here.
One entry that was brought to my attention that I think is quite good is Lord Skywave's:
FYI...Lord Skywave is Simon Lord (formerly of the bands Simian & Garden) of the Black Ghosts, but the music he's created under Lord Skywave is very different, with a unique sound that incorporates elements from 3 generations - Lord himself, compositions by his grandmother - Madeleine Dring, and the Skywave synthesizer which was created by Simon's father, Jeremy. Good stuff. Check him out and the remix too.
Exactly one month from today Soulwax will be hitting Irving Plaza yet again, this time doing both a live show, as well as a 2ManyDJs set along with a bunch of other outsiders.
I have to say the Dewaele brothers have been cranking out all sorts of goodness in the meantime, making the lead up to October 24th even more pleasant and exciting...and they're not showing signs of stopping. If you've seen One Man Party (Steve, the drummer from Soulwax) deejay anytime recently, or have listened to any recent 2ManyDJ's sets you've probably heard what I have now discovered is their own wonderful re-working of the disco classic "A Fifth Of Beethoven" by The Walter Murphy Band. I can't tell you how pleased I am to hear one of my favorite disco jams re-done in a way that could make me love it even more. I found out about this release through an excellent resource for all things soulwax - soulwax.info (check it out!). From there I was directed to VoulesRandom where you download the track directly as well as Soulwax's remix of "Phantom Part II" by Justice.
*EDIT* I was at work when I saw that the remix was posted so I couldn't actually listen to it - turns out it is actually a mix of the track by Hidden Cat which is based on the Soulwax edit. Apologies! Soulwax hope to release an official version soon.
Please take this lolcat (Hidden Cat!) as a peace offering:
In addition to it being 1 month until Soulwax, it's also Wednesday which means - Mid Week Vids! I am fittingly posting a clip of Soulwax peforming "Miserable Girl" from when I saw them for the second time (the day following my first) on 4/18/08 at Studio B:
A New York based music blog focusing mainly on good, banging, electronic music...and some rock and other stuff from time to time. Show reviews, news, upcoming shows, and event info. Tangents about dj's/bands/music I love.
I'm also the former writer (from 3/08 - 10/09) of the Week In Dance for BrooklynVegan.com
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