It's been a long wait since Cut Copy's amazing debut album 'Bright Like Neon Love' which came out in 2004 and shined a spotlight on the Australian dance music scene. The album featured many great tracks like Time Stands Still, Future, Saturdays & Going Nowhere. Since then others like The Presets, Midnight Juggernauts, Riot in Belgium, PNAU and many others have benefitted from having the media looking down under for other up and coming artists.
I wasn't digging the preview singles Hearts on Fire or So Haunted so much before the release of their new album 'In Ghost Colours' out now, but in the context of the whole album it works pretty good I think. Chris wasn't digging the album so much when he gave it to me, so I was hesitant to post anything from them right away, but I've been listening to it the last few days in the car and at home and I think it's pretty damn good. It's produced well and like the first album it's probably one that will grow on you. Feel the Love reminds me of late Suede stuff. The voice is dead on Brett Anderson!
You can pretty much get all the tracks on Hype Machine already, minus the interlude 1 min tracks. You can also stream the full album on their MySpace page. Here are a few of my favorites so far... If you like these I recommend getting the whole thing.
I'm a little late on this track. About 148 years late. I think this guy's label needs to beef up its promotions.
This is the earliest known recording of voice made by Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon Scott deMartinville (I want a cool long French name). The recording itself is not much. It is a recording of someone singing an excerpt from the French folk song "Au Clair de la Lune". I can barely tell it is human. A historian quote in the MSNBC article appropriately describes it "like a ghost singing to you".
Ca-reepy. But amazing none the less. The article describes how it was done.
The recording was made 17 years before Edison invented the phonograph. Scott has experiments going back a few years but this was the first recording with recognizable results. The picture above is the device he created to record the sound, a phonautograph. It takes "photos" of sounds. It was originally never intended for playback, it was just to create a visible interpretation of sound.
I already posted about the original version of the new track No Kinda Man from Junior Boys. But this version is niiiiiiice. I don't know if they have a new album coming out soon, they just released their Body Language compilation so maybe that is why there is a bunch of Junior Boys hype going around. They also just completed a remix of Sally Shapiro for her new remix album is out next month based off of last years Disco Romance called Remix Romance. Check out who got remix privileges:
Segueing from Junior Boys to Chloe, you can't get much deeper than the Suspended track from her debut, The Waiting Room. And Ce Kul is... cool. It's not as minimal as the previous track. This post is for all you house heads out there. It is a fine week for you guys in Miami. Who is Chloe anyways? A veteran of Karat, Gomma and Bpitch Control, this French DJ released her micro house tinged debut album, The Waiting Room last year on Kill the DJ records.
Just added some Velocifero cover art! -CM. Just got a new Ladytron track, 'Black Cat' from their forthcoming 4th album 'Velocifero' which comes out in June. Pretty sweet track. Love the long instrumental intro, the dark synths and that banging beat, which builds until her vocals kick in. Is it in French or German? Either way it's a pretty impressive lead in track. If the rest of the album is as good as this we're in for a treat. At least for me, I love the dark electro-pop stuff. They're also gonna be playing in Miami @ Studio A around the time of the release on June 12th. Should be a good show their last performance here was pretty impressive and long overdue! I remember people telling me they weren't that good live before the show, boy were they wrong!!
I'm back. It's been a while guys. Sorry about that. But you know how life is... priorities.
But like Lassie, I'm coming home. So much is going on in the magic city. WMC, duh... it got every single bloggers' (local and not) panties in a rage. I just hope the coverage is not like this years (over) coverage of the SXSW festival. I think I just started ignoring any SXSW post after day 2. And they kept coming even after the festival is over. If people really want to see what it is like, they need to just go there. There is no way that 20 blog articles (with way too many angles of the same lead singer) is going to convey the same feeling as being at a club listening to live music.
Tonight is the Off the Radar 3 year Anniversary party (the party not the blog - same thing but we'll have another party for that). Along with APT, we got Lee Douglas, Jacques Renault and Justin Millerto spin us into a disco frenzy. Details are somewhere in a post below. (UPDATE - Updates are fun. And last night's party was awesome. DFA was in the house. Rub-n-Tug. And the finest crowd on this side of the Atlantic.)
What else is going on... spring is here. Well, in Miami that means the weather, um, stays the same. But I'm sure for everybody else it is a big deal. I guess. It does mean beach weather is coming. Come to think of it, I think that the ocean temperature is the only thing that changes with the seasons here. Yeah I don't go in the water if it is below 80 degrees. No can do, I can't go for that. No. Speaking of ocean temperatures, come to Miami before it disappears!!
Okay, music that is why you're here right? So let me start by saying, "I'm sorry" to anyone who has submitted music in the last, um, month and a half. Let's just say I ran out of hard drive space and have a kinda backlog of music to go through. BUT despair not, I just upgraded my hard drive and now have a ridiculous amount of space. Did I mention that Apple MacBook Pros have teeny screws that are easy to lose on a concrete floor? Renzo helped me find them. I ended up dropping 3 in the course of the upgrade.But the fruits of my labor have been reaped and my Western Digital Scorpio (250 GB if you care) plays nicely with laptop. Did you notice the ridiculously cool wallpaper? Courtesy of KitsuneNoir's (not the French label) Desktop Wallpaper Project. I think somewhere around 20 of Kitsune's favorite artists contributed designs and a new set of wallpaper (computer and iPhone and PSP sizes) is available every Wednesday. (UPDATE: -Bobby from Kitsune Noir just told me there are over 70 artists involved. Well over a year's supply of desktop eye candy.) But I still have not heard any of the new music in my special music listening chamber (aka my car) since it is all sitting on my work computer right now.
Sooooo, instead I'll focus on a duo (they were a trio at one point) from Scotland that go by the name Optimo. They have weekly also called Optimo(full name OptimoEspacio - but nobody calls it that) and also put out various remixes under the Optimo name. (Note to self, too many uses of the word Optimo in close proximity.) Since we are on the subject of the name. It is inspired by the Liquid Liquid release on 99 Records entitled... you guessed it, "Optimo". You can read about 99 Recordshere, the article will do the label better justice that I ever could. It is actually written by JD Twitch which is one half of the current Optimo that I am writing about. The other half is JG Wilkes. Optimo started in 1997, suffice to say, they have quiet an impressive discography of remixes. Colder, Prinzhorn Dance School, PharoaheMonch, The Glimmers, Love Is All, Peter, Bjorn and John (I still play this edit out), Tussle, The Gossip, Franz Ferdinand, Sons And Daughters, Rinocerose... do I have to keep going? The party is every Sunday at The Sub Club from 11pm-3am (WHAT? Sorry, I still am amazed that Miami has probably the most lack liquor licenses in the world...) and the guys are pretty much everywhere else during the week.
MP3: Liquid Liquid - Optimo(YSI)(UPDATE - Just wanna say I think this track kick started the party as soon as Matt Cash dropped it last night.)
So as far as my blogging, though Ray thinks I forgot about the blog, I have not. Just think, quality over quantity. One hit wonders are fun... for a bit. But classics rarely get deleted from the iPod. By the way, did you notice the slick photos I took with my new camera? All in preparation for this little trip I'd like to call JAPAN bitches! Don't forget to send in any suggestions for my trip!
One of my favorites at the moment are PNAU. These guys are a duo from guess where? Sydney, Australia of course... Why does most of my favorite stuff keep coming from down under and Sweden. They're on a roll I guess...
Anyways these guys are pretty amazing! Electronic Pop Music with a heart, like one of my other favorites from Australia Midnight Juggernauts. They mix classic electronic pop elements with a modern twist all their own.
Some songs are a bit disco-ey like this BabyRemix by Breakbot with full on childrens choir! While others are more anthemic dancefloor stompers like Come Together & Embrace, but they're are all uniquely them and all really good! Don't you love when bands can do different things. Makes album experiences better when every song doesn't sound the same. Some slower, some faster, keep us on our toes.
These 3 songs I'm posting today are about as good as it gets, all Highly Recommended!
You can just tell when bands are gifted and creative and this is one of them. I think you guys will be thanking us for this recommend.
A cool artist who recently contacted us is Under Electric Light. This is a one man band consisting of Danny Provencher from Montreal, Quebec. I love that word, Quebec... Nice ring to it. Anyways this guy does some killer down-tempo pop music all by his lonesome. He sent me two tracks 'Night Out' from his Blue EP and 'Wintertime' from his appropriately named album 'After the Blue' and they're both killer! Great late-night fare, especially while smoking some special cigarettes and unwinding at the pad :) Highly recommended for fans of bands like Radio Dept., Notwist, Death Cab for Cutie, etc which he lists as influences. Keep up the great work Danny! We're listening...
Sorry haven't been posting so much lately, just had a crazy week-end moving APT to Love/Hate Thursdays, plus the Opening of Vagabond and now WMC is upon us...
Been digging this track 'Trash' by The Whip a whole lot! They're from Manchester, England home to the beloved Smiths! Their debut album 'X Marks Destination' is out now. The video is pretty sweet. Pretty girl drummers are hard to come by you know.
Wednesday, March 26th, yours truly, Off the Radar and the guys from Apartment Thursdays, will present two of NYC's best for Winter Music Conference!
JACQUES RENAULT & LEE DOUGLAS!!!!!!! PLUS JUST ADDED :: JUSTIN MILLER (DFA)!!!
(Sorry if I come across as being overly excited, but I would be lying a**hole if I said I wasn't)
For the past year amazing disco edits, re-edits, re-works... (guys, honestly, the "re" phrase? I digress, that's a whole other write up) At the forefront of the best of them you'll find Lee Douglas & Jacques Renault. No disrespect to Todd Terje, Lovefingers, Dj Spun and endless others who are absolutely jaw dropping, but this post is about the aforementioned, so lets delve into their music a bit. Both of these cats hail from Brooklyn and have earned their chops creating and editing that ever beautiful Disco Beats for quite some time. They've mastered the art of the edit and can turn 70's obscure disco didley's into a full on club experience.
Now before you get the wrong idea, when I say 'Club', I am not referring to mega glowing crucifixes, neon advertisments, and distorted beat arrangements (which is alright if that's your thing) I'm refering to a gathering of smiling people, dancing, strutting, feeling a groove.
If you don't feel me, listen to the interlude intro to Marvin Gaye's 'Got to give it up', then multiply that feeling by 100! That's Lee Douglas & Jacques Renault! It's no secret to the rest of the world or influential labels like DFA with which they've worked/spun with. They've graced turntables across the globe spreading their disco gospel. Church is in session March the 26th!
Jacques Renault & Lee Douglas spin Wednesday, March the 26th in their Exclusive WMC Performances @ PS14 for the Off the Radar 3 Year Anniverssary! Scroll down for the full line-up...
Hey guys unfortunately the great folks over at Abraxas are having some issues at the moment and are not gonna be able to host our weekly APT 407 party... I know we're bummed too, luckily the nice folks over at Love/Hate have been kind enough to offer us their venue Thursday Nights. I'm sure most of you (from Miami) have already been to Love/Hate, but if you haven't it's a pretty sweet spot owned by the Miami Ink guys with a great sound system, full liquor bar and in walking distance of Abraxas. Check out some pics below. We hope you guys can make it this Thursday, March the 20th for our Housewarming Party! We're gonna be Off the following Thursday due to WMC (Love/Hate was already booked) so we hope you can make it Thurs. It's pretty late notice so please spread the word/repost if you can. Since Love/Hate is booked for WMC we will be holding our Scheduled APT/Off the Radar WMC Event next Wednesday, March the 26th as a One Off @ PS14. Scroll down for the full line-up. We hope you can make it to both events! Thanks!
Cheers!
APT Crew
APT 423 Thursdays @ Love/Hate 423 Washington Ave (Between 4th and 5th on Washington) Miami Beach Rotating Beer/Shot Specials Weekly! No Cover Doors 11 PM
Off the Radar + APT WMC 2008 + Off the Radar 3 Yr Anniverssary Celebration Wednesday, March the 26th @ PS14 28 NE 14 ST Downtown Miami Doors 10 PM $10 Cover offtheradarmusic. com
Purveyors of ironic t-shirts and prepackaged wall art, Urban Outfitters has compiled a playlist of the artists they will be showcasing on their Backlot Stage, this week in Austin, TX as part of the SXSW festival. Despite staking a spot in every major mall in North America, URBN still manages to dip its toes into the indie music world. There is a rather distinct line between street cred and profits.
Anyways, the artists they have lined up are worthy enough for a listen. They are not particular the newest acts out there, but I believe most have yet to make it to a WB show soundtrack.
The Urban Outfitters showcase has shows starting right about now (Thursday, March 13th) through Saturday, March 15th. Not a bad line up either. The shows do seemed to be crammed together, so it is either going to be a total cluster f#ck or extremely short sets.
Among the artists performing:
Lightspeed Champion Le Loup YACHT MGMT Walter Meego Holy Fuck Murs
Check out the complete listing here. And download the sampler here.
Sometimes you need a break from the 4/4 beat and the electro-crunchiness that is sweeping across "indie"dance floors. You need something you can groove to, sing along too, that's where Jamie Lidell comes in. He some how manages to distinct himself from more mainstream modern blue-eyed soul acts similarly to how Jamiroquai did it (shall I say?) at the turn of the century. Perhaps it is the influence of his label Warp Records (Aphex Twin, Autechre, Sabres of Paradise) that helps him push the envelope in his genre. You gotta admit his voice is smooth, and his production is near flawless; yet it still feels like he is performing right next to you. Did I mention the hooks? You cannot have good pop music without a good hook.
So, he is back with a follow up to 2005's Multiply,JIM- the new album - is in stores April 28/29, 2008.
Get a free MP3 of the unreleased track 'Figured Me Out (LA Garage Mix)' by signing up to the newsletter now. The track is not a full on club remix (thankfully) but definitely a jam.
Another band who contacted us, The Cyanide Valentine hail from Boston. They strike a good balance of rock and electronics. They've been compared to bands like Primal Scream and I can see that. They can go from a slow rock track with whispered vocals to thumping electronic grooves and back again rather quickly. I dig it and I think you will too.
Here are a couple of my favorite tracks from 'The Three Sides of the Cyanide Valentine'. If you like what you hear go to their website cyanidevalentine.com and download the whole album for FREE!! What a bargain!?! Thank us later...
Windy & Destiny are an Indie Pop (duo/couple) from Tel Aviv, Israel. They sent us their album 'Words for Such a Riot' a few days ago and I have to say I was pretty impressed! Their sound is classic lo-fi psychedelic pop, and reminds me of bands like Mazzy Star or Saint Etienne. Perfect late night fare, if I do say so myself.
Here's a couple of my faves... Check out their MySpace page for more, or better yet buy the whole album. It's worth it!
I am not particularly a huge fan of Gnarls Barkley. I will listen to their music and jam out here and there on the dance floor, but the package just looks a little forced. Anyways, I DO find the story about their current single's video interesting.
It seems the video will not be shown in its current state on MTV in the UK. According to a Billboard report, "Because of its strobe effects, the video failed the Harding Test, which is used to tell whether or not televised images might trigger epileptic seizures." The video is being modified so that it can premier on the British version of the extremely relevant show TRL.
Hold up? So only the UK cares about its citizens? Does this leave Gnarls Barkley open for a law suit in the sue-happy US? I did not even know that they even had a test for that on TV. Anyways, the OTR blog is not TV but do advise you that if you have any seizure history please refrain from watching this video.
I have to admit the song is infectious but just not on a "Crazy" level. I do not think it will have the same mainstream success as their previous hit single but you can tell they used the same formula.
(Random post, I know... whatever... And Justin's cameo is also just about as forced as Kanye's attempt to be relevant. That guy just annoys me. Stop telling me you're cool. I get it.)
Seems bands are starting to take the cue from Radiohead and releasing Digital Versions of their albums for FREE! They're pretty much reitirating what alot of people have been saying. Most young kids nowadays are getting their music for Free on the Internet and for every CD sold they're being copied 9 times over. Might as well release the albums for Free. Increase your exposure and make money at the concerts and through merchandising. Seems to be the way of the future. Eventually CD's will become like fancy business cards. The more bands keep doing this the more it'll become the norm.
The Charlatans aren't a run of the mill band either, they've had a few #1 albums in the U.K. and I've been a fan for years. Even going on memorable group trips to see them perform in Orlando.
This is their 10th studio album and so far it's being compared to New Order. The Charlatans do a New Order type album. I've been listening to it and it's pretty good stuff. Downlaod it for Free on the Famous British Radio Station XFM who's hosting.
Thanks to Joaquin who sent me a message/link for this on Myspace.
Below is their latest video for the title track 'You Cross My Path' and the links for the Download are here....
P.S. Seems Nine Inch Nails/Trent Reznor has kinda gone to a similar route as Charlatans/Radiohead with the release of their latest album Ghosts I-IV. It was released through their website this past Sunday. It's 36 Instrumental Tracks that they completed in 10 weeks. You can get the first 9 tracks for Free on their site www.nin.com or buy the whole album/36 tracks for just $5! They also have various special collectors edition CD's etc you can purchase if you prefer. Do I smell a trend here?? Here's some stuff he wrote about the release on his site...
Trent Reznor explains, "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."
Kelley Polar needs you to hold on and he breaks the rules for future pop albums. Julliard trained Kelley Polar has a ridiculously long bio starting around when he was 3 years old with a plastic Fisher-Price turntable and bunch of discs from his 6 year old "disco-loving" sister.
Several awards later, advanced studies at Julliard, Polar found himself a chance meeting with none other than the head of Environ Records, Morgan Geist. Geist was looking for string musicians for their own album. Polar quickly gathered a group of Julliard musicians to play as the Kelley Polar Quartet and they ended up up on several of Metro Area's biggest tracks, Miura, Caught Up and Dance Reaction. Fast forward to 2004, expelled form Julliard, but with a flourishing record career (honestly, who would stick around school??), Kelley Polar decided to move out from the city (rural New Hampshire) and this is where the solo artist emerged. Focusing pop music rather than floor thumping dance hits, he honed his musical style.
After a year in "isolation" he returned to NYC to record 2005's Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens, with Morgan Geist.
Spin magazine praised the album as “romantic, nogravity dance pop.” The New Yorker called it an “ambitious new age disco record.” Stylus Magazine named it one of “Best Records of 2005.”
Now in 2008 he is set to release the follow-up I Need You to Hold On While the Sky Is Falling. And I honestly cannot stop playing the album. I first mentioned it with the Junior Boys mix CD a few weeks ago where I found an instrumental remix of Rosenband. Here is the original.
I am anxiously waiting for his name to pop up on some Winter Music Conference flyer.
Side note: Attention Japanese readers!!! I'm going to Japan at the end of April. PLEASE feel free to send in any suggestions. I will be staying in Osaka and Tokyo. (chris @ offtheradarmusic.com)
Been on a Pulp kick lately... It happens to me with all my favorite bands (depeche mode, the smiths, the cure, new order, franz ferdinand, the verve, james, postal service, belle and sebastian, figurine, tribeca, pulp, suede, etc...) I usually end coming back and revisiting them from time to time. Isn't it great how memories get attached to music. You hear a track you loved and bam in a flash it can take you right back to that point in your life.
Since it seems many kids nowadays have short memories or were too young to even go out when Brit-Pop was king in Miami Nightlife say (98' to 02') or so, before Electroclash then Indie Rock rolled upon us. I thought I'd start doing spotlights on some classic albums and maybe introduce some of them to the younger generation.
One of my favorite 90's Brit-Pop bands of all time was Pulp, fronted by the amazing and enigmatic Jarvis Cocker. Most kids nowadays (in the US at least) probably only know of Pulp's big hits 'Common People' and 'Disco 2000' (both from Different Class).
In my opinion Pulp basically has 3 must have albums. 1994's dance-a-thon 'His 'N' Hers', 1998's more mature 'This is Hardcore' and their critical and commercial peak with 1995's 'Different Class'. It was hard to decide which one to spotlight here, because I love them all, but I figured I'd go with Different Class since it's probably their best all around album. Although I'd still recommend getting all three, especially if you find yourself digging Different Class. All classics! Depending what kinda mood I'm in it'll decide which CD I pop in.
With Different Class Pulp had their biggest hits 'Disco 2000' and 'Common People' which seems to be constantly reaching for a higher peak at a dizzying rate until it's final climactic end. The lyrics deal with class struggles between the have's and have-not's. A consistent theme throughout the album as well as revenge, spying, alienation, drugs (you know the usual teenage/young adulthood issues). The whole album is amazing, not one filler in the bunch! It's one of my favorite all time albums, up there with classics like 'The Queen is Dead' by The Smiths or 'Violator' by Depeche Mode.
Many great tracks to adore here. Besides the big hits there's also I Spy, MisShapes, Monday Morning, Underwear, Sorted for E's and Wizz, Something Changed and many more.. Gotta love the way Jarvis delivers his storytelling lyrics from a whisper one minute to a scream the next.
Here are a few of my favorites from Different Class as well as a couple videos from the time and some newer videos of Jarvis doing a cover of Heaven 17's 'Temptation' at last years NME Awards Show with Beth Ditto from The Gossip, plus a great video from his solo album 'Jarvis' for 'Don't Let Him Waste Your Time'. In it he's a taxi driver running over people whilst giving advice to his passenger. Great one!
Here's to Jarvis reading this and reuniting for a New Pulp album/tour! Even though his solo album had some good stuff they should reunite for one last Pulp album. The last one, 2001's 'We Love Life' was a little weak and uninspired. Definitley not worthy of being the last Pulp album.
You can pretty much get all the tracks on Hype Machine already, minus the interlude 1 min tracks. You can also stream the full album on their MySpace page. Here are a few of my favorites so far... If you like these I recommend getting the whole thing. 
